The Bluestocking - where the laugh emoji is sorely missed.

[MyrtleLion]

Welcome to the Bluestocking Arms!

The company is always sparkling, the drinks are always sublime, and the cakes are mysteriously free from gluten, sugar, calories, and troublesome booze… not that you’d ever notice. 😏

Our enthusiastic team of gerbil waitstaff is ably supported by capybaras, quokkas, and other charming creatures who excel at their jobs while looking outrageously adorable.

You will find many things to laugh at - usually out loud - so take care not to spit out your tea. We are considering a petition for the return of the laugh emoji - just as soon as the AI gerbils learn how to spell.

New Bluestockingers are always welcome. Men can pop along to The Staunch Ally nearby.

Currently also knitting a Woolly Hug blanket for Bluestockinger Swashbuckled. Details here if you can knit or crochet a square before the 18 July.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5350941-woolly-hugs-desperately-sad-news-we-are-afraid-making-a-blanket-for-lovely-swashbuckled-whose-son-has-tragically-died

But hugs are FREE in the Bluestocking - does this mean 30% off the duration of the hug?
I'm not happy about this, but I suppose if they increase the intensity of the hug - not you though, Giant Wombat!🤕- by 30% I can go along with it...

The gerbils have intrinsically linked in their brains hugs and stickers (to be fair it doesn't take much for their reality to change instantly) they think getting a sticker for a hug is fantastic and are happy to believe that the hug receiver believes they are getting a good deal.

Don't over think it Marie.

Don't over think it Marie.
Fair nuff, Boily, a sticker is a sticker is a sticker, as Gertrude said😄

Back to dear Swash and DD -
To mark Doc Swash Jr's great achievement, I've just made a donation to Médecins Sans Frontieres to buy PPE for doctors working in Sudan:

Thanks for your support, [real name]!
You’ve made a €53 EUR donation dedicated to Dear 'Swash'.

Might this be the start of a small Bluestocking version one of those FWR donate-a-thons as a gesture of admiration for someone?

I'm too late to edit out the amount as well as my real name, which I should have done, in the spirit of 'let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth'.
Sorry.

I think Gertrude Emily Fenella Sharon Maude Petunia Catherine of Aragon Gildbrade-Montgomery-Rodriguez is such a lovely name.

Must be hell signing documents though

Fabulous job Marie. What a meaningful idea.
I never doubt that this place is real x

I bought a photo from a local photographer yesterday.
It has Swashy's ship on it.

Many congratulations to Dr Swash! What an achievement in the face of desperate grief.

And well done to all the very brave gerbils, and Cake.

I'm delighted you will have Christmas together and also that you had a final special Christmas last year.

The ball in the box analogy is brilliant - the size of the grief remains the same, but life expands, so it's less painful.

Sending my love as always 💓

I've been out enjoying culture today. Picked up a couple of knick-knacks for the Bluestocking bar.

I knew someone at school who had four given names and a surname that went von something de somethingelse. Goodness only knows how he fits that on a passport form.

@MarieDeGournay, the other thing about the ball in the box analogy is that the ball rolls around in here, and now and then it unexpectedly hits the side, years later, and leaves you poleaxed by grief. But you know it will roll away again, and you'll be okay.

I love those. They'd suit my mantelpiece.

They're lovely. Is the petrified gerbil jade? And what is the rabbit made from?

Sharing something random I've just read -
US politician Patricia Schroeder [ 1940-2023] was asked
how she was able to be both a mother and a member of Congress -
“I have a brain and a uterus and I use both.”

@DeanElderberry I knew someone would ask!

Agate is a sort of chalcedony, so I wasn't completely off. Pity I didn't win the Euromillions. Pretty things.

Excellent response!

That's the one I particularly wanted to walk off with, Dean!

Cartier and Fabergé? Rubies, diamonds and gold?

Very appealing to a magpie. But would they need a quokka guard to watch them day and night?

Wow.

On the practical side, it does look a little bit scratchy

A guard, @inkymoose? No, I'm sure that won't be necessary.

Beautiful jewels. If I wore them to Tesco nobody would think they were real.

I haven't seen the quokkas for a while. Are they OK?

The quokkas have been learning a new craft!

🥰🤣

Evening all.

Magpie did I see you at the museum earlier today?

Unfortunately I didn't get all the way round as the alarms went off and we all got kicked out.

apparently there was a theft!

Wonder what they took?

Very industrious. Leave them to it, you really don’t need a guard quokka for precious jewels if you’ve got a dragon on the premises.