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?

And another welcome back to the prodigal beetle. It’s a bit late this evening for a midweek roast fatted calf

Fatted nut roast for me please.

How about for lunch today?
Good to see you, Boily.

Lovely to see you back, @Boiledbeetle - you can see how much we've missed you!

I don't think I will ever master cryptic crosswords - I used to do the concise one in the Times, and the Polygon and Killer Sudoku, but I have fallen out of the habit of reading the paper and doing the puzzles in the morning, because I struggle to get up in time (terrible, I know). I am trying to shift my sleeping patterns so I go to bed and go to sleep earlier, and can therefore get up earlier, but it is definitely a work in progress at the moment.

But I am up early today, as I've got a phone appointment with the GP, to review my diabetes medication, so I thought I had better be awake and at least somewhat caffeinated!

Good luck with the GP, Woley, hope you're getting the better of the diabetes

My mouse visitor has completely out-foxed me: one of the humane traps I set last night was closed, so first thing this morning, BC [before caffeine] I drove it the suggested 2 miles away, and prepared to release Mousie at the nearest railway station, so it could decide itself where to go
I very nervously opened the trap - the fecking thing was empty! Mousie must have nudged it closed 😡
At least it hadn't added insult to injury by eating the bait, which was still in there.

Hi, @Boiledbeetle Good grief, have you seen the price of Tunnockses now? I hope they're cheaper (allowing for inflation) in 2125.

I've got loads of dresses, many of which tend towards cottagecore. Still, I'll be dead by 2125, so no jail for me. Unless I have an accident with a time machine. In which case I hope my stompy boots, thick tights and short haircut will be taken into consideration.

Thank you, @MarieDeGournay - he says I'm doing really well - my results are looking good, and he's keeping me on the same medication. He even said that if my results carry on being good, he might be able to cut the dosage.

Your mouse sounds like a pain in the proverbial. I remember my mum cursing because she had to throw out a Christmas pudding that our mice had nibbled - she used to make 2 each year, one for Boxing Day, and another that was put away for the following Christmas. Apparently the mice got into the dresser cupboard where it was stored, through a small hole in the back, and helped themselves. She did make very nice Christmas puddings, so they demonstrated good taste. I didn't dare say that to her, of course!

Interview went really well!!! The cheerleading gerbils were out in force and DH said it sounded great (he can hear my tone through the floor and his ceiling).

Final interviews will be in person in a week or two and hopefully I will find out if they want to see me again very soon.

DH will crack open some prosecco this afternoon and take me to dinner later - he says he's confident I'll get a second interview. He is so brilliant.

He also has a habit of doing nice things round the house and waiting for me to notice. In a lovely way.

So I washed some grubby cylinder vases that we use to display our pillar candles and they came out of the dishwasher beautifully clear. He waited till I was in the loo and crept upstairs and put the candles back in the vases. Once I'd made some tea and settled down to drink it, I saw what he'd done. It was such a lovely surprise and made me fall in love with him all over again.

He doesn't even do it for praise. He does it because he knows it makes me happy.

Two helpings of well dones:
one for Woley - keep going in the right direction! I hope you are feeling the benefits in an overall way - there was a lot of Type 2 diabetes in my family and they all felt generally fitter and happier when they had lost weight, were eating better, etc. In fact, they inspired the rest of us to look at our lifestyles too, we realised that what they were eating would be good for all of us.

Myrtle - it's great the interview went well, and I'm sure the well-drilled cheer-gerbils helped enormously
And how lovely that Mr Walrus is so supportive and thoughtful

Good news @SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius and @MyrtleLion.

And it's marvellous that there is a kind-hearted walrus in the world.

How are you feeling today, Swashbuckled?
Here's a song about someone you might have crossed cutlasses with - she joined the Navy so might have been pursuing pirates like you

I love this song because she joins the Navy not for any namby-pamby reason like 'following her true love' 🙄but 'to hear the cannons rattle and the music so grand'.
It's disappointing that when she tells the fine lady who fell in love with her that she was in fact a girl and not a sailor, the lady didn't say 'Heck, nobody's perfect' and they didn't sail off into the sunset, but, heck nobody's perfect...

And she ends up being totally unrepentant and prepared to 'put off my hat and feathers and run the rigging again' - I love it!

I posted it elsewhere yonks ago, but now that we have a dashing pirate amongst us, I remembered this dashing young sailor - I think you'd admire her swagger, Swashbuckled

I am so glad the interview went well, @MyrtleLion - I’m sure the cheerleading gerbils made all the difference.

I don’t know if I have noticed a big difference yet, @MarieDeGournay, but it’s hard to see change when it is gradual. I do feel a bit proud of myself for the changes I have made, and people are saying that I look as if I’ve lost weight, which is amazing.

I love that song, and its sentiments, @MarieDeGournay

Excellent all round!

I found a note in my kitchen from my mouse visitor:

DR MRTYL CLD Y PLS TLL M WHR THT MS GTS TS CLTHS, WLD GV RM & LG 4 TFT LK THT!

Mice have difficulty controlling their vowels🙄so I take it to mean:

Dear Myrtle, could you please tell me where that mouse gets its clothes - I would give an arm and a leg for an outfit like that!

That is brilliant and funny and wonderful!

This one's for you, Boily (courtesy of the AI 😂).

The AI is struggling today...

So it was with some trepidation that I asked it for this one.

But it (almost) managed it in the end.

I reckon that’s a pretty fair guess at a name constructed from a not very obvious set of initials and a typo tbf😂

Just popping my head round the door (a very occasional visitor but regular reader) to mention there’s a website / app called Minute Cryptic which offers one clue per day, along with a hint and letters as needed. And there’s an explanation you can click on if you wish afterwards. I’ve learned quite a lot and really enjoy it - as my 75 day ‘streak’ suggests!
Cheers to everyone

Anyone else getting flashbacks of Bagpuss?

I love the fireworks - thank you @ifIwerenotanandroid!

Yes, but the thing is, I copy-&-pasted it into my request to the AI. All the AI needed to do was write it in fireworks, just as I'd written it.