07:30 Lois and I tumble out of bed - we don't feel that great: I think it's feeling generally a bit washed out after yesterday' coronavirus vaccination.
We can't sleep in, however, because our younger daughter Sarah, who lives in Perth, Australia with Francis and their 7-year-old twins Lily and Jessie, is going to be doing her weekly zoom call with us at 8:30 am. Yikes - there's hardly time to wash/dress/have breakfast before it's time for the call - oh dear!
08:30 The call begins. The twins are delightful as usual. Sarah has some news on the coronavirus front. The prime minister of Western Australia has declared a 5-day lockdown starting 6 pm local time today. They've had an outbreak at one of Perth's quarantine hotels. I must say they've been very tough in WA about their restrictions and lockdowns, and it seems to have paid off, to put it mildly.
This particular move will work in the twins' favour. Sarah and Francis were uncertain what to do about the twins' schooling, after Ocean Reef Primary School, the state primary school they had put the girls' names down for, refused to put the girls in the same class when the new school year starts tomorrow. This news , only received on Friday, caused a lot of anguish for the poor twins. But the 5-day lockdown will give Sarah and Francis a chance to research alternative options, including sending them back to their previous school, a private Catholic school near where they live in Lower Chittering.
The twins play a game of "Pairs" with us, with a set of cards depicting various dog breeds. Lois and I do our best, but fail to find any pairs: we don't know about dogs, and the cards are too small for us to really take in on our little laptop screen - oh dear! Still the girls have a lot of fun beating us, that's for sure.
Lois and I try to play "pairs" with the girls' set of doggie cards
without much success - we need a bigger screen, no doubt about that!
Jessie shows us drawings of some of the clothes she has been designing. It's fascinating for Lois and me to see her taking up this interest. Years ago, before the family moved to Australia, we used to look after them 2 days a week, and Jessie's interest in clothes was apparent from an early age.
Jessie showcases some of the clothes she has designed today - bless her!!!
flashback to 2015 - Jessie's interest in clothes was apparent from an early age
09:30 All too soon it's time to say goodbye so Sarah can get the twins their tea.
time to wave goodbye and blow kisses - sob sob!!!!
16:00 Lois and I are feeling a bit rough today, so we don't do much. We order a Valentine's Day meal for two from CookShop to cheer ourselves up - oh dear!
It'll be delivered the day before - Feb 13th. What can I say other than "Yum yum" ?????
We're feeling low in energy, I feel shivery and Lois has aches and pains including a headache. I guess these are the side-effects of the vaccination that they were telling us about - oh dear! Still it's worth it, no doubt about that!
20:00 We watch the fourth episode in the new Danish crime series "The Investigation", based on the true-life murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall by Danish billionaire Peter Madsen on board his private submarine in 2017.
Another fascinating episode, all the more fascinating because it all actually happened!
Kim's torso has been washed ashore in Denmark, but the torso shows no evidence of the cause of death. Jens Moller and his team of detective have arrested the submarine-owner Peter Madsen and they have four weeks to come up with a case they can put before a court.
Police diving teams toil for weeks trying to find Kim's other remains: the head and limbs, and her clothes. A fruitless search, with police on the point of abandoning the search - the suspect Madsen apparently fantasized about committing "the perfect crime". Maybe he has succeeded?
The breakthrough comes eventually, thanks to Kim's father, Joachim Wall, who puts pressure on the Swedish authorities to cooperate more fully with the Danes in releasing details about the sub's movements at the time of the murder. Joachim also suggests to Jens Moller's team that they employ Swedish "cadaver dogs", which can detect the presence of corpses in water. These dogs have been used extensively by Swedish police but they have never been used by the Danes - until now.
These dogs, if taken in open boats start whimpering and wagging their tails when they detect the presence of a corpse under the water. Jens's team borrow one of these dogs from the Swedes, and after a couple of frustrating weeks, they eventually have a success - the dog has detected a corpse way out in the Baltic.
This jubilation is followed by frustration, however, when police divers fail to find anything at the location concerned.
Then it's realised that the corpse may not necessarily be where the dog started whimpering. Swedish police tend to use these dogs when looking for bodies in Swedish lakes, but out in the Baltic the effects of wind and current have to be factored in. What the dogs are reacting to is the traces of the fat coming from the human remains, so the strength and direction of the current makes a big difference.
Just as this fourth episode is drawing to a close, the divers come up with some significant finds: a head, a leg and a bag of clothes, including an orange sweater of the kind Kim was known to be wearing the night she disappeared. It is now about 2 months since the search began - my god!
Gripping stuff!!!
21:00 We go to bed early - zzzzzzzzz!!!!!
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