Ladies and Ladies: The Bluestocking is open: again

[DeanElderberry]

Newly renovated, beautifully appointed. Food and Beverages, excellent (if sometimes unexpected service), delightful clientele, special accommodation for invalids, pedants, readers and normal people.

Ceol agus Craic

Entertainment!

! Gerbils beautiful gerbils!

❤🐀🎧🐀🎺🐁🎷🐖 ❤

all furry!

! ❤AI and Scientists❤

less furry !

All women welcome

well behaved male visitors from the Staunch Ally are welcome in the stableyard but not across the threshold of the main building

ooops. posted too soon

there ye go

Do the gerbils realise they put the whipped cream and sprinkles on top of the lid of the lidded cup?

Yes, it's so you can lick them off and enjoy the yum while you're waiting for the coffee to be cool enough to drink ❤️

They think of everything.

For @FuzzyPuffling.

You don't have to eat the gerbuiles. They would prefer it if you didn't, but they wanted to look extra cute for you xx

For the avoidance of doubt, can I declare that haggis is disgusting. I quite like the taste but the texture defeats me. How about you cut into slices and fry it so that it firms up a bit?

I have to admit to liking the non-vegan version of haggis, though I haven't tried the vegan version. Tonight, in the absence of haggis, DH and I are having meatloaf, and maybe I'll top it off with a glass of Scotch after dessert.

I've not been to Scotland much so I've rarely had the chance to try haggis. In fact I've only had two opportunities. Once in a hotel breakfast in the Boat of Garton, a slice of it fried, it was very nice. Prior to that in a canteen outside of Stirling. It was being dolloped out with those spirally spoons they also use to serve mushy peas. Which gives some clue as to the texture, offal porridge. I had something else.

I also bought some tinned haggis from the gift shop at the Campbell's Soup factory (they had tinned everything there!), but I gave them all away.

You can do that. You may also prefer black pudding, which as well as being delicious is a superfood.

Apparently.

Stovies is also good. Mashed tatties with onions and beef through it, served with beetroot and oatcakes.

I discovered that we had no Scotch. Bah. But I made a Maine version of cranachan using blueberries instead of raspberries and sweetening the cream with maple syrup and spiced rum. I couldn't be arsed to toast oats so I crushed up some granola instead. So not much like cranachan really but it was very tasty.

I'm running low on maple syrup, but in March we have Maine Maple Sunday when all the sugar houses open to visitors and you can go and buy a gallon of maple syrup relatively cheaply, as well as all sorts of other maple-based goodies.

I once got thoroughly insulted in Scotland because I asked if they did vegetarian stovies.
Oddly, not because I was veggie, but because I was English. Ho hum....

I tried to order some haggis through the post a while back (pre Brexit) and noticed in the nick of time that although the actual beast only cost about €5 the postage was about €35 so ditched that idea. I didn't do anything Burns night-ish (and the mystery pasta was tasty) but I think I'll have black and white pudding with scrambled eggs for breakfast.

When the power came back on the fridge was still at 4 degrees (which says something about what temperature the house was away from the room with the wood burner), the freezer was at -7 and making alarmed squeaks, but I think the food should all be safe. The freezer was back down to -20 by 7:30.

That thing about heights of men vs women - is the gene for height dependent on chromosomes in some way? Surely the daughters of tall men are often taller than the daughters of short men? And did the study allow for a century of teenage and sometimes even younger girls deliberately restricting food intake in order to be thin, even as the blokes beef themselves up?

That sounds bloody gorgeous!

I love maple syrup.

I adore maple syrup and it occurs to me that the remains of the spelt loaf I made before the storm thinking that ham sandwiches with crusty bread might be nice if I couldn't cook hot stuff (good call) would make excellent french toast. Lidl gluten-free 'Promise bread' is good for toast but not absorbent enough for f-t.

That means I could have french toast and maple syrup for dinner tomorrow, with thin crisp rashers. mmmmm

It also means I can put off doing a 'big shop' for another couple of days.

We do things with oats. My brother makes Staffordshire oatcakes, and can even make successful gluten-free ones by using oat drink instead of milk.

And you should see what I do to porridge.

There's a slight edge of menace in your first and last sentences, Cher, I'm glad I'm not an oat

I suspect that height is definitely affected by genes, but also by nutrition, parasites, other diseases, work load and, obviously, testosterone. I didn't look at the link, so I don't know if they corrected for other variables. Though it'd be a poor scientist who didn't.

Coincidentally, I saw a headline yesterday that said the, notoriously tall, Dutch were getting shorter.

Perhaps Cher is a cereal killer!

Perhaps Cher is a cereal killer!

😀

I think several of us may be. The Dean has it in for spelt, to begin with.

I'm a plant scientist, I'm mean to all plants equally!

'Mean' average?

Mean nasty 😎

The article seemed to be suggesting that by choosing to mate with tall men, women were causing male humans to get taller but not female humans. Which seemed to need a lot more explanation. Presumably all the teeny tiny Elliot Page type transmen will bring the average down again so so I don't need to worry..

https://news.mit.edu/2019/genetic-study-takes-sex-differences-research-to-new-heights-0718
Disclaimer, as mentioned I'm a plant scientist. However, it does seem to be the case that some genes are preferentially expressed in one sex vs the other, so even though both sons and daughters may inherit the gene, the sons may express it more than the daughters. This study says it contributes all of 1.6 cm to height difference though, so it wouldn't appear to be a major factor in the reported story of sexual selection causing only men to get taller. On average.

😨

Don't worry Cake, Magpie has already admitted that she's not a real scientist, she's a plant scientist, presumably spying on the real ones and reporting back to.. well to the Bluestocking, apparently

As a woman of 5'8" ( so tal but not bonkersly so) I an having a new rule come the revolution.
You're not allowed to go out with anyone more than 5" taller than yourself, thereby maintaining the height averages and leaving the tall.blokes for us tall women.