Thread 12 - TalkLair: “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 11).

The days are gradually growing longer, but the worst of the winter weather is not yet behind us. In the TalkLair, we remain hunkered down keeping cosy and warm. 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…

Francis is often a real pain in the arse but he came through for me last night. Not only did he warm me up but he didn't mither me for food despite getting none until this morning. There was dry food but no wet food for the poor fat boy fat.

Snoop is away for about three weeks, it's just sort of hit at the time I'm finding most difficult although I'm sure I'd have found it difficult at any time. I'll just lean more on the other handful of people who are also great. I knew I'd miss her I just didn't realise how much until today.

The magnolias here are in full bloom. They’re just magical.

@MouseMinge please do give me a shout if there’s anything I can help with x

The PoW stuff has been mad and a bit toxic all over the internets. My take on it is she did the right thing today and that Kensington Palace's comms have been incredibly poor. As with the king I don't need to know what cancer she has got but I think when you're in the positions they are there's a lot of privacy you can have but you can't have as much as ordinary people because you're a public figure and the public notice when things are different and there has to be some sort of explanation. No big details needed but the minimum details will let people know and then they'll be "happy" and get on with stuff. That said, people have shown how rabid we can be in the social media age and it's not been pretty.

And I also cried a bit while watching Kate. Such an awful thing for anyone to have to go through, and to have to go through it under the scrutiny of the public eye must be so horrible.

@MouseMinge I read that as Prisoner of War and was quite confused for a moment!

I guess when you're the princess of Wales, looking at the last two, you are sort of a prisoner of war in terms of the role you're playing.

((Mouse)) entirely understandable you'd feel wobbly without Snoop, but glad to know Francis is doing his bit.

We get slime mould on our defunct garden bench. If it comes back this year I could set up a distribution network. Not sure if it's the right type for mazes, though.

I felt so sorry for the PoW. She didn't look at all well and it must be awful to have to deal with all the media shit on top of that.

Today I felt a bit less undone than yesterday. Had to go to hospital for radiotherapy to make up for not having it on Thursday. I'm glad that Alexa told me the weather when she woke me up - when I turned off the alarm she told me to "rock on" which was disturbing - because it was bright blue skies outside and looked warmer. I thought she was lying at first but no, it was f cold. I had to fight the wind to get down a wee bit of a hill from the clinic to the bus stop and the wind was so cold and harsh that it felt like it was trying to rip the skin off my face. I've spent the day in the flat though where it's mostly warm so I laugh in the face of icy winds, showers, hail and all round "this is not spring weather".

I'm now 80% through treatment and have five more treatments. Big chemo next week so this time next week expect me to be moaning.

I had my first Zoladex injection yesterday so I'm buckling up for an uncomfortable ride. I say injection but it was more like being stapled. Apparently there is now a little tube inside me which will gradually dissolve over the course of the month as it does its thing. I have a shocking headache, and a feeling of being stabbed in the eye, which I'm assuming is something to do with my hormones trying to deal with what has just hit them. I really hope this is worth it.

Warm thoughts to both of you, @VictorianBigot and @MouseMinge

Thank you, @Britinme .

I really hope it's worth it too @VictorianBigot . Digits are crossed.

Sympathies and get-well-soon vibes to @MouseMinge and @VictorianBigot

Going back a bit on the thread, as we are up north, the magnolia season only just got going this week. Here's my neighbour's magnificent specimen. (We have a magnolia too, a darker pink version, but it's a younger tree and also mostly still in bud).

And for amusement, here is Mochimochimochi with her newest obsession - my slippers. Every night, when I take them off to get into bed, she gets into them. Paws in a slipper, then she sort of settles on top of them like a brooding hen.

VictorianBigot · 22/03/2024 21:06

MouseMinge I read that as Prisoner of War and was quite confused for a moment!

I read it as the Party of Women, then Prisoner of war, before I realised. I'm obviously fully radicalised now...

Mouse

I'm sorry to hear that you're going through it, but at least you only have 5 treatments and another month to go. As it goes on, it's bound to seem like a long time, but a month is quite short.

All the best!

Here are the magnolia & cherry.

What a treat to come into this thread this morning and see magnolias, cherry blossom AND Mochimochimochi in slippers!

Unfortunately, the magnolia I saw is already wilting, with quite a lot of brown, flaccid leaves.

Here’s the first cherry blossom I saw a couple of weeks ago. The magnolias are in full bloom now and a few cherry trees in the park too.

Bonus photo of Kasper peeking up from the sofa last night.

Magnolias do de-blossom in a particularly sad way. I wish they’d stay in bloom all year round but then I guess they wouldn’t be so special.

Oh, I can’t remember if I said already but I went down a slime mould rabbit hole. It’s incredible! I’m now on a mission to find some, particularly the fruiting bodies.

Four-post ment:

@MouseMinge I must have missed your post last night while writing my own post. It was indeed very cold and the hail shower and winds seemed to appear out of nowhere. I hope the Big Chemo isn't too horrible.

Lovely magnolias! And cherry blossom too. There is too little of that round here now. Also loving the cat slipper action (or inaction).

Mostly though, sending good health vibes to @MouseMinge and @VictorianBigot - fingers firmly crossed for things getting easier very soon.

In the midst of your magnolias I have to report that we had an ice storm yesterday evening and our power went out, and is still out fourteen hours later. It is very cold in the house and I am sitting with a thick sweater and a slanket. My phone battery is getting low but if we can get the car defrosted and started I'll charge it in that while we find somewhere with power to get breakfast.

Good health vibes to @MouseMinge and @VictorianBigot from me too. And Mochimochimochi is a sweetie!

I had some news this morning: my DS and his long-time DP are getting married. But they are only doing it for practical/financial reasons, on a trip down to Cornwall with friends. I'm not invited, and neither is his mother. And he said, are you allright with that? What to say? I said, what does your mother say about that, and he said, I haven't told her yet, I'm telling you first. It's a weird one, I'm still getting my head round it.