Call the midwife

An aunt passed on a pile of maternity dresses to me in 1969. They were huge with bows to draw attention to your neckline and away from your bump.
I bought myself a stylish pinafore dress and wore it from about 3 months!

Phyllis won £5k on the premium bonds.

Phyllis won £5k on the premium bonds.
She could have bought herself a small house or flat with that sum instead of having to live in a nunnery and bunk up with girls half her age.
In fact, she could have Miss Higgins as a lodger.

Thank you Jane43. Presumably using her Premium bond win. That means she will probably be back next series which is good!

It seems out of character for Trixie to be sneaking back into Nonnatus House after spending the night with Matthew. She's always been portrayed as having very high morals and the one time she did go away for the night with Christopher she wasn't happy about it.
Also how come she is now talking openly about her alcoholism in front of everyone. That used to be something she kept extremely private. I think only Sr Julienne knew.

Agree with Callistemon21. Back in 1964, we purchased our first house in NE London. Victorian end of terrace, 3-bedroom for £3,950.00 Five grand was a small fortune back then.

Franbern

Agree with Callistemon21. Back in 1964, we purchased our first house in NE London. Victorian end of terrace, 3-bedroom for £3,950.00 Five grand was a small fortune back then.

I'm smiling at the £3,950, *Franbern

Our first house was £4,550 - it was a struggle to find the deposit despite years of saving and we offered £4,500 but the vendors would not come down that £50.
They would only take one salary into account back then.

'Violence is always abuse; abuse is not always violence'. A very powerful message and just as important today.

I agree that the maternity dresses are too tight. My voluminous maternity dress or top would drape loosely over the bump even at the end...and I don't think I was very small.

Ive just started watching CTM from the begining. I forgot about Chummy. The story lines are more gritty and not very sugary sweet. Trixie looks about 12. Really enjoying it.

Peartree I’ve been binge watching it on iPlayer for several evenings now, end up crying at every episode.

I agree £5,000 was a great amount to win. Our first terrace house cost £1,500 and the mortgage was £14 a month. We were hard pushed to find that at times.

Callistemon Oh yes - mortgage companies would not take into account wife's earning for mortgage. When we got married I was earning more than my hubbie, and when we tried, prior to that to get a mortgage ran into these problems. The LCC introduced a scheme whereby any person living in London would be lent cost of house (upto 100%), based entirely on local EA valuation of that property - with no questions asked regarding earnings etc. Higher rate of interest was charged and this enabled us to get that £3,950 house. Once in we let the garage, and took in a lodger to help us pay the mortgage.

Franbern I think my DB and SisIL got a Council mortgage several years before us but Councils had stopped doing it by the time we wanted one.

Trixie's the only one wearing loose clothes and she's not supposed to be pregnant in he programme ?

It would be nice to see Phyllis buy her own home. I suspect however she'd rather spend her retirement somewhere like Spain rather than in London. She seems to love that culture and, apart from her job, doesn't appear to have any great ties in England.

I could picture her retiring to a Spanish seaside village, taking up painting classes, getting to know some ex pats and welcoming her ex colleagues from Poplar for holidays. Plus becoming friendly with the locals, advising young mothers, meeting some eligible widowers and generally enjoying life.

I really don't think sharing a bungalow in Bournemouth with Miss Millícent would be her cup of tea.

The absence of Trixie and Phyllis was felt tonight I think. And what has happened to Sr Julienne? She's become quite detached and distant.

I really missed Trixie and Phyllis, much more than I thought I would.

Is that them out of the series? Trixie to have her real life baby and Phyllis?
It was a bit too psychedelic tonight what with crows, and spitits.
I didn't know that a bird down the chimney was unlucky.
Birds often fall down my chimney.

It was ridiculous that a highly religious woman like Sr Monica Joan, at an age when she would be ready to meet her maker, would be running around seeking reassurance from spiritualists after seeing a bird in the house. Also her dementia seems to have practically disappeared.

Beswitched I have to admit I found that ridiculous too. Apart from her religious beliefs, Sr Monica Joan has always come across as a very logical woman who believed in the advancements of science etc too. I can't see her dabbling in the realms of spiritualists either.

I agree about Sister Julienne Beswitched she seems very aloof and uncaring at times now.

She used to be my favourite character, but it's hard to warm to her at the moment. She seems to be staying out of the day to day work and has just retired behind a desk. She was never like that before.
Maybe Jenny Agutter has an underlying condition and wanted to be out of the action as much as possible.

But between that, all the social distancing and now the absence of two longstanding characters this season of CTM is really lacking heart.

I thought that about Sr Monica Joan. And also how cold Sr Julianne has become. I too missed Phyllis and Trixie and that Hippy stuff was rubbish.

This has really hit soap opera territory now.

I suspect that Sister Julienne has something wrong and the bird foretold of her demise!

Saw speculation on another thread that Phyllis might have been on the train. They did make a point of saying she was back in England. It would also explain Sr Frances saying something about it being the end of Nonnatus House, if Sr Julienne and Phyllis are both gone.