The Bluestocking, where Maud reigns supreme...

[ifIwerenotanandroid]

... & Magpie regularly drains the hot chocolate bowser.

If you understand that, or you're just cool with it, come on in & bagsie a chair by the fire.

Previous thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5410054-the-bluestocking-the-one-where-the-nights-start-to-draw-in?page=1

Thank you!

I'm picturing something like this.

Perhaps with a different caption 🤔

I've been 'off grid' a lot today and I'm afraid I've missed the oppo to wish Myrtle well tomorrow, hopefully she's having something resembling a good night's sleep. I'm glad she knows our good wishes and intense magical thinking are with her

However I've arrived just in time to get the lowdown on Mr Taz and his sludge green onesie and oversized crocs😨😨😨
Still, I'm sure he has many good qualities as well.... a lorra lorra good qualities to outweigh a sludge green onesie and oversized crocs😁

I got sad news today about a very dear family friend, who has managed to outlive all my elders, and is one of the last people who knew them. She is fading away peacefully, after a very long life. I'll miss her.
I'm going to sit with her tomorrow and read some poems I know she likes, and others I've chosen for her. That's what I've been doing most of the day - choosing poems.

That's what I did for my elders in their last days - in their case there was also a bit of quiet singing of their favourite hymns, but I won't inflict my singing on someone who isn't a blood relative

G'night dear Stockingers, esp Myrtle💙

Ah that’s a lovely thing you’re doing for her, Marie.

How beautiful, Marie. All good wishes for tomorrow.

And good luck to Myrtle for tomorrow. May it all go smoothly.

Having poems read to one sounds like a lovely way to fade away from the world.

Good luck today Myrtle and Marie in your different ways.

Marie you are doing such a good thing. It’s so sad when the keepers of the memories fade away.

Myrtle good luck today.

and he slept in the spare room last night because of his snoring. I could still hear it and this house has solid walls everywhere. 🤣🤣🤣

Bluddy hell taztoy, you must really love him. I hope he covers from his manflu before it all drives you mad.

I thought Mr Taz needed a post all of his own, so this one can offer best wishes to Myrtle and Marie.

❤❤

I do love him very much. He is solid and dependable and he has dealt with what happened in a way that I never could have imagined. He has been amazing.

Good. Renewed hopes that he recovers from his bug.

And quickly.

now. How can I dispose of a sludge green onesie and not get caught?

From "Puffin's Big Book of Excuses"

Washing machine ate it.
I left it on top of the bins and the bin men took it away.
It was swept away in a flash flood.
A big boy did it and ran away.
What onesie?

Buy him something equally comfy but rather more flattering, and exclaim how handsome he looks in it every time he wears it.

Christmas present if no earlier occasions offers itself.

🤣🤣🤣🤣 I was thinking of accidentally burning it in the brazier thing but then I thought it’s probably made of actual plastic coz it’s that crappy fleece stuff.

Well obviously because he’s Really Ill, decontamination will be needed. And while his bedding can go in a hot wash, synthetic fleece would be ruined so it’ll have to be sealed up (to protect the binmen) and disposed of.

😂😂😂

.

😄

Wonderful excuses, Fuzzy! They deserve a medal, or three😄
[recycled image].

Thank you for all your good thoughts. Almost all my elders shuffled off the mortal coil within a space of about 30 months - all peaceful, drifting off ends, we were so lucky in that respect - so I had lots of opportunities to develop a form of leave-taking involving poetry, and 'song' - well, me quietly singing hymns remembered from my childhood, not exactly Renée Fleming/'Four Last Songs'!

Hoping Myrtle is doing OK, looking forward to an update, hopefully a positive one, whenever you are next able to pop your head around the Bluestocking door, Myrtle

Perhaps the Scouts will take it? They can stuff it with newspapers and it'll make an excellent Guy.

Unless it's got a trap door(😳) does he not get cold when he goes to the loo? Surely a nice, cosy pair of pj's would be better?

❤️'s to Marie. Everything crossed for Myrtle.

I have seen so many health professionals today.

Having felt fine but overwhelmed and pissed off up to this point, I am now feeling unwell. This is not surprising because the infection will be spreading, but it means I have a headache. I'm one of those lucky bastards who never gets a headache unless I have flu (not even after drinking too much) and I am very tired.

The operation will clean everything out and then I'll be on a combination of two max strength supa killa antibiotics by IV. They are currently giving me IV fluids now and I should be on my way to theatre in a couple of hours.

There is a big team looking after me from the orthopaedic team to microbiology, plastic surgery and radiography. Let's hope the infection is zapped pretty soon.

Thank you for all your lovely comments and images. It really helps.

I do feel for @Taztoy and her husband's onesie. I have bought Loop Dream noise cancelling ear plugs on the way to help with the noisy ward, but apparently they're good for blocking out snoring too.

And here is the original Man Flu sketch.

Probably see you on the other side.

By the time you see this it will all be done and dusted, Myrtle. Sending all good wishes for a speedy and complete recovery. 💐🌹 I sympathise with your shock at eating hospital dinner at 5pm. That took some getting used to as we tend to eat around 7.30 at home.

That is a lovely thing to do for your old and dear friend, Marie. My beloved mother-in-law faded away in a similar fashion at 97 and I used to sit by her bed and talk about her family and all the good memories we had. She didn't appear to be listening, but she was, because she opened her eyes twice and looked at me - once when I reminisced about holidays and how she loved the sun and once when I said Psalm 23 to her from memory.

I would be setting fire to the onsie, @Taztoy. I’d give him the chance to take it off first, because I am a humanitarian.

We are working through the arrangements for FIL to go into the home - dh is sorting out the change of address for his newspaper and magazine subscriptions - Modern Rail magazine was a doddle, but his Times subscription was labyrinthine - we think it’s sorted now, but he was getting his subscription vouchers in the post, posting them to an address in Derby, along with a cheque for delivery, and then somehow, magically, a paper boy from somewhere (we don’t know where) in Penzance, delivered the paper daily.