Archers thread #154: Cider with Fat Rosie, Meadow Rise to Candleford or The Darling Horrobins of September? Get your rural saga fix – 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. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd be euphoric about getting a job in an abattoir, 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 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4888492-the-archers-spoilers-thread-8-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.)

Thanks for the thread title suggestions. @HumanWetWipe came up with Cider with Fat Rosie and @BeardieWeirdie thought up Meadow Rise to Candleford. I wish I could have put in the Line of Duty mashups from the end of the last thread. Another time.

Heading for a ferry shortly, so nothing more from me for now. Over to you!

What a surprise that the group cannot perform at the Harvest Supper - no-one would have ever guessed that.

And as for the Lark Rise etc - I think the writers are having a competition to see who can produce the most boring episode(s).

Lark rise plugs so poorly done

and ‘glowy’ 🙄 becaise we need further proof that pip is truly in love

and quelle surprise, the band has pulled out

i mean they’re painting by numbers at the moment

I think you're right, except I don't think it's a lesbian-specific thing. I just don't think there's a way to explain to a 5 year old what it means to be in a romantic/sexual partnership. They could understand what it means to have someone living in your house, but they shouldn't be witnessing PDA and I don't think they'd have any real concept of what a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner is and how it's different from any other friend.

I wonder how long it'll take after this weekend for effing Lark Rise to never be mentioned again. Or god forbid it inspires a new book club/live reading (seriously 🤷) club + related weekend spin-off episodes become a regular occurrence!
At least we have the totally unexpected plot twist of the band pulling out to keep us interested 😴.
I do love The Archers, really I do, but jeez it's not rocking my boat at the mo.

I think 5 year olds have a concept of couples - and if they’ve got to that age without anyone joking that they’ve got a boyfriend or girlfriend they’re lucky. I don’t think it would take much explaining.

I think they know the words boyfriend and girlfriend, but not what they actually mean. Hence why they will come home from school and announce that 'Grace is my girlfriend' in all seriousness, when they have spent one breaktime with Grace, who will be dropped within two days.

I remember overhearing a conversation between young children who were all confused because one of them was going to be a bridesmaid at her own parents' wedding. None of them, including the bridesmaid-to-be, could explain how parents could be parents if they weren't married. They appealed to me to arbitrate.

I think 5 year olds conceptually understand what a family unit is and that Arthur lives with x y and z combination of Mummys and/or Daddys, but not what a couple is per se.

From reading the relationship threads on here I'd hazard a guess that the notion of telling a 5-year old that her mother is now in a lesbian relationship might be seen as rushing it a lot a bit.

I’m no expert but I get the impression that a period of months - at the very least - seems to be the approved way to go before you introduce your young children to a new partner, and then only if the relationship is a reasonably well-established and settled one. It feels as though Pipella have been 'together' for nanoseconds and they don’t exactly feel much like a rock-solid couple to me.

i do it a lot. Unfortunately mostly in a language that isn't my mother tongue. So if there are people hearing that coming from me, they tend to think I'm useless at German, rather than actually fluent and making jokes.

(so there are two sayings that mean the same thing:
Life isn't a pony farm (Das Leben ist kein Ponyhof)
and
Life isn't a musical request programme (I can't translate it accurately "Das Lleben ist kein Wünschkonzert")

I like to mix them up so: Das leben ist kein Ponykonzert (life isn't a pony concert).

to be fair to Piella - Stella and Rosie know each other already.

I have stopped listening because it is painful. I am hanging around here to keep up to date in the event i do start listening again. (so pls heads up if there is a good ep i always listen a day late anyway)

I love that @Brefugee and I think I might adopt the phrase “life isn’t a pony concert” for my DC when moaning about something being unfair. They never take any notice of my response so I may as well amuse myself with it.

also: I hope Pip’s glowiness is from the first flush of love and not pregnancy hormones.

I may have to stop listening if they go down the pip pregnancy route

in telling Rosie, yes she already knows Stella but is it right to bring Rosie into a family situation when the relationship is that young

Pip would get crucified on AIBU if she asked if it was too soon to introduce her girlfriend of 10 days to her child - regardless of the pre existing friendship 🤣 Posters would be frothing at the mouth and telling her she had to wait at least a year, no way would their children ever have a stepparent inflicted on them, warning that Stella's motives in seeking an intro were sinister... it would be a complete dumpster fire!

Tempted to name change and pose the question to see 🤣🤣

do it!

Do it,@harriethoyle . They've been seeing each other for about a month, she slept with Fat Rosie's father about the same time.

I hope she is pregnant.

It is a soap and in soaps, a ONS usually produces a baby.

Yes, do!

It won’t end well

Is a pony farm meant to be easy? Sounds like hard work to me. A pony concert on the other hand sounds great fun.

I must have slept through the reason why Chelsea wanted to understand he life cycle of a pig. If it’s to do with Lark Rise to Candlewick then please no one tell me.

It is too soon, obviously.

Speaking of couples one thing that has made me really cross is that presumably, as far as Rosie was concerned, her parents just split up at the point where Toby left town (when was that @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime ?) and it’s been COMPLETELY glossed over. This child is 5 not a toddler, this must have been huge for her but it’s like we’re supposed to believe she understood that her parents lived together but weren’t a couple.

So even more reason not to mess her around by introducing Stella as a new “partner” at this v early stage.

🤐

Yes agree Rosie is going to need a lot of therapy - especially if pip is pregnant. looking at her relationship with Toby and then Stella with a newborn thrown in the mix would be thoroughly confusing for a 5yo!

also, pip gives off vibes of prioritising her relationship over her child. I can see Rosie spending a lot of time with her grandparents

Oh God absolutely @WitcheryDivine it's totally batshit to introduce the concept of Stella as a girlfriend to Rosie .Way too soon!

Anyway. Let's see what the hive mind thinks 😉Happy Friday!

it's "pony farm" in the meaning that little girls (usually, boys like them too) really love to have a pony farm. It's something lovely (i agree a pony concert would be good)

What does therapy involve and how does it help?
I tried counselling and it was crap. The first counsellor and I had no rapport so I went to another one and she seemed too sympathetic so i gave up.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4908339-when-to-introduce-dd-to-my-dp?reply=129545167

😂

Well done @harriethoyle - one person sussed you but otherwise the responses are exactly as we (and I) predicted!

Give it a year at least, if ever! 😂😂

Going as expected!!

it’s very rare in soapland for children to be impacted by their upbringing so it was good for that to be explored with George