18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og sætter os til rette i sofaen. Ligesom
i går er der ikke noget interessant på fjernsyn, så vi beslutter at tænde for
vores Roku-enhed og logge ind på GooglePlay-hjemmesiden for at leje en 2014
film, ”Effy Gray”, skrevet af Emma Thompson. Vi bliver til helt moderne folk –
ingen tvivl om det!
Filmen handler om Effy Gray, konen til John Ruskin, den viktorianske
kunstkritik. Ruskin, der plejer at have god kemi med yngre eller mindreårige
piger, gifter sig med den 20-årige Effy, men da hun tager sin natkjole af på
parrets bryllupsnat, får han en overraskelse, sikkert på grund af hendes
kønshår, som han måske ikke har forventet – sikke et vanvid!!! Elendig
forskning, John !!!!!
John Ruskin (Greg Wise) og Effy Gray (Dakota Fanning) –
en
overraskelse venter på John på parrets bryllupsnat – uha!
Det
viser sig, at Ruskin har været i færd med at læse
alle
de forkerte bøger ha ha ha!
Det er en skam, at Ruskin ikke diskuterede problemet med sin kusk (se
billedet). Efter min oplevelese med at læse viktorianske romaner, er jeg helt
klar over, at kusker generelt var meget erfarne seksuelt, og havde tendens til
at tage deres kvinder (ofte rige ældre kunder) på en helt grov måde – du
godeste! Ruskins kusk synes imidlertid
lidt træt. Han er måske faldet i søvn under den lange rejse fra Skotland på
motorvej M6. Det var dengang ligegyldigt, om kusken var vågen eller ej –
hestene havde tendens til at kende vejen hjem, lidt som nutidens førerløse
biler.
Uanset om kusken er vågen eller ej, nægter Ruskin desværre at have sex med sin
kone, og et par år senere forelsker hun sig i en ung maler, John Everett
Millais, én af Ruskins protegéer. Effy får en skilsmisse og gifter sig med
Millais. Lykkelig slutning – hurra!
21:00 Vi tænder for fjernsynet. De viser en underholdende dramaserie (2.
del af 8), der handler om en kvinde, Pauline, der er lige gået på pension.
Pauline beslutter at ændre sin livsstil, dropper sin følelsesløse mand og
holder op med at give sine sønner og døtre konstant ubetinget følelsesmæssig
støtte. Hun aftaler at gå på en date med en mand, hun tror er fraskilt osv osv.
Det er interessant, at Lois er meget bedre end mig til at forudsige
begivenheder i denne slags dramaserie.
Paulines datter, Heather, og Heathers mand, Charlie, har fundet ud af,
at de ikke kan få børn - problemerne
kommer fra Charlies side. Heather har et
engangsknald med sin danspartner, en nat hun umiddelbart fortryder.
Lois vædder på, at Heather viser sig snart at blive gravid. Det ville jeg aldrig have tænkt på – det ved
jeg med sikkerhed. Men det er lidt indlysende, nu hun har foreslået det – du
godeste! Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!! Det er på høje tid jeg vokser op
og accepterer denne verden med alle dens ukomfortable aspekter - det har jeg
ikke nogen tvivl om !!!
22:00 Vi beslutter at dele seng igen efter nogle dages problemer med min
forkølelse. Vi finder vores godnatbøger frem. Jeg læser 10 sider af min nye
bog, ”de indsamlede digte af John Betjeman”, en julegave fra Lois, før jeg
glider over i søvnen – zzzzzz!!!!
05:00 Jeg står tidligt op og kigger lidt på nettet.
Bagefter skynder jeg mig ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager
dem med op i soveværelset og kryber tilbage i sengen. Vi drikker teen og står
op. Vi spiser morgenmad.
Det har sneet let i nat.
Vejen foran vores hus i morges
Vores baghave i morges
10:00 Jeg ringer
til Plusnet, vores telefon og bredbånd leverandør, og bestiller deres freeview+
tv-enhed. Vores vhs videobåndmaskine gik i stykker lige før jul, og vi vil
gerne kunne optage den ene kanal, mens vi ser på en anden. Også vil vi gerne kunne
trykke pause-knappen på live tv, når som helst vi får irriterende
telefon-opkald.
12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en
gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzz!!!
13:00 Neil kommer og går i gang med at beskære kirsebærtræet i forhaven.
13:45 Lois skal til det lokale bibliotek for at hjælpe bibliotekets
personale med at organisere og lede den ugentlige ”Baby Bounce and Rhyme”
session for unge mødre og deres små børn. Aktiviterne består af barnesange for
babys og forældre (og bedsteforældre). Da vores anden datter, Sarah, stadigvæk
boede og arbejdede i England (indtil december 2015), plejede Lois og jeg at
tage Sarahs tvillinger med til sessioner – lykkelige dage!
14:30 Jeg står op. Jeg sender en email til vores U3A danske gruppes
medlemmer. Jeg vedhæfter de første 8 sider af vores nye danske kriminovelle,
”Forbundet”, af Gittemie Eriksen. Jeg har slået alle de svære ord op i min
online ordbog, og de engelske oversættelser findes i bunden af hver side.
Novellen handler om en dansk landsbetjent, der skal undersøge en række
mistænkelige dødsfald i sit område – de fleste ofre er nøjagtig 37 år gamle –
uha, uhyggeligt!!! Sagaen starter med et par mistænkelige selvmord. En 37-årig
landmand bliver fundet hængende fra sin kornsilo. Lidt senere bliver endnu en
37-årig kvinde fundet ved molen med et reb om halsen og en sten for enden af
rebet. For det tredje bliver en gamle kvinde fundet på skolens kontor med en
pegepind i halsen – uha, sikke et vanvid!!!
Bortset fra disse selvmord eller forbrydelser, sker der endnu en
interessant begivenhed i nabolaget. En berømt international filmstjerne flytter
ind i landsbyen. Landsbetjentens kone er den lokale damefrisør, og de to
kvinder lærer snart hinanden at kende. God begyndelse!
15:00 Neil er færdig med at beskære kirsebærtræet. Han skal til af sted.
15:30 Lois kommer tilbage fra biblioteket og vi slapper af med en kop te i
sofaen.
English translation
18:00 Lois and I eat dinner and settle down on the sofa. Just like
yesterday there is nothing interesting on TV, so we decide to turn on our Roku
device, sign in to the Google Play website and rent a 2014 film, "Effy
Gray," written by Emma Thompson. We are becoming completely modern people
- no doubt about it!
The film is about Effy Gray, wife
of John Ruskin, the Victorian art critic. Ruskin, who tends to have good
chemistry with younger or underage girls, marries the 20-year Effy, but when
she takes her nightgown off on the couple's wedding night, he gets a surprise,
probably because of her pubic hair, which he may not have expected - what
madness !!! Lousy research, John !!!!!
John Ruskin (Greg Wise) and Effy Gray
(Dakota Fanning) -
a surprise is waiting for John on the
couple's wedding night - oh dear!
It turns out that Ruskin has been busy reading
all the wrong books ha ha ha!
It is a shame that Ruskin did not
discuss the problem with his coachman (see picture). In my experience from
reading Victorian novels, I am quite aware that coachmen generally were very
experienced sexually, and tended to take their women (often rich older
customers) in quite a crude way - my god!
Ruskin's coachman seems a little
tired. Maybe he's fallen asleep during the long journey from Scotland on the M6
motorway. It was then of little consequence whether the coachman was awake or
not - the horses tended to know the way home, just like today's driverless
cars.
Whether the coachman is awake or
not, Ruskin unfortunately refuses to have sex with his wife, and a few years
later she falls in love with a young painter John Everett Millais, one of
Ruskin's proteges. Effy gets a divorce and marries Millais. Happy ending -
hurrah!
21:00 We turn on the TV. They
show an entertaining drama series (part 2 of 8), which is about a woman,
Pauline, who has just retired.
Pauline decides to change her
lifestyle, dropping her unemotional husband and no longer giving her sons and
daughters constant unconditional emotional support. She agrees to go on a date
with a man she believes is divorced etc etc.
It is interesting that Lois is
much better than me at predicting events in this kind of serial drama.
Pauline's daughter, Heather, and Heather's husband, Charlie, have found out
that they cannot have children – the problems come from the Charlie’s side. Heather has a one-night stand with her
dance partner, which she immediately regrets.
Lois bets that Heather will soon turn
out to be pregnant. I would never have thought of that - I know that for sure.
But it's a little obvious now she has suggested it - my god! What a crazy world
we live in !!! It is high time I grew up and accepted this world with all its
uncomfortable aspects – I have no doubts about that !!!
22:00 We decide to share the bed
again after a few days of problems with my cold. We get our “goodnight” books
out. I read 10 pages from my new book, "The Collected Poems Of John
Betjeman", a Christmas gift from Lois, before I drift off to sleep -
zzzzzz !!!!
05:00 I get up early and take a
look at the web.
Afterwards I hurry into the
kitchen and make two cups of tea. I bring them up to the bedroom and crawl back
in bed. We drink the tea and get up. We eat breakfast.
It has snowed lightly in the
night.
the road in front of our house this
morning
Our backyard this morning
10:00 I call Plusnet, our
telephone and broadband supplier and order their freeview + TV device. Our vhs
video tape machine broke just before Christmas and we would like to be able to
record one channel while watching another. Also we would like to be able to
press pause on live TV whenever we get annoying phone-calls.
12:30 We eat lunch and afterwards
I go to bed and take a gigantic nap - zzz !!!
13:00 Neil comes and begins to
prune the cherry tree in the front yard.
13:45 Lois has to go off to the
local library to help library staff organize and lead the weekly "Baby
Bounce and Rhyme" session for young mothers and their young children. The
activities consist of children's songs for babies and parents (and
grandparents). When our second daughter, Sarah, still lived and worked in
England (until December 2015), Lois and I used to take Sarah's twins along to
the sessions - happy days!
14:30 I get up. I send an email
to our U3A Danish group members. I attach the first 8 pages of our new Danish
crime novel, "Connected", by Gittemie Eriksen. I have looked up all
the difficult words in my online dictionary, and the English translations can
be found at the bottom of each page.
The story is about a Danish
village constable who has to investigate a series of suspicious deaths in his
area - most of the victims are exactly 37 years old - oh dear, spooky !!! The
saga starts with a few suspicious suicides. A 37-year-old farmer is found
hanging from his grain silo. A little later, another 37-year-old, a woman, is found
at the pier with a rope around her neck and a stone at the end of the rope.
Thirdly, an old woman is found at the school office with a pointer through the
neck - oh dear, what madness!!!
Apart from these suicides or
crimes, there is another interesting event happening in the neighborhood. A
famous international movie star moves into the village. The constable's wife is
the local hairdresser, and the two women soon get to know each other. Good start!
15:00 Neil finishes pruning the
cherry tree, and leaves.
15:30 Lois comes back from the
library and we relax with a cup of tea on the sofa.
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