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

The quokkas and Rosy want more publicity!

I adore @Boiledbeetle's description. So much more evocative and respectful than mine. 💙

the quokkas and Rosy (and Giant Wombat) (and the cabybaras) deserve more recognition.

I note that although the effect of Gubbins' solo performances was well recognised (if misinterpreted) a veil was draw over the matter of the Safe room

The safe.

With room on top.

For gerbils who claim to have misunderstood the safe sex talk.

Hence

"competent. No nonsense ... fast.... quietly judgemental of poor behaviour ... excellent rota discipline ... zero tolerance for foolishness ...Calm, professional, faintly amused by the humans. They’ve seen everything. None of it impressed them ....

"and a firm “no unpaid emotional labour” clause" for everyone except poor Glenda.

I ask you

In non- gerbil news, the Beryl Cook exhibition was fabulous. Really joyous and interesting. We also did half of the sculpture trail- 4 larger than life models of Beryl's well known characters.
Great day out.

Meanwhile, back in the real world we had glorious sunshine today. We went to the Duck place (aka WWT Martin Mere) where we saw a redpoll - not to be confused with Red Polls, of course; the cattle are English longhorns which look rather wonderful in the distance backlit - their colouring gives them a white silhouette. We also spotted a butterfly! We couldn’t ID it other than ‘large and darkish’, likelier a peacock than a red admiral this early I would think.

How lovely!

I love the booties, @MyrtleLion, and the blanket is gorgeous, @CautiousLurker2.

I may have accidentally come home from knitting group with 6 balls of yarn someone was giving away - 4 balls of silver tinsel yarn, and one each of sparkly pink and sparkly purple yarn - I’m going to knit a couple of scarves for no1 granddaughter. I did have to sneak the yarn in past dh - aka The Yarn Police. He thinks that, having just spent £60 on yarn to knit dresses for all three granddaughters, I don’t need any more yarn - can you believe that??!

Fantastic that you do Tribunal Tweets, @MyrtleLion.

I mostly crochet blankets for cats. And sometimes for babies.

Ah so you got the yarn for the DGD's dresses - and you fessed up about the cost? So you rejected our suggestions from the 'How to be shamelessly deceptive and/or manipulative towards your life partner' playbook😁

Nice to hear that Errol and Fuzzy had Grand Days Out

I was on a yarn buying ban. Because I have plenty of yarn.

oops.

Thoughts and prayers, Taz.

My DH doesn’t comment on the cost of my yarn, because he has no idea what I paid. He does look a bit askance at the volume of it.

Congratulations on your crochet, @EmpressaurusKitty and your knitting @MyrtleLion .

@CautiousLurker2 , great blanket. If you like the look of patchwork blankets, have you thought of knitting the next one in strips?
When you’ve knitted one square you cast off and then pick up stitches along that edge for the next square. That’s the method Debbie Abrahams suggests for her Mystery Blankets, and it halves the amount of sewing up needed. That’s the method I’ve used for my previous eleven Debbie Blankets.

For a small contribution to Woolly Hugs I’d offer to mattress stitch the strips together for you.

Today the red yarn for my ‘Melt the ICE’ hat has arrived. ❤️

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius wrote He thinks that, having just spent £60 on yarn to knit dresses for all three granddaughters, I don’t need any more yarn - can you believe that??!

Sad times.
Would a carpenter just have exactly the right length of wood and number of wood screws for their next project, and nothing more? You need a cushion of yarn just in case.

https://presse.paris.fr/communiques/marie-curie-sophie-germain-agnes-ullmann-decouvrez-la-liste-complete-des-72-noms-de-femmes-scientifiques-proposes-pour-rejoindre-la-frise-des-savants-sur-la-tour-eiffel
And about bloody time too!

@AsWithGlad what a great idea! Was just thinking also that I may knit and intersperse some larger squares - double the stitches (sort of), so I’d have a few thicker strips too?

@Taztoy I will also be in the doghouse later when DH comes home and finds me surrounded by new yarn…

Hurray, @Magpiecomplex ! Thank you for letting us know about this.
Thank you also to my iPad for offering me this translation of the first two paragraphs:

Major figures in their scientific fields and yet too often invisible in history in favour of their male counterparts, 72 women will soon be honoured by the inscription of their names on the Eiffel Tower. Initiated in March 2025 by the City of Paris, the Société d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) and the association "Femmes & Sciences", this approach will give them back their place within this scientific Pantheon.

Since 1889, the Eiffel Tower paid tribute to science, progress and techniques through the inscription in gold letters of 72 names of French scientists on the perimeter of its first floor. From now on, 72 names of women scientists will also be associated with the most famous monument in Paris.

Yes, @CautiousLurker2 , sounds like a good plan. Some of the blankets Woolly Hugs puts together are made from differently sized squares (because that’s what people have contributed) and they can look great. A strip needn’t all have strips of the same size, either.

My current WH work in progress is garter stitch mitred squares. You pick up stitches from the previous squares so there’s no sewing together at all. I haven’t investigated different stitch patterns, though. It could need some calculations to do that.

Is there an English translation of this post?

Oh, and may I have a glass of the house claret when you have a moment please dear bargerbil?

An offer to translate the page always pops up when I open something in a furrin language - I'm on a laptop, maybe that doesn't happen on phones etc?

I'll post the tranlation

Marie Curie, Sophie Germain, Agnès Ullmann...: Discover the complete list of the 72 names of women scientists proposed to join the frieze of scientists on the Eiffel Tower!
Major figures in their scientific fields and yet too often invisibilized in history in favor of their male counterparts, 72 women will soon be honored by the inscription of their names on the Eiffel Tower. Initiated in March 2025 by the City of Paris, the Société d'exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE) and the "Femmes & Sciences" association, this approach will give them back their place in this scientific pantheon.
Since 1889, the Eiffel Tower paid tribute to science, progress and technology at the through the inscription in gold letters of 72 names of men of scientists around its first floor. Now, 72 women's names will also be associated with the most famous monument in Paris.
Fruit of several months' work led by the association "Femmes & Sciences", the list of 72 names proposed Mayor of Paris was built thanks to various criteria detailed in the a report made public in September 2025 after eight working meetings conducted since June and led by a committee co-chaired by Isabelle Vauglin, astrophysicist and vice-president of the association "Femmes & Sciences" and Jean-François Martins, President of the Society of Eiffel Tower Operating Authority (SETE).
The consensus reached allows to consider the inclusion of 72 names of women scientists in the same conditions than their male counterparts: on the first floor, in letters of gold, with the exact same typography.
« It's time to give women back their rightful place on the Tower Eiffel, this exceptional monument, admired by the whole world and designed by Gustave Eiffel to pay tribute to science and scientists! Soon, the young girls who look at the Eiffel Tower will also be able to have the ambition to become a doctor, mathematician, chemist, biologist, computer scientist, engineer, physicist, astrophysicist or climatologist. We need scientists and women to think about the world that comes. This is a wonderful prospect that should make us all happy! ", says Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris.
« Daughter of science and human genius, the Eiffel Tower has always been a symbol of progress and faith in the future. By inscribed the names of 72 women scientists on its list today, structure, we affirm an essential conviction: the challenges of climate, knowledge and the future cannot be raised without equality. In Honoring these women, we celebrate those to whom science owes so much and help inspire entire generations of scientists. The tower Eiffel thus fully assumes his role as a humanist beacon, faithful to the spirit that gave birth to it. ", says Jean-François Martins, president of the Société d'exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE).
« Write as many scholars than scholars on the Eiffel Tower is an action of great visibility national and international level, which will contribute to the full integration of women in the narrative of scientific discoveries, at the same time their male colleagues to finally recognize their role and their give them the place they deserve in the history of science. A not This historic gesture will make it possible to profoundly change the mentalities and to serve as an example for other areas where women are not still not the place they deserve. The Eiffel Tower is a monument whose is so powerful that it will make it shine throughout France and far beyond the borders, these women who have marked the history of the science and engineering in France and whose remarkable work fully justify that they too be brought to light," says Isabelle Vauglin, vice-president of the association Women & Science.
This Monday, Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris received the 72 nominations of women scientists. From the most one of these female figures, Angélique Du Coudray, an obstetrician born in 1712, to Yvonne Bruhat, physicist and mathematician who died in 2025, these These names pay tribute to 250 years of research history on French territory. Particular attention has been paid to the balance between the disciplines so that they are all represented.
This list of names will then be submitted to the Academies of Science, Technology and Medicine for their opinion. The final validation of these 72 names will allow work to be initiated for the reception of this new frieze on the Parisian historical monument.
Given the lack of archives, information and photographs of certain women scientists, the city of Paris has created an email address ([email protected]) to collect testimonies or information of all persons, including descendants and who would like to participate in enriching the data recorded for Fully Celebrating Women Scientists for Too Long invisible.
Download the presentation of the 72 women scientists by The "Women & Science" association:
72 femmes de sciences pour la tour Eiffel
3,62 Mo
Liste complète des 72 femmes de sciences dont les noms apparaîtront sur la Tour Eiffel
· Denise ALBE-FESSARD
· Yvette AMICE
· Jeanne BARET
· Denise BARTHOMEUF
· Madeleine BRÈS
· Yvonne CHOQUET-BRUHAT
· Simonne CAILLÈRE
· Yvette CAUCHOIS
· Edmée CHANDON
· Marthe CONDAT
· Anita CONTI
· Eugénie COTTON
· Radhia COUSOT
· Odile CROISSANT
· Marie CURIE
· Augusta DÉJÉRINE
· Henriette DELAMARRE
· Georgette DÉLIBRIAS
· Nathalie DEMASSIEUX
· Rose DIENG
· Angélique DU COUDRAY
· Louise DU PIERRY
· Henriette MATHIEU-FARAGGI
· Jacqueline FERRAND
· Jacqueline FICINI
· Rosalind FRANKLIN
· Marthe GAUTIER
· Sophie GERMAIN
· Jeanne GUIOT
· Geneviève GUITEL
· Sébastienne GUYOT
· Claudine HERMANN
· Andrée HOPPILLIARD
· Marie-Louise DUBREIL-JACOTIN
· Irène JOLIOT-CURIE
· Geneviève JOURDAIN
· Dorothéa KLUMPKE
· Lydie KOCH
· Colette KREDER
· Nicole LAROCHE
· Cornélie LEBON-DE BRAMBILLA
· Yolande LE CALVEZ
· Paulette LIBERMANN
· Marianne GRUNBERG-MANAGO
· Nicole MANGIN
· Cécile MORETTE
· Edith MOURIER
· Ethel MOUSTACCHI
· Suzanne NOËL
· Yvonne ODIC
· Isabelle OLIVIERI
· Marie-Louise PARIS
· Marguerite PEREY
· Claudine PICARDET
· Alberte PULLMAN
· Pauline RAMART
· Lucie RANDOIN
· Alice RECOQUE
· Michelle SCHATZMAN
· Anne-Marcelle SCHRAMECK
· Marie-Hélène SCHWARTZ
· Josiane SERRE
· Alice SOLLIER
· Hélène SPARROW
· Bianca TCHOUBAR
· Marie-Antoinette TONNELAT
· Thérèse TRÉFOUËL
· Agnès ULLMANN
· Arlette VASSY
· Suzanne VEIL
· Jeanne VILLEPREUX
· Toshiko YUASA

I could have pretended to have translated that myself
I'm wondering what Rosalind Franklin is doing on the list - a very admirable woman, but no French connection that I know of, whereas all the others seem to be French.

Marie Curie wasn't originally French, was she? Although she did marry a Frenchman.