Thursday 25 July 2019

06:00  I creep out of bed and sit down with the computer. It's already quite warm: 77.7F (25C) on my room thermometer - and today will be the hottest day of the year so far, says the weather girl - yikes!

my room thermometer at 6 am

10:00  Lois and I tumble out of the shower cubicle, and after breakfast I rush into the kitchen and make 2 pints of iced coffee.

We settle down in the living room with a glass of iced coffee and start to root through the approximately 8 large black plastic sacks filled with adult clothes, children's clothes and teenage clothes that I came across the other day in the attic while working on our current downsizing mini-project.

Lois trying to determine what size

the clothes are, also whether they are in good condition, etc.

And it's quite nostalgic, for example, to see old t-shirts

from the time of our stay in the United States 1982-5

Lois takes a sip of the iced coffee I made earlier

I got a taste for iced coffee when we were in Australia last year - I had some mouth ulcers as a result of a broken tooth and it was quite painful sometimes to drink hot drinks, which was a bit of a shame - but iced coffee was a good discovery , no doubt about that.

flashback to April 2018: I drink ice coffee in Australia

together with our daughter Sarah and her twin daughters, Lily and Jessie

13:00 We have lunch. but it has become too hot to do gardening or the like, so we decide to spend the afternoon in bed in Sarah's old room, which overlooks the backyard, with the windows open wide, so we can feel the breeze - lovely! We read about 30 pages of our respective bedtime books.

16:00 We get up and relax with an iced coffee on the couch - yum yum !!!

18:00 We have dinner. Steve, our American brother-in-law, sent us this week details of a site giving nutritional  advice:  one of the pieces of advice is to eat 1 ounce (28g) of nuts per day. Today, Lois has mixed 1 ounce of nuts into our salad. And afterwards, when we settle down in the living room to watch a little television, she puts a bowl containing an ounce of nuts, also raisins, which we can snack on during the evening - job done: "simples" !!!!

20:00 We see a little television, an interesting documentary, the first episode of a series about everyday life in Britain during World War II, "Living in the shadow of World War II". The programme does not focus on the military side of the war, but on the home front, especially the various attempts to improve the country's nutrition, after food imports were sharply restricted after 1939: before the war, Britain had imported 60% of its food.

Back gardens, lawns, parks, golf courses, etc. were massively converted into vegetable gardens, vegetable fields and such. A fair system of food rationing was introduced. And the government gave housewives and mothers tons of advice on how to vary cooking methods, and vary the contents of meals, and makes them as nutritious and healthy as possible, in a situation where the range of food available had suddenly become so very limited.

An interesting and well-researched program that Lois and I both enjoy very much. We feel like we now really understand some of the problems our mothers and grandmothers faced.

And there are some unusual and unexpected snippets of information: Lois and I did not know, but might have guessed, that the "Women's Land Army" was a great opportunity for young lesbian women to hook up in the countryside after the very restricted life they had had to live in the cities – my goodness, what a crazy world we live in !!!

outside a Women's Land Army hostel in the county of Suffolk

We see Churchill visiting ordinary neighbourhoods to strengthen morale, and be greeted by crowds everywhere he went, always with a cigar in his hand.

Lois says Churchill did not actually smoke as many cigars as people thought, but he used to always have a cigar in his hand during his many public appearances in cities and on the streets: it gave an impression of self-confidence and strengthened morale. And people really came to believe that we could avoid being invaded and defeated.

In contrast, Churchill's cigars were exploited by German propaganda in order to attack him in the eyes of the German audience, portraying him as an aristocratic gourmet who enjoyed the good life, while his country was suffering terrible food shortages – good grief, what madness!!!!

It is interesting to learn about some of the hardships our parents had to endure. 

Lois and I were both born in 1946, so we missed all that, even though I myself well remember the food rationing, which continued until the early 1950’s, because of the unsuccessful attempts of the Labour Party to plan the economy. Fortunately, Churchill finally got back into power and abolished all that madness.

flashback to 1946: my parents and me

1949: My father with me and my sister Kathy

I can well remember the ration books and the little bottles of Ministry of Food orange juice – my god, what madness !!!!

a ration book as late as 1952 – my god, what madness !!!

the so-called "Ministry of Food Orange Juice"

Lois and I have been very fortunate all in all: we missed the war, our university education was paid for by the government, and we were able to retire at age 60. 

A few singers have sung songs that reflect the “poor” baby-boomers and their generation’s experiences, but not many. I remember Freddie Mercury with "Those were the days of our lives: the bad things in life were so few", and especially Billy Joel with his "Leningrad" and other songs including "Allentown:  our fathers fought the second world war, spent their weekends on the Jersey Shore, met our mothers in the USO, asked them to dance, danced with them slow etc etc ”   - ha ha ha - strange times !!!!!

Yes, Lois and I can feel very satisfied with ourselves, until we stop and think of our poor daughters and their children, not so fortunate in many ways, but at least they have the internet and smartphones, also Boris, which we do not had when we were in their age - damn! I suspect each generation has its pluses and minuses.

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

Danish translation: torsdag den 25. juli 2019

06:00 Jeg står op og sætte mig med computeren.  Det er allerede ganske varmt: 77.7F (25C) på min værelsetermometer – og i dag bliver årets varmeste dag hidtil, siger vejrpigen – yikes!

min værelsetermometer kl 6

10:00 Lois og jeg vælter ud af brusekabinen. og efter morgenmad skynder jeg mig ind i køkkenet og laver 2 pints iskaffe.

Vi sætter os til rette i stuen med et glas iskaffe og går vi i gang med at rode igennem de omkring 8 store sorte plastiksække propfyldte af voksentøj, børnetøj og teenagertøj, som jeg forleden stødte på i loften, mens jeg arbejdede på vores nuværende downsize mini-projektet.

Lois prøver at bestemme, hvad størrelsen

tøjene er, også om de er i god stand osv.

Og det er ganske nostalgisk, for eksempel, at se gamle t-shirts

fra tiden af vores ophold i USA 1982-5

Lois tager en tår af den iskaffe jeg lavede tidligere

Jeg fik en smag for iskaffe, da vi sidste år var i Australien – jeg havde nogle mundesår som resultat af en brækken tand, og det var helt smertefuldt indimellem at drikke varme drikke, hvilket var lidt af en skam – men iskaffe var en god opdagelse, ingen tvivl om det.

tilbageblik til april 2018: jeg drikker iskaffe i Australien

sammen med vores datter Sarah og hendes børnebørn, Lily og Jessie

13:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter er det blevet nu for varmt til at lave hjemmearbejde eller den slags, så vi beslutter at tilbringe eftermiddagen i sengen i Sarahs gamle værelse, der har udsigt over baghaven, med vinduerne åbne på vid gab, så vi kan føle brisen – dejligt! Vi læser ca 30 sider af vores henholdsvise sengetidbøger.

16:00 Vi står op og slapper af med en iskaffe i sofaen – yum yum!!!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad. Steve, vores amerikanske svigerbror, sendte os denne uge detaljer af et websted, der giver ernæringsråd: én af webstedets råd er at spise 1 ounce (28g) nødder pr. dag, så Lois har blandet 1 ounce nødder i salaten. Bagefter når vi sætter os til rette i stuen for at se lidt fjernsyn, sætter hun en skål med 1 ounce nødder, også rosiner, som vi kan snakke på i løbet af aftenen – job klaret: ”simples” !!!!

20:00 Vi ser lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, det 1. afsnit i en serie om hverdagslivet i Storbritannien under den 2. verdenskrig, ”At leve i skyggen af den 2. verdenskrig”. Programmet fokuserer ikke på krigens militære side, men om hjemmefronten, især de forskellige forsøg på at forbedre landets ernæring, efter importer af fødevarer blev skarpt begrænset efter 1939:  før krigen importerede Storbritannien 60%  af sine fødevarer.

Baghaver, græsplæner, parker, golfbaner osv blev massivt omdannet til grøntsagshaver, grøntsagsmarker og den slags. Et retfærdigt system af fødevarerationering blev indført. Og regeringen gav husmødre og mødre tonsvis af råd til, hvordan de kunne variere variere madlavningsmåder, varierer måltidernes indhold, og gøre dem så nærende og sunde som muligt, i en situation, hvor viften af fødevarer, der var til rådighed, pludselig var blevet så meget begrænset.

Et interessant og velforsket program, som Lois og jeg begge to nyder meget. Vi føler som om, vi nu virkelig forstår nogle af problemerne, vores mødre, morfædre og mormødre stod overfor.

Og der er nogle usædvanlige og uforventede stykker information:  Lois og jeg vidste ikke, men kunne måske have gættet, at ”Women’s Land Army” var en god mulighed for unge lesbiske kvinder for at finde sammen ude på landet efter det meget begrænsede liv, de havde måttet opleve i byerne – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!

 udenfor et Womens Land Army vandrerhjem i grevskabet Suffolk

Vi ser Churchill besøge almindelige nabolager for at styrke moralen, og blive hilset af menneskemængder, hvor som helst han gik, altid med en cigar i hånden.

Lois siger, at Churchill faktisk ikke røg så mange cigarer, som folk troede, men han havde for vane altid at have en cigar i hånden under sine mange offentlige tilsynekomster i byerne og på gaderne: det gav et indtryk af selvtillid, og styrkede moralen, og folk virkelig kom til at tro, at vi kunne undgå at blive invaderet og besejret.

I modsætning blev Churchills cigarer udnyttet af det tyske propaganda for at angribe ham i øjnene af det tyske publikum, ved at skildre ham som en aristokratiske gourmet, der nydede det gode liv, mens sit land led forfærdelige fødevaremangler – du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!

Det er interessant at lære om nogle af besværligheder, vores forældre måtte udholde. Lois og jeg var begge to født i 1946, så vi gik glip af alt det der, selvom jeg selv godt kan huske fødevarerationeringen, som fortsatte til først i 1950’erne, på grund af arbejderspartiets usuccesfulde forsøg på at planlægge økonomien. Heldigvis kom Churchill endelig tilbage til magten og afskaffede alt det der vanvid.

dover1: tilbageblik til 1946: mine forældre og mig

dover2: 1949: min far med mig og min søster Kathy

Jeg kan godt huse rationeringsbøger og de små flasker af Ministry of Food appelsinsaft – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

rationbook en rationeringsbog i 1952 – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

den såkaldte ”Ministry of Food Orange Juice”

Lois og jeg har været meget heldige alt i alt: vi gik glip af krigen, vores universitetsuddannelse blev betalt af regeringen, og vi kunne gå på pension på 60 år. Nogle sangere har synget sange, der afspejler den ”stakkels” baby-boom-generations oplevelser, men ikke ret mange. Jeg mindes om Freddie Mercury med ”Those were the days of our lives: the bad things in life were so few”, og i sær Billy Joel med sin “Leningrad” og “Allentown:  well our fathers fought the second world war, spent their weekends on the Jersey Shore, met our mothers in the USO, asked them to dance, danced with them slow osv osv” ha ha ha ha mærkelige tider!!!!!

Ja, Lois og jeg kan føle os meget tilfredse med os selv, indtil vi stopper og tænker på vores stakkels døtre og deres børn, ikke så heldige på mange måder, men i det mindste har de internettet og smartphones, også Boris, som vi ikke havde da vi var i deres alder – pokkers! Jeg mistænker, hver generation har sine plusser og minusser.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!