Guys thank you so much your posts have really cheered me up ! Next time I have anything with garlic in I'll resist the temptation to use febreeze as a breath freshener though! Did have to go to A&E the next day as chest was much worse, turned out it had agravated the lining of my lungs From now on will be watching 'How clean is you house' for eco friendly cleaning tips! Or actually just closing oven door and ignoring the grime ..!

ok ...its been a bad enough week but this is taking the p*£s! Family stresses, struggling with work and now I go and inhale oven cleaner! Throat hurting and chest tight, luckily dont think it requires trip to A&E (fingers crossed) just drinking lots of milk and sticking head out of window into frezing, wet night to get fresh air...I now hate Mr Muscle... the b$£*ard!

Morning all! Last night spent slothing on sofa. This morning beginning to feel first draft of chapter is utter tripe...eek!

aah wine ...sadly none in the house at the moment, (a lapse on my part ) might console myself with a hot chocolate instead!

I love seafood especially mussels. You poor thing with the eye infection! Never had anything like that mostly headaches and frustration from trying to read seventeenth century hand writing! Just had a bit of sweet related sugar boost, try to keep going another couple of hours ...and then collapse!

had a bad week myself last week for family reasons..so didn't get any done from last Tuesday till yesterday and definitely finding it dificult to get into the routine again.

mmm getting chilli craving right now!Why is it I always get hunger pangs about this time, 3-4 pm is definitely the low point of the day for me work and energy wise!

no problem sassy, take care and enyoy your nap...and anytime I can help just let me know D x

Mauritius ...I'm jealous alot of my research is based in Lancashire...Preston archives are not v glamourous, dusty but no heat

I'm doing mine in History, more specifically early modern english history...and I'm based up in Liverpool and Manchester...

cheers donut, and nice to meet you . Screen slightly less blank now but still slow going...

sounds like a good idea...any b*3$cks that I'll type cant be any worse than the stuff I'm currently coming up with

ok, can I just ask when writng how much time do people spend staring blankly at screen? Have just started typing a chapter and in bit of writers block atm, finding it hard to knuckle down as demonstrated by number of posts on various topic in last hour :-)

Apparently (according to my hairdresser, a fount of knowledge on these matters ), apparently its also natural to loose more hair in this season as well... ok back to writing first chapter...boo hoo

Hi Sassy, dont worry its perfectly normal to feel like you dont know what you're doing! I started a PhD in History last october and I'd say that it was only in this term I started to feel a bit clearer and more settled. Your first term is best spent reading around your sublject and getting an idea of the area you want to work in. Don't pressure yourself too much, Out of the 35 hours a week you spend in writing/reading/ sitting in front of a computer ect, you can easily loose time stressing, doing little nigglling tasks that dont feel like work but have to get done, and some days you'll get more done in less time, or less done in the same amount of time (I hate those days!)What you have to realise is that as long as you try your best, dont spend the day watching day time tv and importantly give yourself some time off once in a while, otherwise you will crackup, you'll be fine! All the best D x