being such a young thing - i of course remember none of this stuff
- actually we didnt have a tv until i was about 9 and then it was an ancient black and white ex rental that was being chucked out, and it didnt go on that often - magic roundabout, the news, then corrie, then emmerdale farm came along later -my gran was in charge of the button - and it was a button no remotes - you switched it on then waited five minutes for it to warm up (lol)
but when i got older and we got a better tv on a monday night i got to stay up until 9.30 to watch colditz with my mum - which was a mega treat -because it was rare time with her undivided attention (she worked hard) - i still remember the theme tune to that.
but i wasnt totally tv deprived as a kid i had a mate down the road with one so watched theirs quite a bit - in fact i think quite a lot of kids did because the house was always full of kids and we certainly wernt the only ones with no tv -but i was told never to eat any food there, because the chickens were literally kept in the kitchen and rats were not unheard of - naturally i obeyed -( not ) and never got to discover the joys of eating a (very fresh) fried egg on a ryvita.
its a posh holiday house nowadays, but it was pretty rough back then -not just the kitchen the whole place - the back room had the tv and a massive sofa with the horse hair stuffing and springs, literally having to be stuffed back into what was left of the blue upholstery - The first rat i ever saw appeared on that sofa - we chased it outside with a broom - that was it no other furnititure, no carpet, cushions on the floor to sit on when the settee was full - wallpaper hanging off - four kids of theirs plus three cousins who seemed to live there but never went to school, and every kid in the village who wanted to watch the tv filled it.The dad spent all his time in his workshop ( he was a joiner and part time minister - and we all thought he was joseph because he had a beard and wore an apron like we had seen in their picture bible
) The mum was always in the kitchen i dont remember ever seeing her any where else -she did a lot of baking and made jars full of lemonade - (which i am ashamed to say some of us avoided because we thought it looked like wee) there was a big range always lit but they didnt seem to have what we would call famiily meals, - the kids -pretty much catered for themsleves dipping into the baking, un fettered by comments about sugar or spoiling your tea - but random dips into the pantry as well and just cooked whatever we wanted - hence the fried eggs on ryvita
When not watching the tv we pretty much ran riot round the house - it was the best house ever for hide and seek as nothing ever got thrown away - so there was plenty of stuff to hid behind and under - every social worker, and health visitors dream that house was (lol) - and i,m pretty certain my mum never knew (beyond the chickens on the kitchen table she saw when she walked past) how filthy it was - but it was great fun for us.
Back to kids tv though I once had a look through my dvd collection and have to admit -the majority are kids ones - my excuse being the grandkids of course, but everything they watch has to be vetted by me -
cbeebies occasionally takes over my tv too - Bing is my absolute favourite but peppa pig is nice too.
The herb garden was cool but there was another called tales from the riverbank which as i remember it was centred round some rodents flying off in a hot air balloon - as an adult i dont really want to think about how they filmed that - did it involve dead rodents scattered all over the riverbank as they made a bid for freedom from the basket or was it camera trickery.
Anyway Emz go ahead and indulge yourself - i think with the exception of some of the US cartoons, generally it is so innocent it is good for us - stress free anyway.
I dont remeber dill being particularly savage - even Parsley was a very friendly lion as he himself sang. sage the grumpy owl was my favourite of the animals - sir basil - anyone else see the similarity to Borris - but the gardener was cool -bayleaf the sciver - (and slight luddite)
you know what Emz i think its time i introduced the grandkids too it - they have missed out on that one - not entirely sure the 13 year old will appreciate it - but i can tie him too a chair or bribe him with biscuits - but the littlestboy might - and babyAnna (who is three now) will be coming over in March. - hmm one to pop on the christmas presents to be kept at grandmas list.