Thread 10 - TalkLair: “The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles.”

[Kucinghitam]

Continuation of previous threads (thread 9).

Although the nights are gradually drawing in, the new lair of JTT escapees is all cosy and homey inside. The hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Kasper looks like a good and loyal friend. Handsome too.

Top cat nursing.

This is one of the saddest and most enraging threads I've ever read.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/pregnancy/4916928-my-husband-has-said-that-he-wants-a-break-from-our-relationship-two-days-before-im-due-to-have-an-elective-c-section

I read that too, and was so angry with the dickish husband. I wouldn't let the bugger back through the door.

Me too, Brit, I'd never want to see him again. I wonder what his family think of him.

The most charitable explanation is cold feet/panic attack. All the attempts to have a baby, even the awful time she’s had with this pregnancy, an actual BABY has been just an abstract notion for him, and suddenly it’s happening, it’s real.

Of course he’s still an absolute skunk of a man. I do wonder why women bother with men beyond reproductive purposes. I can’t BELIEVE how many awful ones abound, going by MN threads, when almost all the men I know IRL are lovely, good men.

Oh dear... I just heard a bonk from my kitchen and when I went through I saw a couple of tiny bird feathers on the window so I checked outside. There's a female cardinal on the ground - hopefully just stunned. There aren't many outdoor cats around here (ours are indoor cats) so I've just left it there in the hope it will recover. I saw it's mate perching on the fence too.

I can only read so many 'crap bloke' threads in a day! 😀

I did read the OP, actually.

@MavisMcMinty The most charitable explanation is cold feet/panic attack. All the attempts to have a baby, even the awful time she’s had with this pregnancy, an actual BABY has been just an abstract notion for him, and suddenly it’s happening, it’s real.

I wondered about that. Plus (presumably) being expected to be present at the C-section.

I also thought he might be panicking. He's still a dick though.

Update on the cardinal - it has recovered and removed itself so only stunned, thank goodness. They are beautiful birds.

Huzzah for the cardinal!

That thread. My god, what an arsehole he is. I mean yes, panic, fear, etc but that's no excuse for leaving your wife who has had a nightmare of a pregnancy just before the baby is about to arrive.

In other news, I suspected I had cystitis but it seemed to clear up so I did nothing about it today. This evening it has proved not to be clearing up at all and I am so cross I didn't go and buy something just in case. I'll be at the chemist first thing in the morning. Well as first thing as they open anyway!

Oh cystitis is horrid! Sympathies @MouseMinge . Lots of liquid, lemon barley squash if you can't find cranberry juice anywhere.

What a dick.

Sums it up perfectly! 🙌

Britinme · Yesterday 19:16

Oh dear... I just heard a bonk from my kitchen and when I went through I saw a couple of tiny bird feathers on the window so I checked outside. There's a female cardinal on the ground - hopefully just stunned.

I'm glad to hear it recovered. It's a good idea to pick them up, as they can get cold very quickly. Breathe on them slowly, to keep them warm.

I learned that on MN.

Yesterday I started making my most excellent burger mix for us tea, when I realised I had no cheese (gotta be cheeseburgers) and no chips, AND the dogs had managed to turn off the Aga, so just reheated the previous day’s leftovers (roast lamb) instead.

Today I have recommenced the burger mix (even though I STILL don’t have cheese or chips but will go to the shop later) and found that the garlic I’d crushed yesterday and left covered in a bowl overnight had gone GREEN, bright green (shoulda taken a photo, sorry, but imagine a pea green). Well, I only have half a bulb of garlic left in the larder, which I need for the other half of the beef mince, and the local shop often doesn’t have garlic, so I’ve used the green stuff anyway, but can anyone reassure me it’s fine? Actually looks quite pretty, although I don’t suppose it’ll still be green after frying.

Intriguing. I would imagine some sort of oxidation of the sulphur compounds.

<Goes off to crush experimental cloves>

Heh - for replication purposes, I covered the bowl containing crushed garlic with a plate rather than clingfilm, dunno if that’s what did it, don’t think I’ve left crushed garlic overnight before.

And just to put off going to the shop for a bit longer, there’s a bit of a local shop problem in that the nearest one, a 6-mile round trip, has better fruit’n’veg and sells proper double cream, but their freezers have been broken for months. The next-nearest shop is a 10-mile round trip via the potholiest route or 15 miles via less pot-holey B-roads - they have freezers but no ground coffee, and a feeble fruit’n’veg section and only sell long-life tampered-with “double cream”.

On my neediest days I have to visit BOTH shops! But today it’s mainly the freezer section I need, so 15 miles it is.

I couldn't bear living miles from a shop! When I was house-hunting here, that was about my biggest criterion; shop and chippy within easy walking distance. Actually my corner shop (a Morrisons) has had bust chillers for a couple of weeks (hence no milk or dairy) and seems in no hurry to fix it.

Having shops close by is quite a big deal, though living in a more rural area would also be a big deal. We're really lucky where we are, being in the old town and surrounded by lots of trees, grass and old houses, but with the main shops about five minutes walk. Been here 14 years and it still shocks me all the time how lovely it is in this spot.

Me too! Our previous house was too far for my liking - two and a half miles! Actually, as there was no public transport in that area, to go anywhere away from home at all you had to get in the car. As we're getting older, I felt we needed to be within easy reach of a shop and a bus stop in case driving became a no-no. The house we're in now is a half mile pleasant walk (not in a Maine winter though!) from a supermarket, a pet store, a pharmacy, a bank and a bookshop, and one block from a bus stop that takes you downtown.

I'm so close to shops that after years in a village I feel as though I'm in grocery heaven. I have a Morrisons two minutes away and a Waitrose and Lidl about six minutes away. Oh and a Tesco Express about four minutes away and an Iceland 10 minutes away. I am blessed with shops!

I took some cystitis stuff today and it's a bit better. I was going to say a wee bit better but thought better of it. I went to a pub quiz, all music, with some friends and we came second! It was a riot. The quiz master was chaotic but also hugely entertaining. We will go again.

We're about 10 mins mostly flat walk from the shops in our town, and I do like that: we used to be 15 mins away and just those 5 minutes made quite a lot of difference. Plus there was a hill involved. We often pop down and get a walk at the same time.

Mind, I like walking now more than I used to. One of the advantages of Covid is that I now happily walk when I would have taken the car before.

I'm glad the cystitis is getting better - such a horrible thing to have.

Re garlic I am now a total convert to Waitrose frozen chopped garlic. It is so much easier, and once you factor in the tiny bulbs that you can't do much with, and the manky bits you inevitably get, I'm sure it's no more expensive than buying heads.

About 10 mins walk to the shops from here, too. It's a nice distance. And another 5 mins to the sea.