All Creatures Great And Small (2021) - General Discussion

[Driad]

Some farm equipment company had a sign: "We stand behind everything we sell, except our manure spreaders."

Were there agricultural extension agents in Britain in the 1930s?  If this were set in the US, I would expect the local agent to show up or at least be mentioned.

[Blergh]

Speaking of boot deep. ..

I thought it was a bit ludicrous for James to have been literally running around the Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930's attired in track shorts, a sleeveless shirt and track shoes! I mean, NO ONE would have done that in the UK back then unless they were student track athletes running around their own campus tracks (or maybe running with their teammates around the campuses).

I mean in The Books as well as the Original Series James got enough ribbing in a single morning from his longtime clients for going on rounds in Bermuda walking shorts (and his usual collared shirt and tie) after having enjoyed gallivanting in them on a family seaside holiday that he never attempted to do so again - and that episode took place in the early 1950's with him being a long married family man and an established community pillar instead of a somewhat newbie  still trying to settle in said community. 

[Daff]

11 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Did I imagine it or did they not stitch that cow up after they let out the stomach contents?

They didn’t show it, no. I guess we were supposed to assume they finished the job with sutures. How Siegfried suspected a foreign object was due to the cow NOT responding to two treatments for “bloat”. Cows ingest things all the time. They sell big magnets, shaped like capsules at farm stores. The farmer shoves it down the cow’s throat, it collects small bits of metal during digestion, and the cow passes it out. 

[possibilities]

From what I've observed, horses are not usually held in as cramped quarters as cows and (especially) pigs, which may account for the relatively less vile manure stench from horses. Diet has something to do with the way manure turns out, but also concentration and general accumulation makes a very big difference.

The pigs, cows, and chickens I've known did not leave a stench, but they were living on small homesteads with a lot of space around them and were well-tended and things were kept quite clean and dry.

 

[Kenzie]

On 1/18/2022 at 12:14 PM, crankcase said:

Her “job” is to eventually marry Siegfried.

Ugh please, no.

I've had enough problems with how loose this TV version has played with the books - timelines, who did what, revisionist plots, etc. - I just don't think I can suspend disbelief long enough to imagine that the book's Mrs. Hall, a taciturn, middle aged matron with a tight bun and even tighter smile, as a romantic interest for Siegfried. I'm still trying to cope with the jolt of seeing her eating at the dining room table with the men.

[Gizkok]

The way they have presented Mrs. Hall is the way I would expect Sigfried and Tristan's sister to behave. An "ahem" older, widowed woman might very well live with her brothers and take over the duties of housekeeper. She would of course be joining her brothers for meals and she wouldn't have a problem with butting into their business as she saw fit. That's the only way Mrs. Hall works for me. They wouldn't keep calling her Mrs. either but would use her first name.

[MissLucas]

7 hours ago, Blergh said:

Speaking of boot deep. ..

I thought it was a bit ludicrous for James to have been literally running around the Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930's attired in track shorts, a sleeveless shirt and track shoes! I mean, NO ONE would have done that in the UK back then unless they were student track athletes running around their own campus tracks (or maybe running with their teammates around the campuses).

I mean in The Books as well as the Original Series James got enough ribbing in a single morning from his longtime clients for going on rounds in Bermuda walking shorts (and his usual collared shirt and tie) after having enjoyed gallivanting in them on a family seaside holiday that he never attempted to do so again - and that episode took place in the early 1950's with him being a long married family man and an established community pillar instead of a somewhat newbie  still trying to settle in said community. 

Interesting! I thought they were going for a Chariots of Fire moment there. But you're right chances are that he would have been mercilessly mocked for that attire.

[Llywela]

The anachronisms around Mrs Hall's place in the household don't really bother me because it has been well established that this is not a conventional household in any way, shape or form. Siegfried is highly eccentric, and his eccentricities extend to how he treats his staff (Mrs Hall and James, both of whom work for him but in many ways are treated as family). That's all the rationalisation I need.

(As housekeeper with no cook or maids to supervise as they do the rough work on her behalf, however, Mrs Hall should be a lot busier than she is)

[Doublemint]

9 hours ago, Blergh said:

Speaking of boot deep. ..

I thought it was a bit ludicrous for James to have been literally running around the Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930's attired in track shorts, a sleeveless shirt and track shoes! I mean, NO ONE would have done that in the UK back then unless they were student track athletes running around their own campus tracks (or maybe running with their teammates around the campuses).

I mean in The Books as well as the Original Series James got enough ribbing in a single morning from his longtime clients for going on rounds in Bermuda walking shorts (and his usual collared shirt and tie) after having enjoyed gallivanting in them on a family seaside holiday that he never attempted to do so again - and that episode took place in the early 1950's with him being a long married family man and an established community pillar instead of a somewhat newbie  still trying to settle in said community. 

Yes - glad you mentioned this.   I thought the same thing.   Never would have happened during the 1930's .

[Zella]

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

The pigs, cows, and chickens I've known did not leave a stench, but they were living on small homesteads with a lot of space around them and were well-tended and things were kept quite clean and dry.

Yes I think you're probably right. I've never smelled a small chicken house kept by one family that smells like the commercial chicken farms that are here. 

[peacheslatour]

12 minutes ago, Zella said:

Yes I think you're probably right. I've never smelled a small chicken house kept by one family that smells like the commercial chicken farms that are here. 

Lol, I bought some chicken manure from the local nursery. "It's great for your houseplants!" they said. OMG, the stench! I don't know what they were feeding those chickens but it was extremely unpleasant.

[Zella]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

Lol, I bought some chicken manure from the local nursery. "It's great for your houseplants!" they said. OMG, the stench! I don't know what they were feeding those chickens but it was extremely unpleasant.

I doubt it was the food. Chicken litter naturally gives off very strong ammonia odors. 

[peacheslatour]

Just now, Zella said:

I doubt it was the food. Chicken litter naturally gives off very strong ammonia odors. 

Indeed.

[possibilities]

It ages to be less terrible, so what you bought was probably very fresh. Also, the wise person mixes any high nitrogen substance with high carbon substances (greens and browns we call it in the composting world), so for example chicken manure mixed with wood shavings will  be much less unbearable.

But yes, shit stinks. 

[Daff]

6 hours ago, Llywela said:

The anachronisms around Mrs Hall's place in the household don't really bother me because it has been well established that this is not a conventional household in any way, shape or form.

I agree. Also, in the original series, Mrs. Hall left their employ. It was very difficult to find a replacement. They finally found someone, but she continually presented inedible meals that were cooked just short of shoe leather. The boys were miserable! Luckily for them, she had to leave as her doctor diagnosed an allergy to dander. The three men were effusive with false regret as they ushered her out the door. Those were some of the more hilarious episodes. More comedy ensued as they took turns with KP. If I remember correctly, Helen and James married, she moved in and took over household duties (temporary solution). 
 

I find the current Mrs. Hall: character, actress, writing, to be much more engaging, while serving the same literary purpose. Audrey (as does the original) serves as the conscience for the three, albeit with more modern sensibilities. Old Mrs. Hall was all fire and brimstone while Audrey relies upon empathy. As it’s fiction (based upon one Vet’s life) I don’t have a problem with the updates. 

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Daff said:

I agree. Also, in the original series, Mrs. Hall left their employ. It was very difficult to find a replacement. They finally found someone, but she continually presented inedible meals that were cooked just short of shoe leather. The boys were miserable! Luckily for them, she had to leave as her doctor diagnosed an allergy to dander. The three men were effusive with false regret as they ushered her out the door. Those were some of the more hilarious episodes. More comedy ensued as they took turns with KP. If I remember correctly, Helen and James married, she moved in and took over household duties (temporary solution). 
 

I find the current Mrs. Hall: character, actress, writing, to be much more engaging, while serving the same literary purpose. Audrey (as does the original) serves as the conscience for the three, albeit with more modern sensibilities. Old Mrs. Hall was all fire and brimstone while Audrey relies upon empathy. As it’s fiction (based upon one Vet’s life) I don’t have a problem with the updates. 

I like her too but marrying Siegfried is a bridge too far for me.

[dargosmydaddy]

I am hardcore shipping Mrs. Hall and Siegfried, and I rarely "ship" anyone. I definitely think they're playing the long game with these two, and I am here for it!

[DonnaMae]

52 minutes ago, dargosmydaddy said:

I am hardcore shipping Mrs. Hall and Siegfried, and I rarely "ship" anyone. I definitely think they're playing the long game with these two, and I am here for it!

It almost seemed that way during the first series, but now we've been introduced to the gentleman who wants to fix the clock.  I think maybe they're going to be an 'item' in the future.

[dargosmydaddy]

1 minute ago, DonnaMae said:

It almost seemed that way during the first series, but now we've been introduced to the gentleman who wants to fix the clock.  I think maybe they're going to be an 'item' in the future.

Like I said, long game. I foresee them both having other relationships first.

Clock guy seems nice, I will say.

[DonnaMae]

I do think Siegfried and Mrs. Hall would make a good couple, especially since they know each other so well and are comfortable together.  I really don't care that this Mrs. Hall is much younger than the character from the books.  The producers have decided to do their own version of the stories, and that's fine with me.

[crankcase]

Goodness me! I’ll be having a case of the vapors (vapours?) any moment now. A handsome, wealthy master falling in love with his subservient employee?! Quick, someone write to Charlotte Brontë to have her revise Jane Eyre, by at least turning a woman self-described as “poor, obscure, plain and little” into someone as beautiful as Anna Madeley (with the drop of a hairpin or two), lest a 21st century reader find it offensive to their sensibilities and therefore implausible and outrageous. (If it so happens there’s a madwoman living in the attic of Skeldale House who burns it down, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised—or disappointed.)

As a side note, vets went straight from high school to vet college. (Wight and Sinclair graduated in their early twenties.) These are not necessarily broadly educated or cultured men. Siegfried appears to be living off of inherited wealth (of wife and/or relatives), and so far the limit of his culture has been shown to be H.M.S. Pinafore, a far, far cry from his parents’ beloved Ring Cycle. There’s a greater difference between (“public”—i.e., private—school and probably uni) Hugh and (secretarial-school-aspiring) Helen than there is between (vet college and G&S fan) Siegfried and (sharp-shooting ex-WREN and bibliophile) Audrey.*

A test of my endgame hypothesis, following the British trope of flagrante hymnal-holding, may occur rather soon, in the way Siegfried looks at Audrey if she dolls up for a date with the dog-walking, clock-fixing, Great War veteran. (Five seconds of Helen’s expression immediately after James rescued Susie’s pups was all one needed to know about their endgame.)

 

*Differences in career outcomes between the men and women in these two couples might have been due to more than what money could buy. Apparent skills and intelligence were affected by the great discrimination girls faced in schools, especially in rural areas. “The assumption was that the boys would do science and the girls would do cookery and needlework,” said the astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, referring to the 1950s. “It was such a firm assumption that it wasn’t even discussed, so there was no choice in the matter.” (Source)

Edited January 22, 2022 by crankcase

[Llywela]

9 hours ago, Daff said:

I agree. Also, in the original series, Mrs. Hall left their employ. It was very difficult to find a replacement. They finally found someone, but she continually presented inedible meals that were cooked just short of shoe leather. The boys were miserable! Luckily for them, she had to leave as her doctor diagnosed an allergy to dander. The three men were effusive with false regret as they ushered her out the door.

Quite. Let's not forget, the show is set in rural Yorkshire in 1938, a time when the old style of service was already beginning to die out - a few more years and it would be gone altogether. And a small household like Siegfried's would never have been run like Downtown Abbey to begin with. 

[John Potts]

19 hours ago, crankcase said:

A test of my endgame hypothesis, following the British trope of flagrante hymnal-holding, may occur rather soon, in the way Siegfried looks at Audrey if she dolls up for a date with the dog-walking, clock-fixing, Great War veteran.

I'm shocked! Hymnal holding in public? Is there no end to the debauchery (you predict)!?

[possibilities]

20 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

Clock guy seems nice, I will say.

I really liked him a lot. 

I did think the hand holding in Church last season was quite intimate, but other than that, I don't really want her marrying her employer. Also, I think she can do better than Siegfried. He needs a minder as much as he needs an intimate. I'd like to see her with someone who doesn't require her to act as a conscience and disciplinarian all the time.

[Blergh]

On 1/21/2022 at 3:57 PM, Daff said:

I agree. Also, in the original series, Mrs. Hall left their employ. It was very difficult to find a replacement. 

No, the Original Series Mrs. Hall did NOT' leave their employ',  her performer (  Mary Hignett )  DIED from complications from double hip replacement surgery in 1980 aged 64- and there was a scene in the  Christmas TV movie with the vets and  the First Helen being thankful at being reunited at the close of WWII  followed  them sadly toasting her picture with the implication was that Mrs. [Edna] Hall herself had also died.

    BTW, Miss Hignett herself had had a somewhat different biography than one would have expected from a typical Yorkshire housekeeper of the mid-20th century. She was an only child who'd been born in 1916 in  (of all places) Madras, India to a British couple . Tragically her mother died giving birth to her and she'd be orphaned at seven with her father's death. I have no idea how or when she arrived in England much less who wound up raising her. However, Miss Hignett did eventually marry another performer Michael Brennan and they'd stay married until her death. Moreover, despite  the tragedy of her own mother's fate, she herself evidently  had wanted a child enough to have  been willing to risk her own life to bear their daughter Patricia who also survived her.  

Yes, the OS Mrs. Hall was a woman of few words but made the most of a glint  and a glare- definitely her still waters ran deep. 

[freddi]

Someone linked the original series videos (with advertisements) above, along with BritBox, but I cannot find the link.  Any chance you could provide that again?  I miss the original cast and ambiance so much, and now I am curious to see if I have romanticized it all!  Don't need the BritBox link!  

[Driad]

Siegfried was right about putting things that look like eggs in the nests, at least from my grandparents' experience. Their "nest eggs" included a ball, a stone, and a china doorknob.  They told me that if they didn't use the nest eggs, many of the hens would lay their eggs in the bushes.  My grandparents' hens were pretty enthusiastic to defend their eggs from us; maybe Tristan's hens knew the eggs were not their own.

[HoodlumSheep]

2x03

Tiny bit of a downer episode with the cow situation :(

Also...was that one of the problematic maids from Downton Abbey playing the widowed wife.?...Ethel? Edna??? Ethel?? Something with an E? Or am I just tripping?

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by HoodlumSheep

[MissLucas]

58 minutes ago, HoodlumSheep said:

2x03

Tiny bit of a downer episode with the cow situation :(

Also...was that one of the problematic maids from Downton Abbey playing the widowed wife.?...Ethel? Edna??? Ethel?? Something with an E? Or am I just tripping?

 

You were not tripping. Amy Nuttall played Ethel in DA, the maid who got pregnant. Good eye, I had not recognized her.

[JudyObscure]

Last week I complained that James didn't kiss Helen when she was holding her beaming, smiling face up at him, so this week he kissed her while she was crying -- but I loved it!  So sweet and tender and making another memory for her at the farm.

I was glad to see the worlds best Pekinese actor back.  The ones I've known couldn't be bothered to move out of the way if you were starting to sit on them.  My MIL's always blended right in with her throw pillows.

[Blergh]

20 hours ago, HoodlumSheep said:

2x03

Tiny bit of a downer episode with the cow situation :(

Also...was that one of the problematic maids from Downton Abbey playing the widowed wife.?...Ethel? Edna??? Ethel?? Something with an E? Or am I just tripping?

 

Yes, and the saddest part is that HOW she'd hold onto her late husband's family farm was NOT resolved by the episode's close.

Of course, I'm surprised that neither she nor James considered having her sell the silver tea set (by NO means typical for 1930's Yorkshire farmhouses) to raise funds to buy more hay and keep the farm going. Despite  it having been  prominently used during the episode (and even Mrs. Pomphrey would have been delighted to have it for herself), its origin and value went entirely uncommented by either adult. Perhaps we could imagine it had been a wedding gift for her and her late husband or even a family heirloom but, considering that she was on the verge of losing the farm and the only home her young sons had ever known, it made no sense that neither she nor James would have at the very least brought up  the possibility of a windfall from its sale. 

Edited January 24, 2022 by Blergh

[JudyObscure]

I noticed that tea set, too!  Maybe all this will be resolved in a future episode.

Also, why weren't they killing that grass and seeding in a new type?

[monakane]

If anyone is interested, the entire second season is available on the PBS Passport app.  I finished it on Friday.  I won't give away any spoilers,

Spoiler

but I think you all will be happy with how the season ends.

PBS Passport costs $5/month and is worth it as the funds go to a good cause.

[pasdetrois]

I think the parasites get into the soil? (Learned from modern vet shows)

I'm still waiting for recreation of when James was repeatedly stalked by a farmer's dog. At every visit he had to walk along a stone fence, and the dog would lurk silently and invisibly on the other side, deciding when to leap up snarling and scare the bejeebus out of James. I laughed so hard when I read that story.

I don't dislike the modern housekeeper, but I prefer the traditional old-Yorkshire model - a vanished breed.

I wonder if all the lovely ancient stone buildings have slowly been lost to developers.

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, monakane said:

PBS Passport costs $5/month and is worth it as the funds go to a good cause.

now I understand. I watch everything on streaming, so I did the $5 a  month thing, and was wondering why I had more episodes available than were being talked about here. As it happens, my husband and I are "exactly up to date" with the on-air version so it's working out well for me as far as commentary here! 

And I agree, I don't think of it as "paying $5 a month" but rather, "supporting a good cause." I'm also a sustaining member at a much higher level for my local NPR station, since I listen to it quite a lot.

4 minutes ago, pasdetrois said:

I wonder if all the lovely ancient stone buildings have slowly been lost to developers.

well at least some of them are still there to film at! Last night when we were watching I kind of marveled that they apparently still had miles of rutty, stony, unpaved roads to film their old jalopies traveling along!

[MrAtoz]

I'm far from an expert on the subject, but I know that the UK has a system of "listed buildings," buildings and structures that cannot be demolished or altered without special permission.  While many of them are historic buildings like churches, castles, and government halls, a surprising number of listed buildings are ordinary houses, barns, and the like.  There are all sorts of rules and regulations to follow if you own a listed building.

We have something similar in the U.S. with the National Register of Historic Places.  Britain, being much older, has many more protected structures.

[AZChristian]

7 minutes ago, MrAtoz said:

I'm far from an expert on the subject, but I know that the UK has a system of "listed buildings," buildings and structures that cannot be demolished or altered without special permission.  While many of them are historic buildings like churches, castles, and government halls, a surprising number of listed buildings are ordinary houses, barns, and the like.  There are all sorts of rules and regulations to follow if you own a listed building.

We have something similar in the U.S. with the National Register of Historic Places.  Britain, being much older, has many more protected structures.

Britain has a "National Trust" that protects not only individual buildings but - in some cases - entire villages.

Lacock is one of those villages.  No overhead utility lines permitted, etc.  That's why you see a lot of movies and TV shows (including Harry Potter and Downton Abbey among others) filmed there.  All they have to do is throw dirt on the streets, and we're back to earlier centuries!

We visited there.  It was wonderful!

Edited January 24, 2022 by AZChristian
Not enough coffee.

[Llywela]

40 minutes ago, pasdetrois said:

I wonder if all the lovely ancient stone buildings have slowly been lost to developers.

My sister lived in Yorkshire for four years, only moved away last summer. Trust me, there are plenty of those beautiful old stone farmhouses still going strong (complete with death-defyingly steep and winding little approach roads, plus narrow humped bridges that are scary to drive over because you can't see if anything is coming the other way!)

[sas616]

14 minutes ago, monakane said:

If anyone is interested, the entire second season is available on the PBS Passport app.  I finished it on Friday.  I won't give away any spoilers,

  Reveal spoiler

but I think you all will be happy with how the season ends.

PBS Passport costs $5/month and is worth it as the funds go to a good cause.

I have Passport free because of my PBS donation, but still have not figured how to access it.  Is the only way through the APP?  I have no interest in watching anything on my phone, so maybe Passport isn't for me.

[dleighg]

Just now, sas616 said:

I have no interest in watching anything on my phone, so maybe Passport isn't for me

I downloaded the PBS app onto my AppleTV, which feeds my TV, and somehow or other linked it up with my account to show I donated the $. At this point I don't recall how that worked. But now when I stream something on the PBS app, I can also choose the ones with the little Passport icon. How do you do other streaming things on your TV?

[Pallas]

 

On 1/24/2022 at 12:08 PM, sas616 said:

I have no interest in watching anything on my phone, so maybe Passport isn't for me

This may be useful. You can sign in on your laptop or desktop, then view there or cast to your tv.

[monakane]

40 minutes ago, sas616 said:

I have Passport free because of my PBS donation, but still have not figured how to access it.  Is the only way through the APP?  I have no interest in watching anything on my phone, so maybe Passport isn't for me

You can use whatever device you use for your other streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, etc. or you can go to PBS.org on your computer and watch it there.  If you have a tablet, you can also download the app on that.

[ComeWhatMay]

6 hours ago, Blergh said:

Yes, and the saddest part is that HOW she'd hold onto her late husband's family farm was NOT resolved by the episode's close.

Of course, I'm surprised that neither she nor James considered having her sell the silver tea set (by NO means typical for 1930's Yorkshire farmhouses) to raise funds to buy more hay and keep the farm going. Despite  it was prominently used during the episode (and even Mrs. Pomphrey would have been delighted to have it for herself), its origin and value went entirely uncommented by either adult. Perhaps we could imagine it had been a wedding gift for her and her late husband or even a family heirloom but, considering that she was on the verge of losing the farm and the only home her young sons had ever known, it made no sense that neither she nor James would have at the very least brought the possibility of a windfall from its sale. 

Neither may realize the value of it. Someone with knowledge of the finer things would make the connection, but two people of humble means, maybe not, never mind knowing who to approach to sell it. Where I live, trust funders short on cash know where to go. 
 

I wanted to tell Tristan through the TV that if Helen was all about the fancy things she would be a married lady now. 

Given the feel good nature of the show I can see Mrs. Hall as Mrs. Farnum too. 

[possibilities]

If the fields can no longer be used for grazing, there's no future in keeping cattle of any kind is there? She'd need to feed them and keep them indoors forever! 

I really wish they'd talked more about what her options were, rather than leaving the impression that if she doesn't get a miracle, she'll lose the place, and the smart option would be to  just wait and see if a miracle arrives.

I 100% understand and am sympathetic to the feeling that losing the farm would destroy you, that you just can't face it, and it's not an acceptable option. BUT: the next thing is to address how to go about saving it, not just waiting for the axe to fall whilst hoping for a miracle. And I don't have an answer. People do lose their farms sometimes. It's very upsetting. 

Maybe James should invite his parents to join him where he is, rather than going to join them where they are. I don't see it as being easy for city people to adapt to rural life, though, any more than vice versa. 

[dleighg]

50 minutes ago, possibilities said:

If the fields can no longer be used for grazing, there's no future in keeping cattle of any kind is there? She'd need to feed them and keep them indoors forever! 

I had some questions about that as well. It did sound like it's mainly a problem for young (under one year) calves. But why does she have only young calves? Or is that just "this year's crop" and she has other ones grazing elsewhere? I just don't see why *all* of your herd would be young.

(I read a wikipedia article, and all the relevant info was concisely relayed in the episode about husk, including how it operates, what age it affects, how wet grass is particularly bad, and in particular, that nowadays it is best dealt with by prevention-- that is, a vaccine, which James also mentioned "until there is one." I also looked up "cake" which is a product derived from seeds etc after removing the oil. So high protein and very nutritious.)

Also, I didn't get the issue of "sell now while it's still worth something." Any buyer would be able to see for himself/herself the health (or lack thereof) the herd. So if they are all likely to die, a buyer would know that, whether or not they have expired yet. The farm is worth whatever it is-- and that's not changing.

[Ilovepie]

On 1/16/2022 at 9:45 PM, LittleIggy said:

No, I was referring to the dog that needed a home but was hard to place because he farted a lot. I won’t spoil what happened.

Cedric the Boxer! My favorite comedic story hands down from the books! ;-0

[tennisgurl]

Aww the return of Tricky Woo! That Pekinese is a star! 

Tristan really does so badly want Siegfried to be proud of them, do we know much about what their parents were like? Siegfried a lot of times acts more like Tristan's disapproving father than his older brother. 

Sad ending with the cows, I can understand the widow not wanting to sell the farm, but I don't see things ending well if she just keeps going and her cows keep dying. Is there nothing else she could do? Focus her farm on something else? I kept thinking that James would come up with a last minute solution, but not this time. Not yet, any way.

I am glad that James getting stuck on the road was just a minor hiccup, even if he and Helen did have some slight issues later. Tristan joking with James about Helen was really fun but I knew it would be trouble when commented about how Helen is used to the finer things, ignoring that if that's what Helen cared about she would be married to Hugh. Glad that they patched things up with minimal drama, the last scene with them was so sweet, and with that amazing backdrop!

[Ilovepie]

On 1/20/2022 at 10:53 PM, Blergh said:

thought it was a bit ludicrous for James to have been literally running around the Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930's attired in track shorts, a sleeveless shirt and track shoes! I mean, NO ONE would have done that in the UK back then unless they were student track athletes running around their own campus tracks (or maybe running with their teammates around the campuses).

This! I said the same to my husband - I find it hard to believe that James would be out running for exercise since his entire job is exercise - seems like a modern thing born out of a more sedentary society with less manual labor to keep you fit. If anyone was running back then, it was not for leisure activity!

If this is inaccurate, please educate me, but to me, this just didn't fit the time or place.....

[magdalene]

4 hours ago, sas616 said:

I have Passport free because of my PBS donation, but still have not figured how to access it.  Is the only way through the APP?  I have no interest in watching anything on my phone, so maybe Passport isn't for me.

If you purchased a "smart" TV, like a Roku TV for example, it will come ready to go with all those streaming options including PBS Passport.  If you have an older flat screen TV you can purchase a Roku stick or Amazon fire stick - they are not expensive - and you will have all those streaming options ready to go on a nice big screen.

[John Potts]

40 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I didn't get the issue of "sell now while it's still worth something." Any buyer would be able to see for himself/herself the health (or lack thereof) the herd

I took that to mean they would be sent to slaughter, where they'd at least be worth something (assuming the meat could still be sold, which is probable in the 30s). Sick cattle probably would keep running up costs but not putting on much meat.