10:00 Lois and I see our neighbour Bob go
out, so I pop out into the backyard and clip along the top of the hedge that marks
off our patio from Bob’s.
I use my secateurs and work by
hand because the hedge is very wet from two days of rain – good grief, what madness!!
In the middle of my work, Bob comes back and we greet each other - I think he's
happy with what I've been able to accomplish so far - he seems to smile a
little, which is a good sign. I always like to please him, that’s for sure!
Our neighbour Bob in happier times,
on his grandson's wedding day (2015)
11:00 Sarah, our daughter in
Perth, Australia, calls us on whatsapp at the twins' bedtime, so that we can see and hear her read a
bedtime story to Lily and Jessie, which is very heart-warming.
How cute they are though!!!!
Afterwards, she hangs up so she
can put them to bed. But unfortunately, we did not have an opportunity to talk
to her about her husband Francis's many physical problems: back pain and knee pain especially.
That will have to wait for another day. But all in all, it seems that
everything has returned to normal in the family, following Thursday's shock
diagnosis from Francis' specialist. Let's hope it continues that way!
Flashback to April 2015 - Sarah and Francis in happier
times:
in the Big Valley Campsite with Lois
and me
12:30 Lois sits down in the
dining room with the computer and takes part online in her sect's worship service,
taking place today in Tewkesbury library – her back has been hurting her for the past
few days and she is not in a state to be able to drive or ride to Tewkesbury and then stay
sitting through a whole service: I know that for sure.
I go into the sitting-room. This
is a good opportunity for me to watch the second episode of the Danish thriller
series, "Below the Surface", now that Lois is busy with her sect’s
service, which lasts an hour to an hour and a half.
She does not like the occasional
violent scenes in these Danish TV series. I do not like them myself, but this
does not stop me watching them: it is a good opportunity to hear real Danish
being spoken, and also the members of our U3A Danish group will no doubt be
watching the series and will not hesitate to discuss the plot during our next
group meeting: that’s why it is my clear duty to see it too ha ha ha!
The plot revolves around a Danish
policeman or detective, Philip, who is in the middle of a long work break - due
to a mental breakdown of some sort. Philip's partner, Beate, in fact the
psychiatrist who treated him after his breakdown, is very anxious for Philip
not to go back to his old job in the police.
The couple seem to have a good
sex life - their “sheet gymnastics” (as the Danes say) are so loud that Beate's
little son, Asger, needs to turn on one of his computer games to muffle the noise
they’re making – my god, what madness!
Philip with Beate’s son Asgar
Unfortunately, in the first episode,
Philip is forced to get involved in a police case, a little against his will.
A young Danish woman of Arab
origin, June, has returned from Syria with a video proving that Danish soldiers
have been involved in the war against ISIS. She sends the video to Philip
initially - she does not know that he is not currently working for the police
any more.
Now several groups are out to get
her: first and foremost a bunch of young Arab guys in a red Audi who manage to kidnap
June - they get her on board a ferry to Sweden, where they expect to be paid for
delivering her to somebody, either a criminal or a terrorist of some kind - I'm
not quite sure exactly who.
Philip traces the movements of
the Arab guys with the help of his little sister Kiki and her boyfriend who can
work out the location of the cell phones used by the Arab guys.
Philip drives to Helsingør and just
makes the ferry by the skin of his teeth, by vaulting over a scarily massive
gap (15 feet ???) between the ferry and the quay as the ferry starts edging
away from the quay and sailing off towards Sweden. What madness !!!
In this second episode, the ferry
ride turns into a bit of a nightmare, to put it mildly. Three of the kidnappers
pass the journey sitting in the ferry's lounge, while one of them sits in the Audi on the car deck,
with their kidnapping victim, June, locked inside the trunk.
June manages to escape from the
trunk and stab her guard in the chest. She is now on the loose somewhere on the
ferry. But when the kidnappers realise that she has escaped, they panic, especially
when they see that the ferry is about to dock in Helsingborg and that the
Swedish police are waiting for their arrival: Philip has warned the police that there
are terrorists on board the ship. The kidnappers therefore decide to hijack the
ferry and they order the captain to turn the ship around and sail out to sea
again.
Good grief, what a sick world we
live in !!!!!
the terrorists order the captain of
the ferry not to dock in Helsingborg, Sweden,
but to turn the ship around and sail
out to sea again - scary !!!
However, I immediately recognise
the actor in the role of the captain - though I don't remember his name. We
have seen him many times before in various Danish TV series. Suddenly, it
occurs to me that the captain must play an important role in this story -
otherwise such a prominent actor would not have agreed to take the role on, that’s for
sure. Yikes - that means most of the drama is going to play out on the ferry -
yikes (again) !!!!!
It feels a little weird to me
that the ferry on which this dramatic story is taking place is the one Lois and
I travelled on in 2016, together with our daughter Alison, her husband Ed, and
their 3 children. The family were living in Copenhagen at the time and they took
us on an excursion to Lind, Sweden on December 26, and we drove back to Denmark
via the Helsinborg-Helsingør ferry, which is a bit of a coincidence, to put it
mildly. My goodness, I am very glad no terrorist attack occurred on that
occasion, no doubt about that!
Flashback to December 2016: the GPS in
Ed's car:
we drive north from Lund to Helsingborg
in Sweden
We board the ferry
our daughter Alison (right), with 2 of her 3 children:
Rosalind (then 8) and Isaac (then
6)
14:00 Lois' service ends and we
have lunch a little later than usual. Afterwards, Lois sits down with the
Radio-Times crossword while I go to bed to take a short afternoon nap. She
joins me at 4 pm and hops up into the bed, which is nice. I read about 20 pages
of my bedtime book and we tumble out of bed at 5 pm or so, and relax with a cup
of tea and a biscuit on the couch.
19:00 We have dinner. Everything is
happening today about 1 hour later than usual. But what does it matter to us!
We are retired ha ha ha!
21:00 We watch a little
television, but it's a bit of a thin evening, as far as the programmes are
concerned. We choose a documentary about Queen Elizabeth's uncles, Prince David
(briefly Edward VIII), Prince George, Prince Henry, and the Queen’s aunt,
princess Mary.
The programme is based in part on
a collection of Princess Mary's personal letters, which have recently been published:
many from her siblings, who reveal what
they really thought about events in the 1920’s and 1930’s as well as what they
thought about each other and about their parents, King George V and Queen Mary.
This is particularly interesting because we hear about their true opinions
- as members of the royal house, of course, they were not allowed to express
these opinions in public during their lifetime.
It’s obvious from these letters
that all 5 of King George's children suffered as a result of their father's style
of fatherhood, which was incredibly authoritarian, to put it mildly, and all of
them were mentally damaged to a greater
or lesser extent.
Britain was incredibly lucky,
Lois and I believe, in the fact that it was "Bertie", the King's
second son, who eventually inherited the throne in 1936 as George VI after his big brother
Edward's abdication.
Bertie was the only prince with a
real sense of responsibility, though he was incredibly nervous and used to
stammer when speaking in public. But he was also brave, and with his heart in
the right place - and he and his wife gave us our present Queen, Elizabeth, who
for almost 70 years has seen us through hard times, to put it mildly ha ha ha!
It is interesting to hear a
little about Prince George and Prince Henry, the Queen's uncles, whom Lois and
I knew very little about before seeing this programme. We also hear about the two princes' many affairs - we did not know that Henry had a relationship with the famous Kenya-educated
aviator and "bush pilot", Beryl Markham, whom he first met in
Nairobi. She was the first person to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic from
east to west.
Beryl Markham, Prince Henry's mistress,
in 1936 the first person
to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic
from east to west
Beryl in happier times, with a slightly
smaller Band-Aid
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz !!!!
Danish translation: søndag 11
august 2019
10:00 Vi ser vores nabo Bob køre af sted. Jeg går ud i baghaven og klipper
toppen af den hæk, der afgrænser terrassen bag vores hus fra vores nabo Bobs
terrasse. Jeg bruger min beskæresaks og arbejder i hånden, fordi hækken er
meget våd af to dages regnvejr – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!! Midt i mit arbejde
kommer Bob tilbage, og vi hilser hinanden – jeg synes, han er glad for, hvad
det har lykkedes mig at opnå – han synes at smile lidt, hvilket er et godt
tegn. Jeg kan lide at behage ham, det ved jeg med sikkerhed!
Vores nabo
Bob i lykkeligere tider (2015)
11:00 Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien, ringer til os på
whatsapp, så vi kan se og høre hende læse en sengetidfortælling til sine
6-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie, hvilket er meget hjertevarmende. Hvor er de
dog søde!!!!
Bagefter lægger hun på for at putte dem i seng. Men desværre har vi ikke
haft en lejlighed til at snakke med hende om Francis, hendes mands fysiske
problemer: rygsmerterne og knæsmerterne. Det må blive en anden dag. Men alt i
alt, ser det ud som om, alting er vendt tilbage til det normale i familien,
efter torsdagen chokdiagnose fra Francis’ specialist. Lad os håbe det
fortsætter!
Tilbageblik til
Sarah og Francis i lykkeligere tider: april 2015
i Big
Valley-campingpladsen sammen med Lois og mig
12:30 Lois sætter sig i spisestuen med computeren og deltage på nettet i
sin sekts gudstjeneste, der finder sted i byen Tewkesburys bibliotek – hun har
de seneste få dage haft ondt i ryggen, og ikke er i stand til at køre til
Tewkesbury og blive siddende igennem en hel gudstjeneste: det ved jeg med
sikkerhed.
Dette er en god lejlighed til, at jeg ser det 2. afsnit af den danske
thrillerserie, ”Below the Surface”, nu hvor Lois er beskæftiget med sin sekts
gudjeneste, der varer en time til en time og en halv.
Hun kan ikke lide de lejlighedsvise voldsomme scener i disse danske
tv-serier. Selv kan jeg ikke lide dem, men dette stopper mig ikke i at se dem:
det er en god mulighed at høre ægte dansk blive talt, og også medlemmerne af
vores U3A danske gruppe vil uden tvivl se serien og vil ikke tøve med at
diskutere plottet under vores næste gruppemøde: derfor er det min klare pligt
at se den også ha ha ha!
Plottet kredser om en danske politimand eller detektiv, Philip, der er i
midten af en lange arbejdspause – på grund af et psykisk sammenbrud af en eller
anden art. Philips partner, Beate, faktisk den psykiater, der behandlede ham
efter sit sammenbrud, er meget ivrig efter, at Philip ikke går tilbage til sit
gamle job i politiet.
Parret synes at have et godt sexliv – deres lagengymnastik er så
højlydt, at Beates lille søn, Asger, behøver at tænde et af sine computerspil
på for at overdøve lydene – du godeste sikke et vanvid!!!!
Philip,
dramaets helt, med sin partner Beate, sin tidligere psykiater
Philip
med Beates søn Asgar
Desværre bliver Philip i det 1. afsnit involveret i en politisag, ikke med sin gode vilje (eller er det faktisk
det modsatte?). En ung dansk kvinde af arabisk oprindelse, June, er kommet
tilbage fra Syrien med en video, der beviser, at danske soldater er blevet
involveret i krigen mod ISIS. Hun sender videoet i begyndelsen til Philip – hun
ved ikke, at han i øjeblikket ikke arbejder for politiet mere.
Nu er flere grupper ude efter hende:
først og fremmest et bundt unge arabiske fyre i en rød Audi, der når at
kidnappe June - de er nu i gang med at tage hende med færgen til Sverige, hvor
de forventer at blive betalt for at aflevere hende til enten en forbryder eller
en terrorist af en eller anden art – jeg er ikke helt sikker på, præcis hvem.
Philip opsporer de arabiske fyres bevægelser ved hjælp af sin
lillesøster Kiki og hendes kæreste, der kan finde ud af beliggenheden af de
mobiltelefoner, de arabiske fyre bruger. Philip kører til Helsingør og når færgen
på et hængende hår, ved at springe over en skræmmende massiv spalte (15
fods???) mellem færgen og kajen, da færgen begynder at kante sig væk fra kajen
og sejle af sted til Sverige. Sikke et vanvid!!!
I dette 2. afsnit, bliver færgekørslen til lidt af et mareridt, for at
sige mildt. Tre af kidnapperere sidder i færgens lounge, mens en af dem sidder
i Audien på bildækket, med deres kidnapoffer, June, låst inde i bagagerummet.
June når at undslippe fra bagagerummet og stikke hendes vagt i brystet.
Hun er nu på fri fod ét eller andet sted om bord færgen. Når kidnapperne bliver klar over, at
hun er undsluppet, går de i panik, i sær når de ser, at færgen er ved at dokke
i Helsingborg, og at det svenske politi venter på deres ankomst: Philip har advaret
dem, at der er terrorister om bord skibet. Kidnapperne beslutter derfor at
kaptre færgen og de beordrer kaptajnen at vende skibet om og sejle ud på havet
igen.
Du godeste, sikke
en syg verden vi lever i !!!!!
terroristerne beordrer
færgens kaptajn ikke at dokke i Helsingborg, Sverige,
men vende skibet om og sejle
ud på havet igen – skræmmende!!!
Men jeg genkender umiddelbart
skuespilleren i kaptajnens rolle – selvom jeg husker ikke hans navn. Vi har set
ham mange gange før i forskellige danske tv-serier. Pludselig falder det mig
ind, at kaptajnen må være en vigtig rolle i denne historie – ellers ville denne
skuespiller ikke har aftalt at tage rollen, det ved jeg med sikkerhed. Yikes –
det betyder, at hovedparten af dramaet kommer til at spille sig ud om bord
færgen – yikes (igen) !!!!!
Det er underligt
for mig at tænke på, at færgen, hvor dette dramatiske historie spiller sig ud,
er dén, Lois og jeg rejste med i 2016, sammen med vores datter Alison, hendes
mand Ed, og deres 3 børn. Familien boede dengang i København og de tog os den
26. december på udflugt til Lind, Sverige, og vi kørte tilbage til Danmark ved
Helsinborg-Helsingør færgen, hvilket er lidt af en tilfældighed, for at sige
mildt. Du godeste, jeg er meget glad for, at der skete ingen terroristangreb på
den der anledning, ingen tvivl om det!
Tilbageblik
til december 2016: gps’en i Eds bil: vi
kører nordpå fra Lund til Helsingborg i Sverige
Vi kører
ombord på færgen
vores datter
Alison (til højre), og 2 a hendes 3 børn:
Rosalind
(dengang 8 år) og Isaac (dengang 6 år)
14:00 Lois’
gudstjeneste slutter og vi spiser frokost, lidt senere, end normalt. Bagefter
sætter Lois sig med Radio-Times-krydsogtværs, mens jeg går i seng for at tage
en kort eftermiddagslur. Hun slutter sig til mig kl 16 og hopper op i sengen,
hvilket er rart.
Jeg læser omkring
20 sider af min sengetidbog, og vi vælter ud af sengen kl 17 eller deromkring,
og slapper af med en kop te og en kiks i sofaen.
19:00 Vi spiser
aftensmad. Der sker alting i dag omkring 1 time senere, end normalt. Men hvad
rager det os! Vi er pensionerede ha ha ha!
21:00 Vi ser lidt
fjernsyn, men det er lidt af en tynd aften, hvad angår programmerne. Vi vælger
en dokumentarfilm, der handler om dronning Elizabeths onkler, prins David
(Edward 8.), prins Georg, prins Henry, og dronningens tante Mary.
QueenListing
QueenBlurb
Programmet er
delvis baseret på en samling af princesse Marys personlige breve, som er for
nylig blevet offentliggjort: mange af dem fra hendes søskende, der afslører, hvad de virkelig mente
om begivenheder i 1920’erne og 1930’erne også om hinanden og om deres forældre,
kong Georg 5. og dronning Mary. Dette er i særdeleshed interessant, fordi vi
hører om deres personlige meninger – som medlemmer af kongehuset, var de selvfølgelig
ikke tilladt at udtrykke disse meninger i offentlighed under deres livtider.
Det er klart, at
alle 5 af kong Georg 5.s børn led som resultatet af deres fars opdragelsesstil,
der var utrolig autoritær, for at sige mildt, og de alle blev ødelagt psykisk i
større eller mindre grad.
Storbritannien var
utroligt heldig, mener Lois og jeg, i at det var ”Bertie”, kongens 2. søn, der
til sidst arvede tronen i 1936 efter sin storbro Edwards abdikation.
Bertie var den
eneste prins med en rigtig sans for ansvarlighed, selvom han var utrolig nervøs
og plejede at stamme, når han talte i offentlighed. Men han var også modig, med
et hjerte i det rigtige sted – og han og hans kone gav os vores nuværende dronning
Elizabeth, som i næsten 70 år har set os gennem hårde tider, for at sige
mildt ha ha ha!
Det er interessant
at høre lidt om prins Georg og prins Henry, dronningens onkler, som Lois og jeg
vidste meget lidt, før vi ser dette program. Vi hører også om deres mange
affærer – vi vidste ikke, at Henry havde et forhold med den berømte kvindelige flyver
og ”bushpilot”, fru Beryl Markham, som han først mødte i Nairobi. Hun var den
første person til at flyve alene nonstop over Atlanterhavet fra øst til vest.
Beryl Markham, prins Henrys
elskerinde, i 1936 den første person
til at flyve alene nonstop
over Atlanterhavet fra øst til vest
Beryl i lykkeligere tider, med en lidt mindre plaster
22:00 Vi går i
seng – zzzzzzz!!!!
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