The Old Curiosity Club discussion

Can one say such a thing as

Welcome to The Three Cripples!?

Be that as it may, our new pub has opened its doors to the Curiosities, and it has been completely refurbished in order to make your stay a comfortable and cosy one. We even have Lipton tea in our store, those tea-bags, for you-know-whom, and the publican has been told to behave politely and to clean the glasses properly - in short, not to behave as an average Oliver Twist character is likely to behave at other times.

So, please, feel invited to carry on your conversations from the White Hart Inn (which is about to close its doors for five years) and, above all, to feel at home.

Note for the newbies in our group: We have no constant lounge for conversations, but always open a new one for each book we are reading and give it the name of a pub featuring in the novel. Talks, however, need not be about the novel, but can centre on anything. There is no off-topic here.

It's very early here in New Jersey and I am having my cup of coffee and watching two of my three cats romp around.

I will have my cup of tea in a bit, usually just Tetley decaf.

I am still in a bit of shock about Anthony Bourdain. R.I.P.

A cup of English Breakfast tea with honey for me, Barkeep!

Time to share some happy news with my fellow Curiosities! Now that we've gotten traveling out of our systems for awhile, my husband and I have just adopted a five year old English bulldog, whom we've named Stella (I always thought that first E in Estella's name was superfluous). She was kept in a kennel all her life churning out litter after litter (and has the udders and swayback to prove it!). When she got a tumor, the breeder dumped her at the shelter. They got the tumor removed, had her spayed, and now she's ours! She's skittish but incredibly sweet, with a face only a new adoptive mother could love. :-) After she adjusts a bit more we'll be looking for a buddy for her -- hopefully a younger dog who can teach her how to play, take advantage of her time in the yard (if you know what I mean...), and just live a normal life. Photos on my profile page if you think you can stand her astounding beauty. :-)

Mary Lou wrote: "A cup of English Breakfast tea with honey for me, Barkeep!

Time to share some happy news with my fellow Curiosities! Now that we've gotten traveling out of our systems for awhile, my husband and ..."

That's great. Congratulations to you -- and to Stella.

I work once a week at a shelter for cats. Getting them out of the shelter to homes is wonderful.

I had dogs growing up. My last dog was an Old English Sheepdog named Patches.

I raise my mug of tea to you all as you enter The Three Cripples.

This is the day in 1870 that Dickens passed away.

I raise my glass and toast the memory of Boz.

Hear, hear! To Boz!

Has anyone been getting what seems to be an inordinate number of Friend Requests lately? I basically go for a year with none and then get a half dozen in the past month.

I don't have exactly a lot of friend requests lately, John, but rather strange ones. Either they are from Indonesian users who invariably recommend to me to download Beyond Lies the Wub from a particular e-books website, but I ignore them and find that GR apparently deleted these accounts, anyway. Or there are friend requests from Brooklyn people who all have a link to a Russian site in their account and not much else in terms of books. These I block without any response.

To have fewer friend requests, I made it necessary for people who want to friend me to answer a question - not a right or wrong question but one that shows me whether they are real readers or just ... well, the opposite.

Peter wrote: "This is the day in 1870 that Dickens passed away.

I raise my glass and toast the memory of Boz."

So do I, several times, just to be on the safe side!

Tristram wrote: "I don't have exactly a lot of friend requests lately, John, but rather strange ones. Either they are from Indonesian users who invariably recommend to me to download Beyond Lies the Wub from a part..."

Okay, thank you, Tristram. I do have a few requests that have Russian language on their profile and I ignored the request. I think for the time being, I will just ignore all requests unless it is someone from the Curiosities or someone who seems to have a shared interest in some of the books I've read.

Tristram wrote: "To have fewer friend requests, I made it necessary for people who want to friend me to answer a question - not a right or wrong question but one that shows me whether they are real readers or just ... well, the opposite."

I've never noticed this option - will go back and look for it. Thanks!

Mary Lou wrote: "A cup of English Breakfast tea with honey for me, Barkeep!

Time to share some happy news with my fellow Curiosities! Now that we've gotten traveling out of our systems for awhile, my husband and ..."

Oh, Mary Lou! She has a lovely face. My son's been obsessing over bulldog photos lately and dropping many hints, but A) I have my hands full with one dog, and B) he's probably going off to college in a year and guess who would inherit the pet care?

Peter wrote: "This is the day in 1870 that Dickens passed away.

I raise my glass and toast the memory of Boz."

And, if I may, a belated Happy Birthday (June 2) to my favorite poet, Thomas Hardy.

I raise my cup of tea.

Tristram wrote: "I don't have exactly a lot of friend requests lately, John, but rather strange ones. Either they are from Indonesian users who invariably recommend to me to download Beyond Lies the Wub from a part..."

I think we are getting the same friend requests. I always ignore any that have not read any books, aren't reading any books, and don't seem to want to read any in the future. What they are doing here I can't imagine.

Everyman, I just got here so could you get my tea ready for me? Lipton tea. Of course, not any of that strange stuff.

I also tend to ignore friend requests from users that gave low ratings to works from my favourite writers, but that's not a rule, just a tendency.

I just noticed that Barnes & Noble has reduced the price of its 7 inch Nook Tablet to $29.99. I think until this Sunday.

I already own one and love it. This is a great deal, as an fyi.

John wrote: "I just noticed that Barnes & Noble has reduced the price of its 7 inch Nook Tablet to $29.99. I think until this Sunday.

I already own one and love it. This is a great deal, as an fyi."

Thanks, John! My old Nook got a ding on the screen, and this may be a good time to update.

Mary Lou wrote: "John wrote: "I just noticed that Barnes & Noble has reduced the price of its 7 inch Nook Tablet to $29.99. I think until this Sunday.

I already own one and love it. This is a great deal, as an fyi..."

Mary Lou, it does appear to be a great deal. I noted that it said on-line orders only. My Nook Tablet is relatively new, plus I have the Glowlight Plus, so I'm currently set. Adding in a cover for it means about a total of $55, which is a really good deal these days.

I'm was going to B&N today, and that sounds too good to pass up.

Thanks, John.

TV alert from Twitter for our US curiosities:
"...tune into @travelchannel Thursday June 21st 7pm | 6c to find out more about #Dickens and the shocking events surrounding the 1865 #StaplehurstCrash..."

And John - thanks again for passing along the info. on the Nook deal. Mine should be on my front porch sometime today. :-)

Mary Lou wrote: "TV alert from Twitter for our US curiosities:
"...tune into @travelchannel Thursday June 21st 7pm | 6c to find out more about #Dickens and the shocking events surrounding the 1865 #StaplehurstCrash..."

That's great to hear, Mary Lou. The one thing I found with the Nook Tablet is that it automatically comes with 22 apps as part of the factory download. I went to Playstore in the Nook and uninstalled most of them and also turned off the auto updates so that they did not get downloaded again.

I found I did not need things like the Photo option or Google Mapping on it.

I will use the Nook for internet things and read magazines on it, but generally I prefer to keep it to book reading. The excessive use of space that all the apps take up will create issues eventually for software updates, so it's good to keep it light.

John wrote: "Mary Lou wrote: "TV alert from Twitter for our US curiosities:
"...tune into @travelchannel Thursday June 21st 7pm | 6c to find out more about #Dickens and the shocking events surrounding the 1865 ..."

I was surprised by all the apps, as well. I think it does everything my smartphone does except the phone part! I think I'll follow suit and disable some of the extras.

I haven't been able to figure out how to get my Project Gutenberg downloads from my desktop onto the new Nook. I've downloaded that app, but it doesn't actually add the books to my Nook library. Not a big deal, but I realized quickly that in the app, it won't automatically bookmark my page. I don't know... I'll have to play with it some more. For now, I prefer my old Nook to the new one, but perhaps I'll get used to it and discover some features I will grow to love.

Regarding Gutenberg, I used to plug the Nook into my desktop PC and then download the file from Gutenberg for the book I wanted.

Yes - I would download from PG using Adobe Digital Editions, then transfer to my old Nook. I tried to transfer all those books to my new Nook, and it wouldn't allow it -- at least not using the same procedure. Perhaps it's just different and I haven't figured it out yet. But for now, I've installed the PG app, and am downloading directly on my Nook, bypassing my desktop. It keeps everything in a separate library, though. If you work it out, please PM me and let you know how you did it!

Mary Lou wrote: "Yes - I would download from PG using Adobe Digital Editions, then transfer to my old Nook. I tried to transfer all those books to my new Nook, and it wouldn't allow it -- at least not using the sam..."

I'll have to take a look, Mary Lou. I have not used PG in several years. When I had Wifi installed at home, I tended to just stick with Barnes and Noble for the download via Wifi. For the most part, in terms of the classics, I found paying a dollar or two for a cleaned up edition without some of the digital errors of words running together was preferable. I would like to support PG, though, as I did find some great editions there.

You two have me confused just reading about it. :-)

Kim wrote: "You two have me confused just reading about it. :-)"

If I knew half of what I was doing with e-readers, I'd really be onto something. It has always been trial and error with me. More error than trial, I would also say. :-0

Kim wrote: "You two have me confused just reading about it. :-)"

You're not alone, Kim.

A new release I noticed.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

John - sounds wonderful, except for the fact that the word "recipes" is in the title, which implies that there might be some work on my part. I much prefer to be the guest! Perhaps I'll buy it as a gift for friends who like to entertain, then hope for an invitation. 🙂☕🍰

Hmm, my first post in this particular watering hole and I am aware of the irony of the name in my case at the moment ;)

I've been absent from the wonderful recent Dickens dissections for just over a month, after a fall. I wish I could say I did it hang-gliding or white water rafting, but in fact it happened when I was packing to go on holiday the next day, (I think I mentioned I was off to Hardy country here!) and tripped over some coathangers. The agonised yell I made brought our brand new neighbour rushing out to see if he could help - what a nice chap. The paramedics arrived an hour later, and told me I'd broken my leg "spectacularly". The left thigh bone had completely snapped and become displaced. They sorted me out with a bit of traction (gas and air made me fly away with the fairies) and trussed me up with splints on a stretcher to get me out of the house. These four strong lads actually turned me upside down to get me round and down the stairs. Fortunately I didn't much care for the jeans they'd had to cut off me, but was very glum to be told I wasn't going to Dorset the next day after all. I knew my foot was facing the wrong way, but had hoped they'd be able to just snap it back into place.

In fact the operation a couple of days later was a marvel. They somehow nailed a thick metal rod inside my thigh bone, and screwed the ends to my hip and my knee. It took 4 and a half hours, but now the scars have healed there is nothing to see! It is far stronger than the other, so I am truly a "bionic woman", and am having to learn how to walk again, which is a very slow process.

I had all sort of things attached to me. One was what I called my octopus, which was a fancy IV line with ports dangling, all attached to my jugular in my neck (which was a very dangerous place) and another in my foot - and tubes in places we won't mention. It's probably best to pass over all the scans, Xrays, blood transfusions and various tests which must have got into hundreds, as I was in the hospital for over three weeks. What stays with me is the expertise, friendly encouragement and help from everyone there: doctors, nurses, health care workers, cleaners (who kept us all safe!) and physiotherapists. You start out completely helpless, and they get you to a point where you can see how to begin to pick up your life again. I've met some really lovely people, and some of the nurses even gave me a hug and a kiss as I left.

The patients too were a joy to be with. Mostly they were far older than I, and because were all largely bedbound, and had leg exercises to do, I realised that it would be easy to get very stiff, so started to do some arm exercises. To my delight others would join in, and one day all five of the other patients in my bay were doing them with me! "Well done Jean!" said the physios! The other patients were aged 75, 83, two of 93 and one of 102! She was actually a wonderful character, and one of the most positive people I have ever met, despite being profoundly deaf and having her entire right leg encased in plaster.

I'll miss all these lovely people a great deal, and always remember them. I've been touched too by individual acts of kindness; cards, flowers and plants, and a cake professionally baked by the friend of our new neighbour (the one I hadn't met!) which I was able to share around the ward. My neighbour on the other side was a real star, as she popped in every day to see our dog, give him some food, and play with him in the garden for a while. This took so much worry off my mind, especially since he's elderly now, and we don't really want to put him in kennels any more.

Time and again I've seen such acts of courage, determination, inner strength and dedication. Its been quite an experience, and I'm very lucky to have had this support. I'm home now, with lots of equipment to help, and people coming in every day. But I've missed you all a lot, and am keen to get back to normal life slowly but surely.

Jean, I am very sorry to hear about this. That was quite a damaging fall. I am glad you are home now and I wish you the very best towards a full recovery.

Bionic Jean wrote: "Hmm, my first post in this particular watering hole and I am aware of the irony of the name in my case at the moment ;)

I've been absent from the wonderful recent Dickens dissections for just over..."

Oh Jean

I knew you were planning to go on a holiday and so when you were not posting I was hoping you were having a great time. Boy was I wrong. Bionic Jean indeed. I too have found hospital staffs to be both remarkably professional and warm and friendly at the same time.

May your recovery be swift and sure and may you keep your Dickensian spirits high. A wee nip for you awaits at The Three Cripples. I’m buying.

Jean! I'm so sorry to hear about all you've been going through! Under the category of "time flies", it's hard to believe that so much time has gone by since our last communication. Seems like days rather than weeks. At any rate, I'm awed by your optimism and positive outlook on things. You are a person who always looks for the good, and that will certainly help you to get through troubled times. I know that there is little one can do from across the Atlantic, but please do let me know if I can help in any way!

Coat hangers! So unpredictable. I'm glad you're better and it cheers me up to hear of your appreciation for all who helped you out along the way.

Coat hangers are works of the devil!

Jean, what a terrible fall. I'm glad you got good care and wish you a good recovery.

Bionic Jean wrote: "Coat hangers are works of the devil!"

I used to use coat hangers to make carolers out of, they're much safer that way Jean, they're laying on the table the entire time I'm working on them and I can't trip over them. :-) Welcome back.

Thanks all! And I'm holding you to that drink, Peter ;) But what is a "caroler", Kim?

Bionic Jean wrote: "Thanks all! And I'm holding you to that drink, Peter ;) But what is a "caroler", Kim?"

These aren't the ones I made, but they are the ones I copied from, the wire is the arms and legs with the head put on the hanging part of it. And by looking at the faces, they are all supposed to be singing, Christmas Carols I would imagine.

Gosh, that's so inventive! I've never seen coathangers put to that use. Perhaps we should all send ours to you Kim, for safety's sake!

I'm pleased to report that the physiotherapist was so pleased with my walking today that she allowed me a second crutch. (One was for going upstairs with) Begone zimmer frame!

Progress, Jean! Keep up the good work!

Anyone else watching Jeopardy tonight? HUGE spoiler. Glad I've already read OT, and that this was a big enough plot point that I remembered it!

Mary Lou wrote: "Progress, Jean! Keep up the good work!

Anytime else watching Jeopardy tonight? HUGE spoiler. Glad I've already read OT, and that this was a big enough plot point that I remembered it!"

My dad watches Jeopardy every evening. I have not watched it in a long time, though I did enjoy it. I can only imagine a category called What The Dickens. :-)

Bionic Jean wrote: "Gosh, that's so inventive! I've never seen coathangers put to that use. Perhaps we should all send ours to you Kim, for safety's sake!

I'm pleased to report that the physiotherapist was so pleased..."

Here you go Jean, give it a try!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMaKB...

That's actually really interesting, thanks Kim! A little spooky though, if you tend to be weirded out by dolls, marionettes, puppets etc., like me.

I'm back in the caravan now by the way - yay! Pretty much immobile, just on crutches for a few steps, so I'm enjoying reading Dickens in our little garden patch outside in beautiful weather. I'm so glad to get back to reading, after 6 weeks when I couldn't seem to concentrate on it.

Hallo friends,

I just borrowed my wife‘s iPad in order to let you know that I am enjoying my stay in Argentina. At the moment, we are staying in Villa Gesell, a seaside resort someone 400 km south of Buenos Aires. The temperature is about 10 degrees and I know at least one person in this round who would love this.

I discovered a wonderful bookshop and a new writer I will concentrate on more. His name is Adolfo Bioy Casares.

A big and hearty thanks to Peter and Kim for shouldering mi part of the moderating all this while.

Take care. Tristram.

Adolfo Bioy Casares

Adding the link, as I guess it's tricky on an ipad.

Enjoy your break Tristram. We are sweltering in the 90s here, and warned not to stay outside if possible between 10 and 3 pm!

I'm glad you're enjoying your travels, Tristram! We miss you here at the Cripples, and envy your 50 degree temperatures (at least I do!). Have fun!