2021 Week 6

Hello from the snowiest week of the year so far! 

Because of the snow on Monday night, I delayed my experiments by a day, which was very useful as it meant I was home for most of Wednesday's Rosetrees Interdisciplinary workshop, which focused on contributions of interdisciplinary research, including physics and computer science, to developing new knowledge and therapeutic targets for brain neurodegenerative diseases. 

This was also the week I made traditional ragù by myself for the first time, following Nonna Alba's recipe from the book Pasta Grannies! The recipe calls for carrot and celery rather than my usual mushroom and pepper, half-and-half pork and beef mince, plus milk and nutmeg. My tip is to put a lid on the pan when frying the carrot, onion and celery to maximise their tenderness. After a little over an hour, the mixture bubbled down into a glossy sauce that beautifully coated the pasta.

I ventured into work on Saturday to image my slices, which was successful, but it was oddly draining to spend 5 hours at the microscope, so I'm hopeful that next week's slices won't be delayed and I can have a weekend away from work. 

2021 Week 5

It was quite difficult to stay motivated this week, but after working most of last weekend, I've done no work this weekend in an effort to feel revitalised going into the second week of February. I was productive in the kitchen, making tasty vegetarian panna cottas and a less successful lemon/orange/plum drizzle cake using (too much of) the liquid from a batch of poached plums!

Two for one: Panna cotta topped with poached plums, and plum, orange and lemon drizzle cake!

I also tried a few new recipes, including black bean pork noodles and a meatball-parsnip combo that also led me to make grilled pitta bread pizzettas for a couple of lunches - the joys of WFH! 

Black bean pork noodles with added pepper, and a feta, tomato and parsley pitta-zzetta.

I also went on a 2-hour walk on Saturday to a pleasant viewpoint in the city. 

2021 Week 4

Going for a different format this week, focusing on the things I'm thankful for from each day: 

Monday had a couple of firsts for the year: the first large group lab meeting and my first coffee! It was good to see everyone's faces and hear about two of the postdocs' latest findings. 

On Tuesday I sorted out my surgery documents, applied for postal votes for the upcoming Scottish Parliament and local elections, and watched the hilarious and heartwarming film Man Up.

On Wednesday I baked a lovely lemon and blueberry drizzle cake - my first containing whole fruits, and it tastes wonderful!

On Thursday I had a lovely chat with the lab technician and enjoyed making creamy pasta with prawns, adding some chilli, tomatoes and parsley in place of chives.

Finally on Friday, I made sure my maths course report was in the correct format and went for my first ever smear test, which was incredibly quick and relaxed.

2021 Week 3

Monday: Today was successful; I started the penultimate assessment of the maths course, imaged another region of the hippocampus in my slices from last week, and rearranged this week's surgery slots to better fit my schedule. In case my next antibody arrives during the first half of this week, I'll write my email request for slices so that I can hit send as soon as I know it's arrived. In general, I was pleased to have put a wash on before 9am, and making my bed and washing my hair this evening between episodes of The West Wing wasn't too taxing. 

On Tuesday morning I had another successful surgery practice, but couldn't help feeling disappointed that I wasn't trying it for real. I made a little more maths progress and started working through the figures from the journal club article, which I finished reading today (Wednesday). I also finalised the plans for next week's surgery attempts and found the second week of the Programming for Biologists course very straightforward. This broccoli pasta dish I made for dinner will definitely be added to my rotations, it was the perfect way to use up the broccoli I had leftover from Sunday lunch!

The rest of the week was pleasantly productive, and over the weekend I made good progress on the final element of the maths course, as well as attending some fun online events.

2021 Week 2

When I began writing this post on Thursday, I was very pleased with my progress this week; my double staining protocol to identify pathological markers in brain tissue was going well, I had submitted my first of two conference abstracts, and I felt confident enough to retry recovery surgery for my EEG recording project next week. Two thirds of those things were resolved successfully, but I found out on Friday that the latter is effectively on hold until the current lockdown ends. I have been exceedingly grateful to be able to continue working during the tier 4 and lockdown restrictions, but the circumstances are not ideal for PhD projects that require lots of training like mine does. 

Outside of the lab, I baked this delicious marzipan loaf cake for the third time, which was even more moreish warmed along with poached plums.

I bought some reduced kale during my weekly shop, which motivated me to finally make this sausage and kale hash; it was so good I made it twice! I also made the most of a bunch of spring onions by making tasty Chinese and Greek-inspired recipes. I watched a few more films, including Castaway and La La Land right now, and concluded season 4 of The West Wing. 

I'll use next week to consolidate my surgery practice and notes, making sure I can get up and running as soon as possible after lockdown, and make a push towards completing the mathematics course. Onwards and upwards!

Just like that, it's 2021!

It's a new year and I'm feeling refreshed after using my student privileges to spend the festive period across the border. I'd been back in my uni city barely an hour when another round of national lockdowns were announced, but thankfully the labs are continuing to operate as they did in tier 4. After a negative lateral flow test result on Wednesday, I popped into the lab to check on my antibodies and transfer some piping to the animal unit. Today was very email heavy, but speaking to two of my supervisors was useful, and my plans for the next few weeks are taking shape nicely. 

I'm also trying hard to to improve my work-life balance from last year. Paradoxically, a lack of TV in the flat has made it easier to switch off in the evenings, because I now use my work laptop to watch TV and films. So far this week I've watched Point Break, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the first two episodes of Pretty Little Liars. Relaxation has also taken the form of making new recipes, including delicious spinach and ricotta gnudi and a healthier beef chilli recipe. This weekend I have my second test, and so long as it's negative, I'll pop into the lab to make a buffer ready for next week. 

Week in Review: 31st Aug to 4th Sept

Five-day weeks just fly by! This week was productive in some ways I hadn't envisaged, hence I only completed one of my aims, but I did so thoroughly, getting feedback from my supervisor on my poster and setting up a practice talk next week. 

I made a little progress on the other two aims by finding previous notes I'd written and completing one more exercise of the SysMIC course, but since I had a late start today, I'm going to spend a few hours on it at the weekend. I'd also like to read through all of the notes I've made to date and make sure I have copies of the papers before I do more summarising of my notes. 

I'm not planning to do more experiments next week because I'm off at the end of the week, but I will use a different imaging technique on the IHC samples I already have to hopefully improve the way the staining looks. I will also work towards resuming my original experiments by arranging training, writing a risk assessment and tying up the results from my previous project. 

Till the next time!