Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 54: Jolly January, Bra Recycling & Easter Eggs Already?

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

Jo and Zoe are here with a ‘jolly’ good idea to beat the January blues. Do most women only wear a fraction of the bras they own? Plus, a full-bodied rant about Easter arriving far too soon.Watch or listen now.SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTERStay up to date with Dig It — new updates every Friday straight to your inbox.👉 https://digitpod.substack.com/subscribeGET IN TOUCH📧 Email us: [e-mail]📱 Text or Voice Note: 07477 038795💬 Or tap here to send a voice note or message on WhatsApp:⁠ ⁠https://wa.me/447477038795SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORSThis episode is brought to you by Ancient + Brave✨Ancient + Brave – This January isn’t about being “good”, it’s about having energy that actually lasts. Ancient + Brave’s True Creatine+ supports strength, cognition and steady energy without the jitters or crash. It’s neutral tasting, dissolves easily and fits effortlessly into real life. They’re also a certified B Corp and members of 1% for the Planet, so it’s good for you and good for the planet too. Subscribe and save 20% on your monthly wellness rituals, plus get a free ritual scoop. Head to ancientandbrave.earth to get started.CREDITSExec Producer: Jonathan O’SullivanAssistant Producer: Eve JonesTechnical Producer: Will Gibson SmithVideo Editors: Cameron LairdDig It is a Persephonica production

Coming up on Digit. Don't you find in your bra draw, there are always bras that you just, you reach for. Like there are maybe two or three that you wear all the freaking time. And the rest of them, you never touch. You never touch them. Walked in, first thing I see is the Easter egg display. Oh, come on. What the fuck.

No. Slow down. It's not on, is it? It's outrageous. Jude was standing there, start fucking naked with a hair dryer just trying to dry himself. And we were like, dude, put it away. Put it away. But he was like, I'm so.

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Hi! How are you? How are you? I'm very excited. We woke up today, first day back at school, school run. Both Nell and I were up, the crack of dawn. And I just heard Nell go, Mom, there's snow! So we've had a smattering of snow down on the ground.

coast and we don't get it very often down here so it was really really exciting and it's it's probably going to be gone in seconds but the garden looks so pretty with all the little shoots coming through popped out there this morning and uh oh it really makes you appreciate you you know you winter interest all the grasses look lovely in the frost yeah the seed heads and uh yeah it feels really really pretty but not so crazy that we couldn't get about because it's quite hilly in brighton and it can be a bit um tricky oh yeah for people on the school run. So yeah, Paul Nell, she's gone back

and it's mock start tomorrow. So it's heads down. Oh, God. It's been painful going back to school. Like a lot of like, oh God, do I really have to go to school? No, you really do. And it's quite hard. But yeah, the ice and the excitement of how freezing it has been

made it a lot easier today. We had to do a list over the weekend because she was so dreading going back to school. And I was like, right, okay, I know it's really hard when you get to January and February. They're very dark and challenging months. So let's make a list. of all the things that you look forward to

or any treats that you want to do whether it's going to there's an amazing stationery shop that I go to in London called choosing keeping and if you're into your paper you're into your pens you're into artwork

that place is honestly it's like the mecca it's beautiful so when you know you've always wanted to go choosing keeping let's do that one weekend so that's on the list should we get pedicure together

that is on the list it's just giving yourself something to look forward to throughout the next coming months when it is going to be dark it is going to be cold you are back at work you are back at school

I think it really, really is important to give yourself treats, don't you? I think this is a great idea. And actually, this reminds me of, firstly, I must say, congratulations to Danny, who's one of our dig it editors who got engaged to his partner, Vera. Yes. So congratulations to them. But this was their first gift of something they like to call Jolly January. Yeah.

Which is such an ingenious idea. And if you want to know more about Danny and Vera's Jolly January, because this could be a good idea for you guys if you're feeling it a bit this month. Here's how it works. Here's Danny. Hi, Joe and Zoe. Happy New Year. So we all know January can be a bit of a struggle.

You know, post-Christmas blues, bills, taxes, terrible weather. And not much to look forward to you, really. So me and my partner Vera came up with the idea of Jolly January to brighten up a difficult month. So, how it works is that we give each other seven small gifts spread out across January. We use chatGBT to work out the dates fairly and we alternate gift days, meaning we're not giving each other presents on the same day except for the very last day of the month when we both exchanged gifts to celebrate finally making it through January. The gifts are all small and budget friendly.

We aim to stay within five pounds. Now, there's obvious choices like coffee, chocolate, flowers, socks, that kind of thing. But you can also just do nice gestures like cooking a special dinner or something more creative even, like a poem. Now, it works best with someone you live with. So a partner, flatmate or family member, ideally. But honestly, it's helped us get through the darkest month. So I would happily recommend it to anyone. Thank you, Danny.

That is brilliant. And congratulations to Danny and Fear. Hooray for love. A ray for love. Jolly January gets the international signal. This has been two of my favorite Christmas presents, the happy face spoon and the not-so-happy-faced spoon. And sometimes this is being used to communicate

when people are going through a tough time, which might have happened in the household, where it's like, are we feeling or are we feeling? And then if somebody holds this up, you're like, okay, you just need a hug. You don't need to ask great, but are they brilliant? But very happy for Vera and Danny. Well, what a great idea, jolly January.

Yeah, kind of like an advent calendar, but post-Christmas. I really love that idea. Yeah. Yeah. Because we do need things to look forward to. We do. It's such a good idea because you do get that real aftermath, don't you? And it's been a particularly...

Oh, God, yeah. You know, it worked out quite well this Christmas and New Year that everybody got a decent amount of time, a lot of people, not everybody, got a decent amount of time off or time with their family or time. you know, just to themselves doing what they needed. So it can be a bit of a brutal ripping the plaster off when you go back. It's like, oh, God, it's January and it's dark at a half-poss-four and da-da-da-da. So Jolly January, maybe this is something that our diggers would like to adopt.

I love that idea. It's tricky because no one's got any money left in January because everyone's sort of bought all the presents. This household, we've got two Capricorns as well. So we've got a birthday at the weekend and then a birthday next week in this household. And I always feel really sorry for people who've got birthdays in January because no one's got any money left and no one's got any time now to go out. You're like, what? But I try and make a big fuss of both of them.

So, yeah, what you're doing with Coco is a good idea. Adopt some lovely things to do. Yeah. No, it did. It just made a real difference to it. She was like, okay, all right, fine. So there's all those things that she's wanted to do. And we've talked about doing for ages.

Even just like a day to go shopping together or, you know, we went, actually, we went bra shopping over the weekend. Yes. We have talked about doing that forever and a day. And coming back with the whole rack of bras is a really great feeling. You've got clean bras to wear you're going to feel supported. And you know you're going to look good going into January. So that made a difference.

So yeah, it's tiny little things. But I love the idea of like writing a poem or writing a letter or making a meal, cooking a meal for somebody. That is such a treat. It's so beautiful. I've got some really good cookbooks for Christmas, actually. Martha Collison. And also, is it Matty Matheson, who's in.

the bear. I got his cook as well. So I've been like thumbing through them and sort of placing lots of recipes of like, right, I'm going to try that. I'm going to do this. So some fresh recipes in the household which should be good. This reminds me, I need to clear my bra draw out because I lost some weight, which has been brilliant. No one can really tell. But all my bras don't fit anymore. And so we need to get rid of loads of the other ones. There's loads of really good bra banks where you can take your bras as well. Oh, I didn't know. So I need to find out when my local bra bank is. Because obviously, you know, they're a good bit of engineering and they're in quite good Nick, not the grey ones are the ones that have been through a bad wash.

But I've got quite a few nice ones. But I need to get rid of all the bras that are taken up the draw space that don't fit and just put in two or three ones that fit nicely. Don't you find in your bra draw, there are always bras that you just, you reach for. Like there are maybe two or three that you wear all the freaking time and the rest of them, you never touch. You never touch them. They might show a nipple, they might be lacy, but they're really uncomfortable. So you just don't ever wear them. I like it. I just want them one nipple out today, not both. Yeah, that bra. I don't wear that very often. Yeah, I've got. Do you know what I mean? Once I put on, and I don't even make it halfway through the day because they're so itchy behind. It's like, oh, God, this is so uncomfortable. Get it off.

I just want to mention M&S because I used to go to an M&S years ago. And then Koko was like, oh, should we go there and look for bras? And in my head, I just thought it was going to be fairly uncool and very boring. It was amazing. The quality of the bras we bought and the cost of them was so fantastic. It was all really affordable stuff, really well made. We were left in private to just try them on. We could have had assistance if we wanted to. We took in like 100 bras to try on and they were absolutely fine with it. So we had such a great experience just by going to good old Marks and Spencers. It was really good, really great experience. Yeah, they're really really good. I'll go there later actually. Yeah. The lodger accidentally shrunk my cashmere polonet jumper and might have. to replace it. How did you react? I love this question. How? When somebody ruined something you really love, how do you react? Well, there's that thing where I think, oh, don't say anything. But then I thought, well, no, I need to say something because then he won't do it again. And it's not. It was all. But I had deliberately thrown my jumper on the floor because I was going to wear it the next day. And I think he just scooped up all the washing. How lovely of him to do

the washing. I should be really grateful. Yeah, how thoughtful. And he just shoved it all in. up, but I did sort of make a point of hanging it on the radiator. My mate M always gets all my shrunken jumpers. Yeah, but I think this is like beyond. It'll fit a teddy bear. I think it would only fit a pet, yes, or a teddy bear. He was like, oh, I'll buy your new one. I was like, no, it's fine, it's fine.

But I did feel really bad. I thought, don't make him feel really guilty about it. But I just rediscovered it. But this is where I got it from. I absolutely would have said, no, here's the shop. This is from Eminus. It's their cashmere range. Things for me to do in January, I'm going to, yeah, I need to do, sort my bras.

I'm going to go to the dance class on Thursday. Do you remember I was talking about going to dancing? So me, my friend David, and I think my friend Emma is going to come with us too. And I am finally going to start doing my RHS, is it two course, my gardening course. Is that online? How, I've not, I don't know how you do this. Yeah, it's learning, it's called Learning with Experts. And it's, I was talking to a lovely friend at Christmas, Sophie, and she was saying she had done it.

She's like, you'll love it. It's so lovely. And you learn loads about gardening. So, fingers crossed, they're the things that I'm going to try and do. Can you kind of check in on me and check that I'm doing them? Yes, I will. No, I absolutely will. Yeah, yeah.

Okay. You played an excellent game at Christmas. Oh, we did, yeah. Please tell us about it, because you guys are very good at games. We had a really hard Christmas. It was, like, for reasons I won't go into, but it was freaking difficult and very dark and sad and awful. I'm so sorry, darling. But board games, got.

got us through it and friends and family who are amazing. But we played this game and this is a masterpiece, which I used to play when I was a kid. So I think it's a game of the 70s probably. So anyone, my kind of age will go, oh my God, yes, I remember playing this with my mum and dad. And the gorgeous Maisie bought this for me last year and I hadn't played it. So we got it out at Christmas time. It's basically you have cards that are classic works of art, you know, Rembrandts and Cizanne and all these different people. And you have another pack of cards that are the cost, the amount that they are worth. And you don't know how much your card is going to be, what your artwork is going to be worth. And then you are given the card. I'm so bad

explaining games. Basically, it's a game of bluff. So you have a bit of art. You have a price attached to it. You have to persuade other people. It's worth 20 million pounds, but it's actually a forgery. And you just, the game goes on. But God, we loved it. The kids had never heard of it. obviously, because it was an old game. And we had so much fun, just kind of tricking people and making as much money as possible. And it was really good. I heartily recommend a board game.

And this was my, this was like an oldie, but a goodie, resurrecting it, bringing it back. The lodger hates board games because they remind him of sibling rivalry. When you're kids, you know, I've got a couple of friends who won't play board games. My friend Ben hates board games as well. And it's just because it's triggering back to childhood. with, depending on where your role was within the family, if it always kicked off during a board game. But I was trying to say to the lot of the other day, it's like, it doesn't matter if it kicks off. It's not serious.

It's just fun. He's like, no, I absolutely will not play any games. And I was trying to get his niece and nephew, we were playing rummy. And I was like, come on. It's just rummy. What could possibly happen? Could we have a row about rummy? So this is my thing.

This year I will try to get the lodger to play some games. I'll let you know how we get on with that masterpiece. Right, that's going to be ordered that one up. My mum and dad do not like playing games. My dad has always done crosswords and the odd quiz, but my mum really doesn't like it and her sister doesn't either. Whereas for me, I think it's an amazing distraction. When you're sitting around a table,

I don't want kind of really heavy political discourse. I just want to have a really easy flowing laugh. I want the conversation to just flow really freely. I want everyone to have jokes and be entertained. So we will always be doing quizzes while we're eating dinner or we'll have a game of cards on the go and then we'll have a board game afterwards and it's just really good fun

so I just cannot get my head around people who don't play games but my mum will if we ever sort of go oh let's play charades or let's do this she's like oh why are we doing this and she really does not like it so it's obviously it's some sort of mindset I think it is yeah I don't know about the triggering thing

I think I do I do know that thing that if you're in a family where it kicks off with board heads. I mean, I remember chess sets being thrown across the room and stuff because, you know, if you're really hideously competitive and if it comes to fisticuffs

sometimes within a family space over board games or someone not having any patience or we, oh, you just, if it kicks off there, I can understand that that would be quite triggering to then play a board games later, I guess, but your family obviously will get on. Does anyone

cheat? Are you all really competitive? or you just are really good and get on playing ball games? No, I mean, Cass basically will study the rules for days before we play a game. So he will go into that game knowing exactly how to win. He will have Googled it. He will have done everything he can. So he just wins everything. And we accept that.

That's absolutely fine. So when he lost Masterpiece the last time and he didn't have any paintings, he didn't have any money, oh my God, did we rub it in? No, yes, we absolutely did. And poor Jude, who is the older brother, is just like, they play chess a lot. discovered chess over the last year and they absolutely love it. And Jude is always trying to beat Cass. And on the occasion when it does happen, he's like he's won an Olympic gold medal. He is so happy. But for the majority of time, Cass just wins end off. And but I have to say,

Coco's got a lot better. As she's got older, she's now giving Cass a run for his money. Excellent. But yeah, there's an element of competitiveness. And it'll be Jude, who at times will suddenly, like, just walk away from the chess board and we'll just go for a long dog walk because he is so furious that he has lost. You cannot cope with it. Whereas I'm fine. If I lose, I really don't care. I really don't mind.

If you're loving Digit, hit follow or subscribe wherever you get this podcast. New episodes will be in your inbox every single week. Did you see the story, by the way, about the mum who's a GP, who she wanted to go and pick her kids up from school? she had a full day at work she faked some appointments so that she could get away from work early to go and pick up the kids so that she would be able to be there

at the end of the day to do the school run home I wonder what you thought about that I mean she's been suspended for five months which is a lot of income to go from her house but what do you think I'm really conflicted about this story

really conflicted yeah it's a tough one isn't it I think it just sort of highlights the issue with childcare for many families Yeah. At the moment, you know, I know lots of friends, you know, they need childcare to do their jobs. So much of their wages and their money goes on childcare. And sometimes for families, it's that it's that balance. I think there is obviously an issue for a lot of people. Because also, you know, schools are finishing at half-past three. School start at whatever time. And I know a lot of kids can go to breakfast club at school and then after-school club. But for a lot of parents, it is really. tough covering childcare and the hours of a working day as well. So I guess the rules have to be the same for everybody. Yeah. Was it a situation where there was no one else to pick her kids up? Yeah, maybe it was an emergency. Sometimes there are emergency situations, aren't there,

where you really have to drop everything you're doing. And in certain jobs, you could do that. And in other jobs, your employees will not take any to that at all. So there's a lot of people out there who probably couldn't drop everything and rush. So I think, I think, yeah, there'll probably be people who work full hours who have kids who are struggling that would find this sort of, you know, outrageous, like you say, and people who are trying to get appointments with their GPs. And I also know that lots of GPs are so overworked. And the NHS staff are so overworked. It's very difficult, isn't it? Because anybody working at any job, there are sacrifices that you have to make. I know, I've talked about this before, but being, doing my show, which is, you know, an amazing job to have. But it has meant that I miss out on the bedtime routine with my kids as I've grown up and that's been a sacrifice that I've had to make for the job. And it sounds quite lightweight, but actually it really has impacted the children. They've been incredibly sad at times when I've not been able to go to various concerts or to pick them up from school or just to hang around in the evening and watch television. But, you know, every job, every person's situation means that

there are sacrifices along the way. But it does have a genuine impact on a child and their happiness sometimes and their mental health. So, you know, there are sympathies with this GP who did that and for anybody who has to make sacrifices with their jobs, whether you work in a bank, whether you're a cleaner, whether you work in a post office,

whatever your job is. And that applies to mums and dads alike. You know, I know from doing my radio show, the amount of long-distance drivers, truckers, who say that they haven't seen their kids all week long and they can't wait to get home. And, you know, it's tailor's old as time, I guess. Whatever job you do impacts your family life.

And you think about a lot of jobs where you work away, you know, armed forces, you know, there are people who, yeah, work away and can't be there for their kids. I'm thinking about when I was growing up, how it was for me with my mum and dad. And I really just didn't see my dad very much. She was an electrician, so he was on building sites all the time. He'd leave really early in the morning and come back late at night. So I don't have really strong memories of him being there. And then my mum just took me to work with her. I used to go to work all the time.

She was a cleaner. She used to clean a church. And I used to really enjoy being with her and helping her. to clean the church and then she worked in a shop and hairdressers if I had sick days

I'd just go and sit with a bag of crisps and a sandwich and some pop and I'd just be in the background while she was again working because that's

we didn't really have childcare I didn't go to a nursery I didn't have a childminder at all we just did she did what she had to do looking after me and my sister as well of course and a lot of households

it's you know the older siblings just look after the younger kids as well because you know there's no No extra money for childcare. So it's, you know, the older siblings.

Maybe there are people listening at the moment, moms or dads who are listening and you just want to share with us how you've made it work for you and maybe that might help other people who are listening. I think it applies to anybody and everybody, whatever your profession, whatever your scenario, whatever your situation. There are things that work and there are things that don't work and that impacts all of us. Hang on Nana. I'm just seeing a glimpse of something, aren't you?

your lap. Have you got a blanket on your legs? I have got a blanket on my legs like a nana. It's honestly, I am that cold. I just can't warm up my lower half. Do you not have the heating on? The heating is on, but this, I think it's the, the back, there's a little draft coming from the back door. So I have put a blanket on my legs like a nana. I've got little, my little shoes on with furry insoles and everything. I know, what is happening to me? I should have bought you a draft excluder for Christmas. So, if only, I don't know, or maybe one of those slippers that fits both feet in. Yes, I think that's what I need, a slanket. Yes.

I might wrap myself next week. Don't be surprised if I'm just like eyes, just appearing in a slanket. I actually had a cold shower this morning because the temperature has been so extreme that it takes so long for the hot water to get from the tank up to where the shower is. And I let it run, but it was still cold. And it's, yeah, but that shows how cold it is. We're just not used to it at all at the moment. So you sit there in your slanket. I always have that with my hair where I think,

isn't there something that we've been told that if you rinse your condition off with cold water, it's much better for your hair follicles or something rather than I don't have read. But I can't even do that. I'm like, no, no, I'm so yet alone cold water swimming. Have you swam recently outdoors? I keep seeing people. I did actually.

Since the new year, I went and played paddle talking about things for New Year. And I've resisted the urge to play paddle because I keep thinking, oh, it's going to hurt my shoulder. But last night we went, myself and Cass and Coco and Steve, disco, we went and played paddle. But the courts were all outside. I had no idea. And it was absolutely bratic. It was so cold.

I could barely hold the racket or the bat or whatever you call it. And it was freezing. But we had so much fun. So I'm now part of the paddle tribe, I think. I'm just, it feels like it's not so hard to hit the ball as it is with tennis. It didn't take its toll on my hands, which are very arthritic, and my shoulder. So that could be my new sport. And then Coco and I went and swam outside.

The pool was heated. I'll be honest with you. But it was still really cold. But the day before, the stupid crazy gang that I live with, so India and Alex and Cass and Jude and Luke and Ollie, the gang, they all went and they swam and the temperature was one degree. I kid you not. They went in a lake and it was one degree.

And they came back and they were blue like for hours. Jude was standing there, start bollock naked with a hair dryer, just trying to dry himself. And we were like, Jude, put it away. Put it away. But he was like, I'm so cold. There is a lot of Jude. He's very, very tall.

I'm imagining that would take a very big hair dryer, like a Beyonce-style wind machine to warm him up. My goodness, me. And the cold water does feel good. Like it helps you joints. It helps you feel energized. And ultimately, it's a good thing. But I haven't done that.

But on the way home last night, stopped at the garage to get a pint of milk and some flowers. Walked in, first thing I see is the Easter egg display. Oh, come on. What the fuck? No. Honestly. I was on, is it? It's outrageous. Slow down. I know. It makes me so angry. It's like we've literally just celebrated the birth of Jesus and now we're going to the death and the resurrection. What the hell is going on? No, it's outrageous. People just need to, they just need to slow down. Enjoy the now. Enjoy the present. Don't rush forward to Easter already. We're in January. It makes me very, very cross. Marketing people know. We say no to you. You absolutely asshole. Get your spoon face out. it's like just let people have a little bit of time.

And Jonathan, our producer is hollering in our ears right now. What about Valentine's Day? Yeah. He's thinking about the lonely hearts right now. Let me just get my flowers out. Jonathan, these flowers, these roses are for you. Skipping straight to Easter. They are relentless, these people.

They're relentless. And it's not on, honestly. No, stop with that. Stop rushing us into the seasons. Yeah, come on. Let us enjoy the aftermath. Let us enjoy getting back together. and then in all good time we will enjoy Easter but not now put your Easter eggs away thank you very much

now January might feel like a dormant time in the garden but it's actually the perfect moment to plan ahead cherry blossom season in the UK runs from late March in to May and it's not too late to plant your own which is exactly what I'm going to do because I don't have any trees that blossom in the garden and the great thing is that garden with ish is here to show us exactly how to do it Hello, Joe and Zoe, it's Ish here on a very, very cold and frosty day. But don't let that put you off being in the garden, because there's always something to do. And on my agenda today, it's dealing with some cherry blossoms. Now, the one thing I love about a cherry blossom is you can't really go wrong with it,

and I think it works in pretty much any garden, whether it's country or contemporary, and you don't have to have them in the ground. You can get dwarf varieties like this little Kojo-nomai here, which only gets about two meters tall, meaning this works pretty good in a pot. Whilst it may look like I'm holding a miniature diorama of the womping willow. What I've actually got here is a dwarf variety of cherry blossom that is teeming with life. And if you're looking to buy one, especially in January, February, when it's dormant, there's a few things you want to look out for to make sure where you've got one that's alive.

First of all, have a look at all these buds. If you've got tons of buds here, that's the blossom ready to start in the next few months. And the second thing you want to do is what I call the scratch test, where you literally scratch the bottom of the stem. And if it's green underneath, that means it's absolutely fine. It's ready to go. If it's brown, leave it on the shelf. One of the amazing things about a cherry blossom is just how easy it is to take care of.

First of all, these are hardly down to about minus 15 or 20. And down here in Rutland, that's not really an issue whatsoever. And second of all, it can be planted at pretty much any time of the year. If it wasn't minus 4 and rock solid ground, you could plant this a day and it'd be absolutely fine. Even in the height of summer, it's okay. It doesn't really care too much about what kind of soil it's in either. It happens in clay, in free-draining soil, even a bit of sandy soil. But it just needs a good watering to get it started.

And once it's established, it pretty much takes care of itself. So there you have it. My Beginners Guide to Cherry Blossom planting in the winter, incredibly easy and will last you an absolute lifetime. Expect years and years of amazing blossoms in the spring. But remember, the blossom period is only about a month or so. So whilst it's short-lived, it's still absolutely beautiful. Take care.

Oh, thank you. He's wonderful, isn't he's enthusiasm, is fabulous. He did a great series where he did lots of gardening with... Lou Sanders, hilarious comedian, who I love and adore. Cherry Blossom, I do this every year. When it's Cherry Blossom season, I drive around the neighbourhood and I'm in awe of all the blossom. And then I come back to my garden, I think, I haven't got anything that blossoms. So I have just written those down.

Cojo, was it No-My? Cojo No-My. All I was thinking about was his version of the Whomping Willow, which made me laugh a lot. Harry Potter reference there. Lovely Harry Potter reference. If like us, you're completely confused at the moment, just having listened to Ish, all the details are in the substack and in our show notes. So just go there and there'll be everything referenced and you're able to find out what he was talking about

and they go and buy the plant or something similar. And if you want even more of Ish, his new show, today in The Garden is starting this Thursday on YouTube. Link again, show notes and substack. It'll be this Friday. That's when you'll get that. So if you want more, Ish, go for that. Thank you so much, Ish. I shall be going to the Garden Centre this week and checking.

out the cherry blossom how exciting um did you get any good books or records this christmas joe do people buy you music or do they leave it to you no i got two pieces of vinyl from cocoa um everyone bought each other vinyl this year which was really very lovely um film soundtracks i think steve got wicker man from cocoa she bought me the charlie brown christmas which was gorgeous and so we listened to that all through christmas and then she also bought me the barbie soundtrack. So I had that on yesterday when I was taking down the decorations and was listening to Billy Elish, what was I made for? And the Ken song. And it was really good. So they were the vinyl. I'm just Ken. I know. I mean, so funny. It just makes me laugh so much. So yeah,

nice bits of vinyl, but all very reflective of last year. What about you? Did you get records? Yes. I got Filmworks Insomnia. This is Robbie Robertson. And because I just watched the Martin Scorsese documentary, Mr. Scorsese. There was a huge section of that with obviously Robbie Robertson from the band used to collaborate with him on all the soundtracks for his movies so this is Robbie talking about

collaborating with Martin and also some of the music from his films and this was one of my favourites that came from the Lodger Talking Heads Live on Tour 78 which I didn't have which is absolutely fantastic massive fan of Talking Heads in this household

and two books that I really loved our friend Sophie works for she's a new friend to me she's my brother's girlfriend she's my brother's girlfriend's friend and she works in daunt books in London which is one of my favourite bookshops and she bought us all books for Christmas and she brought me bread of angels Patty Smith which is glorious I've really been enjoying that so thank you very much to Sophie it was funny because I'd put her in some of our Instagram pictures and somebody had commented why is Sophie from our bookshop in your photographs. There we go. And then this was a favourite as well. George Harrison, behind the locked door, amazing book about George Harrison. My favourite

beetle? I don't know if you can choose a favourite beetle because I love all of them, but I do have a big soft spot for George. So really very much enjoying that as well. Good luck with that Paul McCartney interview you'll have later on this year. Now, when I said that thing about George, what I meant was you were my favourite beetle. My favourite beetle. Oh, but you must have out, though, with your interviews that you have to do. You have to be so careful and diplomatic, don't you? About everything you say about everyone. You're so cultured with your presence.

I got, I got more objects. I got some really lovely jewelry. I got a very nice necklace, which I'm wearing today, and some earrings from disco. And then... Oh, he's good, isn't he? Yeah. The kids were so thoughtful. I got a little miniature vintage Spock from Cass because he knows how much I love my Star Trek.

Star Trek. Trying to do the fingers. India and Alex bought me this beautiful, glass pair, which is brown and then goes into blue and green Zalif. It's just a stunning piece of art. And also a lacrosse pot to put on my oven in the kitchen, which has been decorated recently. So it's a cobalt blue and it's really beautiful. And then Jude bought me a pen. I get, like I said, I love pens and paper, and he knows how much I love pens. So he bought me a pen. So everything was really incredibly thoughtful. Not very cultured, but kind of enhanced my life in a

different way to you. I know. I was really chuffed with all my presents. Do you know what? thing that made me happiest this year, though, was just time. Time with, you know, I got time with my dad and my stepmom, got time with my kids and my friends, and then some of my brothers. I didn't get to spend Christmas with all my brothers. And can I just say, by the way, that Zach, who is my nephew, who I bought the Willy Wonka Lego for, it went down an absolute treat. And he spent three or four days building it and he's built it. I've still yet to see it fully built. But Haley and Jamie, my brother and sister-in-law were sending me little updates each day of Zach building the Lego. He's the most gorgeous chap. And it was probably one of my most

successful presents this year. So I am absolutely thrilled that he loved it. Bless him. Yeah, Christmas was hard. It was really hard. Just going very briefly into it because we talked about how hard it is when you have older relatives. And my mum and dad came and stayed with my sister. And then Steve's mum came as well. And it was really hard for all of us, for us to have them. there and for them to be with us as well because suddenly you find all the furniture that you take for granted, all the little steps that you take for granted, when you're an older person are like mountains and they're like incredibly uncomfortable to sit in. They were like in a world of pain for the whole time they were with us trying to get out the steps, get into the

kitchen, get from the bedroom into our house. Everything was unbelievably difficult and painful. And Francis was her like usual amazing tornado of give me a present, give me now, give me another one, give me another one, which kind of sounds funny and it kind of is, but it kind of is really hard as well. So anybody with people with special needs or learning disabilities in their life will know exactly what I'm talking about. It's joyful, it's funny. The way we got through it was like proper gallows humour. The kids were unbelievably amazing and there was a lot of laughter because if you don't laugh, you cry, right? But it was very, very, very hard work all round. So just for other people who are listening right now, who possibly are feeling like

me, we got through Christmas. And it's done now and that's good. You know, Christmas can be really, really tough and it was really tough. But we came out of it and we got through it with a lot of laughter and a lot of love and friends and family are unbelievably amazing. And that's what gets you through life. That was my lesson from Christmas this year. Oh, bless you. Goodness me. I know it really sounds like you've been through it as well. Oh, it's so hard. For all the people, who are glad that it's all over. Some people are like, thank goodness that's over and it's all packed away and on we go. But it was lovely as well. There were some really, really beautiful moments in the chaos and the toughness of it all. Yeah. I think you and you treasure those moments

even more, don't you? When things are really tough, when there's a little moment of respite or a little moment of love or a bit of togetherness, you're like, thank goodness. And you have an amazing, amazing family. I'm so glad you're all there for each other. But now it's January and now we now we move on and we tackle all those problems that we have at the moment. That's the way I'm feeling at the moment. It's just like, okay, right, the battle's on, the fight's on. Let's sort this out. Let's sort that out. Bring it on.

I've had a rest and I've got some renewed energy now to try and sort stuff out, sort people out and help people. And that's the plan from here on in. That is the plan. Bless you, darling. I'm sending you all loads of laugh. Thank you very much. Enjoy the next few days.

Yes. I am going to do my course and tidy away Christmas into the loft, to do a bit more sorting, hopefully go to a dance class. Do some dancing, yeah. The international sign of happy. Happy face and not so much. Face, but anyway, we'll find out next week how I'm feeling.

Okay, I'm looking forward to hearing about the dancing and the course. Fingers crossed. All right, lots of love. Love you. Don't forget to swim outdoors as well. Swam outdoors. No, no chance. Digit is a Persefonica production.

Thank you.