Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - Car Break-Ins, Ugly Crying, and the Power of Female Friendships

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

Jo shares her cover girl moment (and the secrets to a stress-free photo shoot), while Zoe battles car drama and both get candid about the irreplaceable value of female friendships. Plus, giant pumpkins, bee-friendly garden tips, and your exit song choices. Got something to ask Jo and Zoe? Or a tip to share? Get in touch! GET 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/447477038795⁠ GET EARLY AND AD-FREE EPISODES Become a member of The Potting Shed for early and ad-free episodes and bonus content 👉⁠ https://digit.supportingcast.fm/⁠ SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS This episode is brought to you by Hair and Me and Ancient and Brave. 💁‍♀️ Hair and Me offers award-winning, personalised online treatment plans to help prevent and reverse hair loss. Start seeing results in as little as three to six months! Visit ⁠hairandme.com⁠ and use code DIGIT to get started for just £4.99. Treatment subject to dermatological assessments. ✨ Ancient and Brave are leaders in collagen and wellness supplements—perfect for holidays and everyday health! Their marine collagen is MSC-certified and supports your skin and whole-body health. Get 20% off your first one-off purchase with the code DIGIT at ⁠ancientandbrave.earth/planet⁠ 🧳💚. CREDITS Exec Producer: Jonathan O’Sullivan Technical Producer: Will Gibson and Oliver Geraghty Video Editors: Danny Pape and Connor Berry Dig It is a Persephonica production

Coming up on dig it. You can go to the doctors and you can have conversations with doctors about your bits and then you can have a coffee with all your friends and then you really talk about your bits. I know. I've had that very discussion with someone recently. I'm like, seriously, you put it up there? I got in and just had a massive cry, you know, and you're like, and you actually can't breathe. Yeah.

Ugly cry. Love an ugly cry. Look at the size of Karen's pumpkins. All of that right after. at this. At Harrison Health Care, we know that lasting health starts with personalized care. We're not just a clinic. We're your partner in prevention, helping you achieve your health and longevity goals. Our expert team combines evidence-based medicine with the compassionate, unhurried care you and your family deserve today and for many years to come. When it comes to your health,

you shouldn't settle for anything less than exceptional. Visit harrisonhealthcare.ca.ca.com.com.com.com. slash Toronto. Hi, Joe. Hi, morning. Oh, my God, the dogs. There's the dogs. The dogs think you're at the door. I wish I was at the door.

One pod, I'm just going to surprise you with a ding-dong. I'm here. You'll never get rid of me. Be someone else in your household to look after. How are you, darling? How's your week been so far? It's been all right. It's been fine, thank you.

Yeah. Good. Not too shabby at all. Hooray. It's a crazy time of year at the moment. It's just like all go. I feel like with school holidays and holidays coming up and there's just never enough time in the week. I got a spot. I got a spot the other day and I was like, how can I get a spot at my age?

I mean, that says a lot when you really need a holiday. That is a sign. Your body is just going, hello, I'm just going to remind you you you need to take a break. I'm going to give you a great big spot on your chin. I've got one here. It's so crusty and it won't heal up, which is, yeah, it's a real pain. I've tried putting a bit of pseudacrem on it. I put toothpaste on mine. You know, I see all the youngsters with those stars on their faces. Do they work? I think they're genius.

They are, they great because they've taken away the shame of having a spot and they're celebrating it by putting a star. Do they help, though, youngsters? Yeah, I'd like to know. Let us know, should I be wearing stars on my spots? Thanks for all your comments from last week, by the way. We were talking about X-6 songs. I was talking about wandering star from Baint, your wagon, Joe, yours was, was it Old Man River?

It was Old Man River. Do you know, I had, I had Swade on my show, on my radio show this week, and I asked them for their exit song. And they chose the Birdie song by the tweets of all the songs. I've never played that on the radio before. And I would never have had Swade Down as playing that. But it got, it made me laugh a lot. And I played it on the show and it made everybody laugh. So yeah, that's an alternative exit song for you. They were on really good form, by the way. I listened and they were so fun. It was fantastic.

So on Exxon's, thanks for all your comments from last week. Melanie said, I recently made a Spotify playlist whilst bored waiting at an airport. It's the best place to make a playlist. It's called If I Die, in which are three songs that are an absolute must. First up, I vow to thee. My country reminds me of bringing out church hymn. and yeah, belting them out. I always think I know the words

and then some of it I have to go, like that. Second, cold play, all my love just to let everyone have that cathartic cry. You have to allow for crying. I think you do because it's everybody needs to, you know, let that sadness out. There'll be very sad, Melanie, at this point.

And number three, Pet Shop Boys, always on my mind. At the end to dance. out to the nearest bar, get over it, get a drink and have a right old laugh. She's got it all sussed, has Melanie. I love that. I thought, you know, I'm sure you saw all the images of the, of Ozzy Osbourne's funeral and the family coming out and looking at the flowers and being surrounded by all the fans and the grief on their faces.

It was so raw and real and heartbreaking. It was just very touching. Ozzie, absolute, absolute, proper, proper music legend. We have another mention now. mention now, exit songs, this is Diane on email. I'm known for having quite an odd sense of humour and I love the idea of a group of people being very sad while listening to an incredibly upbeat song. So my exit song, says Diane, will be Katrina and the Waves and Walking on Sunshine. I mean, you do want to make people smile at the end, don't you? You really do. My dad has always said

his will be Monty Python and always look on the bright side of life. Brilliant. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because I think that's the thing, isn't it? With great tragedy, there is always humor and when Everything gets really difficult and dark. You know, those moments when you're together with people you love, in the hardest of times, something always will eventually make you laugh or make you happy. And those sort of the grief and the happiness and the laughter and the sort of gallows humor sit quite closely together. Yeah, they do. Give people the chance to have a good old weep and hug each other and then giggle and laugh and remember you in the way.

in the glorious, happy, lovely moments of life. Oh, good. Thank you for those. They're brilliant. Top ideas. Thanks, Diane. Yeah, you can keep them coming. We'll take these all day long, by the way.

We've also had loads of really good suggestions for board games because holidays are looming and also the summer holidays are just endless. So all of us need to entertain each other and entertain the kids as well. So again, keep those coming. But Sue has been in touch and said, have you tried Rummy Cub? It's a number game. I'm rubbish at maths, but somehow do well at the... this. Now, I'm also rubbish at maths and this kind of scares me, but I'll try that. Rummy Cub.

Okay, thank you for that idea. And we've had this one from Laura. My family and I have lots of fun playing death on the cards. Oh, is this some sort of like Agatha Christie style game? One player has chosen to be the murderer and another, the accomplice. Only they both know. The aim is to try and win the game without anyone else realizing you are guilty. It really makes you realize how devious your kids can be. Mine are only 11 and 13 too from Laura. I love the sound of that. Oh yeah, look at it is. Sounds like traitors, doesn't it? Yeah, it sounds traitors, Agatha Christie. I love that way it's a big step up from Cludeau by the looks fit. Yes, we'll definitely be getting part of that. And Kirsty's been in touch and she suggested ghost blitz, which I'm not aware of

and also herd mentality. And heard mentality is amazing. I mean it's it's quite young, but it works. on all levels at all ages. So herd mentality is genius. The people behind those games, they're big potato games. That's it. I want to shout them out because they have, I think, revolutionized the game industry. My kids have grown up a little bit now, so not all of their games are relevant, but look them up and there are so many games that they've brought out

that have just been genius, absolutely genius. So big potato games, but anyway, go and have a look and there are lots of others. And I'll probably, I'll share on my socials which ones I really, really rate, because I love them and they've entertained us on a lot of holidays over the years. So yeah, my recommendation. Excellent. How's your week been, Joe? What's been going on? Week's been good. I've had various family members sending me photographs of them that's standing in supermarket aisles with my face by their face. And that's because I was on the cover of Woman and Home magazine, which was a real privilege. And you should definitely,

if they ever ask you, do a shoot for them because they treat you really nicely. And it's that fantasy of when I think I said, I posted a photograph of me when I was like seven years old on my bike and I've got a little urchin haircut and I'm very not glamorous. And then to suddenly be on the front cover of a magazine is unreal. I mean, it's like the ultimate fantasy. But it's down to a massive team of people because those pictures don't come about just by me standing there. It's like the hair, it's the makeup, it's the clothing, it's the lighting, it's the photographer. It's everybody that comes together to make it look like it does.

But that's been a lot of fun. So I've been enjoying that. Honestly, I'm so proud of you. And I see those pictures. You look so hot in those pictures. is you are wearing the most incredible dresses, your legs are out, you've got this fabulous shoes on, your skin looks incredible, your hair, and you look really relaxed.

That's something I can never do in photos. I can't ever relax. So every single photo I've ever taken to me, I'm going like that or just being a div. And you look so gorgeous and glamorous. I'm like, that's my mate, that's my mate. Oh, no, but it's genuinely, it's the photographer, guy called Dan, who was just so easy. I mean, I didn't even know that he was taking photographs half the time.

He's just snap, snap, snapping away. And he made it really easy. And as I say, it's the whole team. It was pink. So if you haven't seen it, I'm just head to toe and pink in various different dresses all the time. And I'm laughing a lot. And music is always key. Do you are ever having your photograph taken?

Even if it's like a family portrait, if all of you are getting together and you're doing a family photo, stick, stick on. And that will get you in the right frame of mind. So they kept saying to me, I always get this when I go and do something of a photo shoot. They're like, oh, we're really worried about the music. we're going to play today. I'm like, just stick on either some Shaka Khan, Sylvester, you make me feel, or Vampire Weekend. So we listen to Vampire Weekend for the entire photo shoot because their music is so upbeat and chirpy and jaunty and just puts me in the best, best mood. So the soundtrack

to that photo shoot was Vampire Weekend over and over and over again. By the end of the day, everybody was just like, do stop it, make it stop, make the Vampire Weekend stop. But it really helped. Help me smile and help me relax. I it's my idea of hell. I always say to my lovely agent, Meryl, I'm like one a year. That's it. You get one photo shoot a year. I hate them. It's honestly, it's the worst thing for me. It's being still, it's being made up, it's being made to smile, it's wearing clothes that don't suit me or don't fit me or and I literally go rigid like that. You can see photographers thinking, oh, great, this is good. I'm like, just take it. Have you taken it? And I don't want to look at them. I don't want to

see them. I just want to be out of there. If you could, I'm like, could you shoot someone else and then just Photoshop my AI, my face onto the body of a person who's done the shoot? I hate it. I don't even like having my photo taken, you know, like with my kids or with, I just, oh, I don't like seeing myself. I know because I've noticed this when we've done photos together, you just, you don't even look. You're just like, yeah, okay, fine. Just get someone else to look at it. Did you have really awful experiences, like way back when when you were doing photo shoots? I think it's just, I don't like to see. I'm like, my favourite photos of me are random ones that have been taken where I'm just laughing or with mates.

And I know I'm not aware that someone's taking a photograph of me. I just not very good at it. It's very unnatural. It is very unnatural. Because I think this is a thing you learn. And when you watch models working, the way they stand often is not, you know, people always say, you know, if you've got I've got a walk a red carpet, right. So you stick your hip out and you put your arm back and then you'd stick your boob and you know. But of course I can never do it because I forget what you're supposed to do.

And so I'm just like being like an absolute tool. If you're listening, Zoe just pulled a very, very funny face. Yeah, sorry. You can watch our podcast on Spotify, by the way. So if you want to see the ridiculous face I'm pulling, something that really struck me about the article that you talked about that went with women and home, Joe, was female friendships and how, lucky we are to have our girlfriends. Yes. And how important they are. My girlfriends are the things, the things that are subject to me calling them things are a start. They are the beings, the people who keep me sane, you know, and it's not even necessarily meeting up and having conversations

because life is really busy. We're all really hectic doing different stuff. So it's text, it's WhatsApp, it's little messages, it's photographs, it's ridiculous memes that they send or we send to each other, but just we know that we're there for each other and that we understand what each other are going through. I got a message last night from someone that I met through gardening many years ago. And she's an amazing, amazing woman. She's called Jill and she's a sculptor. And she's been through an awful lot.

And we just became friends. We just connected somehow. For some reason, we just got on. And she messaged me last night and said she'd seen the cover, seen the woman at home thing. She was like, oh, you know, how are you? How are you doing? And we just, on my train journey home, we just had a real catch-up. And she's been through separation and the kids and illness and all that kind of stuff.

And it was, I don't know. It was just that there was someone there who was 10 years ago, a complete stranger, who is now a friend, who I can share things that I'm going through. And she shares with me what she's going through. And I thought, how lovely to have people like that in your life. And there are lots of them and different levels. Just friends that you cry with that you spill your guts to and they understand. And it's fine to sob as you're swimming. I went swimming last week with Amy at Latitude, and we were swimming around and just tears rolling from my eyes just because I was tired, basically, just because I'm tired, because I said before that when I'm tired, I cry.

But it was fine to cry in front of her, and it's fine if she cries in front of me, and that's what friendship is all about, I think. Yeah, it really is. And I think they're sort of like the best love affairs are girlfriends, because that, you know, they're there for you at the best moments, but they're also there for you at the lowest moments, you know, when terrible things have happened, they're at the door. They're there for you. They're like, what do you need? What, I'm, you know, whatever you need. And sometimes just when it all gets too much and you're, ah, and you don't even know which way to turn, all it takes is just that one person to go, right, just stop. breathe. Do you need me to go get the kids? Do you want me to bring you something? Do you? Or sometimes

just when you're raging about something, it's, it's, you know, I have little different groups on, on, we have little WhatsApp groups and I've different friends, you know, who I've known from different places in my life. And I'm so lucky these girls are, and we know everything about each other. Because I think sometimes, you know, sort of male friends will be like, oh my God, you discussed that. It's like, we discuss it. everything, you know. And I'm so lucky with with my girls. They are amazing. They're always and it and often I've got one of my best friends who's in Australia and you know, I haven't seen her for years, but still we will message each other. And she's been going through a really tough time recently and I'm like, when can I get in a plane? When can I go? When can I just go and and see her? I love the conversations that you can have because you can go to the doctors and you can have conversations with doctors about your bits. And then you can have, you can have

coffee with all your friends and then you really talk about your bits and then you really give the good advice and you really get to know what you should be applying where and what you should be doing and you know you can discuss the word vulva quite easily that's a fine that's a very important thing to discuss and that way sure yeah all that stuff because they have the experience you can share the experience because you can have a medical person telling you or you can read all the information you want and you can try these things out but everybody reacts differently so if you're speaking to someone and just going vaginal estrogen does it work for you Oh, it does. You should try this variety. You should try this version of HRT. You should do that. This work for me.

Those kind of conversations are absolutely invaluable. And that's the kind of stuff that we discuss around our coffees in the morning. Yeah, absolutely. I know. I've had that very discussion with someone recently. I'm like, seriously, you put it up there? Does that? No, you definitely should. It does. It helps. Oh, I know, because apparently then it bypasses here and it's just there. But I'm like, but then if you're getting fruity, is that? Yeah. I mean, these are these are these are these are these are these are. that this is why we need our girlfriends. A vagina leisrogen is something we have to chat about another time, but definitely it's for another podcast, another time, because it's very, very important.

We will have that very discussion. It will be life-changing. Anyway, how did we get to that from talking about female friendships? I have no idea and photo issues. How's your week been? What's been going on? Because you, I saw you on the one show. Oh, I went on the one show. I got to see Fern and the fabulous Alex Jones, who I love,

love and I love going on the one show. I saw Pat, who's one of the cameramen and he worked on It Takes Two and we were such a family for 10 years. It's like, yay. It's really lovely to see them and see Sam Ryder. I love going on the one show because you never know what subject's going to come up. It could be, have you got rats and drainage issues? You know, and then one big thank you they do, which is lovely. And it was a little kid called Luciano who goes into care homes and sings for people in care homes and he was completely adorable and the gorgeous Superman did him a one big thank you. Anyway, I digress. So I went on the one show. The only thing was when I came out of doing the one show and I was going on to talk about the pod and you were doing your radio show at the time,

someone had smashed my front window of my car and that's never happened to me before and it was that, you know, when things like that happen and you're like, oh, right, what? And you're a bit frozen in time and you don't know what to do. Anyway, I was very proud of myself. I use, handy things to have in your car, a festival long poncho jacket, which I wrapped around the smashed door, slammed it tight and was like, right, okay, I'm probably going to have to drive from London to Brighton at 30 miles and out. But you know what? I got up to 60 and it was very loud. As you on the radio and then the wonderful Bob Paris, I've never heard the country show quite so loud in my ear, but you both got me home safely. Thank you. But it's just, you know,

know, I'm not very practical. Sometimes when things like that happen, I'm like, right, oh, yes, what do I do? I don't have any masking tape. Anyway, they didn't get anything valuable, so it was fine. And then Woody's got an exploded clutch as well. So it's been car, car mayhem, our end. But apart from that, did you feel quite wounded by it? I got in and I'd have massive cry. Yeah, I'm not surprised. Do you know what? I did. I did a stupid thing. I was so busy running into the one show with my suits and my bag and everything. And we were. going down to do a picture with our Spotify picture, which was amazing, that I left a bag on front seat, big no-no-no in London, idiot. Luckily, nothing in it except my diary, but it's not

my diary where I write. It's just practical things written. And there were some pictures in the back, but I've learned from losing things that anything special, like little notes from the kids and stuff like that, I photocopy them, cut them out, and then keep them and then keep the originals at home because I've lost too many lovely things. So I've learned now, just have photocopies. I always want to think the best of people. I just, I cannot believe that people, you know, do, do those scam calls. They really upset me when people, you have conversations with people. And you're like, oh, you've just literally scammed me. And I've spoken to you. I've, I've had a conversation with you and I've heard your voice and I thought you were a nice person.

I had my phone stolen out of my hand when I was walking to work one day. Just a boy on a bike, just which he snatched it from my hand and then you having something like this. It's just so disappointing that people would do that to another person. I really, really hate it and it really upset to me. I guess it's desperate times, isn't it? Desperate times for some people. And then you just have to think, right, look, it's just a glass. It's just a window.

It's inconvenient. You get it fixed. You sort it out. Anyway, my tip to everyone, keep a rain mac poncho. Very thick. It's made by Rainchis. thank you very much rain kiss probably not what was intended um you'll feel tarts and poncho for festivals but it got me all the way home thank you very much and it was a nice hot night as well so it was quite

balmy i was like oh yeah i've coped i've coped and then of course i got in and had a massive like big old fashion cry which was oh i thought you were going to say a whiskey or a vodka no i got i would I got a massive whiskey. No, I got in and just had a massive cry. You know, when you're like, I feel like, I feel like, it's good. I love a big blub. The ones where you wake up in the morning and your face is all bit swollen, and you're like, well, I'm glad I got that out, whatever that was.

That's out. Good. You actually can't breathe. Yeah. Ugly cry. Love an ugly cry. Oh. We're going to take a quick break for some ads.

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importantly, you'll be supporting the show. So, to subscribe, head to digitpod.com. Or tap on the link in the show notes. Right, time for a break. This episode is brought to you by Airbnb. So my daughter's just been off again.

it was Amsterdam this time. And you know what it's like? The house is always so quiet when the kids disappear when they're away. Oh, totally. Woody's the same. Always off on adventures with his mates. And I love that for him. But it's strange how quickly the house can go from chaos to total silence. I know. It's also made me think, actually, there must be quite a lot of spare bedrooms out there. I bet there is. And people could put them to good use by hosting on Airbnb. A lot of people think you have to host your whole place. Well, some people host their spare bedrooms. room now and again. Yeah, I mean, it's really flexible and also it can work to your schedule. You can choose to host when it suits you and pick up a bit of extra money along the way to put towards

a trip of your own. I never say no to a trip away. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.com.com.com. This episode of Digit is sponsored by Ancient and Brave. Zoe, holidays are fast approaching. Have you packed your colleagues? Have you packed your colleagues? Obviously, travels sachets straight into the washbag. Ancient and brave have really thought of everything. Their wild collagen sachets are perfect for holidays, festivals and work trips. They're full of marine collagen sourced from MSC certified wildcought fish and are clinically proven to transform skin health and, backed by science, for whole body health.

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That's code digit at ancient and brave. Earth slash planet. If you're loving Dig It, make sure you hit the follow on Apple or Spotify. That means you'll never miss an episode. They'll download to your phone as soon as they're out. Okay, let's move on to matters of gardening. And last week we said, show us your veg and you delivered. So let's have a look at Ellie in Somerset.

By the way, if you do want to see the veg that we're talking about, then you can watch on Spotify, of course. But otherwise we'll be very descriptive. So Ellie has sent us pictures of her figs. which are nice and plump and round and very, very impressive. And then your tomatoes. I know. Your tomatoes, there's a beef eater tomato there.

So that's fairly ribbed. There are some yellow ones. There are some black tiny tomatoes. It's very, very impressive. Ellie, congratulations. Actually, it's reminded me, my lovely neighbours, Sally and Alan, their fig tree comes over into my garden.

And there's some juicy ones. But I never know. When am I supposed to pick them? Are they supposed to just fall? Is there a time? How do you know when a fig is ready for plucking from the tree? I think with all fruit, isn't it? It just kind of you tug it and then if it comes off easily, you can eat it.

Oh, right. Okay. Then leave it to ripen a little bit longer. Brilliant. Yeah. This is Karen. In Dorset, this year the corsettes and runner beans love the dry weather. Oh, I like it.

Corsette recipes would be great, please. There's a great Emily English corsette recipe. I'll look it up. I'll put it on my socials for you. you Karen. It's so, so good. I think it's corsette in spaghetti with a bit of crab, if you like crab. And if you're down in Dorset, oh, you get some lovely fresh crab. But look at those. They're stunning, Joe. They are very, very impressive. They look like almost like marrows, but not quite. You've caught them at the right point. Huge. So good. On the left, it's yellow corgettes.

And then on the right pumpkins. Lovely. And in the middle, millions and millions of runner beans. Look at Karen's pumpkins. That's the right juicy pet. They're going to be. Huge. Look at the size of Karen's pumpkins. Right, juicy pair, did you say? Yeah, I think I did. Sorry, Karen. And then we had a really lovely email from Teresa who works for Surrey Choices. Teresa says, We support adults with various learning disabilities, teaching them horticulture and gardening skills. It's a project called The Growth Team. And we've been particularly successful with our bumper crop of yellow corchettes and cucumbers this year. And she's sent some photos. And look at those gorgeous faces and the people who've grown these vegetables. I love that so much.

I'm a massive, massive fan of what you're doing. Theresa, thank you very much indeed. They look great. Yeah, I really love it. I got to visit a fantastic team who are in Battersea Park. And they've got a similar setup where you can go and garden it. It's also for people who've had, you know, mental health crisis and stuff. So it's a little community providing some joy and, you know, a community for people who have been through a lot through the joys of gardening.

So any more projects like that that we can mention, always happy to give them the mention. Annie, in Shore and by sea, she's down the road. I love having my sister's kids around in my garden when I'm minding them, but they're terrified of bees. I want them to learn that bees are only interested in the flowers. So can you let me know what types of flower the bees love so I can design a bee-friendly corner and do a bit of exposure therapy with the kids? Such a great idea, Annie. Well, we've put your question to be expert and YouTuber, the wonderful Dave Goulson, I sometimes call him Dr. Bee, and he has sent us a voice note.

Hi, Annie. South East is the best bit of the UK for wild bees. We have loads of them. Anyway, sadly, bees are, as you probably know, they're in trouble. We need to look after them. We can all help by growing bee-friendly flowers in our gardens. And I've written books and books about this. You might have a look at one called the Garden Jungle, I wrote.

But here's a few bee favourites. Catmint is absolutely brilliant. Lavender is fantastic. Comfrey, they absolutely adore. If you can squeeze in some native wildflowers, they're really good for bees and other insects. Things like marjoram, a bit more unusual, Vipers bugloss or bugloss.

It's a beautiful flower that bees go mad for. And if you can just find room for even a few of those little plants, then the bees will love you for it. and you'll be doing your bit to help them. Thank you, lovely, Dave. I was lucky enough to go to Dave's garden, Joe, and it was such an experience because you really got to see this is a man

who he can name every single bee that you see land. And because of Dave, now when I'm in my garden, I thought much more about planting for bees. So I've got lots of bee-friendly plants out there. And this is one of my favourite things to do, especially now because the garden is like in full bloom and it's doing its own thing. And apart from a little bit of weeding,

there's not a lot for me to do out there at the moment. I just sit and look at all the different kinds of insects that are on, you know, the geraniums or are on the bee blossom or the, is it arrangiums? The kind of thisly ones that are like electric blue. Yeah, they love that. They love them. So I'm just like, oh, look that. And then I go and look them up. There's a beautiful bee that's in the garden at the moment that's got a bright orange tail, sort of like a bumblebee, but with a big,

bright orange bum who is beautiful and they're all different shapes and sizes and i think annie if you get the kids if you get them some pictures of all these different bees and they're different names and they get to spot them fingers crossed you can change their idea about the bees and they don't need to be scared of them it's a great idea really great idea yeah thanks dave what lovely voice i love what a nice man really sweet voice and his house that his garden is full of bee hotels as well he talks about the importance of bee hotels i've got a couple in my garden but i'd I don't know, I don't know they're up to scratch. I'm not sure the bees have moved in yet.

But I'm going to get a few more. Yeah, have you got some? No, I've tried with bee hotels, but actually I've got so many plants in the garden, they don't need the bee hotels. Yeah, they're just buzzing around. People are always saying, oh, you know, what do you listen to when you're, when you're gardening? I'm like, the humming of the bees. That's my favourite soundtrack.

It's just the nicest thing to listen to because it makes such a gorgeous noise. And they're just all around, like being busy all the time. Yeah, I think the more insects we can encourage. into our garden more. And when I did a video the other day, and there was a really massive slug, but in the video, it looked quite small. It took us back to our original name

for the podcast, Fat Slugs. But if somebody was saying, oh, the slugs, it's like you have to accept all the creatures that come into the garden. And there's been a real top year for aphids, so many aphids. And I know people are like, ooh, there's aphids on my, but actually the aphids are food for other insects and for birds.

So, you know, you've got it, you've got to, you've got to, you've got to, to accept that they're all in there and sometimes I just like hey slugs you know what you have that you can have those dahlias they are yours fine you have those but can you just can you just leave these bits over here and look and we need it it's all the circle of life gang it is i know it's so funny isn't it when you're younger you get so scared you're so scared of things like spiders and and oh my god mind you i do have an issue with flies at the moment there are so many flies around i don't know about you oh really there yeah what is the benefit of flies i'm not sure i'm sure they do

something but I don't know what they contribute. You've just reminded me now. Things that I don't like in my garden at the moment are the hornets. We've got some massive hornets. Oh my gosh. When they come into the kitchen, there's just like pandemonium. Everyone just going, oh, get out. Get out. So the hornets. I don't think they contribute very much. And I don't know what flies contribute. I'm sure they do. Let's ask Dave, do flies and hornets contribute? Should we love them as well, even though, you know, they drive you mad and they're terrified. Yeah, finding them really hard to love. But yeah, give me a reason to love them and I will embrace them completely. Yeah. And the sounds of the It's just lovely talking about the bees, humming the birds.

We had a meeting yesterday on the phone and I got distracted at one point because there was a bird making such a noise by the side of me. It was really insistent and I was like, what is that? So I sneakily got my Merlin bird app, identify it out. And it was a Wren, it was a Eurasian Wren. It was such a sweet but really, really insistent sound that it was making. Then I was trying to find where it was, but wrens are really tiny, so I couldn't actually see it. It was making itself known. Yeah.

But I love my bird app. That's such a good app. It is a good app. Yeah. Joe, I can see your, you've been crate digging and you have an album there. Is that a gorilla on the front? No, poor Zaharho de Sagazan. She's an amazing woman. Oh God, sorry. It's not a gorilla.

You can see what you mean. It's like a cartoon character and you can see this. If you're watching, you can see it on Spotify because we do televise this as well. But I will describe it. So her name is Zahoe de Sagazan and she's a friend. French artist. She sang at the Olympics. She did a cover of David Bowie's modern love and she sang it to Greta Gerwig. You might remember having seen the clips of that. But she's huge in France like absolutely phenomenal. She's a couple of gigs. You played her on your show. I've heard you play her. Yes. She's really mischievous. She came on the show and swore twice in about 20 seconds.

So many people love her. Tom O'Dell really loves her. So this album is called La Sanfini des Eclair, Le Dénier de Voyage, and is Zaheho when she's playing the keyboards and she's looking quite, kind of like a scary superhero on the front. But I recommend her. I kept saying to Alexa, I was on the other day and I was like, play Zaharho de Sagazan. And they must have played me about 100 different artists and none of them was Zahou de Sagazan. Can I just say amazing French pronunciation there, Joe. Did you do well at French at school?

Well, you say that. No, whenever we go on holiday, the kids always laugh and they're like, Mum, you did languages. Ask for something at the cafe. And I go, ah, bonjour, je voie, whatever. Tastatee. And then and they just obviously all speak back at me English and just go, yeah, is your tea. They do, they don't they? The French people are like, let's just save time. I'm just going to speak to you in English. Yeah. I can only say Kestka Tufé, which is, what are you doing? And some very rude things.

What have you got behind you? Okay. So I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go in here today. And I've got, she's not looking. She's just plucking something out from the records behind her, the vinyl. What is this? Oh, this, oh, I've actually pulled out too, which is probably not allowed, but they're both brilliant. So I've got the yard birds, which I absolutely love this. Look at that. Isn't that a beautiful? It's like a small, small. And I'm trying to think what I bought it for.

For your love. No, it's actually an album, weirdly, but it's a strange size. Absolutely love that. And then the autumn stone, which I also. love by small faces there's a song called Autumn Stone which a very hot boy put on a cassette for me many years ago and introduced me to small faces and I found this album and absolutely loved it there we go eclectic eclectic mix I'm now thinking how organised you are have you put your records your vinyl into different categories

because I feel like you're in the 60s section of your vinyl at the moment I and mate you are you're that anal person who does that that. Oh my God. It's a little bit anal, but it's not alphabetical. But it's also because my record collection is quite eclectic and obviously gets played a lot, but you know, the kids come home and it all gets played and Woody borrows things. Like, would he bring that back? Because he's always looking for samples to add into his records. So he's like, Mom, Mum, can I have some of your, and he also really loves, Woody really loves going through the old CDs, because you used to make CD mixes. It was mixtapes, then it was CDs.

And he's like, Mom, you've got any mixes? Because he finds little gems from my old mixes from across the years. So, yeah, it's good. But yeah, they are slightly. So they are organized. In inter genres. But I might have to mix them up, otherwise it'd be quite predictable. But anyway, they're my recommends for this week.

That's all we've got time for today. Back again on Monday to hear what you've been saying. If you have any questions, tips to share or general thoughts, contact us. We'd love to hear from you. our WhatsApp and our email address are in the show notes. All right, so lovely to talk to you. Thank you so much. What are you going to do for the rest of the day?

I've got to go shopping with a teenager. I've got a prepper radio show. I've got to do a bit of packing. And I might just, if you need me, I'll be in the garden listening to the bees. I'm going to go and check my figs. Oh, yeah, check the figs. I'm hoping they'll be plump and ripe

and I can pull them off. That's a horrible phrase. Okay, yeah, I'll see if they come off in my hand. If they come off in my hand, then I can eat them. Yeah. Okay. On that note, I will see you on Monday for some questions. Thank you for all our lovely, lovely...

From our lovely diggers. From our lovely diggers. Keep them coming, please. Bye, diggers. Bye. Digit is a Persephonicah production.