- The farmers should be thankful
- What about the harvest supper?
- Who was that?
- Ruth’s a part-time Christian
- David burnt his finger
- How long does it take to cook runner beans?
- Elizabeth and Nigel’s 19th anniversary
- Courgettes or broccoli?
- The badgers are at David again
- Darrell to benefit from the harvest bounty
- The trees are on the turn
- The Christmas show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Caroline wants to sell up
The farmers should be thankful
Reckons Alan. The harvest has been “very decent”.
Well, only to be expected:
[Shula] “Lovely service.”
[Alan] “Difficult to go wrong with harvest festival.”
What about the harvest supper?
No mention of it this year, at all.
Strange.
There’s normally such a fuss.
Who was that?
Some bloke said goodbye to Alan. And a woman said it was a nice service.
Who were they, then?
Ruth’s a part-time Christian
Shula was surprised to see Ruth at the service.
[Ruth] “One of those special occasions, like Christmas and Easter”
Ah, not taking it seriously, then?
She also managed to get Ben and Josh to coming along. Though Josh didn’t need to be persuaded as he’d given a whole tray of eggs for the collection.
David burnt his finger
On a saucepan lid.
[Elizabeth] “Badly?”
[David] “It’s alright, I’ll live.”
Thank goodness for that.
How long does it take to cook runner beans?
[David] “How long does it take runner beans to cook when they’re a bit old and tough?”
[Elizabeth] “Ten minutes will do, but don’t bother if they’re stringy.”
Ah, thanks for that.
Elizabeth and Nigel’s 19th anniversary
Would have been today if Nigel hadn’t … um … died.
[David] “Would you like a bit of company?”
[Elizabeth] “I’m fine. But it’s always nice to see you. Come for tea.”
[David] “Will there be cake?”
Later on, they remember Nigel tearing about on his bike. Then coming off it when he hit a tree root.
[Elizabeth] “And be terribly aggrieved. As if tree roots had no place in an arboretum.”
Elizabeth admits that she sometimes forgets that Nigel’s gone.
But hey ho … she reckons she’s doing just fine. She’s busy with the dairy conversion, which has finally got planning permission.
(remembered but also forgotten, eh …)
Courgettes or broccoli?
Is what’s on Oliver’s mind.
Caroline has slightly more pressing matters. Lynda’s called. The health club changing rooms have flooded. They’ve had to close it, and customers are complaining.
[Caroline] “Demanding to see the manager., Point is Oliver, we simply can’t risk anymore bad publicity.”
[Oliver] “Surely you can have lunch!”
Well, no.
Caroline has slightly more important matters to attend to. Though Oliver does also seem to realise that:
[Oliver] “She’s driving herself into the ground again, and there’s absolutely nothing I can do to stop her.”
The badgers are at David again
Something’s damaged the Brookfield crops.
[David] “Of course it’s blasted badgers! It’s typical isn’t it, they wait until the cobs are just about ready, then they’re in there!”
[Ruth] “Like birds with cherries.”
[David] “Like a herd of buffalo, trampling them into the ground.”
Seems the contractors will be in on Thursday to harvest:
[David] “That leaves four nights for the badgers to wreck merry havoc.”
So, they’ll have to put up an electric fence. David’s furious.
[Elizabeth] “I felt like then when we had moles dig up the lawn just before a wedding., I was furious.”
[David] “Rats and pigeons, nobody bats an eyelids, but when it comes to badgers.”
[Ruth] “Ben thinks they’re cute and cuddly.”
[David] “When you tot up what they’ve cost us over the years …”
Well, those badgers must be laughing it up!
If David has his way, they won’t be laughing for long …
Darrell to benefit from the harvest bounty
Shula’s poured out her dramas with Darrell to Alan. He’s shocked at the way Darrell treated her:
[Alan] “He’s usually such a gentle soul.”
[Shula] “I’ve seemed to have alienated him completely … I can’t just give up on him.”
[Alan] “You can only help people if they want to be helped … sometimes you just have to take a step back.”
Shula was wondering if Alan could step in. Maybe help find Darrell somewhere else to go. But, Darrell does want to stay local.
At the very least, Alan had already thought that Darrell might be glad of a few items from the food they gathered for the harvest supper.
Shula’s glad to hear he’ll at least be seeing him.
The trees are on the turn
It’s official folks.
Summer is over, Autumn is well on the way.
The Christmas show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Elizabeth] “Have you talked to mum about her birthday?”
[David] “She doesn’t want any fuss.”
Elizabeth tells him that Jill has a meeting that day. About the Christmas show:
[David] “Christmas show? So this will be Lynda!?!”
[Elizabeth] “Apparently Lynda has something planned for Christmas which mum thinks is a bit earnest and not much fun, so she feels duty bound to talk her out of it.”
My goodness … Christmas is coming early this year.
So, the eternal question …
… will it be a panto?
I do hope so. I do love a panto.
Caroline wants to sell up
Caroline’s been thinking about the future. The hotel is stressing her beyond distraction, and making her:
[Caroline] “Ratty, bad tempered. I know I’ve been horrible to you … none of your fault.”
[Oliver] “Well, some of it was.”
(well yes indeed. It was!)
Caroline is now wondering whether it’s all worth it. She’s had enough of the responsibility, having to take the blame:
[Caroline] “Having to grovel and say sorry … it can be such a thankless task. I’m honestly not sure if I want to carry on.”
Caroline wants to sell up.
[Caroline] “It’s the only way to be shot of the responsibility.”
She reckons they could then spend half the year in Italy, if they fancied.
(alright for some!)
But … believe it or not … Liver cautions she take her time. He reckons Caroline would be bored without the hotel, especially after all the years of dedication. And considering all of the stress right now:
[Oliver] “This is not a good time to be making life changing decisions.”
Well then.
Back to the argument about Caroline getting a manager in …
… are you listening in, Kathy?
4 comments:
One of the things I've discovered this year is that there's a panto in Venice! Courtesy of a group of ex-pats & regular visitors. This winter's (Jack & the Beanstalk) is on something like 7-11 Jan. You should come!
Sorry, 16-18 Jan.
Sorry for the delay ... be catching up slowly!
A Panto in venice sounds sublime! Maybe next year :-)
We are very behind too, so appreciating your comradeship as always! It would be great to see you here at some point.
And last week was the carol service - our life has actually turned curiously Ambridge-like since moving to Italy!
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