Sunday November 10 2019

A strange day. Lois decides not to attend in person her sect's two worship services, taking place today in Tewkesbury library. She has had problems with her back and digestive system for the past 2-3 days, and she does not want to stay sitting down for most of the day, which tends to aggravate her health problems, especially given that we have to stay sitting down for most of tomorrow too - my sister Gill in Cambridge has invited us to meet up with her at the Ask Italian restaurant on George Street, Oxford to have lunch together.

 the Ask Italian Restaurant, George Street, Oxford,

where we will meet up with my sister Gill tomorrow

It would be nice to see Gill again, the only survivor of my 3 siblings. She will catch the bus from Cambridge at 8 am, arriving in Oxford at 11:45 – my god, what a journey !!!! We will drive over from Cheltenham, park in the city's northern park-and-ride car park, and take the bus into the city centre. It is almost possible to park in the city centre itself – my god, what madness !!!

09:00 We talk a little on whatsapp with our daughter Sarah in Perth, Australia and with her husband, Francis. They are on their way home from an excursion to a camper van centre where their 6-year-old twins, Lily and Jessie, enjoyed jumping up into the various camper vans that Sarah and Francis were looking at. Now the twins are completely exhausted and have fallen asleep in the car - how cute they are though ha ha ha !!!!

Our 6-year-old twin grandchildren in Perth, Australia:

a recent photo - they are standing either side of the girl holding up the centre poster.

How cute they are ha ha ha ha !!!

Sarah has bought 5 tickets for seats in the 2nd row of the Disney Ice Show next year when Lois and I plan to visit the family, which will be fun.

10:30 Lois sits down with the computer and participates online with her sect's two services. It is incredibly touching to see her, with her makeshift "meeting hat" on - a woolly hat, and beside the computer her little piece of bread and her tiny  glass of red wine.

But it's a bit of a relief from my point of view that I don't have to drive her over to Tewkesbury today, which would have been a bit of a nightmare to put it mildly. Today is Remembrance Day, and there will be a lot of processions and various ceremonies, and streets closed to traffic, and the like.

a typical Remembrance Day ceremony in Tewkesbury, at the Cross

But the downside to it all is that I am effectively excluded until 2 pm from our dining room, which doubles as our "computer room".

11:00 I sit down in the living room and read another chapter (66) of Njal's saga, written in the 14th century in Iceland, although the saga itself and the events in it are much older. Scilla's U3A Old Norse group is holding its regular fortnightly meeting here on Wednesday and this saga is the group's current project. 

Busy busy busy !!!

Gunnar, one of the main characters in the saga, and his neighbours, have been busy killing each other again, cutting off each other's body parts, and seducing each other's wives and daughters and making them pregnant, not to mention stealing wood from each other's forests - yikes ! But wood was a rare and valuable commodity in medieval Iceland: few trees grew there because of the terrible weather.

To sum up, things in this part of Iceland have gotten into a bit of a mess, and the decision has been made to settle all the outstanding claims in question by arranging a special session of the "Thing", the Parliament of Iceland. The purpose is for all fines to be fixed, so everyone can go home and sit in peace and quiet during the coming winter, which is about to begin, and start off the season’s drinking.

There is usually a bit of an unofficial ban on killing during the winter, although the number of seductions tends to increase, I have noticed.

My goodness, what a crazy world they lived in back then, to put it mildly !!!!

20:00 We sit down on the sofa and stick our feet up in front of the television for a literary evening: a bunch of programmes on novels in the English language. 

We sit down on the sofa and stick our feet up in front of the television.

An interesting programme, although it is a bit of a shame that the programme makers decide to have the reconstructions play out against modern backgrounds.

It's a little distracting, to put it mildly, when the young 15-year-old Pamela in Samuel Richardson's 1740 novel tells her parents via smartphone (instead of in a letter) that her employer has been trying to seduce her.

the 15-year-old Pamela from the 1740 novel tells her parents via smartphone

instead of by letter, that her employer has been trying to seduce her

- what madness !!!!!

Lois and I wonder why Pamela didn't go all the way and post something on Twitter to for the me-too movement. But we’re going to let that one slide for now, because on the other hand it’s a lot of fun to see Virginia Woolf's Orlando turning into a woman on a train, before our very eyes.

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

I wouldn't mind getting hold of Orlando's cordless electric shaver, which seems to have been very quick and effective. But the BBC unfortunately doesn't show us the model used, presumably fearing charges of so-called "product placement" - pity!

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

Danish translation: søndag den 10. november 2019

En mærkelig dag. Lois beslutter ikke at deltage personligt i sin sekts to gudstjenester, der finder sted i dag i byen Tewkesburys bibliotek. Hun har haft problemer med ryggen og med fordøjelsessystemet de seneste 2-3 dage, og hun har ikke lyst til at blive siddende størstedelen af dagen, hvilket har tendens til at forværre sine sundhedsproblemer, i sær i betragtelsen af, at vi skal blive siddende størstedelen af i morgen også – min søster Gill i Cambridge har inviteret os til at mødes med hende på den Ask-italienske restaurant på George Street, Oxford for at spise frokost sammen.

den Ask italienske restaurant, George Street, Oxford,

hvor vi skal mødes med min søster Gill i morgen

Det ville være rart at se Gill igen, den eneste overlevende af mine 3 søskende. Hun vil tage bussen fra Cambridge kl 8, som ankommer til Oxford kl 11:45 – du godeste, sikke en rejse!!!! Vi vil køre over fra Cheltenham, parkere på byens nordlige park-og-ride parkeringsplads, og tager bussen ind i bymidten. Det er næsten muligt at parkere i selve bymidten – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

09:00 Vi taler lidt på whatsapp med vores datter Sarah i Perth, Australien og med hendes mand, Francis. De er på vej hjem fra et udflugt til et campingvogncenter, hvor deres 6-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie, hyggede sig med at hoppe op i de forskellige campingvogne, Sarah og Francis kiggede på. Nu er tvillingerne helt udmattede og er faldet i søvn i bilen – hvor er de dog søde ha ha ha!!!!

Vores 6-årige tvillingebørnebørn i Perth, Australien:

et nyligt billede – de står ved siden af den pige, der holder den centrale plakat op.

Hvor er de dog søde ha ha ha!!!

Sarah har købt billetter til 5 sæder i den 2. række til Disney Ice Showet næste år, når Lois og jeg planlægger at besøge familien, hvilket vil være sjovt.

10:30 Lois sætter sig med computeren og deltage på nettet i sin sekts to gudstjenester. Det er utroligt rørende at se på hende, med sin provisoriske ”kirkehat” på – en ulden hue, og ved siden af computeren sit stykke brød og sit smålille glas rødvin.

Og det er lidt af en lettelse set ud fra mit synspunkt, at jeg er ikke nødt til at køre hende over til Tewkesbury i dag, hvilket ville have været lidt af et mareridt for at sige mildt. I dag er det Våbenstilstandsdagen, og der vil være mange processioner og forskellige ceremonier, og gader lukkede for trafik, og den slags.

et typisk Våbenstilstandsdags-ceremoni i Tewkesbury

Men ulempen ved det hele er, at jeg effektivt bliver udelukket indtil kl 14 fra vores spisestue, som fordobles som vores ”computerlokale”.

11:00 Jeg sætter mig til rette i stuen og læse endnu et kapitel (66) af Njals saga, skrevet i det 14. århundrede i Island, selvom selve sagaen og begivenhederne derinde er meget meget ældre. Scillas U3A oldnordiske gruppe holder sit regelmæssige fjortendagsmøde på onsdag hos os og denne saga er gruppens nuværende projekt. Travlt travlt travlt!!!

Gunnar, én af sagaens hovedfigurer, og hans naboer, har haft travlt igen med at dræbe hinanden, skære hinandens kropsdele af, og forføre hinandens koner og døtre og gøre dem gravid, for ikke at nævne at de har stjålet træ fra hinandens skove – yikes! Men træ er en sjælden og værdifuld vare i Island:  få træer gror der, på grund af det frygtelige vejr og den slags.

Tingener er blevet til lidt af en rod, og beslutningen er taget til at ordne alle de pågældende sagsøgelser ved at arrangere en speciel session af ”tinget”, Islands parlament. Formålet er at alle bøderne kan blive fastsat og alle kan gå hjem og sidde i fred og ro under den kommende vinteren, hvilket er ved at begynde. Der er sædvanligt lidt af et uofficielt forbud af drab under vinteren, selvom antallet at forførelser har tendens til at stige, har jeg bemærket.

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden de levede i dengang, for at sige mildt!!!!

20:00 Vi sætter os til rette i sofaen, og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet. En litterær aften: to programmer om engelske romaner. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Vi sætter os til rette i sofaen, og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet.

Et interessant program, selvom det er lidt af en skam, at programmagerne beslutter at få rekonstruktionerne spille sig ud mod moderne baggrunde. Og det er lidt distraherende, for at sige mild, da den unge 15-årige Pamela i Samuel Richardsons  roman, fortæller sine forældre via smartphone (i stedet for i et brev), at hendes arbejdsgiver har prøvet at forføre hende.

Lois og jeg spekulerer på, hvorfor Pamela ikke tog skridtet helt ud og lagde noget op på Twitter for at støtte me-too-bevægelsen. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Men det er sjovt at se Virginia Woolfs Orlando bliver sig til en kvinde på et tog, foran vores øjne.

Du godeste, sikke et skør verden vi lever i !!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzzz!!!!!