S2 Episode 8 - Old Dog New Tricks with Grumpy and Me (Margaret Marlow)

In this engaging conversation, Margaret Marlow (Grumpy and Me) shares her journey from retirement to finding purpose through writing and building a supportive online community. She discusses the challenges of ageing, the importance of laughter, and her recent forays into technology and weight loss. The dialogue highlights the significance of kindness in online interactions and the joy of connecting with others, regardless of age. Margaret's humorous take on life and her reflections on confidence and purpose resonate deeply, making for an inspiring and uplifting discussion.

Margaret is 72, a mam of 3 and a wife of one. She is a Geordie by birth and a Knutsfordian by adoption. She fell into the Civil Service after school because she could walk to work and her dad said it was a good job for a girl. At school, her report said she “wasted time in silliness”; in her opinion silliness is never wasted. 

She’s never really enjoyed hobbies, but she reads a lot and faffs with flowers. She does enjoy a good piano piece from Alexis Ffrench to Rachmaninov. In her 60s she started her Facebook page, ‘Grumpy and Me’ where she entertains her 29 thousand followers and makes them laugh a lot. 

https://www.facebook.com/grumpyandi

Instagram: @thehouse_no15

https://www.youtube.com/@MegMarlow

Takeaways

Retirement can lead to a loss of purpose and boredom.

Writing became a way to express thoughts and connect with others.

Building a community online can foster positivity and laughter.

Kindness is essential in online interactions.

Age should not limit one's ability to learn and grow.

Embracing technology can be daunting but rewarding.

Weight loss journeys can be shared and documented for accountability.

Confidence can wane with age, but it can be rebuilt.

Finding joy in small things can enhance life satisfaction.

Humour can bridge gaps and create connections. 

Insta @hearmeroarhere

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YouTube @hearmeroarhere

Get in touch: hearmeroarhere@gmail.com or via our website hearmeroarhere.com

Transcript

Hear Me Roar (00:35)

We were chatting about packaging earlier. You know, this new shrink wrap mince thing. Yeah, I hate it. Yeah, it's really annoying because it's got a kind of peel here thing on the edge.

Mince ground beef if you're in America, by the way. I don't want 50 messages asking me what mince is. And if you peel it, but then they've stuck a big label over the packet and it's a big paper label. And then when you actually get to the paper label, you have to pull with all your might. The thing springs apart, Jackson Pollocks the kitchen wall and...

I am there. and mince dripping everywhere. Yeah, exactly. look like I just do serial killing on the side. And what I said in my post was that I am going to have to Google blood splatter analysts near me. Because of how to clean up blood. If I ever have to.

take my husband out for breathing wrong, right? You need to know how to do it. No, I don't need to know how to do it. I just need to, can't, I don't have time to be standing there with this team from CSI pointing out which bits on the kitchen wall are mince and which bits are husband. I'm a busy woman. I've got a lasagna to make.

So that's been my week. Well, I hate the packaging on corned beef tins. I make a very nice corned beef hash. And I had one the other day and you know you get that little key. Well, that little key wasn't where it should be. It was under the paper label. So first I had to get the paper label off. Then I couldn't get the key off. I had to wrench it off with a knife and then it broke.

So then had to go and find another key from another tin of corned beef and then that wouldn't work. In the end, I had to get the tin opener. Well, have you tried doing a tin opener around an oblong shaped tin? It's a bit of a nightmare. The tin opener got so far and then just laid on its back with its cogs in the air going, no, not doing that. In the end, I had to get a knife and a hammer out to get into this bloody corned beef. All my husband from upstairs could hear was fuck, fuck, fuck, bastard corned beef tin.

Awful, awful things. But you know what the best part about all of this stuff is we're definitely not alone. No, we're definitely not alone. We all suffer these horrors. I know. So somebody who reminds us that we're not alone every day is Margaret Marlow known as Grumpy On Me on Facebook. Grumpy On Me. Grumpy On Me. What did I say? Grumpy On Me. That's a different page altogether. Sorry, Margaret. I am not having an affair with your husband. You're fine.

Margaret (Meg) Marlow, Grumpy and me. And we've called this episode Old Dogs New Tricks. God, I cannot speak today. Get your teeth in woman. Old Dog New Tricks. So Margaret's 72. She's a mum of three and a wife of one, as she says. She's a Geordie by birth and a Knutsfordian by adoption.

She fell into the civil service after school because she could walk to work and her dad said it was a good job for a girl. And at school, her report said she wasted time in silliness. And in her opinion, silliness is never wasted. I agree. She's never really enjoyed hobbies, but she reads a lot and faffs with flowers. She does enjoy a good piano piece from Alexis French to Rachmaninov and...

In her 60s, this is the good bit, she started her Facebook page, Grumpy and Me, where she entertains her, I think it's 30,000 followers now, yep, and makes them laugh a lot. So let's go and speak to Margaret and find out more.

Hear Me Roar (04:32)

Hi Margaret.

Margaret Marlow (04:33)

Good morning, ladies.

Hear Me Roar (04:35)

Are you a Margaret or a Meg?

Margaret Marlow (04:38)

I'm whatever honestly I'm either or sometimes

I can't remember myself so whatever you want, whichever is easiest

Hear Me Roar (04:43)

Well,

what you are is one of our inspirational women because later in life you've conquered Facebook and YouTube and brought your life and much happiness to lots of people as a result. So one of the questions we have is what led you to that?

Margaret Marlow (04:51)

That's quite funny.

It was retirement. I wasn't ready for retirement. Nothing about retirement made any sense to me until I was in it. And I found it extremely boring. You spend all your life looking for freedom and when you get freedom you don't know what to do with it. And nobody tells you anything about retirement. I just, it was like, you know, it's true when you say you've got loss of purpose because

Hear Me Roar (05:20)

Hahaha!

yeah.

Margaret Marlow (05:31)

your family's grown up, your career's left behind. And I was never one for hobbies, I'm too lazy for hobbies. And then it got worse when Michael retired and that's absolutely honest, you know, because there was two of us slowly going, well, he was enjoying himself. He wasn't going quite as mad as I was. But he started irritating me because I'd never lived with this man for all we'd been together for like, at that time, 40 odd years. I didn't know him 'til we were locked

Hear Me Roar (05:45)

Yeah.

Yes.

Margaret Marlow (05:59)

in a house together, you know? I thought I've got to, I had to start writing to get it out of my head, and basically  I thought I can't be the only one, there's got to be other people and it turns out there is.

Hear Me Roar (06:11)

Mm.

Yeah, there's quite a lot. Lots of them, thousands and thousands of them. How many do you, how many followers do you have on Facebook now?

Margaret Marlow (06:15)

Yeah. Yeah.

⁓ It's nudging up to 30,000 but it, yeah, you know, and they are very loyal and lovely people so I'm really lucky with the community I've got. Yeah.

Hear Me Roar (06:23)

That's fantastic.

I are. You are, yes. So what did

you retire from? What was your career?

Margaret Marlow (06:35)

I fell into the civil service. I never wanted to be a civil servant but my dad always said it was a good career for a girl. He didn't agree that us women really needed careers because we were going to get married. That was his thought. I lived nearby, I could walk to work and it was a steady job. That's how I fell into being a civil servant.

Hear Me Roar (06:41)

We've heard that before haven't we? ⁓

Yeah.

Margaret Marlow (07:00)

I suppose the best time of it was when I worked in a place called London Pensions. London couldn't cope with the amount of pension work it had so they decamped it to Newcastle and I worked on a ⁓ brilliant team who all have been you know, they're friends forever and I, we got bye by laughing a lot to be honest. It was a raucous team but by God we could do the work.

Hear Me Roar (07:11)

⁓

Yeah.

Margaret Marlow (07:23)

It was absolutely brilliant. You don't realise that again 'til you leave though. Yeah, yeah. But I do think the people who you work with definitely make a big difference as well.

Hear Me Roar (07:28)

So you leave. Yeah. Yeah.

⁓

hugely. But you live in, you live in Knutsford now, don't you?

Margaret Marlow (07:41)

We migrated because the oldest daughter moved down about 25 years ago. Then the middle daughter moved down. And then we thought, well, they're not going to come home and we were missing the family life. So we moved down, bought a small cottage. I took a job in a supermarket and loved that as well. So it and that's why we're in Knutsford.

Hear Me Roar (07:54)

Hmm.

Yeah.

Margaret Marlow (08:04)

because

I mean my youngest daughter she joined a few years ago so we're all here now. Yeah. Yeah.

Hear Me Roar (08:08)

You're all there now.

So you talked about having a good laugh at work and your page is very, very funny. Have you always had a knack for making people laugh?

Margaret Marlow (08:17)

thank you.

I think so because I think laughter can open a lot of doors, it can put people at ease, it can start conversations. There's a lot of things said in laughter that...

Hear Me Roar (08:33)

Excuse me, I just need to let

the dog out. Sorry, we didn't realise we had a dog in here. He's been sleeping under the sofa while we've been chatting. It's just life, it's just life.

Things happen.

Margaret Marlow (08:47)

I have to let Michael out now and again.

Hear Me Roar (08:53)

He just shot out from under the sofa and started scratching the door for us. Sorry, please carry on. We were really genuinely interested.

Margaret Marlow (09:03)

No, I think a lot of things can be said in laughter that you couldn't say with a straight face and some of them can actually say a lot more because it's in a funny way. You know so I think laughter has a lot of purposes and it relaxes a lot of people as well.

Hear Me Roar (09:14)

Yes.

It makes a difference to someone's day, doesn't it? You must get those types of comments. Yeah.

Margaret Marlow (09:23)

⁓ definitely. And

I think even, you know, when I'm out, I tend to talk to people, whether they want to or not, but I can't help it. I'm genuinely interested in what people have got to say or do. you know, so curiosity.

Hear Me Roar (09:31)

Yeah. Yeah.

We're chatty ones as well. Yeah. Yeah. We never shut up when we get together, do we? No, but it's not even together. I can't walk past a woman standing on her own at the bus stop without going, hello.

Margaret Marlow (09:50)

Yeah,

but that's what we're humans aren't we at the end of the day? Yes, we all love our quiet and I love peace and quiet as well, but  given the opportunity, I'll talk to anybody, even if they don't want to. Which is bad. Yeah.

Hear Me Roar (10:00)

Yeah. I think that's part of being a woman as well. Not every

woman, but I do think women in general find it easier to chat. I I know my husband really doesn't like having to make small talk, whereas I can small talk the hind legs off a donkey. We always form instant BFFs. You have like bathroom BFFs, don't you? When you go...

Margaret Marlow (10:11)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Hear Me Roar (10:23)

go to the loo's and places and then you just bond while you're washing your hands and things. Yeah. Yeah.

Margaret Marlow (10:27)

Yeah, it's amazing isn't it but

I think having a genuine curiosity about other people helps as well doesn't it? You know I want to know what people are doing and why they're doing it as well.

Hear Me Roar (10:37)

Yeah? ha ha

nothing wrong with being nosy. No. ⁓

Margaret Marlow (10:44)

No, I

do it so well.

Hear Me Roar (10:49)

One of the

things that you have also done so well is to create this fantastic, lovely community of people who, on Facebook, you, there's no nastiness there, there's no, it's a kind place. How do you think you've done that?

Margaret Marlow (11:01)

No, very rare. Yeah. Yeah.

I think it's probably like-minded people and maybe it's a lot of my demographics, I think that's the right word, are older ladies. So I think maybe that has a little bit to do with it because we're a bit more reserved in maybe saying what you might think. Do you know what I mean? I mean they will, if I say something wrong, they'll say it nicely, you know, that they disagree or what have it. That's how it should be.

Hear Me Roar (11:14)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Margaret Marlow (11:37)

What do you gain by being awful? I just don't... You know, yes you may disagree and that's absolutely fine but there's certain ways you can say and I will be honest, I mean I'm probably like you, if somebody's rude for no reason, well I will hit the block button because I don't really want people like that. I don't want them there.

Hear Me Roar (11:54)

Yeah,

we both do. Yeah, I don't argue. just block.

Margaret Marlow (12:01)

No, I'm not going to argue. Sometimes I might say, you know, I'll try to quantify something, but I'm not going to apologise unless I'm really wrong. And I don't want to go down that route of airing me dirty washing in public, do you know what I mean, by calling somebody out for some... They probably totally disagree, but ⁓I think there's no... What good is there by having a spat? It's like fighting over a garden wall, isn't it?

Hear Me Roar (12:11)

Yeah.

No, exactly.

Well, exactly. It's just it's just not not worth it. It doesn't gain you anything. You can disagree because we're all human and we all have different opinions, but you can do it in a kind, respectful way. I mean, I've had people disagree with me, but they've done it in a kind, respectful way.

Margaret Marlow (12:33)

Yeah.

No.

Definitely. Yeah.

And

That's all you ask for, isn't it?

Hear Me Roar (12:48)

Do it in a nasty way, then they get blocked because we don't want that on our pages, do we? No.

Margaret Marlow (12:51)

Yeah. And I

I don't think other people who read your page want that, either, do they? They don't come on there. I think there's different pages where you might get a good argument, but I don't think the people who are, you know, read me want to do that. I think, yeah. Well, you know, I complain about my husband's, that's all we do our life.

Hear Me Roar (12:57)

No.

⁓

That's the thing though, everything you write about resonates with your followers because they've all experienced something similar, they've felt something similar, they've been through something similar. And I think that's what helps create the fantastic community that you have created.

Margaret Marlow (13:17)

Thank

Yeah.

But do you not think sometimes you might think you're the only person that thinks a strange thing? If somebody else says that you suddenly feel, I'm normal. Because we all want to appear normal. Yeah, and I think...

Hear Me Roar (13:37)

Yes.

Yes. I'm not the only one. Yeah, I think that's you.

You probably get the same as we do where people come on and go, I'm so glad it's not just me.

Margaret Marlow (13:55)

Exactly.

And I think that's how you start the bond, isn't it? Because you sort of go for like-minded people. You know? Yeah. And I suppose I do, sometimes, I think somebody described us as salty, which I quite liked.

Hear Me Roar (13:58)

Yeah.

Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

But ⁓ yeah, but your humor's gentle and lovely. And I'll tell you something, as time's gone on, the way that you write has not changed at all. It's more just kind of got better and better and better as well.

Margaret Marlow (14:21)

Thank

But that could be because the feedback, you know, I'm enjoying the writing and I know other people are enjoying reading it, so that's what keeps you going, doesn't it? No.

Hear Me Roar (14:41)

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yes, because the more

people enjoy it, the more you want to do it. Yeah.

Margaret Marlow (14:51)

Yeah and even if... when

there

was only a few, it was still lovely when people said I look forward to your blogs because I might not see anybody every day but I feel as if I've got a friend and that means an awful lot.

Hear Me Roar (15:01)

Yes. Yes.

Margaret Marlow (15:05)

know

Hear Me Roar (15:05)

Yes, it does.

Margaret Marlow (15:07)

But the fact that they do appreciate each other so it's not just about me, I think it's about the whole group.

Hear Me Roar (15:15)

And I see them chatting in the comments. People that don't know each other are in your comments all the time. And I can see them having little conversations between themselves. They're maybe thousands of miles apart, but they've found this common place and they'll chat again and again and again, which is lovely.

Margaret Marlow (15:20)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh yeah,

It's lovely when you see someone they'll come out and say I'm in Texas and I think oh wow really that's brilliant, I'll absolutely, I want to ask them so many questions.

Hear Me Roar (15:40)

Yes.

Yeah, when you've got people following from around the world and you're like, that's really hard to compute that you've got somebody across the other side of the world. Yeah, three thousand miles away. One of the great things about technology, isn't it, though? I mean, it frustrates us at times, it is wonderful. When it works, it's wonderful. It is. And I suppose that kind of leads me on to where we're calling this episode Old Dog New Tricks, because you've

Margaret Marlow (15:49)

Yeah, it is, it really is. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

When it works, it's brilliant.

Hear Me Roar (16:14)

You've had to learn all this technology stuff, haven't you?

Margaret Marlow (16:17)

Yeah. Well,

still learning.

Hear Me Roar (16:21)

But I know it puts a lot of people off. A lot of people find it very scary. And yet you've just gone in your 60s and you've gone, right, OK, well, I'm going to blog on Facebook. And now you're also doing a YouTube channel where you document your weight loss. And so how has that been then?

Margaret Marlow (16:35)

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. ⁓

Hear Me Roar (16:42)

having to learn all this new technology.

Margaret Marlow (16:45)

⁓ I will get frustrated. I think Facebook makes it easier of all the platforms because you're literally just going in and writing aren't you and then posting. I did find that easiest. ⁓ I got the granddaughter to help us set up the YouTube channel. She'll do anything for a tuna sandwich. But trial and error, I'm not very adventurous. I mean I'm struggling at the minute because

Hear Me Roar (17:01)

Yeah.

Margaret Marlow (17:13)

I need a new phone so I haven't got storage. But the thing is, unless you try, you'll never know, will you? So, you know, and I think, really, because I've been using Facebook, keeping up with people back home and doing different things, I wasn't as scared. I think a lot of fear comes into a lot of things, and it's getting past that fear of, I'm not good enough or I can't do it. And once you conquer that, it's usually all right.

Hear Me Roar (17:20)

know that. Exactly.

Yeah, yeah, it is difficult though and people do hold themselves back for fear of it.

Margaret Marlow (17:46)

⁓ definitely, it's so

easy to put your slippers on and sit in and get ready and go out, isn't it? It's the same with anything, it's so easy not to do it in case you... Because none of us, no matter what age, like to fail at stuff. I think we're more accepting as we get older, but we still don't like it.

Hear Me Roar (17:54)

Yes.

Yeah, but it's just,

it's taking that chance and grabbing the opportunity and just putting yourself out of your comfort zone and having a go at something. Yeah.

Margaret Marlow (18:13)

Yeah, yeah,

it definitely, but I think the more you do something the more comfortable you can become with it, you know.

Hear Me Roar (18:23)

Yes. ⁓ definitely.

Yes. I think for a lot of people as well, it just feels like too much effort. Yeah. They're not. It is a little bit of effort to learn anything new, isn't it?

Margaret Marlow (18:30)

Boot.

What stops me sometimes is I forget what I've learned. That's a surprise. Of all the stages of life, I've probably found retirement the hardest because of the, I can be talking to you and I'll lose a word. I'll just throw it out the window. Yeah. You know, so I think that was the

Hear Me Roar (18:40)

Ha ha ha!

Yeah, we do. We do as well.

Margaret Marlow (19:00)

difficult bit that it's not like you can't do something it's your brain will sometimes interfere with what you're trying to do. You

Hear Me Roar (19:08)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

Margaret Marlow (19:14)

Yeah.

Hear Me Roar (19:12)

your brain tries and stops you doing it but I mean we get

that don't we? Good old brain fog. Yeah. Yeah, and I often talk really slowly. We were talking about this the other day. I often talk really slowly because I'm trying to think what I'm gonna say as I'm saying it because I know I'll lose the words. So I slow down to give myself time to think as I'm speaking and I just sound like I'm on drugs or something.

Margaret Marlow (19:17)

Yeah

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Hear Me Roar (19:36)

Sometimes I have to poke her to

Margaret Marlow (19:36)

I'm exactly the same.

Hear Me Roar (19:38)

get her going. So you obviously fully believe that age shouldn't limit you or hold you back. A lot of people, women in particular as they age, lose confidence and become invisible. And that's not something that you've allowed to happen.

Margaret Marlow (19:43)

I you.

Yeah.

With me, yes I look older, my body's older, you can't argue with that. But inside, I still like talking to people, I still like doing things, I'm still curious, I haven't lost... and I don't think anybody really loses that. I think it's getting over the confidence I think is a real big issue. I think it's saying to yourself, you can do it. And when you do do it, you usually can, but it's the thing that stops you. It's that progression, that block where...

Hear Me Roar (20:16)

No.

Margaret Marlow (20:30)

you stop yourself from trying something because you're afraid. I watch that in so many older people. Not everybody because there's some who literally you can't stop them anyway. But I do say confidence is a big thing as you get older, the lack of it. It's like your collagen goes, so does your confidence.

Hear Me Roar (20:37)

Yes.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah,

I think sometimes the worst person is yourself because you say to yourself, I'm too old to do that now. I can't do that. But there's also this sense sometimes as you're getting older that the world is getting away from you. things progress and things are progressing at a phenomenal rate these days as well. What with AI and all the rest of it. And it can sometimes I mean, I'm 55. So

Margaret Marlow (20:57)

Definitely. Yeah. Yeah.

⁓ it changes, yeah.

Right. Yeah.

Hear Me Roar (21:18)

But even I will feel like, my God, the world's just getting away from me. What's going on? I don't really understand. And it doesn't feel familiar anymore.

Margaret Marlow (21:22)

Yeah.

And I think that is definitely it because I can remember my parents now when I hear them, I can hear them saying similar things to what I've said. So I think it's a natural progression. When you're young, you do without thinking. Everything is done without much thought. When you're older, you overthink everything and that's what stops it. You actually look at things and think, why are they doing that? I think it's...

Hear Me Roar (21:39)

Mm.

Yeah.

Margaret Marlow (21:57)

I keep saying to Michael, this isn't our world, but you can live in it still, you just have to learn to adapt. You know, my parents' world wasn't their world at the end, it's just the way you look at things, things change and yes the young will, it is their world isn't it? Why not? It was ours when it was our turn.

Hear Me Roar (22:03)

Yes.

No.

Yeah.

And that's a very good way of looking at it actually. It's not our world but we are living in it and therefore we're going to make our mark in it.

Margaret Marlow (22:20)

Yeah. Yeah. And you can do

one of two things. You can be unhappy or you can look at the positives, can't you? You know, the flowers haven't changed yet. They might not smell the same, but there's lots of things that haven't changed. So it's up to you how you look at it.

Hear Me Roar (22:27)

Yeah.

No.

Yeah,

absolutely. So you've obviously got a talent for writing. That's very clear. Have you thought about compiling all of your Facebook posts into a book?

Margaret Marlow (22:52)

Too lazy. I am bone idle ⁓

Hear Me Roar (22:56)

But you can't be, because

you write all this fantastic stuff. And each post must take you, what, a couple of hours to write? It's a lot of work.

Margaret Marlow (23:05)

If it's in my head it'll take about 10 minutes to be honest. Yeah because it's there and I'm watching all the time and if somebody says something I think ⁓ yeah and I'll straight away do one but they don't take long. I don't know if I could do a book though because I would have to think about that. You know I take my hat off I know you two ladies have written books and I take my hat off because

Hear Me Roar (23:08)

Really? Wow!

No.

Margaret Marlow (23:31)

I'd probably forget by the end what I'd written at the beginning.

Hear Me Roar (23:34)

⁓ I do. I've just had to reread

half a book that I wrote and I went, who wrote that? That's actually quite good. I ⁓ was shocked myself. I had no idea what was happening.

Margaret Marlow (23:41)

Yeah?

You see what I mean? Yeah? Yeah!

That's

a good book, isn't it?

Hear Me Roar (23:56)

⁓ dear

Margaret Marlow (23:58)

I also

think one of the reasons I haven't done a book is because on Facebook it's free so I'm not charging people to read and they can I mean really some of them are right they're nearly a chapter aren't they're a bit long so but that's one of the other reasons, I'm a bit scared of the monetary side I suppose you know I just like things nice and easy so that's why I've never even

Hear Me Roar (24:08)

Mm.

You

Margaret Marlow (24:24)

considered... I know people say you should write one but at the minure I'm happy doing what I do.

Hear Me Roar (24:29)

Yeah, but it doesn't cost you anything to do it.

for you.

Margaret Marlow (24:33)

Well, they haven't been knocking at my door.

Hear Me Roar (24:38)

They never knocked it mine, I just went out and did it anyway. Sometimes you have to pull on your big girl pants and do it yourself. Well, we've both done it ourselves, haven't we?

Margaret Marlow (24:38)

So I always think...

Yes!

⁓ dear.

I it's true isn't it?

But I have always said, you know, I am happy I write. The good thing for writing for free is nobody can really criticise. Is that an excuse? Yeah? Well... Block.

Hear Me Roar (24:52)

And

Well, in theory, yeah.

It's just lovely to be read, isn't it? That somebody reads it.

Margaret Marlow (25:12)

Yeah, yeah,

Hear Me Roar (25:14)

the bottom line.

Margaret Marlow (25:13)

I think it's a huge accolade that people can be bothered to read it

Hear Me Roar (25:17)

it. Yeah. Yeah, that's what we think. So not just reading you, you've now started a YouTube channel to chronicle your weight loss. Yeah. How's that going?

Margaret Marlow (25:17)

to be honest. Yeah, no.

Yeah, yeah.

Not very good, I'm not very good at diet so what I've tried to do is go to healthy eating instead which means I spend ages in the supermarket reading labels, now my new passion, I can't put that in there. And I didn't realise there was so much sugar and everything so I've gone down this holier than thou route. The diet in itself, I've only lost a stone which I think is pathetic.

Hear Me Roar (25:42)

you

⁓ yeah.

Margaret Marlow (25:58)

but it's still a stone in the right direction, yeah. I'm doing this silly thing. I'm taking vitamins, I'm trying collagen because I sort of think... It's not that I want to look younger, it's just I want to be the best I can be at the age I am, you know. So, and the diet, I don't want to be the fat mother of a bride next year. I don't want to waddle around, so... Yeah, the youngest one, she...I've got...

Hear Me Roar (25:58)

Well it's not really. hard.

Yes. ⁓

⁓ you've got a wedding coming up!

Margaret Marlow (26:27)

two in their 50s and one in their 30s. So we never do anything right. So she's getting married. I thought, I'd like, if I could lose a couple of stone, I'd be a lot happier. So, and I need a new hip,

Hear Me Roar (26:32)

Hahaha!

that's great.

Yeah. Well you do it for you. do it

Ah right,

Margaret Marlow (26:46)

So that's another incentive. So I need to do it, you know.

Hear Me Roar (26:48)

Yeah.

So how have you found making videos as opposed to just writing? Because obviously we know you're very keen on the writing but...

Margaret Marlow (26:58)

I like making videos where I go out and take a video, know, pretty pictures or... putting it to music.. I do think I quite enjoy talking to people a little bit now. But it's scary when you see yourself, isn't it though? That's the big thing.

Hear Me Roar (27:02)

Yeah.

Yes.

Well, yeah, that's

always the case, isn't it?

Margaret Marlow (27:16)

Yeah,

when I look I think, ⁓ dear me. Where's them wrinkles come from? But then again, that's a good thing because you can see yourself and how you talk and everything and you see a new person that you've never met before really.

Hear Me Roar (27:31)

That's true.

Margaret Marlow (27:33)

but I...

Hear Me Roar (27:32)

It's weird listening, always weird listening to yourself,

Margaret Marlow (27:36)

yeah, and the things you say. And I didn't realize I did em so much. Where's that come from?

Hear Me Roar (27:35)

isn't it? ⁓

You

ha ha

Yeah, you don't tend to notice these things about yourself until you actually see them. When we started podcasting, our first podcast, we just went, 'so' every time I was like, Marie, we have to stop saying so. Yeah.

Margaret Marlow (28:01)

It's thinking time though, isn't it? You're thinking when you're going so... you think, what am I saying next?

Yeah.

Hear Me Roar (28:06)

Yeah,

you're giving yourself a bit of time to think. But it was practically every time we said this, because we were nervous ourselves, you know, the first one and every time it was like, so, so, so. Yeah, and the first ones probably sounded like a list of questions, whereas now we've developed and it's more just like a chat. Yeah, we have a list.

Margaret Marlow (28:12)

Yeah.

Hear Me Roar (28:30)

but it's not necessarily covered in the right order or there are tangents.

Margaret Marlow (28:37)

that's life isn't it you've got your

it's

exactly the same in life when you think you've got your plan and you never stick to it do you?

Hear Me Roar (28:42)

We just bounce all over the place, don't we? We do. So I think ⁓ there's really only one thing that we do want to know. Yes. Your cocktail, the most important thing. Yes. If you were a cocktail, what would you be called?

Margaret Marlow (28:45)

Sorry.

Hear Me Roar (29:01)

and what are your main ingredients and why? Come on then, hit us with it.

Margaret Marlow (29:04)

Well,

probably the nearest I am to a cocktail is a Molotov cocktail because my patience is terrible and I'm ready to go off any time. But I called it the Wye Aye Margarita just because of the Geordie nod I had to get that in, didn't I? And it's just like the Geordie roots. You've got to be proud of being a Geordie, don't you? Even if you're not, you can still be proud of being it.

Hear Me Roar (29:11)

Yeah.

Yeah.

We're honorary Geordies. You're a real Geordie, aren't you?

Margaret Marlow (29:31)

Yeah,

Wye aye, uh huh. I'm laughing because I called it Margarita but actually it would have been my favourite one is a black Russian but because of Putin I couldn't say that could I? I've gone right off Russians now you know they're misbehaving. So was it two shots of vodka because that used to be my favourite with it and I love coffee so it has to be coffee in it.

Hear Me Roar (29:50)

It's true. ⁓

Margaret Marlow (30:00)

And then the crushed hopes and dreams. You know, we've all got a cocktail of crushed hopes and dreams haven't we?

Hear Me Roar (30:06)

So what, sorry,

what was the coffee bit? Because I'm writing

Margaret Marlow (30:11)

⁓ the

Hear Me Roar (30:12)

this down.

Margaret Marlow (30:12)

shot of coffee liqueur

Hear Me Roar (30:14)

Yes.

Margaret Marlow (30:15)

So you've got two shots of vodka, a shot of coffee liqueur, you can crush your hopes and dreams up and drop that in as well.

Hear Me Roar (30:17)

Yeah.

ha ha

Margaret Marlow (30:25)

You can have

a large dash of coke, it can be the fizzy stuff or the white powder, depending on where you live.

We'll drop a sliver of wisdom in there and a grated giggle.

Hear Me Roar (30:34)

you

⁓ that's nice. That's

Margaret Marlow (30:40)

and

And you

can serve it with a Greggs custard slice.

Hear Me Roar (30:43)

Perfect, absolutely perfect. perfect, yeah. Well thank you very much Margaret, it has been fascinating talking to you today and we've really enjoyed it. You've been an absolute ball. You bring joy to all your followers and you've brought joy to us today. It's been fab talking to you. Thanks. Take care, bye.

Margaret Marlow (30:56)

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much ladies, lovely to speak to you. Thank you, bye.