Friday, November 9, 2018

07:30 I let Minx, our 18 and a half year old cat, out of the utility room where she sleeps every night, and I get ready to feed her her morning cat food as usual. However, I immediately notice that there is something wrong with her - she is just mewing in an incredibly pathetic way, and she is not interested in cat food: a big difference, even compared to yesterday.

And during the night, she has not eaten much of the cat food Lois put in her cat bowl last night - she may have licked the top of the food a little, but nothing more.

Poor Minx !!!!

Minx is today mewing almost continuously. In the past, she, like all the cats, mewed to ask us to fix some problem - she was hungry, she wanted to go through a closed door, etc. But now, most of the time, she's mewing only because she is feeling very very bad and she wants us to "heal" her, to make her feel better, which is something we sadly just cannot do.

I am now quite sure that, sadly, she has reached the end of the road.

08:15 Amongst all the tragedy, a piece of good news: Gill, my sister in Cambridge, sends me a text message. Maria, her youngest daughter, has got engaged to her partner Tom, which is heartwarming. The couple are currently on vacation in Barcelona. At last for Gill and Peter, maybe a sign that they could be grandparents in the future - but it's a little too early to be sure of that.

09:00 We get an appointment with the local veterinarian, at 9:50 am. The vet says that Minx has lost a lot of weight: she weighs less than 4 pounds now, which is not a good good sign, to put it mildly. We tell the vet we do not think Minx is getting any pleasure out of life any more, and reluctantly we decide to ask her to put Minx to sleep.

Lois cradles Minx in her arms while the vet gives her (Minx) the shot. We carry on stroking her fur  even after she's dead and we feel the occasional twitch from time to time, the poor thing!

Minx - The last photo, dating from last month, the poor thing!

10:15 We get the bus into town and take Lois' charity Christmas toys shoe-boxes to Shoezone Shoe Shop, where the charity Samaritan Purse has arranged to pick up all the participants' boxes tomorrow.

We feel a bit washed out by the morning's activities, first and foremost by the loss of Minx after 6 years in our home. We swing by the Patisserie Valerie café. We have a cup of coffee and a Danish pastry and afterwards we take the bus back home.

What a morning !!!

We call Alison, our daughter in Haslemere, to tell her about Minx. Minx was originally Alison's cat, but she left her with us when she, Ed and their 3 children moved to Denmark 6 years ago.

Alison is very sad to hear about the loss of Minx, but she says it was only to be expected, given Minx's age and condition.

Ed, Alison's husband, is still unemployed since he was made redundant by his company in Copenhagen at the end of March 2018. Alison says that Ed has several options at the moment but no fixed offers so far. He hopes he can get a new job in England before Christmas.

13:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap. Lois swings by the neighbours (Stephen and Frances) in the meantime and tells them that Minx has unfortunately had to be put down. It's Stephen and Frances who look after Minx when Lois and I go on vacation.

15:00 I get up and we relax with a cup of tea and a piece of bread with homemade plum jam - yum yum!

It's going to take some weeks to get used to the fact that Minx is no longer in the house, that's for sure. For 6 years it has become completely automatic for us to keep some doors closed and others opened and to cover or otherwise to "protect" our plates of food, glasses of water, etc., not to make too much noise in the morning so as to not wake her and set off her mewing ec, etc.

I used to call Minx the "boss" and there was some truth in that.

And I expect we are going to imagine we can still hear her ghostly mewing once in a while. Rest in peace, Minx, your suffering is over now, thank God!

16:00 We listen to the radio, an interesting program entitled "The Last Word". Lois and I have got in the habit of hearing this program every week because we want to find out whether anyone over the past 1-2 weeks has died or not (I have noticed that most weeks exactly 5 deaths occur ).

Tom Jago, the marketing manager who launched some of Britain's most popular alcoholic beverages, has sadly died.

Matthew Bannister, the program's presenter, talks a little about Tom's life with his charming and funny daughter, Rebecca.

Tom Jago, who sadly died recently, at 93 years of age

Initially Tom worked for "International Distillers and Vintners", and he found he had a knack for create compelling marketing images for some of the UK's most peculiar and unpromising-sounding drinks.

He started his career in marketing by mistake; he wanted to become a photographer, but ended up attending the wrong interview by mistake, but by the end of the interview he found that he had a job as a copywriter. He turned out to be a totally lousy copywriter, however, and eventually ended up switching to marketing.

He was responsible for the creation of Baileys, for example. Grand Met and Gilbeys owned a loss-making distillery in Ireland. Grand Met also owned Express Dairies, and because of the growing popularity of skimmed milk, there was a bit of a "cream lake" of unwanted, unsold cream. The company asked Tom Jago to find some product that could make use of all the loss-making whisky and all the unsold cream. The Irish government was also offering massive tax breaks at the time to companies that would manufacture in Ireland and export from Ireland. The result of all that was Baileys.

Tom experimented with pouring some Irish whisky and cream into a blender, but it didn't taste very nice, so he added a little Nesquik: as simple as that ha ha!

The company's focus groups hated it, however, and thought it tasted a bit like something you take for a bad stomach: kaolin and morphine, for example, but without the morphine effect.

Good grief, what madness!

But Tom and the firm were nevertheless convinced that they had a winner, and they were right - and it was certainly groundbreaking, that's for sure.

Malibu was another of Tom's ideas. The drink itself was developed in South Africa, but South Africa was a bit of a pariah country at that time because of its apartheid policy, so it was the kiss of death for any product to be described as South African.

Tom thought the drink was absolutely delicious and that it tasted like a white coconut-based sweet rum - "what's not to love?" etc. He decided to name it Malibu, and together with his partner, James Espey, he created the drink's wonderful slogan "Malibu - it comes from paradise and tastes like heaven". Using pictures of palm trees, Tom got people to believe that it came from the Caribbean, the place where rum comes from, but it was actually originally a South African idea.

When it came to Le Piat d'Or, Tom took a wine that was not specially nice and made it a best seller. He realised that a lot of people did not care much for wine: it is not inherently delicious in many people's eyes. He thought Le Piat d'Or was a bit sweeter, a bit softer than the average, and that he could persuade someone who did not drink wine to accept it, with the help of the slogan "Les français adorent le Piat d'Or" / The French adore Le Piat d 'Or.

He drank "responsibly" most of the time, according to his daughter. But he loved to drink - there was no doubt about that, and he was not always "responsible". He was aware of the risks of drinking for many people, but his daughter says that when you reach your 90s and you have been drinking your whole life and never been very ill, you do not tend to worry too much over things like that ha ha!

Tom and James Espey, together with Tom's daughter Rebecca, started the "Last Drop" distillery just over 10 years ago to find and bottle very old, very rare spirits. Tom was fascinated by the science of reactions between spirits and wood. Earlier this year, they created a drink called Tom's Blend, and until the day he died at 93, he used to have a dram of it every night.

Rest in peace, Tom, and Cheers!

16:30 Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, sends me a text message: she has unfortunately felt very unwell this week, and I suspect she misses Lois's comforting words and sympathy - Francis, Sarah's husband may be too preoccupied with his own issues. She has not slept well lately for a few nights and is coughing a lot. Poor Sarah!

The family doctor fortunately gave her a week's sick leave earlier this evening (Perth time) and prescribed some antibiotics. She has to take more tests tomorrow (nose and chest).

Her text reminds me that I have been very lucky this week, in that I have not caught Lois' cold: but I'm not sure if the danger is over yet or not. The jury is still out on that one.

We send Sarah our positive thoughts via sms and order a bouquet of flowers from Interflora, as a surprise for tomorrow. It's not that easy to be a working mother with 2 five-year old twins on the other side of the world from the support of one's family, that's for sure.

18:30 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching television. An interesting documentary is on, all about Prince Charles, including interviews with the prince himself, and also William, Harry and Camilla.

An interesting program, and as it says in the Radio Times magazine, Charles shows a side that the public does not see that often, a charming man, good with people and with a good sense of humour.

He chats with a sausage producer in Ballater, Scotland, where the famous long black pudding was produced, the one that saved a butcher's life when he got locked in a freezer room and found out that the door's exit button was frozen and no longer working. The butcher finally managed to free himself by hitting the button with a Ballater black pudding, which was a lucky outcome.

Charles's sons, William and Harry, obviously feel a lot of respect and love for him. They are both massively popular, while their father is less popular: he is considered to be stuffy and old-fashioned, with outlandish ideas, which is not fair in the slightest. People should focus on what he says, rather than the old fashioned way he says it in, or the old-fashioned way he dresses.

The program emphasises how much Charles was ahead of his time when he first started promoting environmental issues almost 50 years ago, when it was not fashionable, and it also stresses how hard he works all the time to promote both environmental protection and to help young people learn skills for the workplace, or to have the facilities to be able to do sports and become physically fit.

And Lois and I like Camilla's current hair style. Go, Camilla !!!

Lois and I like Camilla's current hair style - go Camilla!

22:00 What a day! We go to bed - zzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation

07:30 Jeg får Minx, vores 18 og et halvt år gamle kat, ud af bryggerset, hvor hun hver nat sover, og forbereder mig på at fodre hende sin kattemad, som sædvanligt. Jeg ser imidlertid med det samme, at det er noget fat med hende – hun miaver bare på en utrolig patetisk måde, og hun er ikke interesseret i kattemad: en stor stor forskel, endda i sammenligning med i går.

Og hun har i løbet af natten ikke spist ret meget af den kattemad, Lois lagde i hendes katteskål i går aftes – hun har måske slikket toppen af maden lidt, men intet mere.

Stakkels Minx!!!!

Minx mjaver fortsæt: i fortiden miavede hun, som alle katte, for at bede os om at fikse et eller andet problem – hun var sulten, hun havde lyst til at gå igennem en lukket dør osv. Men nu mjaver for det meste bare fordi hun føler sig meget meget dårligt tilpas, og hun vil have os til at ”læge” hende, til at gøre hende til at have det bedre dvs noget vi ikke kan gøre.

Jeg er nu helt sikker på, at hun desværre er nået til enden af vejen.

08:15 Blandt al den tragedi, en god nyhed: Gill, min søster i Cambridge, sender mig en sms. Maria, hendes yngste datter, er blevet forlovet med sin partner Tom, hvilket er hjertevarmende. Parret er på ferie for tiden i Barcelona. Til  sidst for Gill og Peter, måske et tegn på, at de i fremtiden kunne blive bedsteforældre – men det er det lidt for tidligt at være sikker på!

09:00 Vi får aftale hos den lokale dyrelæge, bestemt til kl 09:50.  Dyrelægen siger, at Minx har tabt en masse vægt: hun vejer mindre end 4 pund, hvilket ikke er et ret godt tegn, for at sige mildt. Vi fortæller dyrelægen, vi ikke synes, Minx finder noget nydelse mere i at leve, og modvilligt beslutter vi at bede hende om at aflive Minx.

Lois vugger Minx i armene mens dyrelæge giver hende (Minx) skuddet. Vi fortsætter med at stryge hendes pels endda efter hun er død, og vi mærker den lejlighedsvise trækning fra tid til anden, staklen!  

Minx – det sidste foto, daterende fra sidste måned, staklen!

10:15 Vi tager bussen ind i byen og medbringer Lois’ julegaver-skokasser til Shoezone-skobutikken, hvor velgørende organisationen Samaritans Purse har arrangeret at samle skokasserne op  i morgen.

Vi føler os lidt slået ud af formiddagens aktiviteter, først og fremmest af tabet af Minx efter 6 år i vores hjem. Vi smutter ind i Patisserie Valerie-caféen. Vi drikker en kop kaffe, og spiser et wienerbrød, og bagefter tager vi bussen hjem igen.

Sikke en formiddag!!!

Vi ringer til Alison, vores datter i Haslemere, for at fortælle hende om Minx. Minx var oprindeligt Alisons kat, men hun efterlod hende hos os, da hun, Ed og deres 3 børn flyttede til Danmark for 6 år siden.

Alison er meget triste for at høre om tabet af Minx, men hun siger, det bare var forventet, på grund af Minx’ alder og tilstand.

Ed, Alisons mand, er stadig arbejdsløs, siden han blev afskediget af sit firma i København ved slutningen af marts 2018. Alison siger, at Ed har flere optioner for tiden, men hidtil ingen faste tilbud. Han håber på, han kan få et nyt job før juletiden.

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Lois smutter ind hos naboerne (Stephen og Frances) i mellemtiden og fortæller dem, at Minx desværre er blevet aflivet. Det er Stephen og Frances der passer på Minx, når Lois og jeg tager på ferie.

15:00 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te og et stykke brød med hjemmelavet blommemarmelade – yum yum!

Det kommer til at tage os nogle uger til at vænne os til, at Minx ikke længere er i huset, det er der ikke nogen tvivl om. I 6 år er det blevet helt automatisk for os at holde visse døre lukket, og andre åbnet, og at dække eller ellers at ”beskytte” tallerkenerne af mad, glas vand osv, ikke at lave for meget støj om morgenen for ikke at vække hende og provokere hende til at starte at mjave osv osv.

Jeg plejede at kalde Minx for ”chefen”, og det var der en vis grad sandhed i.

Og jeg forventer, vi kommer til at forestille os at vi stadig kan høre hendes spøgelsesagtige mjaven en gang imellem. Hvil i fred, Minx, dine lidelser er forbi, gudskelov!

16:00 Vi lytter til radio, et interessant program med titlen ”Det sidste ord”. Lois og jeg er kommet i vane med at høre dette program hver uge, fordi vi ønsker at finde ud af, om nogen i de seneste 1-2 uger døde eller ej (jeg har bemærket, at der i de fleste uger sker nøjagtig 5 dødsfald).

Tom Jago, den marketingchef, der lancerede nogle af Storbritannens mest populære alkoholiske drikke, er desværre død, og Matthew Bannister, programmets vært, snakker lidt om Toms liv med hans charmerende og morsom datter, Rebecca.

Tom Jago, der desværre døde for nylig, på 93 år

I begyndelsen arbejdede Tom for ”International Distillers and Vintners”, og han gjorde det til sin force at kunne skabe uimodståelige images til nogle de mest underlige drikke.

Han startede en karriere i marketing ved en fejltagelse; han ønskede at blive fotograf men endte med at deltage i det forkerte interview, og ved slutningen af interviewet fandt han ud af, at han havde et job som tekstforfatter i et reklamebureau. Men desværre var han totalt elendig til at være tekstforfatter, og endte til sidst med at skifte til marketing.

Han var ansvarlig for skabningen af Baileys Irish Cream, for eksempel. Grand Met og Gilbeys ejede en tabsgivende destilleri i Irland. Grand Met ejede også Express Dairies, og på grund af den stigende popularitet af skummetmælk, var der en ”flødesø”. Firmaet bad Tom Jago om at finde på et eller andet produkt, der kunne benytte al den tabsgivende whisky og al den fløde. Også den irske regering tilbød massive skattelettelse til firmaer, der ville fremstille i Irland og eksportere fra Irland. Resultatet af alt det der var Baileys.

Tom eksperimenterede med at hælde lidt irsk whisky og fløde i en blender, men det smagte ikke ret godt, så han tilføjede lidt Nesquik: så simpelt som det kunne blive ha ha!

Firmaets fokusgrupper hadede den imidlertid, og syntes, den smagte lidt som noget, man tager mod en dårlig mave: kaolin og morfin, for eksempel, men uden morfin-effekten.

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Men Tom og firmaet var ikke desto mindre overbevist om, at de havde en vinder, og det havde de ret i – det var banebrydende, det er der ikke nogen tvivl om.

Malibu var en anden af Toms idéer. Selve drikken blev udviklet i Syd-Afrika, men Syd-Afrika var dengang lidt af et paria-land på grund af dets apartheid-politik, så det var dødskysset, hvis et eller andet produkt blev beskrevet som syd-afrikansk.

Tom mente, at drikken var helt lækker, og at den smagte som et hvidt kokosnød-baseret sødt rum, hvad er ikke at elske osv. Han besluttede at nævne den Malibu, og sammen med sin arbejdspartner, James Espey, skabte drikkens vidunderlige slogan ”Malibu – den kommer fra paradis og smager som himmel”. Ved hjælp af billeder af palmer fik Tom folk til at tro, at den kom fra de karabiske øer, stedet hvor rum kommer fra, men den var oprindeligt en syd-afrikansk idé.

Når det kom til Le Piat d’Or – tog Tom en vin, der ikke var særligt fin, og gjorde den til en best-seller. Han forstod, at en masse mennesker ikke holdt ret meget om vin: den er ikke iboende lækker i mange folks øjne. Han mente Le Piat d’Or var lidt sødere, lidt blødere, end gennemsnittet, og kunne overtale nogen, der ikke drak vin, til at acceptere den, med sloganet ”Les français adorent le Piat d’Or” / Franskmændene tilbeder Le Piat d’Or.

                            

Hans drak ”ansvarligt” det meste af tiden, ifølge hans datter. Men han elskede at drikke – det er er ikke nogen tvivl om, så derfor drak han ikke altid ”ansvarligt”. Han var klar over risikoer for at drikke for mange folks vedkommende, men hans datter siger, at når man når til 90’erne, og du har drikket hele ens liv, og aldrig blev meget syg, så har man tendens ikke til at bekymre sig for meget over alt det lort ha ha!

Tom og James Espey, sammen med Toms datter Rebecca, startede ”Last Drop” destilleri for lidt over 10 år siden for at finde og fylde på flaske meget gammel, meget sjælden spiritus. Tom var fascineret af videnskabet om reaktioner mellem spiritus og træ. Tidligere på året skabte de en drik ved navn Tom’s Blend, og indtil dagen, han døde på 93 år, plejede han at drikke en dram hver aften.

Hvil i fred, Tom, og skål !

16:30 Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien, sender mig en sms: hun har desværre følt sig dårligt tilpas denne uge, og jeg mistænker, hun savner i sær Lois’ trøstende ord og sympati – Francis, Sarahs mand, er måske for optaget med sine egne problemer. Hun har ikke sovet godt i de seneste nogle nætter, og hoster meget. Stakkels Sarah!

Familiens læge har tidligere på aftenen (Perth tid) heldigvis givet hende 4 dages sygeorlov, og ordinerede antibiotika. Hun skal tage flere prøver i morgen (næsen og brystkassen).

Hendes sms minder mig om, at jeg selv hidtil i denne uge, har været meget heldig i, at jeg ikke er blevet smittet af Lois’ forkølelse: men jeg er ikke helt sikker på, om faren er forbi, eller ej. Det er juryen stadig ude om.

Vi sender Sarah vores positive tanker via sms og bestiller en buket blomster fra Interflora, som en overraskelse til i morgen. Det er ikke ret nemt at være en arbejdende mor med 2 5-årige tvillinger på den anden side af verden fra støtten af ens familie, det er der ikke nogen tvivl om.

18:30 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Prins Charles, og inkluderer interviews med selve prinsen, også William, Harry og Camilla.

Et interessant program, og ligesom det står i Radio Times-tidsskriftet, viser Charles en side, som offentligheden ikke ser ret meget, en charmerende mand, god til at reagere med mennesker, og med en god sans for humor.

Han snakker med en slagter i Ballater, Skotland, hvor den berømte lange blodpølse blev fremstillet, den der reddede en anden slagters liv, da han blev spærret inde i et fryserum, og fandt ud af, at dørens udgangsknap blev fryset og fungerede ikke mere. Det lykkedes ham at befriede sig endelig med at ramme knappen med en Ballater-blodpølse, hvilket var heldigt.

Charles’ sønner, William og Harry, føler åbenbart en masse respekt og kærlighed over for ham. De er begge to massivt populære, mens deres far mege mindre populær: han er betragtet som snerpet og gammeldags, med underlige idéer, hvilket ikke er særligt fair. Man bør sætte fokus på hvad han siger, snarere end, den gammeldags måde han siger det på.

Programmet understreger, hvor meget Charles var forud for sin tid, da han første startede at fremme miljøagtige spørgsmål for snart 50 år siden, da det ikke var moderigtigt, og understreger også hvor hårdt han arbejder hele tiden for at fremme beskyttelsen af miljøet og at hjælpe unge mennesker med at lære færdigheder til arbejdspladsen, eller at dyrke sports og motion.

Og Lois og jeg kan godt lide Camillas nuværende hårstil. Kom så, Camilla !!!

Lois og jeg kan godt lide Camillas nuværende hårstil – kom så Camilla!

22:00 Sikke en dag! Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!