Don your paisley tabards, feel the static crackle, and join our Archers thread team hug.

[PseudoBadger]

Chocolate Chip cookie anyone?

Spookily I have just bought the LOTR CDs, to replace my home-recorded cassettes, as the Haste household is almost completely digital now. I had forgotten what proper radio acting sounded like.

Yes, Nelson's accent must have been a mystery from the start. From my reading of my Archers books, he was brought in at a time when radio audiences were melting away like snow in summer as TV ownership became more widespread and the editors of the time thought sensationalism was the way to hang on to the dwindling Archers audience. They wrote in a Great Borsetshire Train Robbery, not long after the real GTR, and Nelson was a prime suspect who came back to Ambridge to hole up with his old dad - something like that. I suppose it's just about plausible that he cast off his Borsetshire accent to help him get on in London after his war/National Service and never reverted to it when he moved back to Borchester.

I believe he was eventually cleared of involvement in the robbery but there was always something tantalisingly dodgy about Nelson. Even after he died there was a mysterious episode when somebody started digging up his garden at the dead of night, presumably looking for hidden stolen goods or documents. Was that Honeysuckle Cottage? Walter lived there, Nelson moved there to live with him latterly, then it was sold to Tim and Siobhan and now it belongs to Adam and Ian - I think.

Harrumph. I hate scenes like that. Where one character bangs on about something and the other character keeps responding. Neither side is really listening to what the other is saying. Instead of mollifying the situation, they just make it worse.
Hasn't radioland heard of 'smile and nod'. But it wouldn't be Drama unless we had unnecessary drama, I suppose. Harrumph.

David is a saint. After Ruth got all nasty about "it would be different if it was your mother" he would be quite entitled to mutter something about "how come it's suddenly so easy to bring HP down here when last year you wouldn't even countenance it?"

I don't think he's a saint at all. Its obvious HP should be there. Are sw just trying to create rift before the cowman turns up.

I don't think we're quite at the David-is-a-bastard stage. He wasn't quite saying no, he was saying that he didn't see how it could work. They need to sit down and think practically about ways it could work, including accessing carers to fill in the gaps that the family can't cover., and provision for the future if Heather gets more disabled. I suspect that if Ruth can demonstrate to him that it won't all be down to her he'll come round to it.

I was pleased that Ruth came straight back with "I wasn't expecting to be doing all the looking after"

I can Ruth doing an AIBU soon.

But if Jill became incapacitated and unable to support the family's cake consumption requirements, she'd be packed off to the Laurels toute de suite. Have we ever had an Ambridge family doing long term nursing care at home? I know we've had storylines with Joe Grundy and whstsisname Horrobin, plus Jack was home for a while before his Alzheimer's sent him to the Laurels, but I can't think of anyone with the sort of care Heather will need.

Kenton did do a thread in AIBU - asking about his spending re his inheritance everyone thought he was BU until I poked my nose in and ruined all his fun
I completely agree with Pipperoo that Ruth is an add on.

They've been talking about 24 hour nursing care and so on, though. I think the answer is not clear yet. Or possibly my ears glazed over.

Who's living in the cottage Emma and Ed used to live in? Could they move Heather and a carer into that?

And why haven't they thought about The Laurels for her?

It's an unsatisfactory story because Heather point blank ruled out moving to Ambridge last year and Ruth and David accepted it. Then, what with Heather and the road, we had the nonsensical storyline where they decided to move to Prudhoe, which we all knew would never happen, and sure enough it isn't going to happen - so what was the point of that, pray?

I too wondered about the spare cottages they have lying about at Brookfield. They must be occupied or Pip would have moved the Fairbrethren in by now but I thought they were empty.

I also wonder why the Parish Council never seems to discuss affordable or sheltered housing.

HPet is capable of escaping from a care home but, if she's confused enough to try a stunt like that- and fall- then she has to be in some sort of supervised environment.

And talking of houses at Brookfield, is Bert's house going to be rebuilt on the river side? Can he manage on his own?

Where's the cowman going to live? Will they need a cowman if HP moves in and Ruth isn't pounding up and down the A1?

Adapt the bungalow, move HP in with a nurse. Scrap the cowman. Job done.

I love this R4 "Hasn't radioland heard of smile and nod"* Yes I tried that but strangely you didn't see me .

I don't think the fact that HP escaped the care home necessarily indicates that she is confused. I suspect that it was as Ruth said, she simply wanted to see her home again and underestimated her own weakness.

I also think the situation now isn't comparable to what it was a year ago, because at that stage HP was in her own home and understandably didn't want to leave it. Now she's not there and realistically can't return, and even she may realise that after her most recent fall. She may well therefore be more receptive to moving to Brookfield - particularly if it means she can have the telly as loud as she wants it.

Brookfield must have elastic walls because Jill is there too. When peep goes there'll be a room though won't there? Isn't there a holiday cottage somewhere?

After they sell HP's house her money will pay for carers and converting the cottage or Brookfield. I suppose.

Agree Deeeevid isn't a monster, BUT he is being quite irritating. As people noted upthread - it seems different rules apply for his precious cake-baking mother. In addition to which, there is nothing more infuriating than someone making platitudinous comments along the lines of 'it'll be ok in the end' which mean absolutely nothing. Maybe it WON'T be ok??! May be well-meaning, but only in a lazy - it's your problem not mine - kind of way. I have an aged parent in a similar condition and draw no comfort whatsoever from comments like 'you just need to sort out a care home' from DH. JUST???!!! What - JUST manage the sale of the tip of the house from 3 hours away which would be first step in even thinking about affording home (if they'd consider it). Blah blah. And BREEEATHE.

I'm just praying that if HP comes to Brookfield that means Ruth is back and therefore the danger of Pip staying recedes. Unless she has a character transplant and decides that her mission is to become HP's carer.

Only slight sliver lining is that Pip has become marginally less irritating of late….

I agree, pip is being a bit less annoying if a bit too "all my responsibility" for me, but am glad she's not being all gooey eyed over Toby (unless she is playing treat em mean keep em keen!) I think she won't actually go, as she's needed so much what with Ruth "caring" for HP - what sort of care does she need? If it's the "someone around to help with daily life" rather than "someone to administer drugs and monitor the slow demise" then the move to Brookfield would be ideal as the family live there and so someone would always be around to assist. Always assuming that I haven't just relocated David,Ruth et al to a different farm (haha)