Torsdag den 27. juli 2017 kl 08:00 indtil tirsdag den 1. august 2017 kl 16:29

Torsdag den 27. juli 2017

Vi kører sydpå til badebyen Barton-on-Sea, for at deltage i Julias bryllup den følgende dag. Vi ankommer i løbet af eftermiddagen og gå en kort tur langs kysten. Vi finder det så forfriskende at se på havet og indånde havluften.

vi går en tur langs kysten

Kl 16 tjekker vi ind hos vores gæstehus og spiser aftensmad på en restaurant på toppen af klinterne, hvor vi kan kigge ud over Solent , en strækning af hav, der adskiller Isle of Wight fra fastlandet England.

vi spiser aftensmad på en restaurant

på toppen af klinterne, hvor vi kan kigge ud over Solent og se

Isle of Wight og The Needles - de 3 berømte kalkstensklipper,

der ligger umiddelbart vest for øen.

Solent er et meget gammelt navn, der daterer fra perioden før de angelsaksiske først ankom til England, og det kan være, at navnet er et fjernt ekko af de fønikiske købmænd, der i den antikke verden kom  herover for at handle i tin.

Isle of Wight er et sted jeg har kendt siden min barndom. Min farfar slog sig ned på øen, da han i ca. 1950 gik på pension, og han boede på hovedvejen, der fører fra Newport til havnebyen Cowes, så derfor besøgte mine forældre, mine søskende og jeg øen mange gange inden min farfars død i 1968. Lois og jeg besøgte øen sammen med en stor gruppe unge mennesker i 1969, året, før vi blev kærester – det var der, jeg først faldt for hende. Lykkelige dage!!!!

Tilbageblik til 1969: mig og mine venner, Paul og Jennifer,

står og venter på at kunne køre ombord færgen ved slutningen

af en ferie på Isle of Wight sammen med en stor gruppe unge mennesker.

En ferie, hvor jeg først faldt for Lois, min kommende kone.

Fredag den 28. juli 2017

Vi deltager i Julias bryllup i The Three Tuns, en lille pub i landsbyen Bransgore. Julia er Brians ældste datter – Brian er Lois’s fætter.

Det her er Julias bryllup nummer to. Hendes første ægteskab varede ca. 20 år, og hun og Tony, hendes 1. ægtemand, havde 2 teenage børn. Ægteskabet blev afsluttet for 1-2 år siden på en meget ubehaglig måde, da Tony blev dømt for at forulempe parrets datter, og straffet med 1 års fængsel. Det hele splittede deres omgangskreds, fordi nogle venner afviste at tro, at Tony var skyldig. Julia mistede en masse selvtillid, så derfor er det rart at se hende få en anden chance for et lykkeligt forhold med Roy.

Jeg havde ikke glædet mig meget til at deltage i brylluppet på grund af Julia og Roys skræmmende invitationskort, hvor der stod, at udendørs lege ville finde sted, blandt andre mareridt. Heldigvis vejret redder mig – det regner og blæser kraftigt hele dagen. Vejrpigens udsigt var væsentlig korrekt.

Det skræmmende invitationskort, hvor der stod,

at udendørs lege ville finde sted – uha!

...men det dårlige vejr redder mig, gudskelov

Et andet skræmmende aspekt af invitationskortet var dresscoden – gæster blev bedt om at komme i noget farveligt, hvilket er noget totalt fremmed for mig. Generelt er bryllupper meget nemme for mit vedkommende, fordi jeg altid tager mit lysgrå jakkesæt på, plus hvid skjorte og slips – simpelt!

Så med et tungt hjerte efterlod jeg mit jakkesæt hjemme, da vi rejste sydpå.

Fredag morgen tager jeg min lysgrå bukser og en knaldblå t-shirt på for at deltage i brylluppet. Jeg er imidlertid meget skuffet over, at se, at de fleste af de andre mandlige gæster, herunder brudgommen, slet ikke har taget hensyn til dresscoden, og er kommet i de sædvanlige mørkfarvede jakkesæt – pokkers! Fremover vil jeg bare tage på, hvad som helst jeg føler mig tryg i – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!!

Regnen betyder, at der ikke er nogle udendørs lege, hvilket er godt, men det betyder også, at tidsplanen bliver forsinket, fordi det hele må finde sted indendørs, og bordene og møblerne i den store lade bag pubben skal rykkes mange gange, afhængigt af, hvad der finder sted: ceremoni, frokost, aftensmad, diskotek . Efter 7 timer har jeg fået nok af snik-snak, så derfor beder jeg Lois om vi kan af sted, selvom jeg ved, hun gerne vil deltage i diskoteket. Heldigvis er hun træt også, så vi siger tak og farvel til Julia og til Brian og Ruth, hendes forældre. 

Lois står i laden før bryllupsfrokosten starter

Julia og Roy skærer kagen: Roy har ignoreret sin egen dresscode

ved ikke at vælge farvelig påklædning – du godeste!

ægteparrets slægtninge venter på at blive fotograferet

Moderne bryllupper tager alt for lang tid efter min mening – 9 timer. Du godeste! Sikke et vanvid!!!! Det var bedre i de gode gamle dage – det ved jeg med sikkerhed – max. 4 timer og slut: det er den bedste måde, at klare det på.

Lørdag den 29. juli 2017

Vi bliver liggende i sengen i gæstehuset. Jeg læser 9 sider af min sengetidbog om James, hertugen af Monmouth.

Kl 10 kører vi over til Highcliffe, en nærliggende forstad til Bournemouth for at tilbringe dagen med Eds forældre, Stephen og Felicity. Ed er vores svigersøn i København. Lois og jeg bliver klar over, at vi ikke har set Stephen og Felicity i mere, end 6 år.

De er et meget sødt par. Stephen har en god sans for humor, og Felicity er meget venlig og elsker at snakke. De flyttede ind til deres nuværende hus kun et par måneder siden, og der er stadig papkasser og flyttekasser her og der i huset.

Vi drikker en kop kaffe i stuen og lidt senere spiser vi frokost i køkken-spisestuen. Derefter går vi alle 4 en kort tur i nabolaget. De ønsker at vise os det omkringliggende område, i sær klinterne og strandpromenaden. Desværre er vejret så dårligt i dag som igår, da brylluppet fandt sted. Det regner og blæser kraftigt. Jeg burde have brugt min paraply men jeg besluttede desværre ikke at slå den op, og jeg blev drivvåd – pokkers!

Lois og mig på klinterne i Highcliffe

Mig med Eds forældre, Stephen og Felicity

Kl 16 kommer vi tilbage til vores gæstehus. Vi er ikke ret sultne efter Felicitys frokost, så vi smutter ind i et lokalt supermarked og købe et par ting til en let aftensmad. Vi parkerer bilen på toppen af klinterne og spiser maden i bilen, mens det regner kraftigt udenfor – ruderne dugger og alting. Så hyggeligt!!!

Søndag den 30. juli 2017

Jeg har ikke glædet mig til søndag. Planen har været at deltage i en gudstjeneste i Bournemouth, og bagefter spise frokost hos Brian, Lois’s fætter, og bruger eftermiddagen på at snakke med Brian og Ruth (og muligvis andre slægtninge) i stuen. Ærligt talt har jeg haft nok af snik-snak over de sidste 2 dage, men jeg har besluttet at udholde det hele for Lois’s skyld.

Heldigvis, da jeg vågner, finder jeg ud af, at Lois føler det samme, så vi sender Brian og Ruth en undskyldning  sms-besked. Sikke en lettelse – hurra! Vi bruger dagen på at gå ture langs kysten (sammenlag ca 4 miles). Solen skinner endelig, gudskelov, efter gårsdagens og nattens skybrud. Og vi trænger til at bevæge os lidt.

dele af den lokale parkeringsplads

er under vand efter nattens hyppige skybrud – uha!

Det er rart at efterlade snik-snakken bag os og

gå nogle tur langs kysten i den strålende solskin – hurra!

Mandag den 31. juli 2017

10:00 Vi kører hjem og efter frokost går vi i seng for at tage os en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bagefter ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser tv-quizzen University Challenge, et af de få tv-programmer, der ikke er egnede til meget dumme mennesker ha ha ha.

I aften dyster et hold bestående af 4 studerende fra Southampton University dyster mod et lignende hold fra Cardiff University.

Det bliver snart klar, at Southampton vil vinde konkurrencen med glans.

På dette tidlige tidspunkt er det Southampton 200, Cardiff -5 – uha!

Det er meget vigtigt for Lois og mig at ”dyste” selv mod begge hold, ved at svare så mange spørgsmål rigtigt som muligt, fordi det giver os lidt selvtillid, at vi endnu ikke lider af demens – uha! Ved slutningen af aftenens quiz er vi ganske tilfredse med vores ”præstation” mod disse 2 unge hold, og der er 5-6 spørgsmål, vi svarer rigtigt på, som begge hold ikke kan.

Ikke for første gang er jeg glad for, at jeg er sådan en ekspert, når det kommer til kendsgerninger om Doris Day, min første filmidol som ung dreng. Jeg ved, at sangen, hun sang i Hitchcocks film, ”Manden, der vidste for meget”, og som vandt en oscar for årest bedste filmsang, var ”Que Sera Sera”. Jeg ved også, at hendes co-stjerne i ”Pillow Talk” var Rock Hudson. Hurra – jeg kan gå i seng tilfreds med min præstation. Min dyre uddannelse var det værd – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om.

Heldigvis ved jeg mere om Doris Day, end begge hold – hurra!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!!

Tirsdag den 1. august 2017

Pokkers! Vi bliver klar over, da vi vågner, at vi begge er forkølede. Det må have været gæstehus-ejeren, der smittede os. Men vi skal køre bilen over til det lokale servicecenter. Det er tid til bilens femte årlige service, og MOT test – pokkers! Bagefter går vi hen til fods til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe frugt, grøntsag og kød. Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe. Vi føler os meget trætte og syge – uha!

Dette giver klare beviser, at det betaler sig at være enspænder så meget som muligt. Vi er ikke blevet forkølede, siden vi kom tilbage fra Australien ved slutningen af juni sidste år. Men så snart vi deltager i et bryllup og omgås en masse mennesker, vores perfekte sundshedsprofil er blevet ødelagt – pokkers (igen)!!!!

14:00 Efter frokost går vi i seng igen – uha! Men så snart vi hopper op under dynen, ringer servicecenteret, for at fortælle os, at bilen er færdig. Jeg går hen rundt om hjørnet for at hente den, og nu er jeg fattigere med 215£, hvilket er lidt skuffende. Jeg hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois for endnu en tur under dynen.

15:30 Vi vælter ud af sengen. Jeg kigger lidt på nettet og www.theonion.com, den indflydelsesrige amerikanske nyhedswebsted. Jeg ser en betryggende og hjertevarmende nyhed, der handler om nyttige anvisninger om, hvordan man præcis får adgang til Netflix. Sharon, en amerikanske husmor har skrevet detaljerede anvisninger på et stykke papir og lagt papiret i en køkkenskuffe.

Lois og jeg kigger sjældent på Netflix, når vi er herhjemme, men når vi er hos vores døtre, den ene i København og den anden i Perth, Australien, og vi babysitter vores børnebørn, ville vi nogle gange gerne se noget på Netflix, fordi vi ikke har lyst til at se typiske lokale danske eller australske tv-programmer. Det er generelt på dette tidspunkt, at vi bliver klar over, at vi ikke kan huske, hvordan man får adgang til Netflix. Jeg har taget et skærmbillede af Sharons anvisninger, som vi kan tage med, når vi næste gang besøger vores døtre og deres familier.

Vores datter i København, Alison, har også en 4-cifrede Netflix adgangskode, som man har brug for. Jeg har også sendt en mail til Sharon (sharonphovey@gmail.com) for at spørge hende, om hun vid, hvad denne adgangskode er. Så kan jeg tilføje nummeret til vores eksemplar af anvisningerne.

English translation

Thursday, July 27, 2017

We drive south to the seaside town of Barton-on-Sea, to attend Julia's wedding next day. We arrive during the afternoon and go for a short walk along the coast. We find it so refreshing to look at the sea and inhale the sea air.

We go for a walk along the coast

At 4pm we check in at our guesthouse and have dinner at a restaurant at the top of the cliffs where we can look out over the Solent, a stretch of water separating the Isle of Wight from mainland England.

We eat dinner at a restaurant

on top of the cliffs where we can look out over the Solent and see the

Isle of Wight and the Needles - the 3 famous limestone cliffs,

located immediately west of the island.

Solent is a very old name dating from the period before the Anglo-Saxons first arrived in England, and it may be that the name is a distant echo of the Phoenician merchants in the ancient world who came across over here to trade in tin.

The Isle of Wight is a place I have known since my childhood. My grandfather settled down on the island when he retired in about 1950 and he lived on the highway that leads from Newport to the port town of Cowes, so my parents, my siblings and I visited the island many times before my grandfather's death in 1968. Lois and I visited the island with a large group of youngsters in 1969, the year before we became lovers - that's where I first fell for her. Happy days !!!!

Back to 1969: me and my friends, Paul (left) and Jennifer (right),

standing waiting to board the ferry at the end

of a vacation on the Isle of Wight with a large group of young people.

A holiday where I first fell for Lois, my future wife.

Friday, July 28, 2017

We attend Julia's wedding in The Three Tuns, a small pub in the village of Bransgore. Julia is Brian's oldest daughter - Brian is Lois's cousin.

This is Julia's wedding number two. Her first marriage lasted about 20 years and she and Tony, her first husband, had 2 teenage children. The marriage ended 1-2 years ago in a very unpleasant way when Tony was convicted for molesting the couple's daughter and punished with a year in prison. The whole thing split their social circle because some friends refused to believe that Tony was guilty. Julia lost a lot of self-confidence, so it's nice to see her get another chance for a happy relationship with Roy.

I had not been looking forward to attending the wedding because of Julia and Roy's scary invitation card, which said that outdoor games would be taking place, amongst other nightmares. Fortunately, the weather saves me - it rains heavily and is very windy all day. The weather-girl's forecast was substantially correct.

The scary invitation card where it said

that outdoor games would  be taking place - oh dear!

... but the bad weather saves me, thank goodness

Another scary aspect of the invitation card was the dress code - guests were asked to come in something colourful, which is something totally alien to me. In general, weddings are very easy for me because I always put my light grey suit on, plus white shirt and tie - simples!

So with a heavy heart, I left my suit at home when we travelled south.

Friday morning I put on my light grey trousers and bright blue t-shirt to attend the wedding. However, I'm very disappointed to see that most of the other male guests, including the groom, have not taken the dress code into account at all, and have come in the usual dark-coloured suits - damn! In the future I will just wear what I feel comfortable in - I know that now for sure !!!!

The rain means that there are no outdoor games, which is good, but it also means that the day's programme is delayed because everything has to be done indoors, and the tables and furniture in the big barn behind the pub have to be moved about several times depending on what's going on: ceremony, lunch, dinner, disco. After 7 hours I've had enough chatter, so I ask Lois if we can leave, even though I know she wants to take part in the disco. Fortunately, she is tired too, so we say thank you and goodbye to Julia and to Brian and Ruth, her parents.

Lois stands in the barn before the wedding starts

Julia and Roy cut the cake: Roy has ignored his own dress code

by not choosing colourful clothing - good grief!

The couple's relatives wait to be photographed

Modern weddings take too long time in my opinion - 9 hours. Good grief! What madness !!!! It was better in the good old days - I know that for sure - max. 4 hours and then finish: it's the best way to do it.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

We stay lying in bed in the guesthouse. I read 9 pages of my bedtime book about James, Duke of Monmouth.

At 10am we head over to Highcliffe, a nearby suburb of Bournemouth to spend the day with Ed's parents, Stephen and Felicity. Ed is our son-in-law in Copenhagen. Lois and I realise that we have not seen Stephen and Felicity for more than 6 years.

They are a very sweet couple. Stephen has a good sense of humour, and Felicity is very friendly and loves to talk. They moved into their current house only a couple of months ago, and there are still cardboard boxes and moving boxes here and there in the house.

We have a cup of coffee in the living room and a little later we have lunch in the kitchen-dining room. Then all four of us go for a short walk in the neighbourhood. They want to show us the surrounding area, especially the cliffs and boardwalk. Unfortunately, the weather is as bad today as yesterday when the wedding took place. It rains heavily and is very windy. I should have used my umbrella but unfortunately I decided not to put it up and I got drenched - damn it!

Lois and me on the cliffs at Highcliffe

Me with Ed's parents, Stephen and Felicity

At 4pm we return to our guesthouse. We are not that hungry after Felicity's lunch, so we pop into a local supermarket and buy a few things for a light dinner. We park the car on top of the cliffs and have the food in the car while it rains heavily outside - the windows get steamed up and everything. So cosy!!!

Sunday, July 30, 2017

I have not been looking forward to Sunday. The plan has been to attend a church service in Bournemouth, and afterwards have lunch at Brian, Lois's cousin's house, and spend the afternoon talking to Brian and Ruth (and possibly other relatives) in their living room. To be honest, I've had enough chatter over the last 2 days, but I've decided to put up with it all for Lois's sake.

Fortunately, when I wake up, I find Lois is feeling the same, so we send Brian and Ruth our excuses by text message. What a relief - hurrah! We spend the day walking along the coast (totalling about 4 miles). The sun is finally shining, thank god, after the cloudbursts of yesterday and last night. And we badly need to get a little exercise.

parts of the local car park

are under water after the night's frequent cloudbursts - oh dear!

It's nice to leave the chatter behind us and

take a walk along the coast in the glorious sunshine - hurrah!

Monday 31 July 2017

10:00 We drive home and after lunch we go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

18:00 We have dinner and afterwards watch some television. The TV Quiz University Challenge is on, one of the few television programmes that are not suitable for very stupid people ha ha ha.

Tonight a team of 4 students from Southampton University takes on a similar team from Cardiff University.

It soon becomes clear that Southampton are going to win the contest hands down.

At this early point in the contest it is already Southampton 200, Cardiff minus 5 - oh dear!

It is very important for Lois and myself to pit ourselves against both teams by answering as many questions correctly as possible, because it gives us some confidence that we are not yet suffering from dementia - oh dear! At the end of the evening's quiz we are quite happy with our performance against these 2 young teams, and there are 5-6 questions that we respond correctly to, which neither team can answer.

Not for the first time, I'm glad that I'm such an expert when it comes to facts about Doris Day, my first film idol as a young boy. I know that the song she sang in Hitchcock's movie, "The Man Who Knew Too Much", and which won an Oscar for Year's Best Song, was "Que Sera Sera". I also know that her co-star in "Pillow Talk" was Rock Hudson. Hurrah - I can go to bed satisfied with my performance. My expensive education was worth it - I have no doubts about that!

Fortunately, I know more about Doris Day than both teams do - hurrah!

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

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Damn! We become aware when we wake up that we both have colds. It must have been the guesthouse owner who infected us. But we have to drive the car to the local service centre. It's time for the car's fifth annual service, and MOT test - damn it! Afterwards, we go on foot to the local Sainsbury's supermarket to buy fruit, vegetables and meat. We come home and relax with a cup of coffee. We feel very tired and sick - oh dear!

This is clear proof that it pays to be a loner as much as possible. We have not had colds since we came back from Australia at the end of June last year. But as soon as we attend a wedding and mix with a lot of people, our perfect health record has been ruined - damn (again) !!!!

14:00 After lunch we go to bed again - oh dear! But as soon as we hop under the quilt, the service centre calls to tell us that the car is ready. I walk around the corner to pick it up, and now I'm poorer by £215, which is a little disappointing. I jump back into bed with Lois for another go under the covers.

15:30 We tumble out of bed. I take a little look online and www.theonion.com, the influential American news website. I see a reassuring and heartwarming news item about some useful instructions on how precisely to access Netflix. Sharon, an American housewife, has written detailed instructions on a piece of paper and put the paper in a kitchen drawer.

Lois and I rarely look at Netflix when we are at home but when we are with our daughters, the one in Copenhagen and the other one in Perth, Australia, and we are babysitting our grandchildren, we sometimes like to see something on Netflix because we do not feel like watching typical local Danish or Australian television programmes. It is generally at such a time that we realise that we cannot remember how to access Netflix. I have taken a screenshot of Sharon's instructions, which we can take with us when we next visit our daughters and their families.

Our daughter in Copenhagen, Alison, also has a 4-digit Netflix password, which you need. I have also sent an email to Sharon (at sharonphovey@gmail.com) to ask her if she knows what this password is. Then I can add the number to our copy of the instructions.