The Bluestocking, where the cheese is plentiful and the Champagne is on Boiledbeetle

[Magpiecomplex]

Welcome one and all. Quick précis - women's pub, rodent staff, apparently we're sane.

Thank you - it was funny at the time, but then it started being 'Hang on, this is serious and my arms are getting very very tired!'

If it ever happens, reach for the scissors early on, that's my advice!

I usually wear very unstructured bras that can easily be pulled on and off over the head, or occasionally a 'proper' one with all those little hooks and eyes - surely the only remaining market for hook and eye manufacturers.
In days of yore there were probably entire towns in Northern England that lived off the manufacture of hooks and eyes

Of course, Birmingham!
I have a set of 'Mantel Clasps', in an inherited sewing box, now i know what they are called!.

Most of my female elders were shopworkers, and they had what they called their own 'shop jargon' - 'jargon' wasn't negative - and used terms like 'mantels' for coats as in 'I used to be in millinery but then I moved to mantels'.

Local weather warning upgraded to red. No longer scoffing at a "bit of a breeze".
Hold tight Devon & Cornwall.

I was still on page 6 reading about cheese biscuits, when I noticed everyone else is on page 13!

So I'm probably waaaay behind with saying our current unopened biscuits for cheese are Buiteman's Gouda Biscuits & M&S Onion & Garlic Cheese Puffs. We over-bought for Christmas - I think there are different types in theTreat Cupboard as well.

Yep. Molke bras are like that for me. Seriously difficult to get into and even more difficult to get out of!

I got trapped in a t-shirt once - it was new, a size too small for me, it wasn't very stretchy, and I had a shoulder injury at the time. I got into a spiral of getting more and more upset and trying more and more and hurting my shoulder more and more, instead of just saying feck it I'll sleep in it and work something out in the morning.

I'm glad I didn't take a scissors to it, I eventually removed it, then I lost weight over the next year, and it is now fits perfectly
That's something I dislike about myself: getting into a spiral of not giving up something that clearly isn't going to work because it should work and it must be some huge galactic conspiracy against me that is causing it not to work, because it should work... and repeat, until I think of something better, or break down in tears, or both🙄

I bought one like this and realised that the secret to getting it off was to cross my arms and hook my fingers under the bottom band and pull it up and over my head like a t shirt.

Hey Magpie did you notice I clicked on the 'support' emoji?😂

Crockpot is another word for slow cooker - sorry, didn't realise it was an Americanism.

I don’t think it is. DM and MiL both had what they called crockpots. Not sure if it might have been a brand name originally?

Kicking myself I didn’t realise that. The combination of my age and having lived in the us for a couple of years means I’m usually able to happily mix and interconvert units. My banana muffin recipe ended up as a mix of us cups, ounces and millilitres.😁

Our first slow cooker, back in the 80s, was marketed as a crockpot. I can't remember now whether that was a brand name or not. It was made of earthenware,which meant you couldn't put it in the dishwasher and it had to be carefully washed by hand. After long and valued use it was replaced by a modern one with a removable, machine-washable inner container.

I have a slow cooker bought in 1980. It is still doing sterling service.( I used it yesterday fir a casserole) It's earthenware and needs careful washing, but I wouldn't change it.

Maybe I should throw it a party. It's probably older than most of you!

I just took a look at mine… I need to use it more often

Ah, I'd forgotten that.
So same-same for volume.

A mantle was originally a cape.
When a hawk hunches over its prey and spreads its wings, it's said to be 'mantling'.
There's your useless Fact of the Day.

I did! 😂

To go back to the norks discussion, I looked like Dolly Parton when feeding my first DC and for the first time truly understood how shallow many men are...

I was tall, slim and spilling out of a DD cup. Might even have been an E - it was a long time ago. I sometimes felt as if my boobs were eye magnets.

When I had DC3, one of the (very nice, rather elderly) midwives said

“you could feed this whole ward. You have boobs like Dolly Parton. They come into the room half an hour before you do”

On my first visit to Rigby and Peller, I got told I looked like a bunny girl. Once we'd got past the horror at the bra I'd walked in wearing, and been fitted for something that actually did the job...

I had two bras from Rigby and Peller - the fitting was amazing - the woman walked in, looked at my front, spanned my back with her hands, and brought me a bra that fitted perfectly!

These bras were the only underwired bras I’ve ever had, that were completely comfortable - they cost £46 each (20+ years ago) - so when they wore out, I couldn’t afford to replace them.

Similar. I had two that were a present years ago and I can’t afford them now.

im now in crop tops almost all the time.

I don't like underwire bras, but the non-underwire variety are pretty good these days.

I am a DD and would say that has been a mixed blessing for all sorts of reasons. Proper bra fitting is vital. Fortunately I have found a small independent lingerie shop in the nearest town who after 30 + years of experience just knows by looking what size you are and what you will need.

I'm a JJ. I know exactly how shallow men are.