Life with Nat - EP61: Correspondence ep

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

Nat and Em have a gentle Monday catch up with weird food tasting, a chat with lovely Bex our loyal listener and talk decorating. We hope you 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

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Visit BetterHelp.com today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com. Hello, how are you? All right, thanks. How are you? Yeah, I yeah i'm good you know what i've forgotten to do this morning though oh what have you oh it's being announced guess who's on the christmas bake-off special oh lovely stuff but they asked me to put a little picture up, which I've forgotten to do. So I really need to do it. I feel a bit bad.

All right. Do that now. So just a sec. I mean, it's easy peasy. It's a great photo. It's of myself, my on-screen brother, Dean Gaffney, the lovely Sherry Murphy, Shobhna Gulati, and Chris Bisson. Bake Off Christmas special 2025.

No, 24. Yeah, a bit eager. A little bit eager. 2024. Wait until you see this. An honour to be a part of. Christmas tree emoji, cake emoji. Do, do, do, do.

Do, do, do, do. Do, do. Post done. Before we get into the bake-off chat we decided that we were going to honor a couple of our weird food combo conversations that we had a little while ago yes we said we would we didn't yet and we have well you have and i'm about to yes how was jam and marmite on toast was there a layer of butter? There was butter. Oh, yeah.

Butter. Standard butter toast. Yeah. Then, yeah, I did a really thin amount of Marmite and then a thin strawberry layer. Yeah. It was all right. It wasn't, but it wasn't exciting. It wasn't like interesting enough to be like, oh, this is my thing now. This is amazing and I'm going to do it all the time.

Maybe I needed to do more Marmite or, you know, I've got a bit of both. It did look a bit thinly spread. I didn't have any dark chocolate digestives. Okay. Now, I know, I understand what a digestive will do to enhance this snack. But what I've done is I've gone for a Jacob's cracker. Okay. With loads of butter on.

Because the digestive is very, very buttery. I haven't got the crumble. I understand that. But we've gone for a thick buttered Jacob's cracker. A very, very tangy Cornish Crunch of Cheese with dark chocolate on top. Okay. Okay.

You're doing it as a sandwich, yeah? I'm doing it as a sandwich. Crackers on both sides? Oh, a bit of chocolate's falling out. But let's have a go, yeah? I understand. It's not the same, but it's not bad, is it? Close, close.

Bottoms up. I'll probably mute out some of the crunchiest of crunching. I understand. It's not the same, but it's not bad, is it? Close, close. Bottoms up. Ugh. I'll probably mute out some of the crunchiest of crunching because that tends to upset all listeners. Okay, how's it tasting? It's really good. Is it? Okay. And...

Interesting. With that, with a digestive digestive biscuit I understand it Okay So I will be doing that Lovely So then she's just Little square of chocolate Square of cheese

Straight in Gorgeous Okay Alright I'm going to give it a go I've got some dark chocolate in Yeah I have And I've some cheddar Alright

I might Give a bit ago this afternoon. Lovely. Lovely. Alright. That's one thing we've promised to do that we've done. I do feel like I make a lot of empty promises. It's tricky, isn't it?

It's just time. There's so much to do. And every time I think that I've got time to concentrate, I haven't got any time. I promise the listeners, soon. Soon I'm going to have time to do a lot of things. So it'll be good. It'll be good.

But yeah, so the announcement of the Great British Bake Off Soap Christmas Special is out today. Amazing. It was brilliant. Can't wait to see it. Can't wait to see it. Stepping into that tent is mad. Yeah.

Crazy. It's like being in a cheese dream. A cheese and dark chocolate dream? Yeah. Oh, it's scutting. It's too late to pan no chocolate with cheese in it. There was no Jacob's Cracker sandwiches. That's all I'm going to say.

No spoilers. But what an honour to be asked. And what a fantastic time we had. And all I'm going to say to you is Dean Gaffney in the Bake Off. It's comedy gold. Okay. Lovely. Comedy gold.

Amazing. But yeah, it was absolutely brilliant. And I've chucked a little picture on Instagram of all of us together. All very Christmassy. And yeah, it was a really lovely job to do. And I've been itching to talk about it. So it's nice. It's out now.

Oh, I can't wait to see it. Nothing more Christmassy than a bit of a... It's the thought of when you're in the tent and you have Noel and Alison and Paul and Prue are chatting to you, you do feel like you're in Madame Tussauds and they've all woken up bit surreal very very surreal because you're in the telly box plenty of time i know i am but

i'm not different vibe different different vibe different world people that i watch all the time and have done for a very long time and a show that I really like. And to then go, oh, there you go, pop yourself in there. Very strange. Because Joanie did it, right? Eliza. Eliza. So Eliza did it though, right? But then that would have been, was that Harry Hill?

I didn't even go. I wasn't there because I was working. You didn't even go? No. No. So this is it now. It's the family legacy working the other way around. I wasn't there because I was working. You didn't even go? No. No. So this is it now. It's the family legacy working the other way around. I know.

Yeah. And there was a pressure. There was a pressure. She was mentioned. Oh, okay. She was mentioned. Was she coaching you beforehand? No, didn't help me one squirt.

Oh, well. She helped me a little bit with something, but it did take some time, but I'm really begging her to help me. Please, Eliza. You know, her love for baking went after that show. And that isn't because she doesn't love cooking and baking. You have to do so much prep when you're on the proper one.

Burn it out. She was burnt out by it. So I think she'll discover it again. And when she did help me, it was brilliant. So hopefully. But it's one of those shows, really looking forward to watching it with all the family. And because they cut it together so well, don't they?

There's so much going on throughout all of the bakes. You don't know what they're going to use. So it isn't something that you go, oh yeah, I remember doing that. I know what it will look like. You have no idea what they're going to use so it isn't something that you go oh yeah i remember doing that i know i know what it'll look like you have no idea what they're going to use so it's you know it'll be really fresh for me as well to sit and watch it it seems like so intense as well that you'd literally uh in those bake-off tents um but it's a bit of a fever dream completely anyway so yeah how much of it you remember not much absolutely exactly and it's

whizzing around and time is of the essence and you know what i mean very very good very interesting and just great fun really i just love doing jobs that are fun yeah and it's all for charity which is amazing as well that's just the cherry on the cake i mean some of these phrases that i'm coming out with are just amazing aren't they okay yeah here we go stick that in the oven no it doesn't not really no did you win no spoilers no spoilers go on tell us no no no no i'm not saying any more about it apart apart from the fact that I'm thrilled. So there you go. Love it.

No, that was good, that cracker and dark chocolate, but I understand the digestive. I completely get it because you'll have a sweetness to it and a crumble, which is very important. Substantial. More substantial than a cream cracker. Yeah. I'm cream crackered.

Well, busy, busy as always. I'm always busy. I can't even, you know what's really annoying me? That I can't talk about stuff. So I've had quite a few messages. I put a little message out on Instagram to say, well, we were doing one today for Monday. And I've got some lovely little questions we can go through. But a lot of people, when are you coming back to EastEnders or are you coming back and what you're up to?

I can't talk about EastEnders on here. It's just the way it is. And I'm sorry about that. Maybe one day that will change. But at the moment, you know, it spoils things. Am I coming back? Am I not coming back? You don't want to know that.

You don't want to know if Sonia's coming out of prison. I do. Tell me. No. No. But you know what I mean? No, it's, yeah, yeah. But I'm busy with lots of different things and I do feel a bit tired.

I had a bit of a wobble the day before yesterday that I wanted to talk about. And I know we're all fun and games on here, but I had a real day of panic, a panic about what I'm up to, the choices I'm making, are people still listening to the pod is it any good just a real career fear career fear one of my friends named it that which I liked but career fear and I think it's important to talk about those moments because we can all talk about the times when it's great. But I just felt really, you know, quite panicked. Anxious.

Really anxious about everything. And do you know what? The next day I woke up absolutely fine. Completely gone. It was just that kind of 12 hour period where I thought, am I doing all the right things? Should I be making the choices I'm making? Are the things I'm doing good enough? And yeah, I just, I'm interested to hear, you know, other people's career fear. If you want to let us know, 07788 201919. I also think it's this time

of year. I didn't realise, I love the winter and I love the dark nights, etc. I enjoy the change of seasons. I really enjoy that. And my excitement building up towards the festive period is, you know me I'm more tired I want to be inside you know I feel like I could really become just quite reclusive I just want to be in quiet family not going out and when that's not possible because of your what you're up to and the things that you need to do to earn your money and just things you have to do for life i've um yeah i found that a bit tough yeah and uh we've just had a full moon and all of that as well i know you're a little look into that a little bit but yeah i get exactly the same i get i get quite affected by the seasons and beautiful when it's raining and it's cozy and you're at home yeah lovely it's beautiful when it's snowy and you're cozy at home beautiful yeah but if you have to be out and about and you have

to be up before the sun and back after working all day by the sun and you're not out you're not able to enjoy any of it then it's not it's it's really stressful and it's it can really mess with you i don't think i i don't think i've got um sad i don't think i've got sad because i i i love the winter i'm looking forward to the winter i just think it it is that bit of sunlight that we need is so important to try and get out whilst we've got it even if it's for half hour and try and soak up a little bit of that daylight and it is when you're going out really early in the morning and you're coming back in the dark going out in the dark in a studio all day wherever that may be that is quite hard actually and I do think our bodies just oh it drains you a little

bit yeah and it's a tricky thing i i found actually i've spent a lot of time just in my flat this week i haven't i don't think i've been out much at all oh i'm jealous but it's a sort of vicious cycle where i don't want to leave because i'm sort, but it'd be really good for me to get out. You get a bit stir crazy and I really should. After this recording, I think I might just need to go for a little walk. Just go out. Even if it's for 15 minutes, it'll make you feel better.

Yeah. A bit of fresh air. It would be good. I just, yeah, I just, then you overbuild it in your brain and yeah, it's really difficult.

Well, it's the thought of doing things that are always worse,'t they yeah than actually doing it yeah age-old thing no matter what that is i have jumped into a couple of weeks ago i thought right that's it i'm not happy with the girls bedrooms coming up to christmas i've got a matt the painter here decorator and decorator zone eliza and joanie their bedrooms are being decorated i'm having lovely i'm having some bits and pieces done have they got to pick did you get them of the year what's their inspiration no not really no no no I'm going white all over. I know that's boring.

But if there are any marks made, it's easy to, you know, gloss over. So, yeah. But everything, you know, there's carpets going down. And when's that going to be done? And I think everything will be done by about the 10th of December. It's quite close to Christmas though, isn't it? It's all right. It'll be fine.

It'll be all right. I'll tell you who we haven't spoken to for ages and I thought it'd be nice to catch up because we voice note now quite regularly, you know, once every fortnight or whatever and she'll comment on the pod and that is my bex reg as i've got her in my phone so um i thought we could um get her up and have a little

chat she's been through some shit so i think we need to catch up oh hello how are you all right you yeah good um what are you munching on, do you remember the weird food combo app? Oh, yeah. I didn't have a digestive, dark chocolate digestive, so I used a Jacob's Cracker, dark chocolate, butter and cheese. How's it going? It's really nice, but I can't keep eating. It's really bad to eat on a pod, but I'm starving.

Especially crackers. I know, yeah, really bad um your hair looks nice i washed it this morning you know when you've gone four days you just think i've just got to wash my hair you look a bit like olivia coleman i'll get out of here you do well my son informed me that with these glasses and i look look like Prue from The Bake Off. Oh, they are quite Prue. They are quite a bit Prue, aren't they? Have you seen my news?

No, are you going to be on it? Can you believe that? What a little link in. People won't believe it. They'll think we've made it up. All set up. If you go onto my Instagram, Bex, you'll see a little photo and I am doing the christmas special soap special amazing all for charity so do they tell you in advance what you've got to make you have a little prep no comment i don't think you're definitely not you're not allowed to it's the format the same

though you still have the technical and everything don't you yeah um but it's all squashed into one day but it's brilliant. Yeah. And it's not squashed. That's exciting. No, it was a couple of days. Two days. It was a couple of days. Is that not how they normally do the episodes?

Yeah. Yeah. Like you get technical, the challenge and the technical one on one day. And then the showstopper. The next day for showstopper. Yeah. Yeah. Because that's about four hours in it, four or five hours.

But it was really good fun. I was just telling it's exciting yeah yeah yeah it's good i mean yeah funny i mean i'd just be excited to use all that kitchen equipment yes have someone else washing up as well that's the problem in my kitchen i just i don't feel i know about all the stress i'm gonna have to have to clean up, so I don't bother. Yeah, you see, I usually clean as I go. Most things I am quite methodical and I clean as I go. But when you're in there, you don't clean as you go. I've never ever been so messy.

What about did you see last week when Alison fell off the counter? Oh, I haven't seen it yet, no. You need to watch it. It's the funniest thing brilliant I will do she's iconic isn't she she's great she's fantastic absolutely brilliant yeah now we've been voice noting every now and again I don't know how interesting this is for anyone else but I want to know what the hell has happened to your house. Oh, okay. Because we were talking about the stresses of Christmas and the lead up and how we all love everything to be perfect.

Even down to, you know, I'll clean, I'll get the oven man in to clean all the oven, even though I'm going to cook the most messiest meal of the year. You like everything pristine for Christmas. Yeah, you clean your fridgeistine for christmas yeah you clean your fridge you clean yeah and then what happened what's happened well so separate to that we decided we were going to decorate our what like our family room games room um so we had we moved everything out of there into the living room which already is a stress you've got everything where it shouldn't be yeah um and then there was a patch of water on the hallway floor near the bathroom

and my husband actually tried to blame the dog said the dog had you know had a little wee there so it's not the dog he wouldn't do that anyway the next day the water was still there after cleaning it up so that's definitely not the dog because that would have disappeared you know the wetness yeah anyway on investigation as it turns out we've had a leak that's been leaking for some time gradually dripping but it's gone we've got underfloor heating oh no so basically the whole floor is in the whole bathroom and into the hallway is saturated so when my husband lifted the floor up it was just wet oh no but because it's been a slow leak it sort of penetrated under and out rather than you know being obvious straight away

uh so yeah the we had a guy come out from the insurance company who said that it's all got to be stripped like the walls have got to be taken up and everything for them to put these dryers in which could take between two weeks and two months before we can redo the bathroom i mean we're gonna have to have a whole new bathroom oh my so your floor is going to be fully up for christmas yeah i mean i'm fortunate we do have another bathroom it is in a part of the house where i can shut it off so you know that is okay yeah that is good that is good but it's still stressful isn't it yeah when you want to get you know it is at the moment the bathroom is in the hallway where i would put my second christmas tree that ain't going up do you know what i mean i do know what

you mean but you know what us us folk who do have second christmas trees are quite lucky yes yeah and as i said that i did appreciate that I know because I do I've got the first one I have to say hopefully I did that and I said someone at work oh it's just so stressful you know I want to put my decorations up at the weekend but if I put up all my free trees and they just looked at me I thought I'm going to shut up here actually because I shouldn't be stressed I shouldn't be stressed. I shouldn't be stressed. I should be jumping for joy. Although that is the one that goes in there is the one that I let my son do.

So I'm OK with that because it's not the one that looks practically perfect in every way. I've succumbed to Joanie helping me with the main tree purely because she has the joy that I have for Christmas. So this week, we've probably got probably two bookshelves in our bedroom, which are all Christmas books. And I said this week, I know it's early. It's time. It's time. Let's start reading some Christmas stories and we can repeat them. She was so excited.

And I don't feel Eliziza was ever like that she's excited for christmas but joni's got the passion of it that i have and i'm so excited about it and when i mentioned possibly getting some decks out and doing a tree so mommy can i help you can i help you really wanted to and i thought i'm not gonna fuss this I'm not gonna fuss and fight and say don't put this here and don't do that I don't know I don't want to knock any of this joy that she has for it out of her no but if she's got that passion and as she's getting older it's probably gonna look okay as well yeah yeah well I'll let you know I'll take a photo over the window yeah you'll be moving it when she's gone to bed yeah you're only giving her access to her like a color-coded you know yeah of

tree decorations anyway then it's all it'll work yeah that's true i mean they do go in the same place every year so by memory she should get it right you know trained what christmas book did you start on reading then oh what was the first one so it was a couple of nights ago now we did edgar do you remember the john lewis advert yes that was a little while ago with the dragon yeah so we did the edgar story and we also did one of my favorites nicholas allen father christmas needs a wee which i Christmas Needs a We, which I highly recommend. But my favourite story is Jesus's Christmas Party. Oh, okay. And it's absolutely fantastic. These are quite young for Joanie.

You know, they're still pictory type books, but she loves them. Yeah, but they still like it, don't they? And it's brilliant because it's a guy in the inn. It's the innkeeper. The door knocks on the door and there's two people standing there like, is there any room? He's like, not really. And they said, well, we really need somewhere to stay. And he's like, yeah, around the back in the manger.

And then they knock on the door again and he gets out of bed and he stomps down the stairs. And it's the whole story. But it's all really grumpy innkeeper and Jesus being born. But it's very good, very well illustrated and highly recommend it to people. Nicholas Allen, Jesus's Christmas Party. I think one of ours was The Jolly Postman. Oh, it's a great book. With the little envelopes inside

and the little things that you do. Yeah, really, really good. Have you started on the Christmas stories? Not yet. I mean, I've got an 11 year old who's boy who's a bit oh no yeah no i don't know yeah i think it'd be quite weird if you said to me that we've cracked open the christmas jolly postman we've had that whole you know discussion this year ah say no more say no more yeah you know we're keeping the magic alive though absolutely and with the um said said magic that fades the new magic is perfect and it's great

absolutely yeah because you know with eliza she loves she loves it and there's different traditions now and you know what i mean she loves she loves it and there's different traditions now and you know what i mean she loves it for all different reasons um but it still breaks my heart so let's not talk about it no let's not let's not i mean my mum the same as you were talking to um auntie linnie the other day my mum did me a stocking until i was well in my 20s i know but the auntie linnie's kids are now in their late 30s and she's still cracking out large stockings. I know

I'll be the same. Large? Not just a little? No, they're really quite large and she has to fill them up. Bless her. But we are, we do, you know, it's nice, isn't it? It's all good. The only thing I've bought is for Auntie Lily. I've not bought anything. Have I? Oh no, I've bought Eliza

something but she's at the age now where she's just sending stuff over here's a link here's a link and it does annoy me a little but better to get what you need and what you really want isn't it yeah what are you doing for 11 year old boy this year because that's hard yeah um well fortunately he's just found a love for fishing amazing so in october half term he went on like a tuition day with a guy as well and this guy has given me a list of the basic you know beginners because it's a minefield obviously so i've got a list that we're working what What is it? What fishing is it? Oh, it's basic. Well, one was he did with... Angling.

I don't know the term. Yes. But, you know, it was like he used a rod and a reel, but he also used what they call a whip. Right, okay. I don't know. I'd have to ask Tony. My brother is a fisherman.

But he just gave me a basic equipment stuff, which is, you know, if he wants to just go down the river and put a rod in, he's got all the bits and bobs he needs. That's nice. That's really good. so i've got stuff to work on which is great because i can also tell because everyone then asks you as well don't they what can i get you know yeah that's good maggots yeah maggots yeah maggot boxes maggot boxes i remember um my brother tony in his bedroom when i was very very small obviously because we only lived together for a little short period of time, he one day had not put the lid on the boxes of maggots

and the two pairs of yellow curtains were black with blue bottles. Oh! I remember it very, very well. I can remember one getting left in our garage when we were kids and opening the lid and all these blue bottles coming out. It's all weird, that, isn't it? Yeah. Very strange how that all works.

Yeah. So the fishing is a big thing, yeah, at the moment. Yeah. So that's good. That is good. That's really good. Anything that you want for christmas emma i just get everything i need when i need it i know at the moment my shopping list is full of

like diy stuff and getting because i'm still and i've put this up behind me this pegboard thing and above these shelves i've put made i've put up okay that's just very good very organised look at the containers all organised there I know but that's that's the most organised bit of the whole flat at the moment

is just this corner the rest is chaos there's so much still to do so no I'm not I'm not very good at any of that

waiting for things that I want I just get it and I like that yeah and you think of things don't you and then when someone actually asks you you can't actually think of all those things that you thought I just get it and I like that yeah and you think of things don't you and then when someone actually asks you you can't actually think of all those things that you thought of that's right or when you see them in the shop and you think that would make a nice gift

people say I'm really difficult to buy for and I completely disagree maybe I am I don't know but I'm really happy and I know it's boring but genuinely I love a hand wash I love a candle yeah i'm really i think i'm easy but people don't seem to think so i sent you a link for a lush ham oh yes you have thank you so i don't think i've got that smell i haven't even opened it yet been so busy no that's fine i know you're a busy lady oh that's all right oh no that's good i will have a little look what does mark always nail it with presents then, or is he quite good? Yes.

He needs some guidance. Right. But he is good. We were discussing it in bed last night, actually, because he said, oh, you said you want this. And I said, do we need to buy a present for each other? Why don't we just fill up a little stocking each with a few bits? We don't really need to buy each other a present it really isn't necessary no i say that to my husband every year and he goes

no no we're buying presents is he good is he good yeah he is quite good to be fair yeah that's good we're not doing presents in the family i think i think we did like a secret santa type one yes last year yeah last couple of years but it still then still then kind of overshoots the the price bracket and all of that this is the first year i'm in a new relationship so i'm gonna have to do figure out a present for him chocolate body spread too much i mean i went to costco the other the other week and got us both massive Nutella jars. Well, there you go. You've done it already.

That's a start. Sorted. Double, double bubble. Yeah. Tricky. Tricky. Because I just get things. I get little presents and stuff for all the time.

All the time. Yeah, yeah. I know. It's funny, isn't it? Now at this time of year, you do automatically divert to Christmas conversation because I'm, I am really doing my utmost to not do that because I know there are a lot of people who don't like talking about Christmas this early, but it is only five weeks, five, six weeks away now.

Yeah. I had a few people moan about my door. Did you see my door display? Oh, it's so good. So much fun. I had a few moaners. Because it was too early. It's November.

It's too early. I don't want to be seeing this. Which, fair's fair, but nice, isn't it? Perks it up. It's great. It's nice when you want to get the most out of it don't you well that's it that's the other thing it takes so much effort and expense it's you want it up for a little while to enjoy and i genuinely when i get home and it's dark and those lights are on

i am like a child it lights me up and it makes me excited like a little child yeah incredible yeah and then how long uh how long do you tend to leave stuff up after christmas that's the thing ah now i'd have all mine down on boxing day so would i really okay i'd go early but then that's it i'm done get it get it cleared up front load front load the month yeah that's it, I'm done, get it cleared up. Front load, front load the month. Yeah, that's fair enough. Very, very much the same, but I've got much better now at kind of doing the tradition, 2nd of Jan really, and keeping it up for New Year's Eve and then getting it down New Year's Day 2nd.

Yeah, I might do that this year because I think we have got a few people over New Year's Eve, so that might be. Yeah, keep it up. It is nice and it's a lot of effort getting it all up so yeah i'm going to enjoy it i'm going to enjoy it you're having a tree you have a nice tree this year m yeah i was just thinking where would i put my first christmas tree let alone the second one um oh yeah i've got oh yeah again i'm looking into the room thinking there's not really i've yeah there's a space that i was sort of currently a cat scratching posters that that probably could go but yeah that's it's tricky it's tricky i've got to figure that out that's all in the shed at

the moment the christmas tree i've got all the stuff yeah good yeah um you can always find room for that for a couple of weeks yeah exactly i'll make that happen that'll go somewhere but yeah you'll make it work done you will make it work i think it does depend isn't it if you're at home or if you're out for christmas or whatever doesn't it how much you go for it if you've got people coming over absolutely it was like Elsie the other day because she usually has a um Christmas tree in the kitchen one in the lounge but now baby's here she's spending loads of time in the lounge not a lot time in the kitchen she said I'm not sure if I'm even going to put the one up in the kitchen

she probably will end up doing it but you you know things change times change the way you use your space changes i don't think i'm going to put one up in the playroom like play area which used to be my dad's annex you know and now i use that for the kids but we're not in there no one's in there and if i do have guests over the christmas period i might chuck a double mattress in there and they won't want a tree in there poking them in the face when they're asleep do you know what i mean yeah not needed no the needles aren't needed are you going for real trees real trees no because i put them up so early if i had if i had a real one it would be dead and sad by christmas day we stopped having a real one real one. We put a real one up one year. We went to Lapland a couple of years ago and we came home on the 23rd

and the tree was like, it had no needles left. It just looked awful. And I was like, that is the last. The ghost of Christmas past. Well, because we've got underfloor heating, so you have to water it every day because it soaks the water up.

Not at the moment, you haven't. Not at the moment, no. Thank goodness for a wood burner oh i'm missing so yeah we've got artificial now the tree goes straight into the wood burner this year yeah skip skip the drying out phase my main tree my main tree is i moved into my flat i think i was 18 41 what's that help me 33 23 23 23 it's 20 it's over 20 years old my main tree and it had all of the little lights on it like you get now. But it had about 50,000 connectors because it was that long ago. Not just a plug, you know, or three little bits to a middle bottom. It stopped working, bits of it.

I said, I've got to chuck it away. I've got to chuck it away. This is now going back probably eight years. And Mark, being Mark, said, no, it's a really good tree, which it is. And he cut all of the wires and all of the electricals off of it and stripped it all of those his hands were cut to pieces i remember but he did it for me and now we just put lights on it and it's lasted a lot i mean it was a lot of money but for use for you know to how much much it costs. What's that for saying? Cost per use?

Cost per use, yeah. Cost per wear, cost per use. Cost per wear, it's been amazing. And I really wanted to get a new one this year because I hate winding the lights on. You need loads and loads of lights for it. But I thought I'm going to do one more year, one more year of it, and then I'll give it away to someone. You won't want to part with it.

I think I will, actually. Are you ready? The lights drive me nuts. Even now thinking about promising Joni to do that at the weekend, I'm thinking, do I really want to do that? It's the lights. It's a nightmare. You'll get it all out and it'll be like, oh.

Yeah, that could happen. Anyway, there you go. It'll be good. Get a bit of Christmas music on. Bailey's in hand. Yeah. It'll be fine. When are you doing yours?

When did you say? Well, I'm away next weekend, so probably the weekend after, last weekend of November. Yeah, nice. That's good. Yeah. And because my son goes to his dad's every other weekend i have to time it so it's a weekend that he's here because he obviously wants to be

part of it of course oh bless him good yeah all right well look really lovely to chat to you i just want to say oh we'll be fine because the house thing sounded very stressful it's lovely to see you it'll be fine yeah And I'll have a new bathroom. Let's be positive. That's it. New bathroom. Very good. I don't think you needed to go to the effort that you have to get an insurance job.

But you said you've got, you've insured. Most of it's going to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's the thing about the time. You're just waiting, you know, for them to approve the next bit and the next bit. Of course. But that's fine. It's all okay.

That's good. No, that's really, really good. It could have been worse worse there's always someone worse off so just remember absolutely good yeah so don't worry about the second christmas tree no skip straight to your third christmas tree yeah just do one and three maybe four as well but yeah just leave number two out this year you'll be all right emma thinks we're assholes becks no yeah i can tell she don't even know where she's gonna put one i've got a tiny little desk one i'll put yeah pop a little desk one on they do some cute ones in a little pot yeah tiny little white white desk ones the ones that plug into like a usb in your computer don't they yeah well my flat's a little bit bigger than that hopefully or you could just get a quick

one of those felt christmas tree hats and just wear that when you're at home oh sorted that's better isn't it for space yeah yeah there you go exactly i'll be the christmas tree this year yeah yeah we'll wear that for the whole of december yeah the whole of it and you're not allowed to take it off at any point um bex could you do me a favor and could you text me your address please as well because i need to send you a christmas card thank you oh thanks love all right lovely all right talk to you really soon i look forward to more christmas chat on the pod there it's all coming it's just the beginning floodgates we haven't touched the sides no all right take care all right take care see you later bye see you bye bye darling ah she's great isn't she yeah what a what a nightmare just up to christmas as well

like as much as it's you know hopefully it'll be sorted in time is the having work works people handy people traipsing in and out while i think yeah not only the cold but i think it's that kind of when it is water damage and stuff like that that's horrid it's not it's not a choice is it it's not out of choice like me saying oh we'll paint a couple of rooms and do whatever but you you know, it's fine. I've had some really nice messages about today. I've had a lovely message here from Claire H. She said, hi Nat, you wanted conversations for Monday's pod. Now the gist of her question is this, when you're getting in the shower, do you actively wash your feet with soap or do you have a shower and think your feet are being washed just because you're in the shower and the water's running i wash my feet uh mostly yes but like sometimes

they just seem fine and it's enough i feel i don't know yeah fair enough i don't I'm not saying that I wash them every time with soap and a sponge, but I would say most of the time. If I'm one of those, jumping in the shower, I'm going to be 10 minutes, I don't wash my feet. Yes. Prioritise the bits people are going to be looking at most. Yeah, and the smelly bits. And the bits.

Oh, yeah. You know know your bits yeah but i hope that answers your question claire and yeah it's a very good question answers on a postcard oh double seven double eight 2019 19 let us know what you think i mean i've already had this people are disgusted with the fact that i don't wash all the time. But I do. It's the thought of having, my point is, if I have a shower the night before, a lovely long shower, then I get up, I go to work. If I'm not doing anything that night and I want to have a shower fresh for the next day at work, then I'll wait. Yeah, I wasn't on that and I'm no even further down the road

into the what people will think is disgusting than you I think I'm oh no my what's that

go on I'm listening go on oh oh yeah I just I won't I'm not an everyday shower what

I'm a every couple of days even sometimes longer. No. Only when you're ill. Oh, wow. Can be. It depends.

I've got very sensitive skin. I had incredibly bad eczema as a kid, and I find it really ends up causing a lot of eczema rashes. Fair enough. Fair enough. Fair enough. My hair just doesn't always need it. No, I understand. But then, yeah. So I'm, I'm a, and I haven't got like a physical job.

I'll sort of be at home on my own, just sort of at a computer. No, I get it. I understand. But yeah, it's weird for people that are used to showering daily or multiple times a day. There's plenty of people. Lots of people do. I'm not. I had a funny old message here.

People at Fifi has got confused. I'm sorry, Fifi. I've listened to your podcasts with Tony and Auntie Linny, and I thought they were married. So please, who is who in your family? So before we go, let's have a very, very, very quick recap. My mum and dad had Tony and David. I came along when David was 18 and Tony was 15. Then I was born. David got married to Linda and they had Maria, Elia and Dominic, who you're yet to see, but you will do. Tony and I lived together for a very short while. Between the ages of five, until I was about five or six, I actually lived with my brother, Tony. David, not much, if at all. Tony then married Sharon

and Tony and Sharon have my nephew, James, and my niece, Evie May. Again, who you've yet to hear, but you will do. And really, that's it. Tony and Sharon, David and Linda. You've not heard my brother David yet either. We've met Sharon. You haven't. We've met Sharon? No. Who else have we met then?

You've met Annalisa, Dominic's wife. Annalisa. Okay, so that's Dominic's wife. Elliot and Maria's brother's wife. Elliot and Maria's sister-in-law. Cool, yes. Yes. We've heard of Evie May because she played the harp.

Correct. But Evie hasn't been on and James hasn't been on. Tony's children. Okay. Yeah, I get confused. Sometimes I get the D names confused when there's a David and a Dominic. David's son is Dominic. Lovely.

Okay. And Dominic the donkey is a song from Christmas. He's not my nephew. Dominic isn't a donkey. Dominic isn't a donkey. But Dominic the donkey is a good song for Christmas. Yes. But he's not my nephew.

And I haven't got any donkeys who are family members. No, not none of them. Not that I know of. Okay. All right. Well. So yeah, that's it really.

That's about that. That's a big old present buying list. If you're doing Christmas for everyone It sure is And I ain't even gone into the babies yet All the little kids Because we have Amelia, Ruby, Alfie, Baby James, Eliza, Joni Yeah, there's a lot of little squirts

To buy for. Little kids running about. Yeah. Driving us all mad. But we love it, really. Right, and on that note, I need to go because I've got to go and get the little one from school. Lovely.

Love you. Love you lots. Sorry, I'm still munching away on my cheese and chocolate crackers. She's gone back in for another... She was going to say goodbye. She was going to do the special roundup. I was going to do it. Thank you, everybody.

Have a great week. I hope you're all good. Could you send me pictures of your Christmas decorations once you're starting to get them up? Let us know if you enjoyed today's pod. I'm still eating. Hang on. Let us know if you've enjoyed today's pod please tell your friends to listen

and subscribe, make sure you've subscribed and leave a review love you, love you loads and speak to you on Thursday thanks Em, thank you bye love, bye 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.