😱 Archers thread #130: The Fall of the House of Aldridge. 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 look forward to Shula's first sermon, or other unusual things.

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/4197199--The-Archers-spoilers-thread-6-Cant-wait-for-7-02pm-Join-us-here, 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.)

I went for the obvious thread title this time. Poor Ruairi! We've had a good go on the last thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/a4289334--Archers-thread-129-Casey-Macy-Lily-Alice-Decent-types-or-full-of-malice-Discuss-The-Archers-here?msgid=109858475#109858475 at trying to work out where he's going and what he might be studying, as the SWs have not seen fit to tell us.

Whither now for Alice? Will Jennifer talk to Peggy soon? Good hint from Lilian the other day that at Peggy's age it's not wise to leave feuds bubbling on.

It's been a long time since we last heard from a certain Archer whose name I am not going to mention in case it acts as a summoning charm. Long may she remain unheard in the dairy or out in the fields, or better still somewhere near a sinkhole. That was a storyline that looked promising years ago and wasn't exploited as it could have been. Pah.

Over to you!

Gasp0de - I’m musing on Baby steps … - but we need the culmination of Alice’s story this week.

We have a new nurse in training, a possibly resigning midwife settling in Ambridge, Xander, Martha, Alice somewhere trying to find her feet sans grog, Shula trying to find her saintly feet sans Neil …B(ill)eth & Ben. Lots and lots of newness.

Stir in Three’s blood and jam …

@Edmontine

Mmm … I’d only recently returned from marvelling at the astonishing sharpness of new knives all packed up for the new university term - so Xander playing in the kitchen did rather freeze my blood. Though only for a moment.

There’s no way even Ian’s domestic knives would be anywhere accessible to a small child. The thought of Xander answering the phone was pretty hilarious.

He's a child prodigy.

48 posts left on this thread (47 now). New thread later today? I'm off out later but at the recent rate of posting I don't anticipate this thread filling up in a couple of hours.

Ludicrous situation with Ian and Adam. (a) No way they wouldn't already have toddler-proofed the kitchen. (b) They are earning good money between them and both working full-time. Pay for a nanny!

Will apply myself to thinking about jam, blood, glass etc for title purposes!

In Ambridge, anything is possible.

Honey would have been better than jam. A sticky shardy mess.

@Chemenger

Can a chef really arrive at work at 6 for dinner service starting pretty much immediately?

No. Another ludicrous aspect of this SL!

How can they afford a nanny? What if another lightbulb goes and they have to spend gazillions of pounds on an electrician again?

@Chemenger

How can they afford a nanny? What if another lightbulb goes and they have to spend gazillions of pounds on an electrician again?

Adam will just have to embezzle borrow some money again.

Poor Xander being ready for bed at 5pm. I used to feel guilty when I was done and dusted by 6:50pm to catch the Archers!

We gave up on child-proofing the kitchen and put a stair gate on the door instead.

Alice doesn't seem to have spent much time in rehab? I'd have hoped she would have been there for a couple of months to give us some respite.

I live rurally and I can hear the tractors all night at the moment. I woke up at 2:45 today to hear one rumbling by.

Is that some very late harvest or ploughing, @LizziesTwin? Do they work by floodlight?

(Almost my entire agricultural knowledge comes from The Archers, so I am clueless if it's not mentioned there.)

I think they are still harvesting @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g as that is more time/weather sensitive. Lots of sweetcorn around here. I think all the grains have already been harvested.

One of the contractors was cutting hedges on Monday now the nesting season is over.

Interesting. I occasionally hear a few minutes of Farming Today but it tends to wash over me as it's before my morning tea arrives. Otherwise I might know what's still being harvested!

potatoes?
straw being brought in?
drilling for winter crops?

Madcats
Alice doesn't seem to have spent much time in rehab?

She's been there for a calendar month either yesterday or today.

On the farming front: Farmers mostly cannot rely on having a 9-5 job, which seems to be what Adam now wants and Ian expects that he will have.

Adam until recently had spent entire nights working on a combine, but still seemed able to function normally, or at anyrate to whinge which is what he does in place of functioning normally, the following day. He also used to spend nights in the lambing shed and then work the following morning.

But now getting home at six leaves him so exhausted that he passes out cold and can't hear the phone nor a toddler wreaking havoc in a small cottage.

I think he must be unwell. Maybe his thyroid is malfunctioning as a result of the stress of being caught in his theft from Home Farm.

To be fair, he's not as young as he was. Also, a new job is stressful. Lots to take in and get used to. This should have been anticipated, though.

All harvest done and dusted up here, although it’s mainly grains with a bit of field beans. They seem to be muck spreading at the moment, no early morning tractors for a few weeks. I feel like harvest was quite early this year though so maybe the SWs were caught unawares (although we haven’t had all-night-harvesting mentioned by anyone in Ambridge for a while either).

Adam and Ian’s schedules just aren’t remotely compatible - they must only be in the house together for about four hours in every 24! Not sure how many shifts Ian does but I can imagine he’s easily working 6 evenings/week. That’s why I mentioned a nanny - I can’t see what standard childcare setting would work for them given that neither of them can rely on being able to leave work (and therefore pick up Xander) bang on time.

I also thought that Adam’s new job was more farm manager than labourer, so maybe it should be more 9-5, albeit with seasonal variations.

I’m sure there’s some logic to it somewhere… probably. You’re right @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g that Adam is older than he was - maybe all the groaning and whinging has caught up with him

They could bring in a new character, Ian’s aunty Muriel, who incidentally has a lovely distinctive Ulster accent. She comes to visit Ian and Adam, now that her disapproving husband Irvine has passed (he refused the vaccine the stubborn man) and stays to look after wee Xander. She could become next years star of the village show with her fantastic traybakes and get a part-time job working for Fallon and Emma when she’s not looking after the wee one (after all Cathy, Eddie and Linda are well into their state pension years). For more back story she was the one who inspired Ian to become a chef and head across the Irish Sea. She will become a feature of the village as she gets about on her cargo bike with Xander, wearing a red cape and matching hat.

They won’t need Muriel if they employ Amy …

That would be a terrible outcome! Amy should be progressing in her midwifery career.

Ah go on! She’s definitely angling to a) throw midwifery away and b) live in chocolate-box-land permanently.

They haven’t provided her with any progress in career or life. No news of promotions, lives with a housemate. No apparent relationship. Generally fed-up.

It’s a safe bet.

@Edmontine

Proper childcare is the obvious solution.

But I felt a definite whiff of ‘Adam living closer to work’ to solve exhaustion … Which would effectively make Ian a single parent. And Adam a free agent.

Aha! Amy?

Of course! What midwife earning minimum of c£30,000 wouldn't throw it all in to move back home and babysit for a living? This is exactly what will happen.

What they should do is recruit Joy. She'd love to look after a baybee and earn a little pin money. She'd be good at it too.

What A&I really, really should have done is properly plan how they would be arranging childcare before they ever commissioned said child.

New thread here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/4349822--Archers-thread-131-A-time-to-plant-a-time-to-reap-Discuss-The-Archers-here?watched=1

I thought I'd better do it now as I'm out most of the afternoon.

Amy is ideal as a nanny for child prodigy Dander and super-bright Marthyr. She'll be so caring and Kristiffur will find that he's 'in love' with her

Amy is now Aimless.

@ILoveShula

Amy is ideal as a nanny for child prodigy Dander and super-bright Marthyr. She'll be so caring and Kristiffur will find that he's 'in love' with her

The 🔮 concurs.

Amy will be yet another woman who forsakes a professional career to return to the Brigadoon of the Midlands.