The Bluestocking: it's the season of mulled wine, conversations about pineapple and, of course, gerbils. Confused? You will be...

[EdithStourton]

Welcome to the anarchic and marvellous women-only on-line pub, the Bluestocking. The booze won't give you a hangover, the cakes won't make you fat, and the conversations are fascinating, covering knitting, health and safety, the Muppets and anything else that comes to mind.

Climb Peak Woo, have a cuddle with Rosie the Red Panda, and watch out for capybaras busy with any necessary building works.

Welcome in (and name change at the door if you need too).

PEOPLE are very overrated in my opinion. I find as little real life interaction with actual PEOPLE as possible is the only sensible solution.

I've still got 31 days to go before I can lay claim to a year, but at this point I refuse to give up! It's like I'm on mile 23 of a marathon at the moment.

I apologise for Co Pilot thinking you'd really enjoy a bottle of elderberry wine come midnight.

That might be "Elderberry's wine". I can't see the whole label.

Well done, Boily! Such determination and staying power.

It seems a few of us are sorting our houses out. You with the declutterring, Marie with the building work, me with the endless wallpaper stripping and decorating. It’s hard work. Visualising the future, when it’s done, keeps me going.

People. Yes, many are difficult. Every now and then you come across a good one and it restores your faith in others. As does the Blue Stocking 💙.

Every New Year dh and I say we need to make a concerted effort to declutter, as our New Year’s resolution, and every year we fail.

I had also intended to spend some of the time between the holiday in Yorkshire, and Christmas, to sort out my books, and sift out the ones I won’t read again, for the charity shop (and to make more shelf space for all the other books that are in piles round the place), but events have somewhat overtaken us, and that will be another job for 2026.

And ddog2 has just added her brand of help by throwing up in ds3’s room and on our bed, which dh had stripped, so there was nothing to soak it up before it got to the mattress topper. Sigh.

I intend to do some decluttering next year, when I’ll be retired. Trouble is a lot of the clutter is DDs. There’s some stuff she probably would be happy for me to deal with (desk drawers stuffed with pencils and dried up felt tip pens) but I don’t know if she’d want me to tackle much more.

Oh very funny gerbils!

I've found my Tunnock's stash.

Bastards

😂

Bloody hell, Boily, I am impressed.

We had a chuck-out during Covid, and ended up with a Great Wall of China of boxes cluttering up back room. We could do with another one. I have most of a wardrobe filled with sewing and knitting supplies, as DH realised when we had the great chuck-out. Hence his baffled demeanour this evening when I announced that I had just bought the yarn for a new jumper. But it was on special offer, and thus slightly less extortionately expensive than it would otherwise have been.

I have banned myself from buying sock wool until I use up the unknown number of balls of the stuff that I have stashed away.

Incidentally, I have Gessica (another one whose parents couldn't spell) trying to tidy up my knitting basket, all the while complaining she has an itchy bum from the tinsel-covered sofa in the staff lounge.

And she has NO idea who tinselled the Tunnocks.

Will whichever gerbil tried to serve me hot chocolate in an occupied mug please report to Maud in the morning for retraining. I do not appreciate extra protein in my hot chocolate!

Before you click on the image, it was extra protein with 8 legs. Just warning anyone who might be feeling of a delicate constitution.

That's a lovely mug Magpie

Reminded me that my kitchen window spider had moved on. I thought he'd gone because I'd taken away the avocado plant he used to anchor part of his web (it was also probably the source of most of his fungus gnats). However, today he was back!

Well done with the decluttering Beetle.

Christmas worries me when it comes to clutter. Someone always seems to buy me something I already have in excess and/or never use. I feel rotten because of the waste and my ingratitude.

I inevitably get hand cream at Christmas, which I can't use due to allergies. I leave it by the sink at work with "help yourself" written on it!

Edith, you sound just like me. The proud possessor of a yarn stash which already exceeds any possible life expectancy. 😂

Every now and then I have a go at working mine down, by churning out baby blankets or similar.

It never seems to make much difference.

Anyway, tomorrow I will be finishing the Christmas shopping. Useful things for DH, and comestibles for friends. I will NOT go to any of the shops that sell wool.

Yeah, you will.

😱

@EdithStourton Finishing the Christmas shopping!?!

Finishing!

Some of us haven't even written to Father Christmas yet.

Stay strong, Edith. You can do it! 💪

Father who?

Dear Father Christmas

I've been a very good beetle this year. I've only stolen a couple of things, mainly full Tunnock's wagons using a handy diverted traffic sign on the M245.

I've only gossiped about some of the neighbours, but only to other neighbours so I've kept it in the street.

I've been nice to gerbils and only chased the Tunnock's snaffling hedgehog through the corridors of the Bluestocking on a couple of occasions.

I've helped raise the price of a Christmas decoration to a ridiculous price in aid of charity and to make Maud understand her true worth.

I've been nice to animals, not so much humans, and hand fed a balrog grapes when she was upset about setting the goats barn on fire.

So, for Christmas can you send Amazon vouchers to all names attached in Appendix A.

Thank you.

Love to Mrs Claus and the elves.

Boiled.

Yay! Christmas shopping finished.

Did I beat Edith to the finish line?

(God if only it was that easy!)

I am your father!

Oh, that's a big surprise!

You're not really though are you?

Would work better with the image attached

I don't think so. But being not particularly clued up on beetle sloth reproductive whatnot who knows!

I had that one in the end. I'm not used to my hot chocolate being quite so crunchy. Or leggy.