Wednesday 16 May 2018

08:00 By accident I bite my tongue while I am eating a piece of toast - damn! Just when my tongue is beginning to heal up after the ulcer I've been suffering from for a month - damn (again)!

But am I becoming obsessed with my tongue and my mouth? Or are both becoming more sensitive - the jury still has to be out on that one. Let's hope that the tongue heals quickly by itself.

10:00 I call Scilla to ask about her health. She is a member of our U3A Danish group, and also leader of the local U3A Old Norse group. In late April, while Lois and I were in Australia, she was hospitalized due to kidney problems. She is currently staying with her son in Frome, Somerset.

She says she is in a relatively good state, but she tends to become dizzy, and thus cannot move about very easily. She does not expect to be able to return to her apartment in Cheltenham for at least 3 months - poor Scilla!

10:30 I get going with doing a massive pile of my ironing: shirts, underwear, pajamas, t-shirts. My goodness! I must not let the pile get so massive again - that's something I have no doubts about. The problem has worsened due to our recent 2-month vacation in Australia. While we were staying with our daughter Sarah and her family in Perth, we never found out if the family owned either an iron or a ironing board.

13:00 Lois has back problems again, so it's my responsibility to make lunch: poached eggs on toast with water cress - yum yum!

14:00 I go to bed and take a giant afternoon nap while Lois works on her family tree. She has a relative, William Ewart Cox, who was in the Navy in the 1930s and 1940s. He retired after the Second World War, and moved with his wife and two daughters to Bermuda. The youngest daughter (Janet Cox) is the same age as Lois and I (born in 1946) - Janet may well still be alive somewhere in Bermuda.

Lois has a newspaper picture of Williams's wife (Janet's mother), taken in the 1950s (?). She was a member of the local (St. George) branch of the Imperial Order of Daughters of the (British) Empire.

Newspaper picture from Bermuda in the 1950s:

Lois's relative (Mrs William Ewart Cox) is third from the left

15:30 I get up and go into the backyard to do a little weeding between the fruit bushes (gooseberries, blackberries and raspberries). The area became a real jungle during our absence in Australia, no doubt about that - damn it!

18:30 We have dinner and spend the evening watching television. An interesting documentary film is on, from 2014, all about the Soviet / Russian space program since World War II.

The Soviet Union shocked the western world in the 1950s with their surprisingly successful Sputnik program, and the first manned space flight with Yuri Gagarin. Of course, the Soviets took incredible risks - there were many unannounced accidents, and the Soviets used to announce flights only after they were sure that the outcome had been successful - good grief, what madness!

We hear about Alexei Leonov's experience: the first man who performed a space walk (in 1965). He revealed to the BBC in 2014 that he nearly died during the walk when his space suit started to inflate like a balloon. See http://www.businessinsider.com/alexei-leonov-spacewalk-near-disaster-2014-10?IR=T .

The early Soviet space program was later overshadowed by the successful US Moon Landing, but tonight's program reminds us that today's international space station program could not have been possible without the many years of Soviet / Russian concentration on space stations and associated spacecraft that served the stations and transported crews etc.

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

Danish translation

08:00 Tilfældigvis bider jeg tungen, mens jeg spiser et stykke toast – pokkers! Lige når min tunge begynder at læges efter såret, jeg har lidt af i en måned – pokkers (igen)!

Men bliver jeg for besat af min tunge og min mund? Eller bliver begge to mere følsomme – det er juryen må stadig være ude om. Lad os håbe på, at tungen læges hurtigt af sig selv.

10:00 Jeg ringer til Scilla for at spørge om hendes helbred. Hun er medlem af vores U3A danske gruppe, også leder af den lokale U3A oldnorske gruppe. Sidst i april, mens Lois og jeg var i Australien, blev hun indlagt på  hospitalet på grund af nyreproblemer. Hun bor for tiden hos sin søn i Frome, Somerset.

Hun siger, at hun har det relativt godt, men hun har tendens til at blive svimmel, og dermed kan ikke bevæge sig meget let. Hun forventer ikke at kunne komme tilbage til sin lejlighed i Cheltenham  i mindst 3 måneder – stakkels Scilla!

10:30 Jeg går i gang med at stryge en massiv bunke strygning: skjorter, undertøj, pyjamas, t-shirts. Du godeste! Jeg må ikke lade bunken blive så massiv igen – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om. Problemet har forværres på grund af vores nylige 2-måneders ferie i Australien. Mens vi boede hos vores datter Sarah og hendes familie i Perth, fandt vi aldrig ud af, om familien ejede enten et strygejern eller et strygebræt.

13:00 Lois har rygproblemer igen, så det er mit ansvar at lave frokost: pocherede æg  på toast med vandkryds – nam nam!

14:00 Jeg går i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur, mens Lois arbejder på sit familietræ. Hun har en slægtning, William Ewart Cox, der var i marinen i 1930’erne og 1940’erne. Han gik på pension efter den 2. verdenskrig, og flyttede med sin kone og to døtre til Bermuda. Den yngste datter (Janet Cox) er den samme alder som Lois og jeg (født i 1946) – det kan godt være, at Janet lever endnu, et eller andet sted i Bermuda.

Lois har et avisbillede af Williams  kone (Janets mor), taget i 1950’erne (?). Hun var medlem af den lokale (St George) filial af Imperial Order of Daughters of the (British) Empire.

Avisbillede fra Bermuda i 1950’erne:

Lois’s slægtning (Mrs William Ewart Cox) er nummer 3 fra venstre

15:30 Jeg står op og går ud i baghaven for at luge lidt mellem frugtbuskene (stikkelsbær, solbær og hindbær).  Området er blevet til en sand jungle under vores fravær i Australien, ingen tvivl om det – pokkers!

18:30 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm fra 2014, der handler om det sovjetiske/russiske rumprogram siden den 2. verdenskrig.

CosmonautListing

Sovjetunionen chokerede den vestlige verden i 1950’erne med deres overraskende succesfulde Sputnikprogram, og den første bemannede rumflygning med Yuri Gagarin. Selvfølgelig tog sovjetterne utrolige risikoer – der var mange uannoncerede ulykker, og sovjetterne plejede at  annoncere  flygninger kun efter de var helt sikre på, at udfaldet havde været succesfuldt – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Vi hører om Alexei Leonovs oplevelse: den første mand, der gennemførte en rumvandring (i 1965). Han afslørede til BBC-kanalen i 2014, at han næsten døde under vandringen, da hans rumdragt blev oppustet som en ballon. Se http://www.businessinsider.com/alexei-leonov-spacewalk-near-disaster-2014-10?IR=T .

Det tidlige sovjette rumprogram blev senere overskygget af den succesfuld amerikanske månelanding, men programmets vært minder os om, at nutidens internationale rumstationprogram ikke kunne have været muligt uden de mange års sovjette/russiske koncentration om rumstationer og de associerede rumfartøj, der servicerer stationen og transportere stationens besætning osv.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!!!