Archers thread #145: The glue that held the Aldridges together is gone. Will they fall apart? 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, and of course we are always delighted to welcome back former or occasional listeners/posters. We don't all agree on all points, although we do mostly try to be civil about it.

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/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-cant-wait-for-702pm-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.)

Lillian and I both made the glue observation, so I thought that would be as good a way as any to kick off this new thread. We raced through the last one, for obvious reasons. This one may last until the funeral. Will Tamsin Greig find time to attend? I do hope so.

The poem Jennifer quoted in her journal is here: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43775/rabbi-ben-ezra It's doubtful whether the last of Jennifer's life was the best, but she had plenty to contend with all the way through.

Over to you!

Talk about tough love! Lisa is coming across as really unsympathetic. And does she get it?! Does she actually understand that single parents don't always have time to attend one or two meetings a week, even when they're not recently bereaved? Would you say the same if it were medical appointments she was missing? Wasn’t that what Lisa was saying? This is the most important thing in Alice’s life at the moment. It has to be scheduled in first and everything slotted in around it.

Sellotape was sticky tape. What about Scotch tape?

Also, is Brian in the not-so-early stages of dementia? No

Nadclear is the stuff my mum used to cover work cards as a primary teacher. It was my job to press all the bubbles out. Happy days.

Alice needs to making her meetings non-negotiable. I think Lisa could have been more sympathetic, but she did need to get the message through.
Poor Alice. It seems like only yesterday that she was a little baby.

Sticky backED plastic.

I think Brian is so low mainly because of guilt at all the betrayals. He won't begin to grieve "normally" until he talks that through with someone.

Lost cause, Jangly Beads. I'm fighting a rearguard action on boxed sets, but I accept that I'm now in the same position as those Japanese soldiers who occasionally emerged from the jungle on remote Pacific islands decades after the end of WW2.

Texted would be an odd hill to die on, but I'm tempted.

be making or make.
sticky-backed plastic

We seemed to have less stuff for crafting back in the 1970s. I had to be inventive.

Texted would be an odd hill to die on, but I'm tempted

Don't get me started on ‘You’re so bias…’ rather than ‘biased’

However, this is the Archers thread so I’ll shut up about it (but continue to seethe quietly).

From sticky backed plastic to Japanese soldiers is an epic leap, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I’ll be using ‘texted’ until my dying breath.

do you think Brian wants to talk to anyone about anything unless it is him wallowing in his loss? He certainly does not want to be approached with anything that requires decision or support from him.
he cannot deal with life currently (and as such just goes into attack mode)

well, yes, but she is their mother so there should be some kind of coming together to let him speak. So far they're all making decisions about things and then just asking him to pick a or b, without letting him say that he wants none of it.

[I am with y'all on boxED sets, sticky-backED plastic, and textED.
I have seen serious journalists write Belgium when they mean Belgian and France when they mean French though. So we're on a losing battle]

@Octothorpe , I've seen the bias not biased one on baby name threads. Someone asks something like 'Oliver, Noah or Max?' and there's a reply like 'Noah, but I'm bias. My DS is one'. I think they named their DS Noah because they like the name, and aren't biased.
If, however, someone asked 'Willow, Hazel or Heather?', and someone replied 'Hazel, every one I know is lovely. Not Heather, every one I've known has been a right bitch', then I would be biased.

Doesn't explain the missing ed though.

@Brefugee , I think that the journalists may be relying to heavily on spellcheckers and autocorrectors. I've read things like 'giant waves calving into the rocks' and 'a delicate pallet of spring colours'/palate knife/chef's palette, which conjure up some strange images.

I remember reading an article about an oscar-winning actor, and her name was misspelt several types.

Fablon may have been cheap as an option for improving/DIY (did it really improve though?) But in our house if it was ever bought it was for a purpose and there was not any left over. Never in a million years would my mum have gone out and spent money on something just so I could make something.
However it must have happened once, as I remember using some bright red sticky backed plastic to transform my very ordinary wellington boots into stylish, high fashion items, as advised by Val Singleton.

I don't remember what design she used but I cut out random triangles and dotted them all over the boots.
They did not look stylish, even I could see that 😥

I don't think it did improve anything, as I do have a dim memory of seeing it peeling off cupboard fronts, revealing the now sticky, grubby old surface underneath, and presenting me with a near insuperable urge to pull the rest of the sticky-backed plastic off.

Melamine is another word I remember from that time. Often cracked, as I recall.

A world away from poor Jenny's wonderful kitchen at Home Farm. Apart from anything else, can anyone imagine that if Brian had gone first, Jennifer wouldn't have insisted on a magnificent spread at the funeral tea?

Scotch tape is just another brand of sticky tape.
I'm team textED, boxED, biaSED etc but what about taxis that require advancED booking? Shouldn't it be Advance booking?

She would, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g . Debbie would be back too. It's very strange that Debbie hasn't come back, but I suppose 'home' isn't there any more.

I remember fablon. I had a cupboard topped with it at my university digs. I peeled it off. It was floral and looked lie it had been added in the 1970s. The top underneath was ok, just a bit sticky.

Can you book something without doing so in advance? Advanced booking might be a special form of booking.

Yes, a bit like pre-ordering.

I've got some sticky-backED plastic and a pair of drab wellington boots. I'm not the most creative.
What sort of shapes should I cut out. The wellies are black and the sbp is wood-effect. I could do my green gardening clogs instead, if you think the colours would go better.
Answers on a post card please.

Should I ask in Style & Beauty?

@CaptainMyCaptain , special as in terms that are irritating?

I don't think it did improve anything It was a bit better than what was there before, usually, as in the strip I had down the front of a wardrobe which had had the mirror removed. But obviously nowhere near as good as doing the job properly.

Scotch tape is just another brand of sticky tape Precisely. The person who said “sticky tape is Sellotape” had forgotten that other brands were available.

Strange to remember that there weren’t many plastics in regular consumer use in the 50s/60s. I can remember the excitement in the 60s over “non-iron shirts” (polyester-cotton) and the first sight of cling film in our town in the 70s.

Fablon was used to cover up old fashioned Utility furniture and (unsuccessfully) make it fun and trendy with 60s stylised floral designs. I also used it as a student teacher in the early 80s when we had to make attractive boxes to take our resources into school. Emulsion paint was cheaper and easier.

I use cloths or newspaper for most things, but kitchen paper wasn't around when I was little.
I think the KP contains plastic or something as it seems strong and absorbent.

I have some lime green sticky-backed plastic too. Shall I go wild?

if Brian had gone first,

It is piercing to realise he must have spent two thirds of his life anticipating exactly this. I’m sure he must have ‘looked to the future’ happy happy in the knowledge that Jenny would do him proud. Her going before him cannot have been part of any plan.

In that context the months between October November (when she received her diagnosis) and now probably were too short for either of them to get their heads around this reversal of expectations. They would always have thought Brian would die first.