Danskcolin: Saturday, September 8 2018

09:00 After breakfast Lois and I drive into the village and do some food shopping. First we swing by Waghornes, the local butcher's shop, to buy meat, bread and cheese. Then we pop into the Bakery Stores, the local convenience store, to buy a few things. We come back home and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

10:00 We spend the rest of the day clearing up in the house and the backyard.

Sylvia, Lois' cousin from Melbourne, and her new partner, Rod, are coming in 8 days' time and are staying with us for a week - we do not want them to discover that Lois and I live like pigs (and enjoy it ! ) - but we have our pride.

The prospect of their visit has begun to with my usual calm state of mind: the bottom line is that during the next 8 days, I will have to change from being 100% introverted to being only 80% introverted - and so become a bit more outgoing. This will allow me to be at ease with the fact that there will be 2 extra people in the house, there will be 4 of us in the house and in the car, 4 at the dining table, 4 in the evening in the living room with our feet stuck up in front of the television. And I have to be relaxed about the possibility that I might meet Sylvia or Rod at night on my way to the bathroom etc etc - yikes!

Sylvia and Rod arrived in England a few days ago and are currently staying with Sylvia's Aunt June in Redditch. We have not heard from them yet, but today for the first time there are a few posts on Facebook: the couple are visiting the Bullring shopping center today in the city of Birmingham, also Cadbury World in Bournville.

Sylvia and Rod at the Bullring Shopping Center, Birmingham, today

Flashback to July 2014: I visit the Bullring with Lois

Lois and I stayed at Sylvia's 2 years ago at her house in Melbourne, but we have not met Rod yet. She got together with him last year. She had been a widow for about 10 years, I think, feeling more and more lonely, she says.

It is apparent from the picture of the couple in Birmingham that there is a fairly big difference in height between Sylvia and Rod. Lois and I discuss a little today about whether Rod will be too tall to be comfortable with Sylvia in our daughter Sarah's old double bed. We take a look at the photo Lois took of Sylvia and me two years ago in Victoria's famous Otway rain forest - it's a little hard to compare, but we come to the conclusion that Rod is probably not taller than me and maybe a bit shorter ( I am 5 foot 10 or so). But we are not completely sure - the jury is still out on that one.

Flashback to April 2016: Sylvia and me inside a giant tree

in the state of Victoria's famous Otway rainforest

Sylvia and Rod are also visiting Cadbury World today. Lois and I suspect Rod has a bit of a professional interest in chocolate. We actually know almost nothing about Rod's life history, but his Facebook page suggests that he previously worked for the Nestlé Company in Australia.

16:00 I get up after my usual afternoon nap and we catch a couple of wrestling matches on television before dinner.

Tonight's wrestling matches are unfortunately ruined by some bad sportsmanship: Martin Kirby gets hold of his 300-pound opponent Grado's famous bumbag so he can reveal the contents of the bag to the audience, but he finds only a dirty toothbrush in there - good grief, what madness. The two men then try in succession to rub the toothbrush into their armpits and then brush their opponent's teeth with the sweaty brush - not a pleasant sight, I have to admit.

Bad sportsmanship - Kirby tries to brush Grado's teeth

with the toothbrush he has just rubbed on his armpits. What madness !!!

Later, we see another unpleasant and even more shocking incident during a match between two masked wrestlers, Crater and Robbie X. At the end of the match Crater tries to tear off Robbie X's mask, something which has never been done before in the history of the sport .

At the end of the match Crater tries to tear off Robbie X's mask,

something which has never been done before in the history of the sport.

My god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

Lois and I sympathize with Robbie X - without his mask he will never be able to regain his former status, we suspect.

We recall that the Lone Ranger was always careful not to take off his mask. We are not quite sure, but we suppose he used to go to bed, take a bath etc, with the mask on, and that his wife got used to putting up with all that. He was occasionally arrested by the authorities, but he always managed to escape before being forced to reveal his identity, which was fortunate.

The Lone Ranger in 1965

I recall that I read at some point that he only once took his mask off, but fortunately this was during one of his many radio adventures during WWII - it is possible that somebody from from his circle of surroundings commented on his appearance without the mask, but I'm not quite sure that the recording still exists, which is a bit of a shame.

Flashback to June 1964 - the Lone Ranger on tv.

Happy days !!!!

18:30 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. The evening's BBC Proms concert is on, the last of this year's series. The host of the program is the charming Katie Derham.

An enjoyable concert - and many in the audience seem to be genuinely moved by the cellist's emotional interpretation of "Tom Bowling", the traditional sea-song.

The audience breaks down in tears during the cellist's poignant

interpretation of the sea-song, "Tom Bowling"

Even Prince Harry cannot keep his composure by this point

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

Danish translation

09:00 Efter morgenmad kører Lois og jeg ind i landsbyen og gør lidt madindkøb. Vi smutter først ind i Waghornes, den lokale slagterforretning, for at købe kød, brød og ost. Så kigger vi ind i Bakery Stores, den lokale nærbutik, for at købe et par ting. Vi kommer hjem igen og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

10:00 Vi bruger resten af dagen på at rydde op i huset og baghaven. Sylvia, Lois’ kusine fra Melbourne, og hendes nye partner, Rod, kommer om 8 dages tid og bor hos os i en uge, og vi vil ikke have, at de opdager, at Lois og jeg lever som svin (og nyder det ha ha!) - men vi har vores stolthed.

Udsigten er begyndt at forstyrre min sædvanligt rolige sindstilstand: bundelinjen er, at jeg i løbet af de næste 8 dage må ændre mig fra at være 100% introvert til at være kun 80% introvert – og dermed blive en lille smule mere udadvendt. Dette vil tillade mig at være tryg med, at der vil være 2 ekstra mennesker i huset, vi bliver 4 i huset og i bilen, 4 ved spisebordet, 4 om aftenen i stuen med benene smækket op foran fjernsynet. Jeg må være tryg med muligheden at jeg møder Sylvia eller Rod om natten på vej til badeværelset osv osv – yikes!

Sylvia og Rod ankom til England for nogle dage siden og de bor for tiden hos Sylvias tante June i Redditch. Vi har ikke hørt fra dem endnu, men i dag er der for første gang et par posts på Facebook: parret besøger Bullring indkøbscentret midt i byen Birmingham, også Cadbury World i Bournville.

Bullring: Sylvia og Rod på Bullring-indkøbscentret, Birmingham

Tilbageblik til juli 2014: Jeg besøger Bullringen sammen med Lois

Lois og jeg boede hos Sylvia for 2 år siden i hendes hus i Melbourne, men vi har ikke mødt Rod endnu. Hun fandt sammen med ham sidste år. Hun havde været enke i ca 10 år, tror jeg, og følte sig mere og mere ensom, siger hun.

Det er åbenbart fra billedet af parret i Birmingham, at der er en rimelig stor højdeforskel mellem dem. Lois og jeg diskuterer lidt i dag, om Rod vil være for høj til at ligge behageligt med Sylvia i vores datter Sarahs gamle dobbeltseng. Vi kigger på et foto Lois tog af Sylvia og mig for 2 år siden i Victorias berømte Otway regnskov – det er lidt svært at sammenligne, men vi kommer til den konklusion, at Rod sandynligvis ikke er højere, end mig, og måske lidt lavere (jeg er 5 fods 10 eller deromkring). Men det er vi ikke helt sikre på – juryen er stadig ude om det.

Tilbageblik til april 2016: Sylvia og mig inde i en kæmpetræ

i delstaten Victorias berømte Otway regnskov

Sylvia og Rod besøger også Cadbury World i dag. Lois og jeg mistænker, at Rod har lidt af en professionel interest i chokolade. Vi ved faktisk næsten intet om Rods livhistorie, men hans Facebookside antyder, at han før i tiden arbejdede for Nestlé-selskabet i Australien.

16:00 Jeg står op efter min sædvanlige eftermiddagslur og vi ser et par brydekampe i fjernsyn før aftensmaden.

Aftenens brydekampe bliver igen desværre ødelagt lidt af dårlig sportsånd: Martin Kirby får fat på sin 300 pund modstander Grados berømte bumsetaske for at afsløre indholdet til publikummet, men han bare finder en beskidt tandbørste derinde – du godeste, sikke et vanvid. De to mænd prøver så begge to at gnide tandbørsten i sine armhuler og så børste sin modstanders tænder med den svedige børsten – ikke et behageligt syn, det må jeg indrømme.

Dårlig sportsånd – Kirby prøver at børste Grados tænder

med den tandbørste, han lige har gnidet i sit armhul. Sikke et vanvid!!!

Senere ser vi en anden ubehagelig og endnu mere chokerende hændelse, i løbet af en brydekamp mellem to maskede brydere, Crater og Robbie X. Ved slutningen af kampen prøver Crater at rive Robbie X’s mask af, hvilket er aldrig blevet gjort før i historien af sporten.

Ved slutningen af kampen prøver Crater at rive Robbie X’s mask af,

hvilket er aldrig blevet gjort før i historien af sporten.

Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Lois og jeg sympatiserer med Robbie X – uden sin mask vil han aldrig kunne genvinde sin tidligere status, mistænker vi.

Vi mindes om, at Lone-Rangeren altid passede på, ikke at tage sin mask af. Vi er ikke helt sikre på det, men vi formoder, han plejede at gå i seng, gå i bad osv, med masken på, og at hans kone vænnede sig til at udholde alt det der. Han blev af og til anholdt af myndighederne, men det lykkedes ham altid at undslippe før han blev tvunget til at afsløre sin identitet, hvillket var heldigt.

Lone-Rangeren i 1965

Jeg mindes, jeg læste nogle steder på ét eller andet tidspunkt, at han kun engang tog sin mask af, men heldigvis var dette i løbet af et af sine mange radioaventyr under den 2. verdenskrig – det er muligt, at i radioen en eller anden af sin omgangskreds kommenterede hans udseende, men jeg er ikke helt sikker på, at optagelsen stadig eksisterer, hvilket er lidt af en skam.

Tilbageblik til juni 1964 – Lone Ranger på fjernsyn

Lykkelige dage !!!!

18:30 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser aftenens BBC Promst-concert, den sidste i årets serie. Programmets vært er den charmerende Katie Derham.

En nydelig koncert – og mange, der sidder i publikummet, synes at blive ægteligt rørt af cellistens følelsesmæssige fortolkning af ”Tom Bowling”, den traditionelle sømandssang.