Sunday 19 May 2019

Lois and I are suffering from indigestion and wind again today and we are not yet 100% to put it mildly. And we also lack energy. This is very unusual, for a poor stomach to last so long for us, but it is a bit of a comfort that we are both suffering from the same thing.

Lois decides not to drive over to Tewkesbury today to take part in her sect’s two services - she decides to listen to the main service online instead - it starts at 11:30 am.

10:00 We talk a little on whatsapp with Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, and with her two 5 and a half-year-old twin daughters, Lily and Jessie. The twins are very excited, as usual - it's amazing how much better they can talk now, in comparison to when Lois and I visited the family March-April last year - and they speak so confidently now, which is great to listen to.

flashback to April 2018: me (left) at a beach cafe in the Margaret River region,

Western Australia, along with Francis, Sarah, and the twins

Their whole class will be going to the theatre this week to see "the real Gruffalo", and both girls are very excited to put it mildly. I am a little envious of young children who really believe in such concepts, when told that they are looking at "the real Santa Claus", "the real Easter Bunny", etc. How nice it would be to be 5 years old again. My goodness!

 a typical event in the "Gruffalo's" complicated life.

His friend, the little mouse, is suffering from a rumbling tummy,

just like Lois and me, which is a bit of a comfort too - we are not alone!

Lois and I get the impression that Jessie has begun to pick up a local accent, which is particularly noticeable when she says the word "Gruffalo". Lily sounds the same as before, however.

There are many British immigrants in Perth, especially in the city's northern suburbs, and the twin’s class is a mixed bag of children with British parents and children with Australian parents. It may be that Jessie's best friends are Australian, but that’s something we're not completely sure about.

12:00 We drive to the local Sainsbury’s supermarket to buy a pair of "not out of date" Rennies pills to relieve our stomach issues.

flashback to yesterday: our one and only (and out of date) pack of Rennies

- now empty unfortunately. Damn!  I decide to add "Rennies" to the shopping list

13:00 We have "lunch", something simple, to be on the safe side: boiled eggs and toast. After that we spend the whole afternoon in bed, which is nice and relaxing. But our idyll is interrupted at 4 pm when our neighbour 2 doors away, Stephen, calls us. He and Frances, his wife, are going to Canada on Tuesday, and they have asked Lois and me to look after their house and huge vegetable gardens and flower beds for 3 weeks. Let's hope we get a lot of rain ha ha!

We throw on some clothes and answer the door when Stephen knocks and hands over his "instructions" and contact details. Good grief!

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television. The first episode of a new drama series, "Gentleman Jack", is on, all about the real life Victorian lesbian Anne Lister.

I have a weakness when it comes to historical drama series with a lot of characters -  I tend to mix the various different characters up, and I forget their names and suchlike. But the main character, Anne Lister herself, is eminently distinguishable, to put it mildly, not just because of her face, but also her manly way of always hurrying here and there, and speaking boldly and decisively, which is nice.

She is a landowner with a lot of employees, although hers is not a very wealthy estate. She expresses annoyance that all her male employees can vote in elections, while she can't  - the latest Reform Bill has put it in writing for the first time, that women cannot vote.

I fall asleep for about 10 minutes halfway through the programme. I wake up with a start, and Anne is romping under a massive coverlet with one of her former lovers - but who is it this time?

By the end of the episode, I am almost certain that I have a clear idea of ​​the different women in Anne's life. She has just returned to her family's home in Halifax, Yorkshire, after her long-standing relationship with a woman named Vere Hobart has broken down - the couple lived somewhere on England's southern coast (the seaside town of Hastings) for many years, but something has gone wrong and they have just split up, apparently

The woman I see Anne frolicking in bed with, when I wake up from my little nap, is a former local lover, Mariana Lawton - but Anne is disappointed when Mariana insists that she’s not going to leave her husband. Mariana tries to persuade Anne herself to marry a man, for appearance’s sake and to get money and estates.

Anne wants a full-blown lesbian "marriage", however. She finally gives up on Mariana, and decides to seduce a rich young single girl living in the neighbourhood, Ann Walker. It's a bit of a shame that these two women essentially have the same first name - spelled differently from each other, but that doesn't help absent-minded TV viewers, to put it mildly. But the drama is based on a true story, so I suppose the programme's writer had no other choice - damn!

Anne (left) speaking in her special ”diary” voice-over voice, is thinking

about seducing local rich single woman Anne Walker and “marrying” her

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

22:00 We go to bed – let’s hope Lois and I feel a little better tomorrow. ZZZZZZZZZZ !!!!

Danish translation

Lois og jeg lider af dårlig fordøjelse og vind igen i dag og vi er ikke oppe på 100%, for at sige mildt. Og vi mangler også energi. Dette er meget usædvanligt, at en dårlig mave varer så længe, men det er lidt af en trøst, at vi begge to lider af samme ting.

Lois beslutter ikke at køre over til Tewkesbury i dag for at deltage i sin sekts to gudstjenester – hun beslutter at lytte til den hovedsagelig tjeneste på nettet i stedet for – det starter kl 11:30 .

10:00 Vi taler lidt på whatsapp med Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien, og med hendes to 5,5-årige tvillingedøtre, Lily og Jessie. Tvillingerne er meget begejstrede, som sædvanligt – det er forbløffende, hvor meget bedre de kan tale nu, i sammenligning til dengang, Lois og jeg besøgte familien marts-april i fjor – og de taler så selvsikkert nu, hvilket er rart at lytte til.

tilbageblik til april 2018: mig (til venstre) på en strandcafé i Margaret River-regionen,

Western Australia, sammen med Francis, Sarah, og tvillingerne

Hele deres klasse  skal denne uge til teatret for at se ”den ægte Gruffalo”, og det er begge piger meget begejstrede over, for at sige mildt. Jeg er lidt jaloux på unge børn, der virkelig tror på sådanne begreb, når de bliver fortalt, at de ser på ”den ægte julemand”, ”den ægte påskekanin” osv. Hvor ville det være rart, at være 5 år gammel igen. Du godeste!

en typisk hændelse i ”den ægte Gruffalos” kompliceret liv. Hans ven,

den lille mus lider  af en rumlende mave, ligesom Lois og mig, hvilket er

lidt af en trøst, for at sige mildt

Både Lois og jeg får det indtryk, at Jessie er begyndt at tillægge sig en lokal accent, der i særdeleshed er åbenbar, når hun siger ordet ”Gruffalo”. Der er mange britiske indvandrere i Perth, især i byens nordlige forstæder, og tvillingers klasse er en blandet landhandel af børn med britiske og med australske forældre. Det kan være, at Jessies bedste venner er australske, men det er vi ikke helt sikre på.

12:00 Vi kører over til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked, for at købe et par ”ikke uddaterede” Rennies piller, for at lindre vores maveproblemer.

tilbageblik til i går: vores eneste (og uddaterede) pakke Rennies – nu tom desværre.

Pokkers – jeg beslutter at tilføje ”Rennies” til indkøbslisten

13:00 Vi spiser ”frokost”, noget simpelt, for en sikkerheds skyld: kogte æg og toast. Bagefter tilbringer vi hele eftermiddagen i sengen, hvilket er rart, og afslappende. Men vores idyl bliver afbrudt kl 16, da vores nabo 2 døre væk, Stephen, ringer til os. Han og Frances, hans kone, skal til Canada på tirsdag, og de har bedt Lois og mig om, at passe på deres hus og enorme grøntsagshave  og blomsterbede i 3 uger. Lad os håbe, vi får en masse regnvejr ha ha!

Vi smutter noget tøj på, og besvarer døren, da han banker på og overbringer hans ”anvisninger” og kontakt-detaljer. Du godeste!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser det første afsnit af en ny dramaserie, ”Gentleman Jack”, der handler om den virkelig liv viktorianske lesbiske kvinde Anne Lister.

Jeg har en vis svaghed, når det kommer til historiske dramaserier med en masse figurer, at jeg har tendens til at blande forskellige figurer sammen, og jeg glemmer deres navne, og den slags. Men hovedfiguren, selve Anne Lister, er meget iøjnefaldende, for at sige mildt, ikke bare på grund af sit ansigt, men også hendes mandlige måde at skynde sig her og der, hvilket er rart.

Ikke desto mindre falder jeg i søvn i omkring 10 minutter halvvejs i programmet. Jeg vågner med et sæt, og Anne er i gang med at boltre sig under en massiv dyne med en af sine tidligere elskere – men hvilken er det denne gang?

Ved slutningen af afsnittet bliver jeg næsten sikker på, at jeg har en klar idé om de forskellige kvinder i Annes liv. Hun har lige kommet tilbage til hendes families hjem i Halifax, Yorkshire, efter sit langvarige forhold med en kvinde ved navn Vere Hobart  er brudt sammen – parret boede et eller andet sted på Englands sydlige kyst (havnebyen Hastings) i mange år, men noget gik galt, og de gik fra hinanden.

Den kvinde, jeg ser boltre sig med Anne, da jeg vågner fra min lille lur, er en tidligere elsker, Mariana Lawton – men Anne bliver skuffet, da Mariana insisterer på ikke at gå fra sin ægtemand. Mariana prøver at overtale Anne til at gifte sig med en mand, for et syns skyld og for at få penge og jordegods, men Anne har lyst til et fuldbårent lesbisk ”ægteskab”.

Anne beslutter endelig at forføre en rig ung singlepige, der bor i nabolaget, Ann Walker. Det er lidt af en skam, at de to kvinder essentielt har det samme navn – stavet anderledes fra hinanden, men det ikke hjælper glemsomme tv-seere, for at sige mildt. Men dramaet er baseret på en sand historie, så formoder jeg, at programmets forfattere ikke havde andet valg – pokkers!

Anne, en fænomenal dagbogsskriver, beslutter at forføre

Ann Walker, en rig singlekvinde, der bor i nabolaget

22:00 Vi går i seng – jeg håber på, at Lois og jeg har det lidt bedre i morgen. Zzzzzzzzzz!!!!