Thursday 24 May 2018

10:00 It's raining lightly today, for the first time in about 2 weeks, which is nice: everything in the garden looks fresher. But the downside is (or the advantage is) that Lois and I cannot do gardening.

It is now 4 weeks since we came back to England after 2 months' stay in Australia and as always, we have found it hard to get used to taking up our more routine lives again, but we have no choice when it comes down to it.

To try to achieve closure on the holiday, we decide to organize our hundreds of photos. Lois is going to make a start on choosing the best approx. 100 photos and I am going to design some photo books.

Our first 2 photo books, made up of photos we took

during our week in the Margaret River region, south of the city of Perth

12:00 For the first time in three and a half months, I jump on my fitness bike and cycle 3 miles. I'm going to gradually increase the distance bit by bit to my usual old 6 miles.

16:00 After our lunch break and  giant afternoon nap, Lois has finished selecting photos for the first three photo books, and I have finished the design of the first 2 books made up of a total of 42 pictures.

When we spent a week in the Margaret River region with our daughter Sarah and her family, Lois and I stayed in a holiday chalet while Sarah's family stayed at a campground that was about 1 mile away.

I notice that Lois has chosen two pictures that showcase boxing: human boxing, being shown on the campsite's big tv, and kangaroo boxing, which Lois and I watched from the window of our chalet. But which sport is more corrupt, the human or the kangaroo? The jury is still out on that one, I suspect. It is obvious that the other kangaroos in the herd are ignoring the young boxing pair, perhaps because the result has somehow been "fixed" - but that's something I'm not entirely sure about.

Lois with the human boxing being shown on

the campsite's big TV

kangaroo boxing Lois and I watched

from the window of our holiday chalet - a sport more corrupt,

than the human equivalent maybe ???

17:30 I get a new text on whatsapp from Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia. Francis, her husband, started a part-time job on Monday as a house-seller, after almost 5 years as a pappa latte, as the Swedes say (stay-at-home dad). She says it has been a very stressful week for both of them - Lois and I suppose this to mean that the job has stressed Francis out and Francis has then stressed Sarah out, to relieve his feelings a little. Poor Sarah !!!!!

18:00 We have dinner and afterwards we talk on Skype with Alison, our older daughter who lives in Copenhagen with Ed, her husband, and their 3 children.

We talk a little on Skype with Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen

Ed's job finished at the end of March, and Lois and I are very curious to hear if he has found a new job yet and where the family will move to. He has recently spent some time in Frankfurt and Paris, also London, but according to Alison, Frankfurt is the main attraction at the moment - however Ed is not quite sure that the job in Frankfurt (at Mitsubishi's European headquarters) is right for him. The mystery continues, and Lois and I are almost dying of curiosity - damn it!

20:00 We watch a little television: a program about the millions of galaxies in the universe, and afterwards an interesting documentary about Marks & Spencer's, the famous British department store chain that has recently been having problems.

Lois likes our local M & S department store, me too (on the rare occasions I buy clothes). So it is not surprising that today's young, fashionable people do not share our taste: it's hardly rocket science, to put it mildly !!!!

Today’s M&S

M & S in happier times

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

Danish translation

10:00 Det regner lidt i dag, for første gang i ca 2 uger, hvilket er rart: alt i haven ser friskere ud. Men ulempen er (eller fordelen er), at Lois og jeg  ikke kan lave havearbejde.

Det er nu 4 uger siden vi kom tilbage til England efter 2 måneders ophold i Australien, og som altid, har vi fundet det svært af og til at vænne os igen til at genoptage vores mere rutinemæssige liv, men vi har intet valg, når alt kommer til alt.

For at prøve at opnå lukning på ferien, beslutter vi at organisere vores hundredvis af fotos. Lois vil gå i gang med at vælge de bedste ca. 100 fotos og jeg vil designe nogle fotobøger.

Vores første 2 fotobøger, der består af fotos, vi tog

under vores uge i Margaret River-regionen, syd for byen Perth

12:00 For første gang i 3, 5 måneder hopper jeg op på min kondicykel og cykler 3 miles. Jeg har tænkt mig gradvist at øge afstanden bid for bid til mine gamle sædvanlige 6 miles.

16:00 Efter en frokostpause og en gigantisk eftermiddagslur er Lois færdig med at vælge fotos til de 3 første fotobøger, og jeg er færdig med at designe de første 2 bøger, der indeholder sammenlagt 42 billeder.

Da vi tilbragte en uge i Margaret River-regionen sammen med vores datter Sarah og hans familie, boede Lois og jeg i et feriehus, mens Sarahs familien boede på en campingplads, der lå ca 1 mile væk.

Jeg bemærker, at Lois har valgt to billeder, der fremviser boksning: menneskelig boksning, som de viste på campingpladsens tv, og kænguru-boksning, som Lois og jeg kiggede på fra vinduet af vores feriehus. Men hvilken sportsgrene er mere korrupt, den menneskelige eller den kænguru? Det er juryen stadig ude om, mistænker jeg. Det er åbenbart, at de andre kænguruer i flokken ignorerer det unge boksende par, måske fordi resultatet på en eller anden måde er blevet ”fikset” – men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på.

Lois og den menneskelige boksning, som de viste på

campingpladsens stort tv

kænguru-boksning, som Lois og jeg kiggede på

fra vinduet af vores feriehus – en sportsgrene mere korrupt,

end den menneskelige ekvivalent måske???

17:30 Jeg har fået en sms på whatsapp fra Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien. Francis, hendes mand, startede et deltidsjob i mandags som hus-sælger, efter næsten 5 år som pappa latte / pappa ledig, som svenskerne siger. Hun siger, det har været en meget stressende uge for dem begge – Lois og jeg formoder, at dette betyder, at arbejdet har stresset Francis ud, og Francis har stresset Sarah ud, for at lette sine følelser lidt. Stakkels Sarah !!!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bagefter taler vi lidt på Skype med Alison, vores ældste datter, der bor i København, sammen med Ed, sin mand, og deres 3 børn.

vi taler lidt på Skype med Alison, vores datter i København

Eds job endte ved slutningen af marts, og jeg og Lois er meget nysgerrige efter at høre, om han har fundet et nyt job endnu, og hvor familien skal flytte til. Han har for nylig tilbragt nogen tid i Frankfurt og Paris, også London, men ifølge Alison er Frankfurt den hovedattraktion for tiden – men Ed er ikke helt sikker på, at jobbet i Frankfurt (hos Mitsubishis europæiske hovedkontor) er det rigtige for ham. Mysteriet fortsætter, og Lois og jeg dør næsten af nysgerrighed – pokkers!

20:00 Vi ser lidt fjernsyn: et program, der handler om universets millionvis af galakser, og bagefter en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Marks & Spencer’s, den berømte britiske stormagasinkæde, der for nylig har haft problemer.

Lois kan godt lide vores lokale M&S-stormagasin, jeg også på de sjældne lejligheder, jeg køber tøj. Så derfor er det ikke helt overraskende, at nutidens unge, moderigtige mennesker ikke deler vores smag: det er ikke raketvidenskab, for at sige mildt !!!!

Nutidens M&S

M&S i lykkeligere tider

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!!