Søndag den 28. maj 2017 kl 16:30 søndag den 28. maj 2017 kl 18:00

17:30 Jeg går i panik, da Alison, vores datter i København sender os sine fulde anvisninger om vores kommende besøg, når vi skal passe på vores 3 børnebørn, mens Ali og Ed er i Hong Kong.

Jeg bliver pludselig bekymret for alvor over, om Lois og jeg kan slå til. Det føles som om, vi bliver transporteret tilbage til 1985, da vores 2 døtre, Ali og Sarah, henholdsvis var 10 og 8, og vi også får tildelt en 6-årige søn. Hagen ved det er, at vi må beholde vores 71-årige kroppe. Du godeste!!!!

Jeg lover jeg vil genoptage denne blog om 2 ugers tid, så længe vi kommer tilbage i live – yikesssssssss!!!!!!

Farvel, Comfortzone !!!!

English translation

17:30 I panic when Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen sends us her full instructions on our upcoming visit, when we will be looking after our 3 grandchildren while Ali and Ed are in Hong Kong.

I'm suddenly worried for real about whether Lois and I are up to it. It feels like we are being transported back to 1985 when our 2 daughters, Ali and Sarah, were 10 and 8, respectively, and that we are also being assigned a 6 year old son. The snag is that we must keep our 71 year old bodies. My God!!!!

I promise I will resume this blog in 2 weeks' time as long as we come back alive - yikesssssssss !!!!!!

Farewell, Comfort Zone !!!!!

Lørdag den 27. maj 2017 kl 16:30 søndag den 28. maj 2017 kl 16:29

18:00 Lois og jeg går en kort tur på den lokale fodboldbane, for at hjælpe Lois med at løse sine sporadiske problemer med sit fordøjelsessystem – stakkels Lois!!! Det hjælper hende at gå ture, og vi har ikke for nylig haft muligheden for at gå daglige ture af en eller anden grund.

Et typisk dansk fordøjelsessystem, der utroligt ligner

den engelske, måske på grund af delt DNA fra vikingetiden (?)

Desværre  er hun nødt til at gå meget meget hurtigt (hun dyrker næsten power walking eller energigang) for at opnå lindring, hvilket er ikke så sjovt for mig – stakkels mig, fordi jeg foretrækker at nyde gåturen, snakke og kigger rundt på interessante syn, mens vi går. Nu hvor jeg er pensionist, kan jeg godt lide at spille flanør, eller dagdriver, der strejfer planløst rundt i gaderne og over markerne.

Vores løsning til problemet er, at Lois starter hurtigt langs fodboldbanes 4 touchlinjer med uret. Jeg vurderer forskellen mellem Lois’s hastighed og min, og tager af sted i en retning lidt til højre af hende, så vi mødes op på punktet, jeg vælger, langs den næste touchlinje, udveksle et par ord, og så skille os igen osv. Klog idé, ikke? Også en metafor for ét eller andet – men for hvad egentlig? Det er vi ikke helt sikre på!!!!

Det er i hvert fald meget sjovt at prøve at beregne det første tilnærmelse til den rigtige vinkel osv. Selvfølgelig er der mange muligheder for at justere vinklen dynamisk på vej og konvergere på den perfekte, men jeg prøver at minimisere denne korrektioner.

Løsningens matematiske side tiltaler mig, hvilket måske er lidt ”sheldonesk”. Big Bang Theorys seneste sæson er desværre sluttet, og Lois og jeg har ikke ret meget at glæde os til at se i fjernsyn nu om torsdagen – pokkers!!!

Min amerikanske svigerbror har sendt mig en mail, der henviser til en webartikel om den kommende spin-off serie, der handler om ”unge Sheldon”. Artiklen indeholder et kort videoklip, der viser scener fra denne nye serie, men desværre må man man ikke se klippet udenfor USA, så for vores vedkommende er juryen stadig ude om det - pokkers (igen) !!! Jeg vil gøre lidt forskning i morgen, for det tilfælde, der er andre klip på nettet, vi kan kigge på.

Unge Sheldon Voksne(?) Sheldon

19:00 Vi spiser kun en let aftensmad på grund af den store frokost vi spiste midt på dagen i Wyevale-havecentrets café. Bagefter smækker vi benene op foran fjernsynet, for at lytte til radio, hvilket er lidt paradoksalt – vi lytter igennem én af vores Plusnet-tv-enheds digitale kanaler.

Vi hører et interessant drama, ”Miss Julie”, af August Strindberg, i en ny radio-version af Roger James Elsgood, der udspiller sig i det østlige Danmark.

Strindbergs oprindelige version har desværre et meget kompliceret plot, der ville være ganske svært at forstå i radio, fordi man ikke ser handlingen udspille sig! Heldigvis har Elsgood forenkelt historien lidt og der er kun 3 stemmer at genkende: Miss Julie, en dansk greves frække datter, og sine to tjenestefolk (1) Jean, en ung mand, der arbejder i huset som kammertjener, og (2) Christine, Jeans kæreste, der arbejder der som kok.

Miss Julie var forlovet indtil for nylig med en anden medlem af overklassen, men desværre brød manden forleden den forlovelse, efter en hændling i laden, hvor hun tvang ham til at blotte sig, skubbede ham til gulvet og satte sig ned ovenpå ham. Du godeste – sikke et vanvid!!!

Siden sin forlovelse er blevet brudt, er Miss Julie begyndt at gå amok. Hun opdager, at hun har ekstremt god kemi ha ha ha med sin fars kammertjener, Jean, da de en midsommers nat slår sig på flasken.

Hun ægger ham til at have sex med hende, men den følgende dag finder hun, at hun har mistet sin autoritet over for ham – du godeste!  De advarede os konstant på arbejde ikke til at blive ”gode venner” med ens personale – nu kan jeg se, at det havde de helt ret i. Nu er det pludselig åbenbart!!!!

Hovedrollerne er spillet af danske stjerner Lois og jeg kender fra tv-serier. Sophie Grabol spiller Miss Julie for eksempel, og Lars Mikkelsen spiller Jean – vi så begge skuespillere i den danske serie ”The Killing”. Marie Bach Hansen spiller kokken Christine – vi så hende først i ”Arvinger”.

Sophie Grabol spiller Miss Julie, en svensk greves frække datter,

der ægger sin fars kammertjener, Jean, til at have sex med hende –

hvilket normalt ikke er anbefalet i arbejdspladsen, synes vi !!!!

04:30 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.

Jeg designer min fødselsdagkort til Lois, fordi det er i dag jeg giver hende min fødselsdaggave – en bunke dvds af sine yndlingsfilm. Hun havde dem før i tiden, men kun på vhs, og vores vhs-båndoptager gik desværre i stykker for nogle måneder siden.

Kortets tema kredser om, at hendes fødselsdag i år vil bestå af mange dages celebrationer – og ligne lidt en dronnings oplevelse ha ha ha. Dronning Elizabeths fødselsdag starter i april (sin reelle fødselsdag) og ender i juni (sin officielle fødselsdag).

08:00 Jeg trisser ud I køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op i soveværelset og kryber tilbage under dynen til Lois. Vi drikker téen og står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.

09:00 Jeg giver Lois mit hjemmelavede fødselsdagkort og mine fødselsdagsgaver, en bunke dvd af hendes yndlingsfilm. Lois åbner også ”Magyar” Marys fødselsdagsgave, et sæt kønne øreringer.

Bbunken af DVDs jeg har købt Lois som fødselsdagsgave.

Sættet kønne øreringer, som ”Magyar” Mary har givet hende.

10:00 Vi går endnu en kort tur på den lokale fodboldbane, for at hjælpe Lois igen med hendes fordøjelsesproblemer. Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

vi går en kort tur på den lokale fodboldbanen

11:45 Vi spiser frokost.

12:15 Vi taler lidt på Skype med Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien, med Francis, hendes mand, og deres 3,5-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie. Det er meget sjovt at tale med dem om deres liv i Australien.  Lily er meget søvnig, men Jessie, der var meget langsommere, end Lily, da det kom til at lære at tale, er blevet til et sandt sludrechatol – du godeste!

Skypess: Sarah og den søvnige Lily (Francis i baggrunden)

Sarah, Francis og Jessie

12:45 Lois ønsker at deltage i en gudstjeneste, der finder sted i dag kl 13:45 i Tewkesbury, men hun er ikke tilladt at køre bil for tiden på grund af grå stær. Jeg kører hende over til kirken og drejer ind i den nærliggende parkeringsplads. Mens Lois er i kirken, tager jeg mig en kort lur og læser igen de sidste 20 sider af den danske novelle, ”Forbandet”, som vores U3A danske gruppe er i gang med at læse for tiden. Jeg tager noter undervejs, for at prøve at finde frem til, hvem der er gerningsmanden, uden succes - pokkers!!!

15:00 Gudstjenesten er sluttet, og Lois kommer ud af kirken. Vi kører tilbage hjem igen. Vi glæder os til at have i aften en anden samtale på Skype, denne gang med Alison, vores datter i København. Travlt travlt travlt !!!!!

English translation

18:00 Lois and I go for a short walk over the local football field to help Lois solve her intermittent problems with the digestive system - poor Lois !!! It helps her to go for walks and we have not had the opportunity recently to go for daily walks for one reason or another.

a typical Danish digestive system, incredibly

similar to the English one, possibly because of 

shared DNA from the Viking period?

Unfortunately, she has to walk very very fast (she is practically doing power walking) to achieve relief, which is not so much fun for me - poor me, because I prefer to enjoy the walk, chat and look around at interesting sights while we walk. Now that I'm a retiree, I like to play the flaneur, strolling around the streets and over the fields without a plan.

Our solution to the problem is that Lois starts off quickly in a clockwise direction along the football field's four touchlines. I estimate the difference between Lois's speed and mine and set off in a direction a little to the right of her so we meet up at the point I choose along the next touch line, exchange a few words and then separate off again, etc. Clever idea is it not? Also a metaphor for something or another, but for what exactly?  That’s something we are not entirely sure about!!!!

Anyway it's a lot of fun to try to calculate the first approximation to the correct angle, etc. Of course, there are many opportunities for adjusting the angle dynamically en route and converge on the perfect one, but I try to minimise these corrections.

The mathematical side of the solution appeals to me, which may be a bit "sheldonesque". Big Bang Theory's latest season has ended, and Lois and I have not got much to look forward to when watching television now on Thursdays - damn!!!

My American brother in law has sent me an email referring to a web article about the upcoming spin-off series about "Young Sheldon". The article contains a short video clip showing scenes from this new series, but unfortunately, one cannot see the clip outside the United States, so for us the jury is still out on that one - damn (again) !!! I will  do a little searching tomorrow to see if there's another clip on the web that we can see.

Young Sheldon, grown-up (?) Sheldon

19:00 We only eat a light dinner due to the big lunch we ate in the middle of the day at the Wyevale Garden Centre cafe. Afterwards we stick our feet up in front of the television, to listen to the radio, which is a bit paradoxical - we listen through one of our Plusnet TV's digital channels. We hear an interesting drama, "Miss Julie", by August Strindberg.

Strindberg's original version unfortunately has a very complicated plot that would be quite difficult to understand on the radio because you do not see the action playing out! Fortunately, Elsgood has simplified the story a bit, and there are only three voices to recognise: Miss Julie, a Danish count's naughty daughter, and her two servants (1) Jean, a young man working in the house as a valet, and (2) Christine, Jean's girlfriend who works there as a cook.

Miss Julie was engaged until recently with another member of the upper class, but unfortunately the man broke off the engagement after an incident in the barn where she forced him to expose himself, pushed him to the floor and sat down on top of him. Good grief - what madness !!!

Since her engagement was broken off, Miss Julie has begun to go crazy. She finds that she has extremely good chemistry ha ha ha with her valet, Jean, when they hit the bottle together one midsummer night.

She goads him into having sex with her, but the following day she finds out that she has lost her authority over him - good grief! They constantly warned us at work not to become "good friends" with our staff - now I can see that they were right there. Now it's suddenly all too obvious !!!!

The main roles are played by Danish stars that Lois and I know from TV shows. Sophie Grabol plays Miss Julie for example, and Lars Mikkelsen plays Jean - we saw both actors in the Danish series "The Killing". Marie Bach Hansen plays the cook, Christine – we saw her first in “The Legacy”.

Sophie Grabol plays Miss Julie, a Swedish count's saucy daughter,

who eggs on her father's valet, Jean, to have sex with her -

which is usually not recommended in the workplace, we think !!!!

04:30 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

I design my birthday card to Lois because it's today I am giving her my birthday present - a pile of DVDs of her favourite movies. She had them in the past, but only on vhs, and our vhs tape recorder unfortunately broke down a few months ago.

The theme of the card is that her birthday this year will consist of many days' celebrations - and be a bit like a queen's experience. Queen Elizabeth's birthday starts in April (her real birthday) and ends in June (her official birthday).

08:00 I toddle out into the kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom and crawl back under the covers with Lois. We drink the tea and get up. We eat breakfast.

09:00 I give Lois my homemade birthday card and my birthday presents, a pile of dvds of her favourite movies. Lois also opens "Magyar" Mary's birthday present, a set of pretty earrings.

The pile of DVDs I bought Lois as a birthday present.

The set of pretty earrings, which "Magyar" Mary has given her.

10:00 We go for a short walk on the local football field to help Lois again with her digestive problems. We come home and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

We go for a short walk on the local football pitch

11:45 We have lunch.

12:15 We talk a little on Skype with Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, also with Francis, her husband, and their 3 and a half-year old twins, Lily and Jessie. It's a lot of fun to talk to them about their lives in Australia. Lily is very sleepy, but Jessie, who was much slower than Lily when it came to learning to speak, has become a real chatterbox - my goodness!

Sarah and the very sleepy Lily (Francis in the background)

Sarah, Francis and Jessie

12:45 Lois wants to attend a church service taking place today at 1:45pm in Tewkesbury, but she is not allowed to drive a car at the moment due to cataracts. I drive her over to the church and turn into the nearby parking lot. While Lois is in the church, I take a short nap and read the last 20 pages of the Danish short story, "Accursed", which our U3A Danish group is currently reading. I take notes along the way, to try to find out who is the perpetrator, without success - damn !!!

15:00 The church service has ended, and Lois comes out of the church. We drive back home again. We are looking forward to having another conversation on Skype this evening with Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen. Busy busy busy !!!!!

Fredag den 26. maj 2017 kl 16:30 lørdag den 27. maj 2017 kl 16:29

16:30 Jeg går et smut i naboernes baghave og det lykkes mig at reparere deres lange haveslange – hurra! Så går jeg i gang med at vande deres planter i drivhuset og i grøntsagbedene, uden at skulle bruge en vandkanne – hurra (igen)! Det er over 100 fods mellem planterne og vandhanen, og her er meget varmt i dag, så er det en stor lettelse. Jeg har lyst til at sprøjte vand over mit eget ansigt, men jeg modstår fristelsen. Jeg kommer hjem igen.

17:30 Vi spiser aftensmad og smækker benene op foran fjernsyn. De viser 1983 årets jule- og nytars-afsnit af Toppen af Poppen, en gennemgang af årets største hitsange, der først blev sendt den 29. december 1983.

Som altid, er det meget rørende at kigge tilbage på længe svundne nytårseventer og nytårsfester, og at mindes, at folk for det meste ser frem til nytåret med optimisme. For dem, der deltager i celebrationerne er det nye år bare en blank side, mens vi i dag kender det kommende års hele historie.

For nogle folk var det deres skæbne at dø – yikes!!!! Jeg tænker på for eksempel Tommy Cooper og Eric Morecambe, de berømte komikere – Eric døde i byen Tewkesbury efter en præstation på det lokale teater – yikes (igen) !!!! Også John Betjeman, én af mine yndlingsdigtere, døde (ikke i Tewkesbury)  – kom tilbage, John, alt er tilgivet!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!

04:00 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.

08:00 Jeg lunter ud i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op i soveværelset og hopper op i sengen til Lois. Vi drikker téen og går i bad. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

09:30 Vi går hen ind i landsbyen. Vi kigger ind i det lokale postkontor for at afsende  to børnetidsskrifter til Josie og Rosalind, to af vores børnebørn i København. Tidsskrifterne indeholder en masse materialer til kunstværk, som de to piger for tiden er vilde med.

Bagefter smutter vi ind i Waghornes, den lokale slagterforretning for at købe kød og brød. Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

12:00 Vi kører over til Wyevale-havecentret for at købe en ny multi-spray pistol, en type af sprøjte, til vores haveslange.

Vi går ind i havecentrets café og spiser frokost. Lois bestiller lasagne og jeg vælger pølser, og yorkshire pudding med kartoffelmos – nam nam nam! 

I dag er starten af en to uges periode, hvor vi fejrer Lois’s 71. fødselsdag, og denne frokost er celebrationens første event. I morgen vil hun åbne min fødselsdagsgave og ”Magyar” Marys gave. Den 5. juni er hendes aktuelle fødselsdag, når vi vil være i København for at passe på vores børnebørn mens Alison og Ed er i Hong Kong – endnu flere gaver. Og Lois vil få en anden fødselsdagsmiddag i København, når Alison og Ed flyver tilbage hjem – endnu flere gaver, hun skal åbne – du godeste, hendes længste fødseldag nogensinde – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!

13:30 Vi kører hjem og går i seng.

16:00 Vi står op. Jeg vedhæfter vores nye sprøjte til haveslangen, så Lois kan bruge den senere. Så går jeg et smut i vores naboerne baghave for at vande deres planter. Stephen og Frances er for tiden på ferie i Berlin.

Lidt af en doven dag - men hvad så !!!!!

English translation

16:30 I pop into the neighbours' back yard and I'm able to fix their long garden hose - hurrah! Then I start watering their plants in the greenhouse and in the vegetable beds without having to use a watering can - hurrah (again)! It's over 100 feet between the plants and the faucet, and it is very hot here today, so it's a big relief. I want to spray water over my own face, but I resist the temptation. I come back home.

17:30 We eat dinner and stick our feet up in front of the television. 1983's Christmas and New Year Episode of the Top of the Pops is on, a review of the year's biggest hit songs, first aired on 29 December 1983.

As always, it is very touching to look back at long-past new year events and new year parties, and to remember that people mostly look forward to the New Year with optimism. For those taking part in the celebrations, the new year is just a blank page, while today we know the whole story of the coming year.

For some people it was their destiny to die - yikes !!!! I am thinking of, for example, Tommy Cooper and Eric Morecambe, the famous comedians - Eric died in the town of Tewkesbury after a performance at the local theatre - yikes (again) !!!! Also John Betjeman, one of my favourite poets died (not in Tewkesbury) - come back, John, all is forgiven !!!!

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

04:00 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

08:00 I amble out into the kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom and jump into bed with Lois. We drink the tea and go in the shower. We get up and have breakfast.

09:30 We go into the village. We sneak into the local post office to send two children's magazines to Josie and Rosalind, two of our grandchildren in Copenhagen. The magazines contain a lot of materials for art and crafts, which the two girls are currently crazy about.

Afterwards, we pop into Waghorne’s, the local butcher's shop to buy meat and bread. We come home and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

12:00 We drive over to the Wyevale garden centre to buy a new multi-spray attachment, a type of spray, for our garden hose.

We go in the garden centre's cafe and have lunch. Lois orders lasagne and I choose sausages and Yorkshire pudding with mashed potatoes - yum yum yum! 

Today is the start of a two week period where we celebrate Lois's 71st birthday, and this lunch is the first event. Tomorrow she will open my birthday present and "Magyar" Mary's present. June 5th is her actual birthday when we will be in Copenhagen looking after our grandchildren while Alison and Ed are in Hong Kong - yet more presents then. And Lois will have another birthday meal in Copenhagen when Alison and Ed fly back home - even more presents that she has to open - good grief, her longest birthday ever - I have no doubts about that !!!!

13:30 We drive home and go to bed.

16:00 We get up. I attach our new spray nozzle to the garden hose, so Lois can use it later. Then I go into our neighbour's back yard to water their plants. Stephen and Frances are currently on vacation in Berlin.

Bit of a dozy day - but so what!!!!!!

Torsdag den 25. maj 2017 kl 16:30 fredag den 26. maj 2017 kl 16:29

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og bagefter tager vi et smut i naboernes baghave for at vande deres planter i drivhuset og i grøntsagbedene. Vi kommer hjem og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet.

19:30 De viser et gammelt afsnit af Toppen af Poppen fra den 22. december 1983.

Lois og jeg så ikke dette afsnit, da BBC-kanalen først sendte det, fordi vi mellem 1982 og 1985 boede i USA. Men vi gik ikke glip af noget meget værdifuldt – det ved jeg med sikkerhed. Musikken er for det meste noget skrammel, med en masse ”fred og kærlighed” sange med ynkelige melodier, herunder Paul Macartneys elendige ”Pipes of Peace” med dens dyre, selvoptagede  ”1. verdenskrig” videosekvenser – ræk  mig lige opkastningsposen, Alice!!!

Flying Pickets, en underlig a capella vokalgruppe, lå dengang stadig på nummer 1 på hitlisten med deres underlige a capella sang, ”Only You”. Denne sang blev derefter klassificeret som en ”julesang”, og de gentager videoen hver jul, selvom teksten ikke har noget at gøre med jul.

Gruppens medlemmer var tilsyneladende kendt for deres venstreorienterede meninger, så må det have været lidt irriterende for dem, da Maggie Thatcher sagde, denne sang var hendes yndlingssang. Kom så Maggie! Kom tilbage, alt er tilgivet ha ha ha.

I juletiden lå Flying Pickets stadig på nummer 1 på hitlisten,

med Maggie Thatchers yndlingssang – hurra!

Lois fortæller mig, at Philip Larkin, min yndlingsdigter, faktisk var Maggies største fan, og de mødtes flere gange. Hun kunne godt lide en linje i ét af Larkins digte (The Less Deceived), der taler om ”en pige med et sind fuldt af knive” – Maggie identificerede sig med den pige, lader det til. Larkin troede, at han havde overtalt hende ikke til at kritisere for meget berlinmuren, fordi muren havde til fordel, at Tyskland kunne ikke blivet forenet. Du godeste – sikke et vanvid!!!!

For Lois’s og mit vedkommende var det vores 2. juletid i USA, hvor vi boede i Columbia Md med vores to døtre, Alison (8) og Sarah (6), og min afdøde søster Kathy (på 35 år).

Tilbageblik til jul 1983

Vores datter, Sarah (6), og årets juletræ

Sarah (til venstre) og Ali med nogle af deres

yndlingsjulegaver.

Sarah og Kathy i sofaen

Lykkelige dage!!!!!

20:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, 2. del af 3, der handler om sammenhængen mellem dinosaurer og fugle. Programmets vært er den charmerende Richard Fortey.

I begyndelsen af programmet er vi meget glad for, at se vores yndlingsornitolog, Lisa Morgan, der tager Richard med til den smukke Grassholm-ø i den Irske hav (rejsen tager 1 time med båd), for at se øens fantastiske befolkning af gannetter (66.000 !!!!).  Lisa har fantastisk rødt hår, som vi begge er helt vilde med. Du godeste - hvor er vi dog overfladiske!

Richard med Lisa Morgan, vores yndlingsornitolog,

der har fantastisk rødt hår.

Det var Thomas Huxley, kollega af Charles Darwin, der først forslog (i 1860’erne), at fugle blev udviklet  fra dinosaurer, men desværre var teorien omfattende nedsablet af Huxleys stor fjende, Richard Owen, af Londons naturhistoriske museum, og teorien blev ikke accepteret indtil mange årtier efter.  Owen var sådan en sjuft!!!!

Personligt har jeg aldrig holdt meget af fugle – jeg har ikke nogen fobi overfor dem, som Sheldon i Big Bang Theory har, men jeg formoder, min kølighed stammer fra, at  de ikke er så hyggelige som, for eksempel, en kat eller en en panda.

Men det er hjertevarmende at vide, at fuglene er det eneste resterende tegn på, at dinosaurerne i millioner år regerede jorden, før de for 65 millioner år siden alle uddøde. Hyl jer, små fugle – I holdt os ud af krig!!!!!   Det ville have været en stor skam, hvis der ikke var noget tilbage fra den superlange periode – du godeste!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzz!!!!

04:00 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtester.

07:45 Jeg dasker ud i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg tager dem med op i soveværelse og kryber tilbage under dynen til Lois. Vi drikker téen og står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.

09:00 Vi kører over til det lokale Waitrose-supermarked for at købe ind. Jeg smutter også ind i Thomas Cook-rejsebureauet , der har til huse i supermarkedet, og hente kontanter i danske kroner. Vi kører hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe på terrassen.

11:00 Jeg sender en email til vores U3A danske gruppes medlemmer, der bekræfter, at gruppens næste møde finder sted den 29. juni på grund af ferier osv. Jeg vedhæfter en ordforrådliste, der dækker vores kriminovelles første 81 sider ("Forbandet" af Gittemie Eriksen): de seneste 10 sider indeholder også den seneste mord/selvmord – den kvinde, der druknede i sit egen badekar med sine hvide ubarberede dameben tittende frem over badekarets kanter – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Den kriminovelle, vores U3A danske gruppe er i gang

med at læse

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:15 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

Jeg kigger lidt på nettet og jeg ser, at Alison, vores datte i København, og Ed, hendes mand, har lagt nogle charmerende billeder op på Facebook, billeder de tog i går på ferie på Bornholm, den danske ø i Østsøen.

Alison, vores datter i Danmark, 

sammen med sin familie på Bornholm

Den familiehytte, de bor i

Isaac (6), Rosalind (8) og Josie (10)

Isaac på stranden

English translation

18:00 Lois and I have dinner and afterwards we pop into the neighbours' back garden to water their plants in the greenhouse and in the vegetable beds. We come home and stick our feet up in front of the television.

19:30 An old episode of Top of the Pops is on, from 22 December 1983.

Lois and I did not see this episode when the BBC first aired it, because we lived in the United States between 1982 and 1985. But we did not miss anything very valuable - I know that for sure. The music is mostly a bunch of crap, with a lot of "peace and love" songs with pitiful melodies, including Paul Macartney's miserable "Pipes of Peace" with its expensively self-obsessed "1st World War"

video sequences - pass the sickbag, Alice !!!

The Flying Pickets, a weird a capella vocal group, was still number 1 on the charts with their strange a capella song, "Only You". This song was thereafter classified as a Christmas song, and they repeat the video every Christmas, although the lyrics have nothing to do with Christmas.

The members of the group apparently were known for their left-wing opinions, so it must have been a little annoying for them when Maggie Thatcher said this was her favourite song. Go girl, Maggie! Come back, everything is forgiven ha ha ha.

At Christmas time the Flying Pickets were still at number 1 in the charts,

with Maggie Thatcher's favourite song - hurrah!

Lois tells me that Philip Larkin, my favourite poet, was actually Maggie's biggest fan and they met several times. She liked a line in one of Larkin's poems (The Less Deceived), talking about "a girl with a mind full of knives" - Maggie identified with that girl, it seems. Larkin believed that he had persuaded her not to criticise the Berlin Wall too much because the wall had the advantage that Germany could not be reunited. My god - what madness !!!!

For Lois and me, it was our second Christmas in the US, where we lived in Columbia Md with our two daughters, Alison (8) and Sarah (6), and my late sister Kathy (35 years old).

Flashback to Christmas 1983

Our daughter, Sarah (6), and the year's Christmas tree

Sarah (left) and Ali with some of their

favourite Christmas presents.

Sarah and Kathy on the couch

Happy days !!!!!

20:00 We continue to watch a bit of television. An interesting documentary is on, 2nd part of 3, all about the connection between dinosaurs and birds. The host of the program is the charming Richard Fortey.

At the beginning of the programme, we are very pleased to see our favourite ornithologist, Lisa Morgan, who takes Richard to the beautiful Grassholm island in the Irish Sea (the journey takes 1 hour by boat) to see the island's amazing population of gannets ( 66,000 !!!!). Lisa has amazing red hair, which we both really love. Good grief - how shallow we are!

Richard with Lisa Morgan, our favourite ornithologist,

who has amazing red hair.

It was Thomas Huxley, a colleague of Charles Darwin, who first suggested (in the 1860s) that birds developed from dinosaurs, but unfortunately the theory was comprehensively rubbished by Huxley's sworn enemy Richard Owen, of London's Natural History Museum, and the theory was not accepted until many decades after. Owen was such a sicko !!!!

Personally, I've never been very fond of birds - I do not have any phobia towards them as Sheldon has in the Big Bang Theory, but I suppose my coolness stems from the fact that they are not as nice and cuddly as, for example, a cat or a panda.

But it is heartwarming to know that birds are the only remaining sign that for millions of years dinosaurs ruled the earth, before they all died out 65 million years ago. Hail to you, little birds - you kept us out of war !!!!!

It would have been a big shame if there were nothing left from that super long period - good grief !!!!

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

04:00 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

07:45 I shuffle out to the kitchen and make two cups of tea. I take them up to the bedroom and crawl back under the covers with Lois. We drink the tea and get up. We have breakfast.

09:00 We drive over to the local Waitrose supermarket to do the shopping. I also pop into the Thomas Cook travel agency, which is housed in the supermarket and pick up cash in Danish kroner. We drive home and relax with a cup of coffee on the terrace.

11:00 I send an email to our U3A Danish group members confirming that the next meeting of the group will take place on June 29th due to vacations, etc. I attach a vocabulary list covering our crime story's first 81-pages ("Accursed" by Gittemie Eriksen): The last 10 pages also contain the latest murder / suicide - the woman who drowned in her own bathtub with her white unshaved "ladylegs" peeping out over the edge of the bath - my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

"Accursed": the whodunnit short story that our U3A Danish

group are reading at the moment

12:30 We eat lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:15 I get up and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.I take a little look online and I see that Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, and Ed, her husband, have posted some charming pictures on Facebook, pictures they took yesterday on holiday in Bornholm, the Danish island in the Baltic Sea.

Alison, our daughter in Denmark, with her family

on holiday on Bornholm

the holiday cabin the family are staying in

Isaac (6), Rosalind (8) and Josie (10)

Isaac on the beach