Danskcolin: Friday 18 May 2018

09:15 Lois and I drive over to the local Sainsburys supermarket to do the shopping. We buy even more cans of luxury cat food in the form of paté or terrine and the like for Minx, Alison's cat. Our elder daughter Alison left Minx with us when her family moved to Denmark 5 years ago.

We suspect that Minx's teeth are no longer in good condition, although for some reason we cannot get the vet to propose appropriate treatment. We think she is having trouble chewing meat - so we have begun to spend a lot of money buying expensive luxury cat food for her.

Minx is now an old "lady" of 18 years. She rarely washes and grooms herself - and Lois spends a lot of time removing the dead hair and fur using our latest cat brush - good grief! Lois and I are also getting on in years, but fortunately, we continue to take showers and spruce ourselves up, thank God!

10:30 We come home and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

11:00 I get going with mowing the lawn in front of the house, and then the nearest part of the large lawn just behind the house. I can handle these two areas without the need for my extension cord. I will leave the rest of the lawns until tomorrow.

12:30 I come back in the house and sit down in front of the computer. I see that Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen and Ed, her husband, have spent the morning taking blood tests and applying for the right to permanent residence in Denmark - Ed has posted the news on Facebook.

This unexpected development surprises their Facebook friends (also Lois and me!). But Alison's answer to her friends' questions is a bit vague, to say the least - she only says that the step gives the family more options - my godt! To the best of our knowledge, Ed has not received a job offer in Denmark, but who knows?

At lunchtime, Ali and Ed relax at Vapiano on Købmagergade Street in the city.

Vapiano, a giant restaurant in the middle of Copenhagen

Later, one of their Faceook friends points out that it is not clear that the right to permanent residence in Denmark remains valid after Brexit or not. Ed comments that this information could mean that he and Ali wasted the morning on a meaningless project! Good grief, Brexit is one big madness, no doubt about that !!!!

13:00 Lois and I have lunch on the terrace and afterwards I go to bed - I take a giant afternoon nap.

15:30 I get up, and Lois and I relax with a cup of tea in the dining room. Afterwards Lois swings by the neighbors (Bill and Mary), so she can talk a little with Mary. Mary suffers from mild dementia, and it's hard work to talk to her, but Lois is so warm-hearted. If only I were more like her!

18:30 We have dinner and spend the evening watching television. An old edition of the Top of the Pops is on, from September 1985.

I think Lois and I must have seen this edition when it was first broadcast, but we do not remember most of the songs in the program.

Amii Stewart in September 1985

We were at that time struggling to get used to life in England again after 3 years residence in the United States. We also had to get used to our old house, which was much smaller than our American house.

Our house in England, which had been rented out to a number of tenants over the 3 years, was one big mess and we needed to spend a lot of time cleaning it. And the backyard was a big mess of weeds, a real jungle.

Our children, Alison (10) and Sarah (8)

getting used to the jungle of our backyard in England on our return from the United States

My mother was very happy that we had moved back

from the United States. Only now that Lois and I are

ourselves grandparents, can we really understand her feelings

21:00 We continue to watch a bit of television. An interesting documentary is on, all about David Hockney, the famous English painter, one of the few modern painters who do not produce abstract paintings (which any 5-year old can do) , which is a bit of a relief.

Lois and I like Hockney's surprisingly lifelike portraits, especially the series of characters from the Big Bang Theory, our favorite sitcom.

Howard

Kripke

Sheldon

YoungSheldon

Sheldon's mother

Penny

Leonard

Amy

Bernadette

Raj

Prof Proton

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

Danish translation

09:15 Lois og jeg kører over til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe ind. Vi køber endnu flere dåser luksuskattemad i form af postej eller terrine og lignende til Minx, Alisons kat. Vores ældste datter Alison efterlod Minx hos os, da hendes familie i 5 år siden flyttede til Danmark.

Vi mistænker, at Minx’s tænder ikke længere er i god tilstand, selvom vi af en eller anden grund ikke kan få dyrelægen til at forslå en passende behandling. Vi tror, at hun nu har svært ved at tykke kød – derfor vi er begyndt at bruge en masse penge på at købe dyr luksuskattemad til hende.

Minx er nu en gamle ”dame” på 18 år. Hun vasker sig og netter sig sjældent – og Lois bruger en masse tid på at fjerne den døde hår og pels ved hjælp af vores seneste katteborst – du godeste! Lois og jeg er også gode oppe i årene, men heldigvis fortsætter vi stadigvæk med at gå i bad, og med at nette os, gudskelov!

10:30 Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

11:00 Jeg går i gang med at klippe den græsplænen, der ligger foran huset, og så den nærmeste del af den store græsplæne, der ligger lige bag huset. Jeg kan klare disse to områder uden at have brug for min forlængerledning. Jeg vil overlade resten af græsplanerne til i morgen.

12:30 Jeg kommer tilbage ind i huset og sætter mig foran computeren. Jeg ser, at Alison, vores datter i København og Ed, hendes mand, har tilbragt formiddagen med at tage blodprøver og ansøge om retten til fast bopæl i Danmark – Ed har lagt nyheden op på Facebook.

Denne uforventede udvikling overrasker deres Facebook-venner (også Lois og mig!). Men Alisons svar til hendes venners spørgsmål er lidt vage, for at sige mildt – hun siger kun, at skridtet giver familien flere optioner – du godeste! Så vidt vi ved, har Ed ikke modtaget et jobtilbud i Danmark, men hvem ved?

Ved frokosttid, slapper Ali og Ed af på Vapiano på Købmagergade i byen.

Vapiano, en kæmpe-restaurant midt i København

Senere påpeger en af deres Faceook-venner, at det ikke er helt klart om, at retten til fast bopæl i Danmark stadig bliver gyldig efter Brexit eller ej. Ed kommentarer, at denne oplysning kunne betyde, at han og Ali spildede formidagen på et betydningsløst projekt! Du godeste, Brexit er et stort vanvid, ingen tvivl om det!!!!

13:00 Lois og jeg spiser frokost på terrassen og bagefter går jeg i seng – jeg tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:30 Jeg står op og Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te i spisestuen. Bagefter smutter Lois ind hos naboerne (Bill og Mary), så hun kan snakke lidt med Mary. Mary lider af mild demens, og det er hårdt arbejde at snakke med hende, men Lois er så varmhjertet. Hvis bare jeg lignede hende mere!

18:30 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser et gammelt afsnit af Top of the Pops fra september 1985.

Jeg tror, at Lois og jeg må have set dette afsnit, men vi husker ikke de fleste sange i programmet.

Amii Stewart i september 1985

Vi kæmpede dengang at vænne os til livet i England igen efter 3 års ophold i USA. Vi måtte også vænne os til vores gamle hus, der var meget mindre, end vores amerikanske hus.

Vores hus i England, der igennem 3 år var blevet udlejet til en stribe af lejere var et stort rod og vi behøvede at bruge en masse tid på at gøre det rent igen. Og baghaven var et stort rod af ukrudt, en sand jungle.

vores børn, Alison (10) og Sarah (8)

vænner sig til junglen af vores baghave i England på vores retur fra USA

min mor var meget glad for, at vi var flyttet tilbage fra USA.

Kun nu, hvor Lois og jeg selve er bedsteforældre, kan vi virkelig forstå hendes følelser

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om David Hockney, den berømte engelske maler, en af de få moderne malere, der ikke fremstiller abstrakte malerier, hvilket er lidt af en lettelse.