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].

Myrtle, that sounds like you've turned a corner in your recovery, Dr Bessie, the Hamster Nurse and all the gerbil attendants have got the problem under control - OK maybe the other docs and nurses helped them a bit
Hopefully your path to recovery is a clear one now, and soon you'll need nothing more dramatic than a fetching pink bandage on the affected paw

@Taztoy FWR does seem to be under attack from some quarters at the moment. It's a sign of the strength of MN & the desperation of the opposition. It's OK not to engage with them, even when they're being really stupid or provocative. There are plenty of people like that in life, & we're better off being surrounded with nice people, people who can see the truth, who know what's what & care about others. People with a sense of humour FFS.

Take care of yourself, Taz. You've not had an easy time of it lately. You're doing brilliantly to get through all of it. Allow yourself some down-time, some 'me' time. Give yourself some treats. As Dean E suggested, go for a walk in nature, breathe deeply & feel yourself as part of this world which is full of life & beauty, which knows how to live & what to do, which survives & moves onward. 💙

This is a wise decision, but a ridiculous state of affairs that you need to do this. Truly disgraceful. I hope you can find peace, balance and restoration and look forward to seeing you back.

The screaming from the TRAs is a good sign because they're being shown up for the angry men that they are. It's ok to take time away from the toxicity of their behaviour.

The tide is turning towards biological reality.

Dear Taztoy,

I'm moved by your searing experience and I hope you can rest and recover away from the glaring eye of the mumsnet FWR board with its agents provocateurs and trolls and pests. See you back here when you're ready.

Love from inky xxx

I have been told I am having surgery tomorrow afternoon to wash the wound out again. All good stuff.

What's frustrating is that they didn't tell me, "you're having surgery tomorrow", they said "after your surgery tomorrow" as if I already knew. The communication could definitely improve.

And I'm sure the hamster cousin will be there in recovery, even if she's hiding.

I haven't seen Boily around for a while. Is she on another secret mission? Or just wild Tunnock hunting on her Scottish estate?

Tunnocks aren't exactly camouflaged, are they?

Great news from @MyrtleLion , hugs to @Taztoy and envy to @DeanElderberry - normally our autumn colours are really spectacular but I’m sorry for anybody who came here this year specially to see them because this is the worst year for them that I’ve seen in the 23 years I’ve been here. Some trees are even losing their leaves already. We’ve had something of a drought over the summer so that might be it.

Brilliant painting of Boily, there.

Gosh Myrtle, they really don't leave you alone for a minute, do they? Good luck with the next surgery.

I thought you might like to see my current knitting project. I'm using up my dk leftovers & it occurred to me that using the full balls as a background colour & the leftovers as intervening stripes might work. It does, except I'm making long strips about 9" wide & they curl up appallingly. I've pressed them as flat as poss & will sew them together & make a cat/dog blanket to donate to a charity.

Sooooo much fun playing with colours. The neutral strip on the left has 3 different background colours: an experiment to see how the same foreground colours look different depending on the background colour. The rainbow one is just a spectrum of colour - that's still a WIP. I shall now watch some 'why Donna-Sue offed her husband in El Paso in 1985' episodes (cheers, Melani of the 'We Do Not Care Club' for that one) & see if I can finish it off. Bizarrely, there's a whole community of crocheters & knitters who listen to that show while working.

Look after yourself. dear Myrtle, & the medical staff had better look after you too, or they'll be answering to an angry capybouncer.

That's a shame. I've been enjoying my amelanchier which went orange but is now losing its leaves - but that lets me see the viburnum opulus behind it which is going a deeper red.😍

I do have a Burning Bush in my garden which reliably goes a deep crimson, so that is a consolation at the moment.

That's gorgeous Brit.

Beautiful ❤️🍁

<flops down in the corner> Hi all 👋 I missed the last Bluey thread completely due to a holiday and a bit of a break from SM. Mind you when I was trying to catch up last week it was quite wild. I hope you are OK @Taztoy I did see what happened to you. I also hope our Myrtle is getting good care as she seems to have had a rough time with her paw!
After a cold and foggy walk with the dog I am in the mood for a large hot chocolate with a drop of brandy in it. ☕Cheers!

Wow, Brtinme!

Good to see you again @FarriersGirl . Pull the hot chocolate bowser hose through the window & have at it! Oh no, that's Magpie. In that case, the gerbils will bring you a mug as required in just a sec.

Hello again, FarriersGirl, good to have you back
Enjoy your hot choc with as much brandy as you bloody well want, this is the Bluestocking, home of consequence-free excess😁

We used to have Slothtoes here, who demonstrated that sloth toes can hold a delicate china teacup with great elegance - gone to a different women's pub? lurking still? or name-changed? Anyway, 👋Slothtoes, and here's a souvenir from your time at the Bluestocking.

Another useful thing about sloth toes is that if you're waiting too long for your order, you can drum your fingers on the table and make one hell of a racket😁

Thanks Marie - Slothtoes is holding that cup in a dainty manner - not sure I can do the same but I quite fancy the cream scone....😋

I visited a managed woodland garden the other day, and although maples were red and orange, a lot of the other trees are still mainly green. We seem to be having a late autumn season.

Oh @MarieDeGournay that there @Slothtoes looks so lovely! I hope she returns here to have more tea and scones 😍

Slothtoes claws look like the nails of last night's Strictly guest judge.

More good news, though irritating. The VAC machine keeps bleating about there being a blockage or that there's a low rate of pump.

I can turn the audio off for about three minutes and then it bleats again.

There isn't a blockage. The reason is there is no gunk flowing from the wound and what is flowing isn't enough to maintain the pressure. Normally they would redress the wound and reinsert the VAC, but they're going to do that tomorrow in surgery. So this dressing is staying in for now and keeping out infection.

As a result, I have decided to sit up for a little and ease my back. My foot is supposed to be above my heart to facilitate the pump, but it's difficult to get comfortable in this position in this hospital bed - despite its manoeuvrability. And as the foot is clean it's not going to matter much.

Hello. Thank you for the new thread.

@Taztoy Good idea to take a break if you need one. Hope to see you back feeling better.

I'm sorry for your loss @inkymoose

Great news about your wound not sucking @MyrtleLion

Been for a walk today. Saw a Kingfisher. Also saw a heron catch and eat a huge pike! Nearly bought a new plant for the house, it was on the poorly plant shelf and I felt sorry for it, but it had thrips so I burned it with fire 🔥 Actually I didn't but imo the shop should. There were a couple of those trees that smell like candyfloss, they were golden.

Medical technology seems to be conspiring against you Myrtle🙁
Hopefully the procedure tomorrow will stop the bleating pump!

Cake -what a day you've had - a kingfisher and a heron catching a pike -Wonderful!