Monday, August 27 2018

08:00 We get up, and after breakfast Lois gets 3 packages of children's clothes ready to send to Sarah, our youngest daughter, who lives in Perth, Australia, with her husband Francis, and their 5-year-old twins, Lily and Jessie.

Summer clothes are on sale at the moment in English stores, so it makes sense to buy them here to save our daughter Sarah money in Perth. The twins are relatively tall for their age, just like Francis, their father (who is 6 foot 6), so we actually bought summer clothes meant for 6-year-olds.

We get ready to go into the village and swing by the local post office when I luckily remember that today is a holiday in England. Damn - a typical pensioner error. All our working lives we spend looking forward to the next public holiday, and finally we retire, and suddenly we do not bother about public holidays - every day is a holiday ha ha.

10:00 Lois starts doing a little weeding in the front yard. I want to start cutting back our huge hedges, but unfortunately they are still dripping wet after yesterday's rainy weather. So I just put the the hedge trimmer's reserve battery on charge, in preparation for doing the job later in the week hopefully.

We must start thinking about Sylvia and Rod's visit starting September 17th. Sylvia is Lois' cousin and she lives in Melbourne, Australia. Rod is her new partner - she met him online - yikes, Sylvia !!! She has decided they will spend about 2 months in England visiting some of her many relatives over here.

When they stay with us (17th-24th of September or thereabouts), they are going to be sleeping in the double bed in Sarah's old room, which overlooks the backyard, so is very quiet, and there is no problem with traffic noise.

Unfortunately, Sarah's old room has become a bit of a mess. It is currently my temporary mini-gym, with my exercise bike and my weights, also all my pop music videos from the 1980s that I watch while cycling. My goodness!

I get going today with moving the exercise bike, the weights, the dvd player, my stack of DVDs, etc. into Alison's old room. I move my extra coats out of Sarah's old wardrobe and dump them on top of one of the 3 beds in Alison's room - the wardrobe is now almost completely empty, and Sylvia and Rod will be able to use it if they want.

Sylvia and Rod come to us on September 17th. Sylvia says they are traveling by bus from Pwllheli in North Wales to Cheltenham. Good luck with that, Sylvia! I looked the other day online and I discovered that the journey by bus takes 10 hours but that's only if you are lucky with your connections. We have warned her, but Sylvia is unfortunately the kind of person who does not listen to anyone's advice - yikes, Sylvia (again) !!!!!

Lois and I want to plan excursions, etc. that we can go on with them, but we actually haven't the slightest idea what they are interested in. 

We have two broad options - historical sights, including old architecture; or else beautiful scenery: the gorgeous villages in the Cotswolds hills, the old stone houses and pubs, etc. 

As for outings, on Saturday, for example, Lois and I celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary and at the restaurant we heard for the first time about a local gin and whisky factory near Moreton-in-Marsh, where you can do a tour and find out about the methods they use to manufacture their products, which would be interesting.

12:30 Lois and I have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap. I get up at 4pm and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

17:00 I take a little look online. Steve, my American brother-in-law has sent me a link to a YouTube video showing a White House press conference where journalists are apparently raising more personal issues than usual with Sarah Huckabee.

It turns out that the press conference proceedings have actually been misinterpreted as a result of erroneous lip-reading software, but some of the journalists' questions and comments, although somewhat ridiculous, I can really identify with. 

And just as our dreams tend to express our deepest unconscious desires, in the same way our desire to get someone to feed us pickles, for example, tell us a little bit about who we really are, I think. And Huckabee seems a bit less scary and a bit more human than usual in this revealing video clip, which makes a refreshing change.

19:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. University Challenge is on, a TV quiz for university students and one of the few television shows that are not suitable for very stupid people.

Just a 1st round competition this evening, but Lois and I are astonished at how good the Durham team is at coming up with the right answers to a wide range of questions covering many fields, both scientific and cultural. They will be a hard team to beat, no doubt about that.

21:00 We continue to watch a bit of television. We see the first hour of a 90-minute documentary about Larry Grayson, the camp English comedian from Nuneaton, who was already in his 50's when he became a big television star. He had spent many years in relative obscurity, only giving performances in small local clubs and theaters.

Lois and I saw one of Larry's performances in the 1970s at a theater in Blackpool and we always had a soft spot for him.

And I recall that in 2017 we saw an old episode of "The Good Old Days", a television program that tried to recreate the atmosphere of the old vaudeville theater. The program first aired in February 1977. Lois and I then had only one daughter, Alison (18 months), and Lois was 5 months pregnant with Sarah, our younger daughter. My god, happy days !!!

For us Larry was the highlight of the show. And Larry was never funnier than when he would turn to a random married man in the audience who had caught his eye when he first came up on stage.

Larry started singing his song, the old vaudeville classic "Have Some Madeira, M'dear", but stopped in the middle of the song to turn back to the man again.

22:00 We go to bed - we have to get up early tomorrow. Lois wants to visit Yvonne, one of her sect's elderly members who lives in a nursing home near Upton-on-Severn. The plan is to visit Yvonne during the morning and then have lunch at some restaurant or pub in the town.

Zzzzzzzzz!!!!!!

Danish translation

08:00 Vi står op og efter morgenmad går Lois i gang med at forberede 3 pakker børnetøj, som vi skal afsende til Sarah, vores yngste datter, der bor i Perth, Australien, sammen med Francis, sin mand, og deres 5-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie.

Sommertøj er på tilbud for tiden i engelske butikker, så det giver mening at købe dem her for at spare vores datter Sarah penge i Perth. Tvillingerne er forholdsvis høje for deres alder, ligesom Francis, deres far (6 fods 6), så vi faktisk købte sommertøj til børn på 6 år.

Lois og jeg forbereder os på, at gå hen i landsbyen og smutte ind i det lokale postkontor, da jeg heldigvis mindes, at i dag er en helligdag i England. Pokkers – en typisk pensionists fejl. Hele vores arbejdsliv bruger vi på at glæde os til den næste hellidag, og til sidst går vi på pension, og pludselig er vi ligeglade med helligdage – hver dag er en helligdag ha ha.

10:00 Lois går i gang med at luge lidt i forhaven. Jeg har lyst til at gå i gang med at klippe vores enorme hække, men desværre er de stadig drivende våde, efter gårsdagens regnvejr. Jeg genoplader hækkeklipperens ekstra batteri som forberedelse på at klare opgaven senere på ugen.

Vi må starte at tænke på Sylvia og Rods besøg den 17. september. Sylvia er Lois’ kusine, der bor i Melbourne, Australien, og Rod er hendes nye partner – hun mødte ham på nettet – yikes, Sylvia!!! Hun har besluttet at tilbringe ca. 2 måneder i England for at besøge nogle af sine mange slægtninge herovre.

Når de bor hos os (17.- 24. september eller deromkring), skal de sove i dobbeltsengen i Sarahs gamle værelse, der har udsigt over baghaven, så der er meget stille og roligt, og der er ikke noget problem med trafiklarm.

Desværre er Sarahs gamle værelse blevet lidt af et stort rod. Det er for tiden mit midlertidlige mini-motionscenter, med min motionscykel og mine vægter, også alle mine popmusik-videor fra 1980’erne, som jeg ser på, mens jeg cykler. Du godeste!

Jeg går i gang i dag med at rykke motionscyklen, vægterne, dvd-spilleren, mine stakker af dvd’er osv ind i Alisons gamle værelse. Jeg rykker mine ekstra frakker ud af Sarahs gamle garderobe og dumper dem ned over en af de 3 sengene i Alisons værelse – garderoben er nu næsten tom, og Sylvia og Rod kan nu bruge den, hvis de har lyst til det.

Sylvia og Rod kommer hos os den 17. september. Sylvia siger, de rejser med bus fra Pwllheli i Nord-Wales til Cheltenham.  Tillykke med det, Sylvia! Jeg kiggede forleden på nettet, og jeg opdager at rejsen med bus tager 10 timer, hvis man er heldig med forbindelserne. Vi  har advaret hende, men Sylvia hører desværre til den slags menneske, der ikke lytter til råd fra nogen – yikes, Sylvia (igen) !!!!!

Lois og jeg har lyst til at planlæge udflugter osv, vi kan gå på med dem, men vi har faktisk ikke den fjerneste anelse om, hvad de interesserer sig for. Vi har to brede optioner – historiske sevædigheder, herunder gammel arkitektur,  eller smuk natur: de pragtfulde landsbyer i Cotswolds-bakkerne, de gamle stenbyggede huse og pubber osv. I lørdags, for eksempel,  havde  Lois’ og jeg vores  46. bryllupsdag, og på restauranten hørte vi for første gang om et lokalt gin og whisky-fabrik, der står i nærheden af Moreton-in-Marsh, hvor man kan se sig om i, og kigge på metoderne, de fremstiller deres produkter på.

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 16 og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

17:00 Jeg kigger lidt på nettet. Steve, min amerikanske svigerbror har sendt mig adressen af en YouTube video, der fremviser en Hvidt Hus presse-konference, hvor journalisterne synes at stille Sarah Huckabee mere personlige spørsgmål, end normalt.

Det viser sig at konferencens meddelelser  faktisk er blevet misfortolket som resultat af en fejlagtig mundaflæsning, men nogle af journalisternes spørgsmål og kommentarer, selvom der i en vis grad er latterlige, kan jeg virkelig identificere med.  Ligesom har vores drømme tendens til at udtrykke vores dybeste ubevidste lyster, så kan vores lyst til at få nogen til at fodre os pickles, for eksempel, fortælle os lidt om, hvem vi virkelig er, tror jeg. Og Huckabee virker lidt mindre skræmmende og lidt mere menneskelig end normalt,  i denne afslørende videoklip, hvilket er en forfriskende forandring.

19:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser University Challenge, en tv-kviz til universitetstuderende og en af de få tv-programmer, der ikke er egnede for meget dumme mennesker.

Bare en 1. omgang konkurrence i aften, men Lois og jeg bliver forbavset over, hvor dygtige Durham-holdet er til at finde de rigtige svar til en bred vifte af spørgsmål, der dækker mange felter, både videnskabelige og kulturale. De vil være et svært hold at slå, ingen tvivl om det.

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. Vi ser den første time af en 90 minuttes dokumentarfilm, der handler om Larry Grayson, den camp, kitsch engelske komiker fra Nuneaton, som allerede var i 50’erne, da han blev en stor tv-stjerne. Han tilbragte mange år i forholdsvis obskuritet, begrænset til præstationerne i små lokale klubber og teatrer.

Lois og jeg så en af Larrys præstationer i 1970’erne på et teater i Blackpool, og vi har altid haft en svaghed for ham.

Og jeg mindes, at vi i 2017 så et gamle afsnit af ”The Good Old Days”, et tv-program, der prøvede at genskabe stemningen af det gamle vaudeville-teater. Programmet blev først udsendt i februar 1977. Lois og jeg havde dengang kun én datter, Alison (18 mdr), og Lois var 5 mdr gravid med Sarah, vores yngste datter.  Du godeste, lykkelige dage !!!

For vores vedkommende, var Larry showets højdepunkt. Larry var aldrig morsommere, end når han begyndte at henvende sig til en tilfældig giftet mand i publikummet, som han fik øje på lige efter han kom på scenen.

Larry gik i gang med at synge sin sang, den gamle vaudeville klassiker ”Have some Madeira, m’dear”, men stoppede midt i sangen for at henvende sig igen til manden.

22:00 Vi går i seng – vi må stå tidligt op i morgen. Lois ønsker at besøge en af sin sekts ældre medlemmer, der bor i et plejehjem i nærheden af Upton-on-Severn. Planen er at besøge Yvonne i løbet af formiddagen og så spise frokost på en eller anden restaurant eller pub i byen.

Zzzzzzz!!!!!