Wednesday 9 May 2018

05:00 Lois and I wake up early and talk a little. We stay lying in bed and I read 10 pages of my bedtime book, "The Quantum Astrologers Handbook".

10:00 I walk into the backyard and do a little weeding in the vegetable garden. The flower beds and vegetable garden have become a real jungle during our absence in Australia.

11:00 The vegetable garden is now approx. 40% free of weeds - hurrah! We walk into the village and pop into the local post office. We send a package to Josie, one of our 3 grandchildren in Copenhagen. The package contains a piano book with a number of classical piano pieces.

We sneak into the local convenience store and buy a few things.

On our way home we see the house that a bus drove into a couple of weeks ago during our absence in Australia. The house is just opposite the local pharmacy. Good grief! This is not the way you encourage people to use public transport more - what madness!

flashback to April 23rd

The house today, as seen on our way home from the village

12:00 We come home. Lois has put her back out this morning, so she asks me to make lunch: soup with cheese rolls and cucumber - yum yum!

14:00 We go to bed for a couple of hours. We have become very wicked since our return to England.

I've started feeling nervous. I have an appointment tomorrow morning at 10 am with the ear-nose-throat specialist at Gloucester Hospital. I have had a mouth ulcer since April 7th, which is unusual, to say the least. I hope this is not a sign of cancer in the mouth - good grief! I'd rather not tackle that kind of problem thank you very much! Also, I am a thoroughly good person, so it would be very unfair to contract a serious illness !!! Where is the justice in the world ???? !!!!!

16:00 We get up. My sister Gill, who lives in Cambridge, has sent me an email with pictures of the holiday home she and her family (Peter, her husband, and their 3 daughters and their partners) are going to rent in the county of Lancashire for a week starting from Friday (the day after tomorrow). Gill turns 60 years old on May 15th. There are a number of holiday homes for rent, all equipped for disabled guests. Gill's husband, a part-time Catholic priest, is severely handicapped.

the holiday cottages that my sister Gill and her family 

will rent for the coming week

Gill probably thinks that 60 is an old age, but she is wrong there - she's only a youngster - that's something I have no doubt about!!!

18:30 We have dinner and spend the evening watching television, an interesting documentary about George III of Great Britain whose personal and private documents, papers and letters have just been published for the first time online.

An interesting program - it is clear that the king was a bit of a control freak, to put it mildly, but he also had many good qualities. In the eyes of the Americans, George was the big villain in their struggle for justice and (subsequently) independence, but in fact they should have blamed the British parliament.

He used to keep regular records of his 15 children's height measurements, to the nearest 1/16 inch. Good grief, what madness !!!

21:00 We continue to watch a little tv, an interesting documentary about problems of obesity in Britain. The host of the program is the charming Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

It's amusing that, despite several attempts, Hugh failed to persuade the government's health minister, Jeremy Hunt, to be interviewed in front of the television cameras about the problem of obesity and possible solutions. I suspect that Jeremy's problem is that sugar manufacturers and manufacturers of sugary drinks contribute a lot of money to the Conservative party. Their annual conference is always sponsored by Tate and Lyle, Britain's largest sugar manufacturer. What madness!

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

Danish translation

05:00 Lois og jeg vågner tidligt op og snakker lidt. Vi bliver liggende  inde i sengen og jeg læser 10 sider af min sengetidsbog, "The Quantum Astrologers Handbook".

10:00 Jeg går ud i baghaven og luger lidt i grøntsagshaven. Blomsterbedene og grøntsagshaven er blevet en sand jungle under vores fravær i Australien.

11:00 Grøntsagshaven er nu ca. 40% fri for ukrudt – hurra! Vi går hen  i landsbyen og kigger ind i det lokale postkantor. Vi afsender en pakke til Josie, en af vores 3 børnebørn i København. Pakken indeholder en klaverbog, der består af en række klassiske klaverstykker.

Vi smutter ind i den lokale nærbutik og køber et par ting.

På vej hjem ser vi det hus som en bus for et par uger siden under vores fravær i Australien kørte ind i. Huset ligger lige over for det lokale apotek. Du godeste! Dette er ikke måden man opmuntrer folk til at bruge offentlig transport mere på – sikke et vanvid!

tilbageblik til april 23

huset i dag, når vi kommer hjem fra landsbyen

12:00 Vi kommer hjem. Lois har i morges forvredet ryggen igen, så hun beder mig om at lave frokost: suppe med ostemad og agurk – nam nam!

14:00 Vi går i seng i et par timer. Vi er blevet meget onde siden vores tilbagekomst til England.

Jeg er begyndt at føle mig lidt nervøs. Jeg har aftale i morgen formiddag kl 10 hos den øre-næse-hals specialist på Gloucester Hospital. Jeg har haft et sår i munden siden den 7 april, hvilket er usædvanligt, for at sige mildt. Jeg håber på, detter er ikke et tegn på kræft i munden – du godeste! Jeg ville hellere ikke skulle tagle det slags problem thank you very much! Også, jeg er en grundlig god person, så derfor ville det være meget uretsfærdigt at pådrage mig sikke en alvorlig sygdom!!! Hvor er retsfærdigheden i verden????!!!!!

16:00 Vi står op. Min søster Gill, der bor i byen Cambridge, har sendt mig en email med billeder af feriehuset, hun og hendes familie (Peter, hendes mand, og deres 3 døtre og deres partnere) skal leje i grevskabet Lancashire i en uge, startende fra fredag (i overmorgen). Gill fylder 60 år den 15. maj. Der findes en række feriehuse til leje, og alle er udstyret til handicappede gæster. Gills mand, en deltids katolisk præst,  er alvorligt handicappet.

feriehusene, som min søster Gill og hendes familie 

skal leje i den kommende uge

Gill mener sandsynligvis, at 60 år er en gammel alder, men det har hun ikke ret i – hun er kun en unge – det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!

18:30 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Georg 3. af Storbritannien, hvis personlige og private dokumenter, papirer og breve er lige for første gang brevet publiseret på nettet.

En interessant program – det er klart, at kongen var lidt af en control-freak, for at sige mildt, men han havde også mange gode egenskaber. I amerikanernes øjne var George den store skurk i deres kamp for retfærdighed og (efterfølgende) uafhangighed, men i virkeligheden burde de have bebrejdet den britiske parlament.

Han havde for vane at holde regelmæssige registreringer af hans 15 børn højdemålinger, til nærmeste 1/16 tomme. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om problem af overvægtighed i Storbritannien. Programmets vært er den charmerende Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall.

Det er morsomt, at det mislykkedes Hugh, på trods af adskillige forsøg, at overtale regeringens sundhedsminister, Jeremy Hunt, til at blive interviewet foran tv-kameraerne om problemet af overvægtighed og mulige løsninger. Jeg mistænker, at Jeremys problem er, at sukkerfabrikanter og fabrikanter af sukkerholdige drikkevarer bidrager med masser af penge til det konservative parti. Deres årlige konference bliver altid sponseret af Tate and Lyle, Storbritanniens største sukkerfabrikant. Sikke et vanvid!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!!!