Monday, 16 October 2017

Søndag den 15. oktober 2017

04:00  Jeg står tidligt op og kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg finder Morten Ingemanns seneste tegneseriestribe. Du godeste! Jeg får lidt af et chok.

Danske Ingemann er min yndlingstegner  – ingen tvivl om det! Han interesserer sig især for grimme, overvægtige, midaldrende eller ældre folk, de slags mennesker, som de fleste tegnere sjældent giver opmærksomhed til.

Danske Morten Ingemann, min yndlingstegner.

Men Ingemann har også lejlighedsvise indsigtsfulde konklusioner at drage om de unges verdenssyn. I dag ser vi en midaldrende kvinde, der i gang med at feje sin baggård. Hun får øje på to små drenge, og spørger dem, hvad de skal lave i efterårsferien, som alle danske skoler holder den kommende uge.

De to drenge svarer, at de skal spille noget fodbold på Playstation inde på værelset.

Senere på dagen, mod aftenen ser hun drengene i haven og hun antager, at de må have besluttet at spille fodbold ude i haven i stedet for på Playstation inde i værelset, og hun spørger dem, om de har haft det meget sjovere udendørs.

Jeg synes, at mange af Ingemanns læsere på dette tidspunkt allerede vil have gættet, at det ikke viste sig at det havde været muligt at spille i haven, og denne konklusion bliver bekræftet, når drengene forklarer til kvinden, at lædningen faktisk ikke kunne nå så langt. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

08:00 Jeg hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois. Vi drikker vores morgenté og går i bad. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

10:30 Vi taler lidt på whatsapp (et video-opkald) med Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien, og med hendes to 4-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessica. Det er sjovt men også lidt trist for Lois og mig, fordi vi, set ud fra tvillingernes synspunkt, kun er to små ansigter på en lille skærm nu, hvor familien bor i Australien. Da de var meget små børn, så vi dem i levende live næsten hver dag – hulk, hulk!!!!

Tvillingerne ser på Lois og mig nu først og fremmest som mysteriøse mennesker, der fra tid til anden sender dem pakker i posten: legetøj, bøger, børnemagasiner, deres elskede bløde kaninformede sutteklude (som kun fås i Storbritannien) – du godeste! Også nu køber vi sommertøj til dem i efteråret, og vintertøj i foråret (alt på tilbud hos os), fordi alle deres årstider er modsatte overfor vores, på grund af at de bor i den sydlige halvkugle: du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter skal vi ud. Lois ønsker at deltage i sin kirkes gudstjeneste, der finder sted i eftermiddag kl 13:30 i byen Tewkesbury. Jeg sætter hende af foran Halfords-bildelecentret og kører hjem.

Dette er hendes første gang i flere uger i kirken, og hun er meget ivrig efter, at kunne deltage i dagens gudstjeneste. Hun køber en pakke Polo pebermynter på vej til kirken for det tilfælde, hun får hosteanfald, men hun fortæller mig senere, at hun slet ikke hostede, i sammenligning til Janet, sin veninde, der hostede konstant under prædikenen – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

For mit vedkommende har jeg har lidt alenetid for første gang i nogle uger, på grund af Lois’s nylige øjenoperation og derefter hendes stærke forkølelse, som selvfølgelig gjorde hende mere afhængig af mig, end normalt. Jeg finder, at jeg kan fungere meget bedre i mit liv, hvis jeg fra tid til anden får lidt alenetid.

I dag spilder jeg min alenetid, men i det mindste kan jeg være sikker på, at andre muligheder vil opstå i overskuelig fremtid.

13:45 Jeg prøver at organisere lidt vores genbrugsaffald. Vores lokale kommune har besluttet at skifte deres indsamlingssystem af en eller anden grund. Hidtil har vi puttet alt vores genbrugsaffald i en stor grøn kasse, med alt blandt sammen – plastik, glas, blikdåser, papir, karton.

Nu skal vi putte plastik og blikdåser i den første kasse, papir og glas i den anden kasse, og karton i en ny blå sæk, som kommunens kontrahenter udleverede for nogle dage siden. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid, hvad var der galt med det gamle system!!!


kommunen har besluttet at skifte deres
genbrugsaffald indsamlingssystem – sikke et vanvid !!!!

14:00 Jeg går en kort tur i nabolaget, kommer hjem igen og går i seng for at tage mig en kort eftermiddagslur.

15:15 Jeg går ud i baghaven og fortsætter med vores projekt om at ”lægge haven i sengen for vinteren”, ved at luge lidt mere i det såkaldte ”kartoffelhave”.

16:00 Lois kommer tilbage fra Tewkesbury. Hendes veninde, Fran, sætter hende af foran huset. Vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

16:30 Jeg læser et par sider af min danske roman, ”Klinkevals”.

Historien udspiller sig i 1900’erne og handler om Juliane, en frodig og egensindig  kvinde, giftet med en mand, Simon, hun kalder for et skvat. Simon er ængstelig og har nu og da forskellige psykiske problemer. Han tilbragte et par år i en institution. Han har svært med at blive i et job, og parret har to voksende børn at forsørge.



Mette Lisby, der spiller Juliane i filmen fra 1999

den frodige Juliane sammen med Simon,
sit ”skvat til ægtemand”, fra filmen.

En nat, efter en akavet brydekamp i dobbeltsengen, hvor Juliane og Simon ender op med at forsøge at kværke hinanden, bliver Simon sendt tilbage til institutionen, men han desværre dør derinde et par dage senere.

Heldigvis har Juliane nemt ved at finde selv arbejde – de lokale arbejdsgivere elsker hendes egensindige temperament og smukke former og drømmer om at gå i seng med hende. De falder alle over sin egne ben for at ansætte hende. Hun ender op med at få et job hos en lokal slagter, der hedder Hansen (Juliane kalder ham ”kødhovedet” – du godeste!).

Slagteren Hansen har ikke et særlig godt forhold til sin kone – de har ingen børn, og om aftenen taler de kun sammen lidt om, hvad der stod i avisen. Jeg er helt sikker på, at ”Kødhoved” forbereder sig på at forsøge sig med at forføre Juliane – spændende!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad, og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser den 8. og sidste afsnit af den 2. sæson af ”Victoria”, der handler om Victorias liv som ung dronning (spillet af den pragtfulde Jenna Coleman), og om hendes ægteskab med Albert, den tyske prins.


Endnu et dramatisk afsnit. Det lykkes Statsministeren Robert Peel at afskaffe de protektionistiske kornlove med støtte fra Whig-partiet, men det hele forårsager en splittelse i Peels eget Tory-parti - uha!

Endelig kan billigere korn blive importeret fra USA og Canada: fri handel – hurra!!!

Fri handel – hurra!!!

Alberts bror Ernst prøver at genoptage sit tidligere lidenskabelige forhold til Harriet, hertuginden af Sutherland nu, hvor hun er enke. Men hans kønssygdommen, han pådrog sig af en fransk prostituerede, blusser desværre op igen, og han er tvunget til at dumpe den unge hertuginde – du godeste, stakkels Ernst!!!!  Og stakkels Harriet !!!!!

Harriet, hertuginden af Sutherland, giver Ernst, Alberts bror,
grønt lys til at genoptage deres tidligere lidenskabelige forhold, nu hvor hun er enke,
men Ernsts kønssygdom blusser desværre op igen – stakkels Ernst!!

Det får os til at grine ved slutningen af afsnittet, da annoncøren siger, at showet vender tilbage i december, med et specielt jule-afsnit. Du godeste, det får det til at lyde som et game-show ha ha ha.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzz!! I morgen bliver en stor dag, fordi Lois har en aftale kl 9 på hospitalet. Specialisten vil undersøge Lois’s øjne efter hendes nylige øjenoperation for grå stær.


English translation

04:00 I get up early and look online. I find Morten Ingemann's latest comic strip. My goodness, I get a bit of a shock!

The Dane, Ingemann, is my favorite cartoonist - no doubt about that! He is particularly interested in ugly, overweight, middle aged or older people, the kind of people rarely given attention by most cartoonists.

the Dane Morten Ingemann, my favorite cartoonist.

But Ingemann  also has occasional insightful conclusions to draw on young people's worldview. Today we see a middle-aged woman who is sweeping her backyard. She catches sight of two little boys and asks them what they plan to do during the autumn break which all Danish schools are holding this coming week.

The two boys answer that they are going to play a bit of football on the Playstation in their room.

Later in the day, towards evening, she sees them in the garden and assumes that they must have decided to play football outside in the garden instead of on the Playstation in their room. She asks them if they had a lot more fun outdoors.

I think many of Ingemann’s readers will have already guessed at this point why it may not have been possible for the boys to play football in the garden, and this conclusion is confirmed when the boys explain to the woman that the playstation cord would not actually reach that far. My god, what madness!!!!

08:00 I hop back into bed with Lois. We drink our morning tea and go in the shower. We get up and have breakfast.

10:30 We talk a bit on whatsapp (a video call) with Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, and with her two 4-year-old twins, Lily and Jessica. It's fun but also a little sad for Lois and me because from the point of view of the twins, we are just two small faces on a small screen now that the family lives in Australia. When they were very young children, we saw them in the flesh almost every day - sob, sob!!!!

The twins look on Lois and me now, first and foremost, as mysterious people who send them packages in the mail: toys, books, children's magazines, their beloved soft, bunny-shaped security blankets (only available in the UK) - my god! Also now we buy summer clothes for them in the fall and winter-wear in the spring (all at sale price with us) because all their seasons are opposite to ours, just because they live in the southern hemisphere: good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

12:00 We have lunch and afterwards we have to go out. Lois wants to attend her church's Sunday service taking place this afternoon at 1:30pm in the town of Tewkesbury. I drop her off in front of the Halfords automotive parts center and drive home.

This is her first time for several weeks in the church, and she is very keen to be able to attend today's service. She buys a pack of Polo Peppermints on her way to the church in case she gets coughing fits, but she later tells me she did not cough at all, in comparison to Janet, her friend who was coughing constantly during the sermon - good grief, what madness !

For my part I have a little alone time for the first time for weeks, because of Lois's recent eye surgery and then her strong cold, which of course made her more dependent on me than usual. I find that I can function a lot better in my life if I occasionally get a little bit of alone time.Today, I waste my alone time, but at least I can be sure that other opportunities will arise in the foreseeable future.

13:45 I try to organize our recycling waste a little. Our local council has decided to change their collection system for some reason. Until now we have put all our recycling waste in a large green box, with everything mixed in together - plastic, glass, cans, paper, cardboard.

Now we have to put plastic and cans in the first box, paper and glass in the second box, and cardboard in a new blue bag which the council’s contractors delivered a few days ago. Good grief, what madness, what was wrong with the old system !!!


the council have decided to change their
collection system for recycling waste – what madness!!!!

14:00 I go for a short walk in the neighborhood, come home again and go to bed for a short afternoon nap.

15:15 I go out into the backyard and continue our project of "putting the garden to bed for the winter" by doing a little more weeding in the so-called potato patch.

16:00 Lois comes back from Tewkesbury. Her friend Fran, drops her off in front of the house. We relax with a cup of tea on the sofa.

16:30 I read a few pages of my Danish novel, "Klinkevals".

The story is set in the 1900s and is about Juliane, a buxom headstrong woman, married to a man Simon, whom she calls a wimp. Simon is anxious and now and then has various mental problems. He spent a couple of years in an institution. He has trouble holding down a job, and the couple have two growing children to support.


Mette Lisby, who plays Juliane in the film from 1999

the buxom Juliane with Simon,
her "wimp of a husband", from the film.

One night, after an awkward wrestling-match in the double bed, where Juliane and Simon end up trying to strangle each other, Simon is sent back to the institution, but sadly he dies there a few days later.

Fortunately, Juliane easily finds herself work - the local employers love her headstrong temperament and beautiful figure and dream about going to bed with her. They are all falling over themselves to hire her. She ends up getting a job with a local butcher named Hansen (Juliane calls him the "meat-head" - my goodness!).

Hansen, the butcher,  does not have a very good relationship with his wife - they have no children, and in the evenings they only talk a little bit together, just about what's in the paper. I'm sure that “Meat-head” is getting ready to have a go at seducing Juliane - exciting !!!

18:00 We have dinner and watch a bit of television. The 8th and last episode of the 2nd season of "Victoria" is on, all about Victoria's life as a young queen (played by the gorgeous Jenna Coleman) and about her marriage to Albert, the German prince.


Another dramatic episode. Prime Minister Robert Peel succeeds in abolishing the protectionist grain laws with support from the Whig Party, but the whole thing causes a split in Peel's own Tory party - oh dear!

At last, cheaper grain can be imported from the US and Canada: yes, free trade - hurrah !!!

Free trade - hurrah !!!

Albert’s brother Ernst tries to resume his former passionate relationship with Harriet, the duchess of Sutherland now she is a widow. But the venereal disease he caught off a French prostitute unfortunately flares up again and he is forced to dump the young duchess - my god, poor Ernst !!!! And poor Harriet!!!!

Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland, gives Ernst, Alberts's brother,
the green light to resume their former passionate relationship now that she is a widow,
but unfortunately Ernst's venereal disease flares up again - poor Ernst !!!!!

It makes us laugh at the end of the episode when the announcer says the show is returning in December, for a special Christmas episode. My god, it makes it sound like a game show ha ha ha.

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzz !! Tomorrow will be a big day because Lois has an appointment at 9 am at the hospital. The specialist is going to examine Lois's eyes after her recent eye surgery for cataracts.


No comments:

Post a Comment