Call #111 for Archers advice: Is Hilda breathing? Should Joy be breathing? Could Nelson Gabriel be in cryogenic suspension? Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed. We don't all agree on all points and most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd like to be Joy's best friend or other unusual views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please. We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3439443-keep-it-to-yourself-the-archers-spoilers-thread-4, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, @DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have - BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Thanks for all the input on title suggestions. I'd missed the significance of 111, but @R4 and DDD, our resident numerologist, were right on to it. Strongly tempted by Bore's suggestion but couldn't resist the chance to mention my favourite ever Archers character, Nelson Gabriel. Have not managed to incorporate a cricket reference, so you'll have to read up on that for yourselves. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_(cricket)

I wonder if this thread will last till Joe's funeral.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3738461-Child-relationship-is-secret-and-there-is-a-big-age-gap-should-I-care

Elizabeth is on MN! With few details modified for privacy obviously

MikeUniformMike
Emma used to cycle to the Dower House when she and William were courting.

She used to go and see him on her bike, but I sort of assumed that was not a bicycle but the moped she got from the 'Wheels to Work' scheme so she could get into college for her NVQs. She had one for that, and so did a couple of other people but I can't remember who. And Kate and Roy shared a motorbike, which he used to get to college on.

Nigel rode a bicycle for ages, and so did Josh and even Pip.

[girin] That reminds me of the very first thread I ever read/contributed to on MN. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1109577-To-be-Very-Pissed-Off-at-My-Dad-for-Bringing-a-Lovely-Baby-Toy-Around

Gobsmacked to see that was nearly nine years ago. Gulp.

I wonder what girin is. Sounds like some kind of Japanese vinegar.

It's a Japanese rice wine and gin cocktail, available at The Bull.

Who on earth irons bedding (let alone anyone else's)? There's a whole world of domestic drudgery populated by Grundy women that I know nothing off, shameless slattern that I am.

I went to help a friend who had a terrible labour and was struggling with her baby and asked her to point me at jobs. She gave me a massive basket of ironing-much of it babygros, cot sheets and muslins.......

My mum, who had trained as a domestic science teacher but was a housewife for most of her life, ironed sheets, tea towels and handkerchiefs beautifully. I, in theory, know how to do these domestic tasks but I don't do them. She drew the line at towels and underwear; apparently you are meant to iron the non-fluffy edges of towels but even she couldn't see the point. She had had to do laundry exams and was a mine of useful information on stain removal. I can now reveal, however, that my grandmother did all my mum's crochet homework!

Oh, my mum even ironed knickers and socks!

She had had to do laundry exams and was a mine of useful information on stain removal.

I’m ashamed to say that only a few days ago I had a long and involved, if one sided, conversation with my mother, where I explained in great detail the saga of how I’d finally removed some tiny stains from a new and expensive shirt. I don't know how or when I turned into this person ...

Poor Emma - she’s clearly aching to be surrounded by Grundys at Grange Farm right now.

My mum irons almost everything, even though she's 86 now. Bedding, towels, tea towels, pants, non-iron nylon slips, bras. I don't think she does socks though.

We had a year of compulsory Domestic Science at school, with a practical and a written exam at the end of the year. (Thank god there was no exam of any kind the year before at the end of the horrific compulsory year of Needlework.) I remember vividly that one of the questions was The Care and Use of Dishcloths. I can't say I've made a great deal of use of this knowledge in adult life. My mum was extremely sniffy when I attempted to put her right with my new-found knowledge.

My mum irons almost everything, even though she's 86 now. Bedding, towels, tea towels, pants, non-iron nylon slips, bras. I don't think she does socks though.

Mine too and she is of similar vintage. When I asked her why she bothered she pointed out that she grew up without central heating and ironing wasn't just about smoothing clothes but also ensuring they are fully dry before going to air/store.

Now she does it out of habit.

That's probably at the root of my mother's obsessive ironing, and Clarrie's too, but not Emma's, surely, although maybe the council house on The Green where she grew up was damp and draughty.

Goodbye Joe ...

I iron bedding. There are few greater luxuries than getting into a freshly made bed with smooth bedding. Don't do socks and towels, though.

I am not in my 80s, either.

I knew Jim wouldn't break his promise in the end.

I was moved by Jim's piano playing.

I was a bit discombobulated by Stig Abell, the presenter of Front Row, saying that he had to explain to his guest what was going on. He had to explain The Archers and Joe Grundy's funeral to Emilio Estevez. I would have loved to hear that!

I had something in my eye at the voice of Joe at the end there.

On the ironing front I iron tea towels and pillow cases. The former stack better and take up less room, the latter just look better.

I wouldn't mind discussing anything with Emilio Estevez.

I had something in my eye at the voice of Joe at the end there.

Me too. I listened to the actual episode unmoved, but the voice half way through the theme tune (i.e. just when I thought it was safe to relax) got me.

It was a nice touch.

I missed the voice, shame.
On the ironing front I iron tea towels and pillow cases. The former stack better and take up less room, the latter just look better.
Same here. I have also replaced tissues with cotton lawn handkerchiefs which need to be ironed and folded a particular way to fit into their sachet.

My mother ironed furiously until arthritis prompted her to buy a synthetic wardrobe. Had I realised, I would have told her to get 'house help'. I can still recall sound of her steam iron interrupting Nation-wide/Blankety Blank in my youth.

We rarely iron, but I do like crisp sheets/pillows. I blame that on my Uni Halls experience in the 80s when the sheets took a good couple of days before they would crumple!

I'll forgive them all that nonsense about Carmen Haveago if the payoff was that Joe got "a telegram from the Queen."

Seconded, R4!