A new year means a new resolution. And this year, I have just one resolution*: To finish my PhD. Yes, that’s it: My 2018 New Year resolution is…
2017 is over. It was meant to be my “year of doing” but, alas, it would seem that it was a year undone. Undone, indeed*.…
After returning from my Homeland Holidays at the end of August, I had great hopes for a spectacular September for my PhD. Only I got sick that first…
One of the great things about my American holidays this year has been the reunions. Each of my three weekends has brought another group together, which means…
As I enter the lovely month of May, I am aware that it will be a manic month filled with mayhem and madness. There is…
I’m in Glasgow for a much-needed writing retreat (and a bit of cat-sitting). And one of the things that help to keep me going on…
I am entering thesis writing season now and am really looking forward to the stress and excitement that it will bring. I am not sure…
When the Dangerous Women Project was launched last year, I immediately found myself wondering if I was a dangerous woman. I wondered if there was anything about…
Anyone paying attention should know by now that the gloriousness of plastic is less than glorious. And, in fact, our planet is in quite a…
Welcome to 2017. This is the year. This is the year that so very many very wonderful things are going to happen. This is the…
One of the cool things about having your own blog that is just about you (as Just Frances is) means that I get to shout from the keyboard when…
My time at Serenity Lodge is coming to an end, and I am finding that the calming serenity I found here is starting to fade away,…
I’m writing this post from Serenity Lodge*, my home for the next two weeks. My view from the deck overlooks the River Devon as it flows through Clackmannanshire on…
I love Zadar! I really do. I arrived here last Sunday for an academic conference and I will be travelling home tomorrow. But in this one week, I fell in…
My life was forever changed on the day I opened up my home – and my heart – to a young girl who needed me. The year that followed…
This summer is Thesis Summer for me. It’s the summer when I must, without excuses, get my head down and write, write, write! Luckily, July and August…
I attended a PhD workshop the other week. It was one of those touchy-feely things where they wanted to talk about coping strategies for balancing…
It’s that time of year again, so dust off your quills, fill up your ink wells, and grab your parchment – or at the very least, find…
One of my hopes for 2016 is that I can keep myself motivated. Motivate to succeed. Motivated to stay active. Motivated to work harder. Motivated…
I have decided to finally read “Happier” by Tal Ben-Shahar. It’s a book I acquired nearly two years ago, but I’ve never quite got around to…