Roll up, Ladies and Gentlecreatures, the Bluestocking has been redecorated

[DeanElderberry]

Here for your delight and delectation is the hostelry by, for, and about wise, intelligent, creative and kind women, their assorted avatars including (but not limited to) a remarkable beetle, an astute android, a wise cake, and an assembly of companion creatures and animal assistants.

Food and drink available in abundance, all with remarkable non-damaging qualities.

Males may congregate in the nearby Staunch Ally and sometimes visit the stableyard to view outdoor performances by the gerbil waitstaff (who need to be distracted after the moment after that terrible 'misunderstanding' about the meaning of safe sex).

last thread here if you need to know why the Quokkas need some extra cuddles, and why the Cabybaras are being particularly efficient just now

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5273255-the-bluestocking-all-gerbils-welcome-must-have-own-frou-frou-skirt?

Sticklebricks tend to lie flat, and they're quite flat anyway. So you weight is distributed across the prickles.

Whereas bastarding Lego positions itself with lots of sharp plastic corners, so your entire bodyweight lands on less than 1 square mm of rock-hard plastic, which usually manages to find a really tender spot on your foot.

Also, in the quick evening sweep-up, sticklebricks are easy to find, whereas tiny bits of Lego booby-trap the floor, ready to catch you out as you whistle your barefoot way to draw the curtains next morning, birds singing, sun shining, gerbils watering the garden with jet washers-
OW OW FUCKING OW

My attention span has been completely shot by phones and iPad.

I am double screening and missing bits of plot or not watching expressions or pausing so long the speaker turns off (18 minutes, thanks for asking).

Yet if I sit and try and watch without distraction I can last almost 10 minutes before I pick something up or check notifications or open a phone game or something.

Yet I can concentrate on model book nooks for hours at a time.

Watching TV seems so passive. Any help?

Would reading a book work, Myrtle, or do you need something to do with your hands?

I also end up playing games or scrolling on my phone while watching TV. My attention span is much shorter than in pre-technology days, or maybe it's old age.

Knitting, Myrtle.
But (as I have (re)disocvered this evening), you have to concentrate, or your colour work ends up too tight during the tense bits.

I read a lot, mostly audiobooks at bedtime and first thing but also while making tea, going to the loo. When I go on holiday I take proper paper books and generally read 4-5 by the pool.

It's not about concentration per sec - I can concentrate a lot with the models when I listen to Mellow Magic or Smooth Relax radio. It's how do I concentrate on all the lovely TV programmes?

It's as if my brain needs something for my eyes and something for my ears at the same time.

I used to do cross stitch embroidery but I have to focus on the sewing so miss what's happening on screen.

My mum could knit by holding the needles like pencils whereas I have to hold them over the top. She could also watch TV, looking down only at the end of a row. I have to concentrate on the knitting and I'm also.not very good at it.

I was given a crochet kit as a present and couldn't do it. I couldn't see the gap to put the needle in.

Cross stitch and black work I can do, but I can't watch TV as well.

It's more about how can I focus on the TV?

Are we on a meter?

I love blackwork, @MyrtleLion - I made a blackwork embroidery of Dutch tiles for ds1 and his wife, for their wedding, and one for my mum (I think I’ve told the Bluestockings about that one), and I still need to finish a stitch-along from 2022.

As long as I am just knitting or purling, I don’t need to look, and I can crochet, but am better at granny squares and polygon motifs than anything more complicated.

But my major skill is craft-supply buying - I am outstanding at that!

I thought all the water came from our own ever-replenishing fresh water source...

I feel the same about the passivity of just watching television @MyrtleLion

I need something to do as well. To be honest, I’ve pretty much stopped watching it. If it’s something gripping then I can give it most of my all. I remember being able to watch Killing Eve without distracting myself, but it’s a rare event.

I might put it on for an hour later in the evenings, but I allow myself to scroll at the same time. If it were more gripping, I’d stop scrolling, I guess. And I notice I’m going for a comfy watch more and more these days, rather than anything too exciting. Not sure why…

I trust you’re right. Wouldn’t want to spoil anyone’s fun with my frugal worries.

It's not clear where the water is coming from, but there's plenty of it. I'm sure the Head Gerbil or the Gerbil Committee would have limited the jet washing if there was an excessive cost. And as we are close to the dock, there is quite a bit of water available there.

Love the picture; they seem so proud of themselves ❤️

The long ago days when I knitted were when I was a TV-less student , listened to radio 4 instead. That was a good combination back then. I feel like doing some sort of craft and listening to podcasts or audio books would be a good combo.

I can watch some tv without second-screening, but I do pick up the pad at times eg if it's one of those perilous situations you know the lead character will survive. Tends to be a puzzle of some sort rather than really reading at the same time which really doesn't work,

Apparently they deserved a break!

That's adorable!

This is where the Bluestocking encounters reality. All the water in every rivulet, stream, river or lake belongs to the water companies and they will charge us to use it.

Hmm, I thought it was included in the Bluestocking women's pub alternate universe where women have complete equality, gerbils are bar staff and the alcohol isn't intoxicating.

Interesting about the complete equality; I had just assumed there weren’t any men at all 🤣.
(Human males, that is… obviously some of the gerbils and other animals are male.)

I don’t believe that utility bills have made it to this neck the woods. Interesting concept though….I’m sure it will have legs somewhere.

We'll have to hope so.

I started to reply but overindulgence in the delights of The Bluestocking made me realise that actually you're right.

I'm putting my hooves in my ears now, except that the AI can't really draw that at all so I've got my headphones on... la la la la la la can't hear you!

There is a difference between the Bluestocking being an exclusive women's environment and those women having complete equality.

Obviously while we're in the pub the mental load has been taken care of, along with all the washing, packed lunches, dental appointments and general dependencies.

Any children are very well behaved and automatically ask their dads if they need anything and the dads have the answers and don't need to be told what to do.

Every parent or parent-in-law is completely supportive and understanding and never mentions our appearances. And our job prospects are excellent, we are never sidelined, are promoted to our capabilities and are paid appropriately for the role.

Although there are no men in The Bluestocking, they do know their place, and that’s in The Staunch Ally.