The Bluestocking, where the short days shorten and the oaks are brown

[MarieDeGournay]

Welcome all, regulars and newcomers, to the Bluestocking Women's Pub, a place of refuge and inspiration and camaraderie and silliness, where all alcoholic drinks are non-intoxicating, cakes contain no gluten, sugar or calories, but still taste yummy, and the attentive staff are small but very professional rodents wearing snazzy little outfits.

Other roles - such as acting as foot stools, looking decorative in the garden, or just being impossibly cute when you need something impossibly cute to go awwww at - are filled by a team of miniature pigs, quokkas, wombats, etc etc.

If real life is difficult, you can bring your troubles to the Bluestocking and a comfy chair will be found for you at a roaring fire, a miniature pig will settle down happily to support your tired feet, and a gerbil will serve you promptly with a comforting drink - very large G&Ts or massive mugs of hot chocolate with extra cream and marshmallows are popular choices [don't forget: no calories in the Bluestocking].

The Weeping Shed 🤣😂

Here

Thanks, Cake ☺️

That is funny - thanks Cake.

My DH's ex-wife (divorced 1978), who is six months older than me, had a bad fall and broke some ribs recently and was in hospital then rehab for a while, and is currently driving my DSD crazy by refusing to accept any other help and yet being difficult and abusive when she does go and do whatever is needed. Since she lives at least an hour and a half drive away and DSD is self-employed, this has, to say the least, caused difficulties for her. DH (who has never bad-mouthed his ex-wife in the 23 years he and I have been married) says she always had anger issues he could never understand, and now wonders whether they are just showing themselves more openly because of her age and the medical situation.

We may be taller than a ram, Marie, but they may well be heavier - weight range appears to be 45-160 kg , so I’d definitely not want one living up to its name in my vicinity!
I rather suspect ‘battering ram’ derives from the male ovines butting force, come to think.

Lower centre of gravity too. We're a lot easier to knock over. Then, when they've got you on the ground....😳

I've been autocompleting thread titles in trending again.

I've only just realised that Claudia Winkleman has eyes.

Surprised me too.

Hope you had a good night and a better morning everyone especially @MyrtleLion

It must have been cool last night there's a low mist from the river over the Bluestocking meadow. Some of the moisture has settled on the streams of gossamer linking the fluffy tops of the meadow grass. It's all currently back-lit by the sun and looks breathtaking.

The goats, still inspired by the Guinness Book of Records, are trying to break the record for the world's fastest goat. Every couple of minutes there's a doppler of happy bleats from the direction of the zipwire.

I'm a lot happier today. I slept really well, thanks to the earplugs and I had a shower this morning. My hair feels so much better.

They also fitted a PICC line which can be used for collecting blood and delivering antibiotics. I've had six cannulas so far as my veins react badly. This will make everything easier.

Operation tomorrow.

I've even picked up my knitting again.

That is really good news, @MyrtleLion. When I was in hospital with Covid, I didn’t have access to a shower the whole time I was there - the staff gave me super size baby wipes to keep myself clean, and I managed to wash my hair by sticking my head under the tap - and I felt so much better when my hair was clean.

Ds3 had an interview today - he really needs to find a fully remote job, so he and his girlfriend can move in together. They need to find a house that suits her work so if he can’t find a fully remote job, he would need to be hybrid with an office in Edinburgh. Fingers crossed for him.

😀Me too, I just added an 's' and got
To ask how people afford plums

But then I felt bad because it's a serious point about how people can afford unplanned expenses like a plumber. It has often occurred to me that for many people, something like a fridge 'dying' throws them into debt to get a replacement, as they haven't a hope in hell of getting the lumpsum together to
buy a new one outright.

That humanitarian insight didn't stop me posting 'To ask how people afford plums' for a laugh, though, did it?😐

How beautiful morning is in the Bluestocking, thank you for capturing its beauty in words, Cake. I could almost hear Morning from the Peer Gynt suite, punctuated by the happy bleats of playful goats. Bliss.

Greetings to Myrtle, hope you got some rest last night and today brings more progress towards recovery.

Our posts crossed - delighted that you have some positive things to report, Myrtle. Isn't is amazing how therapeutic a shower is?
Keep going steadily in the right direction!

This is my paw, attached to a VAC machine to keep it clean.

Yes, I have to take the machine everywhere.

So glad to hear about the PICC line, Myrtle. I truly sympathise about your veins not tolerating cannulas as the same happened to me. In 16 days on intravenous antibiotics I had ten cannulas. I felt so sorry for the lovely staff trying to find yet another usable vein in my right arm. Eventually they had to use my left arm which had been out of bounds for 2 decades after lymph node clearance.

Hey, the AI was right - there IS someone under you in the bed!

Good to hear things are a bit better. 💙

Also sympathies on the cannulas and glad to hear about the PICC line Myrtle. When I was in hospital in Greece for ten days and nil by mouth they hooked cannulas into the backs of my hands and had to shift them every couple of days as they broke down. Not pleasant.

Apparently they can't use the PICC line for two hours so one more antibiotics dose in the cannula.

The dear family friend I've been reading poetry to died last night.

Although I'm an atheist, I'm borrowing the phrase 'fell asleep in the Lord' to describe her peaceful passing, after a very long life well lived.
She was a kind, generous, accomplished woman who could also be great fun.
A good role model, in other words
She was the last of my elders' generation, so I reckon that makes me officially 'an elder' myself now..

It’s a bit like living on the edge of a village, popping into the local to say hello occasionally and wondering if anyone remembers you from last time. So many traumas and dramas to cope with - wishing everyone health and peace.

What’s prompted me to stick my head round the door this time is the talk about the link between operations and procedures, and dementia. We knew my dad had Alzheimer’s but it was progressing slowly and manageable until he went in to hospital for a minor procedure. My sibling and I went to visit him the night before and he knew us and could chat, was a bit miserable about it all but fine (in his terms). The next time we saw him the deterioration was frightening- he never knew who we were again, released straight to a care home where it took him a long 18 months to die. Utterly horrible.

Post operative cognitive decline is a known problem and more likely in older adults and those with dementia - I asked my DSis. She is a retired MH nurse. When she had a knee op she opted to have it with a spinal block and sedation rather than full anaesthesia for this reason.

Sympathy, Marie, on the loss of your friend and on the loss of the last link with that generation. I've had that in the last couple of years, and it's an odd feeling - us next. And all those questions I forgot to ask while they were still around. I'm very glad were able to sit with her during the last week - precious times.

That sounds like my own father who had gradually worsening demenitia for over a decade, but was still mostly holding it together until he went into hospital with pneumonia. Over the first six nights he was in six different rooms, and - stopped holding anything. They fought to get him over the infection, and his body came home and lived a few more years, but -

They used to call pneumonia the old man's friend for a reason; a quiet departure without antibiotics would have been kinder.

I’m so sorry for your loss, @MarieDeGournay.

I'm sorry about your friend Marie. May flights of angels sing her to her rest.

We had a morning in the art gallery today (Grayson Perry tapestries and Polish artists) followed by lunch and a walk.

Weird things....
People coming off the docked cruise ship got a fanfare and drums from the Marines.
A woman was walking her tortoise in the park. Not on the lead. I suppose it's not going to do a speedy runner.

Thank you for all your good wishes. It is a loss of someone who was just 'always there' - not unexpected, and sad rather than tragic - a long life well lived, and a loving family and community around her to the end.

Fortunately she was relatively OK till a couple of months ago; I suppose she had a form of dementia, but it was the somewhat-disengaged-from-reality-but-happy kind - she wasn't sure exactly who people were, but she enjoyed our company, whoever we were, and that was good enough