CJ Addicts Rehab Thread LIII (previously Our Girl and Captain James)

[Ilovelblue]

Changed the name of this thread as we were very upset with the ending of series 3 out in Bangladesh! Waiting out for news of series 4. In the meantime, we are reviewing the seven series of Soldier Soldier.

Ok, shall we say Tuesday then...better than Halloween!

Tuesday it is.

Back to watching the latest Brexit developments....

Hmm...Brexit...as I Iooked at all the Halloween pumpkins for sale in the supermarket this afternoon, I wondered how many would have the word Brexit carved into them this year. Just imagine that leering at you with a flickering candle inside!

Changing the subject slightly, I've never agreed with the way Hallowe'en has become such a big event here in the UK and have always blamed the way we have copied the Americans for the fuss we make. I have to say however that when we were in NY, it was done far more tastefully than it is here! All the shops had done something, even if it was only a pile of artfully placed pumpkins and instead of the nasty cheap sweets on offer here for the children, there were some extremely expensive chocolates in beautiful tins and boxes.

It was certainly never a 'thing' when I was a child - you barely even saw a pumpkin for sale. We used to carve a turnip and put it at the end of the garden in the dark. Oh my goodness it took forever to scoop it out with a spoon and the smell! I remember going to a party once or twice and doing apple-bobbing and having toffee apples. I think it's become heavily over-commercialised and influenced by America. My kids just thought trick or treating was always done here but obviously it wasn't and I've told them so. I guess it's been a 'thing' in America for decades - I remember a scene from 'Meet me in St Louis' set in 1903 where they are doing trick or treating and that film was made in 1944. I think it only started here in the 80's? I blame supermarkets!

Agree with you Rhu. My Dad used to carve a turnip for me and the most excitement we got was to go bob-appling.

What I feel is rather sad about adopting this American event is the way Bonfire Night has taken a back seat. Don't particularly like fireworks as such but 5 November is an historic British tradition. You don't see much of "Penny for the Guy" these days, do you?

I agree. Bonfire Night was always the bigger event. In the street where I lived as a child, all the families used to pool their fireworks and effectively put on a display for all the kids in one of the back gardens with a Dad taking charge. It was really good fun. We also used to make guys - lots of old tights stuffed with newspaper - happy days.

Halloween has always been a big thing in Scotland, but Americanisation has taken over. I remember coming home from school and spending AGES scooping out the turnip with a spoon - I believe pumpkins have taken over because they are SO much less work! - and then we'd dook for apples and have treacle scones. I understand that, traditionally (?) the scones would have been covered in treacle and hung up on a line; the idea was to take a bit out of the scone without getting covered in treacle. Well, that can only have been a tradition since the invention of treacle, I suppose, and that would have come in with the sugar industry.
And children went out "guisin'", in fact they still do. On Halloween, around 7 pm, the doors of pubs open and no-one comes in - oh, yes, it's a small child, in home-made fancy dress, demanding money with menaces - and people cough up. Even in the last few years, I've seen kids of maybe 5 to 7 years old, in fancy dress, walking on their own along the street in the dark acosting strangers and asking for money and, on the other side of the street, keeping pace with and watching all the time, Daddy is there supervising. I think that is really sweet - the kid gets its independence, but still has Daddy's protection.
But the vampire and ghouls costume hire - that's new.

That was interesting eejit. I've not heard of treacle scones before.

These were a couple of the quite tasteful Hallowe'en displays in New York.

Easiest is take your usual recipe for plain scones and add a tablespoon of treacle. Make scones as normal.

Like the pics, ilove.

eejit your description of Halloween in Scotland certainly brought back loads of memories for me. Of course my memories go an awful lot further back 😰 but certainly all you described was very much the norm. I remember my mother always used large flat scones heavily smeared in black treacle, which were hung on a string across from one wall to the other at a height which made it difficult to grab a bite without getting covered in the treacle. "dooking" for apples was very popular too and although not quite so messy as the scones it certainly ended up with a lot of wet kids. Happy days.

Dear ladies, as I have a bit of a domestic crisis again, I won't be able to join tonight's watchalong. I could now do tomorrow night, if anyone can re-schdeule.

Yes eejit, I am fine with Wednesday and in fact, that suits me better.

How about you Rhu?

Evening, Wednesday is fine for me too. See you then. Looking forward to it, I think it's THE wedding!

Oh yes of course Rhu. The start of Robson and Jerome's fame and fortune.

Evening - are we ready? Going to press play in about 1 minute.

Ready to go....

Here we go..."Band of Gold"

This should be a nice episode - I like weddings!

Oh it's a Heidi Thomas episode..good!

Who has just arrived at barracks? Lovely Kieran is opening fan mail..no it's wedding cards.

How mean of Kieran comparing Jeremy to Sooty!

Here comes Kieran's Dad, a bit of a character I think.

Oh how very traditional - a stag night the day before the wedding.

It's Kieran's Dad..ah!

So Kate's organising the reception. I suppose that's her Mum.

Oh poor Jeremy, his jokes don't go down well.

I think it's funny with Paddy, Joe and Dave all entertaining Mr Voce senior.

The regimental silver has been loaned for the occasion and Kieran has little faith in Jeremy's ability.

Meanwhile Kieran's Dad is well at home in the guardroom with the lads.