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].

Lovely colours and such pretty square designs

I wholeheartedly agree. That’s down to the designer, Debbie Abrahams. 😘

I forgot to say that, when knitting the strips, we are encouraged to cast off at the end of every square and pick up stitches for the next one. This is to give the whole blanket some structure and stability, especially as some squares are very stretchy and may not be exactly true to size before you block them.

My mum’s recipe for many meals that you might describe as “bottom of the fridge” was “what you got you put “. She learned this in India during the late 40s when she went to a talk at a club frequented by expats to hear a talk about how to make Russian liver sausage given by an elderly Russian lady who had fled to Bombay from the Russian revolution in 1918. The lady had a very heavy accent and all mum could hear was something like “you take da leever and you meence and meence, and you take da cheeken and you meence and meence” so afterwards she went up to her and asked how much liver, how much chicken. The lady shrugged and said “you got, you put, you no got, you no put”. Mum said it was a lightbulb moment for her - this was what peasant cooking was all about - and she adopted it as her own ever after.

Although I miss the ‘laugh’ button I do like the new Support one. It fits with MN and The Bluestocking, imo.

Now to go back through this thread. 🌺

We have a new 'react' option - a supportive bunch of flowers. That's nice.

Still want the laugh back.

Sorry @AsWithGlad , I was in such a hurry I didn't see you!

I like soup for lunch year-round, but making it is a wet weekend morning activity. I usually do either red pepper, tomato and lentil, or ‘bottom of the fridge plus tin or 2 of toms plus tin or two of some sort of beans - Asda do a 4 bean mix which works well.

TL;DR: Good news. They know which infection it is and in the best case scenario I will be here another week to 10 days, with 12 weeks' antibiotics.

There are other factors including being able to close the wound at the next surgery. If they can't close then I'll need more surgery and a few more weeks here.

Detail:
Basic cultures say it's Staphylococcus aureus which is an easy fix. I am waiting for the cultures to come back (likely Monday) to see if there is anything else. We have opted to assume it is in the bone as we can get ahead of the infection now with two antibiotics. If it isn't in the bone then nothing has been lost.

I will be taught how to arrange my own IV antibiotics so once the logistics of community care are sorted I can go home. As there is metal in my leg the antibiotics will have to be given for 12 weeks. It will be IV at first then tablets.

Surgery was cancelled because yesterday's cases over-ran and were complex. I don't have a new date yet so it might be any day this week. They will wash it out again and try to close the wound. If they are successful and the infection isn't more serious, it will take a couple of days but I could be discharged in 8-9 days.

I will be given a PICC line asap (before Friday) for delivery of IV antibiotics and to take blood. This goes into my upper arm and sits near the heart. My veins get phlebitis with the cannulas (currently get a new one every day, when it should last three days), so a PICC line will protect my veins. It will help with antibiotics at home.

If they can't close the wound at the next surgery then I will need a third operation for a skin graft and that will mean at least another two weeks in hospital.

The 12 weeks' antibiotics starts when I've had the final surgery, so could be 12 weeks tomorrow or 12 weeks from a skin graft next week or later.

It's good news and we have a plan, even if we don't know all the details yet.

It is exasperating but I admire your ability to accept it and keep going. I hope it works out as well as it can from now on.

And it gives me an excuse to use the new react button.

I'm not needle phobic but the idea of managing something like that at home would freak me out. Mind you, I loathe being in hospital so I could possibly talk myself round. @MyrtleLion I totally admire your stoicism. I'm proud to award you my first flower emoji.

My mum used to cook what she called 'catch my eye' meals. She'd go to the cupboard, or the fridge , the freezer, the shop and whatever...you get the idea.

The new emoji could have been introduced specially for you, Myrtle!
You are so brave and positive, I hope the complicated process they have laid out for you works out well - you seem to have confidence in the plan, that's good.

That does sound like a well-thought-through plan, Myrtle. Let’s hope when all the details are worked out it’s even better.

Great minds, Deano. 🥰

I’ve literally just noticed it now!

My mum used to cook what she called 'catch my eye' meals. She'd go to the cupboard, or the fridge , the freezer, the shop and whatever...you get the idea.

When I cook just for myself, most of my meals are like that. Bonus points when I cook several helpings at a time, some for the freezer and some for the fridge, and then work my way through them.

Thank you!

I am a bit scared that I'll have to have a skin graft. It will be another wound when I don't heal well and more scarring, as well as bed rest (oh god, bedpans!) and more time on this busy noisy ward. I have seen more people in the last week than I have all year and I'm frequently overwhelmed.

In some respects the time is liminal in the same way as being on a long haul flight is. The time passes but it could be 3pm or 9am or Thursday or Sunday. Time just is and at some point I will be home and time will restart.

The noises are stressful. The shouty lady is full of rage. This is sudden and frightening and then she is in tears. The bell calls and blood pressure alarms and IV finished tones all clash and raise my state of alertness.

It smells. Normal bodily functions belonging to other people. It's well managed but not pleasant. It's too warm though there is fresh air from an open window.

The food is not terrible but it's not what I'm used to. My skin is very dry but I can't use cream yet because of the cannulas and my over reactive body.

There are good things. Time to read and watch TV. The sleep I do get is very deep but frequently interrupted and there are moments when I'm lying in bed listening to an audiobook and I feel sleep just steal over me like silk.

And I have a whole staff who run around me at my beck and call. Much like the gerbils but not as cute or earnest.

And I've been told to eat carbs and puddings to keep my strength up. Which is nice.

Oh gosh Myrtle well done on being positive. I am not sure I would cope so well in those circumstances.

The app still only has the ‘thanks’ reaction.
true to my calling….old chemists never die, they just fail to react…

We'd have "roast rootle" - we'd have a rootle around in the freezer and bung in the oven whatever jumped out.

Medical instructions to eat puddings sounds like a great idea, Myrtle!
As for the rest, it sounds like they have a good plan now, which is reassuring. 💙

Lots of sympathy from me Myrtle - it all sounds very stressful even without the wound to consider. I like the new emoji reaction and will use it.

Respect to you, Myrtle 💙.

I sent Myrtle the new flowers reaction. But I’m not sure it adds much more generally. Had she posted yesterday, I would have sent a love heart and I think the sentiment would have been similarly understood.

Laughter, of course, is another matter entirely. I do think the ban on laughter is absolutely ridiculous.

I love this story - "what you got, you put".

It certainly beats searching fruitlessly for some ingredient no-one stocks, then giving up and having a boiled egg instead while all the other ingredients wither and fade, only to go in the food recycling bin, a costly experiment in domestic science ...

Yes, I agree! I also think the reaction emojis should be visible to everyone.

(Although I feel quite ambivalent about emojis per se ...)

Good... afternoon all! I missed 'morning' by 35 mins.

First greeting is to Myrtle, I hope whatever they are doing to you at the moment is
[a] not too awful in the short term, and
[b] very beneficial in the short-to-medium term

I have a question for the gardeners: has cyclamen become an invasive species??

I planted a few here and there for a reliable bit of colour, and they are now all over the place - some of them are even growing up through cracks in concrete!

I don't understand how they spread, they have those funny spirally things? and I've even read that they are propagated by ants

As invasive plants go they are very acceptable, though I notice it is the pink ones that are spreading, not the nicer deep colours, or the much-valued pure white ones, which I love. I suppose pink is the true colour so they are the most vigorous plants.. I'm LARPing as a botanist there😏

🤣

We still need the laugh emoji back. so sad that it was taken away to punish us all for a handful of sarcastic MNers - of which, I was probably one…

maybe they should have given us a warning? ‘Now children, if you can’t play with the emoticon nicely, we’ll put it away and no-one will have it’.