18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad, min livret: stegte lam med myntesovs,
kartofler, broccoli og pastinak – nam nam! Vi er trætte og vi bruger resten af
aftenen på at lytte til radio, et interessant program, ”Den sidste ord”. Lois og jeg har for vane at høre dette
program hver uge, fordi vi ønsker at finde ud af, om nogen i de seneste 1-2
uger døde eller ej (jeg har bemærket, at der i de fleste uger sker nøjagtig 5
dødsfald). Programmets vært er den charmerende Matthew Bannister.
Den berømte arbejderpartipolitiker, Gerald Kaufman døde desværre. Jeg mindes, at han under partiets
1983-valgkampagne fortalte partiets leder, den ekcentriske Michael Foot, at
partiets valgprogram var den længste selvmordsseddel i historien. Kaufman
troede, at det nyttede ikke til noget at have et valgprogram, der var et
perfekte udtryk for deres fantasier om en socialistisk paradis, hvis vælgerne
ikke ville stemme på det. Kaufman tilskyndede Foot til at sige op, men Foot
ignorerede ham. Efter Kaufmans mening
var Foot ikke bare ekcentrisk, men også en løgner – jeg ved ikke, om han har
ret i dette.
Foot var efter min mening prototypen til Jeremy Corbyn, der er Michael Foot
Type 2. Arbejderpartiet er nødt til at finde en bedre leder, hvis det vil komme
til magten.
Det er svært nu at forestille sig verden uden internettet. Jeg mindes,
at jeg under 1983-valgkampagnen smuttede ind i den lokale RadioShack-butik i
Columbia-indkøbscenter i Maryland, og købte en kortbølgeradio, så jeg kunne
høre valgresultaterne. På grund af tidsforskellen mellem USA og England, var
jeg ikke nødt til at blive sent oppe for at finde ud af, om Foot ville blive
vores premierminister eller ej. Resten er historie – jeg kunne gå træt, glad og
lykkelig i seng, gudskelov. Lykkelige dage!
22:00 Vi går i seng. Jeg
læser 10 sider af min sengetidbog, ”Indsamlede
digte af John Betjeman”, en julegave fra Lois, før jeg glider over i søvnen –
zzzzzzz!!!!
04:30 Jeg står
tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.
Jeg kigger lidt på nettet. Steve, min amerikanske svoger har sendt mig en
email, hvor han henleder min opmærksomhed på en artikel på National Geographic
–hjemmesiden. Det lader til, at vikingerne tog et bifag i madlavning udover
deres hovedfag i voldtægt og plyndring, så derfor kan vi sige at Muppet-showets
svenske kokken var blot den seneste manifestation af en lang tradition. Også
den tyske version af Muppet-showet, der fremviser en dansk kokken.
Vikingerne havde en svaghed for yoghurt, hvilket er lidt af en
overraskelse. Derudover plejede de at importere eksotiske fødevarer, for
eksempel, ferskner og kanel – du godeste! Det må have været lidt irriterende
for de ophold-at-home angelsaksiske bønder, når de så de berejste vikinger
mæske sig i ferskner (fra Spanien?) og kanel (fra Syd-Asien?), mens de selv
måtte nøjes med de æbler, som de havde tilbage, efter de havde fodret deres
dyre – du godeste (igen)!
De angelsaksiske koner må have fundet det svært at modstå fristelsen til at
rende væk med en viking – adgang til mere interessant mad, muligerheder for at
rejse og dyrke sport osv, mere yoghurt til dessert – listen er endeløs!
06:00 Min søster, Gill, der bor i Cambridge, har fået en ny, enorme kat,
der hedder Billy, og hun har sendt mig et charmerende foto. Billy holder meget
af at sidde på skødene, synes det – ligesom Minx, vores datter Alisons kat, som
Alison efterlod hos os, da familien for 4 år siden flyttede til København.
Gill, min søster, sammen med "Billy"
12:00 Lois er i køkkenet – hun har forberedt omkring en halvdelen af den
mad, hun vil har brug for i morgen. Hun skal i morgen modtage de 12 gæster, hun
har inviteret til en frokost hos os, for at sige farvel til Maggie. Maggie skal
til Birmingham om et par uger for at flytte ind i et plejehjem derovre.
Katastrofe! Maggie ringer til Lois og fortæller hende, at hun lider i dag
af kvalme og diarré – uha! Hun er ikke sikker på, om hun vil kunne komme i
morgen eller ej. Lois ringer til Gillian og de beslutter at holde festen, hvad
enten Maggie kommer eller ej. Du godeste! Lois fortsætter med at arbejde i
køkkenet, selvom hun siger, det ikke synes at blive så sjovt, hvis æresgæsten
ikke deltager. Stakkels Lois! Og stakkels Maggie!!!
13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager mig en
gigantisk eftermiddagslur.
15:00 Jeg står op. Lois er færdig med at oprette vores pop-up restaurant
til 12 personer. Hurra!
Lois og "Minx" åbner vores nye pop-up restaurant til 12
16:00 Vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.
English translation
18:00 Lois and I eat dinner, my favorite dish: roast lamb with mint sauce,
potatoes, broccoli and parsnips - yum yum! We are tired and we spend the
rest of the evening listening to the radio, an interesting program, "The
Last Word". Lois and I have a habit of listening to this program every
week because we want to find out if anyone has died or not in the last 1-2
weeks (I have noticed that most weeks there are exactly 5 deaths). The
program's host is the charming Matthew Bannister.
The famous Labour politician
Gerald Kaufman has died unfortunately. I remember that during the party's 1983
election campaign he told the party's leader, the eccentric Michael Foot, that
the party's election program was the longest suicide note in history.
Kaufman
thought that it was useless to have an election program that was a perfect
expression of their fantasies about a socialist paradise, if voters would not
vote for it. Kaufman urged Foot to resign, but Foot ignored him. In Kaufman's
opinion Foot was not just eccentric, but also a liar. I don’t know if he’s
right about that.
Foot was in my opinion
the prototype for Jeremy Corbyn, who is Michael Foot Mark 2. The Labor Party has
to find a better leader if it wants to come to power.
It is hard now to imagine the
world without the Internet. I recall that during the 1983 election campaign I
popped into the local Radio Shack store in Columbia Mall in Maryland, and bought
a shortwave radio, so I could hear the election results. Because of the time
difference between the US and England, I did not have to stay up late to find
out if Foot was going to be our prime minister or not. The rest is history - I
was able to go tired but happy to bed, thank God. Happy days!
22:00 We go to bed. I read 10
pages of my bedtime book, "Collected Poems of John Betjeman", a
Christmas gift from Lois, before I drift off to sleep - zzzzzzz !!!!
04:30 I get up early and do one
of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.
I take a little look at the web.
Steve, my American brother-in-law has sent me an email in which he draws my
attention to an article on the National Geographic website. It seems that the
Vikings as well as majoring in rape and pillage, also minored in cooking, so we
can say that the Muppet show's Swedish Chef was just the latest manifestation
of a long tradition. Also the German version of the Muppet show, that showcases
a Danish chef.
The Vikings had a weakness for
yogurt, which is a bit of a surprise. In addition, they used to import exotic
foods, for example, peaches and cinnamon - good grief! It must have been a bit
annoying for the stay-at-home Anglo-Saxon peasants when they saw the
well-traveled Vikings gorge themselves on peaches (from Spain?) and cinnamon
(from South Asia?), while they themselves had to settle for the apples left
over after they had fed their animals - good grief (again)!
The Anglo-Saxon wives must have
found it hard to resist the temptation to run off with a Viking - access to
more interesting food, opportunities to travel and play sports, etc., more yogurt
for dessert - the list is endless!
06:00 My sister, Gill, who lives
in Cambridge, has got a new, huge cat named Billy, and she has sent me a
charming photo. Billy loves to sit on laps, it seems - like Minx, our daughter
Alison's cat, the one Alison left with us when the family moved to Copenhagen 4
years ago.
My sister Gill with "Billy"
12:00 Lois is in the kitchen -
she has prepared about half of the food she will need for tomorrow. Tomorrow she
will welcome the 12 guests she has invited to a lunch at our place to say
goodbye to Maggie. Maggie is going to Birmingham in a few weeks' time to move
into a nursing home up there.
Disaster! Maggie calls Lois and
tells her that she is suffering from nausea and diarrhoea today - oh dear! Maggie is not sure whether she will be able to come tomorrow or not. Lois calls
Gillian and they decide to hold the party whether Maggie can come or not. Good
grief! Lois carries on working in the kitchen but she says it does not seem so
much fun now that the guest of honor is probably not going to be taking part. Poor Lois
!!!! And poor Maggie !!!!!
13:00 We eat lunch and afterwards
I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.
15:00 I get up. Lois has finished
creating our pop-up restaurant for 12 people. Hoorah!
Lois and "Minx" open our new pop-up restaurant for 12
16:00 We relax with a cup of tea
on the sofa.
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