- Tony wants Helen back home
- David’s already breaking his promise
- The Reichstag … wonderful???
- General is now in a good place
- Wasnae me – it was the coroner!
Tony wants Helen back home
Still in quite an unnervingly Buddha-calm like temper – Helen seems to be coping quite well on her own with Henry.
Helen even joked with Tony about him taking Henry to The Bull the other night:
[Helen] “ … even when Eddie was showing him how to play darts”
[Tony] “That was only for a moment”
However – Helen doesn’t seem to have had an utter personality transplant overnight.
Pat later sounded very exasperated that Helen won’t even let her change henry’s nappy (being over controlling again, trying to prove a point or just a new mum wanting to do everything for her bairn?).
While Tony’s seems to have accepted that Helen has had her baby solo – he sounds to not be entirely convinced that Henry should actually be brought up just with Helen.
[Tony] “Better for Henry to have lots of people … and we are his only grandparents. That makes us doubly important.”
[Pat] “Tony, I agree”
[Tony] “Oh! Right!!!”
(the shock in Tony’s voice that Pat agreed with him was palpable).
However, both agree that it won’t be an easy task to persuade Helen that she should move back to Bridge Farm.
Good luck with that one, folks!
David’s already breaking his promise
Taking time to properly (and genuinely) thank Ruth for everything she’s having to do alone while he is at Lower Loxley, David makes his first slip in telling Ruth that Elizabeth is also aware of the fact that Ruth is having to work her wee socks off.
While is either a lie (Elizabeth has no awareness of anything beyond the doors of Lower Loxley), or is David lying to himself.
Ruth has another go at David about him finally (and firmly) telling Elizabeth to hire a professional manager, which David agrees to do.
However …
Wasnae me – it was the coroner!
… as David tentatively tries to start telling Elizabeth that he and Ruth can no longer cope with the extra workload – and that she must get a professional manager – Elizabeth interrupts David to tell him that she got a letter from the coroner.
The coroner wants to know what dates Elizabeth is free – and has also probably written to David.
[Elizabeth] “it came as a shock – seeing Nigel’s name in cold, hard print”
Oh dear.
So Elizabeth is very upset again, and David can’t tell her that he needs to step back from being of direct support.
What a dilemma.
Keep your wife happy (or at least avoid her dying from exhaustion), and let your very recently bereaved sister down – or chance divorce out of guilt and familial love.
Hmmm. Don’t think that’s once that can be answered anytime soon.
The Reichstag … wonderful???
Tony gets a text from Tom – who has just arrived in Berlin for his joint 30th birthday treat with Brenda.
[Tony] “(They’re) apparently in a taxi driving past the Reichstag”
[Pat] “Really? That’s wonderful!”
It might just have been me, but Pat’s enthusiasm for the Reichstag felt a bit odd.
Something we don’t know about???
General is now in a good place
Reported David to Elizabeth.
I am glad.
Any bull that lets a child ride his back deserves all nice things to happen.
- Now David is ignoring Pip’s birthday present
- “I don’t want anyone else sitting in Daddy’s chair”
- Is that a Sparrowhawk or a Kestrel?
- Fox poisoned or shot?
- Was Elizabeth aware of the bull riding?
- How long will Ruth go on?
Now David is ignoring Pip’s birthday present
Ever loyal to her dad, I don’t think Pip would mind if he didn’t get her birthday present. Even though it is a car.
But Ruth isn’t letting it go. She’s pushing David to do as he promised and find Pip a car.
[David] “And I will, but not this morning, okay”
[Ruth] “No … I’m not having you ignoring that, along with everything else”
[David] “I’ll do it this evening”
[David] “No … just for once, can you give priority to your own family”
[David] “Ruth, you know what I am having to do”
[Ruth] “Yes, and I fully support it, but not at the expense of your OWN CHILDREN”
[David] “I’d never do that”
But you kinda are, aren’t you David?
Ruth’s making a big deal about Pip’s birthday because Pip’s been doing so much to keep the farm going in David’s absence. So Ruth wants to show her that they’re just as committed to her, as she is to Brookfield.
But there’s more to it than just rewarding Pip. Ruth really isn’t a happy bunny.
She’s even starting to blame Elizabeth for not realising the stress she’s putting David to.
But David need not worry his head about Pip’s present.
[Kenton] “Leave it with me squire, honest Kenton will see you right”
“I don’t want anyone else sitting in Daddy’s chair”
So says Lily.
Having a chat about the Trustees Meeting tomorrow, while wandering through the countryside, Kenton’s trying to reassure Freddie and Lily (and Elizabeth) that the Trustees are there to help Elizabeth. Not kick them out, or replace Nigel.
How scary must it be having other folks have such a huge say in your life?
Comes with being Landed Gentry, one supposes.
Is that a Sparrowhawk or a Kestrel?
A Kestrel. So poor Kenton was wrong (bless him for trying to be au natural!).
Fox poisoned or shot?
[Lily] “On the outside he looked really beautiful, but underneath he was all rotten”
There’s no sign of any wound, so it could have been poisoning. Or just old age.
Either way, Freddie is quite right that:
[Freddie] “You can’t give the kiss of life to a fox”
Though I’d add ‘unless you’re on very intimate terms’.
Was Elizabeth aware of the bull riding?
It didn’t seem so – but she didn’t seemed that bothered to hear Freddie reveal that Nigel used to let him rider General Custard.
Actually, Freddie generally sounded quite interested in the estate, from foxes, to bulls, to pheasants (Jennifer’s pheasants, by the by).
Maybe that’s where his talents will be found.
How long will Ruth go on?
[Pip on David helping at Lower Loxley] “Good old dad”
[Ruth] “He’s making it all very difficult here, though”
(which is when Ruth said that she needs “someone, that’s for sure”)
Is it just me, or could David do a better job at explaining to Ruth why he’s so driven to support Elizabeth?
As he says to Kenton:
“I can’t just walk out and leave her to it … not until I’m sure she’s got the proper help in place”
All Ruth’s left with is no David, half-finished jobs and lambing about to happen.
She does manage to get Eddie for a few extra nights, but it still doesn’t seem to be enough.
Despite spotting that David has arrived home (early) with a stack of Lower Loxley books to work on:
[Ruth] “Well done, you’re back just in time for the milking”
(if there was ever a hook into an argument, there was one!)
David slips off to do yet more work on the ‘Ryder meeting’, leaving Ruth to do the milking alone. Again.
[Pip] “Once we get the lambing out of the way, we’ll probably get back to normal”
Ruth didn’t sound so sure. And wondered aloud how long she could go on working like this.
I wonder if David will notice in time.
He didn’t even notice that Ruth had beef in, rather than frozen pizza …