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

[Magpiecomplex]

Next thread!

Earlier conversation on this thread has sent me back to Heyer and I’m re-reading Cousin Kate. I think she’s being a bit slow on the uptake about Torquil.

I think she didn’t want to admit it to herself - just like she didn’t want to believe the return about her aunt. They were the only blood relations she had, after all.

"Torquil"??? What kind of a name is that??

Oh, that’s nothing. How about Waldo Hawkridge or Albinia Gillyfoot?

My favourite Plantagenet is Margaret Pole, the daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, (who was reputed to have chosen execution by drowning in a vat of Malmsey wine, following a failed plot to oust his brother Edward IV). Margaret's mother was Isabel Neville, sister of Richard IIIs wife Anne. Following their father's death Margaret and her brother Edward were made wards of the crown, but they were always seen as a threat, particularly to the Tudors, as they had a genuine claim to the Plantagenet throne. Edward was executed by Henry VII at the age of 24 having spent much of his life in the Tower of London and although Margaret was allow to marry and was a lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon, she was always seen as a potential rallying point for plots against the throne and was eventually executed at the age of 67 by Henry VIII. There are several books about her life, including 'Faithful Traitor' by Samantha Wilcoxon and a fictionalised version by Philippa Gregory's called 'The Kings Curse'.

Hope you had a reasonable and pain-free night's sleep Pasta.

Have you read The Farmer's Wife, by Helen Rebanks, James's wife? It is written in journal form and shows just how much the running of a successful farm owes to the farmer's wife. While he is out saving the planet from climate change, she is ensuring everyone is clean and fed, managing the children and the paperwork, looking after various livestock and catering, not just for their own family, but for the farm workers and various visitors. It is interspersed throughout by recipes which are often made in vast quantities!

And she has a first class degree in Fine Art!

I’ve read the Philippa Gregory books including Margaret but that’s all. Yes - I’d definitely like to know more about her.

Morning dear Stockingers, I hope everyone had an acceptable level of sleep/dreams last night - especially Pasta, take it easy today
There's been quite an outbreak of history in the Bluey, hasn't there?

'Everyday a school day', and since my knowledge of English history is a bit patchy to say the least, I've learnt lots by reading your posts, and following up people and things you've mentioned, thank you. Still patchy, but some interesting new patches
For example, thanks to Kitty I found this:
Hammerbeam Roof of Westminster Hall: Architecture and History – Rescreening Masters

I'd like to order some Bluestocking headed paper please, I think the slightly wonky placing of the design will just emphasise that it is....artisanal

Yes, I forgot to order my Bluestocking headed paper too, please.

Who's in charge of the press? Presumably Caxton the capybara built it, but do we dare let the gerbils run it?

It think it was Galley and... can't remember the other printgerbil, sorry! I'll go back and check.

. She produced a sheet of Bluestocking notepaper, the small blue crest at the top slightly crooked in a way that indicated it had been printed by Galley and Gutter rather than by a professional printer.

Apols for forgetting your name, Gutter!

Oops, missed that! Galley and Gutter are doing an excellent job.

Does the blue crest at the top display our proper motto?

or t'other one, which I sometimes forget about though dear knows it's on point.

Sorry, someone else already posted the excerpt.

Galley and Gutter take very great care to get it straight. It's only a little bit out of place.

Call me old-fashioned, but I think our motto should be in Latin.

Google Translate came up with Confusi estis?confundemini😄
I used 'ye' to get the plural, but presumably that's a masculine plural, so not ideal for the Bluey..
English is GN, so maybe we should stick with that. Either of them.

Can we trust Galley and Gutter with the choice of typeface?

Ye was used as the feminine plural at school, but then we also used 'lads'.

Before I forget - 👋to Sionnach who hasn't been in for a while, and to Swash who quite possibly pops her head around the door occasionally to see what's going on, but is too taken up with house-y stuff to have the time to come in and sit down- hope it's all going OK dear Swash
The problem with namechecking like that is that if you haven't been here recently either, you may be wondering why I haven't mentioned you individually. Valid point, it's not that you're not missed, it's just that my mental roll-call of Bluey regulars is...gappy🙁

So here's a general 👋to anybody who hasn't been here for a while, and of course to lurkers who are always welcome to call in.

Here's Harriet the Husky Rat, to spread awwwwwness to all💙

What a lovely photo of Harriet.

Unfortunately I'm in a bit of a bad way. It wasn't appalling period cramps in the end, it was an incarcerated hernia. Basically my caesarian scar (x3) opened up 15 years ago, has been repaired twice (once in a scary emergency on a strangulated hernia that resulted in ICU).

It opened again 6 years ago and had been getting ever larger but the surgeon said it wasn't worth repairing unless I was under 35 BMI because of the risk of recurrence.

A section of intestine got trapped through the gap in my abdomenal wall which resulted in the pain and vomiting and everything. I feel like I've been kicked by a horse. My entire torso is in so much discomfort now the acute pain has stopped.

A gentle day for me.

And if I'm honest, I'm scared. Last time this happened it was 6-8 weeks from incarcerated hernia to strangulated hernia.

Oh fuck Pasta, I’m so sorry.

Oh, that's horrible Pasta. I should think several quiet days are in order, never mind one. Sending healing vibes💙

Is it worth going to A&E? If only for the good drugs?

💐💐💐

They didn't give me any drugs last time, just told me to take ibuprofen.

I'm wearing my orthotopic support shorts today and I guess I'll have to go back to wearing them all the time rather than when I'm active as a preventative measure. And keep my fingers crossed.

Oh my goodness @PastaAllaNorma! I’d be straight down to the emergency room with that one! Surely better to have the surgery when it’s not an even more critical emergency that lands you in the ICU,

The trouble is they refuse to give me surgery. I've been referred 3 times since and flatly turned down because the chance of permanent success is too low.

They won't do non-emergency surgery (which is a massive procedure) that lasts, but if it gets to strangulated hernia with risk of necrotic tissue they do an emergency half-arsed repair with mesh.

Which peels back after a year or two and damages the inside of my stomach wall while the hernia continues to tear the muscles and the hole gets bigger.

It's a bit of a vicious circle. Turns out having 3 caesareans, 2 of them emergencies, really fucks up your abdomen.