Life with Nat - EP35: Hobbies and Tony’s pet peeves

Episode Date: August 18, 2024

Nat has her brother round and they have a good old chat about Jam, hobbies and being. On a knife edge. Enjoy x Please subscribe, follow, and leave a review. xxx You can find us in all places here; https://podfollow.com/lifewithnat/view INSTA: @natcass1 We're also on Facebook now too: https://www.facebook.com/lifewithnatpod A 'Keep It Light Media' Production Sales, advertising, and general enquiries: [e-mail] SHOW INFO: Life with Nat - it’s me! Natalie Cassidy and I’ll be chatting away to family, friends and most importantly YOU. I want to pick people's brains on the subjects that I care about- whether that’s where all the odd socks go, weight and food or kids on phones. Each week I will be letting you into my life as i chat about my week, share my thoughts on the mundane happenings as well as the serious. I have grown up in the public eye and have never changed because of it. Life with Nat is the podcast for proper people. Come join the community. ♥️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to Life with Nat. I hope you're all really, really well and you've had a lovely weekend. I'm joined by Tony, my brother again, which is a real treat. How are you, Tony? I'm good, Nat. I'm really good. Nice to be here again. That's great. Good, good. We had some lovely feedback, you know, from our... Did you really?

Yeah, we really did. That's pretty astonishing, but it's nice. I think people really enjoyed us having a nag. I think they liked our relationship and, yeah, they said it's just really nice to hear brother and sister having a chat and getting on. Yeah, it's good, isn't it? Yeah, it said it's just really nice to hear brother and sister having a chat and getting on. Yeah, it's good, isn't it? Yeah, it's good. Well, I've got to start by saying, when we mentioned the other day on the episode with Mark and Elliot, funnily enough, Elliot brought up toilet rolls.

Right. And the direction the paper should be on. Oh. Oh. Oh, yeah. You've got a strong view? I've got a very, very, very strong view. Go on. Got to be coming off the front. Oh. Oh, yeah. You've got a strong view? I've got a very, very, very strong view. Go on.

Got to be coming off the front. Yeah. If it comes off the back, it's just wrong. Yeah. Just so wrong. So. Got to turn it round. Even if I'm in someone else's house, I'll turn it round.

Yeah. If I can. Yeah. I know what you mean. It really aggravates me. Yeah. But I wanted to thank everybody because never in a million years did I think I'd get 5,000 messages about toilet rolls.

Not quite 5,000, but bloody hell, I know we like talking about normal things, but it really was a subject. Dear to people's hearts. Yeah, close to people's hearts. I mean, Ellie from Exeter was on a run and she had to stop to send me the message, read the toilet roll. Right. Toilet roll's always over.

There's no other way. Think of a posh hotel, how the housekeepers fold it. This is not possible the other way. It is a wrong way. I completely agree. Off the front is the way I would put it. Yeah. I suppose it's a similar argument to this, you know, when people go to Cornwall and they have scones or scones and it's, is it jam or cream?

It's got to be cream first, then the jam. I would have thought so because the cream's like butter, but apparently jam first and then the cream is, for some people, is an absolute, you know, that's it. I know, but... Sacrosanct. Is that something to do with Devon and Cornwall? I believe...

It might be. They have... Is there a slight sort of disconnect between the way they eat scones or scones or whatever they're called? Oh, that's the other thing. I'm a scone girl. I'm a scone, yeah. I think a scone is quite a middle class term. Is it?

Yeah. Yeah, scone. Scone. Don't sound right, does it? Don't sound right. Scone scone isn't it scone just sounds like i'm saying to you something's gone missing yeah it's gone it's cockney isn't it yeah scone yeah it's definitely a scone but i think it's the same sort of issue really you know sort of toilet rolls the right way scones with cream and jam there'll be a few of those probably well that people will pop up and you better let us know tony's asking oh double seven double eight 2019 19 i have lashings of

clotted cream first and then the jam goes on top i think i don't eat a lot of them to be honest no but when last time i did have them we was in cornwall in 20 2012 it was a year um the olympics was that was in london oh yeah and we stayed in a little lodge down it was lovely and we did have a a cream tea and i'm sure i went jam first did you it just felt right because being a builder i like a solid foundation right so you've got you've got scone or scone. And then I'm thinking, you know, the clotted cream's a bit wobbly and whatever. I'd never put that down first. Right. Jam's got a bit more consistency. You know, it's got a bit more guts to it. Yeah, yeah. Then you whack the cream on top and there you go. For me, that just seemed right in terms of construction. I completely understand.

But I realise if it's, you know, if it's sort of totally against what people do, you know. Well, I think it's a minefield because then you go on to jams. Yeah. Now, I'm supposing you're talking about a jam, a proper jam, not a conserve because a conserve is a bit more on the thinner spectrum. Yeah, I'm not a jam expert. No.

I'm talking about the stuff that wouldn't fall off your spoon if you turned it upside down. You know what I mean? I do. Something with a bit of viscosity. Like a marmalade type. Yeah. Something that's, the viscosity is quite heavy, you know,

so you could sort of chuck it at someone or chuck it at the wall if you wanted to. And it would stick. And it would stick. And it would stick rather than it just coming off the spoon. Yeah, no. And I think a conserve is very much sort of would run off the spoon. I might be wrong. Again, you know, if I've offended any conserve makers,

then I apologise. But, yeah, I think I'm talking proper jam. Yeah, yeah, no. I agree with you. I don't know how we've got onto this. Nor do I. It's your fault. Well, this is the beauty of podcasting, really.

We can sit and talk about whatever we like. Whatever we like, yeah. Absolutely. When this comes out, Joni will be eight. Right. But I'm really looking forward to going out with her and we're going to London Zoo. Oh, brilliant.

We've got a meerkat private experience oh so we're going to feed them meet the meerkats that's going to be brilliant so that's tomorrow oh she loved that yeah and then we're just staying up in town nice jackie and me and mark might put nanny and jonie to bed tomorrow night and hopefully nip out for a little cocktail yes definitely definitely might as well make the most of it. Well, I think if you've got a little bit of a babysitter and you've been out all day and you know,

and you can lodge them off basically. Yeah. Yeah. Without a doubt. I'll be counting down the seconds before you shut in that hotel door and run into a cocktail bar somewhere. And then Friday morning. Yeah.

I've booked, I'll tell you what, what made me think of this, by the way, when I'm thinking behind it, we were talking about jam and marmalades. Right, okay. So I've booked the Paddington Bear Experience. Oh, goodness me. And it's at County Hall. Yeah.

On the South Bank. Oh, amazing. It looks really good. You go for it. I mean, I'll tell you about it once I go. Yeah. But we're doing that. And then the lovely

people over at horrible histories joni loves horrible history yes yes loves it it's such a good program for kids yeah with all the facts in it it's great and they're doing a boat tour so they're doing a thames boat tour with characters on it and they talk about the horrible thames things that have gone on around i suppose they'll go past the tower of london exactly all that sort of yeah yeah brilliant so yeah that's our next couple of days fantastic couple of days yeah really really nice yeah nice it was sharon's birthday at the weekend yes it was yeah yeah i won't tell you how old she was because she'll bash me up but um but it was yeah and um yeah we don't she don't we don't want normally make a big thing of it, if I'm honest. But she's been exceptional again this year, amazing.

So Sunday we decided, her dad was in hospital on the Saturday, unfortunately. I know, nightmare. But he's okay. Good, yes. He's okay. They've got to do another operation, but they're on top of it. So she was over in St. George's in South London all day on Saturday, which was, you know, it was a long day for her.

She was up at five and she didn't get home until five, I think. But, you know, they've sorted him out. And her mum and dad's very grateful and stuff. So it was all good in the end, you know. And we weren't sure what we were going to do. I know you were going to come up, weren't you? Yes, I was thinking of popping over, yeah. And we were going to have a bite or whatever.

And we literally, we weren't sure because he could have been in he could have gone and they could have said you could you've got to stay in and stuff so we just didn't know where we were but fortunately she dropped him off and she was home reasonable time so we decided to go out on the sunday yeah yeah which was lovely and um we're in london suburbs so we got a we got a train well finally got a train after London suburbs, so we got a train, well, finally got a train after about five were cancelled. We got a train into Oxford Street. Nice. Went to Selfridges, which is always nice.

It's always lovely. Yeah, it is, yeah. I mean, Oxford Street itself is, I can't believe what's happened to it, but anyway, it's just not the premier street, you know, shopping street it once was. Oh, gosh, no, no, no. It's just the shops now. Yeah. You'd walk past sort of 60 70 percent of them and a lot of the big ones are gone dh evans is gone i think and all the big department stores are gone but selfridges is still there there's something about

walking into selfridges yeah it's timeless it is isn't the smell yeah so you walk in and it's a it's air-conditioned. But it's that smell of, you know, pungent, too much perfume and cologne and stuff that they're spraying everywhere, trying to get people to buy it and whatever. And it is just, yeah,

I mean, it's evocative. It brings back memories. Even as a kid, I remember walking in Selfridges and it sort of feels the same. Now, I think years when I was a kid, it was a bit browner and beiger.

It wasn't quite as crystal white. Not everything's crystal white and really bright now. Yeah, it's quite modern, isn't it? I think it was a bit darker back then, you know. But, yeah, it does. It's just like walking into a slightly different world. It's a bit of a, when I go, I don't go often. Me and Elliot always go Christmas.

We'll have a day. We have one day and we go. I don't know how you do that. I had about 20 minutes. That was my lot shopping. Oh, really? Oh, gorgeous. Oh, Sansa, please.

Don't look at another pair of shoes, please. I say we're shopping. Yeah. We do kind of a little bit of breakfast. Yeah. A little mimosa. Yeah. A little bit of shopping.

Cocktail bar. Yeah. A little bit of shopping. Shopping and more drinks. Yeah. But there is something about it that I love. I love that department store feel. Yeah, yeah, I agree.

I do like it. I don't know whether that's because, well, Daddy always loved shopping. Yeah, I think it's from your childhood, isn't it? I remember going when, probably before you were born or when you was very, very young, I remember going down to Selfridge you were born or when you was very, very young, I remember going down to Selfridge's Christmas Eve with Dad. Yeah. Because he used to work right up.

Christmas Eve afternoon, we'd jump on a bus at the Angel, go down to Oxford Street, and he'd go and buy Mum a present for Christmas or whatever, and we'd come back and it'd be all, you know, clandestine, and where is she, and get it in the house. So, yeah, it is, it's definitely it's definitely yeah it's nostalgic isn't it yeah it's evocative and nostalgic of times gone by i think but we had a nice day yeah she um i say she dragged me around for about she's not a good shopper anyway herself to be honest no i'm not she's not she's not an all like one of these that

goes around and shopping all day i just i'd want to chuck myself down the escalators yeah to do that yeah the best part of selfridges was going in the um i think it's called the is it the bar of light or something there's a there's a cocktail bar restaurant yeah yeah yeah i can't remember the exact name of it no i think you're right the bar of light something like that something like that yeah we had a little drink in there and then um she bought herself a bag she's been looking at for 10 years, I think. Oh, bless her. And finally decided to get it. And so that was a present, you know, to herself or whatever.

Lovely. Talking of smells. Smells, yeah. Because it just reminds me. I've bought a book for Joanie's birthday. It's not Scratch and Sniff, is it? No. She asked for an Only Fools and Horses compendium.

Right. Like an A to Z of Only Fools and Horses. She's going to be eight. I mean, you ask for it. She does. At least she's got taste. Yeah. But I could only find it on a secondhand bookseller's sort of store.

Oh, right. Okay. It's interesting. So it's obviously out of print. There was's sort of store oh right okay it's interesting so it's obviously out of print and what there was one but they don't yeah yeah well i found it you know on a book site yeah brilliant it's turned up all right what's it smell of just that you know that terrible terrible damp smell oh really really damp almost moldy so been stuck in someone's old basement probably i think so yeah yeah probably an old basement, probably. I think so. Yeah, yeah. Probably an old basement for a long, long time.

Not enough to destroy it. No, no. It's a little bit sort of frayed around the edges. I mean, it's not great. No, but... But I thought she wanted it. I've wrapped it up, but it really stinks. Does it stink, does it?

Yeah. And if I can do that, can you wear it out? I would imagine that there must be some booksellers somewhere that know how to deal with damp smells in books, maybe. Yeah. You know. Yeah. Or maybe they just think that's it.

You know, it's an old book. It's got history and life to it. And that smell's part of it. So get on with it. I love a book smell. Don't get me wrong. No, I know what you mean. But this is not old book.

No, it's, yeah. This is damp. It's not an eight- old girl smell is it really no not really let's be honest that'll be interesting I look forward to her opening it and saying

it stinks it stinks yeah yeah I might have to video that actually because it really does smell oh but you had a lovely Sunday anyway so that was nice

yeah it was nice but what was interesting is we don't really go out a great deal to be honest I mean I'm always busy and doing stuff and family stuff and kids stuff and all the rest of it and we sort of was quite looking forward to going out and we thought we may not go out and then we then we were going out yeah so it was a bit of a bonus and we got there and we ended up in rocker which is a restaurant just in off oxford street they do sort of tie

fusion stuff really lovely really lovely food all, all cooked in front of you. Great staff, great service. Really good. Not massively expensive, you know, just nice. Yeah, yeah. And we both sat there after about 20 minutes in there and just looked at it and just said, we both want to go home. Yeah.

We've had enough. It's true. And then it's the journey home, you know, you've got to try and get on a cab know you've got to try and get on a cab or you've got to try and get on a train full of boiling hot I know

for those who don't know the Tube in London in the summer is horrific it is the worst place in the world yeah it is baking it is awful

I'm a bit like that though I look forward to going out but sometimes there's no place like home is there no no so we you know

we just we finished and that was it and we got home as quick as we could. Comfy clothes on. Yeah. Glass of wine.

Glass of wine, what's the telling? Antiques Roadshow. Oh, yeah, that's me. That's me guilty pleasure. A little bit of Antiques Roadshow. I love a bit of Antiques Roadshow. Yeah, you can't whack it, can you? You can't beat the music. It reminds me of sort of a Sunday night going to school. Yeah. The dread. Don't. We went over this the other last one, I think,

and I said it was That's Life for me. Oh, yeah, that's it. Again, people of a certain age will know what I'm talking about, but as soon as I heard That's Life theme tune, that was it. That was the end. Absolute dread of having to go to school on a Monday. Oh, don't. Don't. Talking of your restaurant you went to, really good service,

really good staff. Attentive, yeah. Mark had a little chat last week about a place that he'd frequented that was appalling service. Right, okay. He didn't mention where it was. No, no. He mentioned sort of the river and the location, possibly.

And I've had about five messages naming the restaurant, saying, I bet it's so-and-so because it's awful. Yeah, yeah. So Mark wasn't on his own. Right. They've got to sort their staffing out. Yeah. Yeah, I feel sorry for these places, to be honest with you,

because they are, like, I've got a local, did I tell you about my local pub? I might have told you about it. No, go on. We've got a pub local to us about five minutes walk and it's quite um it's quite well known in the area it's quite expensive it's not cheap no you know you won't go there every week but you'd go for a couple of drinks and whatever and these all pubs and restaurants rely on some people do it professionally but a lot of it's

casual staff and whatever it might be you know know, or whoever they can get and stuff. So the other week I was, it was probably a couple of months ago. So we'd gone out on a, I think it was a Saturday afternoon for a couple of drinks. For whatever reason, we took the dog up there. So we just got out for an hour, you know, before we do dinner. Well, it's nice, isn't it? Summer, you want to get out, have a little walk. And it's, we don't like it busy.

So we went up there about five-ish, but in between lunch and then the Nutty Mob would go in there from sort of 8, 7, 8 o'clock onwards, you know, and it gets all a bit mad. So I'm standing at the bar with a note in my hand. So it's obvious I'm not there to service the pumps or I'm not the sky engineer looking at the telly. No, no, fair enough. So I'm standing there with a note in my hand.

Yeah. And there's not anyone, there's hardly anyone in the pub. Right. So there's not lots of staff on. So this guy comes up with, I think he had some mixers or something. Yeah, yeah. You know, like a tonic or whatever it was for drink. And he looked at me.

Okay. Knowing I'm there with the money in my hand standing there with an empty glass and he's then proceeded to put the tonics down and he's then proceeded to put all the tonics on the shelf You're joking. No, this is true

He's then looked at me again gone back down to the cellar So he's not said, won't be a minute mate? No, no. Okay, right He's gone back down the cellar So he's not said Won't be a minute mate No No Okay Right

He's gone back down the cellar Come up with six bottles of wine Right Yeah He's come up Looked at me again Standing there With the

With the note and the empty glass He's put the wine in the cooler And he's then come up to me Over to me He said Are you being served? Now I can't repeat what i wanted to say no but i just thought that was just for me it was just so rude and very very obvious yeah really obvious yeah yeah really rude if that were me in a service industry i would just put the tonics to one side for they can wait i'll serve

this bloke give me his drink i'll carry on yeah wow why do you think that is is it an element of power i don't know i think i think there's nice people when there are people that are not very nice i think that's basically it fair enough you know it's like um i've been getting a tube down to Tottenham Court Road for something for a few weeks now, once every couple of weeks. Yeah. And I'll, sorry, I'm old school. So a lady will get on who's pregnant or whatever,

and I will get up in a packed train carriage and ask if she would like my seat. And nine times out of ten people say no because they think you're mad. Yes. They're not used to it anymore. Because all of that's gone now. Yeah ten people say no because they think you're mad. Yes. They're not used to it anymore. Because all of that's gone now. Yeah, yeah. Shiver, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, no, I think it's etiquette.

It's all etiquette. It's all gone. It's just nice, isn't it? So there are people that would do that. There are also people that will sit on a train, so an overground train. They'll put their rucksack next to them on a seat yes and not move the rucksack and then you'll be looking to sit there and they will look at you and not

move the rucksack yes it is actually crazy so then you're into what am i going to have a row of them no i'm not it's just not worth the aggravation just leave it and to be honest you don't really want to sit next to them anyway no or the classic feet on the seats is a is another classic you know i'll get on a train and they're sitting one side they've got their feet on the seats opposite yes i wish i had a sledgehammer and i just you just want to smash their kneecaps really because it's just so again it's rude it's not that we promote violence no we don't know violence no but it's not very nice it's not you know i think people should just be just be nice no i'm i no, but it's not very nice. It's not, you know, I think people should just be nice. No, I'm all for it.

I'm very much the same. I'm very aware of people. Exactly. Some people have got no awareness. Awareness, isn't it? I mean, I sometimes call it emotional awareness, if you want to call it that. I don't know if it's the right word,

but it's just thinking you're in a situation. What about that person? What do they feel? You know, if i do that does it make their situation better i agree other people couldn't care less i agree with you but i think everybody's in a rush i think everybody's sort of caught up in their own world or their own life or they're looking at their phone or they're watching a television program on the phone or whatever listening to a podcast or. And we're not as aware as we used to be about the environment we're in.

I think there's an element now. I think there's just a breakdown in just good old-fashioned manners, if I'm honest. Yeah. In a lot of places, in a lot of areas. I know it's a big subject, but it just... No, manners. I think manners is just a huge, huge thing.

I agree. Please, thank you. You know, I walk into somewhere and i hear can i get you sound like daddy now my god if that if something annoys me well more than the word like um which is used as a filler obviously between various i'll go into a rarely go to a coffee shop but i might go once in a and all And all I hear is, can I get, which is basically someone demanding. They're demanding that you give them something. I was always taught, please may I have.

So you're asking in a nice way. Is that coming? It's Americanism. It's an Americanism and it's sort of coffee shop culture, isn't it? Can I get a coffee? Can I get a cappuccino? It's sort of coffee shop culture. It's can i get a coffee can i get a cappuccino yeah it's like the word like and whatever it's an americanism that just creeps over here and then people take

it on and it all becomes part of our parlance and whatever else but yeah but i just don't understand i mean when i hear people saying it just it riles me can i get this might have to be called tony's pet peeves oh, no, don't make it that way. I'm saying it like I'm miserable. No, no, it's good. It's good. I'm only 106 and I've said really old and miserable. Yeah, you look well for it. Yeah, I know. You do look well for it. Thanks. This is an ad from BetterHelp Online Therapy. We always hear about the red flags to avoid in relationships, but it's just as important to focus on the green flags. If you're not quite sure what they look like, therapy can help you identify those qualities

so you can embody the green flag energy and find it in others. BetterHelp offers therapy 100% online, and sign-up only takes a few minutes. Visit BetterHelp.com today to get 10 off your first month that's betterhelp.com we were gonna have a little chat weren't we because listen i don't want to go into it too much but you've hurt your back right you've hurt your back and at the moment you're not doing the hobbies that you enjoy correct which is a little bit of a shame

because I did want to talk about hobbies tonight and I feel bad talking about them no let's talk about them you talk away don't worry about that I'm over it

I'm over it I'm over it I know what I've got to do I know what I can and can't do there's a reason I've got to do what I'm doing this has been a long time coming

I've had a problem for probably five or six years yeah I've had other problems probably since I was a kid. Yes. Like in terms of issues with muscles and the frame and skeletal things and whatever. I've said this before and I'll say it again. Genetically, I don't think we're very blessed with great sort of framing.

No, we're not flexible. We're never going to be sort of athletes and marathon runners, are we? Well. Well, anyone that's seen me knows that that's not going to happen. I've run two marathons, thank you. Oh, yeah, you have, haven't you? Not very elegantly. I wasn't sort of gazelle-like leaping over the…

Well, actually, I put my foot right in it there, hadn't I? Yeah. Yes, I did. I did run two. All right, athletes and… Gymnasts. …Olympic swimmers. Yeah. There you go. There you go. How's that? Yeah, perfect. No, you have run two marathons. Athletes and. Gymnasts. Olympic swimmers.

There you go. There you go. How's that? Yeah, perfect. Oh, you have run two marathons, haven't you? Yeah. I actually, once upon a time, I had hankered after running a marathon. Because a friend of mine at the time, he'd had a child and she was very ill.

And I thought, I really want to do that. And we had a brilliant GP at the time. Yeah. And I went to see her about something. And I mentioned to her that I'd like to run a marathon. And I started running. And she looked at my knees and just went, and my hips, and said, on no account are you to try and run a marathon. Really?

Yeah, she said, because you're probably going to really severely injure yourself. Oh, dear. That was years ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know. So. Yeah, I dig so yeah no digress we digress but you've always said that hobbies are very important so actually it is quite good to talk about because you haven't been fishing no that's right you haven't been a golf you haven't how are

you feeling mentally, honestly? Not brilliant. No. Not brilliant. No. No, I'm not going to lie to you. See, I think most men, I think, need something in their lives to look forward to. So for some blokes, it's going football.

Some blokes, it's just going to the pub. Some blokes, it's having a steam engine. Some blokes, it's... Don't I know it. Yeah. It's fishing. It's whatever it might be. But I think, so I'm one of those people that needs something to obsess over a little bit.

Yeah. So if I'm not working, I need to be busy. Otherwise, I just, you know, your mind, you just disappear up your own arse, basically, because you're thinking, overthinking stuff. Yeah. So because I can't go fishing, I've decided to rip the bar from the pieces and do that. Oh, right, okay.

Yeah, yeah. So it really needs it. Right. I mean, it's been 14 years since it was done, so I'm doing that indoors at weekends now. So I'm now just working seven days a week. Oh, brilliant. Which is fine, because with what I've got i can do that that's quite crazy though isn't it that you can do that sort of manual work because you know in your daily life

that's right and you can't sort of twist around at no 25 degrees yeah whatever it is yeah yeah it's very annoying it's a i've got a problem with with twisting and a nerve problem in the back and stuff. It's a nightmare. But, yeah, I do. I mean, one of the best sort of sayings I think I ever heard, and I don't know where it comes from, is the devil makes work for idle hands. Yeah, yeah. Be it a child, a teenager or whatever. And I think it's massive that you have to fill up,

try and fill up your life with something that stops people being bored. Yeah, I agree. As soon as people get bored, then it gets difficult and they start to look at ways of trying to improve their life through doing something else. Which isn't very good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know, whatever it might be.

You know, risky behaviour, I don't know, going out too much and being silly, whatever it might be. I think, as you say, men need a hobby. I do think women need their own time. Absolutely. I think women need to have a little interest of some sort. Yeah. But I don't think they, I still think it could be a little bit controversial,

but I'm going to say it. I do think it's easier for a man to say i'm going football every saturday i think if a woman turned around and went every single saturday i'm not in yeah i think that's more difficult i still think that's more difficult i think you're right i think yeah you know yeah it's a difficult it's a hard one isn't it but you know what i mean i do yeah i mean i think women are more emotionally intelligent than men. Sorry, I do. I just think that they're able to process stuff far better than men. I think a lot of men are stupid, basically.

Sorry, that's what I think. I'd rather, if you said to me, room full of women, room full of men, I'd go for a room full of women every single time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you just end up with better conversation and you get a room full of blokes yeah and then stuff starts to happen and they whip each other up and you you know it just gets it just goes stupid sometimes so i think it's really interesting so i i this is my view and it's probably wrong and i'll probably get slaughtered for it i don't know but i just think women are more emotionally

intelligent i think they've got more tools. Yes. Well, I'll tell you what I think, and I was saying it only the other day, when you hear women go, oh, he's not done that and he ain't listened and da-da, you know, like moaning. Yeah.

And we've got that through comedy we do it, the women moaning at the man. Yeah, it's a traditional, very traditional role, isn't it? It's a stereotype, you know? Stereotypical role, yeah, yeah. Do you know what I say? What? Men are never going to be like you because we're different humans.

Different people, yeah. We're completely different. Correct. Brains are different. It's so different. Yeah, absolutely. You've just got to accept that you're different. And that's what I think.

Yeah. Yeah, I completely agree with that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and again, I think you're in danger of going into areas that we don't want to go into, certainly. But from a man's point of view, I know men. Yeah. Sorry, I know men.

Yes. Because I'm 56 and I've grown up around them all my life. Yeah, yeah. And trust me, there's a lot of men I've known you don't want to be with in a group. You don't want to be with in a social situation because they just... Is that the sort of alpha male type?

It's a sort of wolf pack mentality. It's sort of one starts doing something and the other's joining and it's just, yeah. That's really interesting yeah for me it's just I just don't enjoy

that sort of male dominated I would absolutely say Mark's the same my Mark yeah

I think he's the same he would rather be in a room full of women but then I know you know I know I've met men who they are

blokes blokes, blokes. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever that means. Whatever that means. But they prefer the company of those. So I think female company for me I would prefer on a social level. Yes, yeah.

Because I enjoy that type of interaction more than someone boring me to death about Formula One. But say fishing, for instance. Yeah. That's quite, it's male, isn't it? Yeah. Male dominated. We've got some girls, females, and we've got some brilliant young,

like good, really good female anglers, amazing. Yeah. Which is great to see, I love it. But I suppose it's different when you're fishing because you're not sort of standing around drinking, you know, you're concentrating, aren't you? Yeah, it's only if you go away. Sometimes we do festivals or we'll do sort of matches that run over three

or four days or whatever and then there's a bit of that of an evening. Yes, yes. But it's not like going football, you know, or going up the pub with a load of blokes on a Friday night. It's certainly not like that. It's different. Yeah. It's different in terms of that.

No, it's a really, really good subject, actually. But in terms of the hobbies and stuff, so I'm really interested in the time that we spend running around doing stuff all the time yeah which is the necessity you know the necessities of life you have to do you've got to do them right we've got to get up you get the children to school or look after them you know you're looking after the children yeah you're going to work you're earning your money you're you're cleaning clothes houses house to run all of those things and i do think a hobby to switch off is very very important extremely

important for everybody but i just don't think there's enough hours in the day but i said that and i put a little message out yeah just interested you know what are your hobbies and I've had loads of messages all about their hobbies this is Louise hi Nat and Tony my hobby is doing cross stitch which I'm not ashamed to say anymore I used to get really embarrassed saying it but now it's cool I've been doing it since I was about four years old. My nan taught me, and it reminds me of my nan that I lost a couple of years ago now. And, yeah, I did a big sewing for her for her funeral day,

and the undertaker's burnt it with her, which I was really gutted about. It took me hours. Oh, no, Louise. That's terrible. But, yeah, it's lovely. Cross-stitch, it took a limit of hours oh no louise that's terrible but yeah but it's lovely cross stitch it's i think it's a nice thing i would imagine louise is growing up to a certain age now yeah she's no longer embarrassed telling her peers that she does this yeah whereas as a

16 year old she'd have thought she was a bit strange and a bit geeky and not cool. And you go through all that stuff, don't you? So I think things like what she's just said there, it's lovely that she's been doing it, but now feels that she can say she does it. Yeah, and she's proud of it. And she's proud of it.

Yeah. Absolutely. It's a big thing, isn it peer pressure it's you know it's like eliza she's got to this age now she's 14 in september and it's just you've got to be doing the same as everyone you've got to be wearing the same as everyone else you've got to be doing exactly the same. Otherwise you're not. And you're not in the group. You're not in the group.

And you're not invited to stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've had all that with mine, so. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. It's just, it's a minefield. It's a real minefield at that age. Yeah.

And I think, well, for me, social media, I'd ban it for them because I think it's the worst thing ever invented. Mm. For girls and boys of a certain age. Yes, yeah. Where they're constantly bombarded with this stuff that they've got to look like this and be like this and the only way you're going to be rich is if, you know, you,

I don't know, you buy some Bitcoin and then all of a sudden you're driving around in a Lamborghini. Oh, I know. It's just all cobblers. Absolutely ridiculous, yeah. It's all you get you know it's all you get bombarded with on social media being fed a load of rubbish yeah and it is rubbish yeah it is rubbish and i think and and the fact it's not it's not legislated it's not it's not checked

there's no balances in place yeah no it's not it's mad and it just absolutely. I truly believe it will all come back round. It may well do. I do. Yeah. I've got great faith that. At some point they're going to go, do you know what? We don't want this anymore. Interestingly, my friend Charlotte, Sophia's mum Charlotte,

Eton College set to give brick phones to first years. Oh, I read about that. Yeah. So there's a different people now. They want to go back to the old brick Nokias. Yeah. So you can phone someone, text someone. That's it.

Yes, no, that's it. That's it. I'm home. I'm going out. That's it. Whatever it might be. And there are movements starting. Yeah, there has to be.

Yeah. Because it can't. I just think it's so bad for kids' mental health. Because I've got two, you and they're they're past that well they're in their 20s yeah they're past that teenage stage and all the rest of it there's still there's still an element of it because they're still told you're not good enough unless you look like this you're not oh yeah you're not gonna you know you're not successful unless you drive this and but again i don't think that's still i think the younger age that we're talking about are very impressionable so it um it has more of an effect on them if you like but if you are

an impressionable say 40 year old yeah doesn't matter how old you are no absolutely not and you're seeing these 40 year olds or 50 year olds going through the menopause with no no worries doing yoga every morning at four o'clock in the morning they look like fucking supermodels yeah and you're at home having a hot flush with your belly going up what's the matter with me yeah there's something wrong with me so it's it doesn't matter what stage of life no it's that it's it's yeah for any person at any age it's being told that this is what we're showing you is perfection and that's how you should be. Absolutely. And if you're not like it, there's something wrong with you. Yeah, you're not right.

So for, you know, you could be a bloke or a woman my age who financially they're a little bit struggling and all they can see is people, you know, there's a girl on Facebook saying, well, you know, come to my workshop. In three weeks I'll show you how to be a property millionaire. Bollocks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, bollocks.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's true. It's just rubbish. Yeah, I know. And then people will sign up for this stuff and go and pay a load of money to sit in a conference centre somewhere to be told this is how you do it. And you can buy a property and you can sell it and you can do it up and you do it all with other people's money.

It doesn't cost you anything. There's no risk. It's just all rubbish. Yeah, I know. I know. It's really scary. So even at my age, your age, whatever age, there's still this stuff targeted at your age group to say,

you're not good enough. You're not earning enough. You're not financially fluid enough. You should be doing this. You should be looking to you know be a property developer or get into cryptocurrency

or be a marketeer or have a drop shop with Amazon or whatever it might be and make it all

sound like it's all so easy yeah simple but if it was all so easy everyone would be a millionaire wouldn't they

yeah of course I think they've got a lot to answer for the social media yeah massively absolutely absolutely getting back to hobbies go on Of course I think they've got a lot to answer for The social media Yeah massively Absolutely Absolutely

Getting back to hobbies Go on Hey Nat Hobbies This is from Hannah Hannah right Before kids I had loads Now with kids I don't have a lot of time I struggle to take time for just me

As I feel guilty As there's always something else to be doing Why do we all do that as mums Anyway my kids beg me to play Fortnite with them during lockdown So I did as I feel guilty as there's always something else to be doing. Why do we all do that as mums? Anyway, my kids begged me to play Fortnite with them during lockdown, so I did, and I have to admit I now like it, and we have a few games together most days, and it's my guilty pleasure.

It's actually really good fun, and the children absolutely love that I'm playing with them, and I switch off and I can relax for a bit whilst I'm playing with them at the same time. They think I'm super cool, and we have a bit of bonding time. So it's not that bad. Brilliant. That's great. That's nice.

But what Hannah's done there is as a parent, she's absolutely nailed the issue of being guilty. Yes. You're doing something for yourself. Yeah. So she felt terribly guilty that if she takes an hour to do something for herself she she should be doing something for the kids she could be prepping or she should be doing work from heart whatever you know she should be worrying about her work

day and look after the kids absolutely what's brilliant is she switched it on its head yeah she's having an hour yes with something she enjoys but with the children exactly so she's not feeling guilty about with the kids absolutely which is excellent it is and it's it's hugely important for to have something just to switch off it's just a way of switching off for an hour absolutely because life is relentless if you've got kids and you're working it's a durable will like it is yeah yes it, it's just relentless. Even now with mine that are grown up. Yeah, yeah.

You know, you've got Liza's 14, Joan's going to be eight, whatever. So they're obviously younger. I was going to ask you, does it get, it gets easier, surely? Not really. I think it gets, it's different. It doesn't get easier, no.

No, different. No, I think until, until they're grown up and they're, not off your hat, I don't mean it like that, but they find partners and they're living their own lives fully. Yes, yeah. I don't think it ever gets easier, you know. I know some people, their kids are really independent,

they'll take risk. Yeah. so i know i had a bloke working for me and one of his sons just you know just went to mexico and started up a boat refurbishment business on the beach or whatever it was yeah yeah yeah yeah something you'd never dream of doing didn't care got on a plane gave it a go you know he didn't hear from him for two years basically he was fine really got the odd got the odd message fine dad you know how old was he when he did that i'm not sure 20 21 so you've got some kids that are really you know they they don't mind taking a chance they'll go off inter-railing or they'll go off yes yeah with a backpack yeah and they'll just get on with it yeah yeah and then you get others that are risk-averse, like mine two are,

and I think a lot of our family are like that. You know, the kids in our family are like that. They're not the sort to stick a backpack on and go around the world for a year. No, no. So if you've got the ones that are quite happy. I think Joanie's going to be like that. Do you think so? I think she's really feral.

Mm. I think she could shove a load of stuff in a bag and go, see you later. Yeah, maybe. I think you might be surprised. Who knows? Petrifies me. Yeah, but again.

But you know what? As long as they're happy, you can't force them. You can't think about that. And also I think as a parent, you can't force them. And I try and keep telling myself, we're growing, we've got these little humans. I might be repeating myself here, but they're not ours to keep. No, they're not. We've got to sort of grow them up and then off they go. know you've got a lot of it's like that as well don't forget a lot of it's thing because you cross your fingers don't you so

do what you think's right and it could turn out it was wrong yeah but you do what you think's right at the time that's true but you know it's a little bit of it's a little bit of like luck and also their mates their circles of friends absolutely all. Who they're hanging about with. Yeah, yeah. Opportunities. It's no different to what I do, is it? No. Yes, I do what I do now and I do it well.

And I was, you know, I've been acting in EastEnders for a long time. But I got a break. It was lucky for me to be in that place at the right time. Yeah, I understand, yeah. Yes, I've kept it because I'm professional and enjoy it and do well. Yeah. But you do need these lucky breaks. Yeah.

Don't you? You do. And I think growing up as well, kids, there's times when literally you can be on a knife edge. Mm. Mm. You know, there's one particular situation i told my kids before so i had a friend from school and we got matey not massive mates but we were we got friendly and i'd go play football and whatever else and you know ran the flats where he lived and whatnot. And I'll never forget this one Sunday,

we'd played football for a couple of hours around the flats and... How old were you, Tom? I would be about 13. Oh, okay, yeah. 12, 13. Yeah. Something like that. Yeah.

And I'll never forget, his name was Kevin, and these kids sort of walked up they hadn't been playing no they walked they were sort of acquaintances of his yes and they sort of walked up into the it was it was basically a a tarmac football pitch in the middle of a council estate that we had all around in israel and whatever you know yeah um and they sort of walked in and i just thought i don't like the look of these at all really didn, they just didn't look right. Uncomfortable. Uncomfortable.

Funny atmosphere. Weren't nice. Yeah. Yeah. And so Kevin said to me, he said, oh, we're going to go round the flats now and knock about round the flats. You coming?

And I went, no, I won't, Kev. I said, I've got to go home for me day. I didn't. I just didn't. I just thought, I really don't. So uncomfortable. Yeah. Transpires that that was the first,

it was the first sort of afternoon that he tried heroin. Wow. So these kids were doing that. Right. There's quite a lot of it where we grew up. At that age? Yeah. Wow.

I mean, years ago in Grange Hill, there was a storyline with Lee MacDonald. He went to my school with Zamo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lee was in my year at school. And I remember him doing that storyline he was about 12 or 13 it was the same sort of age

I'm talking about where he was hooked on heroin at Grange Hill yes and poor Kevin got on it and that was the end of that wow

and it was and I'll never forget that I always call it a tipping point yes like the knife yeah or you're at a crossroads

you're at a crossroads what one are you going to take what you're gonna take what one you're gonna take you're gonna go that way and someone says to you do you want to try a bit of this and you go yeah all right then literally that's it you're talking about a hair's breadth between doing the right thing doing the wrong thing yeah so it's always been there well Well, that's why also, though, education is so important, to educate your kids to talk about these things, to talk about drugs, to talk about the dangers. Absolutely. The more you talk about those things,

I know they're not taboo subjects, they're out there. They're not. And it's also making sure that they know that you'll know, if that makes sense. Yes. So you're not one of these, you know, naive sort of, doesn't think it's ever going to happen to them. Or even worse, I know parents who, I wouldn't say they encourage it,

but they don't discourage it. So if they know their kids are taking stuff, they go, oh, they're just kids and they're doing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was never an option with us. No, no. Ever. But, yeah, you can't bury your head in the sand.

You've got to confront it. Yeah, you can't bury your head in the sand. You've got to confront it. Yeah, you have. And going back to you with your friend Kevin, kicking around, not having much to do for Kevin. Exactly. Took him on to that. Exactly. Which is why I'm talking, you know, again, just bringing it back.

It's all round. You know, going round again, but hobbies. Hobbies, that's right. Interests for children. Yeah. When you grow up, it's all around you know going around again but hobbies hobbies that's right interests for children yeah for when you grow up it's really important to have a little something for you that you you look forward to yeah like you say your brain switches off yeah and it's just something that you enjoy doing and it gets you out of the mundaneness of life as well that's the other thing because whether we like it or not,

most of us are stuck on that, you know, that hamster wheel of running to stand still all the time with everything we've got to do and all the responsibilities we've got. Yeah. So I think just having, no matter what it is, I mean, you know, I go, I'm sort of not eating certain things now at the moment because I'm trying to sort myself out and whatever. Yeah, yeah. But I will have a curry once every two weeks.

Yeah. And it's with lads I go fishing with. And we literally go to a curry house, have a curry, a few beers, talk a load of rubbish. But I really look forward to it. Oh, yeah. Just because it gets me out of my day-to-day routine and it just gets me away from that and i've gone talk a load of rubbish about whatever fishing normally um but i just look

forward to that couple of hours but also that chat for those couple of hours whatever it may be that you look forward to it's a little bit of therapy. It's a little counselling session. You can talk about what you want to with different people. You have a laugh or whatever you do. I look forward. In the six-week holidays, we don't do it. There's no time. We've all got kids.

There's not enough time. I texted my mate Sophie the other day. She said, I can't wait for the six weeks to be over so we can go on a great big long walk. And I'll meet her. if I'm not at work, 10 o'clock in the morning, half nine in the morning, and we were half nine till 12, half 12, and we'd grab a coffee and we'd just walk and we'd talk.

Yeah. And I really, really miss that when I can't do it. Really miss that. Yeah. There's a lady here called Tammy. Her hobby is puzzles. So she does puzzles. She loves Alice in Wonderland.

She does Alice in Wonderland puzzles. She glues them all, hangs them up in frames. I like that. I like gluing them, hanging them in frames. I think it's always a bit of a shame when you watch someone do a fiendishly difficult 10 000 piece puzzle and then they do it smash it all up put it back in the box what's the point in that so for me yeah the gluing them together and putting them in a frame yeah i think that's really really good well there you go i know you can't use them again but you

know yeah hey ho no it's brilliant she said her daughter's disabled and she loves the gluing part it gets everybody involved that's it that's brilliant tammy i love a puzzle i haven't done a puzzle in ages i've got a puzzle it's a christmas theme we had a christmas one as well it was round it was it was a really it was a bark yeah you couldn't get because you've got no edges or corners i should say so you couldn't find the corners yeah but were the corners up um but you know the Christmas scene yeah

sent on his sleigh or whatever or in a the elves in there I get it out every year the box comes out yeah it's in that cupboard

yeah I get it out and I put it in the lounge yeah I think everyone's gonna have a go we're all gonna have a go yeah never gets open

never gets open about four years I've had it honestly I get it out every year. But I do like that slowing down a little bit. I like the idea of sitting down and just doing something. But I've said it before, I'm a fiend for, I've got a cross-stitch bag with needles in it. Don't keep it up.

I've got half a scarf that I've knitted. I buy all the wool, all the gear, all the gear and no idea. I sort of start things and just leave it. It's not good. That's where you're grabbing at. You're grabbing at trying to find something that you really, really want to do. Yeah.

So you're giving it a go, but it's not sticking. Absolutely. I like going into London on my own, on the train, and walking around an art gallery. Yeah. On my own. Having a bit of lunch on my own, on the train, and walking around an art gallery. Yeah. On my own. Having a bit of lunch on my own. That's what...

It's a bit weird, but yeah. That's what I like. Yeah, sorry. Why's that weird? Yeah, on your own. Yeah, don't get the on your own bit. Yeah, I love it. Yeah.

On my own. No, I'm not a very solitary person, to be honest with you. I enjoy that. Well, whatever, you know, whatever works, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. Loads of people I used to go to the cinema on my own

when I was a bit younger before children yeah there's something about doing things on my own sort of out in public places where I'm just sort of pottering around that I find quite comfortable

yet leave me on my own of an evening and I hate it yeah don't like it at all I think what you're probably doing there you're finding a little bit

of independence and it is quite you know it's quite an experience to go and do something on your own there's odd times when I've had to

even if I have to go and see my physio down in Tottenham Court Road I find that it sounds silly but because I'm on my own doing it

and I'm not used to doing it it's a bit of a you know it's a bit of a thing, really. Yeah, getting the tube on your own. Yeah, and it feels weird because you're not with somebody. That's what I mean. Because normally I'm with Sharon or James or with Evie. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm out or I'm out with a mate. It's very rarely that I do anything on my own. And when I do, I find it a little bit odd, that's all. But maybe that's just because I don't do it enough. Yeah, maybe. There's lots of people who say to me, oh, I hate being on my own. I won't ever go for lunch on my own.

People find it really stressful. They think that is like the worst thing in the world to do. So we're all different, aren't we? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Right, what has Marios got to say? Hi Nat, it's Marios from Where. First voice note ever.

Lovely. A few things. There's only one way to hang a toilet roll. That's with the hanging paper bit at the front. Yes. Two, you just cannot put your shopping straight into your bag that you're going to go home with. Thank you, Marios.

That's just, why would anyone do that? Absolutely. To have people looking at you thinking you're a thief. And three, yeah, my daughter, who's also eight, I think Joanie's about eight, seven or eight, only eats beige food. I can't bear it. I love cooking. She won't eat anything that i make apart from spaghetti

bolognese so you can imagine we have a lot of spaghetti bolognese anyway uh i know you don't like long messages so uh see ya oh thank you marios they're so lovely i like these messages where you sort of tick off a few bits and i know that you're listening to all of them when you send me one like that and that's what i like the most Joni what's she eating this week that's any good nothing I can't really think of anything I think she had fish fingers

and potato wedges yesterday beige and beige again I don't know what's happened there's a lot of it I've got an apprentice who mainly eats beige food

yes and by that I mean he will go to the cafe yeah his idea of a really good lunch would be two toasted hash brown sandwiches with chips.

Bloody hell. I swear, I kid you not. Two? Say again. Toasted. Yeah. So imagine toasted sandwiches. Yeah.

Not with bacon. No. Or sausages with hash brown stuffed inside them. And a portion of chips them And a portion of chips And a portion of chips Or If he doesn't go calf He might go

And he might get A bag of tortilla chips Yep And about nine bags of sweeps Right That's his lunch So if it's sweets It's colourful

He'll eat those I've seen him eat pasta that he's made at home beige though beige pasta no sauce on it no no

just plain so it is I'm hearing this more and more and I don't know why no I don't know why it is I don't understand it I mean

I was I think we're all picky eaters as kids but to only eat a certain type stroke colour of food. But to have, come on,

to have hash browns in a toasted sandwich with a portion of chips, is he rotund in any way? No, he's not. He's like a rash of wind. Is he really? Yeah, he's not got an ounce of fat on him. Young though, isn't he?

Yeah, he's young. Carries on the way he's going, he's going to be about 150 stone. Be like Jimmy 20 bellies, or whatever his name was. Jimmy 5 bellies. just yeah just talking about the beige food thing and i know someone else they've got a girlfriend and she only eats pizza that's it she won't eat any other food other than pizza nothing that's ridiculous but it's true there's people a lot of kids like that, and I don't know, no idea why that is.

I've heard of a few people talking about different food groups and things, and some of the children have autism. Yeah. So I don't know. I don't know enough about it. No. You know, I just have no, I was just saying that Joni used to eat much better than she does now

and she's becoming more and more fussy. Yeah. And it's annoying. I mean, she'll order a fillet steak or she'll have a lamb cutlet. Loves a bit of meat. But it's just, you know, when you're at home and you want to do, I don't know, some sort of one. Stir fry, say.

Yeah, or like a one pot sweet potato and a little bit of chicken. Yeah, and she's just not interested. Just not interested and it just winds me up to them. I'm not going to stand cooking all day for them not to eat it. No, when we were kids, it was very much, that's it, you've got that. And if you don't eat that, then you, you know, I mean, we ate well, don't get me wrong. Yes. My mum was very much, she's, you know, in the winter it was all stews and braised steak and hearts and some offal and all that sort of stuff.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know, chicken stew. But that was it. Dinner was dinner. And, you know, if you didn't eat it, you didn't eat it. When I look back, it's really funny you mention that, because I was thinking the other day, Mummy didn't eat dinner. No, she never ate.

She never sat with us? No, very rarely. She would cook it. Yeah, but then she'd be pottering about. Yeah, but she used to eat with Dad, because Dad used to come in late. So she would have it yeah but then she'd be pottering about yeah but she used to eat with dad because dad used to come in late

so she would have her dinner with dad well she didn't when I was little no but I think dad wasn't working or he was packing up work I can't remember now

or whatever but yeah she didn't used to eat a lot no no she didn't but when with us

we should do our dinner as kids when we came in from school. Well, that's what I do if Mark's working late. We'll eat late. Yeah, and then they ate later. Mum and Dad ate later when Dad got in from work and Dad had his wash and whatever else. But no, she wasn't a big eater, no, no.

But she grew up in the war years, so, you know, for her, being able to go and buy steak or to be able to go and buy any meat and put it on the table was quite a thing back then when I was growing up as kids. Yes. No, it's like a real achievement. And proper cooked dinners. I know lots of kids. I'll never forget, I went, a kid from school said,

can you come round for tea? Yes. They called it tea. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they gave me jam sandwiches yeah which i'd never heard i'd never realized that people ate that for for their dinner or they called it tea but for me it was dinner yes yeah and then of course when he came to us it was steak chips beans whatever and then you didn't want to come every day yeah rather than the jam sandwiches but that was the reason for jam sandwiches, don't get me wrong.

But I was, so for her it was very much the fact that she could afford to do a proper quality cooked dinner every night was quite a major thing for her. Yeah, no, I get that. I do get that. Rather than the kids. I know lots of kids who, yeah, they had beans on toast or. Yeah, cheese on toast or a sandwich or... Yeah, sandwiches and whatever else.

And that was just their consequences. Yes, because they would have a hot lunch at school. Yes, correct. Yeah, so you'd have school dinners. So you'd have your school dinner. And then they'd just have a bite to eat. Supper, sort of. Like you say, tea.

Yeah, tea or whatever. Whatever, your bloody cool things, you know. Yeah. Yeah, my mates up north, they call dinner tea, which I tea. Whatever you bloody call things, you know. Yeah. Yeah, my mates up north, they call dinner tea, which I can never get me a drink. I know. Are you coming for your tea, they say. I say, no, I've had a cup of tea.

They go, no, your tea. I said, that's dinner. Cultural problems. I know. We call things, yeah, I mean, there's so many different names for different things all around it's all regional

as well isn't it it's all around the country all different things yeah so they'll as I say tea dinner that gets mixed up interchangeable

I never understand it I think when they say you're coming for tea I think I'm going to have like fondant fancy yeah yeah yeah afternoon tea some salmon sandwiches

and a pot of tea and then I get there and it's pie and chips pie and chips, yeah. Annette said, Hi, Nat, happy Tuesday. After listening to your rep yesterday with Mark and Els,

just popped on to say regarding light switches, it was an issue in our house, but we have put in sensor lights, so they come on as you walk into the room and go off after a certain amount of time absolutely brilliant for bathrooms and toilets and they don't cost much either also bog roll gives me the ick when it's put on by pulling it from the back bog roll should always be from over the top love listening to all of you it gives me so many laughs when commuting

to work much love what was the light switch it's right at my strata that is as a right electrician yeah okay just the kids just turn all the lights on yeah all around the house tellies lights yeah and everything just stays on all day long all day long yeah but it's not all right is it not really so that's why she's saying maybe i should get some sensor lights. Yeah, yeah. Because they just all go, you know, in every single room you walk through, every bathroom, everywhere. Yeah, we use a lot of, they're called PIRs, yeah, sensors, yeah.

Worth it? Good? Yeah, they are for certain situations. Yeah. I mean, it's got to be a room where you walk into for a purpose. Yeah. It's no good having them in hallways and stuff like that because they're forever on and off and driving people mad

or you'll get people walk, like if you've got an open room and you'll get people walking past and then the lights go on in that room. I see. So a loo is good. A loo's good. Utility rooms are good. Cupboards. Yeah.

Yeah, we put them in cupboards now where people have got a cupboard in a bath and I've put PIR in there so when I open the cupboard it light comes on and you can go from five seconds to five minutes so you put it on

for a minute and it switches itself off but so I can see where she's coming from yeah but no it's just teaching

you know it's just teaching it's never been any different no but it's just come on because you go out all day and then you come up

and oh you know you'll drive home and you're always on it's been on all day long it's such a waste of energy blackball yeah you know blackpool illuminations yeah definitely and the tellies in every room as soon as someone walks into a room they've got to put telly on mind you you're like that you like a telly on or is it changed no i think it's just noise it's just background noise really again don't like i don't like silence linda came around saturday afternoon yeah she's popped in for a cup of tea and she's come in and i've made the tea and we've sat in the lounge and she went it's just like being at your mum and dad's here yeah because i'm in silence yeah yeah, yeah, in silence, yeah. I can, all afternoon, don't have nothing on.

No. I potter around. No, I can't do that. And it was Linda, she said, it don't half remind me of going to your mum and dad's, sitting here with a cup of tea, because no telling. No telling, yeah.

Dead silent, yeah. Well, I'm, I mean, when I'm at work, when I'm working on site and stuff, you know, on our jobs, if I don't have a radio. working on site and stuff you know on our jobs if I don't have a radio yeah doesn't matter what's on it well it does

I mean there's certain things I can't listen to it drives me up the wall but for me the working day starts once I switch my radio on and it feels like I'm at work

I understand that and if I haven't got that I just go mad silence is deafening for me yeah and it just drives me up the wall yeah no I completely understand it

but I can drive somewhere and I forget you know if I say a podcast I love BBC Radio 2 it's Radio 2 for me Radio 1

sometimes Greg James in the morning I like I like a bit of Radio 4 at times or I'll listen to podcasts that I like yeah but I can do an hour journey in silence don't put the radio on purposefully yeah I just want it quiet but again I think that must be from dad a bit I think it's probably the way you grew up but I do

like it I didn't like the fact that I remember being younger and that being annoying and a bit boring but I really appreciate it and I really like it now I like silence yeah I think it's just how you're

not that I should be promoting silence of course get those podcasts on what am I doing here yeah I'll tell you what we'll do we'll do one in a couple of weeks where we just sit here for an hour and just don't say anything yeah we could go live with it

yeah and just sit here just a live podcast staring at each other that's right yeah yeah could be doing a crossword

great yeah bit of Sudoku sounds good to me yeah Mark loves a Sudoku he does them in bed he gets in bed right

and he'll do he'll do a Sudoku now he'll kill me for saying it but what I don't like do a Sudoku. Now, he'll kill me for saying it, but what I don't like about the Sudoku, it's now an iPad and a pencil, the iPad pencil. Yes, yeah. So the Sudoku he's doing, I'm laying there and you can hear.

Yes. Yeah, it's not a pen and a pad anymore. It's really, really annoying. That's what I can hear. Yeah. I say, how long you got for that Sudoku? I'm just relaxing. I say, well, I'm not.

I'm not relaxing. No. Laying here. No. Without tapping. Pencil. Pencil and paper. It's better, isn't it?

I would say for the tapping scenario, without doubt. Yeah. What about pens and papers, though? Are you a man with a diary on your phone and all that? No, I don't like any of that. No? I don't like putting notes on my phone. I don't, don't.

Neither do I. I'm not a lover of it at all. When I used to, I had an office job 25 years ago now. Yeah. And I used to really like that then because my secretary had a shared access to the diary and stuff would go in it and i could sync up and all that sort of thing so you always had your current information it's all changed now because it'll be web-based and people will have it like in real time yeah but back then not having a a diary that you wrote

in for stuff was a positive because it meant that you could, things changed and whatever, and you could find that out. Yeah, of course. I know what you mean. You're all together and you're all doing stuff. But for me now, Paul's still got my business partner. He's still got his diary and he writes everything in his diary. So do I.

And I've got a book and I write stuff in my book. Yeah. The problem is if you lose the book, you've had it. I know. I know. So we've got a book on a job we've got at the moment. It's got everything in my book. Yeah. The problem is, if you lose the book, you've had it. I know. I know. So we've got a book on a job we've got at the moment. It's got everything in it that we need. And we thought we'd lost it the other day.

And we looked everywhere. And then I finally found it. It was underneath a pile of crap somewhere. But like you say. But if you lose that book. Yeah, yeah. It's a Bible to that job or whatever. Yeah, yeah.

But no, I'm very much pens and papers. Well, I'd be exactly the same. I've got a diary. Yeah. And that's got everything in it. But that's not written down anywhere else. Don't get me wrong. I'd be able to go back and look at emails and do the dates and what I'm doing.

But I write everything in a diary. And people really laugh when they see me get my diary out. Yeah. They go, oh, look at you with your diary. But I have notepads. Well, do you know what? I really enjoy it. Ponzi.

I mean, again, it was a thing of the 80s and whatever. But I used to love my file effects. So I had aepads. Well, do you know what? I really enjoy it. Ponzi. I mean, again, it was a thing of the 80s and whatever, but I used to love my file effects. So I had a file effect. Yeah. Sharon bought me it, funny enough. It was the first or second year we were together. She bought me a file effect with a lovely pen. Yeah, like leather bonded, you know, like a nice one.

And you could get all these different inserts. That's right. So you had your calendar and you had your notes, but there was loads of stuff you could get. And it was just like a little ring binder. For people that don't know, it was a little, it was half an A4 size they were brilliant and and it was like a little leather ring binder and you could click stuff in and out and you wrote all your bits and pieces all your telephone numbers all your contacts and i used to love my file effects because my life was in there

what happened to it i lost it and then my life ended basically because i didn't have any because i had no backup this is the problem with the non-electronic option is that if you lose it or it goes, you know, it gets burnt by mistake or someone picks it up and chucks it in a bin by mistake. You're screwed, aren't you? You've had it. Oh, dear. Definitely.

Pen and paper, though, for me all day long. Yeah, me too. What do you like? Anyone out there using diaries pens and paper i'm sure there are because i put a notebook on instagram the other day funnily enough because i'd bought a new one i love notebooks you know i've got a fetish for them lovely fresh crisp new notebooks with nice design nice yeah and i put it up and i had loads of people i love notebooks i love stationery i love so it's all still out there yeah definitely it's out there i mean my evie used to be mad at paper chase my good i don't even know if they're still about paper

yeah yeah yeah well literally i mean we'd go somewhere and that would be her thing paper chase a new little books and pens yeah she loved it you know stickers post it that's it yeah yeah yeah get some new pens from paper chase and that was a real she used to love that yeah it was a rule and it wasn't it was a lovely little thing to do but it wasn't really expensive that's right so so so yeah we i think we're and sharon still writes lists copious lists yes all the things she's got to do now mark's a list maker he'll write a list for a list how many lists he's got to make okay i don't write lists it's all up here it's all up here i don yeah. I don't write lists. I'm not a list maker. If you can remember it, great.

Yeah, I try to remember it, but I'm getting old. Well, you're not. Well, I am because I do try and remember stuff. So my lists are normally written on a wall or a bit of plasterboard. Just at home? No, no, at work. Oh, right, yeah. Sorry.

Poor Sharon. Yeah. A living room, room yeah it looks like it's been uh graffitied no not really so um we i will write odd lists at home when i've got really a lot of stuff paperwork to catch up with i will write a list on a bit of paper yeah yeah but normally stuff at work if it's not really important if it's just some stuff to talk to someone about then i'll just write it on a bit of plasterboard or whatever and just cross it off once I've done it and whatever because I can't find my book most of the time.

What are we going to do, eh? I don't know. Get a new book. I'm going to get you a new Final Facts. I bet they do them. I don't. I bet you they still do them. Well, honestly, it used to be, yeah, my life was in there

and it was amazing. Brilliant. Really, really good. And I've not looked, but I think I probably, if they did one, I probably would have one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just because it's tactile. Oh, sorted.

Don't buy yourself one. No, all right. Because Christmas is not far away. Christmas is not far away is it christmas is not far away well if you get me one yeah i'd like a diamond encrusted one with crocodile skin and a really really really expensive mont blanc pen that's all right and then i'm going to sell the pair of them and put put it towards my kitchen all right perfect and on that note if we don't get a move on we're going to miss our dinner.

No, that's true. Yeah, and I'm starving. Come on, let's go and get some dinner. We're off to the pub. Yeah, see you later. See you later. Bye all. Bye.

Hi, this is Chris McCausland. And this is Diane Boswell. And we've got a new podcast, haven't we, Di? We do. What's it called? Winning. Isn't. Everything.

Every week, me and Diane, we're going to be having a little catch up on the back of Strictly, aren't we, Di? We are. I've missed you, Chris. I've missed you, too. We're going to talk some nonsense, so why not tune in? Available everywhere you get your podcasts.