Thread 14 - TalkLair: “What The Hell Are We Supposed To Use, Man? Harsh Language?”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 13).

Summer should be well under way, but the chilly wind, grey clouds and pouring rain beg to differ. Looks like 2024 continues to be a washout - on the bright side, the Tories got washed out too! 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…

Blimey Mouse, what larks eh! I'm very glad they've got you up and walking, even a little - best thing to see that pneumonia off (though I know how utterly exhausting that can be). And hooray for food, even gopping food.

Obviously the first thing any potential buyer of this house would want to know is the distance to the nearest motorway tollbooth: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125334947?currencyCode=GBP#/?channel=OVERSEAS

That is gorgeous - presumably will cost millions to get it up to spec, but wow.

20 minutes to the A4 then turn left for Milan (1 hour) or right for Turin (ditto) - that's assuming you obey the speed limit, which no self-respecting Italian would ever do. Very commutable!

Yes, @DeanElderberry - fixing the roof alone would probably cost more than double the price of the house.

That’s stunning! I’ll pass though as I don’t think my furniture would look right there.

So, funny thing happened to me on Sunday night. Went to see Richard Ashcroft + support at the rugby club on Sunday. Great show, really pleased, weather great, the Zutons backing, who were excellent. Anyway, half-way through RA, this gorgeous young woman sashays up to me with a big smile, I know you, she says, and hugs and kisses me. And chatters on about this and that, still hugging and kissing me. Well OK, I guess I looked cool in my leather jacket and Terf Nation tee-shirt 😎, but I suspect that wasn't the reason! And I was thinking, of course, do I recognise her? Is she one of the bunch of young women who are often down my local on a Saturday night? I don't think so. Anyway, she didn't pick my pocket or try to sell me a time-share, so when she wandered off eventually with a cheery smile, I thought, it seems, E's are still a thing; seemed the most likley explanation. She didn't seem (or smell!) drunk. Anyway, I'm firmly putting it down to a sign of favour from the Goddesses!

If @NoBinturongsHereMate 's link has whetted your appetite, here are a load more enormous castles and things, some for about the same as a 2 bed terrace in Zone 3 in London..... https://x.com/whippletom/status/1815667239875404148

@duc748 wow! 😀

Saw something lovely today. I was cutting back geraniums at work and uncovered what looked like a pile of old cuttings. I hadn't left them there so carefully investigated and found two plump young hedgehogs, cuddled up together and fast asleep! It's thrilling and even more thrilling because I'm told that hedgehogs haven't been seen around there for over 20 years. I'm really excited.

Oh that's so lovely, @Vegemiteandhoneyontoast !

Hedgehogs! How exciting! We don't get them over here, though we do have our garden groundhog.

Loving the chateau porn by the way.

Hedgehogs are great. A few years ago, my dog found one at my parents place, at Christmas. He was very undernourished and they took advice to feed him up over winter, getting him over 500g, in the garage.

Not long before his parole date, he died.

😔

@SinnerBoy Not long before his parole date, he died.

I seem to have something in my eye.

I wish there were hedgehogs in my garden! I did see one round the corner a few years ago.

And @duc748 random encounter reminds me if a friend of mine explaining to a guy who’d stopped to say hello to her that he was clearly confusing her with someone else as they’d never met. His reply “we used to be married!” Oops.

Wow - I'm seriously bad with faces, but I think even I'd manage that one!

I've never seen a hedgehog here. Possibly because of the badgers.

I was rather choked, to, Gonners

@SinnerBoy that's very sad.* *Do you know what the hog died of?

Last night I found my mind often going towards the hogs as the sun went down and I imagined them stirring and going off on their travels around the garden. I wonder where they came from as the property is quite isolated and there are a lot of badgers in the area.

I assume everyone on this thread has heard of the Marsh family? Brilliant work on their latest.

x.com/femininewild/status/1816326502989856968?s=61&t=5wM6rrCIVAeqWs6wZl1YCQ

I particularly like the cash machine/tangerine rhyme.

I usually get one or two hedgehogs every year in my garden, which is delightful. I make sure they can get in and out under the fence and leave them cat biscuits at night. This year the most frequent visitor is quite belligerent about wanting biscuits and stands in the spot with a face of prickly fury if I'm late putting them down in the evening.

Haha! I rather love the sound of a belligerent hedgehog demanding the timely delivery of biscuits.

"Face of prickly fury"!!!

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday that's sitting on my mind - can't think what thread to put it on but I know MN people will help me out with maybe what I should have said. This is my closest friend. We think alike on most issues, but she is very much of the 'be kind' type and the trans issue is one we disagree on.

I should add that she is older than me - 80 - though that doesn't seem that relevant. She knows some transwomen that are part of a group her husband is in, and in her opinion they are women and totally harmless (this is probably true). She doesn't think transwomen should take part in women's sports or be in women's prisons, but otherwise thinks they should be able to go anywhere women do.

Yesterday we were talking about causes we support and I said I had sent money to some of the people fighting employment tribunals, and cited the case in ERCC where the woman was pushed out for supporting a client's request for a female therapist. At first my friend didn't seem to understand what the problem was until I explained that meant not a transwoman. And then she asked if I would think it OK if a client had requested not to be treated by a 'n....r', deliberately using the word she would never otherwise use. I said of course that wouldn't be OK because someone can't choose their race. She asked if I thought that transwomen chose to be women and I said yes. She obviously disagrees.

We left it as a disagreement, and this is a topic we never normally touch on because we each know what the other thinks, but I know she regards it as disrespectful to her and her opinions if I try to explain why I think the way I do, as she never tries to justify her opinions to me as she would consider that disrespectful of me. This means we never actually talk about it because she just shuts me down if it arises. I know she holds her opinions on the basis of her own sense of morality but I do think she actually hasn't thought things through beyond 'be kind' and 'I know these nice transwomen'. Ironically, as a licensed therapist she used to run a batterer's ed class for abusive men...

I was sort of nodding along there (apart from the issue of you having to explain your position to her, without her explaining hers to you) until your final sentence.