The Bluestocking Women’s Pub: definitely full of ludicrous halfwits who refuse to get a grip (with unionised gerbils)

[MyrtleLion]

Welcome to The Bluestocking: convivial by design, opinionated in the best way, generously stocked with excellent food and drink that complies with whatever it’s meant to comply with, and any calories, gluten or alcohol are entirely virtual.

Staffed by impeccably trained, unfailingly polite gerbils who run a tight bar with plenty of enthusiasm and good intentions. Quick with the drinks, but terrible spillers spellers and liable to turn an idle thought on existential existence into a full blown musical with Busby Berkeley routines. You have been warned.

All women welcome, just in case that isn't obvious. Men can go to The Staunch Ally round the corner.

Previous thread here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5477133-the-bluestocking-your-local-womens-pub-warm-friendly-and-not-at-all-unusual-in-any-way

I always put it as two words, bar gerbil, because I read it as barger-bil otherwise too.
Speaking of which, I'm marking this morning, so I'll have a pint of your finest hot chocolate please, Gwendolyn, and a plate of scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, hash browns and black pudding.

There was a time when I lived in a house in a cloister. Tourists hated it when I walked through their picture taking but otherwise I'd have been late for work. But they loved it if they were taking a picture of the house and I came out. I'm probably in a lot of pictures from that time. I still refuse to wait. Because it's much worse now.

A friend refused to walk through the cloisters to get to the house when it was dark because of the 'ghosts'. She would call and then be met. I should have said that Giant Wombat was harmless but she was a ninny.

I had a big wobble yesterday, realising I'm not really in the right headspace for tribunals.

I also have to talk about the structure of reclining sofas to the sofa company later who are insisting that the mechanism is out of warranty so they won't repair it. Yet the chair bit of this sofa lurches down and to the right because a linkage arm has snapped. So it cannot be sat on. And a recliner should recline for all of its life.

I keep talking about my consumer rights and they keep talking about expired warranties. I have a furniture expert looking at my photos and hopefully he can make a report for me. It's just so much mental load fighting them. Why can't they just say it's a fault and here's some credit towards a new sofa? The range is discontinued so it might not be repairable. At least I would buy a new sofa from them.

As it is I will never use Sofology again.

Sorry to hear of your dispute regarding your sofa Myrtle. It depends how old the item is, but you do still have legal rights, even beyond a warranty period due to an expectation of a reasonable lifespan for any purchase. It may be worth talking to Citizens' Advice or the local Trading Standards team.

I think we use the term when we’re greeting new patrons and telling them about the service - we don’t always know who is on bar duty.

Been such a busy week. I was sorry to miss the knit / crochet chat. Just been catching up a bit.

I currently only have one project on the go (socks) but have a jumper, a blanket and a cardigan ready to start. I'm right with @Taztoy on the need for different projects on different occasions. Yesterday I finished squares for a blanket during work teams meetings where I just had to listen. Import stuff so needed an easy project.

I had a consignment of early rhubarb yesterday, direct from the "Rhubarb Triangle" in West Yorkshire, where the best stuff is grown. It costs a fortune in the shops but I have a friend who works there regularly and can buy it straight from the producers. I have spent this morning blanching it for the freezer.

Mmmm crumbles....😋

Well jel.
I love rhubarb but dont have room for it in my small garden ( I may need to revisit that) but fortunately DD1 grows plenty on her allotment.
Rhubarb and strawberry fool. Yum.

Strawberry and rhubarb is divine

fairy nuff

but a hyphen would be helpful for those of us who are reading-challenged

Myrtle, I'm sorry to hear that the tribunal stuff got too much, you've done so much great work over trillions of tribunal threads. Step away, and take a well-deserved break from it

Bloody Sofology😡 I hope Damson's suggestion about Trading Standards etc is useful. But the main point is that it shouldn't be happening at all, right?
You shouldn't have to be chasing companies to provide proper customer service. Hope you get somewhere with them soon!

Voting to support your taking a break, @MyrtleLion.

Hope you get somewhere with the sofa suppliers.

Oh, and regarding rhubarb - when I'm in Germany and want a soft drink I'm very partial to a Rhabarberschorle, which is just rhubarb syrup and fizzy water.

Where has Rhabarberschorle been all my life?
It solves my problem of liking the taste of things like rhubarb, but not their texture.

Myrtle, Harriet wants to say hello and send you good wishes.

Harriet literally made me smile which is lovely. Thank you.

AI has been very helpful about my consumer rights and I have written one stern letter already. They phone back rather than email but I will tell them to put it in writing.

I'm also aware that it's almost two years since my brother died and I'm shifting into a different phase of bereavement.

Mostly I just want to knit and watch crappy TV. I've unravelled my baby cardigan as it looked a bit ragged for just a garter stitch pattern. I will start again and hopefully the new wool will arrive tomorrow (Wool Warehouse has despatched it today) or Monday. I played yarn chicken and ran out so I'm pleased I ordered the wool before that point.

@MyrtleLion wrote Mostly I just want to knit and watch crappy TV.

Then that’s what your body is asking for, after all it’s been through recently. Do what absolutely had to be done, then rest.

How about BarGerbil? Is that any clearer?
Barger Bill sounds like a bouncer’s name. If not, then he’d be good at making his way through a crowd. Does it get very busy at the bar in The Staunch Ally, do we know?

Maybe you’re due a seasonal name change next thread!

My Derbyshire-born Dad always grew rhubarb, ‘as did his father before him.’ When we lived in the West Riding I used to eat sticks of rhubarb straight from the plant, with a small container of sugar to dip into.

January does feel very early for Rhubarb.

@ AuntieRhubarbSmuggler? It's available, hence the space.

Actually, it sounds a bit rude. Maybe check the Urban Dictionary before choosing it as a name!

Aw, so sorry about the sofa saga - hope you can prove it was not ‘Fit for Purpose’ per the consumer rights act 2015 which does suggest things we buy should survive beyond warranty and be fit for a ‘reasonable amount of time’ - assuming the sofa isn’t 10 years old, I’d be inclined to be a bit arsey over their refusal to engage.

My boys say hello from their favourite sofa. Which is recked due to refusal to remain on the seat bit and trashed from their claws…

It does sound early for something which combines well with strawberries!

DF grew up in West Yorkshire, I seem to remember him telling me that jam was made from rhubarb, coloured red and with fake wooden pips added so it looked like strawberry. I think nowadays (standard commercial) strawberry jam is rather meh and it’d be rhubarb selling as a premium product - especially if it has ginger in it.

Who cares how a sofa looks if they’re decorated like that? Can you sit on the sofa yourself with them there and use them as neck pillows?

@CautiousLurker2 Well hello, gorgeous boys! 😍

I don’t crochet or knit or sew or craft, so haven’t had much to chip in with. Very impressed with the products shared!

I do love a rhubarb crumble though.

The awful weather persists here so I decided to do a little sanding and painting just to give a sense of purpose to the day. Not much, just a door and frame. It seems there may be a short break in the rain at 4:00pm so I’m hoping me and the hound can pop on the beach for a walk then. Although the wind is crazy down there. Fingers crossed though.

Yes, the brown one (Murphy) has an advanced certificate in headrest proficiency. Cooper, the Springer, is a trainee foot warmer having only recently achieved Level 2 certification. Would have been Level 3 with distinction but he keeps licking/washing my toes…

Late January is the start of forced rhubarb season! We buy it every year in time of a family birthday on the 31st.