Jamie and Gill wanted to start the episode by giving a big shout out and dedicate this episode to Alex Holden https://www.holdenconcertinas.com/ for no other reason than they found out he has listened to every single one of their episodes! If you are a maker, listened to our podcast and would like a mention let us know. 

Gill had a couple of big questions for Jamie as part of her 'research': Did Jamie use a top sheet on their bed? Did they iron their sheets? Gill explains why she likes a top sheet and why she likes ironed bedding. Jamie explains why he doesn iron although admits he does like sleeping in ironed sheets. Gill, unlike Jamie, likes to iron and sees it as a from of meditation / time to think. She tells Jamie about how nylon sheets became all the rage back in the 1970's and brushed nylon in the winter (the company she was trying to remember was Brentford Nylons and they were actually based in London not as she thought in the midlands - clue in the name!) 

They chat about what might have influenced their choices of 'to iron or not to iron' not only bedding but their clothes as well and why their different approaches say something about their lifestyles.

On the same theme Jamie admits his obsession with washing up continues and part of his excuses (reasoning) is he says the warm water helps his hands and joints. He then goes on to talk about being medication free for the last 5+ years and how he thinks his change in his mindset / approach has helped that process.

Jamie asks Gill if she has noticed an abundance of fruit this year when out on her walks as he's seen a huge amount. She says she has but how only one of her three apple trees has a lot of fruit on and possible reason as to why. Jamie tells a funny story of him with a sheet (back to bedding again??) and collecting fruit which sounds more like an episode from 'Only Fools and Horses'! He tells Gill he'll be making a lot of different flavoured gins this year with all the fruit. 

This may sound like a dark episode but it really isn't, it's more about taking stock of your life and who you are. Gill and Jamie define the difference between an obituary (the written word usually in a newspaper announcing someones death with a bit about their life) and a eulogy (usually spoken at a funeral / memorial service about someone's life but can be written down).

Jamie had read an article - link here:  https://magazine.catapult.co/dont-write-alone/stories/meg-dalton-writing-your-own-obituary-can-teach-you-how-to-live which got him thinking about how he wanted to be remembered and writing his own obituary! As Jamie explains he doesn't want someone to stand up as his funeral for example and say 'He was always grumpy and miserable and had no friends' and have nothing else to say about him! 

Gill says for her it's a bit like pressing pause, checking in with herself to see if she is creating a life that she wants to be remembered for. For her it woudln't be things like 'she worked hard, had a lovely house and car and went on exotic holidayss...' not that any of those apply! She wants to be remembered for things like her character and personality, hopefully in a poistive way! 

Jamie and Gill discuss do people remember us for the material things we owned? How hard is it to make the changes starting now? Do we complicate our lives? Is life more complex than simply making a few changes?

And some how they end up talking about thier pants and socks drawers as only Jamie and Gill could! 

Being British of course Jamie and Gill have to comment on the weather which has been hot in the south for quite a while.

Luckily in the South West where Gill lives it's not been too bad whilst others, particulary in the South East have been melting! Jamie and Gill share various tips they learnt or heard of over the years to help keep cool from putting your feet in cold water to opening up your attic hatch at night.

Jamie raises the topic of less is more and somehow this leads them to talking about weddings. They discuss the vast sums of money people spend, that they don't have, on a wedding and honeymoon. Is it really necessary? When did weddings get so big and exepnsive with a reception AND then an evening 'do'?. For some the tide is turning back to small, micro weddings (both Jamie and Gill  had smaller weddings) that don't cost a fortune and are often much more intitmate and nicer. 

Jamie has been suffering stomach type cramps and tells of his search online for a natural cure and how his family nag him to drink more water! Gill and Jamie chat about how various aches and pains can be as a result of something you've been doing or not doing (like drinking water when hot!) the previous day. 

Gill tells Jamie about the GillHB & Friends podcast she did a few years ago in her 'gardening mini series' with Rich Pennock from Haws Watering cans and a piece of good advice he gave her to help prevent back and posture issues. 

Changing subjects Gill wants to talk about bugbears! Jamie has a few around the washing up and stuff left in the sink drain cover! For Gill it's about people queueing at petrol stations when there is an empty pump just because their petrol filler is on the other side to the pump and how American spellings in British books drives her nuts! They discuss the dilemma of which spelling to use - do you use the spelling according to the nationality of the author or the publishing company? What are your bugbears in everyday life? 

One of Jamie's daughters recently got married in the Lake District and that involved Jamie hiring a car, which he was not impressed with and taking various grand-parents with them. It was the first of his daughter's weddings for him as father of the bride and was held in a hotel overlooking Lake Windermere. 

It was a small wedding, 20 people in total which these days is apparently known as a 'micro- wedding'. Jamie describes what a wonderful day it was and how his duaghter had removed a lot of pre-wedding stress with the arrangements.

He was worried about his speech which he had started to write some weeks before until one of his students suggested using ChatGPT to help him write it. Gill and Jamie discuss the pros and cons of using ChatGPT and Gill is not a fan but acknowledges it is a case of workgin with technology as it's here to stay!

Jamie also talks about his need for a drink to help take the 'edge off' and how it helps him be the best version of himself. Gill asks 'What does he mean abut being the best version of himself?' They discuss people's need for alcohol, drecreational drugs etc and the possible deeper reason behind people needing them at certain times. Jamie thinks it is to do with his  lack of confidence and probably being bullied at a young age. 

Finally Jamie wants to wish his dog Po a happy 10th birthday.  

Gill loves the Chelsea flower show and has been lucky enough to go a couple of years ago. However reading a post on Instagram made her consider things from a different point of view. Firstly she asks, how did she get to her get and not realise that the RHS was a charity?!

Jamie and Gill chat about the positives, not so positives and maybe areas that could be improved around Chelsea. They both agree that a lot of work and effort goes into making Chelsea happen but to what extent are younger people from the local area involved?

Running events takes a lot of effort and Jamie tells how The Ruskin Centre where he has his workshop will no longer be hosting the Glass Festival. Again they look at possible reasons behind it.

Jamie divulges how he spotted a chair on the pavement and took it home which leads Gill to comment on a photo of Jamie's taken from relaxing in his chair at the end of his garden and they chat about those special moments to be had here right on our doorstep. 

Finally Jamie says he has something big to talk about on the next episode! 

With the VE celebrations last weekend Jamie went to see his Mum who had her 6th birthday on VE Day and she shares what she remembers of the day. Gill went down to join in the village celebrations on the green with over 300 people, sandwiches, cake, scones and a cuppa. Clive was also playing with his village ukulele band and it was freezing! It was so cold the ukulele players could hardly feel their fingers and playing in big coats wasn't quite the plan! 

Jamie also went to 'Yoga in the Park' and describe what it was like doing yoga in the rain, including lying on the mat for the relaxtaion bit at the end. For Gill it's her worse nightmare wearing wet clothes and she says she'll beleive Jamie when he's says he drove home afterwards (in wet clothes!) buzzing. 

Jamie is learning Japanese and tell so his progress and how he's doing it. They chat about how important it is to have a hobby or learn new skills alongside your career as you never know when they may become a way of earning money and the role it plays in helping with your self worth. No skills are ever lost and you can often use them when you least expect it. 

One of Jamie's daughter's is getting mariied soon and as Jamie puts it the stress is climbing in certain areas. We decide that sometimes the best thing to keep stress levels down in life is to 'just go with it'. 

Gill starts off by apologising to listeners as they should have released an episode last week but with Easter, family commitments and time flying there simply wasn't a mutually convenient time.

Jamie and Gill discuss the 'options' going forward do they do an episode once a month, stay as it is with every 3 weeks or go back to every 2 weeks? Jamie 'does a Gill' as he calls it and they decide to go back to releasing them fortnightly so that it is current but with a time limit of 30 minutes! Jamie will set a timer to make sure they keep to it. 

Jamie talks about a Japanese book he's reading and his plan to go to Tokyo in 2027 so is learning Japanese using an app. which he says has been designed like a game and therefore makes it more addictive to learn. They chat about the app and the difference between playing games and Gill says she doesn't see Suduko and crosswords as games.

Jamie had taken his dog for a walk before recordingthe podcast and mentions collecting nettles to dry as it's the right timeof year. Gill warns of her very recent experience of putting too many in their breakfast smoothie thinking they are so healthy and the side effects she had!

Chatting about nature and flowers Jamie mentions how glorious the wisteria is and all the blossoms this year. He says thinks that when you buy a house you have to think in advance about what plants, tres and busshes you want as they take time to grow whilst you are 'doing up your house' they can be maturing. Gill raises the topic of gardening as a fantastic form of exercise as she was moving heavy bits of wood around at the weekend and the added bonus of actually having acheived something tangible at the end of your 'exercise' session which brings another hit of the happiness hormones. She also updates Jamie on the saga of their ongoing  subsidence repairs. 

After a busy Mother's Day being around lots of mothers Jamie was enjoying the calm. As his computer is playing up he's decided it's time for a new computer which prompted Jamie to consolidate his 'bits of paper' that he works from so he can work smarter.

Gill is also having a sort out at home and tells Jamie about why she and Clive (her husband) are  slowly doing it now so that they can take their time selling / finding new homes for things they realistically don't want anymore or need to just get rid of - like old diaries you put in a drawer and before you know it have 10 years worth of them! She recalls how hard it was when her Mum had died, not knowing what was important to keep or just rubbish her Mum had never actaully cleared. 

Jamie had put on IG something about the mind needs to be creative other wise it goes weird. Gill says that for her and in her experince that means it creates it's own chaos! Chaos can be anxiety, stress, worries and fears. They chat about what constitutes as being creative and why it is so important to both of them to find that time to aloow for some creativity in their lives. Somehow, as it does with Gill and Janie it leads to Jamie talking about coffee grounds and the PH of coffee for the garden. As part of being creative Jamie has foudn a lovely technique to enhance the grain of wood whilst making a stool and Gill has been busy learning some new weaves for her willow weaving. 

The mantra from today's episode is: Create time to be creative!  

Recently both Jamie and Gill have both had a few bumps and potholes to navigate in life.

We they start by having a general and then more specfically about the increasing prices in all areas of life and more importantly how Jamie feels ands struggles with himself over increasing prices for his students.

They explore Jamie's 'catch 22' that if he had a bigger workshop he'd save time so could take on bigger commissions as well as keeping his t4eacing going. The downside then of course is his rent and bills would increase along with the pressure to find the work to pay for it. the question then becomes it worth it or are there other options?

Jamie admits he spends a lot of time in his head overthinking things and recognises this isn't always a good thing but sometimes he feels that is all he needs as a strategy to work things through. 

They talk about overthinking and the different strategies people have to cope but how important it is to review your current strategies as those that might have been relevant now or previously worked might no longer be effective in the future. Gill describes how she has a major review /  reset between Christmas and New Year and does 'mini resets' through the year checking that waht she needed previously is stillrelevbant and works now. 

 Jamie tells Gill he has 'YouTube envy' over her husband's Clive recent video that for some reason, unbeknown to Clive, has become viral with now over 117,000 views!