Why the Irish are obsessed with weather: a thread (1/5) Why the Irish are obsessed with weather: a thread (2/5)

#NationalCoffeeDay #NationalCoffeeDay

Why the COVID tracker app is pretty snazzy #CovidTracker Surprisingly I wasn’t paid to draw that. I’m still open to being paid now it’s drawn though.

I’ve been walking to and from work since Monday and it seems like people have gotten a bit crap at physical distancing. It’s like we were given permission by our parents to have a few people over and it’s turned into a huge house party. Meanwhile some of us have family at the other end of the country being held hostage by people doing this bit right!

Recently we got a research paper accepted by @jhieditor about how hand soap influences the growth of CPE in sinks. Here’s a few illustrations I drew explaining the background and some results. #microbiology #science #antibioticresistance Here is the paper, it might get lost in a world of COVID but we’re proud of it, also it’s open access. journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-…

The lack of clarity around childcare is almost panic inducing at times. Like working parents are an afterthought and having children was some luxury we indulged in. ‘Let’s have one of those babies they showed on the telly!’ And so much of the pressure falls on women. We spend much of our professional life trying to avoid mentioning children in case it makes us look like we aren’t committed to the job.

Today hasn’t been great. As illustrated by this card I made this card for husband. At 10pm last night I was cutting his hair.
10 pm is not a good time for injury in a lockdown.
At 10.20pm I was supergluing my husband’s bloodied palm together.
The superglue held until today at which point he went to a clinic, got it cleaned out and four stitches.

Did you ever fight with siblings over an object because it was ‘special’? Well, which of these spoons, according to my four year olds is the ‘special spoon’? I’ll add a poll to this. #parenting Is the ‘special spoon’

Going to the shop. #lockdown Fun fact about me. I can’t drive.

People are still having birthdays during this whole thing so I’ve decided to make cards for people to send to their friends. I’ll draw them and put them in this thread. Birthday antics card

In a few years time:

‘Remember the Coronavirus pandemic when we all went into lockdown?’ - Me

‘Remember that time when Mammy baked A LOT?’ - My kids Hopefully that will be their take away from all this. Hopefully.

This #MothersDay many are distancing from loved ones to keep them safe.
I’ve made these topical cards for you to send electronically. #sociallydistantnotemotionallydistant #MothersDay

I am by no means great at baking but here are three recipes I’ve made recently, they’re meant for kids to do. Pfffft. bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/bluebe… these turned out pretty well the second time I did them. The yogurt means you use less butter. I used Greek yogurt.

There are a lot of scary things about what’s going on right now but here are some of the amazing things happening during this There are people in labs testing hundreds of samples each day and thankfully only a tiny proportion are positive. That we have so many amazingly skilled scientists.

Recently I’m trying baking from scratch.
I don’t like baking.
People say it’s like science experiment but as a microbiologist people are actively discouraged from eating my work.
These are muffins, they do contain bacteria in the form of yoghurt.
They are dead now. My mother in law said the best recipes to follow are those for baking with children.
But you’re the child.
You’ve never grown up.

Any good outbreak will always be an excuse for companies to try to sell products. And #COVID19 is no different. But the first great outbreak advertising came during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. So let’s take a look... Here’s an advert for Milton which is still in use today. Milton, not this advert. And an ad for lifebouy soap, peddling it’s antibacterial nature and keeping the kids safe. But research shows that all types of soap work fine.

As a microbiologist I think about the vaccination movement a bit. I don't think balance is a scientific expert talking to a non scientist, especially when there are researchers out there whose work is to look at vaccinations skeptically. But I also think there is space to talk about why the anti-vax movement exists. You cannot deny people their fear, anger and mistrust only question where it comes from. There is room for compassion there but I think it is in human stories.