18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad og bagefter går ud i baghaven for at
vande blomsterbedene, grøntsagshaven og drivhuset. Jeg gyser at tænke hvor
meget vores vandregning vil være i år – yikes! Det er de skjulte omkostninger
af at dyrke sine egne grøntsager og at have kønne blomster at kigge på, under
et år, hvor det regner ikke så ofte, som normalt – du godeste, bare vores
held!!!!
Vi er klar over, at vi spilder en masse vand rutinemæssigt i køkkenvasken,
og vi er begyndt at samle det i en lille spand, så længe vandet ikke har
kemikalier derinde selvfølgelig.
19:30 Vi ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser et gamle afsnit af Toppen af Poppen
fra januar 1984. Et elendigt afsnit – uha!
Lois og jeg så ikke dette afsnit, da BBC-kanalen først sendte det, fordi vi
boede i USA mellem 1982 og 1985, men vi kan ikke undgå at bemærke, hvor meget
stemningen i studien og stilen af programmet havde ændret sig siden 1982-3, da
baggrunden til musikken var en kaotisk fest med professionelle dansere,
akrobater og cirkusartister – lidt distraherende, men meget sjovt.
I 1984 var stemningen blevet lidt mindre kaotisk og lidt mere ædruelig, med
fokus sat på musikken og sangerne. Sikke en skam, at sangene, de satte fokus
på, var så elendige! I løbet af hele programmet hører vi kun 2 sange, som vi
genkender, begge af eks-Beatles, Paul McCartneys elendige ”Pipes of Peace” og
John Lennons ”Nobody Told Me (there’d be days like these)”, som vi begge kan
lide.
Jeg har et pragtfuldt foto, der må datere til denne periode (januar 1984).
Min søster Kathy og vores to små døtre, Alison (på 8,5 år) og Sarah (6,5 år)
står udenfor vores hus i Columbia Md: pigerne har to små kufferter i hænderne.
De er på vej til Kathys lejllighed for at bo der i et par dage. Hvor stolte og
voksne de må have følt sig – ingen tvivl om det!!!!
tilbageblik til januar 1984 i Columbia Md – vores 2 døtre,
Alison
(8,5) og Sarah (6,5) sammen med min søster Kathy
Lykkelige dage!!!!!
20:30 Lois tænder for radioen og hører et program om robotter i
arbejdspladsen, og bagefter ser en tv-dokumentumfilm om spørgsmålet om
indvandring, men jeg føler mig lidt rastløs i aften og er ikke i humør til at
tænke på seriøse emner, af en eller anden grund – du godeste, jeg er blevet så
overfladisk! Så derfor bruger jeg tiden på at gøre forskellige ting på min
gøremålsliste. Bagefter døser jeg lidt på sengen og lytter til min nye John
Betjeman digte med jazzmusik cd.
Vi har stadig ikke hørt noget fra Alison, vores datter i København, om hvor
hendes familie skal flytte til ved slutningen af året, når Ed, hendes mand,
bliver afskediget af sit firma. Ed har ansøgt om et job i Hong Kong – hvis det
lykkes ham at få jobbet, må Lois og jeg begynde at planlægge et besøg i 2018,
der vil indeholde både Hong Kong og Perth Australien, hvor vores anden datter
Sarah, bor med sin familie. For tiden er alle vores planer i venteposition. Og
Sarah synes, at Alison og Ed i overskuelig fremtid ikke flytte tilbage til
England, og at Lois og jeg skulle flytte til Australien – du godeste,
beslutninger, beslutninger!!!!
Ingen fortalte mig, der ville være dage som disse (copyright J Lennon).
22:00 Vi går i seng. Sikke en utrolig temperaturændring, i forhold til
gårsdagens, da Lois ikke kunne sove på grund af den varme og lumre luft. I
aften har vi tændt varmetæppet (selvom kun ved det laveste varmeniveau – men
yikes!!!!). Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!
05:00 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.
07:30 Jeg hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté.
Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.
09:00 Vi kører over til den lokale Tesco-supermarked i Bishops Cleeve for
at købe ind. Vi køber også et terrassesæt (et bord og 2 havestole), fordi det
gamle er blevet lidt rusten. Bagefter kører vi over til Stoke
Orchard-genbrugscentret for at smide Lois’s gamle hårtørrer og min gamle
hækkeklipper ud. På vej smutter vi ind i Lowrys-caféen. Vi drikker en kop te og
spiser et stykke kage.
Vi
drikker en kop kaffe og spiser et stykke kage
på
Lowrys-caféen i Bishops Cleeve
11:30 Vi kommer hjem igen og spiser frokost. Bagefter går vi i seng i tre
timer – du godeste, hvor er vi dog blevet dovne! Vi er begge to udmattede efter
en travlt formiddag og dette er en god chance for at slappe af. Jeg læser også 6
sider af min sengetidbog om James, hertugen af Monmouth.
16:00 Vi står op og drikker en kop te i sofaen. Sarah har ikke ringet til
os, men vi formoder, hun har haft meget travlt. Hun gik på arbejde, og da hun
kom hjem i aftes, skulle hun hjælpe Francis, sin mand, med at forberede sig på
at flyve til England. Hun vil have skullet kører ham til lufthavnen, sætte ham
af, og så være kommet hjem og putter tvillingerne i seng.
English translation
18:00 Lois and I have dinner and
afterwards go out in the back garden to water the flower beds, vegetable garden
and the greenhouse. I'm wondering how much our water bill will be this year -
yikes! It's the hidden cost of growing your own vegetables and having pretty
flowers to look at, in a year when it's not raining as often as usual - good
grief, just our luck !!!!
We are aware that we waste a lot
of water routinely in the kitchen sink and we have started collecting it in a
small bucket as long as the water does not have chemicals in it of course.
19:30 We watch a bit of
television. An old edition of Top of the Pops from January 1984 is on. And it’s
an awful one - oh dear!
Lois and I did not see this edition
when the BBC channel first aired it because we lived in the United States
between 1982 and 1985, but we cannot fail to notice how much the mood in the
studio and style of the program had changed since 1982-3 , when the background
to the music was a chaotic party with professional dancers, acrobats and circus
artists - a little distracting, but a lot of fun.
In 1984 the mood was slightly
less chaotic and a little more sober, with focus on the music and the songs.
What a shame that the songs they were focusing on were so awful! Throughout
the program, we hear only 2 songs that we recognise, both by ex-Beatles, Paul
McCartney's awful "Pipes of Peace" and John Lennon's "Nobody
Told Me (there’d be days like these)”,
which we both like.
I have a gorgeous photo that must
date to this period (January 1984). My sister Kathy and our two little
daughters, Alison (at age 8 and a half) and Sarah (6 and a half) are standing
outside our house in Columbia Md: the girls have two small suitcases in their
hands. They are on their way to Kathy's flat to stay there for a few days. How
proud and grown up they must have felt - no doubt about that !!!!
Flashback to January 1984 in
Columbia Md - our 2 daughters,
Alison (8 and a half) and Sarah (6 and a
half) along with my sister Kathy
Happy days!!!!
20:30 Lois turns on the radio and
hears a programme about robots in the workplace, and afterwards watches a TV
documentary about immigration, but I feel a little restless tonight and am not
in the mood to think of serious issues for some reason - good grief, I've
become so shallow! So I spend the time doing various things on my to-do list.
Afterwards I doze on the bed listening to my new John Betjeman poems-with-jazz-music cd.
We have still not heard anything
from Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, about where her family will move to at
the end of the year when Ed, her husband, is let go by his company. Ed has
applied for a job in Hong Kong - if he succeeds in getting the job, Lois and I
must start planning a visit in 2018 that will take in both Hong Kong and Perth
Australia where our second daughter Sarah lives with her family. Currently, all
our plans are on hold. And Sarah thinks that Alison and Ed will not be moving
back to England in the foreseeable future, and that Lois and I should move to
Australia - good grief, decisions, decisions !!!!
Nobody told me there’d be days
like these (copyright J Lennon).
22:00 We go to bed. What an
incredible change in temperature, compared to yesterday, when Lois could not
sleep because of the warm stuffy air. Tonight we have switched on the electric
blanket (although only at the lowest heat level – but yikes !!!!).
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz !!!!!!!!
05:00 I get up early and do one
of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.
07:30 I hop back into bed with
Lois and we drink our morning tea. We
get up and have breakfast.
09:00 We drive to the local Tesco
supermarket in Bishops Cleeve to do the shopping. We also buy a patio set (a
table and 2 garden chairs) because the old one has become a little rusty.
Afterwards, we drive over to the Stoke Orchard Recycling Centre to throw out
Lois's old hair dryer and my old hedge trimmer. On the way we pop into Lowry's
café. We have a cup of tea and a piece of cake.
we have a cup of tea and a piece of
cake at Lowry’s café
11:30 We come back home and have
lunch. Afterwards we go to bed for three hours - good grief, how lazy we've
become! We are both exhausted after a busy morning and it is a good chance to
relax. I also read 6 pages of my bedtime book about James, Duke of Monmouth.
16:00 We get up and have a cup of
tea on the couch. Sarah has not called us, but we suppose she has been very
busy. She went to work and when she came home tonight, she would have had to help Francis,
her husband, get ready to fly to England. She would have had to drive him to the
airport, drop him off and then come home and put the twins to bed.
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