Monday, 2 July 2018

Sunday 1 July 2018


08:30 Lois and I get up and have breakfast. We have the habit on Sundays of talking to our 2 daughters on skype or whatsapp, but alas it all comes to nothing today!

Alison, our elder daughter, and family moved back yesterday into the family's old house in Haslemere after nearly 6 years' residence in Denmark, but she is too busy getting the house straight to talk with us today, and rightly so.

Rosalind (9), one of Alison's 3 children, sends us a text message and updates us about progress with the move-in. She says that they sorted out the kitchen yesterday, but the rest of the house is still one big mess - there are piles of books in the study for example. Yikes, poor them !!!! It's very hot again today (80F / 30C or so), which will make it even harder to move suitcases and boxes around and unpack them, that's something we know for sure.

Rosalind also says that she and her little brother, Isaac (7), will tomorrow be looking round what they hope will be their new schools. Exciting times !!!! Lois and I already know that Alison's eldest child, Josie (11), is going to be attending her new school's orientation day on Wednesday (at the local Woolmer Hill High School, just a stone's throw from the family's house, which is lucky).

Sarah, our younger daughter, who lives in Perth, Australia, promised yesterday she would probably talk with us at 9:30am today English time. But there is no answer when we call her. We find out later that she lost her cellphone earlier in the day, so she had to leave it somewhere in the house when Francis, her husband, took the family including their (soon to be) 5-year-old twins out on some excursion or other.

As we age, Lois and I are becoming more and more mere spectators in the lives of our children and grandchildren - that's something we know for sure. Sad, isn't it? !!!!

10:30 Lois is very tired after her church's big (4-hour) get-together yesterday, where she was responsible for ensuring that the participants' children were kept entertained by books, toys, stickers and sticker albums, etc.

She decides not to drive to Tewkesbury today to take part in her sect's 2 church services - she will listen to the services online instead. The first service starts at 11:30, so she sits down in front of my laptop and logs in to her church's website.

In the meantime I go out and cut the lawn in front of the house and the closest one in the backyard.

12:30 The first church service has ended. Judging from the sect's web page, I suspect that the sermon was about natural disasters. Church members usually say that there are nowadays many more major disasters happening (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.) than in the past, and this is a sign that we are living in the last days.


For my part, I am, however, somewhat uncertain whether this perception of more disasters isn't more a function of better news gathering around the globe, but I'm going to let that one slide. There is also global warming to take into consideration - so the jury is still out on the whole thing, I suspect! It's not something I'm an expert in - I have to admit!

The Bible comforts us with the idea that these disasters are just "the beginning of sorrows". I must also admit that I do not need more "sorrows" - I'm absolutely sure !!! Fewer sorrows would be good, I think !!!!

13:00 Lois and I have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap. Meanwhile, Lois sits herself down in front of my laptop to listen to today's second church service online.

15:30 I get up and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

18:00 We have dinner and afterwards I take a little look online. I see that Alison, our elder daughter, has put a charming picture up on "Insta", showing two of her children, Josie (11) and Isaac (7) together with Sika, the family's dog. They are taking Sika for a walk, his first walk ever in England. He seems enthusiastic about it anyway - he must be feeling a bit like a tourist!

Josie (11) and Isaac (7) take Sika, the family's dog,
for a walk - for the first time in England.

Steve, my brother in law, has sent me an amusing cartoon, drawn by Matt, showing two men in evening clothes with glasses of wine in their hand. They are chatting in the first man's wine cellar - he points to a gas cartridge lying on the floor. He says he has just laid down this vintage CO2 for his young son's 21st birthday.

Lois comments that she has heard that the current shortage of CO2 has been caused by the fact that many CO2 manufacturers shut down their facilities in the summer because there are fewer demands from farmers.

What madness! In the early days of our marriage, we used to brew our own beer and wine, using special kits we bought at the Boots pharmacy. Perhaps it's high time we swung by Boots again and asked them about a couple of "brew your own CO2" kits. The problem is that it all probably takes up quite a lot of time - can we handle it? Or are we too old? The jury is still out on that one, no doubt about that.

20:00 Lois and I spend the evening watching television. An interesting documentary is on (1st part of 3) all about Russia. The host of the program is the charming Simon Reeve.


An interesting trip through Kamchatka and Siberia. We see Vladislav, a Russian Orthodox priest, who is also an expert "dog musher".




Vladislav recently arrived at this remote village, where the residents told him they had been waiting for 50 years for a priest to come and work there. They asked him to baptize all of them on the spot, but the process took all night. Poor Vladislav !!!!!

Good grief, what madness! Lois commented that they could have baptised themselves - they strictly speaking did not need a priest. That would have been more sensible - I have to admit !!!!

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

Danish translation

08:30 Lois og jeg står op og spiser morgenmad. Vi har for vane om søndagen at tale med vores 2 døtre på skype eller whatsapp, men ak - det hele bliver ikke til noget i dag.

Alison, vores ældste datter, flyttede tilbage i går ind i sin families gamle hus i Haslemere efter næsten 6 års ophold i Danmark, men hun har for travlt med at ordne huset til at tale i dag med os, og med rette.

Rosalind (9 år), en af Alisons 3 børne, sender os en sms, hvor hun opdaterer os om fremskridtet med indflytningen. Hun siger, at de i går ordnede køkkenet, men resten af huset stadig er en stort rod – der er bunkevis af bøger i studerekammeret for eksempel. Yikes, stakkels dem !!!!  Det er meget varmt igen i dag (80F / 30C eller deromkring), hvilket vil gøre det endnu sværere at rykke kufferter og kasser, og pakker dem op, det ved vi med sikkerhed.

Rosalind siger også, at hun og hendes lille bror, Isaac (7) skal i morgen se sig om hvad de håber vil være deres nye skoler. Spændende tider !!!! Lois og jeg ved allerede, at Alisons ældste barn, Josie (11) skal på onsdag deltage i sin nye skoles orienteringsdag (på den lokale Woolmer Hill-højskole, der kun ligger et spytklat fra familiens hus, hvilket er heldigt).

Sarah, vores yngste datter, der bor i Perth, Australien, lovede i går, hun skal nok tale med os fra kl 9:30 i dag engelsk tid. Men der er ikke noget svar, når vi ringer til hende. Vi finder ud af senere, at hun mistede sin mobil tidligere på dagen, så hun måtte efterlade den i huset, da Francis, hendes mand, tog familien inklusive deres (snart) 5-årige tvillinger med på et eller andet udflugt.

Mens vi ældes, bliver vi mere og mere bare tilskuere i vores børn og børnebørns liv – det ved vi med sikkerhed.  Det er trist, ikke?!!!!

10:30 Lois er meget træt efter sin kirkes store (4 timer lange) sammenkomst i går, hvor hun var ansvarlig for at sikre, at gæsternes børn  blev underholdt af bøger, lege, stickers osv.

Hun beslutter ikke at køre til Tewkesbury for at deltage i sektens 2 gudstjenester – hun vil lytter til tjenesterne på nettet i stedet for. Den første tjeneste starter kl 11:30, så sætter hun sig foran min bærebare og logger ind til sin kirkes hjemmeside.

I mellemtiden går jeg ud og klipper græsplænen foran huset og den nærmeste i baghaven.

12:30 Den første gudtjeneste er sluttet. Ud af domme fra sektens hjemmeside, mistænker jeg at prædikenen handlede om naturlige katastrofer. Kirkemedlemmerne plejer at sige, at der nutildags sker alt flere store katastrofer (jordeskælv, tsunamier osv) end før, og dette er et tegn på, at vi lever i de sidste dage.


For mit vedkommende er jeg imidlertid lidt usikker på, om denne opfattelse af flere katastrofer ikke er mere en funktion af bedre nyhedssamling verden over,  men det springer jeg over. Der er også den globale opvarmning til at tage hensyn til – så juryen er stadig ude om det hele, mistænker jeg! Det er ikke noget jeg er en ekspert i – det må jeg indrømme!

Bibelen trøster os med tanken om, at disse katastrofer bare er ”begyndelsen på veerne. Jeg må også indrømme, at jeg ikke har brug for flere ”veerne” – det er jeg helt sikker på !!! Mindre veerne ville være gode, synes jeg!!!!

13:00 Lois og jeg spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermidddagslur. I mellemtiden sætter Lois sig foran min bærebare computer for at lytte til dagens 2. gudstjeneste på nettet.

15:30 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bagefter kigger jeg lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at Alison, vores ældste datter har lagt et charmerende billede op på ”Insta”, der viser to af sine børn, Josie (11) og Isaac (7) sammen med Sika, familiens hund. De er i gang med at tage Sika en tur, hans første tur nogensinde i England.

Josie (11) og Isaac (7) tager Sika,  familiens hund,
en tur – for første gang i England.
Han ser entusiastisk ud - han må føle sig lidt som en turist!

Steve, min svigerbror, har sendt mig en morsom karikatur, tegnet af ”Matt”, der viser to mænd i selskabsdragt med et glas vin i hånden. De står og snakker i den første mands vinkælder – han peger på en gaspatron, der ligger på gulvet. Han siger, at han lige har lagt en årsgang-CO2-gaspatron ned til den kommende anledning af sin unge søns 21. fødselsdag.

Lois kommenterer, at hun har hørt, at den nuværende mangel på CO2 er blevet forårsaget af, at mange CO2-fabrikanter lukker deres anlæg om sommeren, fordi der er mindre krav fra landmænd.

Sikke et vanvid! I de tidligste dage af vores ægteskab, plejede vi at brygge vores egen øl og vin, ved hjælp af specielle kits, vi købte hos Boots-apoteket. Måske er det på høje tid, at vi igen smutter ind hos Boots og spørger dem om et par ”bryg selv CO2” kits. Problemet er, at det hele sandsynligvis  tager en masse tid – kan vi klare det? Eller er vi nu for gamle? Det er juryen stadig ude om, uden tvivl.

20:00 Lois og jeg bruger aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm (1. del af 3), der handler om Rusland. Programmets vært er den charmerende Simon Reeve.


En interessant rejse gennem Kamtjatka og Sibirien. Vi ser Vladislav, en russisk-ortodokse præst, der også er en ekspert slædehundekører.




Vladislav ankom for nylig til dette fjerne landsby, hvor beboerne fortalte ham, de havde ventet over 50 år på, at en præst kommer og arbejder der. De bad ham om at døbe dem alle umiddelbart, men det tog hele natten. Stakkels Vladislav!!!!!

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid! Lois kommenterer, at de kunne have døbt sig selv – de har strengt taget ikke brug for en præst. Det ville have være fornuftigere – det må jeg indrømme !!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!


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