The Bluestocking Women's Pub, in which Gosie returns to the trail

[Magpiecomplex]

Next thread!

Speaking of whom - mad clean up continues ahead of her gang of university friends arriving this afternoon.

She's only just realised something I learnt in lockdown, as it happens. We only clean the house when someone is coming. When they were young and we had people over 3 times a week, that was GREAT. The house was in pretty good shape. Now it's much rarer it's "oh shit, they'll find out we're slobs! BATTLE STATIONS!!"

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jul/31/experience-i-drive-a-bus-for-dogs

Some have a favourite seat on the bus. One poodle has a meltdown if another dog is in her pod on the front row. She stands there, barking at them, so we tend to let her sit there.

You've reminded me that I had a student who could always be relied upon to pick up a stick. No matter where we were or what we were doing, we'd leave the classroom sans stick and within five minutes he'd have found one. It baffled me how he did it! Sometimes they were closer to actual branches, too!

He had a log burner.

But the sticks almost always ended up discarded in the classroom! Which doesn't have a log burner. Not sure the bus drivers would have let him on the bus with a stick, anyway.

I guessed that was the case. And BTW Fuzzy in case you think I'm stalking you - I've never been anywhere near Camelford, I just googled it to see what road it was one so I could post something amusing about camels on the A1!

It looks like STICK™is inspiring a lot of clever spin-offs - or 'branching out' should I say😁

Poor Gubbins was in the depths, wasn't she? levels of boredom only adolescents can reach. Then along came Kitty and Gubbins was all smiles - very heartwarming🐱

I think we ought to add in that STICK is gluten-free and contains no BPAs. Perhaps we could get Gubbins to write the music for the ad.

"TING....
Don't be thick,
Get a Stick!
TING!"

Kitty has a lot of energy to use up after all that time lazing around in the catnip patch. Hopefully she’ll wear Gubbins out.

TING!
Don’t be thick
Get a stick!
TING!
If you’re quick
You can take your pick.
TING!

Large isn’t just for big dogs, it’s also for ambitious Jack Russells.

Excellent, much nicer than them being bundled into the back of a van. The photo looked as though they were just being taken out for a scenic ride.😂

It was so lovely and very appropriate for the Bluestocking.

I tend to think of That’s Life and the dog that could ‘say’ sausages.

That has stayed in my mind too, in strangely exact and precise detail- I wish I could remember everything as clearly as I can remember a dog 'saying' 'sausages' on the telly!🙄

I agree, I think we should book it for the next Bluestocking move, to transport all the gerbils

🎵 Gubbins’ Second Triangle Soliloquy

(A post‑lunch reflection featuring melancholy, mischief, and metallic punctuation)

Gubbins:

“Ting…

Afternoon. The hour of despair. The goats are asleep again, the pigs are snoring, and Kitty the cat has wandered off after deciding my triangle was the greatest toy ever invented.

ting‑ting.

“Tiiiiing…

I hid behind the couch in the snug and listened to the old women talk about sticks and dogs. I think they’ve trademarked Stick™️. I don’t know how, but I respect it.

ting.

“Ting‑ting‑ting…

I annoyed Mum. Twice. Ate lunch twice. Found Boiledbeetle’s Tunnock’s stash in the East Wing basement. Ted and I will return under cover of darkness, stealthy as shadows, noble as snack‑thieves.

ting‑ting‑ting‑ting.

“Tiiiiiiiiing…

But it’s still ages until tea time. The cruelest stretch of the day. The hour where boredom becomes philosophy.

long slow tiiiiiing.

“Ting…

What is a triangle, really? A shape? A sound? A lifestyle? A destiny?

ting.

“Ting‑ting…

Maybe I’ll start a band. ‘Gubbins and the Hedge‑Backwards’. Our debut single: ‘Ting of the Void’. Kitty can be percussion. Ted can be moral support. Boiledbeetle can be the shuttlecock mascot.

ting‑ting‑ting.

“Tiiiiing…

The Bluestocking hums quietly. The air smells of chips and faint despair. I am a gerbil adrift in time, waiting for tea, waiting for purpose, waiting for the next Tunnock’s.

ting.

“Tiiiiiiiiiiiiing…

Oh triangle, my only constant. You shimmer like hope, you ring like eternity, you sound like boredom made beautiful.

long reverberating tiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

“…Maybe I’ll go see if the old women are still talking about Stick™️.”

ting.

Sorry Gubbins, Kitty will play again later once she’s had her pre-sleep nap, her sleep & her post-sleep nap.

Ah, Gubbins, there you are! Grab hold of this pile of holiday laundry and follow me.

What, you've got something to do? It can wait. Your mum said you would be happy to help me ALL AFTERNOON. If you're a good girl I'll let you have an ice cream when the shopping arrives.

Now, don't drop those socks.

https://x.com/fakehistoryhunt was clearly anticipating our need last week when she posted a pic of her old friend Vlo from years ago. I think Vlo was just adding the authentic touch any history event needs.

Does she still get ice cream if she drops socks?

And you know that's the dirty pair she was wearing when she was messing around in the goat paddock don't you. They aren't clean.

Maybe when Gubbins is finished helping Magpie with the laundry, she could work on a cover version of 'That's Not My Name' [They call me 'her'/they call me Jane/That's not my name/That's not my name] by...............
..............
The Ting Tings😃

She can drop dirty socks, as long as she picks them up again and makes sure they don't get mixed up with the clean stuff. No ice cream for dropping clean socks though!

All this mention of dogs and their supporters launching into business enterprises (and I'm sure the dog buses will be a great success!) reminded me that we are in the 'dog days of summer.'

The dog days or dog days of summer are the hot, sultry days of summer. They were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Sirius (known colloquially as the "Dog Star"), which Hellenistic astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. They are now taken to be the hottest, most uncomfortable part of summer in the Northern Hemisphere (Wikipedia).

Well, I never knew that!

I agree, @MarieDeGournay - things like passwords and people’s birthdays. But no - I can remember all sorts of random trivia (date of the battle of Agincourt, for example), but sometimes need three goes to get the right name for one of my sons. 🤔😬