Sunday, 27 November 2016

Lørdag den 26. november kl 1630 til søndag den 27. november 2016 kl 1629

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og derefter bruger vi aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm (2. del af 3), der hedder ”Britain at Low Tide” (Storbritannien ved lavvande). Programmets vært er den charmerende geolog, Tori Herridge, og en betænksom arkæolog, Alex Langlands. Dette 2. afsnit handler om grevskabet Lancashires lange kystlinje, der grænser op til det Irske Hav.


Programmets stil er lidt ærgerlig – det springer konstant fra det ene emne til et andet (og tilbage igen). Jeg synes, at programmets producer tror, at seerne ellers snart kommer til at kede sig. Denne stil skjuler også for seerne, at programmets indhold er lidt tyndt – uha!

Tori og Alex taler med mange lokale eksperter, mens de går turer langs disse enorme, smukke, øde strande og over de mysteriøse klitter. Alle disse eksperter taler smukt engelsk, så derfor er det lidt af en skam, at Tori og Alex, programmets hovedværter begge taler som om de har en kartoffel i munden – de taler engelsk med den accent man ofte hører i London og omegnen. Lois og jeg kan kun forstå ca. 89% af hvad de siger, så vi sætter programmets ”undertekster til hørehæmmede” på, som de gamle krager vi er – du godeste! Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Vi hører at hver dag på disse strande bliver forhistoriske menneskelige fodspor afdækket af havet (fodspor, der blev lavet for 7.000 år siden!!!), men samme dag desværre bliver aftrykkene ødelagt igen af havet. Hvor fascinerende!!!


Den Irske Hav afdækker hver dag nogle friske forhistoriske fodspor
og ødelægger dem samme dag – du godeste!


Lois og jeg beundrer meget de tre kvindelige værters
fantastiske hår – det ser altid meget godt ud, selv når det blæser kraftigt på stranden!



21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en dokumentarfilm  i ”Forbudt historie” serien, endnu en dumme titel – du godeste, sikke et vanvid! Aftenens afsnit handler om de sandfærdige historier der inspirede Bram Stokers roman ”Drakula” og hele vampyrkulten, bogen skabte.  Programmets vært er den charmerende Jamie Theakston.


Lois og jeg begyndte at interessere os lidt for vampyrfilm og horrorfilm i går, da vi så Elsa Lanchester optræde i et gammelt 1977 afsnit af ”The Good Old Days”, som en halvdel af den komiske geriatriske danseduo ”Elsa og Waldo”.

Tilbageblik til gårsdagens ”The Good Old Days” -
Elsa og hendes storbror Waldo (på henholdsvis 75 og 80 år)
udfører et komisk geriatrisk dansenummer

Senere fandt jeg ud af på nettet, at Elsa levede et meget interessant liv, som Lois og jeg ikke ville have gættet kun ud at dømme fra denne duos dansenumre. Da hun var ung, lærte hun at danse på Isadoras danseskole i Paris, flyttede senere tilbage til England,  gik i seng med Charles Laughton, den berømte filmstjerne, blev gravid, fik abort, flyttede til Hollywood og spillede en hovedrolle (som monstrets ”mage” og også som selve Mary Shelley!!!)  i én af de mest velkendte horrorfilm, der blev fremstillet i 1930’erne: Frankensteins Brud, stjernespækket den kendte stjerne, Boris Karloff. Du godeste! Og i sin alderdom boede hun i byen Malvern, der kun ligger 20 miles væk fra Cheltenham – du godeste (igen) !!!!

Elsa Lanchester spillede ikke én men to hovedroller i filmen
Monstrets ”mage” og også selve Mary Shelley – uha!!!!!

Men undskyld for sidespringet! Lois og jeg er igang med at se en dokumentarfilm, der handler om vampyrer. Et interessant program, men indholdet er meget meget tynd – du godeste! Det hele tager en time, men der er kun ca 5 minutters oplysninger derinde – uha!!!! Jamie taler med en række eksperter, men de siger alle de samme ting – Jamie springer konstant fra den ene ekspert til en anden, men vi hører ikke nogen nye oplysninger, kun det samme sagt med andre ord – du godeste!

De første 30 minutter handler om oprindelsen af vampyr-myten. Programmets vært, den charmerende Jamie Theakston, rejser til Øst-Europa (Bulgarien, Transsylvanien osv), og finder ud af, at klimaet er meget koldt om vinteren og i middelalderlige tider var det svært at begrave lig meget dybt, og ligene blev nogen gange afdækket af vilde dyr. De lokale indbyggere blev bange for, at de afdøde prøvede at komme tilbage til livet, så ”dræbte” de dem igen, for eksempel med en pæl gennem hjertet.

Vi hører nogle væmmelige sandfærdige historier, men det var Bram Stoker, der gjorde vampyrer sexede udover at være væmmelige – du godeste!

I programmets anden halvdel møder vi nogle moderne engelske kærestepar, som for eksempel Leah og Arrow, der påstår, at de er vampyrer og sutte blod ud af hinandens kroppe – øv!!!! Dette emne er ikke ret interessant, Jamie, og er ikke det værd – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!


vi ser nogle moderne vampyrer, som Leah og Arrow,
et kærestepar som sutter hinandens blod – øv, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Men jeg bliver pludselig klar over, at jeg forleden så en af disse vampyrer i Tewksbury, da jeg sat i bilen og ventede på, at Lois kommer ud af sin kirke, så jeg kunne køre hende hjem. Det var en nydelig ung kvinde, helt klædt i sort, der så ud lige som kvinden i programmet. Hun gik hånd i hånd med sin kæreste, der ikke var en vampyr – lige en traditionel rocker

Jeg diskuterer dette oplevelse med Lois, og vi mener at i tilfælde af alle disse ”blandte ægteskaber”  mellem vampyrer og ikke-vampyrer, kan vi forestille os, at suttelydene, som parrene gør, når de er alene, kun må være ensidige ha ha ha – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!

04:45 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtester. Bagefter laver jeg to kopper te og bringer dem op på vores soveværelse. Jeg kryber tilbage i vores seng og vi drikker teen. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

09:00 Vi taler lidt på Skype med vores yngste datter, Sarah, der for næsten ét år siden (den 30. november 2015) flyttede til Perth i Australien, sammen med Francis, sin mand, og deres (dengang) 2-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessica.

Sarah føler sig nu tryggere i sin arbejdsplads efter tre uger i det nye job, men hun har haft en svær uge. Selskabets præsident har bedt hende om, at undersøge én af selskabets mange afdelinger for at finde ud af, hvad er kilden til dens problemer. Dette opgave er svært for Sarah, fordi hun ikke endnu har lært selskabets forskellige afdelinger at kende, men den store chef er meget frisk på, at hun fuldfører sin undersøgelse – stakkels Sarah!  

Tvillingerne hygger sig meget for tiden med forskellige kunstværker, herunder Fuzzy Felts, malerier osv. Temperaturen er nået 37 grader (99 Fahrenheit – du godeste!!!!) og tvillingerne badede forleden i den lille svømmepøl, som Francis har oprettet på familiens græsplæn bag huset.

Det er meget sjovt at snakke med Lily og Jessica. De husker os godt, selvom vi ikke i 6 måneder har været derhenne. Jessica går nu højt op i katte, så derfor vi samler Minx, Alisons kat, op  og vise dem hende.

Lily og Jessica, vores 3-årige børnebørn

Tvillingerne viser os deres fødder – meget rene,
fordi de for nylig har badet i familiens svømmepøl – hurra!

Her ser vi Sarah, vores yngste datter, I baggrunden

Her ser vi Francis, vores svigersøn i baggrunden.

10:00 Lois beslutter, at hun kun vil deltage i én gudstjeneste i dag (den, der finder sted i eftermiddag). Hun vil gå glip af formiddagens tjeneste, der altid er fulgt af en kirkefrokost. Hun lider for tiden af øreproblemer, for at være præcis, hvad angår sin venster øre, og det er meget ubehageligt at være blandt en stor gruppe mennesker, der alle snakker højt og samtidig med hinanden. Hun har bestilt en tid ved St Pauls-klinikken, så hun kan få voks fjernet af øret. Det er gået over 1-2 år siden hendes seneste aftale derinde. Desværre er aftalen bestemt til den 3. januar, så hun på en eller anden måde skal klare sig med kun ét øre julen og nytåret over – stakkels Lois!!!!

11:00 Vi kigger lidt på nettet og vi ser, at Sarah har lagt et charmerende foto af sig selv og sine tvillinger op på Facebook. Det er meget varmt i Australien for tiden.

Vores yngste datter, Sarah, slapper af sammen med tvillingerne
på en café lidt nord for Perth, der giver udsigt over havet – hurra!

Det er en så stor modsætning for tiden mellem, på den ene siden, Sarah i Australien, hvor temperaturen nå 37 grader (99 F) og på den anden side vores ældre datter, Alison, der tilbringer weekenden i Sverige, sammen med Ed, sin mand, og deres tre børn: Josie (10), Rosalind (8) og Isaac (6 år) – himlen er blå, og solen skinner derhenne, men det er hundekoldt, er jeg helt sikker på !!!!

Vores 3 ”danske” børnebørn i Sverige i dag – brrrrrrr!!!!

Familien skal tilbage til København i dag, for at deltage i den julefrokost, der er blevet organiseret af Eds selskab til i eftermiddag.

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter skal Lois af sted. Hun ønsker at deltage i en gudstjenester, der finder sted i eftermiddag i Tewkesbury. Hun kører med sin veninde, Maggie.

13:00 Jeg går i seng og tager mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzzzzz!!!!

15:00 Jeg står op og kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at Alison har lagt et charmerende sammensat foto op på Instagram af julefrokosten organiseret af Eds arbejdsplads. Danskerne ved helt sikkert, hvordan man fejrer jul – ingen tvivl om det!!!! Det er intet bedre, end at danse omkring det stort juletræ  (og synge danske sange) – det ved med sikkerhed!

Julefrokosten organiseret af Eds arbejdsplads i København – hurra!

15:30 Lois kommer hjem igen og vi slapper af med en kop te på sofaen.

English translation

18:00 Lois and I eat supper and then we spend the evening watching a little television. They show an interesting documentary (Part 2 of 3) called "Britain at Low Tide". The program's host is the charming geologist, Tori Herridge, and a thoughtful archaeologist, Alex Langlands. This second episode deals with the county of Lancashire's long coastline, bordering the Irish Sea.


The program's style is a bit unfortunate - it jumps continuously from one subject to another (and back again). I think that the program's producer believes that viewers would otherwise get quickly bored. This style also hides from the viewers that the program's content is a little skimpy - oh dear!

Tori and Alex talk with many local experts while walking along these huge, beautiful, deserted beaches and the mysterious dunes. All these experts speak beautiful English, so it's a bit of a shame that Tori and Alex, the main hosts, both speak as if they have a potato in their mouths - they speak English with the accent often heard in London and the surrounding area. Lois and I can only understand about 89% of what they say, so we put the program's "closed captioning" on like the old crows we are - my god! What a crazy world we live in !!!!

We hear that every day on these beaches prehistoric human footprints are uncovered by the sea (footprints that were made 7,000 years ago !!!), but the same day unfortunately the images are destroyed again by the sea. How fascinating !!!
  

The Irish Sea uncovers a few fresh prehistoric footprints every day
and destroys them the same day - my god!


Lois and I much admire the three female hosts'
great hair - it always looks very good even in strong winds on the beach!

21:00 We continue to watch TV. They show a documentary in the "Forbidden History" series, another stupid title - my god, what madness! Tonight's episode focuses on the true stories that inspired Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" and the whole vampire cult that the book created. The program's host is the charming Jamie Theakston.


Lois and I began to get a bit interested in vampire movies and horror movies yesterday when we saw Elsa Lanchester perform in an old 1977 episode of 'The Good Old Days ", as one half of the comic geriatric dancing duo " Elsa and Waldo".

Flashback to yesterday's "The Good Old Days" -
Elsa and her big brother Waldo (respectively 75 and 80 years)
perform a comical geriatric dance number

Later I found out online that Elsa lived a very interesting life that Lois and I would not have guessed just judging from this duo's dance numbers. When she was young, she learned to dance at Isadoras dance school in Paris, later moved back to England, went to bed with Charles Laughton, the famous movie star, became pregnant, had an abortion, moved to Hollywood and played a key role (as the monster's "mate"and also as the Mary Shelley !!!) in one of the most well-known horror films that were made in the 1930s: Frankenstein's Bride, starring the well-known star, Boris Karloff. My God! And in her old age, she lived in the town of Malvern, which is only 20 miles away from Cheltenham - my god (again) !!!!

Elsa Lanchester played not one but two leading roles in the film
The monster's "mate" and also the Mary Shelley - oh dear !!!!!

But sorry for the digression! Lois and I started to watch a documentary about vampires. An interesting program, but the content is very very thin - my god! It all takes an hour, but there is only 5-minutes of information in there - oh dear !!!! Jamie talks with a number of experts, but they all say the same thing - Jamie jumps continuously from one expert to another, but we do not hear any new information, just the same thing said in different words - my god!

The first 30 minutes is about the origin of the vampire myth. The program's host, the charming Jamie Theakston, travels to Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Transylvania, etc.), and finds out that the climate is very cold in winter and in medieval times it was hard to bury corpses very deep, and the bodies were sometimes unearthed by wild animals. The local residents were afraid that the deceased were trying to come back to life, so they "killed" them again, for example with a stake through the heart.

We hear some nasty true stories, but it was Bram Stoker, who made vampires sexy besides being nasty - my goodness!

In the program's second half, we meet some modern English lovers such as Leah and Arrow, who claim that they are vampires and suck the blood out of each other's bodies - ugh!!!! This topic is not very interesting, Jamie, and is not worth it - I have no doubts about that !!!!


we see some modern vampires, like Leah and Arrow,
a couple who suck each other's blood - ugh, what madness !!!!

But I suddenly realized that I saw one of these vampires the other day in Tewkesbury, when I sat in the car and waited for Lois to come out of her church, so I could drive her home. It was an attractive young woman, dressed all in black who looked just like the woman in the program. She was walking hand in hand with her boyfriend, who was not a vampire - just a traditional "rocker”.

I discuss this experience with Lois, and we believe that in the case of all these "mixed marriages" between vampires and non-vampires, we can imagine that the sucking sounds the couples make when they are alone must only be one-sided ha ha ha - my god, what madness !!!!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzz !!!!

04:45 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests. Afterwards, I make two cups of tea and bring them up to our bedroom. I creep back in our bed and we drink the tea. We get up and eat breakfast.

09:00 We speak a little on Skype with our younger daughter, Sarah, who for almost one year ago (30 November 2015) moved to Perth in Australia, along with Francis, her husband and their (then) two-year old twins Lily and Jessica.

Sarah now feels more secure in her workplace after three weeks in the new job, but she has had a rough week. The company's president has asked her to investigate one of the company's many departments to find out what the source of its problems is. This task is difficult for Sarah because she has not yet got to know the company's various departments, but the big boss is very keen that she complete her investigation - poor Sarah!

The twins are enjoying themselves a lot at the moment with various artworks, including Fuzzy Felts, paintings and so on. The temperature has reached 37 degrees (99 Fahrenheit - my god !!!!) and the twins bathed the other day in the small pool that Francis created on the family's lawn behind the house.

It is a lot of fun to talk to Lily and Jessica. They remember us well, even though we have not been over there for 6 months. Jessica is now very into cats, so we gather up Minx, Alison's cat, and show her to them.

Lily and Jessica, our 3-year-old grandchildren

The twins show us their feet - very clean,
because they have recently been swimming in the family pool - hurrah!

Here we see Sarah, our younger daughter in the background

Here we see Francis, our son-in-law, in the background.

10:00 Lois decides that she will only take part in one church service today (the one that takes place in the afternoon). She will miss the morning's service, which is always followed by a church lunch. At the moment she is suffering from ear problems, to be precise in the left ear, and it is very unpleasant to be among a large group of people who are all speaking loudly and simultaneously with each other. She has requested an appointment at St Paul's clinic, so she can have the wax removed from the ear. Over 1-2 years have gone by since her last appointment there. Unfortunately, the appointment is set for January 3, so she must somehow manage with only one ear over Christmas and New Year - poor Lois !!!!

11:00 We take a little look on the net and we see that Sarah has posted a charming photo of herself and the twins up on Facebook. It is very hot in Australia at the moment.

Our youngest daughter, Sarah, relaxing with the twins
at a café just north of Perth that offers views of the sea - hurrah!

It is such a big contrast at the moment between, on the one hand, Sarah in Australia where temperatures are reaching 37 degrees (99 F) and on the other hand, our elder daughter, Alison, who is spending the weekend in Sweden, along with Ed, her husband, and their three children: Josie (10), Rosalind (8) and Isaac (6 years) - the sky is blue and the sun is shining over there, but it's freezing cold, I am quite sure of that!!!!

Our 3 "Danish" grandchildren in Sweden today - brrrrrrr !!!!

12:00 We eat lunch and afterwards Lois must away. She wants to attend a church service taking place this afternoon in Tewkesbury.

13:00 I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap - zzzzzzzz !!!!

15:00 I get up and take a look on the web. I see that Alison has laid a charming composite photo up on Instagram of the Christmas party organized by Eds workplace. The Danes certainly know how to celebrate Christmas - no doubt about it !!!! There is nothing better than dancing around the large Christmas tree (and sing Danish songs) - I know that for sure!

The Christmas party organised by Ed’s workplace in Copenhagen – hurrah!

15:30 Lois comes home again and we relax with a cup of tea on the sofa.


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