The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius

Big Birthday Show: "Mabel's Marbles" Celebrating Mabel Milne's Big 100!

• Chris Grimes - Facilitator. Coach. Motivational Comedian

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Welcome to a very exciting episode of The Good Listening To Show as we launch the inaugural episode of a brand new series-strand called the "The Big Birthday Show", celebrating 100 years of ex-factory worker Mabel Milne!

If you too know of anyone with a Big '0' coming up soon in their Birthdays (be that 40, 50, 60, 70, 180, 90 or 100!) then why not consider GIFTING them an episode of "The Good Listening To Show", with me Chris Grimes as your host, to help them celebrate their BIG DAY!  Explainer Film here: https://vimeo.com/chrisgrimes/bigbirthdayshow

We're calling this one "Mabel's Marbles" as she's still got all of them, is bright as a button and was delighted to be in the Show!

Mabel joins us in The Clearing to reveal that the secret to living a long and fruitful life lies in the unwavering support of those who love you, coupled with a love of gardening and dance and the extraordinary ability to survive and thrive despite all manner of diseases that life can throw at us!

Mabel takes us through the touching highlights of her 100th birthday bash, complete with 24 close family members indulging in afternoon tea comprising cinammon scones, fancy cakes and homemade meringues. She opens up about her early life, dealing with childhood ailments, and the special memories of her happy place, Austria.

In this heartwarming episode, Mabel shares her nuggets of wisdom on everything from patience and dancing to resilience during wartime. Hear her speak about the pride she takes in maintaining her appearance, the shifts in fashion across generations, and the invaluable lessons she learned from her grandmother about butter-making. 

Don’t miss her charming recollection of meeting Princess Alexandra and discover the immense joy her garden has brought her over the years. This is a celebration of a life well-lived, filled with inspiration and resilience—an episode you won't want to miss.

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'. If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening!

Chris Grimes:

Hello, this is Chris Grimes. I'm excited because today is a very special launch of a new series strand of the Good Listening To Show. It's called the Big Birthday Show and I'm delighted for the inaugural episode to welcome 100-year-old Mabel Milne to the Good Listening To Show clearing what's the secret to a long, gorgeous life. We will be finding out what a privilege to be able to speak to somebody who spanned an entire century. So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the inaugural episode of the Big Birthday Show. Please welcome Mabel Milne. Hurrah, welcome to another episode of the Good Listening To Show your life and times with me, chris Grimes, the storytelling show that features the Clearing, where all good questions come to get asked and all good stories come to be told, and where all my guests have two things in common they're all creative individuals and all with an interesting story to tell. There are some lovely storytelling metaphors a clearing, a tree, a juicy storytelling exercise called 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, some alchemy, some gold, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare and a cake. So it's all to play for. So, yes, welcome to the Good Listening To Show your life and times with me. Chris Grimes, are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin.

Chris Grimes:

So, ladies and gentlemen, this is a wonderful, wonderful gift of a day, in that we're here to celebrate the big birthday of a wonderful lady called Mabel Milne, who very recently has turned 100 years old. And this is a very special inaugural launch of a new series, down to the show which is called the Big Birthday Show. And Mabel has very kindly, with a bit of vie, her daughter, a bit of Vi, whispering to get Mabel to sit in front of the Zoom portal she's now sitting in front of to talk about the story behind, the story of her life. So, mabel, you're very, very welcome to the Good Listening 2 show. So how are you today, mabel? How's your day going?

Chris Grimes:

I'm very quiet the usual, and it should be quiet when you're 100 because there's far too much noise going on in the world and I think it's really lovely that it's been a quiet day. And where were you plucked from today when Vi collected you? How far have you travelled to arrive in front of the Zoom hole?

Mabel Milne:

Oh, not very far, five minutes in the car lovely and she's explained what we're here to do.

Chris Grimes:

It is my great pleasure to ask you questions about your life as I curate you through the good listening to show and, um, my first question is what would you say is the secret to a long life? Because a hundred is spectacular. So what would you, mabel, is the secret to a long life?

Mabel Milne:

Well, I don't know really, Because when I was young, when I was a child, I had everything that was going, all the diseases landed on me.

Chris Grimes:

Wow. So we're lucky to have you here because, well, you've survived, obviously because all those ailments didn't get you. But but just talk me through what sorts of things we're talking about. You name it. I've had it. But it didn't get you. So, would you say. The secret to a long life, therefore, is just surviving all life's big ailments.

Mabel Milne:

No, I think it was. My people looked after me. Well, that was a big thing.

Chris Grimes:

So you've surrounded yourself with people who take care of you all your life.

Mabel Milne:

Yes.

Chris Grimes:

So who've been your favourite people that have surrounded you all of your life?

Mabel Milne:

My wife and a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter and a son.

Chris Grimes:

And your actual birthday of being 100 a few years ago. I've been sent a lovely photograph of you that I'll be able to share with my audience once we've spoken. It's a lovely photograph of you looking like a complete queen of your domain as you celebrate your 100th birthday, and you've also received a telegram from the King, I'm assuming.

Mabel Milne:

Yes.

Chris Grimes:

And it was somebody called Councillor Diane Beagree who was the Lord Lieutenant of the local council, I'm gathering. So tell me what your actual 100th birthday day was like. What was that like?

Mabel Milne:

Well, it was really exciting, and when I got into the hotel and saw everybody, oh I didn't know whether I should cry or not, but the tears didn't come. One of my relatives stood up and when I saw him I thought, is he alone? And he said, no, there's the rest of them there. So I had to say hello and then I had to sit down, of course, because the lady at Wonder Hotels, she was waiting to get everything started. But it was really good to see everybody.

Chris Grimes:

And how many people would you say were there to say surprise, how many were there. 24. Wonderful.

Mabel Milne:

My daughter and my daughter-in-law planned it all and it was really well planned. Birthday candles, birthday cake, the the lot. But I couldn't blow the candles out. I didn't have a puff that's lovely.

Chris Grimes:

I couldn't blow the candles out, I didn't have the puff and what? And sandwiches, cake, what did we? What was the feast that they prepared for you?

Mabel Milne:

It was an afternoon tea and there was sandwiches and pinwheels, scones and pancakes, fancy cakes and birthday cake and meringues.

Chris Grimes:

Meringues.

Mabel Milne:

Homemade meringues.

Chris Grimes:

Homemade meringues and any dancing. Was there any dancing and careeling about? No sure. So what I'm going to do is is talk you through the structure of the show now. So the first thing I'm going to ask you is about a serious happy place All your life. If you think about where do I go in my head to get happy, where do you think of where's your favourite place been? If you have a serious happy place in your head, where would you say it is?

Chris Grimes:

This country or abroad Wherever you like. You can pick a favourite place that you'd like us to be able to shape the story around.

Mabel Milne:

I liked Austria, and that's where I would have liked to retain.

Chris Grimes:

And why Austria? When did you first visit Austria? Why do you love Austria so much?

Mabel Milne:

I think, it's Austria's fabulous 1965, when I first visited.

Chris Grimes:

And was that a holiday or was that a? It was a holiday.

Mabel Milne:

And Vienna is beautiful.

Chris Grimes:

So you went to the heart of Mozart. You went to Vienna, lovely, and was it about Mozart? Was that why you were going there? It was just a holiday destination. What took you to Austria?

Mabel Milne:

It was a holiday, but it was a holiday to Salzburg, but we thought we'd like to see Vienna and that's what we did. I like to see other people's culture.

Chris Grimes:

Yes, and of course, mozart just correcting myself was actually from Salzburg. I remember, yes, because I've been there too. So we're going to base the show now in Austria, so shall we be in the town of Salzburg, and was there a particular favourite place that you went to in Salzburg?

Mabel Milne:

Anif.

Chris Grimes:

It's a small village, anif. So we're going to be in Anif, in Austria, to base the rest of the show now. So that's the clearing, that's your serious happy place, that's where Mabel Milne goes, the town of Anif in Austria, quite close to Salzburg. I'm now going to arrive with a tree in your clearing and I'm going to shake your tree to see which storytelling apples fall out. And so is where, if you, if I could ask you, you can tell me any one of these things, but four things in your life, your 100 year span, that you would say have shaped you.

Mabel Milne:

So, thinking back on your childhood, your sort of teens, your later years, anything that you can remember that's really shaped you and made you who you became, Well, first of all, it was school, Because the school that I went to you got a good education and, of course, my parents, my mum and dad, looked out for me all the time.

Chris Grimes:

And did you have brothers and sisters as well?

Mabel Milne:

I had one brother and three sisters.

Chris Grimes:

And were you the youngest, the middle one? Where did you fit into the I was?

Mabel Milne:

piggy in the middle.

Chris Grimes:

Lovely. So what school were you at? Peterhead, peterhead, lovely. And now anything else. So, going beyond your early formative school years, anything else that you can remember, that shaped you, that got you on the road of who you became. So it could have been a first job, or it could have been you getting married, anything like that, so something else that shaped you.

Mabel Milne:

Oh, I was 15 and I thought I would leave school and take a job, and my mum and dad said no, you stay on to school for another year, but of course the war came. So I made everything different. I had to take a job, and it had to take a job, and it had to be something that you wouldn't be called a food factory and was this the Cross and Blackwell factory?

Chris Grimes:

it was Cross and Blackwell and you were. Was that your first job? And it was during the war. So this is 1939 onwards yeah and what? Cutting up meat. So you had a sort of almost like a butcher's technique. You were able to cut up meat, yes, based it up, yeah, using a machine or just using a knife and doing it manually, just a knife. And what was the Cross and Blackwell product that you were cutting the meat up for?

Mabel Milne:

It was for the Porsches Everything soup and everything that they made was all for porches.

Chris Grimes:

Was it always the one thing you did? It was always the chopping up and the processing of meat. That's what you remember doing at that factory.

Mabel Milne:

And they had steak in tins. And then they decided that they would dry mince. So they had mince for a while in tents and it was laughable because they thought that they would dry the lamb. So they cooked two trays of lamb and put it down to cool and everybody had passed at the peace of love. So then it came the time for the big chief to come and see how the lamb was getting on. There wasn't even a quarter of the lamb. Everybody was hungry, everything was in a ration and eight pence in all. Money was supposed to be a lot of money, yes, but we weren't too big a bard, because my grandmother had a crow and she had chickens and she had potatoes and she had meal for porridge, so we had a share of that.

Chris Grimes:

So she was the one that kept you fed during the war during rationing, by having her own chickens and her own potatoes. That's a lovely story. Anything else you want to tell me about the Cross and Blackwell factory experience? It?

Mabel Milne:

was a long day in Cross and Blackwell and I think everybody wanted to get out of it. Where the machinery was there was plenty of air, but the place where I got to meet had no windows and you were a bit confined. Now and again they opened a big door, there was air in, but that was never enough and of course it was a concrete floor and that wasn't good for standing on.

Chris Grimes:

But we survived, and so all the way through the war, that was what you were doing. I came out of Cross and Black.

Mabel Milne:

Wilson in 1945.

Chris Grimes:

Aha.

Mabel Milne:

And then I went to a place where they did keep fish and I was there for two years before I married.

Chris Grimes:

So you moved from meat to fish in terms of your job, sure.

Mabel Milne:

Well, that was Peterhead. Peterhead's famous for their fish, so you had to take a turn.

Chris Grimes:

And I remember Vi saying that she herself, at the age of 10, was involved in directing a fleet of lorries that were ice-packed with fish as they dispatched. So I think your family business was connected to fish as well in the end.

Mabel Milne:

So I think, your family business was connected to fish as well in the end. Yes, that was herring. The herring shows move at different times of the year.

Chris Grimes:

Yes.

Mabel Milne:

So when they've moved, all the fisher girls had to move along with them. So I was Shetland, Bostock, Bjornand.

Chris Grimes:

So was that the title for you all. You were a fisher girl. Is that? Right, yes, so that's a lovely story of what shaped you in terms of your job. So how long did that job last? For that was two years because I got married, okay, and then did that change the way you worked? Once you'd got married, stopped working. So you stopped working to become a full-time housewife and mother, I'm assuming yes, lovely, and anything else you want to tell me about the time of working before you stopped?

Mabel Milne:

I had a friend who was called up and she went to a factory to train and she was put to Manchester, to Trafford Park, to one of the aircraft, and I used to go down there and she would have said we're not very good at dancing, what about the professionals? So we paid a professional one and six to dance with them and we thought that was really good.

Chris Grimes:

We enjoyed that and winding forward many years. Are you a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing now that you have a? Have you watched that?

Mabel Milne:

I like dancing, but Dillamy was a very good dancer all your life. I've been a good dancer all my life.

Chris Grimes:

And is that because you paid somebody one and six to teach you to dance?

Mabel Milne:

Yeah, but we wanted to dance with a professional.

Chris Grimes:

Did he stay around beyond the payment of the one, the shilling and sixpence? But that sounds like the best one and sixpence ever spent, because that got you onto proper dancing. And what's your favourite way of dancing? What's your favourite dance style, mabel?

Mabel Milne:

Oh, I like Latin. I like Latin American dancing Tango.

Chris Grimes:

I can imagine you cutting the rug all through your life as a great dancer. That's absolutely lovely. Yeah, and who is your favourite tango partner?

Mabel Milne:

Well, you had to wait to be asked to dance. You couldn't just go to somebody and say, oh, I'd like to dance with you because you can tango.

Chris Grimes:

But you had to wait. So patience is a virtue too. Did you have to wait for long? Or were you always asked because you'd paid the one on six for a professional dance, Because if you danced you have to wait for long? Or were you always asked because you'd paid the one six?

Mabel Milne:

for a professional dance? You were always asked and I'm saying your partner could dance or not yes.

Chris Grimes:

So I like the fact you were never. You were never left on the sidelines. You were always the one asked to dance and that's why earlier on, I'm happy I asked at your birthday celebration, when you were 100, if there was any dancing, but you said there wasn't. But maybe there should have been. We should have got you to do a tango. So now we're going to get on to three things that inspire you in your life, mabel. So, thinking back on everything, what are some of the things that have inspired you and kept you going?

Mabel Milne:

back on everything. What are some of the things that have inspired you and kept you going? Well, mostly my time when I was growing up, because it was war time. You couldn't put your finger on anything really.

Chris Grimes:

You just lived from day to day and in terms of resilience and and a long life of adapting and and you and going with change. The other extraordinary thing about being 100 is you've seen so, so, so many changes over the 100 years, and later on we'll talk about what you think about modern day as well, having lived through it all. So anything else that influenced you.

Mabel Milne:

I can't think of being 100. I can't think of being 100. I just think to myself I'm such an old lady.

Chris Grimes:

And how old do you feel?

Mabel Milne:

if you don't mind me asking, oh no, I couldn't have put my finger in that.

Chris Grimes:

But you can't quite get your head around being 100. My grandmother was 100 as well, so it's such a privilege to talk to somebody who's lived a similarly long, long, long, long life, which is why, in the end, I'm so interested to know what your secret to a long life is no, it's when I see other people my age and see that the way that they don't dress up, they don't do their hair and they're not interested in anything.

Mabel Milne:

So why live?

Chris Grimes:

So you're feeling very so what it makes you, your pride. Your pride is really important to you because obviously it's about, yes, keeping going, keeping up appearances and being proud of how you look and how you're dressed and everything.

Mabel Milne:

But nowadays, when I look and see the young ones, they wear their dress. Oh terrible.

Chris Grimes:

That's always a generational thing, isn't it? Every generation always looks at the generation coming up assuming that, oh, we didn't do it. I'm glad it's not my generation. Yes, and you're the wise elder generation, obviously.

Mabel Milne:

Oh, I may be prejudiced, I don't know.

Chris Grimes:

So what we can do now is move on to two things in your life that have never failed to grab your attention. So what's always stopped you in your tracks, whatever else is getting or going on for you that never fails to grab your attention.

Mabel Milne:

When I lived with my grandmother for summer holidays, I always used to look at her when she was making butter and I would say to her could I do that please? No, why not? No, I said why not? Because I like to do it. And I said, well, you could do something else and we need to do that. Well, it was hard work.

Chris Grimes:

And so did she eventually teach you to make butter. She did.

Mabel Milne:

Well, country people all made their own butter and cheeses, so I had a turn with the butter making.

Chris Grimes:

As I say, it was too hard work, and did she teach you anything else that you preferred Was the cheese making?

Mabel Milne:

any easier. Yeah, she said she would take over. She said I'll do it now I'm quicker. But she wasn't any quicker because it took its time.

Chris Grimes:

Yes, and now? What's an unusual fact about you, mabel, that we couldn't possibly know about you until you tell us? So, any unusual fact in your life about you? I've met Princess Alexandra. Oh, would you like to tell me more about you? I've met Princess Alexandra.

Mabel Milne:

Oh, would you like to tell me more about that? My husband was always he was sort of president of the Whitefish and we were invited, along with some of the fishermen and their wives, and Princess Alexandra came to Peterhead to. I think it was a new lifeboat that was being launched.

Chris Grimes:

Yes.

Mabel Milne:

And when she came, she said she was cold and she was told to dress accordingly. And when I looked at her I thought, oh no, that's not Princess Alexandra, not what she's got on flat shoes, an ordinary coat and an awful hat Because she was always so beautifully dressed and she was a good, good woman and what year would this have been?

Chris Grimes:

because I'm trying to remember. Was she, um? What was her relation to british? She was queen victoria's. She was related to queen victoria, wasn't she queen's cousin? Queen's cousin, sister? Aha, sorry, that's me, with my royal knowledge, being a bit stupid there, lovely, okay, now we've shaken your tree. That's the five, four, three, two, one, and now, um, I'd like to talk about what I'm calling alchemy and gold, and I'll explain in your life, when you've been happiest at purpose and in flow, what have you been happiest doing? What's been your favorite thing to do, mabel, in your life?

Mabel Milne:

my favorite thing to do oh, I think it was my garden and tell me about your god go out in the morning. And then I think, oh, I going of something to eat and it would be four o'clock, five o'clock.

Chris Grimes:

And you've had green fingers all your life.

Mabel Milne:

In that case, Not all the time, a lot of mistakes, but I learned.

Chris Grimes:

And what's been your proudest thing you've produced in your garden.

Mabel Milne:

I've had a day A greenhouse.

Chris Grimes:

And did you ever produce your own wine as well from that?

Mabel Milne:

I did, but it was a disaster.

Chris Grimes:

It was a disaster, was it? So I like the fact you've worked with meat, you've worked with cheese, you've worked with cheese, you've worked with butter and you've also produced wine. So you're a bit of a miracle actually. You can produce anything. That's a lovely thing to say. That time always just went by without you even knowing when you were gardening. So you were absolutely at your happiest when you were in your garden. And did you have a big garden, mabel? What type of garden was it? Yes, a big garden.

Mabel Milne:

Mabel, what type of garden was it? Yes, a big garden.

Chris Grimes:

I didn't cut the grass with the plant flowers and I sort of all the roses and everything I put in it, so it took a lot of time, but I love that Happiest in all your life when you're in your garden and do you still like gardens and go visiting gardens to this day?

Mabel Milne:

Well, I haven't much. I garden now, but I'm not able to think about it. It's always raining.

Chris Grimes:

In Scotland. That's a bit of a stereotype, isn't it? It's always raining, but it's good. The optimistic side is it's always good for the garden if it's raining. Yeah, and now I'm going to award you with a cake. Do you like cake, mabel? It's not necessarily a birthday cake. You can choose any cake you like. So what's your favourite type of cake, mabel?

Mabel Milne:

I'm not very fond of cake. Okay, I like savoury things. Okay, I'm not so struck on anything sweet. I'll have a chocolate biscuit now and again, but everybody stopped having sugar in their tea during the war.

Chris Grimes:

And it took the sweet taste out of everybody's mouth. So you're preferring savoury.

Mabel Milne:

So what's your favourite savoury snack then?

Chris Grimes:

My savoury is a pancake, and we think, talking Scottish pancake here, scotch pancake Pancakes are sports. Of course they are Lovely are scones, of course.

Mabel Milne:

They are Lovely and I had a lady made cinnamon scones for my birthday.

Chris Grimes:

I never had cinnamon scones before. They were beautiful. So for this last piece I'm going to award you with a cinnamon scone and you get to put a cherry on the cake of it if you like, with stuff like now. What's a favourite quote, mabel, that you've always loved and it's helped you and given you comfort. So is there a favourite quote in your life that you've liked?

Mabel Milne:

I used to know a lot of quotes but I've lost it now. I've forgotten.

Chris Grimes:

Even that will do. I used to know a lot of quotes, but I've lost it now. I've forgotten. That's a quote of itself. And did you ever have a favourite song that could have been your and your husband's favourite song.

Mabel Milne:

I liked all the old songs. I like classical music.

Chris Grimes:

So classical takes us back to Salzburg and to the clearing that we're in. So that's always been your favourite genre, is that right?

Mabel Milne:

So all your life it's always been classical music, I hear classical music on the telly and sometimes you get a signal and I'll remember the song when I hear it being sung, and that's a really good example of something that never fails to grab your attention.

Chris Grimes:

So presumably, whenever you hear classical music, it makes you stop and listen to it. Yeah, and do you have a favourite piece of classical music that I can put into the texture of this programme when we finished?

Mabel Milne:

I like the drinking song. Andre Roux. He travels all over the world with his band. He does European strokes music, but he does other music as well. They call him a flying Dutchman. The Flying Dutchman, lovely ¶¶.

Chris Grimes:

OK, and now we're going to talk this is the final piece is about Shakespeare, so borrowed from the seven ages of man, speech and woman. What's so wonderful at Mabel is you've not just lasted three score year and ten, you're way ahead of everyone else because you've lasted a hundred years. So long may that continue. But when you look back on your life and you think about your legacy, how would you most like to be remembered, mabel? If you don't mind me asking you that quite profound question when all is said and done, how would you, mabel Milne, like to be remembered?

Mabel Milne:

I like fun that's wonderful.

Chris Grimes:

So, mabel Milne, I like fun. That's so lovely. And what's the what you most most enjoy doing? You've said dancing. Is there anything else that you most enjoy doing? If I gave you a complete license for a complete day of fun, what would you do?

Mabel Milne:

all day with my old clothes.

Chris Grimes:

That's lovely and I wish I could make that happen for you, but that's a lovely, lovely thing to wish for. So, mabel, thank you so much for letting me take you through the journey of the good, listening to show it's been a real privilege and, at the beginning, me take you through the journey of the Good, listening To show it's been a real privilege. And at the beginning I asked you what the secret to a long life would be. Can I ask you that again? What would you say the secret to a long life has been for you?

Mabel Milne:

I don't know, it's just happened.

Chris Grimes:

I love that. Even that's wonderfully profound. I don't know, it's just happened. I love that. Even that's wonderfully profound. I don't know, it's just happened. So, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much indeed for listening. You've been listening to Mabel Milne. Help me launch a new series, daron, called the Big Birthday Show. It's been my absolute joy, pleasure and privilege to talk to you, mabel, and thank you to VI for enabling this to happen, so I hope you've've enjoyed yourself, mabel.

Mabel Milne:

Thank you for having me.

Chris Grimes:

You're very, very welcome. You've been listening to the Good Listening To show here on UK Health Radio with me, chris Grimes. Oh, it's my son. If you've enjoyed the show, then please do tune in next week to listen to more stories from the Clearing. If you'd like to connect with me on LinkedIn, then please do so. There's also a dedicated Facebook group for the show too. You can contact me about the programme or, if you'd be interested in experiencing some personal impact coaching with me, care of my Level Up your Impact programme. That's chris at secondcurveuk. On Twitter and Instagram it's at thatchrisgrimes. So until next time, from me, chris Grimes, from UK Health Radio, and from Stan, to your good health and goodbye.