Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 56: Dishwasher Wars: Architect vs. Raccoon

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

A full house, a full sink, and a fully deranged squirrel shaking the bird feeder. This week, Zoe and Jo dive into life as full nesters. Plus, birthdays, birds, Golden Globes glam, and a surprising shout-out to Rose Byrne’s reptilian childcare strategy.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 QVC &  Ancient + Brave✨QVC – This New Year isn’t about pressure, it’s about finding what actually works for you. From Zooki Hydration+ sachets that support hydration before, during or after workouts, to the Renpho Reach 2 ThermoCool Massage Gun, designed to ease tight muscles with heating and cooling modes and an extendable handle to reach every spot, QVC makes it easy to look after yourself in real life. Get £10 off your first order over £30 with code Q-DIG10. Full terms apply, see the QVC website for details. https://www.qvcuk.com/ ✨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: Danny PepeDig It is a Persephonica production

Coming up on Diggett. My peeve is when you're watching something on the telly is if someone starts watching something on their phone. And I'm like, no, no. Oh my God. When people stack the dishwasher wrong, it drives me insane. I have been known to put up stickers around the sink. Just clean the sink.

Load the dishwasher properly. Joe Wiley, do you do a slightly passive aggressive sticker up? I love that. I'm extraordinarily passive aggressive, apparently, according to the family. You're going back to work as well, aren't you? You'll be back on the radio. I've missed you. Yeah.

I had the real Sunday night's wobbles. You know when you suddenly think, oh, God, I've been really sick. First day back. All of that, right after this. Oh, hey, how's it going? Amazing. I just finished paying off all my debt

with the help of the Credit Counseling Society. Whoa, seriously? I could really use their help. It was easy. I called and spoke with a credit counselor right away. They asked me about my debt, salary, and regular expenses, gave me a few options,

and help me along the way. You had a ton of debt. And you're saying Credit Counseling Society helped with all of it? Yep. And now I can sleep better at night. When debts got you, you've got us. Give credit counseling society a call today.

Visit no more debts.org. Good morning, Zoe Ball. Hello. Oh, my God. Look at the sophistication of you. You're wearing a black Mark Darcy turtle neck or a polar neck. I've gone black. Actually, this is a new one because the lodger accidentally shrunk my M&S Kashmir jumper.

But I went and pulled myself another one. I give all my shrunken jumpers to my friend at M, because she's really tiny. And she was like, hooray, another one of your shrunken cashmere jumpers. It happens. It was black. It went in the wash. It looks nice. I'm in my Steve Jobs era, apparently.

I've got to that point, though, where just, I'm like, oh, just in black. I'm just in black until the spring now, I think. It's that lull, isn't it? Like, there's no money around at the moment. So you've spent all your money on Christmas presents. You're now writing the bills, paying the tax and all that kind of stuff. So buying new clothes doesn't seem like the thing to do at the moment. So it's, I don't know about you, but I'm reaching into the wardrobe.

I'm finding things that I haven't worn for ages. The T-shirt I've gotten today is a Yashita Manara t-shirt that Coco got for Christmas. And I saw her wearing it the other day. And I was like, do you mind awfully if I borrow that for the podcast next week? So it's about being ingenious and improvising and just wearing what you've loved before, but forgotten about. And also it's been, the weather's been rotten, hasn't it? It's been so cold, the storm, Goretti, the snow. You know, we even had snow in Brighton, which was something, the wind this weekend.

And this week down here has been awful. But I'm hoping that apparently it's going to warm up a little bit. Hopefully people who are in deep, deep snow might thaw out a bit. I'm not sure if that's going to stick around because I keep sneaking into the garden. And I can see, you know, signs of life. And I need to start doing some pruning. doing some prep and I've been looking at I'm looking for a small greenhouse that can go against the wall and I'm so excited John I'm going to get myself a greenhouse that I can get some little

seeds that going and um do some cuttings of the plants that I've already grown because we can't you you can save so much money can't you take cuttings of the plants you already grown yeah you can share them with your friends so I was like I need a greenhouse I need my project um so I'm quite excited about that so I'm praying the weather's going to get a bit warmer but it's only January. We're probably in for the long haul, aren't we? Yeah, I find the weather really difficult. I loved it when it was really sunny, but frosty and bright and cold. I just, it's my favourite kind of weather apart from hot sunny days. And then I think we've had a spell of just drear and the grey skies and the rain. And oh my God, it affects everyone's mood so badly. I think over Sunday and just past few days, I find them very, very challenging.

And it's really hard to get yourself out in the garden when the weather's like that. But we did, this thing of green, because I didn't get a greenhouse in the end. I was talking about getting a greenhouse and ultimately couldn't find where exactly to put it. Couldn't just get my head around it. So, Disco Steve has got his office and he's got huge glass windows and everything that he ever puts in there thrives. So he's got these money plants that are like Triffitz. They're massive. So I've carefully moved those to the side and I've bought in all my pelagoniums. I bought them in and they are now, they've been pruned. So they're quite small and they're all stacked in there. And hopefully they will get the sun when it comes in. And then when it's

gets to spring, I'm actually going to be able to put those out in the garden. Because I love them so much and they were so amazing last year. I didn't want to go out and buy them all over again. So like you say, it saves money. It's important that you just keep the same plants and just help them to thrive. So even if you haven't got a greenhouse, then you have to kind of think deep and work out how you can do it. A window. A window seal. Yeah, big window sill. Great. It was the Golden Globes, of course, over the weekend, which I know being a big film buff, you absolutely love. I love the clothes and the fashion and all that. The thing I love about the Golden Globe is, is that it's a really fun night.

You know, Ricky Jervais used to host to have a laugh. Amy Polar and Tina Faye have hosted. Nikki Glazer hosts, and she hosted last year. She is so funny. She's just really quick. She takes the Mickey out of the room. It's always a good, I think it's always a good one where everyone's on tables, you know, they kind of, people look, you know, there's a lot of camaraderie.

I always think it's really cute when you see the younger actors meeting that, the older gen and having these lovely chats. I've noticed a lot of, like Leo DiCaprio always has his hand over his mouth when he talks to anyone now because people. Oh God. People always lip-read the conversations afterwards, don't they? But there's a lovely moment with him and Timothy Shalame, lovely moment with him and Owen Cooper, of course, from adolescence. But we must say, bravo to one of our great heroes because for the first time at the Golden Globes, they had best podcast. And Amy Polar one for the Good Hang, which we both love.

Yeah. I adore that woman ever since mean girls. I'm a cool mom. And of course, Parts of Rec. She's such a, she's a funny lady. Yeah. And also her podcast, if you've not checked it out, the Good Hang. She chats to lots of fellow comedians, actors.

She's just done one with Gwyneth Paltrow, hasn't she? Which was such a good listen. The joy of her is that it's a very, it's a really warm. engaging, honest and open conversation between two people. So she gets so much, she just gets a natural side out of somebody. So I watch the Gwyneth Poutre one. I like Gwyneth so much, even more now that I've seen that chat between the two women. There's a really lovely bit of Gwyneth talking about, and both of them, Amy as well, talking about how they can't drink anymore when you get to 50, then drinking is just like the hardest thing in the well to do. And, you know,

people, all our diggers will know exactly that feeling. There was talk about eating at six o'clock. They were talking about when you get a book a restaurant for six o'clock at night so you can be home tucked up in Boat, watching tell you by the time, you know, by 8 o'clock. Which we can all relate to, can't we? Yeah. Go, Amy. So it's a great, it's a great podcast, really good. It is such a good podcast.

So that was the first time podcast has been at the Golden Globes. Yeah, amazing. And there was some fantastic wins across the board. You know, well done to the whole team behind adolescents. Yeah, Jack Thorne. I'm so proud and pleased for him to get that recognition. and all the actors as well. He's such an amazing writer, fantastic British, you know,

is it, Walt Films, Philip Barantini, who directed it, who I sort of feel like I've kind of watched him grow up a little bit because when he first watched a couple of the projects he did and he's such an imaginative, clever director. And watching, you know, Erin win the awards and she said she promised her mom she wasn't going to swear. Well, here she is. I've made a promise to my mum that I wouldn't swear, but what the fuck?

Holy shit. Sorry, mum. Life can be tough. Mental health is everything. So thank you to therapists, and it was an honour to play one. I love that she thanked therapists because she plays a therapist, obviously, and she'd obviously done such great research into a therapist, You know, working with this young man and that moment in adolescence,

that turning point in adolescence, which is key to the plot where you really recoil in horror that your worst nightmare is actually true. And I won't say what happens for anyone who's not seen adolescence because it is amazing television. And she played that so brilliantly and Owen Cooper. And wonderful Stephen Graham, you know, just, oh. And his family, his beautiful wife, they're an amazing family. And also they support young filmmakers. They support young people in the industry. And it is so great to see British talent being celebrated.

The World Across is such an amazing project. So bravo to the whole team. And can I say, I saw Hamlet this weekend. Oh, what do you think? Oh, my goodness me. I loved it. Do you know what? It is not what I expected at all.

and I'm not quite sure what I expected. The Lodger put it really well. It's parts of the film, you're almost an observer at a distance. It's such a quiet film. It is beautifully shot. It is the acting is sublime from the whole cast, I have to say. But you are sort of sat back. A lot of it's set in the forest.

And you see Jesse Buckley playing this, Anyes, who, you're, was Anne Hathway married to William Shakespeare. And, you know, the story of how it's not really about William Shakespeare, particularly. It's more about young love and grief. And you see Jessie Buckley start as this free-spirited, wonderful woman of the forest. And then you see her fall in love. And then you watch as she supports a husband who has to go to that there, London to make his fortune.

So she has to raise the kids often often. on her own and then you see the effects of grief on a family and it is devastating. It is so beautiful. There are moments. I mean, I have to say Jacoby Dube, who plays young Hamlet, is extraordinary. And Chloe Zhao getting this performance from this young actor. I think he was 10 when he shot this. He is incredible.

And I felt really emotional seeing some of the photographs of, him with Jesse Buckley and Paul Meskull, who again is fantastic and Chloe Jiao all together, because once you've seen the film, you see what they've gone through as a team of actors, as an incredible group in this film. It is quiet. It is quietly devastating. I sobbed and it is a film that you kind of leave the cinema in silence. Okay.

And then you sort of digest it. So, you know, I think it's not a big brash film in any. way, it is so quiet, but it is beautiful. And it's wonderful that a film like this gets recognition. And I will say it's, it's a film you might want to see at a certain time because it is about grief. And you know, it's, you hear everyone crying around the cinema because it is so moving and it really does stay with you. But see it at a time when you can handle that, perhaps, because it is, it is really moving. But I, and I think you cry for all different reasons. But Jesse Buckley, you are such a beautiful, incredible actress.

Oh, I loved it. Also, Joe Alwyn, who plays the brother of Annius, the relationship, the sibling relationship between Jesse Buckley and Joe Alwyn's characters is also really beautiful. As a sibling, I was like, oh, God, this is so special when you see it. And you've got, you know, four kids, you'll see that. That's really good. But can I also shout out there with some amazing wins for so many different films and all. Obviously, Timothy Chalame, won for Marty Supreme. But can we shout out Rose Byrne?

Because when she got up to accept her award, this is what she had to say. This is like brilliant parenting from her husband. This really made me laugh. I want to thank my husband, Bobby, Carnivali, who he couldn't be here because he's, we're getting a bearded dragon. And he went to a reptile expo in New Jersey. So thank you. Thank you, baby. I don't know whether that's true or not, if I just that made me.

I love so much. You know, sorry, I can't come, honey. The kids want a bearded dragon and we've got, we've got bearded dragons in the Ball family and they're amazing. So, yeah. So well done, everybody. I think in this time of year, when it's January, February, March and things are dreary outside, it's cold outside. You don't really know what to do. This is where cinema and entertainment comes into its own, doesn't it?

Because you can stay in your own home. You can lose yourself in that small screen with on your own, if you haven't got anybody else around, or with your family members or with your friends. And it's just a really, really lovely way to spend an afternoon, a morning, an evening and a great piece of escape. And just, it's something to do. I've had the week off and I've spent a lot of time

with Cass and with Coco and Steve as well. And we have got to enjoy so much. And it's not something like I ever normally do because I'm normally a million miles an hour and I'm going out and doing stuff all the time. But I have really enjoyed the quiet calm and the entertainment that cinema and TV affords. So we watched the,

I went to the cinema and I know this is the polar opposite of Hamlet, but I went to see Avatar Fire and Ash with Cass and Coco. And I'd read reviews and I'd heard, I'd spoken to various different people and everyone kept saying, oh, it's three hours long. I love science fiction. I love fantasy. And I've loved the previous two films. And we watched it and we ate so much popcorn.

I thought my tummy was going to burst. And at the end of it, we all kind of looked at each other and went, what did you think? Did you like it? And then one of us went, actually really liked it. And then we all joined in. And we were like, yeah, it was great. It was really good.

It was really good escapism. It looked beautiful on screen. And we loved it. We really, really enjoyed Avatar. It might not be fashionable to say, but it was three hours. Really, really well spent for us. We also went to see The House Made with Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seabreed. And that was great.

I mean, talk about female empowerment and a great message and lots of suspense, a real thriller. And also The Beast in Me. This is a mini-series. It's on Netflix. and it's Claire Daines who her chin wobbled with such amazing power and accuracy the entire series. Yes. She's so good. Oh, she is so, so brilliant.

I mean, I've always really liked her. But it's so thrilling and so much suspense and it's really dark and it's macabre. Matthew Reese, I think, is the... He's so good. I mean, I don't know. I've not seen him in anything else at all. So I was just completely captured by his performance in this. He is so utterly terrifying.

beguiling as well. Like as a villain, you really like him and you have sympathy for him. And you don't know quite how your feelings lie with him. But yeah, loved it from beginning to end. The end is one of those that leaves you feeling fully satisfied and sated. Like, not a copper. I know. Cannot recommend it highly enough. And Claire Dane's like, she completely unravels. She is such a mess in this, in The Beast in Me. And the kids all the time were like, Mom, she's so much like you. I mean, she doesn't wear any makeup, her hair is kind of scraped back. She's having like episodes all the time. And she'd do something on her chin or go.

And they'd be like, yeah, you do that face. I was like so brilliant. I can't be like this. She always has done hysterical so brilliantly well. I really love her. This is her at her best. It's a real thing on Instagram at the moment that loads of people are doing impressions of how Claire Daines would handle everyday situations.

And they really make me laugh. because it's Claire Dane's having a breakdown over and such and such Claire Dane's on a Peloton. It's so good. But she is so, and I've always loved her since. Was it my so called life? Do you remember that with Jared Lito?

Back in the day. Oh, so there's so much good stuff to watch. If any diggers have things that you've watched recently, you think that we will love to binge in these cold winter months before we can get outside and stuff. Do share. You can get in touch with the show. you can find all the details in the show notes.

If you would like each brand new episode of Digit ready and waiting for you, all you have to do is hit follow or subscribe wherever you get this podcast. So simple. It's been really funny actually because this week has been a transition at home because Jude has gone away with Masey. They've gone to Thailand. He's writing a book about Thailand and he's been researching it for about three or four years now. So this means he has to go off to Thailand to visit.

What a great idea. To visit Grandpa who lives there. He's a smart boy, your boy. Oh, great. He's gone. India and Alex went away to Scotland because Alex was doing a 24-hour cycling race. You know, it's been really icy. You know it's been like minus 8 degrees in Scotland.

He was out there 24 hours doing this bike ride. Insane. What a superhero. I know. An amazing thing to have done. Really, really incredible. So they've been away in Scotland. So the house has reduced and it's been just disco and me and Cass and Coco at home.

And it's been, there's been an amazing calm that's descended on the house and it's been quite quiet. And it's been actually really lovely because quite often there is so much noise in the house because we've got this full nest, which is the greatest privilege of my life. And there is not a second that goes by when I don't, I'm not grateful for having them all around. But it's quite interesting, the different dynamics and the way different personalities impact the family in the house and the noise and what is going on. So it's been a lot tidier. I'm just going to put it out there. Bless you.

But apparently there was a report. The report saying they're close to half of 25-year-olds now live with their parents in the UK. So there are lots of full nests going on. There are lots of families where the kids haven't moved out. So the empty nest syndrome, which people talk about, actually isn't happening because the kids go and then they come back and then they live at home. Because it's really hard to afford to buy anywhere. And rent. So much money.

Yeah. Yeah. They can't afford to pay the rent. I guess what we've always done is have this as a base so the kids can come and go as they need. You know, I will never, I'm not going to lock the doors and say, please don't ever leave. But if they want to, if they need to, and they want to live here for a while, they can. So we have, the kitchen has now become like a workstation. You know, you can have, you can find workstations wherever you are, wherever, whatever town you're near.

That's what the kitchen's like. So at any given time, there is India on her laptop. There's Alex on his laptop. There's Cass on his laptop. And everyone's just working away. And then they take breaks and then they'll go out for runs or they go out for walks. And then they'll come back and they'll carry on working. And that's, that's what our house has become.

And I think quite a few people, have that got that kind of scenario going on. You're so lucky. Yeah, because it's pretty quiet at mine at the moment. Yeah, I know. I'm aware. I guess it's the thing, from a digger's perspective, we've all got different setups and scenarios.

But I guess there are pluses and minuses in both situations. You know, I can keep a quiet tidy home. I can watch what I want. I can, you know, the fridge doesn't have to be so full. But when the kids are home, I love it. But it's interesting. when, if people do have a full house, you know, do you have to have rules and regulations? You know, are there, you know what it's like when you, you know, I shared sort of student houses

and there were notes on things in the fridge and stuff like that. With your kids, do you make them do a big shop now and again? Do, you know, do families, because some families have to get the kids to contribute. Yeah, financially. Because some you don't have to. And but some you kind of do. And are there rules about friends coming back and, you know, people, making noise and people making a mess in certain rooms and stuff.

I'm interested to know how it is for lots of diggers. Yeah, mechanics. Whose kids have had to stay at home and so they still got a fullness. And if the parents are a little bit put out, because it's like, oh, God, this should be time for us. And I can't actually watch my one on the telly. And then they're rule, do people have rules? You know, how does it work for people?

You know, and the other thing, do the kids save money staying at home? Do they manage to save money? Because I know lots of kids stay home to save money in order to, you know, pay rent or to travel or whatever. And does that work for everybody? You know, I'm interested to know how it works. Yeah, I would, I'd really like to know. It's very much our situation. It is like a student house, I think. So people are come and go, the laundry room is probably the most contentious place. Oh, yeah. Because there is always like, poor Alex, who has all this special cycling gear all the time, he's always walking out just going, has anybody seen my single

sock that, or my compression tights that I need to wear for this race? Because I can't find it anywhere. And I'm always just tearing my hair and going, oh my God. It's inside a duvet, that's where it is. Because you always think, what's that inside the duvet? The duvet cover. They always joke about the black hole. It's always like, oh, God, it's gone into the black hole. You're never going to see that again.

And that drives me insane because I am so conscientious at trying to find all the socks and pair them up so that people don't lose things. They get terribly defensive. I'm like, no, it's not in the black hole. I will find it for you. But, oh, my God, the laundry room is just constantly overflowing. There's always somewhere there with a massive bundle of washing. And they'll just plonk it there.

And they just expect it miraculously to be done. apart from India and Alex, they do their own. So yeah, that can cause a little bit of friction. That can be quite overwhelming the volume of stuff that you have to do. Also, cooking of a night and who buys stuff for the fridge. I mean, the kids do, the ones who can contribute to the food, as they should do. And that's not an issue at all. But yeah, there's a lot of, just because I was at home last week, I didn't know what the rules were.

And apparently when I'm not there, everybody just cooks their own meal. They get on and do their thing. Whereas I was in the kitchen going, come on, men. what are we going to eat together? And they all looked to me like I was insane. They were like, what do you mean? We just get on with our own food. Just back off, Mum.

Like literally told me to get out of the kitchens because it just caused chaos by my being around. When Woody comes, he always travels in a massive, he's like his dad. He travels with a group of people. There's always an amazing gang with him. He'll always say, I'm coming home, mum. And he will never turn up on his own. He will always be with lots of other people.

But they're all pretty good at kind of, you know, know, they kind of know, and I love it, they'll come and hang out, but then they will often go off and do their own thing sometimes. And I'm like, look, I don't mind everyone coming, but just could you bung the towels near the washing machine, or could you just, you know, replace things if they, you know, get broken or whatever, stuff like that. But it's pretty, it's quite a free house. I quite like it. I like having that space, you know, but I, but I reckon you might find in some households, they've had to be rules because people might drive each other a little bit mad. And what is the situation if someone is watching something that you don't want to watch?

I mean, I've often sat down and thought, I really don't want to watch this right now. But I'm actually going to watch it because I'm going to spend some time with the kid. And my only pet hate, my peeve, and I'm such a hypocrite because I do it myself, is when you're watching something on the telly is if someone starts watching something on their phone. And I'm like, no, I can't do with two different sounds. It's like, I'm either listening to it because I often look up, I'm like, I'm quite, obsessed with who's in what and what were they in before and who they married to and da-da-da-da-da-da. And why did they write this and where was it filmed?

So I'll often do that. I think that's an ADHD thing anyway. But if Nell is watching YouTube clips and there's a film on it, I'm like, no. And then she'll get annoyed to me. I'm like, no, one or the other, you know, the concentration. You actually say that. I've got a house full of ADHD is. Yeah, it doesn't go very down very well because she'll often storm off and go to a room.

But then I can watch what I want to watch and I haven't got listened to two things. God, my pet peeve is washing. dishwasher. I mean, oh my God. When people stack the dishwasher wrong, it drives me insane. There was a thing to this last week about households are full of either a Scandinavian architect or a raccoon who, whichever way you load the dishwasher. And I like the order and I like the knives and the forks to go in the right way and then it all fits in and then you have a recoon. And then it's clean. Yes. When you get it out. Yeah. And then you have these raccoon type people who come in and they just pile everything on top. There is no way that plate is going to get clean if you just pile another one

underneath it and that, you know, whatever. You need some order to get some clean plates in your dishwasher. So that drives me a little bit insane. I have been known to put up stickers around the sink, just clean this sink, load the dishwasher properly. Joe Wiley, do you do a slightly passive aggressive sticker up? I love that. I'm extraordinarily passive aggressive, apparently, according to the family. That's so good. And on that point, I think we'll take a quick break. If you'd like these episodes, ad free, become a subscriber to the Potting Shed. You'll get ad-free and early episodes. But most importantly, you'll be supporting the show. Thank you.

To subscribe, head to digipod.com.com. Or tap the link in the show notes. Oh, hey, how's it going? Amazing. I just finished paying off all my debt with the help of the Credit Counseling Society. Whoa, seriously? I could really use their help. It was easy.

I called and spoke with a credit counselor right away. They asked me about my debt, salary and regular expenses, gave me a few options and help me along the way. You had a ton of debt. And you're saying credit counseling society helped with all of it? Yep. And now I can sleep better at night. When debts got you, you've got us.

Give credit counseling society a call today. Visit no more debts.org. So gardening, the influence of garden with ish last week, I went to the garden center Joe to buy some wood for the woodburn. Because that's where I go, which is a dangerous habit to have, because obviously I always get slightly sidetracked and like, oh, I need that. But I did go and buy myself. A lovely prunus, lovely pink cascading prunus tree that will blossom.

Like a flowering cherry. Yeah, like a flowering cherry. And it's sort of like a, almost like a weeping willow just hangs down. It's going to be so beautiful. And thank you, Ish, for that inspiration last week, because I've wanted one for ages and just not got around to it. All I've got to do now is work out where it's got to go. But as Ish said on the show last week, it will be fine in a pot for a while.

So I might just wait and see what happens in springtime. I'm so excited. You should have seen me trying to get it in the car. It's like my car's not massive. And people were laughing at me like, you're right there. So I was like, I can't because it had these beautiful branches that come down. And I was so worried about it getting damaged. And yeah, I've realized perhaps I need a slightly bigger car when it comes to going to the garden center.

But it's there in the garden and it's ready. and all the bulbs are coming up. I'm so excited. They've so far survived the squirrels. And you're sort of looking at all the buds and the shoots on the trees. It's an exciting time. I think any gardener will tell you where there's a will, there's a way. There is always a way of getting something that doesn't, shouldn't fit in a car, into a car.

You can move seats, you can tell people to get buses home or whatever it is, but you can get something in the car if you want it desperately enough. Exactly. Hey, next weekend is the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch. So it's a really lovely time of year. Great thing that they do. And here to tell us all about how we can get involved is RHS Gardner and TV presenter Emma Real Davis.

Hi, Joe and Zoe. Let's be honest, gardening in January, it's a struggle. Even I find it hard to get the motivation to get outside and I work as a professional gardener. But the one thing I always really look forward to in January is the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch. Honestly, it is so fun and so easy. to get involved with. It happens every year and this year it's happening from the 23rd to the 25th

of January. You just have to take an hour out of your day to watch as many birds as you can, whether that's from your window, in your garden, on your balcony, in a public space, whatever suits you. So I thought today I would show you how to make a really, really simple bird feeder, literally just using a toilet roll, some peanut butter and some birds. Oh, take a look at those mealworms. All you have to do is make two holes at the bottom of your cardboard tube and two holes at the top. Once you've smothered it in peanut butter, roll it in your bird seed. Pop a stick through the bottom, this will act as a little perch,

and then thread some garden string or leftover Christmas ribbon if you're fancy through the top. Then all you have to do is hang your bird feeder high up away from predators. And there you have it, your super simple, toilet roll, bird feeder, ready for the big garden bird watch. I would probably advise you wait until a dry day. before you put these out only because you don't want soggy toilet roll, cardboard, birdseed mess, littering your garden. But I tell you what, have an amazing time with your big garden bird watching. Get all your friends over, get your binoculars out, make some snacks. Honestly, it is such fun.

And I really hope January warms up for you. Happy bird watching. Thank you, Emma. Oh, she's adorable, isn't she? She's got such great energy. And that, I mean, that was proper Blue Peter, Sterling, wasn't it? But they look good with the ribbon, because you always have ribbon lying around after Christmas. I like that a lot.

I've got loads of rip and left. I've just refilled my bird feeders. I've got rid of a couple of them, you know, because they were just a bit manky. But my neighbours have, my neighbour Rebecca, has the most amazing bird feeding system. And so I just watch over the fence at her birds because they all know to go there. They're like, let's get a Rebecca's. She's got, honestly, a feast laid out every day for them. and she's protected some of the feeders from the squirrels

because we've got the brigade of, you know, thugs around here, the squirrels that dig everything up and nick all the bird food. I actually caught a squirrel the other day shaking the bird feeder outside. Oh my God. You little tyke, mate. That's not for you. So I bought like a robin one that covers down so that only the little birds can get in.

But the squirrels will have it, I'm sure. But that's a great idea. I actually look quite tasty that peanut butter is it that time is it coffee break time maybe it is tea and biscuits possibly

I think it might be God no the other day we hadn't put any bird seed out for quite a few days and it was a bit like 28 days later on the patio there was just nothing there was no life

there was absolutely nothing happening and I was like oh maybe they've all flown away and hibernated put loads of the peanut balls those fat balls in and also some peanuts

and some sunflower seeds and within I kid you not within 20 seconds The birds were there, like a flock of them. And there were all kinds of things. A lot of tits. So a lot of cold tits and blue tits and sparrows.

And then the bigger birds came along as well. But I was like, where were they watching? How did they know? How did they know instantly that there was going to be food for them? Yeah. It's like, you know, they have the twilight bark with dogs where they all communicate with each other. There must be like a bird thing where it's like, treat, treat, treat. You know, oh, Wiley's put the feeder out.

There has been a really big trend. When it comes to crate digging, if you look at what people were buying over Christmas and over the past few months or so, a lot of people have been going very retro. So going analogue, it's been a big thing at the end of 25 and I think going into 2026. My kids, we've talked about vinyl about the resurgence of vinyl, which is a great thing, record players all over the place because they sound so lush and they're really beautiful to have and to hold. And I think that's the key, isn't it, with going analog, is that you can actually hold something. It's very tactile. So the kids use obviously their phones to take pictures, but now they are always buying disposable cameras

and taking photographs, printing them out, obviously, and they're putting them on the walls. And it's just what, it's the life that we knew. We knew before. Yeah, we're like, yeah, of course the photographs great when you printed out and then you can have it and put it in an album. But I'm so I'm really happy that this is being embraced.

Let's go analogue. Yeah. Bring back the fax machine. Because when Rangen was on, Dr. Rangen Chastey, he was talking about having a landline so that you can turn your phone off at night and just have that as the emergency phone number. So if your kids or family need to get in touch with you,

you have a phone in the house. That all rings. You do not have to rely on your mobile phone being near you all the time. I've just bought a CD player. In order to play, this is, look, that I've treated myself to this. Look at this. So it's the legacy of Quincy Jones.

Original soundtracks, jazz, pop, funk, hip-hop albums, original songs and covers. I'm a huge fan of Quincy Jones. He's at the quite, he had such a phenomenal life, stars out in big bands and jazz. Look, there he is as a young man. And this is basically loads of CDs of his entire collection, everything that he ever worked on.

He worked on a lot of foot. Look at him, so dashing. He was young with the big bands. He worked on so many soundtracks of movies over the years as well. So there's all the soundtrack era, Color purple, which of course he did. And then his disco, Rasmataz, I know, Corita. So it's everything he ever did.

And it's all these CDs. Amazing. Honestly, I literally, I saw this online and they saw me coming. So it's all these CDs. So I've had to buy a CD player in order to play it. And then it's got a huge book about his life and lots of quotes from all the amazing people that he's worked with over his life from Ray Charles to Franks and Archer to Pastor Gilbert. Good birthday to Snoop Dog.

So that I brought, I treated myself to that. I don't deserve it, but I wanted it. So I've now, it's cost me a fortune because I bought that. And now that's by a CD player. But I bought a proper lovely, slightly wooden one. And I am getting my sound system sorted out. Because people are coming around saying, so you are listening to music.

You work in the industry and you're listening to music through a radio. You need to sort this out. You need to sort your tele sound. Yeah. I want to have my record player in the lounge so that it can be part of the experience. So I'll let you know how it goes. That's very nice. You're going back to work as well, aren't you?

You'll be back on the radio. I've missed you. Yeah. Yeah, no, I am going back to work. It's really strange. I haven't had this for a very long time. I think because I've had such a long time off. But I've had the real Sunday night wobbles.

You know, when you suddenly think, oh, God, I feel really sick. And I've got butterflies in my stomach. Why is this? Why am I feeling this weird way? And then I was like, oh, no, I'm going back to work. That's it. It's like going back to school. after all this time. I love my job. I know what I'm doing. It's fine. But it's still scary going

back into the real world. Because I think when you're closeted away and you're just dealing with life issues, suddenly activating your brain again is, well, you don't know if it's going to work, do you? You've got no idea whether the memory's going to come back, whether you'd be able to think of words to say, whether you can talk to people, if you can remember to buy a train ticket. I'll let you know how it pans out. It's so funny, isn't it? You can do a job for years and you're so good at it. And I miss your voice, you know, you're such a comfort to so many of us. And lots of people listen to it, like they do with the podcast, you listen to the radio show. The great thing with technology now is that you can listen to things when it suits you. So I often save up your show when I've

got to do lots of journeys or I've got big things I've got to get through. And it's like, I've got three Joe shows to listen to, which makes me really happy. But we have missed you. And obviously, you bring great new music into our lives. So yes. Well, that's the plan. I'm very, Jesse Ware. Jesse Ware has got new music coming up. And Jesse is like never disappointed. I don't only you love her as much as I do, but she's got an album coming up in the spring, the late spring. So Jesse is something to get very excited about. Obviously, I have no thing to show you.

It's all very ethereal, but it's sounding very, very dramatic and very good. The Mumford and Sons album, which I've been wanging on about for ages, is finally going to be coming. That's great, guerrillas mountain. So there's lots of really brilliant returning artists. Bruno Mars is back, and I love a bit of Bruno. He's a pop sensation, isn't he? He is, yeah.

He's such a great producer and songwriter, and he writes, a lot of songs that make you want to dance. And he always has, I do love that he'll do different projects in between as well. He's a very considered artist, isn't he? He'll give your body of work and then he will just go away. You don't notice he's particularly gone. And then a couple of years later, he's suddenly back and it's again, another really accomplished body of work with a little bit of a different direction.

He's working with different people. But you know you can rely on him to just be the soundtrack for the next couple of months or so. So I really rate Brinamars. He's doing a date in the UK as well, which I've been told of got to get tickets for. Yeah, good luck with that kid. Yeah, fine. I mean, I've got stuff to do. I don't know about you, Zoe. I'm trying to think what I have actually got to do. Have I? We went to the garden centre and got logs at the weekend and I was like, hang on to the lodger. You're actually doing all the jobs. So I'm not working very much at the moment. So can you not do these

jobs because I need these to do during the week? Because otherwise, I haven't got anything to do. So if anyone needs any childcare, any cleaning, a bit of secretarial work, get in touch because I I'm doing a load of downtime, just keeping an eye on someone who's doing her mocks at the moment. She's got mocks on her birthday, my girl, who turned 16 this week. My baby girl is going to be 16. I was in a car the other day, in the car park. And I looked across and there was a mini and there was a real young girl starting this mini up. And I looked at her in that classic sort of, you know, parent thing and thought, she doesn't look old enough to drive.

And then I freaked out thinking, oh, my God, that's now in a year. Driving a car. Unbelievable. But yeah, happy birthday. to my beautiful girl. You've had birthdays galore, haven't you? You've got, you were talking about Capricorns. It's the season of Capricorn.

My household is made of Sagittarians and Capricorns. And, oh, are we different? And one Capricorn who loves birthday. Now, one Capricorn who doesn't particularly like a fuss, the lodger. And I made a fuss. And it went okay, actually. And I did it. And I think he really enjoyed his birthday.

So that was very lovely. Okay. And, yeah, I did a subtle fuss. I even did some baking. I made a... Thank goodness for Mary Berry. Mary, I love you. You know I love you.

I made a red velvet tray bake. The only thing I learned is I don't think I put enough red in it because it looks like a brown tray bake. But it was quite tasty made by me. I'm going to attempt to make Nelly a birthday cake. If you see a picture on social media, it's gone well. If you don't... It's not gone well and I bought one from M&S.

But there we go. So happy birthday. to my lovely Capricorns. I love them both very much. Oh, happy birthday now. Happy birthday, Lodger. Haven't met you yet, but hopefully one day. Does he really exist? Right, I'll see you later. Yeah, see you later, see you Monday.

Good luck back at work. Love you. Thank you. Bye. Digit is a Persephonica production.