- No malted milks!
- Clarrie’s fetching the paper
- Can’t gossip about Oliver
- Can’t gossip about Brian
- Jim can gossip
- A rude parsnip
- The Hungry Gap
- The WI big cake
- Susan sets Alan on Jim
- Jim has to pay compliments
- Is Brian thick?
- The Peregrines are back
No malted milks!
[Jim] “Oh dear. Still no malted milks. Oh well, it’ll have to be the digestives again”
Jinks. Ambridge living really is a shocker.
Clarrie’s fetching the paper
On Pat’s say so, for Tony.
Didn’t take long for Pat to start treating Clarrie like a serf again.
Can’t gossip about Oliver
Oliver’s been digging over Joe’s garden, as part of the Promise Auction Jim bidded on for Joe.
[Clarrie] “Joe’s been a bit naughty really, telling him Harry would have done it better cause he’s so much younger … course Oliver, being the man he is, takes it as a challenge”
But Susan has to stop her there. Clarrie’s verging on gossip (not allowed for Lent!)
After a bit of silence while Susan and Clarrie try to work out what they can talk about, Susan starts talking about Neil doing up her old doll house for Keira. Seems he’s finished the wallpapering, and is now touching up the paintwork.
Can’t gossip about Brian
Clarrie’s telling Susan that Brian’s back helping Helen with the veg boxes.
[Susan] “You heard about the demonstration at the market … it must have been very embarrassing …”
But Clarrie has to stop her there. Now Susan is verging on gossip.
Jim can gossip
Jim steps into Susan and Clarrie’s conversation.
[Brian] “From what I heard in The Bull last night … it must have been very awkward for Brian … Kirsty, right at the front, giving out leaflets to the farmers and Brian, rather ill-advisedly, I have to say, went up and tried to reason with her in front of the whole crowd and an Echo reporters, and you know what she said to him …”
But both Clarrie and Susan cut him off. It’s gossip. Even though they do desperately want to know what Kirsty said to Brian.
A rude parsnip
Helen’s showing Brian how to pack purple sprouting broccoli. He seems quite chuffed with himself for being able to do it, especially putting the elastic around the stems.
Simple pleasures.
As Helen stopped Brian talking to her about the demonstration (too controversial, with Helen obviously on the side of the protestors), and was mentioning that Pip is now helping Bridge Farm out with the milking …
[Brian] “Good lord. What’s that?”
[Helen] “A parsnip. One of our rejects …”
[Brian] “Really? I’ve never seen one that shape before!”
[Helen] “I’ll give it to Tom. I’m sure he can think of something imaginative to do with it”
Oh that’s a really nasty (nasty) thought …
The Hungry Gap
I never knew this – but the Hungry Gap refers to:
In cultivation of vegetables in a British-type climate, the hungry gap is the gardeners' name for the period in spring when there is little or no fresh produce available from a vegetable garden or allotment. It usually starts when overwintered brassica vegetables such as brussels sprouts and winter cauliflowers and January King cabbages "bolt" (i.e. run up to flower) as the days get warmer and longer, but sooner if a very hard frost kills these crops; and ends when the new season's first broad beans are ready.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungry_gap
Helen normally just sends out recipe cards to give folks suggestions for how to cook what is there. But, she hasn’t got time at the moment.
So Brian offers her up Jennifer. If Helen sends over all the recipes she’s used before, Jennifer will sort them out and print them.
Well, I suppose it was time Jennifer was given something to do.
The WI big cake
[Alan] “The WI are going to feed the 5000!”
Seems they’re making a big cake for the Jubilee picnic.
Well done WI.
Susan sets Alan on Jim
Susan sounds genuinely worried that she’s not managing with her ‘no gossip’ pledge for lent.
[Susan] “Me and Clarrie are running out of things to say …”
And then there’s Jim:
[Susan] “coming into the shop and trying to lead us astray. Tempting us with a nice bit of juicy gossip and trying to wear us down … you'd think he'd show more respect”
Alan concurs. And heads off to have a word with him.
[Alan] “Is it true you’ve been teasing Susan and Clarrie?”
[Jim] “That was nothing really … it was only a bit of harmless fine. I assure she knew I didn’t mean it seriously”
[Alan] “Well it’s easy for you to laugh, but it’s actually quite a bit deal for her … she’s really quite upset about it”
Jim promises to apologise next time he sees her.
But Alan isn’t done …
Jim has to pay compliments
[Jim] “I can see for Susan, gossip is her life blood. It’d be like me having to give up … doing the crossword”
Alan pushes Jim to come up with something harder. Something that would be truly tough for Jim to give up. In fact, he pushes Alan to take on a “more positive challenge” …
[Alan] “I don’t know. Pay someone a compliment every day … a different person everyday”
[Jim] “You really are serious?”
[Alan] “Of course, if you think you’ve got less will power than Susan …”
So of course, Jim agrees (just as if Alan had called him chicken … what big kids they are).
I don’t quite get why having to give a compliment to a different person every day is such a tough challenge.
Is it just because Jim can sometimes be a bit scathing?
Is Brian thick?
Can he not see that Adam is still furious with him? Or does Brian think that by ignoring it, Adam will suddenly snap out of it?
They’re talking about the demonstration.
[Brian] “Did you know it was going to happen?”
[Adam] “Nothing definite. There’s been some talk on the internet”
(though Brian doesn’t seem perturbed that Adam might have known about the demo … is Brian just assuming that Adam is involved in the anti-brigade, and doesn’t really care?)
[Brian] “And they’ve had leaflets printed. They’re not the usual bunny hugging nonsense. It’s a quite serious, well-argued piece of propaganda”
Adam tells Brian not to assume the protest was a one off, and tells Brian to look at their website.
Which Brian does. And then thanks Adam for “the warning” as the website is saying they will be demonstrating again tomorrow.
[Brian] “It’s a ruddy nuisance all the same. It’s just not what we need at this stage. And I think we got off so lightly at the public meeting”
Adam really isn’t interested. She sarcastically wishes Brian best of luck, but was basically saying ‘whatever’.
[Adam] “Brian, I don’t have any kind of inside information … I really don’t see why you’re so surprised about these protests … the power of social networking, word gets round, people take action, so what else did you expect?”
So, do we think Adam does have something to do with Kirsty and her protestors?
The Peregrines are back
Yay!
I was a bit worried when we heard Jim whispering:
[Jim] “Now then my beauties, where are you …”
But he was just trying to spot the peregrines. Lynda and Alan have seen them back at St. Stephens.
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