*The Archers No.95* *Welcome to the 'real' world Ben and Ruarhi, the bad boys of on roading and welcome to the cereal cupboard little Rosie *!

[ppeatfruit]

Thanks to witchmountain for the last thread and to dadx3 for Godfathering them! Also to any other posters whose ideas I have borrowed for the title.

It really winds me up when someone interrupts someone else by speaking over the end of their sentence, thereby not letting them finish what they were saying.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone actually do it in real life, or at least not to the extent that it happens in The Archers.

It has me shouting at the radio, "FGS let him/her finish, and stop being so damned ignorant."

Or words to that effect

And breathe.....

I'm sure that Natasha, the drinks marketer producer, was really helpful to rival Tom in his masterful decision to kill off his drinks enterprise.

I did notice that Nat. was very unsympathetic and offish about the effect that the kefir termination would have on the 'staff' Agree. She and Hannah seem equally unpleasant.

I would be very happy if Susan started making Kefir on her own, expanded enough to employ Clarrielove and the two of them make a fortune.

Is no-one devastated for Susan? not sure if devastated is the word, but that's certainly a plot development to look forward to. Definitely a case of pride coming before a fall after listening to her boasting about her superior management skills.

Poor Pat n Tone, they don’t have much luck when it comes to hosting their children’s partners for dinner. Wasn’t there a horribly awkward dinner with Rob in the early days of his relationship with Helen?

Also Tom and Natasha, talk about 0-60 in an indecently quick time. She’s just out of a long relationship, they “got together” about 4 days ago and here they are discussing farm business like she’s a long term partner. Not surprised Tony is unhappy.

ppeat Here's a gynaecologist berating Paltrow re jade eggs

drjengunter.wordpress.com/2017/01/17/dear-gwyneth-paltrow-im-a-gyn-and-your-vaginal-jade-eggs-are-a-bad-idea/

Baxter - It happens to me very frequently - so is actually pretty realistic (as well as a dramatic device).

What I can't get over is the "putting out of clothes"! And Neil's "get me some more trousers". WTAF!
I am a similar vintage to Susan and have never "put out my husbands clothes. And if he asked me to get him more trousers, he would be given short shrift unless there was an extremely good reason! E.g. being on crutches.
I don't believe my MIL put out clothes for my FIL and they were considerably older.

It's just occurred to me that Tom's girlfriends are attacking the Carters in a pincer movement with Hannah moving in against Neil and Natasha against Susan.

If I were Pat, Tony or Helen I would be having serious words with Tom for letting Natasha dictate Bridge Farm policy like that. It was outrageous. Why didn't Pat or Tony say anything???

Tony did try to say something but was slapped down by Pat.

Kefir is going great guns in all our local supermarkets. It just needs marketing.

Good point about the pincer movement, Lillian.
I would love Susan to take over the discarded keffir business and make a go of it. But she won't: she's a back-seat driver, not a risk-taker.

There's something small and smug about Pat n Tony and Helen n Tom. And something expansive about Hannah and Nat, who are proud and selfish but in a big, confident way.

I imagine That archer family 10 years ago on an all inclusive holiday to Tenerife.

Tom wanting seconds of pudding and Pat telling him off under her teeth for being greedy while pocketing some fruit for herself for later. Helen competing with the other girls there, and winning it all in her own head, but not able to talk to a boy. Tony despising the local farming practices and pontificating to pat how it should be done.

I hate this family! There is this clenched feeling they give off. No wonder Nat feels able to patronise each of them.

And pat is a desperately bad cook so I'm guessing the stew was rank, and Nat does eat cinnamon but was finding an excuse not to eat it.

I adore Susan who definitely would manage Neil's wardrobe. I bet he hasn't bought his own pants for 30 years. She'll have moved him from y-fronts to boxers decades ago.

Sorry to ask, but was there any conclusion in Russ's investigation at work? I completely missed this.

I think that Lily told Lizzie that they had concluded that he had not broken the law because it was clear that she had consented/not been groomed, but they decided he had broken school policy in relationships between teachers and students so they sacked him but who cares cos he was leaving anyway yah boo sucks to them.

My MIL used to lay out her husband's clothes for him. I remember thinking WTF once when we were staying there and he came wandering downstairs pathetically in his dressing gown after a bath because he couldn't find them: they could only have been in a wardrobe and chest of drawers, and I was really biting my tongue to stop myself asking how hard it could be to look for them. Fortunately DH accepted from Day 1 that he was going to have to organise his own clothes as I had no intention whatsoever of following in his mother's footsteps.

Lily also revealed that this would have to be disclosed in any future job applications but that it didn't matter because Russ was now an ARTIST and wasn't going to be bogged down by pedestrian bourgeois jobs like teaching (or mundane things like earning money).

Thanks for that about Russ. He is such a wanker.

Although I am mystified to see how Lily can get out of this. It sounds as if she is already regretting missing out on all the fun of being a first year.

Great article Bore despite lacking the phrase ‘glowing like a radioactive swan’. I wondered where my female energy had got to. Turns out up my vag. Or in my womb. Down there somewhere anyway, let’s not worry too much about the details.

The Susan stuff reminded me of the thing with Clarrie and the food poisoning (I think - I might be mixing stories) when Helen and Tom were all for sacking her and seemed to have no understanding of human relationships or loyalty at all, and Pat and Tony disagreed.

Do we think Lily will be told one day soon that there is no money to donate to rent etc. Or does LL have a mysterious trust fund aside from the Gwen John.

I'm a regular Kefir consumer thanks to the Archers.

I was just talking to my sister this weekend about a similar situation with her daughter. Daughter went to university just over a year ago, within three days met a boy who declared she was the love of his life and, probably because it was her first time away from home and she felt quite insecure, she dived into the relationship without thinking.
Thereafter she opted out of everything the university had to offer (other than her course) in favour of being joined at the hip to the boyfriend. DSis was in despair at the waste but DNiece wouldn't listen to any suggestions that she was missing out. However, by the end of the year DNiece was beginning to find it all rather claustrophobic but still wouldn't admit to it.

Matters came to a head in the summer when they went on holiday together and one day they both wanted to revisit different places. DNiece said it wasn't a problem, they could each go to the place they preferred, Boyfriend simply wouldn't contemplate it, even though each of them would find it really dull going back to the others' choice. Ultimately DNiece said she was going to the place she wanted to see and insisted on going on her own rather than feeling she couldn't spend as long there as she wanted because the boyfriend was bored, and assumed the boyfriend would return to the place he wanted to see. On her return she found he'd been sulking in the hotel room all day. She said it was like a light switching on, she told him that she just couldn't cope with a claustrophobic relationship like this and it was over.

This term she's having a great time at university and is finally taking advantage of everything it has to offer. She says one of the best things she has learnt is that she can say No to relationships, and No to needy friends and boyfriends, and that actually there are times when you are distinctly better off doing so.

So maybe there's still hope for Lily.

I can't share your sentiments re Pat and Tony Buckingfrolics. They can be infuriating, but they are organic pioneers who have stuck to their principles. They suffered a massive blow with the death of John which has shaped the family to a certain extent. Tom and Helen are both products of that. They are by no means perfect, but I'd take them over Hannah or Natasha any day of the week.