The Bluestocking: where conversation should supersede cards

[MyrtleLion]

The Blue Stockings Society was founded by women emphasising education and mutual cooperation. Men could attend as invited guests, but in this Women's Pub, they are only welcome to peer enviously through the windows.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Stockings_Society

All women welcome!

All tastes catered for.

All food containing calories will not increase waistlines.

All drink containing alcohol will not intoxicate beyond the mildy merry and slightly inhibited stage. Guaranteed no hangovers.

Don't mind the gerbils, hamster, capybaras, quokkas and other assorted rodents. They're all female, all staff and very accommodating...

We also had an assembly with a hymn, a Bible reading, a prayer and a homily from the head teacher, who I believe was a Methodist lay preacher. You could get out of this if you were Catholic or Jewish (no other alternatives existed at that point) but that didn't apply to most of us. I rather enjoyed the hymns, and though it turned most of us into atheists it equipped us with an excellent knowledge of the Bible and the English hymnal, which came in very handy for A level English and subsequent university studies for me.

Oh dear, know what makes your clothes smell very unpleasant? Using a dishwasher tablet instead of clothes washing liquid. They've gone straight back into the machine.

In the absence of AI, imagine a team of gerbils with pegs on their noses trying to sneak up on me with anti-pong spray.

I liked the hymns. We were all given a hymn book when we started school. I've probably still got it somewhere. We usually sang, or muttered, the same few. I'd have liked to have learned more. I don't remember anyone being excused assembly although I was friends with some Muslim girls (they were allowed to wear trousers but under a skirt). There were no hijabs that I recall.

My kids sang completely forgettable modern hymns at their primary schools, even at Christmas.

We had hymns every morning too, and not having any cross-sex embarrassment, it was more than a 'rousing mutter' [love that, Cake!], it was the high point of the day. At 9a.m., so it was all downhill after that..

I regret that I didn't learn the English hymnal, it being a RC convent school, and I have to hand it to you Eeeeenglish, you composed some triffic
hymns that I'd love to know; and the Welsh, of course!
But some of ours were good, and I've since found that the melody of my two faves were by Bach and Gounod, which implies that quality reveals itself even to a callow teenager.

We learnt Gregorian Chant, including its musical notation, which seems all very Da Vinci Code-ish now! Singing Gregorian Chant in an echo-y church was a magical, unforgettable experience.

So I'm one of your hymn-singing atheists with a wide and detailed knowledge of Christian doctrine and ritual, Britinme

Oh dear. I hope it hasn't bleached them too.

Talking of hymn-singing atheists, singing hymns in the pub was very much a thing amongst Welsh people, especially Welsh speakers, up until the early 80s.

I miss it, atheist as I am.

I wish we'd had a hymn book - but we were all modern and up to date, and had an overhead projector. If I remember correctly, one of the teachers used to sit at the front and change the slides.

What I remember best about assemblies was the chorus of hissing that swept round the hall when we recited the Lord's prayer - 'forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us' - lots of ssssss!

oh - didn't even think of that.

Something to not do again.

So I'm one of your hymn-singing atheists with a wide and detailed knowledge of Christian doctrine and ritua

Likewise, but from a Nonconformist background - DM was a 'daughter of the manse', congregational which became URC. The wider family spanned baptist, Methodist and CofE ... I think I've mentioned before we're a family who sing lustily and in harmony if possible at weddings and funerals. Catches me out sometimes if I find myself among mumblers.

When it comes to communal singing, the idea that the devil has all the best music is completely arse about face.

I must admit to quite liking Huxley's idea of an Arch Community Songster of Canterbury.

I was a church chorister, as a teenager, and I can still remember the alto part to most of the hymns I used to sing - and I have my own copy of Hymns Ancient and Modern - or Hymns Ancient and Mid-Victorian, as we used to call them!

I am a huge fan of Welsh male voice choirs, especially when they are singing the rousing hymns. If I could have a Welsh male voice choir at my funeral, I would do.

My old pals and I can still strike up a verse or two of 'Hail Glorious St Patrick' or the lovely 'Hail Queen of Heaven' ['..the ocean star/guide of the wanderer here below...pray for the wanderer, pray for me'], or 'let's see how far into the sung Latin Mass we can remember'

A CD of old catholic hymns was a huge bestseller in Ireland some years ago - it was suggested they were the only songs boomers knew all the words to, with the possible exception of ABBA

And another survival is the hymn 'Bring Flowers of the Fairest' sung by Canon Sydney MacEwen which is always played at least once on the radio every May Day, as it has been for decades and decades, and even atheists like myself love to hear it every year.

I'd forgotten that, the daily recitation of the Lord's prayer, and all the 'ssses'. I didn't know what 'trespasses' were in that context. Couldn't understand why using a farmer's field warranted a specific mention, but was pleased I'd be forgiven for it. I still know all the words. We went through a period of kinda singing it, no muttering, it was just a dirge. I doubt my kids even know what the Lord's prayer is.

I once read that someone's child made sense out of the first line (what child would know what 'hallowed' meant? They solemnly recited 'Our Father, Hello, how be you then?'.

I seem to remember that in infants' school they spent some time and effort trying to convince us that no, Harold wasn't God the father's name.

I'm not sure whether I can post this link, but if not (or even if) NOT NOW, ZOMBIE SPIDERS

www.rte.ie/news/regional/2025/0204/1494596-zombie-spiders/

Fungi are amazing. I once found some dead flies hanging from the flowers of some sort of umbellifer. There legs were locks round the flower stems so they didn't fall and you could see the tiny fungus growing from their abdomen. Imagine, programmed to hang and die somewhere drafty.

Some parasites mess with the minds of their hosts too. Evolution has produced some very weird interspecies relationships - less gruesomely some of the pollination mechanisms.

But did it get the dried on congealed gravy off your best white t-shirt?

I used to play the recorder during the hymns in assemblies at junior school.

I say play... I actually just mimed playing the recorder as I couldn't even master three blind mice.

Deano, I was about to express my sympathy about the dishwasher tablet fiasco [I thought they smelt nice? obvs not!] but now you have brought up a topic I've been averting my eyes from all over the internet😱..

<deep breath, sing a few bars of a hymn about Forgiveness and...breeeathe>

I'm still sorry and hope your laundry has survived the contretemps
And no sp-d-rs in the Bluestocking pleeeeeeeease!!

The gravy was mostly on the table napkin, but two washes seemed to have shifted the holy site mud from the bottom of my black trousers and the spilled sherry from my sleeves.

And if the washing didn't do the trick, that hailshower currently blasting out of the sky surely will.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/site_stuff/5267612-update-from-mnhq-addressing-the-recent-images-posted-on-the-site

"JustineMumsnet · Today 12:13
Hi all,

There have been a number of threads discussing what happened re the posting of CSA images on site and so I want to be absolutely clear: we would never seek to shut down reasonable criticism and we're taking on board all the feedback and will be carefully considering how we can improve our procedures and moderation to prevent this happening again.

As a temporary measure, we have suspended all image posting and will soon be implementing AI filters to flag illegal/disturbing images before they appear on the site. We’re also liaising with external specialists to see if there are any further tools we can employ to help us prevent this from happening again in the future. We reported it to the police first thing the morning after the attack and we have a follow up meeting with them tomorrow.

It's also pretty clear from what we can see behind the scenes that there is an ongoing, coordinated effort from trolls to further inflame these discussions, and cause as much disruption as possible. We are taking steps to remove bad faith actors, but we know this can be frustrating for those who just want to express your views about what happened. If you come across any posts that seem designed to stir up more conflict rather than contribute constructively, please do report them - your reports really help us to act swiftly. Many thanks for your patience while we work to sort this out. "

I hope that Shout stuff doesn't do anything dreadful to the environment, because DH insists on his shirt fronts being sprayed with it if hie drops food down himself. It's great at getting blueberry stains off sweaters, I have discovered, but you have to spray it and leave it for fifteen minutes or so before putting the washing machine on, and I have been known to forget and come back the next day and discover the washing not done.

This is interesting, or I thought so

https://archive.ph/ejuML

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/think-you-can-hold-a-grudge-a-crow-can-hold-one-for-17-years-clxzq827l

And, according to the article, they likely hand the grudges down like family heirlooms. I like to think that sometime, around the 17 year mark, one bright spark crow goes 'why are we spending energy giving that fugly human such a hard time?', the 2nd crow would shuffle on the branch, shrug and say 'I thought you knew'. 1st crow, 'does anycrow know why we're cawing at that bloke? Raise a wing'...<shame faced silence>...'That's what I thought, let's give over in future, eh!?' General muttered caws of agreement.

And no sp-d-rs in the Bluestocking pleeeeeeeease!!

ah. I'm sure everyone will remember that when the images come back online. Even if anyone sees a hairy leg or two (or eight) twitching on a corner, they won't let on.