Life with Nat - EP217: Scraping the Barrel #41 - how do you see time?

Episode Date: April 12, 2026

Quite a food-heavy ep... White Pepper. Dripping figs. Sugary Tomatoes. A whole load of Maxibon. Some new mutual friends. And why couples stay together. Enjoy!! xx Nat on James O’Brien’s Full Disclosure - ⁠https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/2JsSdhJHj5e/⁠ Please subscribe, follow, and leave a review. xxx You can find us in all places here;⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podfollow.com/lifewithnat/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ We're on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/lifewithnatpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Nat's insta:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@natcass1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Marc's insta:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@camera_marc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Niece's insta:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@natsnieces⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Tony's insta:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@tonycass68⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Linny's insta:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@auntielinny.lwn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ MORE LIVE SHOWS! 10th May 2026 - The Grief Show with Auntie Linny - Studio, Chelmsford Theatre, Chelmsford -⁠⁠⁠⁠ TICKETS ⁠⁠⁠⁠ 24th May 2026 - Hertford, Beam⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SOLD OUT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Book Club: April's Book -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kathy Burke - A Mind of My Own - ⁠⁠https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/A-Mind-of-My-Own/Kathy-Burke/9781398548145⁠⁠ Nat’s solo chats - any rants always welcome. Loads on the radar - living our lives for ourselves, the constant comparisons with others on social media... and the audacity of teenagers! Scraping the Barrel - SCAN AND SHOP VIRGIN NO LONGER! Bonce vs list! - Are you a list maker? Always collecting for Nostalgia Fest! What’s brewing with the Nieces - AGEING & non-negotiables Things we’re nagging with Linny about - More lateness stories and some cleaning questions, please! The Tony talks chatter - Keep your DIY questions coming. What are your favourite films & albums? Nat and Tony's big life changes clinic is open for advice questions A 'Keep It Light Media' Production Sales, advertising, and general enquiries: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello everybody. I hope you've had a fantastic weekend. By the looks of it, doesn't look great the old weather. It's a shame I can't do these live because I'd like to sort of talk about the weekend, but it is actually Thursday evening. And I'm joined by my lovely beloved Mr Mark Humphreys. You didn't, when you wrote your, you wrote a message out to your Instagram followers. I did. What was like the laughing face,

Ha, ha, ha, sort of. Eye roll. Yeah, what was that about? Just because I said, my beloved, and I think that's a bit of an ick for people. All right. What do you think of my hoodie? I look cool. Do you know what?

Yeah. Really like it. Yeah. But your head is a funny shape with the headphones on. Oh yeah, hang on. I can fix that. Hang on a sec. Well, I can just take the headphones off.

Let's see if it works. Crank the volume up. Oh, that's right, actually. I can hear still. Can you hear me? Yeah. Lovely. you know, good these.

All this, and I in Bristol. You did wear it in Bristol, and I love the fact you're wearing it now because it's baking in this room. It's all right, actually, in it? It is sweating. What is it, lifewithnack.club? W.W.com. You don't need to say that anymore, do you?

Wow. Someone had a go to go. People go all the W's. Do they? All the W's dot, life with nat. Club. Excellent. How much do they sell for, do you know?

That actually, That gives a link to the shop. Okay. I don't know what they sell for. All right. That's nice, though. They wash up well. If I was, like, if I was a listener and I wanted one,

so what do you mean wash up well? What does that mean? They wash up well. Hey? Right. So, when you wash up well. When you do a lot of washing, you know which shops wash up well. So, for instance, Zara,

Terrible. Awful. If there's a stain on something that's from Zara, then quite work, babe. If there's a stain on something from Zara, forget it. It's gone, in the bin. Terrible.

Whatever you do to it, vanish. You're really good at getting stains out of things. You would not... The material somehow, especially for children, it's shit. Lovely clothes, crap. Eminus, wash up brilliant. Okay. Next.

Lovely. Sainsbury's, brilliant. That washes up well. If you've got a bit of oil on that tonight and whacked a bit of vanish on it, it would wash up well. Fair is good for it. Or fairy, or talc, but it'll wash up well. Tauk?

Yes, if you've got oil on something, you put talc on it and it draws it out. Okay, stained devil queen. That's true. A little bit of talc on oil. I wish you were washed up well. Make you pardon. What does that mean? Are your marigolds on?

What does that mean? Well, you're very good at loading a dishwasher. I do wash up if I need to. But it's me and Linney do the washing up. You and Linny do do washing up. You normally quite good at that. You're quite a good team. You were very good, very good team.

But I like the old merchandise, and do you know something? Go on. If I was really into, like, a podcast, like, listen to one, like, all the time, whatever. I would like a Chatterbix hoodie. Well. I'd wear one. it's got a plant to seed, haven't you?

So if you did want one and you want one for your birthday, whatever, it's a, you know... I was going to say to you, isn't it funny

when we talk about listeners of this pod? Yeah. And people say, we keep them company and we can't believe it and all that sort of stuff. On Saturday,

I was on my own all day preparing dinner and did a bit of bread, didn't I? And I baked and all that. I know you heard all this on Thursday, sorry, guys.

But I was on my own all day Eliza was out Mark and Joanie were out at the railway and it was a lovely time but there was a bit of an emptiness to the house a little bit I enjoyed it

but I did feel quite lonely and I listened to Chatterbix for six hours and it kept me company I text David and Joe you could have done like a phone call couldn't you with both of them

and done like your own episode. I'm not sure what they were doing. It is weird. It's the Saturday. When I listen to you sometimes. Yes. Like listen to this podcast.

And then when you phone me. Oh, yeah. It is a bit weird that. Sort of when you're in the car. Yeah. And you've got it on. And then you phone me. Mm.

Or I'm listening to you on the radio and then you phone me or Stranger. Yeah. By the way, I listened to your James O'Brien interview. Yeah. Oh. Yeah, I listened to it because earlier recommended it in. her episode with Maria and I thought it was excellent.

I learned some stuff. Oh, did you? Yeah. Stuff I didn't know about. What stuff? Well, just some stuff you'd mentioned. I didn't realize that any Estender's casting director had been to Anna Scher's. Yes.

I don't think you told me that. Oh, yeah. But that was really good. I like James of Brian. Oh, he's fantastic. It doesn't matter what your politics is, but full disclosure, I'm now going to go back and find people that I find interesting. He's a great interviewer.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Yeah. I have to say, though, when you were running through the episodes of your podcast, you missed me off again. Oh, did I? As usual. Same as when you were on radio too. Did I?

Yep. Linny always has to go at me at that. Linda was the first person you mentioned. That's probably why. Yeah, you started getting sidetracked, talking about how you're like a grandmother to Elliot and Maria. That's what you were saying. Oh, I see.

But no, it's very good. Thank you. Yeah, he's brilliant. Fully enjoyed it. It felt like it sounds awful to say a proper podcast A proper podcast Sort of an interview

Yeah We just sit in a talk Yeah He's done a bit of research Yes It looked into some things It wasn't last minute No

You didn't get nagged No To go into it No it was good Yeah Very good No it was good I like James and Brian

I miss it I do know what Since I gave up LBC I do miss That's the one I am straight back into it No I can't do it

It's not good for you. I'm really enjoying it at the moment. 24-hour news, it's not good. Nick Ferrari, fantastic in the morning. Fantastic. James O'Brien? Brilliant. Mystery Hour.

On to. Sheila Fergity, brilliant. Yeah. Then I'm not around. Not bothered. Tom Swarbrick, fantastic. Ian Dale. Okay, they're not paying us.

We don't work for global. Oh, we don't actually. Enough of a plug. You know, we plug the podcast, let alone anything else. That is true. But anyway, yeah, by the way, on the way in here, interesting subjects. On the way in here.

On the way home or on the way into the room? On the way into the room. Yep. I thought that's what you meant, but. So, new thing, you've obviously had a very productive day cleaning. I have. Well done. Thank you.

And I just thank Elia for that. Because today, it's Easter holidays. Joni is driving me mad. It's lovely, brilliant, but you can't do anything because she's really into, really into sort of immersive play. Acting. We're acting now. Yesterday I was a taxi driver in the car on the driveway.

I had to get in the back of the car, tell her I was going. She was sort of turning around going, oh, M25 is terrible today, isn't it? Really acting. And then she was like, you've got to get out now and you've got to stand there and I'm going to go through the MacDonald's drive-thru. And I had to be the putt.

And she did the window. And she was like, can I have this? Excellent. So there's a lot of play which involves, which is lovely, but doesn't let me do anything. So today, Elia took Joni, Ran to Juan Tiennese, and they played with Ruby and Amelia and Alfie was there. It was lovely.

But I got two and a half hours at home on my own to get everything done. It was great. I owe her a couple of hours now. I've got to have baby James. So you finished doing the cleaning? Yep. And interesting things are going on here. The lamps are left on.

So I just went in our room, and you've obviously made all the bed nicely. Oh. And the lamps on. Yep. I then went in Joni's room. The lamps on. Now, crucially, this isn't 10 o'clock at night. No.

It's daylight outside still. But the lamps on. Yep. Okay. Just run me through the logic of that. Why's the lamp on? So. The lamp wasn't on at 2 o'clock.

No. When the house looks lovely and tidy every room, I like to light the house for later. So at 4 o'clock, I popped upstairs. My niece, Evie's here, lovely, Uncle Tony, Tony Talk's daughter is here tonight downstairs with Eliza, having a little chat. And I knew Evie was coming.

I knew we had this to do. And I thought, I just want to, because it looks so nice, I just want to set the lights for later. But it's daylight still. I like to set the lights. Right, okay. I'm very confident. It's not very good for the environment.

When we wander up the stairs, there's one lamp on. Yeah, but you're six or seven hours early on that one? No, it's not mid-summer, darling. No, okay. No. It's a waste of electricity, Natalie. Don't do it again. That's what I'm going to say.

Really bad. People listen to this now thinking... Fair enough. No, no, I understand. It's bad. But it's lovely when you walk up to a bedroom. There's a little light lamp on. It's not a hotel.

No, but that's what you're thinking of. I know. There's no key card. But when you've worked your bullocks off all day and it looks nice, it's nice to just have the ambience. Yeah, but you're not in the room. And it's not a key card. But when I walk out, it doesn't go off.

No, fair enough. Yeah. That's what I was interested. But I did sort of amuse me for that that had happened. Did you kind of understand, did you get it? I did. Did you sort of know why I'd done it? I did, because I thought you were emulating a hotel room.

I thought. I thought it was like when you check in, isn't it? Apart from all of your clothes polled up on the side. Well, I started doing a bit of that. Then you're probably going to get annoyed while I'm... Yeah. Fair enough. A mountain of clothes.

Mountain. There's a mountain. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, this is a message that I've not read yet. It's just come through. Tim Tim Southby has said

he's such a knobhead at times with a little picture of you and a speech mark that says I love you no no that was before however he's a very attentive husband he always says I love you all the time love you love you love you love you evening hope you well

Mark won't be oh hang on oh my God I don't think I can stand this as a space No, no, no. We're going to have to phone him. Why? I can't tell you the message.

This is unbelievable that we're sat in this room now. You're phoning him or texting him? I'm telling him that we're doing this now. This is crazy that he's just sent this. This is the wonderful, Natalie. Good evening. Good evening, Tim. I love you.

I love you too. How are you? I'm very, very well. How have you been? Oh, not too bad, not too bad. I'm just finishing having the brand new big office put up in the garden today. Lovely. Positive high at the moment.

Sun's shining. Everything's good. Well, apart from one thing, obviously. Well, I cannot believe that message has just come through when we are recording a scrape in the barrel. Oh, dear. So. It's perfect time and then to drop a bombshell then.

I think so. However, I don't know about perfect. We don't know how the mood's going to be afterwards, but I will pass you over now. Well, he can hear you. Mark, Tim, here we go. Even though, Mr. Sexy Voice, how are you? I'm very good, Tim.

How are you? Oh, no. Not too bad. I have a little bit of bad news for you. Okay. I'm ready. With immediate effect, they're stopping the Maxibon. You're joking. I was trying, Maxi Chop. Sorry, Maxi Chop. Sorry, I've said it wrong. Shut up.

They are stopping it. You are joking. No, no, unfortunately, the factory that makes it the special machine, they have ceased operations pretty imminently. And Frankie, from Newfries, I feel like they are no more. They are not actually selling them because the shelf life is too, short. So Moore's Valley have just got literally the last two today.

And that's it. Unbelievable. There is one small little bit of good news. Okay. And so obviously having the wonderful Frankie is a connection. She has said that one of the last boxes, I'm going to stick it in my freezer. So when you come down on the 2nd of May, we're going to gorge ourselves.

Oh, that'll be nice. The last sort of farewell. Make sure you get a picky of that. We'll do, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Don't you mind about that? Oh, yeah. Excellent.

Yeah, so I just thought, you know, breaking the news in the, you know, in the, you know, the most comforting way possible, you know, but now I'm not joking. No, cross my heart. No, it's, unfortunately, that's it. They are trying to find a solution, but the problem is, you know, with their high quality and high standards, they need to make sure it's right. And, yeah, they're not sure what's over the horizon at the moment. It's looking quite bleak, sadly.

Oh. That is terrible. However, the good news is the Black-Callent Sorbet is cracking on. Oh, yeah, Black-Tallent Sorbet, yeah. No, that bugger's right up there. Oh, fantastic. Yeah, yeah. It's just a shame you're not coming down

because I could have got a couple of pots of that in the freezer. Oh, that's what? I've still got a couple of pots in the freezer because I'm not an animal, you see, Tim. So I savour my sawbase. Hmm. Yeah. Well, something to look forward to having a nice maxi-chrock fair with Tim. No, I think you're going to be gorging yourself on it when you come down.

But I don't know how many are in a box, But she's not going to have a box zone. Oh, brilliant. Oh, there you go. Oh. Yeah. There we go. Well, I'll tell you what, bloody hell. The pod's been turned upside down by your phone call, Tim.

Yeah. Well, we could have a quick chat about these fucking replies with I love you. It's not good enough. Sort yourself. I'll put it out your ass, chap. Do you know what, Tim? I hope he does it on purpose. It is done on purpose.

But I'm not sure it is. Oh. Do you know what? When you said the end of your pod, sent me a message to him, Oh, fucking right. I was straight on it. Oh, straight on it. Hannah said to me, Hannah said to me,

I'm a full problem. I said, I'm a fucking idiot. I said, it's a goodness that. It's just a pisser off now. Oh, dear. Well, I'll tell you what, it is so lovely to talk to you. Love to Hannah.

Yes. And I love to the family. And hopefully this summer we'll all get together anyway. You could come down. We will. You could come to the visiting engine garment. No, I'm not coming to the visiting engine. Gala.

Oh no. Come down when it's not train related because we're going to be too busy, you know, train wanking all weekend and say no,

you'll have to come down for another weekend. But, yeah, we've got the, we've got the garden and the end of ready so, you know, the new places

starting to look a bit more presentable. Lovely. We'll be down soon. And with plenty of notice there'll be sorbets in the freezer. Perfect. Perfect.

I don't need a sorbet. Don't you worry. Just need you in your lovely face. And my voice, apparently. You keep saying I've got this lovely voice.

You have got a lovely voice. I could listen to you all day. I told you that. You should do your own pod. I'd bore the ass off you if you had to talk to me all day, I'm sure. I doubt it very much. Okay. All right.

Have a lovely evening. Yeah, look after yourselves and, yeah, I'll catch you both soon. Very much so. And Tim, love you. Love you too. Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye. I love Tim. He's fantastic.

How do you feel about the next? That's really bad that. I'm a bit disappointed at Frankie from New Forest Ice Cream hasn't personally contacts me. Wait a minute. She doesn't run the machine. No, but she's my contact at the ice cream company. Oh, I see what you mean. You know, we've got a bit of history there.

We've spoken about the love of Maxi Chocks. She's in a bit of a pickle. I mean, the Maxichok was the best Maxibon equivalent, arguably probably better, to be fair. Well, you know, this is where we are. Funnily enough, we had a spotted in Lanzarotti, Maxibon. Oh yeah, I saw that. Yeah. Kim.

And we also, on the subject of Tim and how passionate it is about me saying, I love you. This is from Laura B. Hi, Nat. This one's for Mark. Mark, I think Nat wants you to say, love you at the end of the podcast. Just, you know, putting it out there. She says it to you every single time. I think she was aiming at you to say it first this time.

See you later. Bye. Very observant, an astute of you. That's very rude. People care. People care about me. I'm a very loving person. All right, okay. Do you remember on the last pod you said I lowered the tone early on about poos? Yes.

Debbie said, what are the chances? I also did a massive poo this week. I didn't invite anyone to view it, but I did tell my husband. Weirdly, he wasn't impressed. No. Thank you, Debbie, for that. Lovely.

Thanks, Debbie. Yes, lovely. You've had some great recalls about Stigger the Dump. Yeah, well, it was sort of a memory unlocked for a lot of people, I think. Lots of people loved it.

Absolutely can believe it. You know, another one, I really, I sort of think about quite a bit, which was a absolutely brilliant kid show. Go on. Made Marion.

Oh, I bet you did. Bet you like that. Why? Because a lot of boys like Made Marion when they were about 10 or 11. Did they now? Yes. Not the most...

That's an interesting comment you've made there, because don't recall that being a particular reason. Really? I remember... What was the particular reason? What was the particular reason? What was your first sort of... Flutter?

There was always rap music. But what was the... program that first made you flutter? Who? Oh, what does that mean? Flutter? Who was the first person who gave you a little eruption in your trousers when you were young? When you were watching the telly? Lulifari? Lola Ferrari.

I think it was Lulu. No. No, it wasn't. You know. But real, Euro trash. No, I'm joking. But who was it? I don't know.

Mikaela Strachan? No. People liked her. No. Definitely not. Too earthy. There must have been someone. You can remember. You remember everything. So don't be embarrassed.

In Through the Dragon's Eye, there was a lady of a Bob haircut. Oh, and you liked her? Yeah, she was all blue, I think, all yellow, all one colour. Trust you. It's a bit odd. No, she was right. And then, and who else was there? There must have been someone else, though. Oh, I'm going to think about that.

It's a good question. That's a really good question. Can I tell you mine? Yeah. Dodger from Oliver Twist. the film. Okay. That was my first flutter.

Right. Oliver Twist. No, it wasn't called Oliver, with the exclamation mark. And Dodger. It's quite well known that, isn't it? Wasn't it written by, who was it written by? Charles Dickens or someone like that? I think we've heard of it.

I think most of the listeners will be overfay with Oliver. I'm just saying the one that I had a flutter to. What, the Oliver film? Yeah, there's loads of Oliver's films. Oliver Reed. Yeah, Oliver Reed. Yeah, I think everyone knows the film you're talking about. I don't think people are thinking back to the ITV remake made in 1992,

you know, like the TV special. I think people definitely were thinking of... Yeah, Dodger. Ron Moody, the best fagin that has ever been. Ever been. He was good, Ron Moody. Jack, someone played Dodger. I want to say Dawlish, but that's a football player. Anyway, also, this is completely random before I carry on

because there's loads of messages to get through. Excellent. quickly. The master's started today. The golf. Yeah. Did not have it in my head. Isn't it that weird?

Yes, mad. No, it is strange. That's because Dad's not around. And the last few years I've sort of thought about this time of year and remembered it. But this year, it's passed me by. However, I can't wait to pop it on later. I'm going to get right into that over the weekend. Okay.

There you go. Just listen to the pod and heard. Mark talking about Mark with a K talking about how he can perfectly recall places with audio. I also have that. I thought I was special. I get it when I go for walks. I can remember what things I've heard.

Or if I'm on the phone, I can remember the exact conversation that only went in the spot. Weird, because sometimes I can't remember what I said 10 minutes ago. In terms of how long it goes back, I'm not sure. The oldest one I can remember at the moment is five years. old and happened just before I listen to this on the pod, Vicky. So there you go.

Yeah, a few people sent me a message saying about that kind of thing. Really have. And funny enough, on your Oliver reference and mentioning Mark of the K, Mark Oliver, the warm-up at not going out, which I've been enjoying doing lately. So he did a whole segment last week. I haven't told you this. A whole segment. What, and Mark with the C?

Yeah. Is he obviously? No. So he got everyone in the audience, put hands up. If they were called Mark. Mm-hmm. And there was three. Yep.

And he got him to stand up. And then he did this whole thing about how his name was Mark. And he asked how they spelt the name Mark. And all four of them in the studio. Well, K's? Or M-A-R-K. Yeah. He then turns his attention.

And I'm doing, you know, at the same time, I want a camera, I've got half an ear on. I can kind of hear a bit of what he's saying. So my cans are like that. Oh, sorry, I think you mean there was like, you took your ear off. No, I'm listening to the director. But I can also, I'm aware that I'm being spoken about by the audience. And he did this whole thing about, you know, well, Mark on camera before was M-R-C.

And I started laying into me about being M-A-R-C. And it's whole sort of, you know. Hope this is going somewhere. Yep. I don't know. Just because you referred to the fact that for ladies. you had to spot my name of the case. Understood.

Brilliant. I put this on the Spotify comments, but then remembered the WhatsApp. Really enjoying the Easter scraping the barrel, shouldn't Eliza be doing her own laundry at her age? Yes, she should. Stig of the dump was an 80s classic, Carla. Now, interestingly, Carla got absolutely annihilated

by someone else on Spotify. about her comment. So I message Carla back and I said, Carla, don't worry about other people. I said, you've got a point. She should be, but she isn't. And for me, as an opinion, being a mum,

they're going to have all their life to do their own washing. While they live with me, they're not doing their washing. Everyone is different. I respect your opinion. But no, let them have a break. Hi, Nat. Listen to the podcast right from the start.

love it, never messaged him before, but just had to pull over the car because I felt compelled to say something. And it was about white pepper. I could only eat a fried egg with white pepper just would not be the same with black pepper. Never really heard anyone else ever bring up the subject of white pepper. And on another note, just aware this is just sounded weird, but it's because I don't like to send my own voice. But anyway, I'm just going to go with it. Talking about abstract concepts, days of the week, does anybody else, how do you view in your mind the week,

like the days? How are they laid out? Oh, good question. Likewise, months. So my day of the week is kind of in a straight line, Monday at the start, obviously, going to Sunday, my months of the year, in my mind. are sort of in a circle going round with the seasons.

Really abstract, really hard to describe, wondering if anyone else knows what I mean. Yeah, that's it. I've gone a little bit over because I'm a bit of a waffler, a bit of a rambler. Anyway, I'll stop now. Bye. Lovely question.

Lovely. So my days of the week are sort of on a blackboard in my head and they go Monday down to Sunday, sort of in chalk. You go down? Down. Interesting that is. They go down. Yeah.

And the seasons, I get what she means about a circle. But my months, if you like, my seasons are in a quarter, like in a clock shape, circle. And that's all sort of colour coordinated, like a blue, and then the autumnal and the summer of a yellow and the browns and that sort of thing. But my months also just go down, but they're in different colours in my mind to go with the seasons. But it's true. We all see things very, very differently. I like that. That's a really good question. It is. How do you see your days of the week then?

Left to the right, starting of Monday. Oh, really? And a right, strange. And the other thing I've always got really confused by is when your BBC staff, I was only a BBC staff for like two years their week starts on a Saturday don't ask me why I'm sure there's a good reason for it but it starts on the Saturday

so like week one is you know very confusing a really strange way of looking at it do you know what it's a little bit like this is something to think about we're all used to looking at a map of the world aren't we

and I would say most of us are used to seeing America on the left of the map. No, I see the world in the globe. Oh, I do. If we're not talking about a globe and we're talking about a physical map of the world.

Yeah, I don't really see maps of the world. You've never seen a map of the world. I have, but it's not in my mind. Right. Maybe you're not the best person to talk to this about, but listeners, if you've ever seen a map, forget the globe. I know what you're saying, yeah. The map of the world.

Yeah. And on the left of the map, you've got America. And then on the right of the map, you know, you've got sort of Russia up the top there and down the bottom here you've got Australia. You've got a square map of the world or a rectangle a map of the world. And you draw a line between say New York

and, I don't know, Moscow. And it's like this long line that goes across. We're watching a programme once and they were like, no, hang on a minute. Imagine you've shifted it all along. The line now between New York and Moscow is that long? Yes.

But you don't think of it like that because you're so used to seeing it printed in that format Yes, yes Why is that? Why is every map of the world that's flat? Like that. Like that? Well, because like you say, some bloke just when we're going to do that.

And as you said, it's a sphere. It could be round the other way. You could have Australia at the top. Well, you say that. A lot of people still say the world's flat. I'd like to talk to those people now the old new pictures have come out from NASA. Well, yeah, and they'll just say they're fake.

So I don't think you've got to worry about that either. Same Natters who have chips in their arms for the old COVID jab and all that, isn't it? Those sorts of people. No offence, you know. Say what you like. It's all good. I think it's good to have an open mind, Natalie. Be careful.

Be careful what you say. I'm fed up of being careful about what I say. I should be able to say what I want in my own pod in my own home. You didn't mention the white pepper comment. Here's another. Such a relatable scraping the barrel podcast about constantly being busy. Our house is just the same. And yes, white pepper four.

This is brilliant, Emily. Roasts, Dippy Eggs and Soldiers, fried egg in mashed potato on a beef stew with boiled potatoes, and fish from the chippy. That is absolutely perfect. People have really enjoyed me raising up that white pepper. Do you understand? White pepper is a poor man.

herb. Well, Maria sent me a message on Instagram. Maria who? Maria Heather. Oh, I thought you meant ro-ro. Yeah, go on. White pepper is a spice made from the full right berries

of the piper ningrum vine, processed by soaking and removing the outer husk to reveal the light-colored inner seed. Beautiful. It's milder in heat, but more earthy and fermented in flavour compared to black pepper.

Often used for its white colour in light-colored sauces, soups and Asian dishes. Personally, I can't stand the smell and the taste of white pepper. Never have it. Black pepper all the way. Hashtag, that's a weirdo.

Not made it up. Thank you, Maria. Fucking hell, Maria. Yeah, thanks for that. Appreciate that. Talking of those sorts of things. Nice to have an ally. Talking of those sorts of things

about how herbs and spices are created, I learnt something this week that blew my mind. And I know it's a tiny, mind, but it blew it away. I was going to wonder if you were going to listen to me. Just for five minutes would be nice. My ears pricked up at the blew my mind.

So I'm with you now. I love figs. Okay. I love figs. Yeah. I was told this week. What are those biscuits with fig in? Fig roll.

Oh, they could. Disgusting. So fresh fish. pick from a tree in Italy. Or Linda's brothers. Linda's brothers. The fig tree. Proper fresh from a tree.

You get them in the supermarket. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what supermarket they're from. They are not how a fig should be off the tree. They should be juicy. They should be dripping. You should have them with a bit of mascaponi, parma ham. They're my favourite.

I never knew. that most figs have dead wasps inside them. And I was like, I beg your pardon, and then I looked it up. Many figs contain dead, digested wasps. A female wasp crawls into the fig to lay eggs, loses her wings and dies with an enzyme inside the fig breaking down her body. The crunch of the fig is from the seeds, not from waspaw. and many commercial figs are now cultivated to not need this process.

But if you're picking them off a tree, there will almost always be some sort of dead wasp inside of it. And that is why vegans can't have figs. Oh, I see. Isn't that incredible? There is a video on YouTube that explains this process that I'm yet to watch, but I will do. How interesting.

It is so interesting. Ah, where are my gloves? Come on, heat. Winter is hard, but your groceries don't have to be. This winter, stay warm. Tap the banner to order your groceries online at voila.ca. Enjoy in-store prices without leaving your home. You'll find the same regular prices online as in-store.

Many promotions are available both in-store and online, though some may vary. On Tim's subject of the Maxibon, I've got a message from James on Instagram saying, Just listening to scraping the barrel on the way home from work, Sydney to the Blue Mountains. Stopped in at a supermarket and saw the selection of Maxibonds and thought I'd share it with you. I'll attach a photo. The selections of Maxibonds on his journey between Sydney to the Blue Mountains was vanilla slice, never had it. Original Villan, of course I've had that.

That's Mint, never had it. Caramel Roughnut, not how much. had it. Monster cookie. Not had it. Well. Stranger Things, not had it. Honeycomb. Not had it. Wow. What a selection. So that's obviously the journey to be doing if you like a maxi bomb. Thank you, James. That's incredible. There's another one for you here. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Mark. All in capitals. Once again, you have taken my memory back in time. Stick of the dump is a classic. Natalie. How are you unaware of this, Kerry?

Maybe I should do, like, I mean, I quite enjoy the whole nostalgia thing. Oh, I'll tell you what, maybe you could start a pod, and each episode could be all about nostalgia. I wouldn't, because Josh Whittakeram has just fucking started one. Oh, is he? Yeah. Oh, that's a shame. I know.

It's quite good, though, to be fair. So good luck to him. Have you guys seen Starlight Express, a musical based around trains, and the main character being a steam train totally, made me think of Mark. Funnily enough, when that launched in the West End a long, long time ago,

I was very little, and I used to go to a big railway exhibition with my dad. It was huge. It was in Kensington Olympia, I think, in the two halls. Yes.

And I vaguely remember going. There's certain little memories that I've got, like, you know, from being there. You'd have to go back there, wouldn't you, and sort of drive around it or something, and then they'd all come flooding back.

Yeah. Mm. So why are you saying that? No, the way you recall things, like from last week. You have to sort of be there, don't you? And then it all comes flooding back to you. You said you can only pick up a few bits, but if you had a wand around Olympia now,

it would all come flying back. No, no, that was me talking about a podcast. Yeah. And listening to audio, and that's completely different. Oh. You've completely confirmed me off my thread now there. James O'Brien didn't do that to you, did it, when you were chatting to? That is true.

No. So anyway, the model railway show thing going on Kensington Olympia, all that stuff, and I'm coming out and in front of the, there was like the Starlight Express advert, and it was all over the programme because it had a relationship to the train. Yes. Then what happened? That is it really. Mark, I'm exactly the same in the memory. I do go back 20 or 30 years, though, like Natalie says.

I've never known how to explain it. and you just said it perfectly. Thank you, Verity. Is that nice? Imagine someone having that and not knowing how to explain it. They've listened to you and they're like, I know how to explain it now. Oh.

It's nice to sort of relate to somebody. It is. It's really lovely. This is a relatable message too. Hatt a message. Listening to you and Mark and washing. So relatable. I stopped doing my husband's washing

because he was aware it wants and needs washing, including jeans. Plus, he wouldn't pull his socks out straight and I'm not his mum. Good for you to stop it. Honestly, brilliant, Katie. My 13-year-old son also started doing this with his socks and leaving them bored. So I started washing them like that and drying them like that until he learnt to pull them out straight. I am not putting my hands inside anyone else's socks, bare minimum touch. This leads me on to talking about my friends who are getting married this year and her fiancé said that when she annoys him he purposefully pulls through only one side of her tights when washing clothes

so that she then has to pull it back through when she's getting dressed and this gives him a lot of satisfaction. Great grounds banter for marriage. Hope you're all well. Well Katie... I think that's verging on a slightly odd message there. Not sure if that's...

I don't think it's odd, but I do think... Really? For someone to have the time to think about tights, think about what way they're going in the washing machine, to pull a bit out for a laugh

to aggravate someone. Wish I had that time to do that. I think you need to reread that message in your head and just think that over. There is a message here from Vanessa in Kings Langley, which is Hi Nat, can you ask Mark if he's started his tomato

plants and if they are indoors or in the greenhouse or if a greenhouse is heated. So, no, we've got some seed trays, done them inside the house. On the window seal, babe. Window sill, that's that. But the big tip for seeds, because we do our seeds from each year's crop, so we'll have a plant that we think tastes really good and then we take the seeds from that plant, basically. We've done that for four or five years. I do love the way you're saying we.

It's really sweet of you. All right, I've done that. No, keep saying we, it's good. So now the seeds are really, like the tomatoes we have now are lovely. They're really sweet. Like sugar drops. They're really, really nice because we sort of select. I'm like a horse like that.

Chomping on cherry tomatoes like a horse. Like sugar cubes there. And what you do is you stick the seeds into a little bowl, fill the bowl with water, leave them for about a week. You get a mould growing on the water. and around the seeds you then drain them with a sieve, put one kitchen towel,

and apparently the mould breaks down the protective shell around the seed. Then you put the seeds in an envelope and six months later in February whenever you want to go through it. Bang! And six months later,

you put the seeds in your soil and then bobbs your uncle. You got some tomato plants. However, what she asked you was, where are they now? So they're on the windowsill, but what I would say about our window seal it is absolutely baking.

So it's as if they're in a greenhouse for half the day at the moment. Well, it's the same because regardless. It's very, very warm there. Yeah. And there's a rad there as well. Yeah, it's like a heated greenhouse. I mean, really the greenhouse

sort of emulates being a house, really, doesn't it? But it's not heated. Growing veg, I have an allotment and last year grew the sweet potatoes in incinerators. Keeps the roots compact as they spread vast. And the crop was great from Heather. That's a fantastic piece of advice. I really want to read a message, and I'm going to try and be succinct with it.

Well, have a little go. I'm not going to say for a second that this is going to work, but... Have a little go. This was earlier. Okay. From Kaz. What got my attention was the Capitals in the beginning of a message. Yeah.

Mark, I swear in Capitals. I'm not a stalker, but I've managed to get myself in a right pickle. My daughter's new boyfriend, Dan, has come to stay with us from uni, and he mentioned his dad, brackets, surname Reeves, is a cameraman and is an entry today. I knew you'd done it last year from the pod, so I asked him if his dad knows you and he's text him. He's replied saying he's working with you right now. Now, Dan, brackets, my daughter's boyfriend, thinks his dad and I have you as a mutual friend, and actually I only listen to you on the pod.

Embarrassing. Well, I thought about this and I thought, well, I wrote back to Kaz and I said, well, the thing is, Kaz, I'm not at Aintree, I'm doing not going out today. So I was, but at the same time, I knew immediately who it was. It was Ben Reeves. Okay. So I recognised the name. So why did Ben think you were at Aintree today doing the horse racing? Well, I text Ben Reeves, and I said, here we go.

Here we go. Paul, you've started something here, because. So I text, Ben, I'm not at Aintree, but apparently your son's girlfriend's mum has asked him to text you. Small world. To which Ben said, how funny. No, I misread my son's message for Dave Humphreys, who I am working with today.

That is hilarious, Ben. All good content for tonight's recording. Bit presumptuous, but I thought I'd throw it out now. Ben Ben quite rightly goes on to say, I'm not quite sure why she thinks it's embarrassing to have us both as mutual friends. I wish I was in a warm studio today. It's flipping freezing,

and my camera started flashing and banging, so they haven't used it today. Anyway, that's the OB cameraman versus studio. Little bit of banter going on there. But how funny is that? Well, Kaz, there you go. They know each other. So you're not on the wrong.

Listen, just because you listen to the pod. You're basically best friends with Mark now. So it's perfect. Have a listen to this. Hi, Nat, Mark. Just listening to your latest pod. Love all the pods, by the way. The show that you're talking about on Netflix, Mark,

the one that started with a plane and then something else. And Nat didn't want to watch. I think you might be talking about hijack. Yes. Then saying that, that was on Apple TV. So maybe it wasn't. It was with Idriselba if you did watch it. The plane one was great.

Well, the next one wasn't very good. Take care. Bye. Why are you like sagely shaking your head? Because Idris wasn't in it. Oh, but Hyjadjad Jail, though. No, we've not seen it. So what was that show?

I don't know, but thank you so much for trying. It was very helpful, but please. We need to try and find that show. Yeah, we do. Find that show. Come on Emma She's like the producer Ellie's friend cat

I spoke to earlier on the phone because I was at Elias and she was really excited but we were doing a scraping the barrel What Why was she excited about that Because she loves the pod She likes all the pods

So I said anything for tonight Massively giving it like a No I said anything for tonight for scraping the barrel I'm asking for things Or you said I'm a bit desperate I've got nothing to talk about

He's a bit of an idiot What do we talk about? No, I said anything. So she told me on the phone, but then she messaged me. Okay. Which I find great, because she was going out with friends for drinks and dinner. Dedication. But she said, being in a long-term relationship,

how do you make time for each other or keep the romance alive? But when I spoke to her, it was more about when we're so busy all of the time, how do you stay with someone for over 10 years? What are those secrets? But no, I think it's a really. really good question. I do. But what is that?

Is it for you having a garden row in the garden? Complacency, might be the word at Commerstewind. Um, sorry. Did I make you laugh then? No. Okay. Lack of originality. What makes us stay together, darling?

Baudem. But you're talking about things that we wouldn't be together about. Complacency does. No, complacency is just like, oh, made of a beer then stay here. Evie just text, shall I turn the potatoes off? Yes, please, if they are looking done. We will be five minns. Got to go down now, babe. Not long now. Sorry, guys, it's just that we haven't had dinner yet. You'll understand. This is our life. So professional. people love it, they enjoy it. Yeah, maybe that's something we can really hone in on next time. We have spoken about it a little bit, but I do think in this day and age, when there's so much

on offer to people, be it online, watching television, you can hook up with whoever you want, there are so many apps you can use. I think to remain on the straight and narrow with one person is quite a feat to do these days. I genuinely do. Especially for men, because men are very different to women. Oh, hang on a minute. Please don't pull that string.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I believe men are very different to women. No, no, no, no, no. That's the next discussion. No, that's a very, you're treading on dangerous ground there. Well, no, no, no, no. It's a discussion that we can have. Sorry.

I'll be very happy to have it. The old phrase my dad used to say, it takes two to tango. There you go. Very much, I rest my case. It does take two to tango. Please don't. Please don't. It can take four to tango or six to tango in today's world.

Or any world, actually, when you look at all these programs. We watch that Mozart program. There's orders everywhere. But my point is to stay with someone and feel contented, because that's the point. And we are. Or numb. You're really getting on my nerves tonight.

07-8-20. 19, I think the next scrape in the barrel should be a proper, truthful chat about relationships. Mark will hate it, but I think we should get him to do it. Let me know your thoughts. I've got a message, though, on that exact subject

from Yvonne in Cork. Hi, Nat and Mark, with a K, but I don't care. Doesn't bother me. Natalie would mention it, but I have not... Well, I've mentioned it, but you know what I mean. Love you two together on the... pod, I recently got married to my partner of over 20 years, having moved in together in December.

I always said the reason we have been together so long was because we lived separately. It's been a difficult adjustment for me. I now have a much longer commute to work. Plus, as he's a farmer, as well as me working full time, I now have to do some farm work when I get in, whereas before I could relax. How did you navigate living together? I'm missing my time a lot. I've always loved my own company, maybe too much. Yvonne in Cork, Ireland. I think you can get really used to your habitual life

and what you enjoy doing. What you've done, Yvonne, is you have chosen to move in with your fella after 20 years. You've been together a long time, you've been really comfortable with him, but you have been able to go home and have your time. So I think it's a huge adjustment for you after 20 years of being with this guy

and you've got extra workload because you've moved in with him and he's a farmer. So actually I think you're not in the wrong to feel the way you do about losing that time. Mark and I met and it was very, very quick. It was sort of, we knew we wanted to be together and he sort of started staying with me

and then he just sort of, that was it. it was with me. Captured. We never had lots and lots of time apart. We were together very quickly. So your situation is very different. And maybe you need to say, look, maybe, I don't know if what your situation is,

did you rent, did you have a home? But maybe you do need to have a weekend where you go and stay on your own for a bit or with friends or rent an Airbnb and just have a few days on your own because you've been very, very used to that and you don't want it to affect your relationship together because you have obviously a really good relationship.

because you've been together for so long. So I think that is really, really interesting. So do you think you and I are going to do 20 years based on the fact we now live together, or do we think the odds are off? Do we think it's a bit like, oh, like 20 years because we live together? That's interesting, isn't it? Because Yvonne was asking about the fact that they had 20 years together and then they now live together. And she's attributing that to them being together and being so strong now.

No, I think living together changes everything. think if you can do that for a long time as two different human beings being together in a habitat and getting on, I think that's extremely strong, whereas they haven't done that yet. Do you know what I can do? I can summarise it. Go on then. So if you can deal with this, this is like, I don't know, I don't know, wake up in the morning, it's like maybe Sunday. You last night, you're snoring last night. You're snoring last night.

I'd be careful if I were you. Last night, I had to shove you. I had to shove you in the night. What I have to do with Natalie shove. No. When I get into bed, I sit down, my book comes out. What are you waiting for? That made myself laugh.

It's bad. Wept out of the book. Reading for the book. You're going, all you've got to do is like a big on the back of the neck and it's like, it's fine, silence. That didn't happen last night. It did.

Oh no, no, no, not last night. Or the night before. It happens quite a lot though. Do you come and cuddle me? Your great big, heavy arm comes over me. That's not my arm. And it's certainly is your arm, I can assure you. And the arm comes over and your head sort of sits on my head now.

They sort of suffocate me. I don't know what's happened to the cuddle. It's not good, is it? I don't know what's happened to it. There's been a change because your head's in a different place. Maybe it's grown. Something's had to. Maybe it's the ego.

Anyway, yeah, the snoring is a bit much these days. Well, yours isn't great, sweetheart. We get through, don't we? We get through. We get through. I've got a recording somewhere. I look forward to hearing it. You've heard it.

Well, just pop it out. I don't give a shit. I say that I snore like a hog. I don't care. I'm a very nasal person. Mum and Dad should have had my adenoids out. What's an adenoid when it's at home? Something to do with all this pug-like stuff.

Anyway, I don't think Yvonne has to deal with that kind of thing of her husband. Well, she does now, doesn't she? Because she's moved in with them. So she wouldn't really know because she'd go home at night. That's true. She might have a night over. Do you miss having any me time? Some alone time?

No, I hate being on my own. As I said to you, I was on my own Saturday. Eight hours. Eight hours. Very lonely. Just a chatabics all the time, don't you? All the time. As long as I've got the boys there, I'm happy.

Anyway, it's been lovely. Absolutely brilliant. We're going to go and have some minute steaks. Minute steaks. Little steaks, thin steaks. Sweet potato, rocket. Feta. Elliot's recipe, not mine.

Hold my hands up, hells, bells. I've done some new boiled potatoes, but I've roasted them because the other kids don't like sweet potato. I've got some runner beans on the go. So I think we should go and eat because I'm absolutely ravenous. Me too. All right. Well, thank you, everybody, and I hope you enjoyed today's pod.

I love you. Well, at least I can still make you laugh. I thought I've got something going for me. Very good. Well done. Thanks. Well done. Yeah, it just came to me. It's really good. See you later, everyone. Bye. Bye.