Rogered by a hobbit in the LL undergrowth, buried in a raised bed with Bert or harassed behind the arras with Adam? Pick your Ambridge fate here.

[PseudoBadger]

A big showdown tonight I hope.

Thanks to Zero (I think?) for the great title.

And Good luck Petula - your Parisienne Christmas reminiscences gave me a warm glow.

I didn't think Jill was feeling reasonable and open-minded! Although she raised no objections and said "of course" R+D must consider all the options, I thought the actress portrayed Jill as being tight-lipped with fury astonished and not able to engage properly with the conversation.

I agree Trevor - I just meant she didn't stamp her foot and dive her heels in. She is competing to be the most reasonable MIL.

Jill's going to go renegade

Maybe she will poison heathers tea

I thik Jill can be quite formidable when the occasion arises. She'll probably talk it over with her New Best Friend Carol, who is likewise no pushover. Though I can't see Jill accepting a , uh, herbal remedy for the Heather problem it's an amusing thought.

I'm another Duchy milk customer (Ocado - nowhere near a Waitrose any more.) Nearest thing to the milk from my childhood. I would love to continue with doorstep milk - just doesn't work atm.

Speaking of which, Petula you're always up so early. If I listen to Farming Today these days it's from my bed. Good luck with the job flitting.

Over 5p a litre since June?!

Good grief, that's awful, dairyfarmerswife :(

How exciting Petula! I quit my job 4 years ago and now work for myself. It was a bit hairy scary at first but much better now. And no more commuting!

The only thing I remember about the Milk Marketing Board is that Pandora Braithwaite's father was an accountant there.

YY Lillian I see what you mean

I get milk & eggs delivered from a local dairy and pay 60p a pint and £1.20 for a half dozen eggs. I'm thinking of getting potatoes from him too and he does very nice cheese.
Milk is delivered every other day but that works out fine. I just leave a note on the step if I want more or less but we usually get through 15 pints a week. (I have a dread of osteoporosis. I may be irrational.)

It would be more economical to get it from the supermarket maybe but I'd have to make more trips than are convenient and use a lot of fuel in the process. Nearest shop is 3 miles away. The dairy has never failed to deliver even in deep snow.

I really don't mind having to wait on my way home for the cows to walk along from the field to the farm to be milked because I know that milk is going to arrive on my doorstep and I listen happily to Radio 4 as they go by! A Good Read was very interesting today.

We get milk delivered to work from the same dairy and it's much better than having to send someone nipping out to buy some, or remembering to get some on the way.

The other upside is that there are no plastic bottles to recycle!

Good luck from me too, Petula.

I'm not sure that you can accuse Heather of being totally intransigent. Yes, she won't contemplate moving, but she's been through an awful lot and is still very weak, and you can see why she just can't face the thought of moving. Her reaction may also be based on the fact which everyone but Roooth and, apparently, Deeavid can see, namely that almost certainly there actually isn't any need for her to move, or at least not until they've properly explored local support services for people in her position.

I think what irritates me most about this storyline apart from its wild improbability is that we all know that they aren't going to move from Brookfield*. Therefore we have to go through several tedious weeks or months of listening them debate something that isn't going to happen, there's no element of suspense or surprise, so really why bother?

*Hoping that that isn't a hostage to fortune, and that the SWs don't look at this thread and won't view that as throwing down the gauntlet .

I think you are right, icimoi. I also wonder if Ruth's and therefore the SW team's expectations are little high for Heather just yet. I'm not sure what actually was done to her - I assume a leg, possibly her hip, was fractured in the fall at home - hence the need for surgery. but some of the details seemed confused with a stroke, e.g. I think Ruth was going on about one side being weaker than the other. So all in all I'm not too sure what's happened to her, but if it's a fracture then it's early days and there is no reason why an independent-minded older person with no other significant problems could not recover her ability to manage at home alone again. In time. It's all a bit of a corny SL and getting worse by the day really.

My thoughts on Helen - she will continue to try to keep the cheese-making going, but will have child care problems and Knob was unsupportive before when she asked him to care for Henry while she made cheese. But I assume her stopping work in the shop means fewer hours at nursery for Henry - wasn't Knob keen for that a few weeks ago, suggesting he was being badly influenced or such? I wonder what came of that incident. And now he's had the plague - or was it chicken pox? - what else could eh catch at nursery?

I too thought eh sounded smug when H said about Kirsty and Tom. Ghastly man, I get a knot in my stomach just hearing him.

Petula, good luck from me too for your new plans. I did similar and went 'free lancey' when the DC needed some more support from me. I found it hard keeping going when family life was full on - esp. as the 'more support' involved home ed for some. Then it got too much and something had to go as I was ill and getting stressed. As I couldn't dump the family, I dumped the work. I miss it and am trying to find a way back now. This won't be your experience of course!!

BTW Ruth is definitely a farmer rather than 'just' a wife. She went to agricultural college and makes suggestions and brings new ideas from reading, conferences etc regarding Brookfield.

Dear Patricia, overreacting somewhat, non?

What is Fallon on about? Is Harrison with another woman? Who she?

I don't hear carol as extremely attractive

Yay - pat has mentioned money at last!

Her parents should know that Helen is a drippy bore who will probably revel in running a bath for rob when he gets home and sending Henry to bed early so she can see to robs needs.

Interesting to hear pats politics (what was I saying earlier!?!). And then Kirsty with her other woman bashing. Poor woman being used as a pawn. What the hell does Kirsty expect. She dumped him and told him she wasn't interested.

thanks all for the good wishes, it helps to know i'm not completely insane!

Helen strong minded? Since when?

Glad pat can see through the whole thing

she does dig her heels in doesn't she?

in general, a woman is putting herself in a vulnerable position through not being married and giving up work to take care of children, if the legal stuff isn't otherwise sorted out. however, rob doesn't own the house and helen lives in the same village as her parents and grandmother (whose house she will inherit), plus she is in a strong position to pick up work again if she wants to, so not being married is definitely the stronger position for her

I think you mean Fallon? Kirsty is history ...

Carol is maybe attractive but maybe it's just her own opinion, as in Gollum is handsome.

Of course the fact the family owns the business means in theory Helen can return when she wants -ish. She couldn't have given up work before she had a man though. I think Helen being at home all day means Knob can ramp up the pressure regarding catering etc. Maybe he'll get her a gadget like Peat's got!! But she'll find posh cooking hard with a child about so much. Pat's reaction is sensible and Pat-like but why would she go home early rather than stay to support? Didn't she do that before too?

Agree that she is in a strong position having the benefits of a nepotistic business model!

Being a sahm is viewed as a weak choice because child rearing is viewed as a worthless activity. But that's another argument!

If Henry was a baby I could see this more but Helen has a pretty good gig going on - I never got the impression she worked long hours etc until rob came on the scheme

oh yes, it's clear rob is steadily gaining control. marrying helen will be a big step in that too. pat has the measure of him

Ha yes - did Helen mention Kirsty?

Anyway, fallon is not coming across well. I don't think the sw like women much.

well yes, that too. i didn't agree wtih pat on that point.

BYOS - fallon, not kirsty.

I loved Pat's full-on feminist rant - tempered by Tony's 'right to choose' rider. That's more how she used to be isn't it? And she's got Rob's number, knows that Helen isn't really choosing for herself.

Did you ever see te wife swap many years ago with the mindful wife? That's what I expect rob wants.

That was a dad one because her son was neglected at the step dads expense and she realised at the end that she should be spending more time with her son and less time pandering to her husband. I hope she did change that