Sunday January 5 2020

No whatsapp call this morning with Sarah, our daughter in Australia - she has postponed our regular session with her family until tomorrow. Lois and I are not quite sure why - it may be that the family is on an outing today.

Flashback to April 2018: me (left) at a beach cafe

in the Margaret River region, Western Australia,

along with Francis, Sarah, and the twins

10:15 Lois wants to attend her sect's two services taking place today in Tewkesbury Library - she has had back problems lately and she has asked me to drive her over there. I drop her off in front of the library and drive home again.

I now have some alone time, but not very much: only 2 hours and a half (including making lunch and no afternoon nap), instead of 4 and a half when she drives herself there, but I’m going to let that one slide - I'm happy to help her take part in her sect's activities because I know how important it is to her: I'm so warm-hearted ha ha ha!

Tewkesbury Library

11:00 I sit down with my computer and do some research on our vacation in Australia later in the year.

Lois and I will mostly be staying with our daughter Sarah and her family in Perth, but Stephen, Lois' cousin in Adelaide, has also invited us to spend a few days with him and Diane.

And Stephen has offered to drive us to Port Augusta during our stay (4 hours drive from Adelaide), where we can spend the night at a motel and see some of the country's real "wilderness" – bush country and desert i.e. the so-called "outback" - yikes !!!

Flashback to 2016: our most recent visit to Stephen and Diana (right)

standing waiting in line to "hug the koala"

Included for comparison: Lois's "koala face" at the sight of a koala

in the wild, in the state of Victoria: her performance is still

the world's best "koala face" in my opinion

12:00 This morning I do some research on our journey from Perth to Adelaide. I feel I want us to fly over there to Adelaide, but maybe taking the train back to Perth - it's not cheap, but it would be a bit of an experience for Lois and me, to put it mildly. We like to sleep on trains and experience the train's soothing rocking movements  (mmmm!), which we used to do on the trains to Vienna and Budapest when we were "young" (in our 50's ha ha ha) !!! But we'll see.

13:30  After a quick lunch, I drive over to Tewkesbury to pick up Lois, and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 4 pm and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

16:30 I take a look at my smartphone and I see some charming pictures of our daughter Alison in Haslemere, Surrey, and her family - Ed, her husband, and their 3 children: Josie (11), Rosalind (9) and Isaac (7).

Earlier in the day they watched the Chelsea women's soccer team’s match against Reading at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston-on-Thames, London.

Waiting for the match to start: Isaac and Rosalind

Ed and Josie

Rosalind (left) and Josie (right), along with

one of Chelsea's defenders, Millie Bright

Ed and Josie

the whole family

some of the Chelsea players with the team’s

"mascot" children (or whatever they’re called)

How exciting!! And especially for the 3 kids who are totally into soccer. Isaac (9) even has his own soccer blog on the web - you guys, what a madness !!!!!

17:00 Lois interprets the old Wizzard song "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day" - to celebrate the end of the twelve days of Christmas. Lois and I are fanatical about traditions, and tomorrow we are going to pull everything down, including the Christmas tree and decorations ha ha ha!

Lois interprets the old Wizzard song

"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day"

19:00 pm After dinner, Lois and I decide to turn on the television to see the report of Chelsea's match. We were surprised to see how "physical" women's soccer is. And it’s not very "ladylike", to put it mildly !!!

In the men's game, the goalkeeper mostly stays inside his goal area, but the female "goalkeepers" are not content to stay in the background - they prefer to get involved wherever they can see the heat of the battle  - and Reading's goalkeeper, Grace Moloney, got a red card and was sent off by the referee within the first few minutes of the match, due to a dirty tackle against Chelsea's Sam Kerr, playing in her first match for her new club – yikes, Grace !!!!

At some point today, our grandchildren, Josie and Rosalind, seem to have met one of Chelsea's players, Millie Bright. And I see that Millie is a defender who, in the team's line-up, is sandwiched in between two lovely Swedish players, Eriksson and Andersson, which is nice. And the team's midfielder Rejten is a Norwegian, it seems.

Rejten (right), the Norwegian football star, scores

Chelsea's 2nd goal

I do some research on the web and browse the Danish sports media, which are very interested in English soccer, both the men's and women's game. On December 26, the Danish media showcased Sophie Rose, the English Instagram star, as one of the decade's most prominent celebrity soccer fans, and included these charming photos of Sophie in Chelsea shirt / top, which is nice.

21:00 We continue to watch some television, the third episode of an interesting drama documentary series about the fashion model Christine Keeler and the Profumo scandal that hit the headlines in the UK in the early 1960’s. John "Jack" Profumo was then Secretary of War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government.

Profumo had an affair with Christine, who at that time was also regularly going to bed with a Russian naval attaché working at the Russian embassy.

In this episode, Profumo makes a speech in the House of Commons where he categorically denies that he had an affair with Christine. After that, of course, it was just a matter of time:  and already his colleagues in government, as well as his lovely wife, Valerie, had begun to doubt him.

The whole saga reminds Lois and me very much of Clinton's denials in the 1990’s about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

It has become more and more evident throughout the series that Christine was a sincere but slightly naive young woman - and she never asked Profumo for money, except if she wanted to send some to her mother, back in her hometown of Wraysbury: Christine's mother was always slightly in short of a few bob, to put it mildly.

We see her and Jack having sex on the back seat of his car - afterwards he offers her money and she accepts it a little unwillingly, and only for her mother's sake. And Lois and I both notice she shows she has real feelings for Jack, which is touching.

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

Danish translation: søndag den 5. januar 2020

Ingen whatsapp-opkald i formiddag med Sarah, vores datter i Australien – hun har udskudt vores regelmæssige session med familien indtil i morgen. Lois og jeg er ikke helt sikre hvorfor – det kan være at familien er på udflugt i dag.

Flashback to April 2018: me (left) at a beach cafe

in the Margaret River region, Western Australia,

along with Francis, Sarah, and the twins

10:15 Lois ønsker at deltage i sin sekts to gudstjenester, der finder sted i dag i byen Tewkesburys bibliotek – hun har haft rygproblemer på det seneste, og hun har bedt mig om at køre hende derover. Jeg sætter hende af foran biblioteket og kører hjem igen. Jeg har lidt alenetid, men ikke særlig meget: kun 2 timer og en halv (inklusive frokostlaving og ingen eftermiddagslur), i stedet for 4 og en halv, hvis hun kører sig selv, men det springer jeg over – jeg er glad for at kunne hjælpe hende med at deltage i hendes sekts aktiviteter, fordi jeg ved godt, hvor vigtigt det er for hende: jeg er så varmhjertet ha ha ha!

byen Tewkesburys bibliotek

11:00 Jeg sætter mig med computeren og gøre lidt forskning i forbindelse med vores ferie i Australien senere på året.

Lois og jeg vil for det meste opholde os hos vores datter Sarah og hendes familie i Perth, men Stephen, Lois’ fætter i Adelaide, har inviteret os til at bo nogle dage med ham og Diane. Stephen har tilbudt at køre os til Port Augusta under vores ophold (4 timers kørsel fra Adelaide), hvor vi kan overnatte på et motel og se noget af landets reelle ”vildnis” – kratskov og ørken og den slags, den såkaldte "outback" - yikes !!!

tilbageblik til 2016: vores seneste besøg hos Stephen og Diana

stående i køen til at ”kramme koalaen”

Medtaget til sammenligning: Lois’s ”koala-fjæs” ved synet af en koala

i naturen,  i delstaten Victoria: hendes præstation er  stadig

verdens bedste”koala-fjæs” i min udtalelse

12:00 I formiddag gør jeg lidt forskning om vores rejse fra Perth til Adelaide. Jeg har lyst til at flyve derover, men måske tage toget tilbage til Perth – det er ikke billigt, men det ville være lidt af en oplevelse for Lois og mig, for at sige mildt. Vi kan godt lide at sove på tog og opleve togets beroligende rokkebevægelser mmmm, som vi plejede at gør på vej med tog til Wien og Budapest da vi var ”unge” (i 50’erne ha ha ha) !!!  Men vi får se.

13:30 Efter en hurtig frokost kører jeg over til Tewkesbury for at afhente Lois, og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.  Jeg står op kl 16 og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

16:30 Jeg kigger lidt på min smartphone, og jeg ser nogle charmerende billeder af vores datter Alison i Haslemere, Surrey, og hendes familie – Ed, hendes mand, og deres 3 børn: Josie (11), Rosalind (9) og Isaac (7). Tidligere på dagen har de set Chelsea-kvindefodboldholdets kamp mod Reading på Kingsmeadow-stadiet, Kingston-on-Thames, London.

ventende på, at kampen starter: Isaac og Rosalind

Ed og Josie

Rosalind (til venstre) og Josie, sammen med

én af Chelseas backs, Millie Bright

Ed og Josie

hele familien

nogle af Chelsea-spillerne med holdets

”maskot”-børn

Hvor spændende!! Og især for de 3 børn, der alle er totalt vilde med fodbold. Isaac(9) har sin egen fodboldblog på nettet – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!!

17:00 Lois fortolker den gamle Wizzard sang ”I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day” – for at fejre enden på julens tolv dage. Lois og jeg er fanatisk om traditioner, og i morgen skal vi trække alt ned, inklusive juletræet og dekorationer ha ha ha!

Lois fortolker den gamle Wizzard-sang

”I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day”

19:00 Efter aftensmad beslutter Lois og jeg at tænde for fjernsynet for at se rapporten om Chelseas kamp. Vi var overraskede at se hvor ”fysisk” kvindefodbold er. Den er ikke særlig ”kvindagtig”, for at sige mildt!!!

I mændenes version, holder målmanden sig for det meste inde i målområdet, men de kvindelige ”målmænd” nøjes ikke med at være i baggrunden – de kan hellere lide at blive involveret, hvor som helst de kan se kampens hede – og Readings målmand fik et rødt kort og blev udvist af dommeren indenfor kampens første få minutter, på grund af en svinsk tackling mod Chelseas Sam Kerr, spillende i sin første kamp for sin nye klub – yikes!!!! 

På ét eller andet tidspunkt i dag mødte vores børnebørn, Josie and Rosalind, én af Chelsea spillere, Millie Bright. Og jeg ser, at Millie er en back, der i holdets line-up klemmet ind imellem to dejlige svenske spillere, Eriksson og Andersson, hvilket er rart. Og holdets midtbanespiller Rejten er nordmand, lader det til.

Rejten (til højre), den norske fodboldstjerne, scorer

Chelseas 2. mål

Jeg gør lidt forskning på nettet, og blæser igennem de danske sportsmedier, der interesserer sig meget for engelsk fodbold, både mændenes og kvindernes version. Den 26. december fremviste medierne Sophie Rose, den engelsk instagramstjerne, som én af årtiets mest fremtrædende  fodboldfans, og inkluderede disse charmerende fotoer af Sophie i Chelsea-skjorte / top, hvilket er rart.

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn, det 3. afsnit af i en interessant dramadokumentarserie, der handler om fotomodelen Christine Keeler og Profumo-skandalen, der ramte overskrifterne i Storbritannien først i 1960’erne. John ”Jack” Profumo var dengang krigsminister i Harold Macmillans konservative regering.

Profumo havde en affære med Christine, som også dengang med jævne mellemrum gik i seng med en russisk marineattaché, der arbejdede på den russiske ambassade.

I dette afsnit holder Profumo tale i Underhuset og benægter kategorisk, at han havde haft en affære med Christine. Derefter var det selvfølgelig bare et spørgsmål om tiden: allerede havde hans kollegaer i regeringen, samt hans dejlige kone, Valerie, begyndt at tvivle på ham.

Den hele saga minder Lois og mig om Clintons benægtelser i 1990'erne om hans affære med Monica Lewinsky.

Det er blevet mere og mere åbenbart i løbet af serien, at Christine var en oprigtig men lidt naiv ung kvinde – og hun bad aldrig Profumo om penge, undtagen hvis hun ønskede at sende dem til sin mor, tilbage i sin hjemmeby Wraysbury: Christines mor var altid lidt i bekneb for skillinger, for at sige mildt.

Vi ser hende og Jack have sex på bagsædet af hans bil – bagefter tilbyder han hende penge, og hun modtager dem lidt uvilligt, og bare på sin mors skyld. Og Lois og jeg mærker begge to, hun viser hun har ægte følelser for Jack, hvilket er rørende.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!