Sunday, August 26 2018

08:00 Lois and I get up. It's raining today, so no chance of gardening, I know that for sure. It's lucky that I finished mowing the lawns on Friday. The next task on my to-do list is to trim back the hedges, but that must wait for another day.

10:00 We have got in the habit talking on whatsapp at around 10 o'clock Sunday mornings with Sarah, our younger daughter, who lives in Perth, Australia, but we do not hear anything from her today. Later I get a text from her - the family spent the day in Rockingham and they came home late. She will contact us later this week.

Rockingham, Western Australia, where Sarah spent the day

Alison, our elder daughter, is currently in Copenhagen, together with her family. But they are busy this morning - their 8-year-old son, Isaac, unfortunately broke his right arm yesterday while playing on a trampoline. They have to take him to the hospital for minor surgery. 

Later I get a sms from Alison - the operation was successful, and they are currently waiting for a second x-ray to be taken. The doctors have given the ok for him to fly home in a couple of days' time, but he must get another x-ray photograph taken at the local hospital after returning to England.

Poor Isaac !!!! But at least the hospital gave him 

a cuddly polar bear, which was sweet !!!
The polar bear has also broken his arm, which seems a bit 
of a coincidence, to put it mildly - good grief !

Poor Isaac! And it's a real pity for the family that such an accident happened during their short vacation in Denmark. The family recently moved back to England after almost 6 years of residence in Copenhagen, and the vacation was an opportunity to meet up again with some of their many friends, both Danish and British, American, Australian and other English speaking friends.

My younger sister Gill is currently on a 4 day vacation in the county of Norfolk, along with Peter, her handicapped husband, and Lucy, their youngest daughter, who is also handicapped. Unfortunately, there is rainy weather there too, but they do the best they can under the circumstances. Way to go, Gill!

The hotel where Gill's family is staying this weekend, seen from the outside. Cosy!

Gill and Lucy on the coast in Norfolk. 

It's raining in the pictures, but the coast is nevertheless very beautiful, we think. Lois and I went there for a holiday about 4 years ago, and I recalled that we looked out over the North Sea and thought about how Alison's family were living in that direction, 500 miles to the west - and coincidentally they happen to be over there again at the moment.

But it's a shame for Gill and her family that it is wet and windy this weekend after several weeks of heat wave weather. Just their luck !!!!

11:45 Lois has to go out. She wants to attend her sect's two worship services taking place today in the town of Tewkesbury. 

I have a little alone time and relax. I have lots of tasks on my to-do list, but I feel strangely not in the mood to start on them - damn it!

13:00 I have lunch and go to bed for a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:00 I get up and start watching a movie, "The Danish Girl", which we recorded the other day. It is set in the 1920s in Denmark and is about a young couple, both painters. The marriage seems to be happy and the couple have a passionate relationship and a good sex life, although it is clear that the woman is the dominant partner in the relationship.

Alicia Vikander, the gorgeous Swedish actress,

who plays the Danish woman painter Gerda Wegener in the film.
She is imagining her husband as a woman - what madness!

One day, the woman encourages her husband to put on women's clothing, in the first instance so he can stand in for a female model on sick leave. She tells him that women's clothes suit him and later she encourages him to dress up as a woman, just for fun, when they have to attend a big party that many of their friends have been invited to, a party that threatens to be a little boring, the woman thinks.

What starts out as a fun but harmless piece of tomfoolery turns into something more serious, and the woman becomes jealous when the man begins to attract male admirers.

I have the impression that some graphic sex scenes are in the offing, so I decide to turn off the movie before something unpleasant pops up on the screen (literally ha ha). I'm such a prude ha ha - but it's only 3:30 in the afternoon for God's sake!

16:00 Lois comes back from the church and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. The latest BBC Proms concert is on, showcasing some pieces by Ravel.

We listen to the first hour of the concert, but then we turn it off - Ravel is so boring. It may be that the music is quite pleasant if you are watching the relevant ballet at the same time, but not for its own sake, we think (apart from his Bolero of course). 

We do not have the faintest idea why people rave about Ravel (which many do, including Rattle of course). It is without any doubt just "music to do something else to" ha ha. Perhaps Lois and I are just a pair of philistines, but that's something we are not entirely sure about - the jury is still out on that one.

Lois and I have a theory that conductors prefer "mood music" that doesn't have strong melodies, because it gives them more opportunities for emotional gestures, movements and facial expressions.

21:00 We watch an interesting documentary about the German bombing of the city of Bristol in WWII.

I want to see this program because my parents moved to Bristol in 1960 and we lived there for 8 years.

The city center with its narrow, winding streets, was completely destroyed by the Germans, and of course I did not know personally what the city used to be like. The whole area was rebuilt after the war, with, as its main feature, a large park that surrounded the remains of the ruined St. Peter's church.

a pair of touching photos taken by local reporter Jim Facey just after the bombing

I remember that in the 1960s I was trying to get my driving license and had to drive around the city center to get sufficient practice, I was very surprised to see that the Geographia publisher's official city map was still showing the city center as it was before the war.

Good grief, what madness !!!!

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

Danish translation

08:00 Lois og jeg står op. Det regner kraftigt i dag, så ikke nogen mulighed for at lave havearbejde, det ved jeg med sikkerhed. Det er heldigt, at jeg klippede færdigt græsplænerne i fredags. Næste opgave på min gøremålsliste er at klippe hækkene, men det må blive en anden dag.

10:00 Vi er kommet i vane med at tale ved 10-tiden på whatsapp med Sarah, vores yngste datter, der bor i Perth, Australien, men vi hører ikke noget i dag. Senere får jeg en sms fra hende – familien har tilbragt dagen i Rockingham og de kom sent hjem. Hun vil kontakte os senere på ugen.

Alison, vores ældste datter, er for tiden i København, sammen med sin familie. Men de har travlt i formiddag – deres 8-årige søn, Isaac, brækkede desværre den højre arm i går, mens han legede på en trampolin. De skal tage ham til hospitalet for en mindre operation. Senere får jeg en sms fra Alison – operationen var vellykket, og de venter for tiden på, at et 2. røntgenfoto bliver taget. Lægerne har sagt god for, at han kan flyve hjem om et par dages tid, men han må får endnu et røntgenfoto taget i det lokale hospital, efter han er kommet tilbage til England.

Stakkels Isaac !!!! Men hospitalet forærte ham 

en plysbamse, hvilket var sødt!!!
Isbjørnen har også brækket armen, der virker at være 
lidt af et tilfælde, for at sige mildt - du godeste!!!

Stakkels Isaac! Og det er rigtig synd for familien, at der skete sådan en ulykke under deres kort ferie i Danmark. Familien flyttede for nylig tilbage til England efter næsten 6 års ophold i København, og ferien var en mulighed for at mødes igen med nogle af deres mange venner, både danske og andre engelske eller engelsktalende venner.

Min yngre søster Gill er på 4 dages ferie i grevskabet Norfolk, sammen med Peter, sin handicappede mand, og Lucy, deres yngste datter, der også er handicappet. Desværre er der regnvejr der også, men de gør det bedste de kan under omstændighederne. Kom så, Gill !

Gill-0 Hotellet, hvor Gills familie bor denne weekend, set udefra. Hyggeligt!

Gill og Lucy på kysten i Norfolk. 

Det regner, men kysten er ikke desto mindre meget smuk, synes vi. Lois og jeg gik der på ferie for ca. 4 år siden, og jeg mindes, at vi kiggede ud over Nord-søen og tænkte på, at Alisons familie boede i den retning, 500 miles mod vest – og de er tilfældvis derovre igen for tiden.

Men det er rigtig synd for Gill og hendes familie, at det regner og blæser denne weekend efter flere ugers hedebølge. Bare deres held !!!!

11:45 Lois skal ud. Hun ønsker at deltage i sin sekts to gudstjenester, der finder sted i dag i byen Tewkesbury. Jeg har lidt alenetid og slapper af. Jeg har masser af opgaver på min gøremålsliste men jeg føler mig underlig uoplagt til at indlede på dem – pokkers!

13:00 Jeg spiser frokost og går i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:00 Jeg står op og går i gang med at se en film, ”The Danish Girl”, som vi optog forleden. Den udspiller sig i 1920’erne i Danmark og handler om et ungt ægtepar, begge to malere. Ægteskabet virker lykkelig og parret har et lidenskabeligt forhold og et godt sexliv, selvom det er klart at kvinden er den dominerende part i forholdet.

Alicia Vikander, den pragtfulde svenske skuespillerinde,

der spiller den danske malerinde Gerda Wegener i filmen.
Hun forestiller sig sin mand som en kvinde - sikke et vanvid !!!!

En dag opmuntrer kvinden sin mand til at tage kvindetøj på, for det første så han kan vikariere for en kvindelig model, der er på sygelov. Hun siger, at kvindetøj passer ham godt, og senere opmuntrer ham til at klæde sig ud som kvinde, lige for sjov, for at deltage i en stor fest, som mange af deres venner er blevet inviteret til, en fest, der truede om at være lidt kedeligt, syntes hun.

Det, der starter som et morsomt men harmløst tosseri, bliver til noget mere alvorligt, og kvinden bliver jaloux, når manden begynder at tiltrække mandlige beundrere.

Jeg har på fornemmelse, at nogle grafiske sexscener er i opsejling, og jeg beslutter at slukke for filmen, før noget ubehageligt popper op på skærmen (bogstaveligt talt ha ha). Jeg er så snerpet ha ha – men den er kun kl 3:30 om eftermiddagen for guds skyld!

16:00 Lois kommer tilbage fra kirken og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser den seneste BBC Proms koncert, der fremviser nogle stykker af Ravel.

Vi lytter til koncertens første time, men så slukker vi for den – Ravel er så kedelig. Det kan være, at musikken er ganske behagelig, hvis man samtidigt ser på den svarende ballet, men ikke for sin egen skyld, synes vi (bortset fra hans Bolero selvfølgelig).  

Vi har ikke den fjerneste idé om, hvorfor folk falder i henrykkelse over den (hvilket mange gør, inklusive Rattle selvfølgelig). Det er uden tvivl ”musik for at gøre noget andet til” ha ha. Måske er Lois og jeg bare et par stykker filistre, men det er vi ikke helt sikre på – juryen er stadig ude om det der.

Lois og jeg har en teori om, at dirigenter bedre kan lide stemning-musik uden kraftige melodier, fordi den giver dem flere chancer for følelsesmagtige gestusser, bevægelser og udtryk i ansigtet.

21:00 Vi ser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om den tyske bombering af byen Bristol i den 2. verdenskrig.

Jeg har lyst til at se dette program, fordi mine forældre flyttede til Bristol i 1960, og boede der i 8 år.

Bymidten med dens smalle, bugtede gader, var fuldstændigt ødelagt af tyskerne, og selvfølgelig kendte jeg ikke personligt, hvad byen før i tiden lignede. Det hele område blev genopbygget efter krigen, med, som hovedattraktion, en stor park, der omgav resten af den ødelagte St Peters kirke.

et par rørende fotos, taget af den lokale journalist Jim Facey lige efter bomberingen

Jeg mindes, at da jeg i 1960’erne var i gang med at prøve at få mit kørekort og måtte køre rundt omkring i bymidten for at få den tilstrækkelig øvelse, var jeg meget overrasket at se Geographia-forlagets officielle bykort, der stadig viste bymidten, som det var inden krigen. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!!