The Bluestocking Boxing Day sale: 1 gerbil for the price of 2

[Boiledbeetle]

Previous thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5457910-the-bluestocking-next-stop-christmas

As the patrons, and gerbils, of The Bluestocking Pub sleep off their Christmas Day food and alcohol intake the capybaras will be getting paid double time to move the pub and contents to the new thread overnight.

All welcome, as long as you are a woman. The men have their own pub The Staunch Ally. It's just down the road, then turn left at the bridge.

You don't have to be mad to drink here but it most definitely helps.

Leave the real world behind and join us in the mayhem and surreal life of a pub staffed by gerbils. Where the food is always exactly what you ordered and the drinks don't give you a hangover the next day!

Ah! I see what you mean. The triangle should be open at one of the bottom corners.

Happy new year... bleurgh...

I thought I'd have an early night, but did not count on my neighbours being massive fireworks fans, which meant being startled out of bed at midnight wondering if I was under fire from Viet Cong. So my resolution of improving my sleep pattern hasn't started very well.

Corvids are cheeky wee rips though. We used to have a magpie in the garden that amused itself pulling the cat's tail.

I'm loving all the poems (thanks Marie), gerbily music and chat today, ranging from spooky goings-on in the night, diets and various forms of wildlife.

And @Boiledbeetle seems to have inspired several of us to feats of de-cluttering. I am generally quite tidy, but have just finished sorting out my old boiler cupboard (boiler is now elsewhere), which was full of the detritus of last autumn's decorating binge, i.e virtually empty paint tins, brushes, cleaning stuff, buckets & mops, plus tools that should be in the garage etc. I made a slatted shelf to house two small crates for the bottles and tins that I need in the house and now also have room for the vacuum cleaner, brushes and mop, without it all falling out on me every time I open the door. So thanks for the inspiration and motivation @Boiledbeetle👏👏👏

I still need to tackle the garage, but that can wait until the danger of hypothermia has passed.

Ooh, I don't know where the gif came from, but I rather like it!

Fella bought some blue Stilton, ate some but didn't wrap it when he put the rest away so it dried out. Rather than waste it I chopped it up and scattered it around our little back lawn. A little while later I glanced outside and the garden was full of magpies. I can only assume that they love blue Stilton and that it makes them very collegial.

Have been for a walk today and I found myself arguing with sprogs that Jingle Bells, while undoubtedly festive, is not just a Christmas song.

With you there, Cake - a group of juvenile chancers called in late November and sang Jingle Bells when I opened the door.
They lived to regret it, as I pointed out that
[a] it's much too early for carols
[b] Jingle Bells is not a carol.
[c] goodbye.

All said with a smile, I wasn't being nasty to them, but FFS, they got NOTHING right, and I couldn't let them away with it

Happy new year to everyone & everygerbil!

Just started reading back on the thread & found this from Deano:

'RTE radio 1 is good this morning. People talking about wetland birds before 8, then v short news headlines, now music getting going with the Wichita lineman. Sadly the cats won't let me stay in bed much longer.'

I've been catching up with episodes of 'I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue' & in one, Joe Lycett sang 'The Teddy Bear's Picnic' to the tune of 'Wichita Lineman' & I couldn't get the latter out of my head afterwards.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002n7mr at 7:55.

I think we could all do with that announcer in our lives!

"And, competing for the first time in 2026, iiiiiittt's........Marie de Gournayyyyyyyyy!!!" Crowd goes wild🎉
😂

I'd pay good money to have someone to announce my entry into the classroom!

And here she is -

the Corvid of the Classroom, the Bird with the Brains, the Avian Mistress of A.I….

It’s MAG! PIE! COM-PLEX!

Love it, thanks Anactor! 😂

It’s one of 3 things - courtship, territorial or alarm.
F me
F off
and F!! WTF!!

pheasants are particularly good at the latter.

Agree re pheasants.

We have had a few days of visiting and being visited by friends and relations.

DH went and saw the IL of the disastrous diagnosis. I was still full of cold and didn't think the hospice would want me hacking and sneezing along its corridors, even with a mask on, so stayed away. The news from said IL was all a bit shit, frankly.

I've just walked Brains and Batshit in tbe gloaming. The bare trees looked amazing against the sunset, and as the sun faded the moon cast shadows. It was very lovely and serene.

Ha! I like that!

Mr Tractor has pointed out to me that a potential fourth category is mimickry.. Which, as slightly unexplained behaviour, probably should be classified as:
F Knows

Sorry to hear it Edith, that sounds really difficult

I mean it IS weird and when I see my neighbour, the one with the horses, questions are gonna be asked.

I think one of the Nordic countries has been putting reflective or glow in the dark material (unfortunately not shiny red noses😕) on reindeer to reduce collisions and they do something similar with large animals in South Africa for the same reason

https://youtube.com/shorts/a_R4Rm1GSpI?si=YiLzco1uVHefspmg

Love this guys ahccent!

Sorry to hear about the IL, it must have been a very upsetting visit for your DH.
Brains and Batshit and Nature have an important job to do supporting and comforting you and your DH at this difficult time...

The only reason I can think is to prevent the horses suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder🐴🌨😢

Apparently they're intended to mimic long summer days, fooling the horses into breeding outside their normal breeding season.

Happy New Year! I loved the fireworks!

Will read the updates later as you all added over 187 posts.

In the meantime I need to get some orders of ceremony printed for Tuesday. Everywhere is shut until Monday and I'm in Battersea for a medical appointment at noon, so I can't rely on my local printer.

Does anyone know if standard print shops like Kall Kwik are open on Friday or Saturday? I live close enough to a city to try there, or alternatively one near Battersea as I'm there on Monday and staying overnight?

I knew someone here would know! Now I don't have to look like the idiot urban blow in (again)

You could ask whether they are Equilume brand masks.

No need to mention that someone looked it up on the internet, obviously. (The firm Equilume Ltd is based in Ladytown, Co. Kildare - spitting distance from the Curragh, judging by the map.)

I thought the horse in the National Stud who slept on shredded banknotes because he was allergic to straw was the ultimate in decadence, but now they're swanning around in high tech sex masks.