The Bluestocking Arms Women's Pub, where women make friends with Beetles, Androids, Cakes, Dragons, Hedgehogs and other women, where wit and wisdom flourish

[inkymoose]

Here at the Bluestocking there's a place for all women. A break from Reality, and many laughs and stories to share. Have your fill of Tunnocks bars and tea cakes, sing feminist anthems, drink as much beer or gin or hot chocolate as you desire. It won't make you fatter or drunken but oh, it's fun. Sit in the garden with our Lion resident or the Quokkas and Capybara. Express your opinions loudly in Pedantry Corner. Ask for whatever you fancy to be served by our obliging Gerbil staff. Come in, all women, welcome!

UTDODs were amazing pieces of work. You have boxes of history.

Oh, Happy St. George's Day 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿⚔️

Errol, I realise this could be difficult for you.

wonder if it’s an auspicious day to take on the self appointed knights of DEI training?

Slightly confused, but not as much as it would have been with gerbils

Happy Day to all English, Bosnia-Herzegovinans, Bulgarians, Georgians, Ukrainians, Maltese, Ethiopians, people from Catalonia and Aragon, Moscow and Beirut, Lebanese, Palestinian, and Syrian Christians.

He's kept busy, isn't he?

What on earth did you ask for?

Deano, I love that picture. I'm pleased Colin has found a suitable role in the pageant.

Before St George we had St Edmund. "So what?" I hear you say. Quite!

Oh, St Edmund is the patron saint of pandemics. If only I'd known that 5 years ago.

Also, autocorrect, not the " patronising saint...".

I asked Bing for 'a dachshund in a dragon costume and a wombat being ridden by a quokka carrying a spear and a white shield with a red cross'

It declined to give me a wombat at all, but did give me an extra dachshund in one try, and an added Swiss flag in another; maybe more punctuation would have helped, who knows..

Also, autocorrect, not the " patronising saint...".
Well a lot of them have been 'holier-than-thou'

I love your image, Deano, and I agree - never send a gerbil to do a quokka's job. It made me laugh out loud😂

I have to quibble with the inclusion of Malta in the list of countries with St George as a religious patron.

The patron saint of Malta is St Paul who is said to have been shipwrecked there on his way to Rome.

The St George connection is a recent political one: in recognition of the incredible hardships suffered by the people of Malta in WWII, when it was bombed and starved almost - but never completely - into submission, and defended only by three outdated Gloster Gladiator biplanes nicknamed Faith, Hope and Charity, King George VI awarded the George Cross to the whole flipping island.

Every now and then an old film called The Malta Story crops up on daytime telly, and is well worth a watch. It's not perfect of course, and seems to think that the Maltese are a variant of Italians🙄but it portrays the Maltese wartime experience well, I've been told, and shows just how close they came to starvation.

When the three battered survivors of the flotilla that set out to relieve the blockade of Malta limp into Valetta harbour, greeted by cheering crowds and tears and brass bands, it's hard not to cheer along.

My Maltese friends say that that particular scene is greeted in Malta with 'Oh look there's Granma! And that's Uncle Mario!' because they used lots of local people as extras.

The Maltese cross is associated with the Knights of the Order of St John who used to run Malta...and everywhere else, if you're a conspiracy theorist!

I realise nobody asked for a potted history of Malta in WWII, so sorry for the derail.😟

And Happy St George's Day to our neighbours across the water!

Oh Gosh, of course you're right about Malta and St John, we have some interesting crosses on a local ruin that might be Maltese crosses associated with a local house of Knights Hospitaller or might be earlier Crosses of arcs associated with an enshrined relic. Naughty Wikipedia for confusing me. Foolish me for being confused.

And of course, the Knights of Malta ambulance service is catholic and the St John Ambulance brigade is protestant. Wouldn't want to maim oneself while engaging in risky activities and get life-saved by themmuns.

Bury St. Edmund's in Suffolk has the marvellous motto, 'Grave of a king, cradle of the law'.

Typical of the English to emphasise the king bit rather than the saint bit.

Francis Young, mentioned upthread, is an expert on St Edmund as well as on fairies, Baltic paganism, indexing and so much more.

Hi everyone! Just sticking my nose in the door to say (since the Bluestocking is a haven for all manner of wonderful unusual creatures) that as well as St George, today is International Pallas's Cat Day. If you don't know them, give them a Google. In their winter aspect they are living proof that it is possible to be both very gorgeous and extremely fat!

Goodness, @Heggettypeg, don't you know what that sort of post does on here? We'll be up to our ears in them in no time!

May have had too much exposure to MN this week. Nearly replied to a thread where woman asking whether her child’s hand-flapping means they’re autistic because, well, she’d hate if they were. But, if they are, it just means they’re only on the mild end, eh?

I managed to leave the thread without screaming ‘educate yourself!’

However, I feel I may need a midweek marmelade gin n tonic, when I was planning on no booze until Friday!! 🤣.

What’s behind the bar at the Blue Stocking? Don’t suppose there are any packets of scampi fries left?

Just googled Palas's Cats - they are lovely! they look so annoyed at being photographed, feck off and mind your own business you nosey humans, and I like that in an animal. 😃

I prefer the solid flat trays for baking. If I ever find the holey ones again, I'll send them on to you!

If there are no Scampi Fries, are there any NikNaks? Or pickled onion monster munch (sorry, you’ll have to open a window if I open those).

After a day mostly spent invigilating exams, I think I need a couple of painkillers washed down with a small lake of hot chocolate please. And if @CautiousLurker01 succeeds in finding any scampi fries, some of those too.

Pallas's cat remind me of scandalised Victorian gentlemen with fine muttonchop whiskers.

I love Pallas cats. I.think our Rosy might like one as a chum.

Good job I don't like that sort of snack. I restarted my ( everlasting) diet yesterday and am perpetually hungry.

Found you can buy them in bulk online - may get some in and put the blue stocking down as the delivery address?

A drop of rum is good in hot chocolate… good for headaches too!!

[no, I am not a total lush. Well, maybe a partial one…]

I'm dieting too, @FuzzyPuffling, so I'm concentrating my snack consumption within the Bluey. Much safer for the waistline!

Devil of a job to get Bing to stop adding ever increasing numbers of MEN and I think only one of those cats is authentically Pallas's. And the gerbils don't look nearly as nervous as they should.