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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