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 recall our professor telling us that Stalin had difficulty pronouncing certain sounds in Russian. The result was that when the Soviets made a biopic, they found themselves rewriting dialogue so that (for example) the actor playing him didn't have to copy Stalin's speech pattern.

I've seen one Russian website claiming that his spoken Russian was excellent, but I'm inclined to believe my professor and lecturers.

More or less irrelevant aside: when I was 20, Glasgow Uni sent 4 of their students on a one month Russian course at the Kuban' State University in Krasnodar.

One day, the only other Scottish girl and I met up with one of the Russian girls and hired a paddle boat. I kid you not, we were chased by two Georgian men in a rowing boat...They'd obviously spotted us furriners, courtesy of our milk-white Scottish complexion.

We eventually got away from them, but they were shouting (in English): "We are Georgians! The greatest man who ever lived was Stalin!"

😱

That even sounds like a Russian joke, but I believe it. Russians like to stereotype Georgians having enormous appetites for food, drink and sex, not always in that order.

I remember a Russian who'd been in the army saying that the Chechens get all the hype abroad, but they have a kind of Italian metrosexual thing going on where they hang around in barber shops taking selfies for Insta. The guys with a real reputation for being mad are the Buryats, who are proud descendants of Genghis Khan and won't ever let you forget it.

The Russian girl with us told that she was scared of Georgians. I did find that - in spite of the official line of all Soviets being equal, many Russians were quite patronising towards other Soviet nationalities.)

On the other hand, some of the Glasgow Uni boys later had placements in Voronezh and there were many Georgian students there. One of the boys came back engaged to a Georgian girl. (Another lad came back married to a Russian girl. Only later did we find out that he'd left behind a Glaswegian fiancée.)

We eventually got away from them, but they were shouting (in English): "We are Georgians! The greatest man who ever lived was Stalin!"
You had an... interesting time.

You have no idea...

I've never found that caffeine perks me up, but I do know that it stops me sleeping of I have too much (like 6 coffees) or drink it after 4pm.

Apparently the stimulus of the ADHD drugs is calming for sufferers.

That looks lovely. The cardigan is done but I had some accidental yarn overs that now look like moth holes and it probably isn't good enough to give to my friend. I'll post a picture tomorrow. I'm pleased I finished it as it's the first garment I completed that isn't a hat or scarf.

I'll try the BSJ. I bought some 4 ply wool but it's for Boily's socks. I thought I'd bought some white 4 ply but it was DK. I may have to buy more yarn... I have an ultrasound for my foot on Tuesday and I need to go to Hobbycraft to buy buttons for the cardigan so I'll pick some up then.

I did this as a craft project a few years ago. It was amazing how the yarn took the dye!

I think we need a 😮 reaction.

The conversation about Georgians reminds me that on Friday in CT we went to a Georgian restaurant, which was excellent, if expensive. I had a lamb stew thing called Chakhani that was meltingly tender and very herby and tasty. We also had some cheese-stuffed bread with a Georgian cheese in it and we shared a honey cake with caramel sauce and walnuts between the layers. Gorgeous!

Life during the Cold War era could be surreal at times.

Krasnodar is the only place where I was aware of British students being blatantly followed at the same time as the better known Soviet cities were putting on their best face for foreign visitors.

Have you ever had Georgian champagne? It's lovely.

No but I will if the opportunity arises :-)

I don't know whether they're allowed to call it 'champagne' in the west; in the Soviet Union, it was 'shampanskoye'.

Do you want me to see if I can find the pattern for the BSJ? It used to be difficult to get (not available online) but it may be much easier now.

I've looked in the knitting section of the bookshelves but it's not there. It may be in the piles of knitting books, though. Not the front two, but maybe the back...

Why is it that having lots of yarn is thought to be a bad thing by some, but lots of books is a library?

@MyrtleLion you are good to make socks for our esteemed Boily. I have friends who knit socks all the time, but I've only ever knitted one sock in an adult size. When I'd finished it I thought, there, I've done that, I don't need to make any more.

Er…

@MyrtleLion wrote: The cardigan is done but I had some accidental yarn overs that now look like moth holes and it probably isn't good enough to give to my friend.

Have you considered embroidering over the holes? It's quick. Use any yarn and whatever needle you're using to sew the cardigan up. Daisies or triangles in different colours can be a good way to start.

There's an example for garter stitch here, and daisies and stems .

It was useful for one foot when I had the other one in plaster. ♥

Oh well in that case obviously perfect!

It’s true - embroidery covers a multitude of mistakes.

The first time that we visited the relatives in Eastern Europe, Mum thought that the men were all in some kind of club - they all had wee motifs embroidered on their shirts. Nope.

Their wives had embroidered over cigarette holes.

Brilliant tactic - a lot cheaper than new shirts and more beautiful than darning.

Um, @FuzzyPuffling...

https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/gifts-home/clothing-and-outdoor/fashion-accessories/jewellery/puffin-drop-earrings-bill-skinner.html