Archers thread #158: Te Rum? You numpty, numpty, Tom! Empty tearoom follows. Christmas coming, farmers’ stand up, will it make us LOL? No! 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 think Tom Archer is a great businessman, 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/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.)

Thanks to @LillianGish for the title idea, which may plant an earworm if my scansion just about holds up. @BeatriceBatchelor wanted 'plebby coffee' inserted in reference to my Bolivian coffee anecdote on the last thread, so I'll mention it here instead. Here's hoping Fallon and Emma decamp to the charging station or Grey Gables, or both, to run the type of coffee shop/tearoom people actually enjoy spending time in. Tom's cauliflower eclairs and kale criossants approach sounds more likely to drive the casual trade away from the farm shop and cheese window as well as the Google Translate-named Te Rum.

Feeling very uninspired by TA at the moment, so I have nothing more to say for now. Over to you!

My mum died on November 21 last year and her funeral wasn’t until mid-December because that was the first slot available. I don’t believe for a second that Rob will be funeralised anywhere other than Ambridge - the SWs aren’t going to pass up that dramatunity.

Nobody will be going will they? I'm not sure it needs mentioning.

dramatunity

I like that word! Your own coinage?

We had to wait three weeks for my Dad's funeral too.

Dramatunity 👏 👏 👏

<bows>

Or support her in a hotel management course while working. Then it’s not just cleaning and they also get the benefit for a reasonable price.

We certainly had enough mentions of his baptism, I’m surprised he’s not sending summons from the grave

That reminds me - the Ambridge passion for literature seems to have disappeared as quickly as it arose. I do think they might have made it slightly more realistic if it had caused the resurrection of the book club, or something similar.

Didn't Eddie say he was/nearly 72? So both he and Clarrie should be on so.e sort of pension....contributions permitting.

Eddie was born on 15th March 1951, and on 15th March 2016 celebrated getting his state pension on his sixty-fifth birthday.

Clarrie, born on 12th May 1954, started to get her state pension on 6th January 2020 when she was 65 years, 7 months and 25 days old.

I wasn’t able to listen tonight - I take it nothing interesting happened!!

Shula appeared and tore a strip off Lilian.

Gosh - they’re getting their moneys worth out of Shula actress

That Oliver/Eddoi conversation was so awkward. I certainly wasn’t expecting Oliver’s suggestion.

Yes are the potential (hitherto unmentioned) almshouses going to be a form of house fairy for Eddie and Clarrie?

It felt to me as if Eddie was faking his
concerns for the future or did others think he was being genuine? I thought he seemed to be playing Oliver, employing a new tactic to guilt-trip him into allowing the gravy train to stay on track.

I did wonder what Eddie’s game was.

I kept expecting Oliver to say "Haven't you thought before about what you might do in old age?" It's not like getting older every year is a surprise to anyone.

I know it's already been said upthread but Peggy recently had a million pounds to give away, but now she needs to sell her home? It doesn't make sense.

Emma has had no experience of formal education for decades, and only got one GCSE at school. Doing a GCSE she enjoys will give her useful experience of developing study skills, preparing for and sitting an exam, and will boost her confidence if she gets a decent pass. If she moves from there onto a more useful qualification next year, I don't think the GCSE in Eng Lit will have been a mistake.

PuppyPerson
I know it's already been said upthread but Peggy recently had a million pounds to give away, but now she needs to sell her home? It doesn't make sense.

Perhaps it is because she gave away, not a million pounds but half a million pounds to the rewilding project that she now needs to sell her house to pay for her care for the last few years of her life? Just a thought....

I was worried he was going to push Oliver into leaving Grange Farm to them, what with it being “Grundy Laaaaand” and everything (as the descendant of tenant farmers, the clue is in the word “tenant” which my family managed to grasp so I’m not sure why Eddie can’t).

I can now see the plot line leading to Eddie and Clarrie ending up in some sort of peasant workhouse.

Well, that was disappointing: I had been hoping that when Lilian spoke to Shula, she would reveal that the whole world class equine pampering centre, or whatever it is, would turn out to be just a story planted to put Justin off the scent. But no, she doubled down on what a great idea it was. Ho hum.

And apparently the combined windfall of an ordinand's pay, rental income on a house, and a cheaper cost of living oop north, means that Shula no longer needs Lilian and Justin's investment. Ok then. 🙄

I thought Shula meant she was considering giving up the stables.

Re Emma's job prospects.

I'm a few years older than Emma and found myself in a similar situation. I do have GCSE's but for various reasons never built a career and ended up with few options beyond minimum wage manual work.

I started an apprenticeship in business administration 18 months ago which is nearly finished. It has been incredibly hard work but will change everything.

I have learned far too much to list here, completely transformed my CV and while I'm quietly confident that my work place will make me an offer when the apprenticeship ends, I'm not worried if they don't as I will have many options.

But I'm sure that Emma faffing about with Jane Eyre will work just as well....

Almshouses still exist and are usually quite quirky old cottages. Not workhouse like at all.