EP250: Nagging with Auntie Linny #29 – hosting and holidaying

Natalie Cassidy 0:02:02 Hello and welcome to Life with Nat today. Hope everyone is super duper good. I've been embarrassed by my sister-in-law. She's put a picture up of me asleep on Patreon.

Linnie 0:02:31 We were sort of both, I dunno what I was doing. I've got my head in my hands out of sheer exhaustion. That was only night 2, I think. Was it the first night?

Natalie Cassidy 0:02:41 No, no, it was later than that.

Linnie 0:02:43 Was it?

Natalie Cassidy 0:02:44 Yes, it was.

Linnie 0:02:45 I'm not sure it was.

Natalie Cassidy 0:02:46 It was a couple of nights in.

Linnie 0:02:47 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:02:47 But I did find it funny because you put, what did you say?

Linnie 0:02:52 How do we interpret this photograph?

Natalie Cassidy 0:02:54 So we've had Jessica Smith say, both absolutely shattered from being in the sun. With a little emoji. Lou said, post-wine nap? And then you said, in that case, maybe. I have to say, I think it is definitely for me an element of the vino. That's right. The picture, by the way, for non-Patreon people is me and Linnie on a sofa topping and tailing, just looking absolutely exhausted. It was a beautiful holiday.

Linnie 0:03:28 It was amazing.

Natalie Cassidy 0:03:29 It was so lovely. Can't thank you enough.

Linnie 0:03:31 No, you're very welcome. And can't thank you for all you did as well. I, a colleague of mine, I was showing her some of the photographs and videos and she said, these are such amazing memories that you are building.

Natalie Cassidy 0:03:43 Incredible.

Linnie 0:03:44 And actually, again, we kind of take it a little bit for granted, don't we? But it's amazing that we can all go away The kids are all similar ages. They all enjoy each other's company.

Natalie Cassidy 0:03:55 They were amazing, weren't they, on holiday?

Linnie 0:03:57 They were so good. They were so good. And they loved the playing and— The pool is an absolute lifesaver, isn't it?

Natalie Cassidy 0:04:03 Yeah. But even inside—

Linnie 0:04:05 No, there were girls would disappear and go and play.

Natalie Cassidy 0:04:07 And they're playing in the bathrooms and playing games and—

Linnie 0:04:11 But it worked 'cause you had Ruby and Amelia who would play together. Mark, Mark was playing as well. Joni and Alfie. And then the baby. And even they were starting to—

Natalie Cassidy 0:04:25 Yes. Cut each other. Eat each other.

Linnie 0:04:29 Beat each other up. Oh, bless them. So yeah, the dynamics were, didn't they? But it was incredible. Absolutely amazing. Full on. Not sure it was a rest. We didn't— well, we did rest, but—

Natalie Cassidy 0:04:42 Yeah, but we don't rest, do we?

Linnie 0:04:43 How can you? It's home from home.

Natalie Cassidy 0:04:46 Yeah.

Linnie 0:04:46 There is cooking, there is cleaning.

Natalie Cassidy 0:04:49 But everyone did their bit. I felt we all chipped in.

Linnie 0:04:52 Everybody. Didn't we? The boys cooked, who barbecued. Dave cooked, you cooked, the girls did. I just cleaned for 7 days. I mean, me in the recycling area, even the geckos were coming out and saying hello to me with my first name. I must have done.

Natalie Cassidy 0:05:09 How many bottles of wine?

Linnie 0:05:10 No, they, this lot, everyone. You didn't do bad.

Natalie Cassidy 0:05:14 You had a few vinos.

Linnie 0:05:16 Oh, bloody hell. I had a whole couple of glasses of dessert wine. Whoopie-a-doo. No, in the end, it is a question of you can't beat them, you've got to join them. No, you— I would get up in the morning.

Linnie 0:05:30 So this is how it goes. My body clock's still waking up at 7 o'clock, really annoying. And instead of just laying there, I thought, no, I'll get up. And I'd come down. There was a table that would accommodate 20 people, and that table was full of bottles of wine, empty bottles of wine of course, glasses, platters of half-finished food, napkins, cutlery.

Linnie 0:05:55 I mean, and I'd be like, oh my God. So that was an hour in itself just clearing that. And I was starting to master doing it with speed, like having trays of stuff rather than individually taking glasses over, water, sweeping the floor alone.

Natalie Cassidy 0:06:10 Yeah, the sweeping of the floor was I mean, I did it every day. The dishwasher. And then you'd say to me, look at the floor. And I'd say, I did it earlier.

Linnie 0:06:16 Yeah. Dishwasher, a load of—

Natalie Cassidy 0:06:18 Washing machine, towels in and out. How many towels did we wash?

Linnie 0:06:20 Oh, I lost count. I reckon I did as many steps in a day as I do of an evening when I walk with my friend Tina.

Natalie Cassidy 0:06:27 Yeah.

Linnie 0:06:28 It was mental.

Natalie Cassidy 0:06:29 But lovely though.

Linnie 0:06:31 Lovely because it's that, it's not your home. So you kind of relaxed. If that was my house, I'd be like having absolute kittens. So you're relaxed about that. And it's not, you know, you're not dusting and— No. So it's kind of just keeping everything so you know where things are.

Natalie Cassidy 0:06:50 Yeah. You can get— there's glasses to use, there's plates to use.

Linnie 0:06:53 Yeah. And I wanted you guys to come down to a clean lounge and kitchen. Coffee making, Italian coffee. I love it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:01 The smell of the coffee when you get up, everyone's having a coffee.

Linnie 0:07:04 The sauce on Italian pasta sauce bubbling away first thing. It was incredible. It was so good. Wasn't it?

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:11 Yeah, it was brilliant.

Linnie 0:07:12 It really worked. And there's strong characters there. There's a lot of strong characters.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:16 Oh, of course.

Linnie 0:07:18 It's very much alcohol-fuelled. No one was silly, but— No. It was lovely.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:24 And our lovely dinner out for Marie's birthday.

Linnie 0:07:26 Oh, how lovely. Wasn't it? The setting was—

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:29 Oh, it was, it was in the Tuscan hills. Well, we were in the Tuscan hills, weren't we? Our villa was in the Tuscan hills. And then we had a further drive drive to another beautiful place just in the middle of nowhere, just overlooking. We have to put some pictures up, won't we?

Linnie 0:07:45 The owners were like, from my part of the world. It's Salerno, it's southern Italy. They were so lovely. Yeah. They couldn't do enough. The food was unbelievable.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:56 Yeah, it was outstanding.

Linnie 0:07:57 And then the day of Maria's birthday, the chef.

Natalie Cassidy 0:07:59 Oh, she was brilliant.

Linnie 0:08:01 She was amazing.

Natalie Cassidy 0:08:02 Absolutely brilliant.

Linnie 0:08:03 She was fun. She obviously—

Natalie Cassidy 0:08:07 She just obviously does it all of the time.

Linnie 0:08:09 Well, she said she's travelled all over the world doing it. Yeah. She was great. She was great company.

Natalie Cassidy 0:08:13 But even the night before when we said, Marie, you gotta go to bed early, we were all trying to blow balloons up, sticking them up.

Linnie 0:08:20 There was all that to do as well.

Natalie Cassidy 0:08:21 And we did all the table with our presents on, didn't we? Yeah. It was just fun.

Linnie 0:08:25 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:08:25 Just really, really fun.

Linnie 0:08:26 What an amazing— and isn't Tuscany a beautiful part of the world?

Natalie Cassidy 0:08:30 Really, really beautiful.

Linnie 0:08:31 I highly recommend it, guys. If anyone wants to do a family holiday, yes, you, if you're in a hotel, you're not cooking, you can all escape to your rooms if you want a bit of time out. But although the villa was a decent size, so people could lose themselves.

Natalie Cassidy 0:08:49 Yeah. People were over on the patio area. Yeah. Dave had, Dave had to work sometimes. Yeah. I had a couple of things to do. Jack was working, you know. Yeah. We— So there was, there was things to do. Yeah. There was a lot. Yeah.

Linnie 0:08:59 You weren't, you didn't feel, um, Close to each other. On top of each other. Because suffocated or that you couldn't, yeah. I mean, obviously you could take yourself off for a walk, but you were in the middle of nowhere. So the car was a godsend. But I really recommend it, guys. If you've come from a big family or even a small family, just, wasn't it lovely that you, everyone could put the children to bed?

Natalie Cassidy 0:09:20 Yes.

Linnie 0:09:21 And carry on with their evening.

Natalie Cassidy 0:09:22 And that's the difference with a villa and a hotel. Yeah. That I've always said.

Linnie 0:09:25 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:09:25 You can have a lovely time, put the children, lovely bath, get them to bed at a nice, not reasonable hour, 'cause it's always late 'cause it's holiday. Yeah. And then you've just got that lounge space to sit with whoever you're with. Yeah. And have that adult company. Play cards. Mark did a few magic tricks. It was just—

Linnie 0:09:43 Well, he could have magicked some housework to be plates to disappear and glasses to disappear. Just can't get over how much cleaning.

Natalie Cassidy 0:09:51 A lot.

Linnie 0:09:52 How many bottles I collected during the space of a week. I mean, the poor man who was doing all the— he must have thought, crikey, that's so many.

Natalie Cassidy 0:10:00 Who's turned up here? And then the supermarket trips. I mean, the WhatsApp group people, the lists of things. Me and David go out the first couple of days.

Linnie 0:10:13 Chilli, oil, and then it was like ram—

Natalie Cassidy 0:10:16 Pepper. Yeah. Mayonnaise. We need this, we need that, we need lollies, we need ice. We need—

Linnie 0:10:21 But you smashed that.

Natalie Cassidy 0:10:22 What do you mean?

Linnie 0:10:23 You smashed it in terms of we had everything we needed. Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:10:27 I tried my best. Sorry. But no, there were a few things, weren't there, that overall, overall, it was a very overwhelming big shop.

Linnie 0:10:34 Yeah. The first one.

Natalie Cassidy 0:10:35 The first one was overwhelming. So supermarkets are so be— this one we went in, you know, they're just amazing when you go away and there's just so much to choose from. And because of the amount of people, you're thinking, how many cucumbers do you get? Yeah. How many? Kids love cucumbers.

Linnie 0:10:52 How many tins of passata? Yeah. Well, but we couldn't keep up with the buying of bananas and—

Natalie Cassidy 0:10:56 No, bananas were going out of fashion, weren't they? Yeah. But anyway, there we go.

Linnie 0:11:01 But we did it. The quality of the produce.

Natalie Cassidy 0:11:04 And the price.

Linnie 0:11:05 Oh no, we are being exploited here royally.

Natalie Cassidy 0:11:10 It's unbelievable.

Linnie 0:11:12 The quality. I can't get over the quality. And I think it's more, it was more highlighted to me because obviously when you go to a hotel, it's cooked for you. Yes. When I go and stay with family, They're cooking for us. And don't get me wrong, you can tell the quality's there. But when you're actually cooking yourself and then you think, crikey, just something as simple as pasta with aubergines just tastes incredible.

Natalie Cassidy 0:11:40 It's just different, isn't it?

Linnie 0:11:41 It's the lemons. I know. The pears.

Natalie Cassidy 0:11:44 Tomatoes. The peaches.

Linnie 0:11:47 What on— it's— why is our—

Natalie Cassidy 0:11:49 And if you do get a really delicious peach, You are really paying for it here.

Linnie 0:11:55 I know. And there you're not. And every peach is delicious.

Natalie Cassidy 0:11:58 And the water.

Linnie 0:11:59 The cherries we bought, Dave and I have bought— Oh yeah. Not eaten cherries since we bought a punnet of cherries. We ate a cherry each and we had to throw 'em away. They were disgusting. Really? Like, really should have been returned, but couldn't be bothered. Right. So we haven't eaten cherries since. And then the cherries we ate out there, we were like, oh my goodness me.

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:18 Like sugar lumps. Even the crisps are different.

Linnie 0:12:19 The milk.

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:21 The milk is so good. What is that?

Linnie 0:12:24 I don't know. But for me—

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:26 I've told you, you need to buy it here. You do. You need to buy Gold Top.

Linnie 0:12:29 Yeah, you said Gold Top.

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:31 Gold Top or, or whole milk.

Linnie 0:12:33 Still not like that. Is it? Is it?

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:35 I think it might have a different flavour, but you need full fat milk, really.

Linnie 0:12:39 The steak.

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:40 Yeah, the steak was unbelievable and it wasn't overpriced. No. And we had to buy a lot of 'em. It wasn't major.

Linnie 0:12:46 No. But, and the prices you said of the wines that you bought.

Natalie Cassidy 0:12:49 Well, some of the wines, and you know I'm a wine snob, we were picking up wines just for a laugh because there wasn't loads and loads of choice in the supermarket. And we were saying, well, let's get this rosé for €3. And it was absolutely lovely. Nothing wrong with it. I bought a Voynya, which is a white wine. Here, a good Voynya I would say is maybe, yeah, £8 to £10, maybe £12. I think it was €4. It is crazy, it is crazy stuff. But yeah, there you go, what can you do?

Linnie 0:13:25 Yeah, it's just, mate, it's just a bit gutting when you get home, you think, God.

Natalie Cassidy 0:13:30 Although I did come home to a marrow the size of you.

Linnie 0:13:33 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:13:33 Which I'm hoping to stuff tonight. Oh wow, amazing.

Linnie 0:13:37 And funnily enough, our neighbour Maria was watering our plants.

Natalie Cassidy 0:13:40 Yeah.

Linnie 0:13:40 And she said, I was watering your courgettes. She goes, was it a whopping great big one? I said, yeah, I've seen it in the fridge. Yeah. Amazing. Even our tomato plants, not as big as yours, but they, they're coming along.

Natalie Cassidy 0:13:50 They're coming along. Have you got some red ones yet?

Linnie 0:13:52 Getting there. Getting there.

Natalie Cassidy 0:13:53 Yeah. Yeah. We've picked a few and they're coming along.

Linnie 0:13:55 And I've actually got a couple of fresh figs downstairs.

Natalie Cassidy 0:13:57 Have I?

Linnie 0:14:00 Yeah. No, they're pro— again, we, if we could grow our own here, but it's so time consuming.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:05 It is time consuming, but it is.

Linnie 0:14:07 I mean, you go to a Lidl's out there. Yes. And the food, the chicken in, the chicken in breadcrumbs.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:12 Oh, the chicken in breadcrumbs, guys.

Linnie 0:14:14 I'm sorry, we are gonna stop talking 'cause I am starving alive.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:17 The chicken in breadcrumbs here, obviously you get your chicken breasts and they're thick, aren't they? Fat. So what we do as a family is we will cut them.

Linnie 0:14:27 Bash them. Or bash them.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:27 We'll either cut them or we'll bash them or a bit of both 'cause they're so plump. Over there they sell it all breadcrumbed.

Linnie 0:14:34 Flat.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:35 Flat. Or non-breadcrumbed, but flat, ready to go. Oh, so good. Why can't we do that here?

Linnie 0:14:41 Don't know. I don't know. Don't get it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:45 There you go. So apparently there's a big Italian shop that Annalisa was telling me about in Bedford.

Linnie 0:14:51 Bedford. Yeah. I need to go.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:51 Yeah. Do you reckon they do that gear?

Linnie 0:14:53 Don't know. Doubt it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:54 Anyway, there you go.

Linnie 0:14:56 But overall, yeah, it was an incredible—

Natalie Cassidy 0:14:59 And I think Maria had a lovely, lovely time.

Linnie 0:15:01 Oh, the Saturday night and her actual birthday. Yeah. It was really nice. It was very special. Yeah. It was amazing. We're just so blessed. To be able to reflect back and, yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:15:12 Like you say, all those lovely videos and photos.

Linnie 0:15:15 Yeah, it's incredible.

Natalie Cassidy 0:15:16 Really good, really nice.

Linnie 0:15:18 But we had an interesting experience coming home, didn't we? Can never just do the whole—

Natalie Cassidy 0:15:23 The whole thing without a little hitch, can we?

Linnie 0:15:25 Weird. I mean, my, my, the last few days I was on a little bit on tenterhooks. I was thinking, this has all gone too smoothly, someone's gonna hurt themselves. I'm just really worried about the kids jumping. They were, in the end, the kids were throwing themselves in the deep end in the pool. But the confidence. Oh no, incredible. Brilliant. Incredible. Especially the girls. in particular. Mm-hmm. Unbelievable. So I was thinking, oh, something's gotta go wrong. And yeah, coming home we had a bit of a shocker.

Natalie Cassidy 0:15:47 Although again, sorry everybody, just so you know, there's an ice cream van. Ice cream van. Whether you hear it or not, whether Emma can get rid of it, but in case you can't, Em, there is an ice cream van outside. It's too hot to close the windows, as you all know. I've given up with it.

Linnie 0:16:02 God, how can you hear it?

Natalie Cassidy 0:16:04 So it's probably over at the pub.

Linnie 0:16:05 Oh, never mind.

Natalie Cassidy 0:16:07 There we go.

Natalie Cassidy 0:18:13 So we're all packed up.

Linnie 0:18:20 Oh yeah, said everything, didn't we? Yeah, so you've got Natalie, who I've learned is actually You're— you panic. You're a panicker. And I get it, 'cause I'm a bit like it, but you're to a different level. So everyone's got—

Natalie Cassidy 0:18:33 Compared to Jack, I'm not.

Linnie 0:18:34 I know Jack's to a completely different level. So you've gotta imagine all these characters. We gotta be at that airport 3 hours before the flight.

Linnie 0:18:41 Pisa's a very small airport. It's 40 minutes from the villa. But anyway, Dave was doing the same. But to be fair to Dave, he had the hire car. Yeah, he had to get back.

Linnie 0:18:50 And we had to get back, check the car in. It's gotta be checked. We don't, you know, we didn't know how long that would take. Blah, blah, blah. Yes.

Linnie 0:18:54 Yes. Dave and I have gone, and he did amazing driving out there because it's not easy driving abroad. Anyway, get— we all reach— we all get to the airport, don't we, about 2 and a half to 3 hours before our flight.

Natalie Cassidy 0:19:07 Which is a lot, actually.

Linnie 0:19:08 Which is a lot with a very small airport. It's half the size of Stansted. We go, we get our duty-free. We then decide to all go through passport control and—

Natalie Cassidy 0:19:19 No, we went through security.

Linnie 0:19:21 Security.

Natalie Cassidy 0:19:21 And then we It was so busy.

Linnie 0:19:24 So we go through security. Bear in mind, I've been to Pisa Airport a lot because my son and Lisa got married there. Yes. So we had to keep visiting the venue. When we got through, I was like, what's going on here? The volume of people.

Natalie Cassidy 0:19:40 It wasn't right, was it?

Linnie 0:19:41 In an airport that wasn't air-conditioned. There was nowhere to sit.

Natalie Cassidy 0:19:46 No.

Linnie 0:19:46 Nowhere to eat. No, it's— and we were like, what's going on here? And then we slowly started to discover that flights had— were majorly delayed, like 10, 12-hour delays.

Natalie Cassidy 0:19:59 Imagine if that was our flight, someone said.

Linnie 0:20:03 Well, we nearly got there, didn't we?

Natalie Cassidy 0:20:06 Next thing we know, it was 4-hour delay, wasn't it? So we were at the airport for 7 hours.

Linnie 0:20:14 However, You played a blinder. No.

Natalie Cassidy 0:20:17 Well, Elia played the blinder. She said, why don't we try and ask if we can go back through security so at least we can be outside? Because there were places to sit.

Linnie 0:20:26 I've never heard of this being allowed, so I would never have done it. She said, go and have a go. Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:20:30 And the woman went, yeah, sure, no problemo.

Linnie 0:20:33 So we've all walked back out with all our duty-free and everything.

Natalie Cassidy 0:20:37 Yeah, because it's all sealed up. They said as long as it's sealed, that's okay.

Linnie 0:20:41 We'll walk back out. We've pitched ourselves some, a seating area, was able to eat and drink. Kids were playing on the grass and basically had another afternoon in Italy. I mean, it saved us, didn't it?

Natalie Cassidy 0:20:53 'Cause it didn't feel, I felt like we were just out for lunch. Yeah, me too.

Linnie 0:20:57 I didn't know. I didn't feel like I was in a hotel. I've gotta be honest. I know it probably was hard for the girls with the little ones, but yeah, but they were still, they were still, and they ended up in the, so Jack even tried to get into the VIP lounge, which they did eventually, 3 of them, the ones with the babies. But even the VIP lounge had a queue. Queue outside. Yeah, it was mental.

Natalie Cassidy 0:21:16 But where we were, we were fine. I played cards with the kids. Yeah. They were running around. Everyone took their turns again. I actually felt— I was alright. I was fine. Yeah. I felt like I'd had another few hours there.

Linnie 0:21:26 And then when we went back in, we had to go through security again, didn't we?

Natalie Cassidy 0:21:30 I mean, don't get me wrong, it is an inconvenience. Imagine if you've got something to do and that happens. I'm— this happens all the time. All those people.

Linnie 0:21:36 Yeah, of course. I mean, luckily for us, no one was Other than a few of us having to go to work the following day. There was no, we weren't missing weddings or christenings or— Funerals.

Linnie 0:21:43 Funerals or anything. It was just, but Ryanair are gonna compensate us. Yes. Or so we believe. Well, so they should.

Linnie 0:21:50 And rightly so. Yeah. But we still don't know what happened. I even, 'cause we were sitting at the front on the plane, Dave and I, I even asked— Oh, did you? Yeah, yeah, I asked her.

Linnie 0:21:59 I said, what's caused this delay? She said, I don't know. She goes, we were on an alternative flight and we were asked to come and get you.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:04 Wow.

Linnie 0:22:05 So they weren't saying.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:06 That's funny. I don't know what it was.

Linnie 0:22:08 And also the chap sitting next to Eliza on the plane being asked to move. What was that all about?

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:13 Dunno. They said something about the weight of the plane.

Linnie 0:22:16 Yeah, we need to balance the weight of the plane. Again, never heard of that.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:19 No.

Linnie 0:22:19 So it'd be interesting, anyone that works for airlines to enlighten us. Yeah. Yeah, I've never, I've never seen that before. People have been asked to move to balance the weight of the plane.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:29 Quite a small plane, I dunno. Dunno how it works.

Linnie 0:22:31 It was interesting. So yeah, so we had a bit of a mare.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:34 Makes me all a bit nervous, all that balance in the plane. I'm thinking, what's going on here?

Linnie 0:22:37 Well, just the fact that you've— Well, it's one person. Yeah. And you've paid for that to sit at the front.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:43 Yeah.

Linnie 0:22:44 And you're being told to go and sit at the back. Yeah, he did kick off actually.

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:47 Well, fair enough.

Linnie 0:22:48 So yeah, there was, that was a little hiccup, but—

Natalie Cassidy 0:22:51 But I don't feel like anyone, we've not left anything. Oh, Jack left his Stanley Cup on the plane. That was the one thing.

Linnie 0:22:58 Did he really? Mm-hmm. And Elia left her handbag in the villa, I understand. Had to go back for it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:04 No, I think they found it in the end, didn't they?

Linnie 0:23:06 No, it was in the villa.

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:07 Oh, it was in the villa?

Linnie 0:23:08 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:08 Oh, I didn't know that.

Linnie 0:23:09 Yeah. Oh, so Jack left his set there though. Yes.

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:13 But I think I've come home with everything. Yeah. Even chargers and stuff. Sometimes you leave, you know, travel plugs in the wall.

Linnie 0:23:18 And I was, that was my concern that I was leaving before you guys. Yes. Leaving the villa and I would've done the final recce. Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:23 I had a good old recce round.

Linnie 0:23:26 But, um, yeah, there we go.

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:29 Yeah, absolutely brilliant.

Linnie 0:23:30 Yeah, it was really good.

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:33 Really, really good.

Linnie 0:23:33 But it was like a week of just hosting. It was. And my family from Italy weren't— in the end didn't come. Can you imagine if we'd had another 5 bodies? How would we have done that?

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:46 We would have done it. Of course we would have.

Linnie 0:23:48 And Federal Chor— we are gutted. As you know, I was devastated.

Natalie Cassidy 0:23:52 But it's all right. Me and Auntie Lily have hatched a plan for next year.

Linnie 0:23:56 Yeah. You're— we're gonna be coming over. Federal, get ready for us. Yeah. So basically my family, I've got family in southern Italy. 5 of them were coming for a couple of days, not staying with us, but were going to join us at the villa every day. And sadly, my cousin Marina, her parents, both of them had a little bit of a mishap and— They couldn't leave. They couldn't leave them. Yeah. Very upsettingly, they couldn't join us, but they probably dodged a bullet 'cause it was cold. But yeah, hopefully we'll see them next year.

Natalie Cassidy 0:24:27 Absolutely.

Linnie 0:24:27 I will leave Natalie to—

Natalie Cassidy 0:24:29 Oh, it's gonna be amazing. Share that story. We're gonna, we're going to, we'd like to go out and, and look at the produce and look at the things that are near Linda's village and do some pods over there and just meet all the family. There are some fantastic stories. So we are going to absolutely organise a few specials in Italy, which I think will be super fun.

Linnie 0:24:49 And we can work those around hopefully when they make their tomato sauce, when they make When they make their wine.

Natalie Cassidy 0:24:55 When they make the mozzarella.

Linnie 0:24:58 The mozzarella. Yeah. So it's, yeah. It'll be really, really good. Yeah. We can do a couple of little— Let me know what you think about that.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:04 07788 201919. I think it'll be fab. It will be mostly audio related, but we can put lots of pictures in and do a few videos and stuff as well. But I think it'll go down a storm.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:14 Mentioning hosting, we've had a message about that today, and obviously I popped up You know, what do people think about hosting? But this was the first message that spurred me on to do it. Hey Nat, Daniela here. I've got a pod topic for you. I was born and raised in Italy where kids basically live at each other's houses.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:33 They wander in, raid your fridge, and before you know it, they've unofficially adopted. It's completely normal. I've brought my own kids up in the same way, so our house is always open. Their friends are here all the time, and playdates are almost always at ours because, well, the invitations never seem to get returned. My house has somehow become the neighbourhood HQ, and I genuinely love that the kids feel comfortable and happy here.

Natalie Cassidy 0:25:58 Mm-hmm. What does make me scratch my head is it's never really reciprocated. We'll happily have extra kids for a whole weekend, but the other parents never seem to say, it's my turn now. So what's the deal? Is it a cultural thing?

Natalie Cassidy 0:26:13 Are people just busier these days? Anyway, love the pod. Ciao for now.

Linnie 0:26:18 Thanks, Daniela.

Natalie Cassidy 0:26:18 Lovely message. Daniela.

Linnie 0:26:20 Interesting, Daniela, because my house, as you know, Natalie, was very much the same, as was the house I grew up in, my mum and dad's house.

Natalie Cassidy 0:26:29 Yeah.

Linnie 0:26:29 I remember when we moved, there was an Italian family living there prior to us. And when we've moved in, and literally within 24 hours of living there, there was like kids just coming. Like, we had a side door 'cause it was an end of terrace house. And kids in the road.

Natalie Cassidy 0:26:45 They're just coming in.

Linnie 0:26:46 Just coming in. And even I found it strange. And I'd sort of grown up in that environment, even in our previous house. But this was like a little cul-de-sac. All the children played out, as did my children as they got older.

Natalie Cassidy 0:26:58 As did Isla.

Linnie 0:26:59 As did you. And they would just come in. And I remember thinking, God, this is strange. But they were used to doing it with the previous family. Yes. They would just, they didn't knock on the door.

Natalie Cassidy 0:27:09 Perhaps they didn't even know they'd moved.

Linnie 0:27:11 Perhaps they didn't.

Natalie Cassidy 0:27:12 Probably just someone coming back to—

Linnie 0:27:13 And then it sort of evolved from there. It was much the same for us. So I do think it is a cultural thing. I do. I also think probably in today's world, people are more cautious, aren't they? In terms of—

Natalie Cassidy 0:27:29 Leaving back doors open and all that.

Linnie 0:27:31 And even, you know, you inviting someone over or them inviting you if they don't know you or—

Natalie Cassidy 0:27:39 Now I'd say I've got an open house. Yes. In terms of people I know are welcome here at all times. Yeah. But if I had a couple of kids that I didn't know coming through the garden and walking in, I'd say, fuck off.

Linnie 0:27:50 Just wouldn't happen. Yeah. It just wouldn't happen.

Natalie Cassidy 0:27:50 No. That would be weird to me.

Linnie 0:27:52 It just wouldn't happen. But, you know, again, much the same for me when my lot were growing up. My— because I think a lot of it is location of the— where I live. Yes. I was close to the school, close to a station.

Natalie Cassidy 0:28:03 And interestingly, I saw it Where did I go the other day? I can't, I went somewhere. I had to go somewhere. Oh, I think it was the lovely lady who did the bridesmaid dress for me, a listener of the pod who helped me with Sonia's bridesmaid dress, what have you.

Natalie Cassidy 0:28:18 Oh, right, right. But there I saw, there was a few bikes out, a few, and it reminded me of where you used to be. Right. There was sort of more going on, whereas where I am now, you haven't really got that. But I think when you have, you're in a cul-de-sac and you know it's quite safe, I think kids do still play out, which is lovely actually.

Natalie Cassidy 0:28:35 I like to see that, that old-fashioned— Yeah. It's lovely that they're not sat on a phone or an iPad. Yeah.

Linnie 0:28:39 You do get an element of that still probably if you're in a road that there's no passing traffic. The only people that live there, gonna drive there, are people that live there or visiting. Yeah. But even where I am now in Broxbourne, as the kids got a little bit older, it was very much the party house. Yeah. The go-to house, the be picked up from house, the meet, all congregate there and we'll go out from their house. Yeah. The staying overnight house, because it was easy to get to.

Natalie Cassidy 0:29:04 But also it's lovely, isn't it? Look, we've got this message. Oh, I'm so glad. This message here. Let me play these 2 from lovely Bex. Oh yeah.

Speaker N 0:29:13 Hi love, I just saw your story about hosting parties and things.

Linnie 0:29:20 I love hosting, although when you're doing it, so I dunno if this is the same, but I always love the idea of hosting and and love getting it all ready and stuff. And then do you ever, when you're in the midst of it, you're like, why did I say I'd do this?

Linnie 0:29:34 Because actually I never actually sit down and talk to anyone and enjoy the time because you're just busy making sure everyone's okay. But I do love it, and I am fortunate enough to live in a house that is perfect for socialising and entertaining. So that is what we do. And actually, that's nice, isn't it? Anyway, I just wanted to say hi really, um, and hi to Auntie Linnie, and I hope you all had the most fabulous time.

Linnie 0:29:58 Thank you. Time away, which I'm sure you did. Anyway, lots of love, love. I'll see you soon.

Linnie 0:30:05 Oh, and also, when you've got kids, I always want to be the parent that the kid doesn't mind having their friends over because your house is cool and it's like, it's okay to hang out there. Because I'd much rather Henry be here with his mates than somewhere where I don't know where he is. So that's another bonus for being a little bit of an open house and being free and easy. Yeah, come round. And that's another reason why I'm quite like that.

Linnie 0:30:32 Anyway, happy hot Saturday.

Natalie Cassidy 0:30:35 It is a hot Saturday. It's a hot one. I'm with Bex there. Completely with her.

Linnie 0:30:39 Many a time we've instigated a gathering for, and you think, oh, why have I done this to myself? And she's absolutely right.

Natalie Cassidy 0:30:46 When you are hosting, you don't get to see anyone, do you really?

Linnie 0:30:50 You don't really get to. And I have, like, when we've, I've done whatever gathering I've done, even if it's just a small dinner party, they'll be like, and I know people say it's really rude, but if we are like entertaining in the kitchen, 'cause you know, the kitchen's kind of the hub of the house, I do get up and start washing up or putting, loading the dishwasher up. And they're like, oh, come and sit down, just enjoy. But I feel I gotta get up to this tomorrow morning. I don't want to. Or equally, I've then gotta stay up after you've left.

Natalie Cassidy 0:31:17 For 2 hours doing it.

Linnie 0:31:18 2 hours doing it. So I'd rather just get it done.

Natalie Cassidy 0:31:21 I know, but it is a bit rude. No, I know. I'm the same.

Linnie 0:31:24 No, I know. But I'm— But I think it depends who it is. If it's someone you're comfortable with and— I know, but also that, That's, they wanna see you. No, I know.

Natalie Cassidy 0:31:31 I'm the same. Poor Mop, he's not finished his dinner. I'm up with my plate.

Linnie 0:31:35 Yeah. No, it's not nice. It's terrible. He says it is bad trait.

Natalie Cassidy 0:31:38 No, I know. He said, we've not, I've not finished yet. It's rude. So I am, I need to remember that and be mindful of that. And you sit for a minute and have a conversation. 'Cause again, we're on the go. We want things done.

Linnie 0:31:48 But like the full-on hosting. So next Sunday. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Week tomorrow I'm hosting 30.

Natalie Cassidy 0:31:55 I was gonna ask how many.

Linnie 0:31:56 Yeah, I think we're 30-odd. I don't know if you know, but Maria's turned 40. So just have a little gathering at 9 in case she hasn't done enough. You know, afternoon thing. But it's, a lot of work goes in, even though I'm trying to be like very low-key about it, 'cause it is just a toaster, but it's still a lot of work involved. And then everyone says, oh, sit down and drink.

Natalie Cassidy 0:32:20 I do think you should get plastic cups out.

Linnie 0:32:22 Oh, really? No. I've got, yeah, maybe. Still gotta wash 'em. Don't throw 'em away.

Natalie Cassidy 0:32:28 No, it's true actually, 'cause we've got good ones.

Linnie 0:32:29 Still gotta wash them. Plastic plates? Don't know, Natalie. I haven't really—

Natalie Cassidy 0:32:34 Really thought about it. We'll have a nag. We'll have a chat.

Linnie 0:32:37 We'll have to sort it out. But ultimately, I've still got to host. It's all well and good everyone saying, oh, just sit down. But no, 'cause glasses have gotta be replenished, drinks have gotta be poured, food's gotta be moved.

Natalie Cassidy 0:32:48 I'll help you.

Linnie 0:32:49 When you're hosting, And I love it. And I still enjoy it. Yeah, of course. I feel like I kind of, lots of my friends say, you're very clever the way you sort of just sort of mingle and tidy things up. But you're tidy, yeah. And you do it really discreetly. And then you sort of look around and think, blimey, how's she get all this in order? So I think over the years I've just mastered doing it. I had a friend, Jan, bless her, she loved tidying up. And she was someone that would always, if ever I had a party, she would get stuck in. I think she just felt comfortable doing it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:33:21 Yes.

Linnie 0:33:22 Sally's another one.

Natalie Cassidy 0:33:22 Yeah.

Linnie 0:33:23 That flitters around helping. So it is nice to have those few friends that just don't mind doing it. Yeah. I'm the same. I would do it. If I go to a friend, I don't just sit there. It's so difficult, isn't it? Because you don't wanna be a party pooper.

Natalie Cassidy 0:33:38 No, you wanna enjoy yourself, but it's nice to help also, isn't it? And be thoughtful.

Linnie 0:33:42 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:33:43 Even if it's a little bit. I love it. I think as the children—

Linnie 0:33:47 You do. more now than I, I mean, I don't do, I can't do it as much. I really struggle because of all the little children. It's such hard work. Yes.

Natalie Cassidy 0:33:56 And what I was going to say is I feel like that's getting easier now.

Linnie 0:34:00 Is it?

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:01 I think so. Yeah. Yeah, I do. They're getting that bit older. In terms of getting every toy out. Or, you know, Joni might have nice things and I'd like, I'd hide them. Yeah. 'Cause you don't want them ruined. Of course. It's not their fault. It's different ages. But, You know, they love to sit now and play with the mouse house together. Yeah. Or they're playing with their dolls together.

Linnie 0:34:19 Yeah. And the older children do take themselves off now. Yes. So, yes. Yeah, you're absolutely right.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:24 And you're not, but when I go into the spare room, or the playroom, it's not World War IV and it's gonna take me 4 hours.

Linnie 0:34:30 Right. So that—

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:32 Did Elliot tell you about James yesterday?

Linnie 0:34:34 No. Oh. Go on.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:37 He found some pastels, Oh dear. And the wall before you go into Grandad's lounge—

Linnie 0:34:45 Oh, what, yours?

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:46 Yes.

Linnie 0:34:47 Oh good.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:48 Um, was covered in a wonderful green motif. He had drawn all the way up to the top. You said you wanted it.

Linnie 0:34:54 You said you wanted it. I know I did. Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:56 No, that I said earlier. Yeah.

Linnie 0:34:57 There you go.

Natalie Cassidy 0:34:58 And then I said, we can't tell him off, 'cause we were in the kitchen and he'd gone in with Joanie.

Linnie 0:35:03 And he's been left to his own devices.

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:05 And I said, so, No, you can't tell him that. And she said, that is someone's wall. I said, when you get home, take the pasta— I was winding her up. I said, and when you get home— but do you know what got it out? Oh, it'll come off.

Linnie 0:35:18 What, sieve?

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:19 The pink stuff.

Linnie 0:35:20 Oh yeah, pink stuff cloth.

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:22 Yeah, went over it and then sponged it. And I've obviously done the good paint where you can, yeah, take things off. But yeah, good as gold, it's all come off.

Linnie 0:35:31 He's a funny one. He, he's so into He's determined. He's into everything.

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:37 Oh, he just doesn't know where to go.

Linnie 0:35:39 Pressing buttons, pulling plugs, sticking, switching sockets on and off. Just anything he can like get his little hands on.

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:48 He's so, what's the word, inquisitive.

Linnie 0:35:51 So inquisitive.

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:52 Just 'cause he's so clever.

Linnie 0:35:52 Yeah. He's a character, isn't he?

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:55 Absolute character.

Linnie 0:35:56 Oh, so did you—

Natalie Cassidy 0:35:56 And Frankie, I went to Mark's yesterday and he loves Paddington, doesn't he?

Linnie 0:36:01 Loves Paddington.

Natalie Cassidy 0:36:01 Had pads on holiday. He likes his little pads, didn't he, to have a little watch every now and again. There's a great big Paddington with a little M&S ticket on it.

Linnie 0:36:10 Stop it. So I've texted Annalisa.

Natalie Cassidy 0:36:11 I said I had to buy it for him thinking, oh, I bet he's bloody got one. I said, has he got one? Is it gonna clock you up? She went, no, he hasn't got a Paddington. I was so, but I was so happy.

Linnie 0:36:20 Oh, he loves Paddington. So I can't wait to see him to give him that. He just says, hiya.

Natalie Cassidy 0:36:25 Hiya.

Linnie 0:36:26 So now James, we go to James. What does Frankie say? Hiya. They're funny little things, aren't they?

Natalie Cassidy 0:36:32 Gorgeous. Although it has definitely made me realise that I don't wanna know another child?

Linnie 0:36:36 Oh God, it's such hard work. What is it? Have we forgotten?

Natalie Cassidy 0:36:41 Must have. I don't remember it being that hard.

Linnie 0:36:45 Not me, I've gotta be honest. And I mean— And I had 14-month gap between 2 of mine, and I do remember that year being hard.

Natalie Cassidy 0:36:51 Maybe we just— maybe you don't realise. Maybe you forget.

Linnie 0:36:55 And they're so clingy to their mums. Boys and their mummies, aren't they?

Natalie Cassidy 0:36:59 I don't feel like my girls were like that with me. So maybe it is boys.

Linnie 0:37:03 A boy thing.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:04 'Cause Toby's clingy to Jen.

Linnie 0:37:06 Dom was the same.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:06 So there you go. Boys and their mums, innit?

Linnie 0:37:08 Jenny's little one's the same.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:09 Yeah, I feel like he's, as soon as she goes to make a water or whatever, he's at the door. Where is she? Where is she, Mummy? Yeah. Yeah, I think boys are just, they love their mums, don't they?

Linnie 0:37:20 But yeah, going back to the whole hosting thing.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:23 Oh, loads. Loads of messages. It's lovely to do.

Linnie 0:37:25 You've, I've no end of parties that we had at our house. And when I say hosted, I've hosted parties like 200. Maria's 21st, there was about 200 people. 240 people. Unbelievable. Okay, with the bigger parties you have the caterers in, but there's still loads of work to be done. But how lovely when I look back.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:43 Well, again, it's all memories.

Linnie 0:37:44 It's lovely. All Maria's friends, they'll talk about getting ready at mine, and it's lovely.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:50 It is lovely.

Linnie 0:37:50 It is. Everything is about making memories, isn't it? Because genuinely, that is what you are going through. I think about that with this sometimes.

Natalie Cassidy 0:37:58 I think, how lovely.

Linnie 0:37:59 Oh.

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:00 For all the generations to come.

Linnie 0:38:02 That they're gonna—

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:03 They'll be able to— can you imagine having material?

Linnie 0:38:05 No, it's incredible.

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:06 But it'll be here in 4 generations.

Linnie 0:38:09 But will they be able to listen to it? 'Cause, you know, it's like us saying we've got things on videos that now you can't play. Yeah, or cine film. Yeah, how will this all evolve? Technology. But ultimately, it's— the material's there. I love that. No, it's incredible.

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:24 I do think that quite a lot. I think, God, I wish I'd imagined having hours of Mum and Dad Debbie's like talking, you know.

Linnie 0:38:31 I know.

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:31 It's good, isn't it?

Linnie 0:38:33 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:38:33 Lucky devils. And you lot, you're a bit lucky as well.

Natalie Cassidy 0:41:05 Louise Taylor, she said, I'm not a hoster, lol. I like to have my get-out plan sorted so it's easier for me to go somewhere else, and I can leave when I want to. My in-laws are so strict, loud, I can't bear it. Oh, the drunker they get, the louder they get, and I can't cope. I'm much happier sitting in my own company. Well, I'll tell you what, Louise, don't come round here, love.

Linnie 0:41:27 No, don't ever come away with us either. I mean, I think I had to disappear one night as well.

Natalie Cassidy 0:41:33 Oh dear.

Linnie 0:41:34 Eliza did a little disappearing act, but I get it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:41:38 Yeah.

Linnie 0:41:38 Oh my God.

Natalie Cassidy 0:41:39 Yeah, it's a lot. There's a lot of us. Everyone, and again, I know I bore everybody, everyone needs to do what they want to do. Wherever anyone wants to go, Whoever wants to stay up, whoever wants to go to bed, don't make people stay up. I'm like, just let people do what they want. That's what I think. And we did. Yeah. We did.

Linnie 0:41:55 And I think that's why it worked so well. And it worked. 'Cause no one felt under pressure. No. To not be able to just say, I'm going to bed. Yeah. Or I'm lying in.

Natalie Cassidy 0:42:03 Or they're, yeah, exactly. Or someone doesn't come down for an hour.

Linnie 0:42:06 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:42:07 That's how it should be.

Linnie 0:42:08 Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:42:08 That was absolutely brilliant.

Linnie 0:42:09 But also I think it's where we've all been away together as a family, we've kind of, You know, we've— it's like anything, isn't it? When you do it the first time, you're all a little bit more aware of each other.

Natalie Cassidy 0:42:20 Yeah. And I know I'm gonna get cursed for saying this.

Linnie 0:42:22 Oh, God.

Natalie Cassidy 0:42:23 But I'm going to say it.

Linnie 0:42:24 Go on.

Natalie Cassidy 0:42:25 I just love spending time with Dominic.

Linnie 0:42:27 Oh, so, so, the Nat's niece is— No. The old naggy with Auntie Linda?

Natalie Cassidy 0:42:33 No, you know what I mean. Yeah, yeah. I just— because I don't see him a lot. 'Cause you don't see him. And we just, I feel, get on very well. And he makes me laugh so much. But also have lovely conversation. I just love his company. So, it was just very special. to spend a little bit of time with him that I don't usually get.

Linnie 0:42:49 I completely agree. I completely agree.

Natalie Cassidy 0:42:51 The golden boy. But yeah, I'll be hammered for it, but it was just so nice to be able to.

Linnie 0:42:56 But even Jack, even Jack having that, I know Jack wasn't with us that long. Yes. He didn't do the whole week.

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:00 But I feel like I see Jack a little bit more, maybe. Yeah, maybe. Not that much more, but I dunno, maybe it's 'cause he's around the corner.

Linnie 0:43:07 We don't see— but it's no different with me. Dominic, unless I ring him, I don't hear from him. No. Because—

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:12 I can go a month without talking to Dom. Yeah. Easy.

Linnie 0:43:15 And then all of a sudden you're living with him. And then we're cooking together.

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:17 We're having a lovely— It was just really nice quality time.

Linnie 0:43:20 Agreed. Agreed. Enjoyed it. No, it was special.

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:23 Our golden boy, everybody.

Linnie 0:43:24 Don't tell the girls.

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:27 Jen said, hi, I much prefer to be the guest. I want to end my day and night when I want. I don't want to be nice to everyone, which you have to do as a host. I don't want to check everyone is having a nice time, meaning I am not. I like the idea of an open house and being the hostess with the mostest, but it just isn't me. Love to you both. That's Jen.

Linnie 0:43:47 I love your honesty, Jen. Yeah. And it isn't for everybody. No. And Jen's right. If you're not hosting, you can leave when you want to leave. Whereas if you're the host—

Natalie Cassidy 0:43:58 Well, I'm the opposite. I'm the host, so I'm like, don't go home. No.

Linnie 0:44:02 Yeah. We're like, please let us go.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:04 I'm not going yet, are you?

Linnie 0:44:07 Yeah, I know. But that— she's right though. Yes. You know, as a host, as a As a guest, you can, when you're done and you've had enough, you can just up and go. Whereas if you're hosting and your guests aren't going, it can be, I mean, I've been to one of Dave's friends where he would always drag us back to his for an after-party. I mean—

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:30 Oh yeah.

Linnie 0:44:31 Poor partner at the time, she'd just, there were times she would just have to crash. She'd just pass out because it's a long old evening.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:38 And then you're going back.

Linnie 0:44:40 We're all going back. He doesn't want anyone to leave. Yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:43 There's a lot on it. Hello, Nat and Linnie.

Natalie Cassidy 0:44:47 Hope you've recovered from your holidays. Love, love, love hosting any occasion. I love the pomp of it all, and more importantly, watching people enjoy the food you've cooked for them. It's lovely. I even take requests from people for what they would like, certain cheesecakes or trimming to go with a roast.

Natalie Cassidy 0:45:04 I do Christmas every year for 13, my in-laws, et cetera. Fab. I'm from a very small family that isn't close, so I've been given a marvellous family from my husband. Mm-hmm. I enjoy spending time with them.

Natalie Cassidy 0:45:15 We were having a small get-together recently. I thought 31 people and it was 11. I had the sums done in my head wrong and I carried an extra one. Love to you all, Carla. Oh, imagine having, thinking you've got 31 people and cooking for 31 and 11 turn up.

Linnie 0:45:31 No.

Natalie Cassidy 0:45:31 I hope you went out into the street, Carla, gave your food away.

Linnie 0:45:34 Oh.

Natalie Cassidy 0:45:35 Doggy bags galore around there.

Linnie 0:45:38 And that's sometimes so hard, isn't it, as well? Because you always overdo it 'cause you don't wanna run out of food or you don't wanna run outta drink. That's the problem when when you host at home, isn't it? Like you said about the holiday, because of our numbers, you just had no concept of how much of everything do I need? Okay, in our case, you could just go, keep going to buy. But when you're hosting a party, and then you tend to overbuy and—

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:00 I've never really cooked for over our amount. I dunno what it would be like to cook for 30, say. I'd like to do it. I'd like to try it. But just the numbers to keep sort of—

Linnie 0:46:13 Yeah, I'm in a family of foodies, so I'm so lucky. Because I just couldn't do that as well. I just couldn't.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:19 No, you couldn't do it. You couldn't. Couldn't do it. It'd be impossible.

Linnie 0:46:22 No. You know, you, Elia, Maria, Dave. Dom. Dom. Brilliant cooks, all of you.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:29 I did say that we're missing a trick.

Linnie 0:46:32 I've been saying it for a long time.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:34 We should do a supper club.

Linnie 0:46:35 Should do something.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:36 The only problem with supper clubs is you've got, no disrespect to anyone listening, you have to invite people into your home.

Linnie 0:46:41 I'd happily do it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:46:43 Would you?

Linnie 0:46:43 I've always said it. I'd love to use my house for Another conversation to be had. What this— honestly, guys, the food that was cooked on this week we were away was better than many a restaurant I've been to. Truly, Natalie. Mhmm. Don't you agree? I know. I agree. Would you not agree?

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:05 Absolutely. Every plate of pasta, every sauce.

Linnie 0:47:08 French, you know, beans with garlic and olive oil to die for. I know.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:13 No, there was some lovely stuff.

Linnie 0:47:15 It's amazing.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:16 The bresaola and rocket salad with the Parmesan that we made.

Linnie 0:47:19 Incredible.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:20 Yeah, it was good. Very good.

Linnie 0:47:22 Again, something you, you should all consider.

Natalie Cassidy 0:47:26 Food for thought, as they say.

Linnie 0:47:28 There you go. Hello, Nat, it's Emma from Knebworth. Hope you had the most amazing holiday. You look like you did because you're falling asleep on the couch and exhausted. So sign of a good holiday.

Linnie 0:47:41 Just saw your pod you're doing with Auntie Linnie about open house or not. I'll tell you what, when I was younger— I have to share this— I had everyone around at my house. I had parties all the time. I had family around all the time. The more the merrier.

Linnie 0:47:55 Something's happened. I don't know what. I don't know, again, whether it is to do with menopause. I don't want anyone around me anymore. Wow.

Linnie 0:48:03 I think it might be since COVID as well, since we locked down. I feel now if there's more than 3 or 4 people in my house, I get a bit anxious and antsy, and I don't want them here. Yes, I have moved to a smaller house. We had no choice, as you know. I rent and we had no choice.

Linnie 0:48:19 So that's another story. But it's a very small house now, and it's not just that fact that makes me not have parties and invite people around. I just don't want to.

Speaker F 0:48:31 There's nothing nicer than sitting with my Mark on the sofa watching something we like, or sitting in my garden with a lovely cup of tea. tea in my next mug and just relaxing after work.

Linnie 0:48:43 You can't feel guilty that you're— the dynamics of how you live now have changed. Age plays a big part in it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:48:51 Yeah.

Linnie 0:48:51 I agree with her. Probably the menopause is a contributing factor. You get older, everything becomes more overwhelming to do.

Natalie Cassidy 0:49:01 More overwhelming.

Linnie 0:49:02 You get tired quicker.

Natalie Cassidy 0:49:03 It's It's an interesting one though.

Linnie 0:49:06 'Cause now when I reflect back to all the hosting I've done from when, from day one, Natalie, from having my wedding. Yes. I look back and I think, how did I do that? I hosted a small birthday gathering when I gave birth to Maria 'cause my brother and your brother turned 21. And I come home with a newborn baby and did a little family gathering. I mean, that was the start of it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:49:38 Yeah.

Linnie 0:49:38 There's a reason you do these things when you're young, because in your later years it becomes harder. And for many of us, we're still working.

Natalie Cassidy 0:49:46 Yeah.

Linnie 0:49:46 You know? Yeah. You know, I'm hosting next Sunday. I'm going to work on Monday. And my lot are all going to my colleague Mark, who works with me. He's hosting— I don't know if any of you know, but Riz has turned baldy. So he's hosting a little gathering for baldies. for her tomorrow at his. And he's into making his own pizzas.

Natalie Cassidy 0:50:05 Yes, yeah.

Linnie 0:50:07 And Mark's 40 as well. They're in the same school year. He's a family friend as well as my fellow director. And, you know, bless him, he's hosting. There's a lot of them. It's all the cousins and my lot and their partners. He's making pizzas for everyone. I think Jamie's doing something as well.

Natalie Cassidy 0:50:22 I tell you what though, the pizza thing, making fresh pizzas for a lot of people is stressful.

Linnie 0:50:27 No, and he— I could tell today, He was panicking a little bit because the weather's really warm and he said, you know, I've gotta put— I've never put the dough in the fridge. I'm gonna have to put it in the fridge because the temperature's too warm. And I'm looking, I'm going, I'm sure it'll be fine, Mark. And he's doing it from scratch. Bless him. And, you know—

Natalie Cassidy 0:50:43 I bet they'll be fantastic.

Linnie 0:50:43 Oh no, I've tasted them, they're brilliant. But again, you know, it's a lot. And it's pre—

Natalie Cassidy 0:50:50 and also it's pressure 'cause if you fuck up the pizza, no one's got anything to eat.

Linnie 0:50:53 Yeah, which is why he's got Jamie there. And he's doing a backup risotto, I think he's doing. Oh, lovely. But he's learnt to make cocktails. He's gonna do cocktails. Oh, no, it sounds great. So it's lovely because you're going all out, but there's a reason you do these things when you are younger because—

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:07 And also a reason that you have to do them few and far between. Yeah. You can't be doing it every week. No. A, it wouldn't be special.

Linnie 0:51:13 Exactly.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:15 And B, it just wouldn't, you wouldn't be able to do it.

Linnie 0:51:17 And the cost that comes with it.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:19 Of course, the cost. Of course.

Linnie 0:51:20 I think his main concern is that he's got enough alcohol for all of them.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:23 Should be. Should be as well. It's all right, Mark.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:24 Obviously, I, I, I can't come, so you'll be all right. You've frustrated me, you prick. You certainly have, mate. Next time. Vicki said, absolutely love hosting, and last weekend we hosted a family summer gathering for 30 people.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:37 Loved every minute of it. We casted the net far and wide and had people seeing each other that hadn't seen each other for 20 years plus. We did some nice special touches, including a photo book with lots of old family photos from years gone by, and we got customised cups made so everyone could work out who was who at a glance. Now planning the next. I think we've set a precedent.

Linnie 0:51:57 Yeah, but lovely.

Natalie Cassidy 0:51:58 So isn't that nice?

Linnie 0:52:00 But hosting can be like, we've got a couple coming over in a few Saturdays' time that we haven't seen in a while. Mel and Gary.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:07 Yeah, yeah. Oh, Gary.

Linnie 0:52:08 Yeah, who Dave was best man for. And they're coming over having a spot of dinner with us.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:12 That's nice.

Linnie 0:52:13 It's lovely. See, now that's lovely. That's nice.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:15 There's 4 of you.

Linnie 0:52:16 There's 4 of us. Can have some really nice food. Nice conversation.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:20 Yeah, that's nice.

Linnie 0:52:21 Couple of drinks. That's lovely. Yeah. Soon as the numbers start to grow, maybe we'll have— I agree.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:26 We've got, I know we don't do it enough. We don't see people enough, me and Mark, that sort of thing.

Linnie 0:52:29 But life unfortunately does. Or my friend Elliot Grover, lovely Elliot.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:33 Yes. From the Cut. He's coming up with his partner Laura.

Linnie 0:52:36 Is he?

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:36 They're coming up in a couple of weeks' time.

Linnie 0:52:38 What, you're hosting?

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:39 I dunno. I mean, I dunno whether—

Linnie 0:52:41 Pressure. I know.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:42 But no, he would like to try the pub in the village. 'Cause he actually knows, he went out and he bumped into the owner of the pub and this and that. We may just go to the pub.

Linnie 0:52:51 Oh, lovely.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:52 But yes, we— Well, that's nice. Yeah, it is nice. It is nice.

Linnie 0:52:55 You've become good friends. Really good friends.

Natalie Cassidy 0:52:58 Yeah, really good friends.

Linnie 0:52:59 And this is all through you doing—

Natalie Cassidy 0:53:00 Cooking with the Stars. Really nice.

Linnie 0:53:04 Funny, isn't it, how you just connect with people?

Natalie Cassidy 0:53:05 Yeah. And I knew I connected with him in about 10 minutes.

Linnie 0:53:08 Why?

Natalie Cassidy 0:53:09 Don't know. I said, me and you are gonna be friends. Like that, straight away.

Linnie 0:53:16 What about us bumping into James Alexander at the airport? I mean, the poor sods were all frightened. I said, hello, James!

Natalie Cassidy 0:53:25 Oh no, but he was so happy to see us as well.

Linnie 0:53:27 How random was that as well?

Natalie Cassidy 0:53:28 The most random thing.

Linnie 0:53:30 When did you last see James?

Natalie Cassidy 0:53:31 I haven't seen James. Last time I saw him, we went for a bit of lunch at EastEnders. He came up. I think he was doing something to do with directing or whatever. and we had a little bit of lunch and I saw him. But yeah, I mean, I've not even met his wife. It was like, you know, to say hello to her.

Linnie 0:53:45 But— Didn't realise he was married, Jane. In the middle of an airport at 1 o'clock in the morning.

Natalie Cassidy 0:53:49 Apparently El's heard someone going, that's mad, innit? Like, Sonia and Martin, like from the old days, meeting at the airport. That's crazy, isn't it?

Linnie 0:53:56 Oh, how funny. What about me in the queue when we were going through passport? Oh yeah, go on. Well, I put the message, I think that got overlooked. So I'm standing there every day, And obviously Dave is oblivious. And there's 2 guys and a girl behind me, and they were talking about EastEnders, which is what made me listen. And then he was going, yeah, yeah, I don't know if she's still in it though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They can't get paid much then. She's travelling with Ryanair. I really wanted to turn around and say, and what's wrong with travelling with Ryanair? She's with her family.

Natalie Cassidy 0:54:32 Isn't it funny though that people think that you're not gonna choose?

Linnie 0:54:36 Yeah, you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't. If you've been travelling business class, whatever, whatever, they would be like, yeah, I'm presuming she is. Yeah, absolutely. You can't win. I was so tempted to turn around and say, that's my sister-in-law, have you not? But I won't embarrass her.

Natalie Cassidy 0:54:50 But also, it doesn't matter what you can afford, it's about where you're going, what time you wanna fly. It doesn't, you know, it's about convenience of where you're going as well.

Linnie 0:54:58 It's a 2-hour flight to Italy.

Natalie Cassidy 0:55:00 How uncomfortable are the seats, aren't they?

Linnie 0:55:01 Do you know what, you said that, And I said on my way out, it was absolutely fine. On the way, I mean, I fell asleep coming home, thankfully. But that first 20 minutes where I wasn't asleep, they were very uncomfortable seats. Very uncomfortable seats. And I had the legroom, but why do they have them so upright?

Natalie Cassidy 0:55:15 I don't know.

Linnie 0:55:16 More room, maybe. Oh, maybe they fit a few more in. Oh God, yeah, you're right.

Natalie Cassidy 0:55:22 Anyway, there you go.

Linnie 0:55:23 Yeah, yeah.

Natalie Cassidy 0:55:24 We'll get a private jet next time. Yeah, we'll do that. 'Cause I've got so much money. So I treat everybody, you know, I'll have you know this holiday was on Auntie Lynne, so there you go.

Linnie 0:55:34 Yeah, so I won't be flying business class anywhere anytime soon.

Natalie Cassidy 0:55:37 She's on her knees.

Linnie 0:55:38 And on that note.

Natalie Cassidy 0:55:43 On that note, love you loads. Thank you so much. Please get in touch, everybody. 07788 20 19 19. Thanks so much, Lynne.

Linnie 0:55:50 Pleasure.

Natalie Cassidy 0:55:50 Cheers everyone for listening, and I'll speak to you soon.

Linnie 0:55:53 Bye.

Natalie Cassidy 0:55:53 Bye.