Danskcolin: Saturday 12 May 2018

09:00 We get up and take a shower.

10:30 I go out into the backyard and do a bit of weeding in the vegetable garden. But Lois has decided not to do gardening today. She has occasionally been getting backache and she thinks that if she can stay free of back problems today she can attend her church's special Bible Seminar taking place this afternoon in the village of Down Hatherley, located between Gloucester and Tewkesbury. The subject is a study of Rahab and Ruth (????), lesser-known figures from the Old Testament apparently. Lois has asked her friend Hilary to drive her over there.

12:00 I come back into the house. The vegetable garden is now 90% free of weeds, but I have a strict rule at the moment - not to work in the garden for more than 1 hour. The rest of the job must wait for another day. "Slow and steady wins the race" is my motto now.

13:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap.

14:15 I stay in bed, but I can hear Hilary's ring on the doorbell. She and Lois set off for the village of Down Hatherley.

14:45 I get up. I have a little alone time for the first time in three months. I see the first episode of the 4th season of "The Bridge", an entertaining Danish-Swedish crime series, which I recorded last night on my YouView device. The series revolves around crime in Copenhagen and Malmø in Sweden, two cities connected by the famous bridge.

Lois does not want to watch the series because it's too violent. I agree with Lois, but I love to watch it because of the language and because of the interesting characters, in particular Saga Noren, the Swedish detective from Malmø (played by the beautiful Sofia Helin) who suffers from Asperger's syndrome.

Sofia Helin, who plays the Swedish detective with Aspergers, Saga Noren

Saga is currently in a Swedish prison because she has been falsely accused of killing her own mother. The other female prisoners do not like her because she is an (ex-) detective and she becomes involved in a lot of fights there. She also has to ward off a woman who has a megacrush on her. Yikes - poor Saga!!!

Prison must be a total nightmare if you have Aspergers and are socially awkward because most of the time you are in the company of others - yikes! Saga chooses ceramics as her hobby in prison - it's the only choice that does not involve conversation with the other prisoners - good grief, poor Saga (again) !!!!

Saga (left) chooses ceramics as her hobby in prison

She discusses her choice with her partner, Henrik, at visiting time

Saga's partner, Henrik, a detective from Copenhagen, is also mentally unstable, but in other ways, which I have not yet worked out. I missed the third season two years ago, while Lois and I were in Australia.

But while I watch the episode, I have my usual problems - I tend to mix some of the characters up. It's unfortunate that Henrik Saga's partner is tall, thin, dark-haired with a tidy, well-groomed beard, because one of the other main characters, an investigative journalist, looks very like Henrik and has the same well-groomed beard - this journalist also has an identical twin brother, which doubles the confusion. What madness !!!!

Also in the episode there are also a lot of characters that seem to have nothing to do with the main plot (as always !!!!).

Fortunately, our U3A Danish group has its next meeting on Thursday, and I can ask the other members what the plot is about and what it means, thank god. Beam me up Scotty.

17:30 Lois has not appeared yet, so I hurry into the kitchen and make one portion of dinner with an extra portion for Lois when she returns: sausages, fried egg, mashed potatoes and peas, one of my signature dishes - yum yum !

18:30 Lois arrives. Hilary drops her off in front of the house. Lois has had a fun afternoon because she has not seen her fellow church members for 3 months and she was able to talk to them about Australia's attractions.

Francis and Sarah (our younger daughter) would very much like to have us settle over there - citizens' parents can buy membership of the country's healthcare system by paying a fixed sum. But I do not think we are yet ready to take this step. We do not know Alison and Ed's plans (Alison is our other daughter) - also, Australia is really a country for people who love the outdoor life, restaurants and shopping malls! I'm not quite sure this is us. But it could be another story if one of us dies - yikes !!!!

20:00 We spend the evening watching television, an interesting documentary about the development of the city of Belfast during the reign of Victoria (1837-1901). The host of the program is the charming Alice Roberts.

Lois and I did not know that Belfast was only a small town at the beginning of Victoria's reign. It became a major city with a population of 300,000 during the 19th century, primarily because of its linen industry, which received a huge boost from the American Civil War - and the resulting worldwide shortage of cotton. The growth of the linen industry led to the development of the city's port and to the founding of the city's famous shipbuilding companies, especially Harland and Wolff, where the ship the Titanic was built.

Lois and I discuss Alice's appearance - she has always had naturally beautiful red hair, but now she has colored it. It is still red but with an unnatural tint, which is a bit of a shame. She often goes about in leather so she looks like a biker chick, despite being a 45-year university professor. We suspect she feels she must not start looking middle aged - television companies are famous for preferring younger hosts when it comes to women. Poor Alice !!!!!

Prof. Alice Roberts now looks a bit like a biker chick -

poor Alice !!!!

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

Danish translation

09:00 Vi står op og tager et brusebad.

10:30 Jeg går ud i baghaven og luger lidt i grønsagshaven. Men Lois har besluttet ikke at lave havearbejde i dag. Hun har af og til haft ondt i ryggen og hvis hun bliver fri for rygproblemer i dag vil hun gerne deltage i sin kirkes specielle bibelseminar, der finder sted i eftermiddag i landsbyen Down Hatherley, der ligger mellem Gloucester og Tewkesbury. Emnet er et studie om Rahab og Ruth (????), mindre velkendte figurer fra det gamle testamente. Lois har bedt sin veninde, Hilary, om at køre hende derover.

12:00 Jeg kommer tilbage ind i huset. Grøntsagshaven er nu 90% fri for ukrudt, men jeg har en streng regel for tiden – ikke at arbejde i haven mere end 1 time. Resten af opgaven må blive en anden dag. ”Langsomt og stabilt vinder løbet” er mit motto nu.

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

14:15 Jeg bliver liggende ind i sengen, men jeg hører Hilary ringer på dørklokken. De skal af sted til landsbyen Down Hatherley.

14:45 Jeg står op. Jeg har lidt alenetid for første gang i tre måneder. Jeg ser det første afsnit af den 4. sæson af ”Broen”, en underholdende dansk-svensk krimiserie, som jeg optog i går aftes på min YouView-enhed. Serien kredser om kriminalitet i København og Malmø i Sverige, to byer forbundet af den berømte bro.

Lois har ikke lyst til at se serien på grund af, at den er for voldsom. Det er jeg enig med Lois i, men jeg elsker imidlertid at se på den på grund af sproget, og på grund af de interessante figurer, i sær Saga Noren, den svenske detektiv fra Malmø (spillet af den smukke Sofia Helin), der lider af Aspergers syndrom.

Sofia Helin, der spiller den svenske detektiv med Aspergers, Saga Noren

Saga sidder for tiden i et svensk fængslet, fordi hun er blevet falsk anklage for at have dræbt sin egen mor. De andre kvindelige fanger kan ikke lide hende, fordi hun er en (eks-) detektiv, og hun bliver involveret i en masse slagsmål med dem. Hun skal også afværge en kvinde, der har en megacrush på hende. Yikes – stakkels Saga!!!

Fængsel må være et totalt mareridt, hvis man har Aspergers og er socialt akavet, fordi man er det meste af tiden i selskab med andre – yikes! Saga vælger keramik som sin hobby i fængslet – den er det eneste valg, der ikke involverer samtale med de andre fangere – du godeste, stakkels Saga (igen) !!!!

Saga vælger keramik som sin hobby i fængslet

hun diskuterer sit valg med sin partner, Henrik.

Sagas partner, Henrik, en detektiv fra København, er også mentalt ustabil, men på andre måder, som jeg ikke endnu har fundet frem til. Jeg gik glip af den tredje sæson for 2 år siden, mens Lois og jeg var i Australien.

Men mens jeg kigger på afsnittet, har jeg mine sædvanlige problemer – jeg har tendens til at blande figurerne sammen. Det er uheldigt at Henrik, Sagas partner, er høj, tynd, mørkhåret med et ryddeligt, velplejet skæg. En af de andre figurer, en undersøgende journalist ligner Henrik og har det samme velplejet skæg – denne journalist har også en tvillingebror, hvilket fordobler forvirrelsen. Sikke et vanvid!!!!

Der er også i afsnittet mange figurer, som virker at have ikke noget at gøre med den hovedsagelige plot (som altid!!!!).

Heldigvis har vores U3A danske gruppe sit næste møde på torsdag, og jeg kan spørge de andre medlemmer, om hvad plottet handler om og hvad det hele betyder, gudskelov. Beam mig op Scotty.

17:30 Lois er ikke dukket op endnu, så derfor skynder jeg mig ind i køkkenet og laver en portion aftensmad med en ekstra portion til Lois, når hun kommer tilbage: pølser, spejlæg, kartoffelmos og ærter, en af mine signaturretter – nam nam!

18:30 Lois ankommer. Hilary sætter hende af foran huset. Hun har haft en sjov eftermiddag, fordi hun ikke har set sin fælles kirkemedlemmer i 3 måneder, og hun kunne snakke med dem om Australiens attraktioner.

Francis og Sarah (vores ynste datter) vil meget gerne have os til at bosætte os derovre – borgeres forældre kan købe medlemskab af landets sundhedssystem ved at betale et fast beløb. Men jeg synes ikke vi endnu er klar til at tage dette skridt. Vi ved ikke Alison og Eds planer (Alison er vores ældste datter) – også Australien er virkelig et land for folk, der elsker det udendørsliv, restauranter og indkøbscentre! Jeg er ikke helt sikker, at dette er os. Men det kunne blive en anden historie, hvis en af os dør – yikes!!!!

20:00 Vi bruger aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om udviklingen af byen Belfast i løbet af Victorias regeringstid (1837-1901). Programmets vært er den charmerende Alice Roberts.

Vi vidste ikke, at Belfast kun var en lille by i begyndelsen af Victorias regeringstid. Det blev en større by med en befolkning af 300.000 i løbet af det 19. århundrede først og fremmest på grund af sin linnedindustri, som modtog en enorm boost fra den amerikanske borgerkrig – og den resulterende verdensomspændende mangel på bomuld. Væksten af linnedindustri førte til udviklingen af byens havn og til grundlæggelsen af byens berømte skipsbyggeriselskaber, især Harland and Wolff, hvor skibet Titanic blev bygget.

Lois og jeg diskuterer Alices udseende – hun har altid haft naturlig smukt rødt hår, men nu har hun farvet det. Det er stadig rødt men med en unaturlig farvetone, hvilket af lidt af en skam. Også hun går ofte i læder, så hun ser ud som en biker chick, på trods af, at hun er en 45-årig universitetprofessor. Vi mistænker, at hun føler, hun ikke må begynde at se midaldrende ud – tv-selskaber er berømte for, at de foretrækker yngre værter, når det kommer til kvinder. Stakkels Alice!!!!!