This week, with the clock ticking ever more rapidly, and that festive countdown very much on, we talk about those organised people who, having been ready for Christmas since approximately mid August, like to remind the rest of us about that by asking in faux concerned tones 'And are you all ready for Christmas?', when they know full well the answer is going to be a resounding NO! Jo takes a rather more pragmatic to Christmas and declares one is 'ready' when one is eating cherry liqueur chocolates with your morning coffee, whereas Gill takes on a more panicked approach, not helped by developing a recent obsession with making the 'tension rod garlands' that she saw on Instagram. It's a packed episode though, as Jo learns a lot about hostess trolleys, Gill threatens to cry in the garage with a bottle of Baileys and we discuss why 'Susan' is such an excellent name! Merry Christmas!
This week we are talking about Christmas films, and I think it's safe to say we have some Views on these (how unlike us). We discuss an unusual take on Love Actually, and Gill watches The Holiday for the very first time, and develops an unhealthy obsession with Jude Law's cow, while Jo points out several more practical flaws with his life than his random cow. Jo has some issues with these films from a feminist standpoint, and Gill feebly attempts to argue that mildly objectifying Cary Elwes is also a feminist standpoint...
OK, so we started recording this episode with the very best intentions to talk charmingly about our delightful family Christmas traditions, the importance of traditions, and of creating your own new ones. But somehow, we almost immediately went wildly off topic and starting talking about the times we really did not bring our A game as parents (or maybe we did, depending on how you're looking at it). So if you're feeling a bit Grinchy, a bit Meh, a bit over that elf and his b*starding shelf, and feeling like everyone else is going OTT on the Christmas magic, while you just want a traditional vat of Baileys, this episode is for you!
This week, we come up with LITERALLY the best idea ever, in the form of a club night for menopausal women, including places to sit down, good snacks, and a dress code including slippers, elasticated waists and NO BRAS. Unfortunately, our topic for this week was not 'coming up with an idea for an awesome club night', instead the theme was supposed to be 'Black Friday', to coincide with the upcoming sales madness. We talk about some of our favourite small businesses, and whether you can ever have enough books, or whether we should be trying to find joy in nature, rather than 'things'. And Jo's impending fear of death is not helped by Gill offering to tell her about the time Gill nearly bought a coffin...
This week we received an email from a PR company suggesting a guest for the podcast that got us thinking about the many and varied jobs we've ever had in our lives. This got us thinking how very lucky we are that we are able to sit and chat and drink lovely Laylo wine and call it work, but we have had many jobs in the past that were a great deal less fun, including Gill's stint in PotatoLand and Jo's recent very niche copywriting job. We have some great 'worst jobs ever' from some of you too, and we also touch on the unfortunate fact that Jo's moral fibre seems to be considerably more robust than Gill's...
This week...well, where do we start with the recap? Jo has a distressing Teams call, which may or may not have featured maurading bosoms, Gill is providing a little stability in this chaotic world by taking umbrage at the Patriarchy and then...Jo tells Gill of a practice she has recently become aware of, and it all goes downhill from there! As Jo said in her email to Producer James, we can only apologise...
This week, we're having a general catch up on what's been going on in our lives, including sharing some very exciting news about our new partnership with Laylo wine,. We also chat about Gill's visit to a university open day leading her to be surprised that universities are full of children for some inexplicable reason, Gill's new book Why Mummy Drinks At Christmas, why Jo would be an excellent librarian and Jo's youthful love of what she describes as 'admin based roleplay', and our latest drunken plan to go on a narrowboat holiday...
This week, although we're a little early, we're talking Hallowe'en! Jo loves it, Gill hates it, for she is a Hallowe'en Grinch, as has been mentioned before. We also chat a bit about our irrational fears, including Gill's insistence that her fear of the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow is NOT irrational, and Jo's fear of ... holes...you'll have to listen to find out more about that one!
This week we are talking all things menopause and perimenopause, comparing notes on our HRT, and some of our favourite 'menopausal moments'- except we struggle to remember what they are, because menopause! We also talk about Gill's GP's continuing obsession with offering to prescribe her lube, Jo's vet falls in love with her, and we express some doubt about the 'Manopause'. But most of all, we just wanted to reassure anyone else experiencing the joys of menopause or perimenopause, that you're not alone in this.
This week we are talking hobbies, in a futile attempt to get ourselves a proper Hobby, as we feel that you are not a proper grown up until you have A Hobby. We talk about what qualifies a hobby as a hobby, and Gill is very firm in her views of what is and is not A Good Hobby. Jo shares a non-hobby related wardrobe malfunction which leads us to ponder if starting a very niche Only Fans could count as a hobby, whether sports are a hobby (NO!), and Gill attempts to explain about her favourite 90s hobby based comedy character, Simon Quinlank, King of All Hobbies. Jo remains unconvinced by this.
This week, we are not, alas, discussing scurrilous scandal, but rather the alarming statistics about the large number of people who only wash their towels four times a year! We attempt a highly scientific poll on how often you, our listeners, and Gill and Jo clean things, with occasionally surprising results. Jo shares Chicken Flannel with the nation, and there is a cameo from the International Man of Mystery that is Gill's husband, aka, the Gadget Twat himself...
It's not actually an 'Autumn Edit', unless you count our autumnal cocktails and Jo's blackberry and apple pies, but we are attempting to talk all things autumn, now September is upon us and Jo has betrayed Gill with pumpkin spice lattes, even though regular listeners will know Gill thinks such things are nothing more than a conspiracy by Big Cinnamon. Gill ruins any chance of Starbucks sponsoring the podcast and reveals why her neighbours hate her 'bohemian ways', and Jo shares some very exciting brassiere related news!
This week we've been doing a spot of genealogy and so we're talking families, history and skeletons in the closet. Gill has discovered her ancestors are not who she thought they were at all, and reveals a fairly sordid tale of infidelity and illegitimacy, involving considerable judgement for her newly found great grandfather, and on Jo's side, it's her great grandmother who brings the scandal to the table. Gill also attempts to talk movingly about the unregulated adoption process in the 1920s, but Jo is more interested in musing on whether it would be possible for Monty Don to adopt her...
Hurrah and Huzzah! Another summer is survived, and the schools have returned! We attempt to have a grown up and adult conversation about this, but deviate onto potatoes, pink beds and pastie suppers. Jo shares a tale of the mysterious Oxfam shop Sock Man, Gill explains why she loved her children's nursery teacher more than her children, and we do actually touch slightly on the topic as we turn to the horrors of things found lurking in lunchboxes that have been abandoned for the whole summer, and we share our opinions on such phrases as 'treasure every moment' and 'you only have eighteen precious summers with your children' (I think you can guess what they might be)!
This week it is all about the ROMANCE, because you may not have been aware, but August is National Romance Awareness Month, which is definitely a real thing and not something Gill found when she was randomly googling things looking for inspiration for a topic! So we thought, why not get a little romantic (not like that!) and have a chat about the most and least romantic things that have occurred in our lives. Jo's second hand crispy swimming costume is obviously hard to top, but Gill has tales of pigeons and we have brilliant anecdotes from you, our wonderful listeners too, including bowls of vomit and axes (not in the same story)!
This week we are talking about the dreaded topic of Acting Your Age, or rather our apparent inability to actually do that. Jo shares a truly terrible tale about her recent wheely bin experiences, and Gill, whilst almost too stunned and appalled by the wheely bin scenario to speak, reveals her inappropriate reaction after her recent encounter with a new doctor. We also discuss whether our lack of grown up behaviour is really not on account of our immense immaturity, but is in fact due to a lack of elegant, grown up clothes, and if only we had silk shirts, wide legged trousers and pencil skirts in the wardrobe, instead of Jo's Bin Crocs and Gill's dubious dog walking coat, our lives might be very different...
This week we're talking about Caitlin Moran's newest book 'What About Men?' and her assertations that feminism has 'gone too far' and it is down to women (and more specifically Caitlin Moran) to solve the (very real, often terrible) problems faced by men today. We are unconvinced by any of this, and take some umbrage with many of her statements. Gill conducts some highly scientific research and reflects she may have scarred a man called James for life, and Jo reveals why you should not invite strangers on a train round for dinner. Shockingly, we also find ourselves saying NICE things about men, in a first and possible last for this podcast...
This week we are celebrating the little known holiday of National Etch-A-Sketch Day, and talking about all the toys we wished we'd had as children and never got, like the Mr Frostie we both longed for with all our hearts, and of course, the game to end all games- Mousetrap. We also discuss the favourite toys we did have, and ponder with horror some of the toys now available to small children. Jo also shares her early ambitions to be an estate agent, Gill reveals why Shakespeare performances in Glasgow parks don't really work and our beautiful friendship nearly comes to a terrible end over a Fisher Price Village...
This week, Jo and Gill explore the brave new world of AI- alas, some sterling research about it from Jo results mainly in Gill being very confused about what it’s for and saying ‘but I could do that’. Jo enjoys an AI inspired cocktail and Gill decides it is all too much and just talks about farm animals instead!
This week it is BARGAIN week (what do you mean every week is bargain week on this podcast- rude)! Gill challenges Jo to do a Home Bargains Haul, Jo does not quite enter into it in the spirit Gill had hoped, but she does provide a useful comparison test of Home Bargains mini Echo Falls vs Tesco Garage mini Blossom Hill wines, and we chat about our best bargains over the years, from charity shops to TKMaxx. Then Gill ruins all this wholesome chat at the end by sharing some eye opening new knowledge she has recently discovered...