MrsDoyle

I use a usb mug warmer to heat microscope slides.

I’m still eating blackcurrant jam I made in 2013. I use jars whose lids have the pop-up seals. Pour hot jam into hot jars, screw on the lid and the little thingie in the middle should pop down as it cools, showing it’s sealed. When you open the jar it pops up again, to show the seal is broken. Just about all my jars come from a particular brand of pitted kalamata olives I’m partial to. Perfect size for jam.

When I was a child mum sealed the jars of jam with a disc of cellophane that had been dampened in vinegar, fastened with a rubber band. Pretty good seal actually, it tightened as the jam cooled. But if the jam went mouldy we’d just scrape the mould off - no big deal.

Best was my sister’s - her new in-laws’ gift was the use of their sauna business as the venue (they were nudists, it wasn’t a sleaze thing). The caterers had to turn the sauna on to heat the food, so after we’d all eaten, most of the guests stripped off and had a sauna - including bride and groom and me, chief bridesmaid. Really nice, fun atmosphere.

Worst … nah, I enjoy weddings. Never been to a bad one.

Raspberry jam is insanely easy to make. Equal weights of fruit and sugar, heat slowly to dissolve the sugar, then boil rapidly for five minutes. Bung in jars and screw the lids on while still hot.

The only sterile part is the jars - I put them in a lowish oven for ten minutes or so after washing them. Lids are washed, dried and swabbed with vinegar.

These days I mostly keep it plugged in, but it had good battery life when new. I got a replacement battery when it failed to hold enough of a charge for 5 or 6 hours. I honestly can’t remember how long ago that was. I still travel with it occasionally, it’s useful for working with photos (Gimp).

I have a Toshiba Satellite T110, 11.6" screen, now running Linux Zorin. I’ve had it for 15 years - got a new battery at one point and added RAM, very easy to do. It’s been a cracking little machine, really nice for travelling with.

I blocked the moth person, I got sick of those posts.

“Don’t tread on me because it’s really hot and I’m all sweaty in this getup - you could slip on the grease and hurt yourself.”

I subscribe to c/womensstuff and I’ve seen the messages to men who post there accidentally. They go like this: “thanks for your comment, but unfortunately this community has a rule that only women are permitted to comment - hope you understand 🧡”

How is this “somewhat abusive”?

I’ve discovered I can still load books on my aged Kindle Keyboard via email. When you register a Kindle you get an email address for that purpose. More fiddly that just dropping files in its Document folder, but it does work. (I’m so bloody annoyed at Amazon for that change to Kindles.)

A Spanish friend showed me a group photo from her work, about 30 people, and said “See if you can pick out the one American.” I did, really quickly. Because all the Spanish people had similar dark eyebrows. The American had pale, indistinct eyebrows.

That’s so nice! I gave away a microwave, and the couple who took it brought along a little pot plant as a thank you.

I had a big heavy electric bike I used for my work commute, and once I retired it gradually morphed into a coat rack. I put it on Gumtree, a UK Craigslist equivalent, priced at £50 more than I actually wanted for it, which was well under half the price I’d paid. A full 27 SECONDS after I listed it, I had a buyer, and less than half an hour after that he was at my door. As expected, he offered £50 less than the listed price, and was delighted when I accepted. Bargain!

I noticed he’d come in a car, and wondered out loud if it had room for a big heavy bike. “No problem, it can fit loads!” As he wheeled the bike out the door, he realised just how heavy this big heavy bike was. But he forged on, managed to heave it into the car, and drove off a happy man.

Questions he didn’t ask: How old is this bike? (Seven years or so.) What’s the projected lifespan of the battery? (About another year.) How well is it holding a charge? (Not well at all.) How much is a replacement battery? (£200.)

I fully expected to hear back from him complaining about the big heavy lemon he’d just bought, but no. I guess he’s enjoying his new coat rack.

Vanuatu 🇻🇺

It’s got a boar’s tusk on it.

“Normal”, hmmm. I remember being confused at school when we had to analyse literature and “motherly love” was given as an example of a universal theme. Really? Not in my experience. According to my own dear mama, my younger sister and I were both mistakes. She made it very clear always what a heinous burden we were.

In retrospect, she was a terrible person for saying such things. We were not awful kids, and grew up to be pretty good people. Yes, we’ve both struggled a bit with depression and self doubt, but on the whole, not bad.

So I would say your mother’s cruelty isn’t what’s generally considered “normal”, but it’s not that uncommon. Some people shouldn’t have children, in my view. There’s a lot of societal pressure to procreate in the first place, and then barriers to choosing not to. And it must be horrendous to find yourself not enjoying motherhood at all when it’s supposed to be your peak experience. Still no excuse for such meanness though.

Carry on living, young adult! It’s too easy to get dragged down by shit like this. Life is fleeting in the grand sweep of the universe, keep your heart open to possibilities and options and chances. And remind your mother that you’ll be choosing her care home one day.

I’m a long long way from my place of birth, and one day a coworker gave me a tin of Milo she’d picked up on her travels but didn’t like. I ate it dry, in spoonfuls, almost sobbing with nostalgia.

Also, Wheatbix, ahhh. Weetabix is a miserable con artist of a breakfast cereal. It’s for feeble people with bad teeth.

Awww! That’s so nice!

We were astonished. It could easily have turned extremely nasty, but we instinctively trusted him. It made me a better person I think, more generous.

Relevant clip from The Commitments

This made me laugh, it’s so true! Apart from chickens though - I know a few middle class people with chickens.