2026 Summer session: Week 4

Hello!

Thank you all so much for sharing the small beautiful things you noticed this week. I really enjoyed reading them, sorry for not getting comments in for everyone earlier in the week, it has been a long week…

I’m still traveling and have jumped forward in time to a full spring with blossoms everywhere, amazing what being on a slightly more southerly island can do. So, the picture of the week is two of my favourite blossoms: apple and ornamental plum. I love the colour contrasts between the outside and inside petals of the apple blossom, and between the leaves and the blossoms of the ornamental plum. Somehow the contrast makes both colours for each shine.

So, from that… The theme of the week is contrast and harmony… Do you have two or more contrasting things/themes/approaches in your work that brings out the best in both? Do you have two contrasting parts of your personality that make a good pair? Do you have a colleague with a contrasting style of working that somehow fits with yours and creates a dream team of collaboration?

 Goals below as always... Have a great week!

 JaneB

SELF-CARE:
* 3x20 intentional movement, 1 x making, 2 x small things with people, reading every day (with dinner, in waiting times)
** make pretty list of different making methods and projects I might play with this summer: pick up one thing from it I haven't done for a while
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
* 75% of chores
** make nice looking lists of the steps for the living room, the smaller tasks and the finances
** braindump the clothes projects
** think generally about what might get done when
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* more assessment-related bureaucracy
* one block of summer teaching tasks (which may need to be squeezed in in hours here and there around the meetings, sigh)
* one block of time on Icky Admin Task
* roughly map out what might get done when this summer, and prioritise if needed
RESEARCH:
* submit small group paper if people reply
* continue calm systematic exploration of the laptop problem.
* write draft text for second set of results from modelling problem
** schedule meeting for teaching related project

Susan

1. Finish microfilms
2. Clear out office
3. Meet with incoming chair to go over looming issues.
4. Have fun with friends
5. Make sure final pieces are in place for condo purchase
6. Set up internet, electricity, and gas for the condo.
6. Stay zen

Julie

1. Three days on Big Article
2. Meeting with one mentee, email the other.
3. Print reviewers' comments on 5,000 piece & decide on responses (revising piece is something to add to Session goals).
4. House/life admin: travel insurance, research activities for summer trip, post book club swap, look for new chair, FIL's birthday.
5. Self-care/fun: run x 3, find weights/pilates class, read, journal, carry on watching addictive TV series

DEH

-file travel voucher
-get mulch for veg patch
-finish Overdue Essay (now TRQ)
-produce readable conference paper (also now TRQ)
-regular PT exercises, swim x2, bike x2, weights x2
-finish booking August trip

heu mihi
1. Add last few article summaries to Festschrift intro
2. Process two Festschrift article revisions
3. Process new journal submission
4. Write 5000 words (let's be bold!)
5. Italian x 5, exercise x usual, sit x 3
6. Clean my house a little more thoroughly than usual ahead of weekend visit from parents

Daisy

Stay on top of admin 
Continue planning and get a summer schedule sorted
Review data and future publication plans with field trip people
Eat a few salads

2026 Summer session: Week 3

Hello everyone!

Hope the proverbial garden mulching and weeding and tending has gone well! I am on a big field trip in a lovely area for the week. It is 2 degrees, with horizontal rain/sleet, and foggy… Everything is still beautiful of course, and the actual subject of the trip is fascinating but the big views and wide open vistas are not quite as impressive as expected. So I thought I’d share a few pictures of tiny beautiful things I’ve taken in the last few days. It is still very early spring here so plants are just contemplating coming out of hibernation, almost nothing is blooming yet, and there are barely any leaves out...

 

The first picture is of some alder catkins, with tiny new leaves and flower spikes. The second is the ubiquitous juniper bushes with new berries, they will be dark purple in a few months. The third is a little patch of lingon berry flowers (called partridge berries here)… They will be bright red berries by the end of the season.

This week’s prompt… Did you notice any particular tiny beautiful things this week? Or, alternatively, what tiny things did you start this week that might bloom into something new by the end of the season?

Last week’s goals below…

DEH

-Write (or transfer) 3000 words for Overdue essay.
-Write or polish 1000 "real" words for First Conference Paper
-Contact last writer with reviewer comments
-regular PT exercises, gym x4 (swim x2)
-finish booking 3rd summer trip
-file travel voucher
-get mulch for veg patch
-review essay for journal
-make a cake

Daisy 

Take time to do project planning 
Polish and give talks and support students with theirs
Have fun catching up with people at conference 
Keep admin work going while away

heu mihi

1. Write 3000 messy words
2. Italian x 5
3. Sit x 3; exercise as usual
4. Start reading the Legenda Aurea (because why not?)
5. Catch up on some lingering leftover work stuff

JaneB

SELF-CARE:
* 3x20 intentional movement, 1 x making, 2 x small things with people, reading every day (with dinner, in waiting times)
** make a list of different making methods and projects I might play with this summer
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
* 75% of chores
** braindump the steps for the living room and clothes projects
** braindump smaller house and environment things I would like to get done this summer
** braindump where I want to get to with my personal finances
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* assessment-related bureaucracy
* meet with the MSc by Research student who is furthest from submission
* one block of summer teaching tasks
* one block of time on Icky Admin Task
RESEARCH:
* submit small group paper
* continue calm systematic exploration of the laptop problem.
* write draft text for first two sets of results from modelling problem
* schedule meeting for teaching related project

 Julie 

1. At least two days on Big Article - write one section, plan out the rest.
2. Final sign-off on PhD corrections.
3. Submit request for funding for travel this summer and book if possible.
4. Two teaching meetings (one on assessment).
5. House/life admin: book more summer travel, travel insurance, organise and post parcel for book club swap.
6. Self-care/fun: run x 3, find weights or Pilates class, read, journal, theatre trip Friday.

Susan

1. Get through at least 3 microfilms
2. Empty storage unit / stop paying for it!
3. Attend meetings
4. Start on office clearout
5. Visit with friends
6. Deal with any lingering admin stuff on the condo purchase
7. Try to get more sleep

2026 Summer session: Week 2

 Hello everyone!

We have excellent collections of summer goals and wishes from last week. And we all like all the flowers! What’s not to like about flowers? Love them all.

I spent a lot of time last weekend digging up and moving plants, and doing all those garden preparation things like mowing, mulching, weeding, sowing, dividing clumps of things, and weed whacking. We’re planning to hire a tiller to pull up some grass and putting in new actual garden beds. The work is not the most satisfying because it does not look like much actually happened, but I know it is there, and I know it is important.

So, for this week’s prompt, here is a lovely unfurling baby hosta to inspire you to think about what invisible but important work you can do this week to set yourself up for success with your goals later in the session? Which project needs to mulched and protected? Which project is in need of a good pile of compost? What needs to be ruthlessly weeded out? What needs to be trimmed to make space for something else?

 

Good luck with your week!

 

This week’s goals:

DEH

-Write (or transfer) 3000 words for Overdue essay.
-Write 1000 words for First Conference Paper
-Contact 2 (or am I up to 3?) writers with reviewer comments
-regular PT exercises, otherwise rest cranky back (maybe try a short swim, short walks)
-finish booking 3rd summer trip

Daisy

Get three talks ready for conference
Data processing for other people’s talks
Do a million interviews
Organize student assistant’s work for the next month
Three fun things with friends

JaneB

SELF-CARE:
* 3x20 intentional movement, 1 x making, 2 x small things with people, reading every day (with dinner, in waiting times)
* make a list of different making methods and projects I might play with this summer
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
* 75% of chores
* braindump the steps for the living room and clothes projects
* braindump smaller house and environment things I would like to get done this summer
* braindump where I want to get to with my personal finances
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* last week of marking, I hope - finish the marking! And the reminding of colleagues on shared modules!
* meet with the MSc by Research student who is furthest from submission
* start writing the summer block list for teaching preparation tasks
RESEARCH:
* submit small group paper
* check in with student author of the paper that got the horrible review (my review luck continues to be bad. Former PhD student submitted their first paper last week and got it desk rejected in 13 minutes - with a letter that began "we have read your paper, and..." - I really don't think they could have! Fortunately they are a very resilient person who said "they can't have read it, and their reason is wrong. Oh well their loss!" and we resubmitted it elsewhere the next day (same publisher so limited reformatting needed)).
* continue calm systematic exploration of the laptop problem. No crying, no suppressing the urge to throw the laptop out of the window!
*write a start of TLQ session list of writing projects and their status.

Julie

1. Finish 30,000 word chapter and try to draw a line in the sand with editor.
2. At least one day on Big Article
3. Teaching prep: check draft timetable for next year has everyone's teaching in correctly, suggest some seminar readings to rest of teaching team.
4. Plan archive trip for end of June ahead of funding deadline next week.
5. House/life admin: book trains for summer travel, sort out insurance, book annual leave, optician's appointment, organise daughter's birthday party.
6. Self-care/fun: run x 3, read, journal, fill hanging baskets and patio pots now it seems to have stopped hailing at random, enjoy surprise trip away with friend this weekend.

2026 Summer session: Week 1

Welcome to the new Summer TLQ session! This is the first week so we're setting goals for the period between now and August 16. We will have a mid-session check in and recalibration for July 5th in case that helps with planning! The theme is going to be picture-related – with a summer-long record of anything I take a photo of in the week preceding, and quite likely those will be flowers…

Last week we thought about what we want out of this summer. This week the prompt is a two-parter… We will set our goals for the session as usual, but I would also love to set an intention for the session. What word or sentence can embody your intention for the summer, as a guiding principle, as a reminder, as a reset when things go off the rails? I have a feeling I might need one.

Here's the boilerplate from previous sessions about goals: Goals can be in any aspect of life, although the key focus is often writing tasks that are personally and professionally important but that never quite tip over into important AND urgent. Urgent things sometimes find their way in here too; that is completely okay, and process goals are also most welcome. If you've been thinking for awhile about joining in, we'd love to have you try us out this time around!

So, a few things to do this week - introduce yourself if you want to, set an intention for your session, set some session goals, do goals for the coming week (if you feel like it!), and in the spirit of the theme of the week, tell us a little about your favourite flowering plant and what it means to you. The photo is a set of cherry blossoms on my sour cherry tree that produced so much last year that I learned to make sour cherry jam which is delightful. Even better, we have a resident fox that visits the tree to eat fallen cherries...


Thank you all for being here and being wonderful company!

 

Interim: May flowers

 Hello everyone!

Hope the May flowers are continuing to provide little spots of beauty and joy! 

Our session will officially start next week. I thought we might like to take this week to think about what our ideal summers would contain, and do a little bit of ruminating on how we can make the reality and the ideal come a bit closer together before we start off with goals next week... 

Are there non-negotiable fun things you want to do this summer? Are there restorative practices that you want to put in place?

For this week... Let's think about what we want... Not what we "should" or "could" or "have to"... 

Just what we want :)

 

Interim: May is here!

Where I live, we're still getting April showers, but the calendar puts us in flower season. I missed my moment to put out the peony supports, so they're going to go all floppy; the lavender is still working on greening up; the rather expensive rose I bought for my birthday last year seems to have died over the winter (boo!); the "lawn" is a mass of dandelions and violets, plus creeping Charlie. A couple-three weeks ago I bought lettuce and spinach seedlings but haven't put them in the ground yet, as we had a frost warning on 1 May! Around here, you have to buy plants when they appear in stores, not when you're ready to plant, or they'll all be gone.

What are you ready to do? What needs to wait for the right moment? Does frost, real or metaphorical, threaten any of your projects?

interim: cross cat edition

 We've had a lot of sunny, bright weather here in the northen UK lately, and the days are rapidly getting longer (the clock change added to that) and now it's light until 8pm or so.  Mr Shoutypants established a routine recently of eat (at 6), poop, then demand entertainment - that is, wanting me to wave his laser toy around for him to chase for ten minutes.  However, now it's light in the evening the laser toy is apparently much less fun and he has made his feelings known.  What out-of-your-control thing have you done lately to annoy your pet (or other household inhabitant)??

As usual, a space for checking in if you want during this transition.