Sunday, September 22 2019

09:00  Lois and I talk a bit on whatsapp with Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, and with her 6-year-old twins, Lily and Jessie.

on the screen : Jessie (left) with Sarah

Jessie shows us some cute little figure she has painted.

We talk a little about the recent sports day at the twins’ primary school. Lily finished third in the final of the running race, and Jessie, with the help of her father, Francis, won the final of the three-legged race: such races were very popular in mine and Lois's childhood but are now banned in the UK, on grounds of ‘health and safety’ - my god, what madness !!!

What's wrong with us in the UK? It is fortunate that our ex-colonies abroad are not as timid as we have become: what a crazy country we live in !!!!

Francis and Jessie (right) winning the final of the three-legged race

Earlier in the day (Perth time) Sarah took the twins to the local mall where they bought some packets of seedlings which the girls planted in pots outside the house. Later in the day, Sarah sends us a video clip where Jessie is singing a "lullaby" to the seedlings.

Young kids can be incredibly cute - no doubt about that !!!!

six-year-old Jessie, singing a "lullaby"

to the seedlings she has just planted in pots:

how cute she is !!!!

10:00 Lois has to leave - she wants to attend her sect's two services taking place today in Tewkesbury Library.

I have some alone time and spend the morning updating my blog after our week on holiday in north Devon. I had had the intention of updating the blog every day in our holiday cottage, but after we arrived, we discovered that the holiday complex's wifi was a bit rubbish - damn!

14:00 I have lunch, a little later than usual. I am settling down in the living room with a cup of tea when Lois comes back from Tewkesbury. We relax on the couch for a bit, and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap.

16:00 I get up and hop up on my exercise bike in our daughter Sarah's old room. I watch old pop videos from the 1980’s and I cycle 6 miles - we got a lot of exercise on vacation with some strenuous walks, and I want to keep up the momentum if I can.

18:30 We have dinner and afterwards we talk a little on the phone with Alison, our elder daughter who lives in Haslemere, Surrey with Ed and their 3 children:  Josie (13), Rosalind (11) and Isaac (9). The family lived in Copenhagen for almost 6 years, but moved back to England 1 year ago after Ed was laid off by his company over there. Since then, Ed has worked in temporary jobs while on the hunt for his dream job.

He is currently working for a company that owns and operates hundreds of petrol stations in Africa, with headquarters in central London – my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

He spent the last week on a business trip in Casablanca, Morocco. The week was so busy with meetings etc that he couldn't take any interesting photos, he says. But he was staying in a hotel that was next to the beach, which was nice. And he put two posts up on Facebook during the week.

Ed's two posts on Facebook

21:00 Lois and I spend the rest of the evening watching some television. The latest episode of the Antiques Road Show is on, a programme where a bunch of local people bring along various interesting old possessions, so the BBC's antiques experts can examine and value them. This episode was recorded in Dundee, Scotland. The programme's host is the BBC’s charming Fiona Bruce.

A local resident brings with him a collection of 30 naughty seaside picture postcards from the 1950’s and 1960’s. They are a bit sexist although harmless, so unfortunately one has to travel to Australia now to see such naughty postcards for sale. What's wrong with us in the UK?

Good grief, what madness !!!!!

When Lois and I were in Australia in 2016 and 2018, we noticed that the BBC's "Antiques Roadshow" series was very popular over there. Australia itself has a shortage of antiques, which is not surprising.

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

Danish translation:  søndag den 22. September 2019

09:00 Lois og jeg taler lidt på whatsapp med Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien, og med hendes 6-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie.

på skærmen: Jessie (til venstre) med Sarah

Jessie viser os en eller anden sød lille figur, hun har malet.

Vi snakker lidt om den nylige sportsdag på tvillingernes folkeskole. Lily sluttede tredje i løberacet og Jessie, ved hjælp af sin far, Francis, vandt finalen af den trebenede race: sådanne nogle race, der var meget populære i min og Lois’ barndom, er nu til dags forbudt i Storbritannien, på grund af sikkerhed – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Hvad er der i vejen med os i Storbritannien? Det er heldigt, at vores eks-kolonier i udlandet ikke er så frygtsomme, som vi er blevet: sikke et skørt land vi lever i !!!!

Francis og Jessie (til højre) vinder finalen af den tre-benede race

Tidligere på dagen (Perth-tid) tog Sarah tvillingerne til det lokale indkøbscenter, hvor de købte nogle paketter frøplanter, som pigerne plantede i potter udenfor huset. Senere på dagen sender Sarah os en videoklip, hvor Jessie er i gang med at synge en ”vuggesang” til frøplanterne.

Unge børn kan være utrolig søde – ingen tvivl om det!!!!

den 6-årige Jessie, i gang med at synge en ”vuggesang”

til de frøplanter, hun lige har plantet i potter:

hvor er hun dog sød!!!!

10:00 Lois skal af sted – hun ønsker at deltage i sin sekts to gudstjenester, der finder sted i dag i byen Tewkesburys bibliotek.

Jeg har lidt alenetid og bruger formiddagen på at opdatere min blog efter vores uge på ferie i det nordlige Devon. Jeg havde haft til hensyn at opdatere bloggen hver dag i vores feriehus, men efter vi ankom, opdagede vi, at feriekompleksets wifi var noget skrammel – pokkers!

14:00 Jeg spiser frokost, lidt senere, end normalt. Jeg sætter mig til rette i stuen med en kop te, da Lois kommer tilbage fra Tewkesbury. Vi slapper lidt af i sofaen, og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

16:00 Jeg står op og hopper op på min kondicykel i vores datter Sarahs gamle værelse. Jeg ser på gamle popvideoklip fra 1980’erne og jeg cykler 6 miles – vi fik en masse motion på ferie med nogle anstrengende gåture, og jeg har lyst til at holde momentumet op, hvis jeg kan.

18:30 Vi spiser aftensmad og bagefter taler lidt på telefon med Alison, vores ældste datter, der bor i Haslemere, Surrey sammen med Ed og deres 3 børn: Josie (13), Rosalind (11) og Isaac (9). Familien boede i København i næsten 6 år, men flyttede tilbage til England for 1 år siden, efter Ed blev afskediget af sin firma derovre. Siden da har Ed beskæftiget sig med midlertidlige jobs, mens han er på jagt efter sit drømmejob.

I øjeblikket arbejder han for et selskab, der ejer og driver hundredvis af tankstationer i Afrika, med sit hovedkontor midt i London  – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Han tilbragte den sidste uge på forretningsrejse i Casablanca, Marokko. Ugen var så travlt med forretningsmøder osv, at han ikke kunne tage nogle interessant fotoer, siger han. Men han boede i et hotel, der stod ved siden af stranden, hvilket var rart. Og han lagde to indlæg op på Facebook i løbet af ugen.

Eds to indlæg på Facebook

21:00 Lois og jeg bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser det seneste afsnit af Antiques Road Show, et program, hvor forskellige lokale mennesker medbringer forskellige interessante gamle ejendele, så BBCs antikvitetseksperter kan undersøge dem og vurdere dem. Dette afsnit blev optaget i Dundee, Skotland. Programmets vært er den charmerende Fiona Bruce.

En lokal indbygger medbringer en samling af 30 frække billedpostkort fra 1950’erne og 1960’erne. De er lidt sexistiske, så desværre må man rejse til Australien nu for at se sådanne frække postkort til salg. Hvad er der i vejen med os i Storbritannien?

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!!

Da Lois og jeg var i Australien i 2016 og 2018, lagde vi mærke til, at BBCs ”Antiques Roadshow”-serien var meget populære derovre. Selve Australien har en mangel på antikviteter, hvilket ikke er overraskende.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzz!!!