Badly done Helen, badly done - you're as stuffed as a Grundy turkey. Discuss The Archers here.

[PseudoBadger]

New thread in time for Friday's episode...

Just listened to last night's episode. David's constant infantilising of Ruth is really annoying me - "don't worry about the cows/business/dinner/cleaning, Pip and I will sort it". It doesn't seem to stem from sympathy over the loss of her mother, it's like he wants her to pack her off to The Laurels.

Interesting selsigfach. I didn't hear last night as being about 'the lack of HP in Ruth's life'. I heard it as being about 'the lack of Jill at Brookfield'.

R4 I've just listened and I thought that too. The Pip and I crap really so why aren't they helping out now ? Pip doing the business plan seems fraudulent to me. How much time do the Fairbretheren spend tending to their geese ? Why haven't they got other jobs as well ?

I am pizzled

How did they manage before Jill moved to BF? I vaguely remember a story about Jill being burgled and moving in with the family being the obvious answer but I can't remember whether there was angst about cooking and housework? And in the children are getting older so surely Ruth has to do less for them, and they are able to do more for themselves and the household? We were washing our own clothes at 15 or so, if we wanted something specific clean, rather than relying on mum to do it.

They didn't cope without Jill!

Pip is a prize idiot and if she was a man we would all be commenting on how she's thinking with her dick.

angst about cooking and housework

Ruth is a second wave feminist. She thinks that having the man working and the woman being at home doing housework is outdated. So she went to work like a man but David didn't pick up the slack and thus the family had no-one doing the housework. She did get a bit more domesticated when the DC were younger and the farm had bought-in help (Eddie, Neil) but, in recent years, has slipped back into her original frame of mind, especially when she had the free housekeeper.
No one - not Ruth nor David nor Jill nor even the DC themselves - seem to have thought of training up the DC in household chores. Unless you count Jill teaching them to make Christmas puddings.

They also had Emma cleaning. I've missed why Jill doesn't just move back to Brookfield now- is it just an indecent haste thing? if that is the case then in a few months all will be fine for her to go back so she is a bit daft complaining about LL as if she has to stay there till she dies...

It's a mix of indecent haste and sensitivity. Imagine saying "Your mum's dead? Never mind. Here's David's mum to fill the gap and make you feel inferior about your domestic skills. That's OK isn't it: these old ladies are pretty much interchangeable and wouldn't you prefer an Archer anyway." It wouldn't go down too well.

Jill will return. I don't know if Ruth will be resentful or grateful.

Ruth is really using her farmwork as a reason not to do any housework, isn't she? I don't blame her for that, I'm distinctly that way inclined myself, and there really isn't any reason why the others couldn't contribute much more. But given that they ran the farm perfectly well without her for several weeks, and indeed she envisaged doing most of the care for her mother if she had lived, I really don't see how she can be so frantically busy that she can't even do the shopping.

And if Pip has time to do business plans for relative strangers, she certainly has time to whip round to Tesco's.

Do you think Adam will give it to the fairbrothers (despite being totally unrealistic) and they cock it all up so pip steps in and then gets ed involved because she has soooo much to do at Brookfield.

Regarding Ruth being back and there suddenly being so much more work - I work in an office but we were a man down for a year and were just doing essentials and firefighting. When we got the new joiner we were still as busy because there were so many things left to lie that had caught fire!! So I can see how they are busy.

R4 I can see that if Jill had never lived there, but she was already a permanent part of the household ( with Ruth's blessing and indeed happiness) before HP became ill and graciously moved out to accommodate her. So moving back in is just going back to the status quo, not suggesting Jill is a peer y replacement for HP.

Gruntled yes I think she is, and I must say that a farm job wins over a house job for me too (as it did for my mum!) But I do get frustrated when the house gets out of control, like Ruth did last night, and do a blast of housework to make me feel better. Hopefully not as resentfully as Ruth though

byos I get what you are saying about the firefighting but wasn't Pip away at uni till the summer so she only joined full time after that - effectively taking on Ruth's hours?

God moaning, I was just pissing by....

I also am unbelievably frustrated with a) the collective domestic shitness of the Brookfield Archers and b) Adam for even thinking about going in to business with the Fairbrethren. And Pip needs a serious talking to - what the jeff was David thinking when he said to Ruth 'I hope you didn't say that to her'?! I hope she bloody did!!! I know Rex is one-dimensional but there's no reason why he couldn't turn out to have a bit more about him. Predictable as it is, I think/hope that Toby does a flit and Pip gets together - and farms together - with Rex. I don't see the point of them but we're stuck with them so I'm trying to make the best of a bad job!

The Berrow farm disaster must have some role in Rob's downfall. I really like Charlie (he has such integrity but isn't a saint) and will be Very Cross Indeed if he gets the blame. I find it inconceivable that he's had to deal with this alone. I'd love him and Adam to get together (used to love Ian but he's gone very mimey dull), but I don't want Adam to cheat (again!!).

Agree that Fallon and Kirsty (Falsty? Kirlon?) will see through Hellin's rictus grin and 'rescue' her.

I remember reminiscing about to from my youth (allo allo, dads army etc). My friend totally destroyed every one as anti-women. She couldn't even leave me with my fond memories of morph and tiny hart!

Why are D and R acting like Pip is their boss?

Checking into the thread.

The thing is, though BYOS, a farm isn't really comparable with an office. If you're busy you can leave the filing or rewriting the HR policies to another time, you can't exactly leave the milking and harvesting.

Well that's what I mean - they can't leave the milking and harvesting but they can leave the paperwork, or a diy job that isn't quite urgent

Why can't Josh do the shopping?

He's too heartbroken over GrannyHeather!

But by the same token, BYOS, they could leave the paperwork for half an hour whilst organising a supermarket order.

Do they call Jill, GrannyJill?

Well their general shiteness over domestic chores is one of those plot devices developed purely to give Jill a purpose. I agree that it is pathetic that four adults and one teenager can't manage a cleaning and cooking rota.

The big question is - what life skills does pip have that will enable her to survive living on her own?

Next question- tobes is after pip because he thinks she is loaded. She clearly isn't. Yes she may well inherit land that can be sold off (for less than je was offering giving the flooding risk) but unless he is planning a Prince Hans style takeover that's going to be tricky to monetise. He would be better offering loitering in some nightclubs in Chelsea if he wants to marry money.

"Well their general shiteness over domestic chores is one of those plot devices developed purely to give Jill a purpose."

No- they've always been shit at domestic chores. Long before Jill was ever in the running for unpaid skivvy and bottle washer.

But part of that was to highlight how wonderfully domestic Jill is and how thoroughly modern Ruth is (and a reason feminists should be burnt - I mean someone has to keep the house clean - find me a woman - oh hello Jill)

The fact they have a houseful of adults who all seem to think fairies are responsible for chores is obv learned behaviour but also plot device imo

The first time Jill moved in I thought it was pretty crass for them to be so blatant about it being about her domestic skills. To repeat the sl would be a mistake imo

Although I bet Ruth is missing her Mil/slave.