Danskcolin: Saturday 23 June 2018

08:00 Lois and I get up. After breakfast, I take a little look online. I see that our eldest daughter, Alison, who lives in Copenhagen with Ed, her husband, and their 3 children, has put a charming picture up on Insta.

The picture shows the two youngest children, Rosalind and Isaac, along with Alison, on their way to their regular Saturday training session at the local rugby club. They cannot wear their normal rugby uniforms today because the uniforms are already on their way to England in a huge double moving truck - yikes!

Our daughter Alison, together with her children Rosalind (9) and Isaac (7)

on their way to their regular rugby session at the local rugby club in Gentofte,

a small suburb of Copenhagen.

I assume they are either taking the bus to the rugby club or a friend is going to drive them over there. Alison and Ed sold their car a few days ago in preparation for their imminent return to England after almost 6 years in Denmark. Now they are totally dependent on public transport, poor them !!!!

flashback to yesterday: Ed and Ali waiting for the bus

at the local bus stop. Now they are totally dependent on public transport

- poor them!!!!

09:00 Lois and I drive over to the local Sainsburys supermarket to do the shopping. On our way we pop into Waghornes, the local butcher's shop to buy meat, bread and cheese. We come home and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

11:00 Lois goes out into the backyard and does a bit of weeding between fruit bushes, an area that has become a bit of a jungle, I have to admit. I tell her I'm too tired to help her right now - poor me !!!! But I promise to continue the weeding this afternoon after I have had my nap.

12:30 Lunch and afternoon nap. I get up and carry on Lois's work between the fruit bushes, while Lois sits down in our dining room (which doubles as our office) to prepare the Sunday School lesson she is going to give Charlie, a little boy, Hilary's grandson, tomorrow.

The lesson is all about Abraham and the other ancestors of the people of Israel, ie the country's patriarchs. She has fun doing a drawing of Abraham's family tree, to make the whole thing clearer for Charlie's sake. She misses the old days (late 1980s) when she was a Sunday school teacher - that's something I know for sure.

The drawing, Lois has made of Abraham's family tree

to illustrate tomorrow's Sunday School lesson.

Yikes - complicated !!!!!

For me, out here in the back yard, it's very hard work to weed between the fruit bushes. I'm forced to squat or get on all fours, surrounded by, and attacked by, the sharp thorns of the gooseberry bushes: not the most comfortable position when you're 72 - damn!

I see that some small walnut trees have decided to root themselves uninvited between the fruit bushes, which is not very helpful - what madness! I cannot uproot them, so I just have to be content with cutting them down as much as possible - they are such bastards, no doubt about that !!!!

16:00 We relax with a cup of tea and a piece of bread and butter with homemade apricot jam - yum yum!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. We are very tired, so decide to wallow in a bit of nostalgia. A fun program is on, all about 1978's most popular TV shows. The host of the program is the charming Matthew Kelly.

It's true that Lois and I were thinking in advance that the show would be a load of crap: a cheap compilation with short excerpts and sound bytes from some Mr. Wise Guys and a few so-called comedians not telling us anything new.

In fact, the program is not that bad: longer excerpts from the year's programs, and interviews with people who took part in the original programs, or in one way or another became involved with them.

The viewing figures were huge because there were only 3 channels: 20 million or more for the most popular shows. Lois and I learned a lot of things we did not know. I have always been puzzled as to why the Muppet Show was filmed in England by ITV. I did not know that all the American networks had already rejected the idea when Jim Henson suggested it. My god, sheer insanity !!!!

Alas, in 1978, Lois and I were young people with a young family: Alison (3) and Sarah (1), and we were often too tired to watch a lot of television. Happy days !!!!!

Flashback to summer 1978: Lois (32), Sarah (1) og Alison (3)

on a pier in Somerset, eating ice-creams

me (32) with our old Austin Mini-Traveller - happy days!!!!

22:30 We go to bed - zzzzzzz !!!!

Danish translation

08:00 Lois og jeg står op. Efter morgenmad kigger jeg lidt på nettet. Jeg ser at vores ældste datter, Alison, der bor i København sammen med Ed, sin mand, og deres 3 børn, har lagt et charmerende billede op på Insta.

Billedet viser de to yngste børn, Rosalind og Isaac, sammen med Alison, på vej til deres regelmæssige lørdagstræningsession på det lokale rugbyklub. De kan ikke bære deres normale rugbyuniformer i dag, fordi uniformerne er allerede på vej til England i en enorme dobbelt-flyttevogn – yikes!

Vores datter Alison, sammen med sine børn Rosalind (9) og Isaac (7)

på vej til deres regelmæssige rugbysession på den lokale rugbyklub i Gentofte,

en lille forstad til København.

Jeg formoder, at enten de tager med bussen til rugbyklubben eller en ven skal køre dem derovre. Alison og Ed solgte deres bil for et par dage siden, i forberedelse på deres overhængende tilbagekomst til England efter næsten 6 år i Danmark. Nu er de totalt afhængige af offentlige transportmidler, stakkels dem !!!!

tilbageblik til i går: Ed og Ali sidder og venter på bussen

ved den lokale busstoppestedet. Nu er de totalt afhængige af offentlige transportmidler

- stakkels dem !!!!

09:00 Lois og jeg kører over til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe ind. På vej smutter vi ind i Waghornes, den lokale slagterforretning for at købe kød, brød og ost. Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

11:00 Lois går ud ind i baghaven og luger lidt mellem frugtbuskene, et område, der er blevet til lidt af en jungle – det må jeg indrømme. Jeg fortæller hende, jeg er for træt for tiden til at hjælpe hende – stakkels mig!!!! Men jeg lover at fortsætte i eftermiddag med at luge dernede, når jeg har haft min eftermiddagslur.

12:30 Frokost og eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op og forsætter Lois’ arbejde mellem frugtbuskene, mens Lois sætter sig i vores spisestue (der fordobles som vores kontor), for at forberede den søndagsskolelektion, hun i morgen giver til Charlie, en lille dreng, der er Hilarys barnebarn. Lektionen handler om Abraham og de andre stamfædre til Israels folk, dvs landets patriarker. Hun hygger sig med at lave en tegning af Abrahams familietræ, for at gøre det hele meget klarere for Charlies vedkommende. Hun savner de gamle dage (sidst i 1980’erne), da hun var sondagsskoleslærerinde - det ved jeg med sikkerhed.

Tegningen, Lois har lavet om Abrahams familietræ

for at illustrere morgendagens søndagsskolelektion:

yikes - kompliceret !!!!!!

For mit vedkommende, herude i baghaven, er det meget hårdt arbejde at luge mellem frugtbuskene. Jeg bliver tvunget til at sidde på hug eller komme på alle fire, omgivet af, og angrebet af, stikkelsbærbuskenes skarpe torner: ikke den mest bekvemme stilling, når man er 72 – pokkers! Jeg ser, at nogle små valnødtræ har besluttet at rodfæste sig uinviterede mellem frugtbuskene, hvilket ikke er meget behjælpeligt – sikke et vanvid! Jeg kan ikke rykke dem op, så jeg skal nøjes med at klippe dem ned så meget som muligt – de er sådanne nogle sjufter, ingen tvivl om det!!!!

16:00 Vi slapper af med en kop te og et stykke brød med hjemmelavet abricos marmelade – yum yum!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. Vi er meget trætte, så beslutter os for at svælge i lidt nostalgi. De viser et morsomt program, der handler om året 1978s mest populære TV-shows. Programmets vært er den charmerende Matthew Kelly.

Det er sandt, at Lois og jeg imidlertid syntes på forhånd, at showet ville være noget lort: en billig kompilation med korte uddrag og lydbidder fra hr Karl Smart og et par stykker såkaldte komikere, der ikke fortæller os noget nyt.

Faktisk er programmet ikke så dårligt: længere uddrag fra årets programmer, og interviews med dem, der deltog i de oprindelige programmer, eller på en eller anden måde blev involverede med dem.

De daværende seertallene var enorme, fordi der kun var 3 kanaler: 20 millioner for de mest populære shows. Lois og jeg lærte en masse ting, vi ikke vidste. Jeg har altid været betuttet over, hvorfor Muppet Show blev filmet i England af ITV. Jeg vidste ikke, at alle de amerikanske netværker allerede havde afvist idéen, da Jim Henson foreslog den. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Ak ak: i 1978 var Lois og jeg unge mennesker med en ung familie: Alison (3) og Sarah (1), og vi var often alt for trætte til at se vildt meget fjernsyn. Lykkelige dage !!!!!