Søndag den 23. juli 2017 kl 16:30 indtil mandag den 24 juli 2017 kl 16:29

17:00 ”Det er vigtigere at være frisk og rask, end at være tynd” – er nu blevet min devise. Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og tilbagelægger endnu 6 miles (10km).

Jeg har for vane at høre YouTube musik på min smartphone, mens jeg cykler. Jeg er samtidig optaget med en rejse tilbage i tiden og har nået til 1948 – skræmmende!!! Og jeg kan helt sikkert ikke huske de fleste hitsange i denne YouTube kompilation, hvilket måske er ikke ret overraskende. Jeg var kun 2 år gammel, og jeg mistænker, at jeg har slet ingen ægte erindring om dette år.

Jeg var sandsynligvis i gang med at vænne mig til at have en lille søster, Kathy, født i november det foregående år, en stor baby (over 11 pund), der senere blev højere, end mig (pokkers!) indtil min lille vækstspurt i 1960’erne.

mig, min mor, og Kathy i 1948

mig, min far, og Kathy i 1948. Min far er i sin hæruniform.

Kathy havde min fars rødt hår.

Lykkelige dage! Det er meningen, at første barn føler jalousi, da det andet barn kommer til verden, selvom hvis mellemrummet er kort nok, sker det ikke, tror jeg. Min søster var 20 mdr yngre, end mig, og jeg kan ikke huske nogle jaloux følelser.

Sangeren Andrew Golds yngre søster var ca 24 mdr yngre, og resultatet var katastrofalt, det er både sikkert og vist. Stakkels Andrew!!!!! Men kom så, op med humøret, se at komme videre, Andrew!!!!!

Se at komme videre, Andrew!!!!

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad. Vi er begge to meget trætte – vi trænger til en ferie. Heldigvis har vi muligheden for at tage bilen og smutte væk fra det hele, når vi rejser sydpå på torsdag for at deltage i Julias bryllup.

Vi sætter os til rette i sofaen og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet. De viser en BBC Proms koncert: vi ser den berømte hollandske dirigent Bernard Haitink med sit mildt væsen (copyright Clark Kent), der er endnu ældre, end os (på 88 år – yikes!!!), sammen med Chamber Orchestra of Europe, spille Mozart og Schumann.

Vores yndlingsstykke på koncertprogrammet er Mozarts rørende 3. violinkoncert, men hele koncerten er så smuk, så smuk og beroligende  oven i købet.

den tyske solist, Isabelle Faust, spiller Mozarts 3. violinkoncert (den utroligt

rørende 2. sats). Vores yndligsfløjtist, den smukke Clara Andrade de la Calle –

skørt navn, skørt kvinde! – ser ud som om, hun kigger over Isabelles skulder.

21:00 Vi overvejer at fortsætte med at se lidt fjernsyn, selvom vi har virkelig meget lyst til at gå i seng. De begynder at vise en dokumentarfilm, ”Operation Armbrøst”, der handler om den 2. verdenskrig og i sær om rollen spillet af luftfotogravering i at finde og identificere tyske V1 og V2  raket afskydningsramper, der alle var pegede mod det sydlige England, unødvendigt at sige.

Programmet viser sig at være meget interessant, så vi modvilligt udskyder at gå i seng. Vi vidste ikke, at Peenemunde, en havneby på Tysklands baltiske kyst, var stedet, hvor de britiske og amerikanske fotofortolkere først spottede disse raketter. Lois og jeg besøgte Peenemunde først i 1990’erne sammen med vores 2 teenagedøtre, Alison (17 år) og Sarah (15 år), under en ferie i det nordlige Tyskland. Vi rejste derover med det formål at forbedre pigernes tysk.

  

Lois i Tyskland i 1992: åh hvor jeg dog elsker

hendes dejlig kort hår – du godeste!

Sarah i Peenemunde i 1992

 Mig i Peenemunde i 1992: vi var på ferie i det nordlige

  Tyskland - havnebyen Peenemunde  i lykkeligere tider.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzz!!!!!

04:30 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest. Jeg kigger lidt på internettet. Alison, vores datter i København, er for tiden på ferie i Norfolk, et grevskab, der ligger i det østlige England og grænser op til Nordsøen. I dag rejser hendes familie til Holland, hvor de skal leje et feriehus i nogle dage, på vej hjem til Danmark. Hun har lagt nogle charmerende billeder af Norfolk op på Facebook. Landskabet i Norfolk ligner i vis grad landskabet i både Danmark og Holland, sjovt nok.

Alison, vores datter i København, er for tiden på ferie

i Norfolk, sammen med Ed, sin mand, og deres 3 børn

Eds job i København ophører ved slutningen af året, og Lois og jeg er meget nysgerrige over for, hvor hans næste job vil være. Han har en mulighed for at få et job i Holland, men Lois og jeg er ikke helt sikre på, om han gerne vil påtage det eller ej.

På den anden side må vi acceptere, at hans næste job kunne være hvor som helst i verden. Spørgsmålet er meget vigtigt for mit og Lois’s vedkommende, fordi det har en indvirkning på, hvor ofte vi kan se dem – uha! Sarah, vores anden datter, bor nu i Australien, så det vil være rart, hvis Alison i det mindste bliver boende i Europa.

07:45  Jeg hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté. Vi har nu i ca 1 uge sovet i dobbeltsengen i Sarahs gamle værelse. Det er så dejligt at kunne ligge og kigge ud af  vinduet, der har udsigt over baghaven, så meget mere behageligt, end vores eget soveværelse, der har udsigt til gaden, hvor vi konstant bliver forstyrret af trafiklarm – du godeste!

vi kan ligge i sengen og kigge ud af vinduet

der har udsigt over vores smukke baghave – du godeste! 

Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

09:15 Vi kører over til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at købe ind. Vi kører hjem igen og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

11:00 Jeg graver mit eksemplar af Gunnlaugs saga frem, en oldislandsk tekst, som er vores U3A oldnorske gruppes nuværende projekt, og jeg begynder at læse den 11. kapitel for alvor – og jeg prøver at forstå grammatikken og ordforrådet lidt.

Det lykkes Hrafn, en islandsk skjald, at gifte sig med Helga, Islands smukkeste kvinde, efter Helgas far giver ham tilladelse til det. Men Helga virker deprimeret under deres bryllup – hun er faktistk dybt forelsket i Hrafns rival, en anden skjald, der hedder Gunnlaug, der har været ude i udlandet: Norge, England, og Irland. Men hun hævner sig på Hrafn ved at give ham sex kun sjældent. Stakkels Hrafn!!!!

Lidt senere på året, om vinteren, er der et andet bryllup, der finder sted, og både Hrafn, Helga og Gunnlaug er blevet inviteret til festen. Gunnlaug er nu kommet tilbage fra udlandet. Helga virker deprimeret igen, og under festen hun kigger konstant på sin forelskede Gunnlaug, hvilket er lidt ydmygende for stakkels Hrafn, hendes ægtemand. Sagaens forfatter kommenterer, at en kvindes øjne vidner om, om hun er forelsket eller ej – kloge ord!!!  Men stakkels Hrafn (igen)!!!! Og Helga har nu holdt fuldstændigt op med at have sex med sin ægtemand.

Helga og Gunnlaug – deres kærlighed er forbudt nu, hvor

Helga er Hrafns kone – stakkels Helga!!!!

Gunnlaug og Helga snakker lidt i smug under bryllup – faktisk i køkkenet, og Gunnlaug forærer hende den dejlig kåbe, som kong Ethelred 2. (den Rådvilde) gav ham i London, da Gunnlaug tilbød at hjælpe Ethelred med at forsvare landet mod danskerne. Sikke et skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Helga i køkkenet ved brylluppet –

Gunnlaug og Helga (Hrafns kone) sniger sig ind i køkkenet

for at snakke i smug under festen. De lover deres udødelige kærlighed

og Gunnlaug forærer hende en dejlig kåbe, han fik i England

Mange år senere, skrev nogen en sang om én, der altid kan findes i køkkenet ved fester, men jeg formoder, det ikke var Gunnlaug, der inspirerede sangen. Men hvem ved, underligere ting er sket.

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzz!!!!

15:00 Jeg står op og vi drikker en kop te i sofaen.

English translation

17:00 "It's more important to be healthy and fit than to be thin" - has now become my motto. I jump on my exercise bike and clock up another 6 miles (10 km).

My habit is to listen to YouTube music on my smart phone while I'm cycling. I am also engaged with a journey going back in time and have now reached 1948 - scary !!! And I certainly cannot remember most of the hit songs in this 1948 YouTube compilation. I was only 2 years old and I suspect I have no genuine memories of this year.

I was probably getting used to having a little sister, Kathy, born in November of the previous year, a big baby (over 11 pounds), who later became taller than me (damn!) until my little growth spurt in the 1960s.

me, my mother, and Kathy in 1948

Me, my father, and Kathy in 1948. My father is in his army uniform.

Kathy had my father's red hair.

Happy days! It is supposed to be that the first child feels jealous when the second child comes into the world, although if the interval is short enough, this does not happen, I think. My sister was 20 months younger than me and I cannot remember any jealous feelings.

The singer Andrew Gold's younger sister was about 24 months younger and the result was disastrous, and that's a fact. Poor Andrew !!!!! But come on, lighten up, get over it, Andrew !!!!!

Time to move on, Andrew !!!!

18:00 Lois and I eat dinner. We are both very tired - we need a vacation. Fortunately, we have the chance to take the car and get away from it all when we travel south on Thursday to go to Julia's wedding.

We settle on the couch and stick our feet up in front of the television. A BBC Proms concert is on: we see the famous Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink with his mild manner (copyright Clark Kent), who is even older than us (88 years of age - yikes !!!), together with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, playing Mozart and Schumann.

Our favourite piece on the concert programme is Mozart's moving 3rd violin concerto, but the whole concert is so beautiful, so beautiful and soothing.

The German soloist Isabelle Faust plays Mozart's 3rd violin concerto (the incredibly

moving second movement). Our favourite flautist, the beautiful Clara Andrade de la Calle -

crazy name, crazy gal! - appears like she is looking over Isabelle's shoulder.

21:00 We think about whether to watch more television even though we really want to go to bed. A documentary film "Operation Crossbow", starts, all about the Second World War, and in particular about the role played by aerial photography in finding and identifying German V1 and V2 rocket launching ramps, all of which were pointing towards southern England, needless to say.

The programme turns out to be very interesting, so we reluctantly put off going to bed. We did not know that Peenemunde, a port city on Germany's Baltic coast, was the place where the British and American photographic interpreters first spotted these rockets. Lois and I visited Peenemunde in the 1990s with our 2 teenage daughters, Alison (17 years) and Sarah (15 years), during a vacation in northern Germany. We were travelling over there with the aim of improving the girls' German.

Lois in Germany in 1992: oh how I love

her gorgeous short hair - my goodness!

Sarah (15)  in Peenemunde in 1992

me in 1992 on our visit to northern Germany

- the port of Peenemunde in happier times.

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

04:30 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests. I take a little look at the internet. Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, is currently on holiday in Norfolk, a county which lies in eastern England and borders on the North Sea. Today, her family is travelling to Holland, where they are going to rent a holiday home for a few days on their way home to Denmark. She has posted some charming pictures of Norfolk up on Facebook. The landscape in Norfolk is to some extent similar to the landscape in both Denmark and the Netherlands, funnily enough.

Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, is currently on holiday

In Norfolk, along with Ed, her husband, and their 3 children

Ed's job in Copenhagen finishes at the end of the year, and Lois and I are very curious about where his next job will be. He has the chance of a job in Holland, but Lois and I are not quite sure if he wants to take it or not.

On the other hand, we must accept that his next job could be anywhere in the world. The question is very important to me and Lois because it has an impact on how often we can see them - oh dear! Sarah, our second daughter, lives in Australia, so it will be nice if Alison is at least living in Europe.

07:45 I hop back into bed with Lois and we drink our morning tea. For about a week we have been sleeping in the double bed in Sarah's old room. It's so nice to be able to lie and look out of a window that overlooks the back garden, so much more comfortable than our own bedroom that overlooks the street where we are constantly disturbed by traffic noise - good grief!

We can lie in bed and look out of the window

overlooking our beautiful back garden - my goodness!

We get up and have breakfast.

09:15 We drive over to the local Sainsbury's supermarket to do the shopping. We drive back home and relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

11:00 I dig out my copy of Gunnlaug's saga, an Old Icelandic text, which is our U3A Old Norse group's current project, and I start to read the 11th chapter for serious - and I try to understand the grammar and vocabulary a little.

Hrafn, an Icelandic bard, manages to marry Helga, the most beautiful woman in Iceland, after Helga's father gives him permission. But Helga seems depressed during their wedding - she is in fact deeply in love with Hrafn's rival, another bard called Gunnlaug, who has been abroad: in Norway, England, and Ireland. But she takes her revenge on Hrafn by giving him sex only occasionally. Poor Hrafn!!!!

A little later in the year, in winter, there is another wedding taking place, and both Hrafn and Helga and also Gunnlaug have been invited to the reception. Gunnlaug has now returned from abroad. Helga seems depressed again, and during the reception she is constantly looking at her beloved Gunnlaug, which is a bit humiliating for poor Hrafn, her husband. The author of the saga comments that a woman's eyes testify whether she is in love or not - wise words !!! Poor old Hrafn (again) !!!! And Helga has now completely put a stop on sex with her husband.

Helga and Gunnlaug - their love is forbidden now that

Helga is Hrafn's wife - poor Helga !!!!

Gunnlaug and Helga talk a little on the sly at the wedding - in fact, in the kitchen, and Gunnlaug gives her the lovely coat that King Ethelred 2. (the Unready) presented him with in London when Gunnlaug offered to help Ethelred defend England against the Danes. What a crazy world we live in !!!!

Helga in the kitchen - Gunnlaug and Helga (wife of Hrafn) sneak into the kitchen

to talk in secret during the reception. They pledge their undying love

and Gunnlaug gives her a lovely coat he got in England

Many years later, somebody wrote a song about a man who can always be found in the kitchen at parties, but I suppose it was probably not Gunnlaug who inspired the song. But who knows, stranger things have happened.

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take me a gigantic afternoon nap - zzzz !!!!

15:00 I get up and we have a cup of tea on the couch.

Lørdag den 22. juli 2017 kl 16:30 indtil søndag den 23. juli 2017 kl 16:29

16:45 Jeg parkerer bilen i en stor parkeringsplads i byen Tewkesbury, og venter på at Lois dukker op. Hun har brugt eftermiddagen på at hjælpe med at bemande sin kirkes pop-up shop midt i byen. Hun kommer i bilen og vi kører hjem.

Hun er udmattet, men eftermiddagen har været meget vellykket, siger hun, med masser af ”kunder”, der kom ind i shoppen og snakkede om biblen med kirkens indvillige ”ekspeditører”.

En af kunderne startede en livlig diskussion om evolutionsteorien, men han var lidt aggressiv, siger hun, selvom han endelig stak af, da ekspeditørerne afviste at blive provokeret. Lois synes, at teoriens tilhængere er langt mere bigotte, end de mest ekstreme kreationister – du godeste!

Jeg synes selv, at det er lidt af en skam, at shoppen fremviser kirkens kreationisme på en så fremtrædende måde i butiksvinduet – det er så nemt, at kritisere den filosofi!!! Det ville være bedre, at ramme kunder med kreationisme lidt senere, efter de er blevet interesseret i andre aspekter, synes jeg!!! Men det springer jeg over!!!!

det er måske lidt af en skam, at shoppen fremviser

kirkens kreationisme på en så fremtrædende måde!!!!

18:00 Vi kommer hjem og spiser aftensmad. Lois er træt på grund af eftermiddagens uafbrudt snik-snak, og jeg er også lidt træt. Jeg er nu til dags ikke vant til at bruge næsten 2 timer om dagen på at køre bil – stakkels mig!!!!

19:30 Lois sætter sig foran computeren for at læse mails osv. Og hun har stadig nogle administrative opgaver i forhold til pop-up shoppen. Ingen har indvilliget i at bemande shoppen på fredag eller på lørdag formiddag næste uge.

uddrag fra pop-up shoppens websted – det kan være,

at shoppen må holde lukket på fredag og på lørdag formiddag næste uge – uha!!!

Der er stadig et problem med kirkens mange medlemmer, der bor i selve byen. Det lader til, at disse mennesker tøver med at indvillige i at hjælpe til, af en eller anden grund. Dette betyder, at shoppen afhænger af en forholdsvis lille antal af medlemmer (som Lois), der ikke bor i byen, og skal rejse dertil med bil eller bus, i nogle tilfælde over lange afstande (for eksempel fra Birmingham). Det virker ikke retfærdigt, ingen tvivl om det. Lois har besluttet sig for at tale om dette problem med kirkens ledelse, når hun i morgen ser dem ved kirkens to gudsbetjenester.

20:00 Jeg sætter mig til rette i sofaen og lytter til radio, en dejlig koncert i BBC Proms koncertsæson, sendt direkte fra Albert Hall i London.

Orkestret spiller i aften fra hukommelsen. Dette er en radioudsendelse, så derfor er jeg ikke helt sikker på, om orkestrets medlemmer er ældre folk, som mig, eller ej. Jeg venter med tilbageholdt åndedræt på, at de har et ”senior-øjeblik”, men alt går godt – pokkers!

I pausen hører jeg begyndelsen af en interessant diskussion om Napoleon, styret af Andrew Roberts, den berømte historiker. Desværre døser jeg hen af og til under diskussionen, indtil Lois til sidst kommer ind i stuen og vækker mig, da hun lukker døren  - du godeste, hvor er jeg dog ynkelig!

22:00 Vi går i seng. Vi ligger og snakker lidt. Vi er både trætte for tiden, men næste uge holder vi en kort ferie, for at deltage i Julias bryllup lige uden for byen Bournemouth – det vil være en forfriskende forandring. Godt vejr og dejlige mennesker, håber vi på. Men for nu er det – zzzzzzz!!!!!

04:30 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.

08:15 Jeg hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté. Vi går i bad og bagefter spiser vi morgenmad.

10:00 Jeg går op på loftet og jeg får fat i de ekstra 100 børnebøger, jeg fandt i går. Jeg beslutter at bære dem ned, så vi kan se på dem og forhåbentlig tage nogle af dem med til i Røde Kors’ lokale genbrugsbutik.  Jeg har fundet  sammenlagt ca 100 børnebøger – sikke et mareridt!!! Det er sandelig skræmmende syn at se loftet, der er propfyldt af ting, som vi for det meste ikke længere har brug for.

10:45 Vi skal ud. Lois ønsker at deltage i to gudstjenester, der finder sted i dag i byen Tewkesbury, og hun er ikke tilladt at køre bil for tiden på grund af grå stær. Jeg sætte hende af overfor kirken og kører hjem.

Jeg graver strygejernen frem og går i gang med at stryger mine skjorter, t-shirts og undertøj. Lois har fortalt mig, at hun er glad for, at stryge alt mit tøj, men jeg kan se klart, at hun ikke kan klare min strygning udover sin egen. Jeg har næsten ikke noget undertøj tilbage – uha!

13:00 Jeg spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en kort eftermiddagslur – zzzzz!!!! Det er lidt af en skam, at min alenetid om søndagen er blevet reduceret med 50% - i de dage, når Lois var tilladt at køre bil, havde jeg 5 timer hver søndag for at klare opgaver på min gøremålsliste, men nu har jeg kun 2,5 timer. Jeg vil rigtig gerne blive liggende lidt længere i sengen, men jeg må står op efter kun 30 minutter – stakkels mig!!!!!

14:30 Jeg kører over til Tewkesbury for at hente Lois efter hendes kirkes 2. gudstjeneste. Jeg parkerer bilen i en nærliggende parkeringsplads og venter på, at hun viser sig. Vi kører hjem og slapper af med en kop te.

Hun taler lidt om den unge mand, som Hilary, en af kirkens medlemmer, er venner (ikke kæreste) med. Hilary har før i tiden fortalt Lois i smug, at manden lider af ”hallucinationer”. Han bor i et telt, lader det til. Alarmklokker begynder at ringe igen i mit hoved, da jeg igen hører om denne mand, der i dag deltog i kirkens to gudstjenester. Kirker har desværre tendens til at tiltrække nu og da mennesker med psykiske problemer – det er både sikkert og vist! Lois siger, at hun i dag overvejede at tilbyde at gøre mandens vasketøj – yikes!!! Heldigvis tilbød Hilary at gøre det, før Lois kunne lave tilbuddet, gudskelov. Desværre er jeg ikke så menneskekærlig, som Lois og hendes venner - uha!!!

Jeg er glad for, at høre, at kirkens ledelse er i gang med at prøve at finde en billig lejlighed, hvor manden kan bo.

English translation

16:45 I park the car in a big car park in the town of Tewkesbury, waiting for Lois to turn up. She has spent the afternoon helping to staff her church's pop-up shop in the middle of town. She gets in the car and we drive home.

She is exhausted, but the afternoon has been very successful, she says, with a lot of "customers" who came into the shop and talked about the Bible with the church's volunteer "assistants".

One of the customers started a lively discussion about the theory of evolution, but he was a bit aggressive, she says, although he finally cleared off when the volunteers refused to be provoked. Lois thinks that the supporters of the theory are far more bigoted than the most extreme creationists - my goodness!

I think it's a bit of shame that the shop showcases the church's creationism in such a prominent way in the shop window - it's so easy to criticise that philosophy !!! It would be better to hit customers with creationism a little later after they have become interested in other aspects, I think.  But I'll let that one slide !!!!

It is perhaps a shame that the shop showcases

the church's creationism in such a prominent way !!!!

18:00 We come home and have dinner. Lois is tired because of the afternoon's non-stop chit-chat, and I'm also a little tired. Nowadays I am not used to spending almost 2 hours a day driving a car - poor me !!!!

19:30 Lois sits down in front of the computer to read mails, etc. And she still has some administrative tasks in relation to the pop-up shop. Nobody has volunteered to staff the shop on Friday or on Saturday morning next week.

excerpt from the pop-up shop website - it may be that the shop

will have to stay closed on Friday and on Saturday morning next week - oh dear !!!

There is still a problem with the church's many members who live in the town itself. It seems that these people are reluctant to volunteer to help out for some reason. This means that the shop depends on a relatively small number of members (like Lois) who do not live in the town, and have to travel by car or bus, in some cases over long distances (for example, from Birmingham). It does not seem fair, no doubt about it. Lois has decided to talk about this problem with the church's leadership when she sees them in the morning at the church's two worship services.

20:00 I settle down on the couch and listen to the radio, a nice concert in the BBC Proms concert season, broadcast live from the Albert Hall in London.

The orchestra is playing tonight from memory. This is a radio broadcast, so I'm not entirely sure if the orchestra members are older people like me, or not. I wait with bated breath for them to have a "senior moment" but everything goes well - damn it!

During the break I hear the beginning of an interesting discussion about Napoleon, led by Andrew Roberts, the famous historian. Unfortunately, I doze off now and then during the discussion, until Lois eventually comes in the living room and wakes me up when she closes the door - good grief, how pathetic I am!

22:00 We go to bed. We lie there and chat a little. We are both tired at the moment, but next week we will be taking a short vacation to attend Julia's wedding just outside Bournemouth - it will be a refreshing change. Good weather and lovely people, we hope. But for now it’s - zzzzzzz !!!!!

04:30 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

08:15 I jump back into bed with Lois and we drink our morning tea. We go in the shower and afterwards we eat breakfast.

10:00 I go up to the attic and I get hold of the extra 100 children's books I found yesterday. I decide to carry them down so we can look at them and hopefully take some of them along to the Red Cross's local recycling shop. I have found altogether about 200 children's books - what a nightmare !!! It is a truly scary sight to see the attic, which is packed with things that we mostly do not need anymore.

10:45 We have to go out. Lois wants to attend two church services taking place today in Tewkesbury, and she is not allowed to drive a car at the moment due to cataracts. I drop her off opposite the church and drive home.

I dig the iron out and start ironing my shirts, t-shirts and underwear. Lois has told me she is happy to iron all my clothes, but I can see that she cannot handle my ironing as well as her own. I have almost no underwear left - oh dear!

13:00 I have lunch and afterwards I go to bed to take a short afternoon nap - zzzzz !!!! It's a bit of a shame that my Sunday alone-time has been reduced by 50% - in the days when Lois was allowed to drive a car, I had 5 hours every Sunday to do tasks on my to-do list, but now I only have 2 and a half hours. I really want to stay a little longer in bed, but I have to get up after only 30 minutes - poor me !!!!!

14:30 I drive over to Tewkesbury to pick Lois up after her church's second service. I park the car in a nearby parking lot and wait for her to appear. We drive home and relax with a cup of tea.

She talks a little about the young man whom Hilary, one of the church members, is friends (not sweethearts) with. Hilary has previously told Lois that the man suffers from "hallucinations". He lives in a tent, it seems. Alarm bells begin to ring again in my head when I hear again about this man who today attended the church's two worship services. Churches unfortunately tend now and then to attract people with mental problems – and that's a fact! Lois says that today she considered offering to do the man's laundry - yikes !!! Fortunately, Hilary offered to do it before Lois could make the offer, thank goodness. Unfortunately, I'm not as charitable as Lois and her friends - oh dear !!!

I'm glad to hear that the Church's leadership is currently trying to find a cheap apartment where the man can live.

Fredag den 21. juli 2017 kl 16:30 indtil lørdag den 22. juli 2017 kl 16:29

19:00 Efter aftensmad sætter Lois sig foran computeren og går i gang med at opdatere sit skema, der   viser, hvilken af sin kirkes medlemmer har indvilliget i at dække hvilke tidsrum på kirkens pop-up shop midt i byen Tewkesbury. Det hele er allerede blevet til en helt gigantisk opgave – lidt af et mareridt efter min mening, men kirkens ledelse skulle være meget glad for, at Lois har aftalt at påtage sig den: hun er så effektiv og samvittighedsfuld. Du godeste!!!!

det er lidt skuffende, at ingen af kirkens medlemmer hidtil har vist sig villig

til at arbejde i pop-up shoppen på fredag eller (især) lørdag formiddag – uha!

Jeg spekulerer på, om nogle af kirkemedlemmer ser deres medlemskab lidt som en social klub – hvor de kan omgås deres venner og slægtninge, og derfor er de ikke ret interesseret i at sprede ordet. Men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på. Det giver imidlertid mere arbejde til Lois, fordi hun hele tiden skal publicere de tomme halvdage og tigge om hjælp. Stakkels Lois!

19:30 Mens Lois opdaterer sine filer, sætter jeg til rette i sofaen og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser et gamle afsnit af Top of the Pops fra marts 1984.

Det er lidt af en overraskelse at se Special AKAs ”Befri Nelson Mandela” sang, som jeg ikke har hørt før. Lois og jeg boede dengang i USA, og denne sang nåede ikke det amerikanske marked af en eller anden grund, og Lois og jeg så den ikke på den amerikanske MTV-kanal.

Special AKAs ”Befri Nelson Mandela!”, en gemytlig sang!

Og de farvede piger synger..” (copyright Lou Reed)

“Befri Nelson Mandela!”

Mandela blev endelig befriet 6 år senere, i 1990. Jeg vidste altid, at apartheidsystemet selv var voldeligt og uforsvarligt, men jeg må indrømme, at jeg dengang ikke var ret sympatisk over for Mandela, som jeg så på som en voldsom terrorist, der havde forsøgt at dræbe folk. Senere, efter han blev præsident, blev jeg helt klar over, at han var blevet til en sand statsmand. Selv en stor mand som mig kan nogle gang være forkert, overraskende som det kan virke.

Tilbageblik til marts 1984 i Maryland USA: vores døtre, Alison (8) og Sarah (6 år),

sammen med Lois (til venstre) og Kathy, min søster, der dengang arbejdede

på den britiske ambassade.

20:00 Lois er færdig med sine pop-up shop opgaver, så vi sætter os sammen foran computeren og sender et svar til Sarahs mail. Sarah, vores yngre datter, flyttede i december 2015 til Australien, sammen med Francis, sin mand, og deres (dengang) 2,5-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessica.

Sarah sendte os en mail tidligere på ugen – hun vil have os til at tilbringe et helt år i Australien, og måske bosætte os der permanent, hvis vi beslutter, at vi godt kan lide livet derovre.

Vi beslutter at sende hende et midlertidigt svar. Vi siger, at Lois for tiden er meget travlt optaget af sine administrative opgaver i forhold til sin kirkes pop-up shop, og også selv arbejder på shoppen nogle gange om ugen. Men vi takker Sarah for, at have spurgt ind til spørgsmålet om lokal ejendomsmæglere, visumreglerne osv, og vi lover, vi vil tænke på hendes forslag i løbet af de næste få måneder.  Vi håber på, vi ikke kommer til at såre hendes følelser – du godeste, vi savner hende så meget, men vi er ikke helt sikre på, at vi gerne vil flytte til Australien – du godeste, livet er nogle gange svært, ingen tvivl om det!!!!

21:00 Vi sætter os til rette sammen i sofaen.  Desværre er der ikke noget ret interessant i fjernsyn, så vi ser et program, jeg optog tidligere på ugen, ”Hotel Inspector”. Programmets vært er den charmerende Alex Polizzi.

Som sædvanligt med disse slags reality-programmerne om hotelbranchen, er Lois’s og min første prioritet, at finde frem til, om de to mænd, Chris og Jonathan, der har købt dette hotel, er et bøssepar, eller bare to venner, der har besluttet at åbne en forretning sammen. Vi er blevet så overfladiske – ingen tvivl om det!!!! Vi formoder fra Alex’s kommentarer, at de to mænd faktisk danner bøssepar med hinanden, men det er vi ikke helt sikre på – pokkers!

Det er altid interessant, at se hvor ynkelige så mange hotelejere er, og dette par var det værste eksempel, vi nogensinde har set. Chris, der spiller rollen af hotel-manager, har ikke den fjerneste idé om, hvordan man skal uddanne eller styre hotellets personale.

Efter Alex, programmets vært, skælder Chris ud et par gange, lægger han en passende indsats på at forbedre sin ledelse, men Lois og jeg er helt sikre på, at han vil gå tilbage til sine gamle vaner, så snart Alex træder ud af døren.

Vores råd til Chris: ”GIV OP, Chris” – du er i det forkerte job!!!”. Men vores råd ville ikke have givet seerne et time-langt program.

Med andre ord, ”Hotel Inspector”  - en time af vores liv, som vi aldrig vil have igen ha ha ha!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzz!!!!

04:30 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.

08:15 Jeg hopper tilbage op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté. Vi går i bad og bagefter spiser vi morgenmad.

10:00 Jeg går op på loftet og jeg finder endnu 100 børnebøger. Jeg beslutter at bære dem ned, så vi kan se på dem og forhåbentlig tage nogle af dem med til i Røde Kors’ lokale genbrugsbutik.  I går fandt jeg allerede ca 100 børnebøger – sikke et mareridt!!! Det er sandelig skræmmende syn at se loftet, der er propfyldt af ting, som vi for det meste ikke længere har brug for.

Mens jeg er oppe i loftet, Sarah, vores datter i Australien ringer til mig. Hun vil tale med os på Skype. Jeg dropper min idé om, at bærer endnu flere bøger ned, og jeg kommer tilbage ned i spisestuen og fortæller Lois.

Vi taler lidt med Sarah og hendes tvillinger, Lily og Jessica, der har deres 4. fødseldag på onsdag (den 25. juli). Opkaldet er meget sjovt som altid, selvom der er den sædvanlige kaotiske  stemning – pigerne har hundredvis af ting – legetøj, tegninger, balletklasse certifikater osv – at vise Lois og mig. Du godeste! Der er ingen mulighed for at tale mere alvorligt med Sarah – måske en god ting lige nu!

Vi taler lidt på Skype med Sarah, vores datter i Australien, og hendes

små tvillinger, Lily og Jessica

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter skal vi ud. Lois har indvilliget i at hjælpe med at bemande sin kirkes pop-up shop i eftermiddag i byen Tewkesbury. Jeg kører hende over til byen og sætter hende af lige rundt om hjørnet fra shoppen. Jeg kører hjem og går i seng for at tage mig en kort eftermiddagslur – zzzzzz!!!!

14:30 Jeg står op og ser det 2. afsnit af den danske krimi-serie, ”Dicte”s 2. sæson. Serien handler om en aarhusianske kriminelreporter, der hedder Dicte Svendsen, og hendes ven i det lokale politi, John Wagner.

Et andet spændende afsnit, men også lidt overraskende, i sær, når det kommer til den upassende opførslen af den lokale kriminalafdeling og dens detektiver – du godeste!

Wagner, en af seriens to hovedfigurer, skjuler en afrikanske prostitueret  og ulovlig indvandrer i sin lejlighed. Hvorfor ville han tage sådan en risiko??? Med hver dag, der går, bliver Wagnere venligere og venligere med kvinden. I dette afsnit svømmer de sammen i deres undertøj – sikke et vanvid!!!!

Og Wagners lesbiske assistent, den pragtfulde politibetjent Bendtsen, har startet en affære med Wagners chef, den dejlige (lykkeligt gifte?) politidirektør,  Louise. I dag tager de til af sted i et par dage. Louise skal deltage i en Interpol konference i Paris, og Bendtsen beslutter at dele seng med hende i et hotel derovre under konferencen. Det er heldigt, at Wagner ikke mistænker noget – det er jeg helt sikker på!!!

Politidirektøren Louise (til venstre) og politibetjenten Bendtsen

Du godeste, politiet i Aarhus nyder at leve farligt – ingen tvivl om det. Det grænser til vanvid.

Dictes forældre er Jehovahs vidner og de fik deres kirke for mange år siden til at bortvise Dicte fra kirkens fællesskab, da hun som teenager, havde en ulovlig baby. Men det viser sig, at Dictes far er blevet desillusioneret med kirken, men samtidig er han bange for at gøre oprør mod sin kone og kirkens ledelse. I dette afsnit prøver han at kommunikere med Dicte uden sin kones viden – men desværre dør han, før han kan taler med hende – det er uheldigt! Stakkels mand!!!! Det viser sig, at Dictes far skrev hende også et brev, men Dictes mor har konfiskeret det – du godeste, mere og mere mysteriøst!!!!

Afsnittet er propfyldt af ludere eller eks-ludere, som altid. Politimanden Wagners afrikanske veninde er eks-luder. Dictes svigersøn, en berømt fodboldspiller, blev i dette afsnit opdaget af journalister i seng med en luder.

Afsnittets kriminelle sag handler om en 12-årig pige, der forsvinder efter at have tilbragt en aften i et lokale diskotek. Og det viser sig, at pigen har en mor, der er luder. Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Sidste uges afsnit var propfyldt af kinky sex, og Lois besluttede, hun ville holde op med at se resten af serien. Hun er ude af huset i eftermiddag, så det giver mig chancen for at se afsnittet, uden at genere hende med det. Medlemmerne af vores U3A danske gruppe vil helt sikkert ønsker at tale om dette afsnit på vores næste møde om 3 ugers tid, og jeg kan ikke svigte dem! Selvfølgelig er jeg og de andre gruppemedlemmer kun interesserede i at forbedre vores dansk – vi  ser ikke serien på grund af det frække indhold - unødvendigt at sige!!!

16:15 Jeg kører over til Tewkesbury for at hente Lois efter hendes eftermiddag i kirkens pop-up butik.

English translation

19:00 After dinner, Lois sits down in front of the computer and gets going with updating her schedule, showing which of her church's members have agreed to cover which time-slots at the church's pop-up shop in the middle of Tewkesbury. The whole thing has already turned into a mammoth task - a bit of a nightmare in my opinion, but the church's leadership should be very pleased that Lois has agreed to take it on: she is so efficient and conscientious. My goodness!!!!

It's a little disappointing that none of the church members

so far have turned out to be willing to work in the pop-up shop

on Friday or (especially) Saturday morning - oh dear!

I wonder if some of the church members see their membership a bit like a social club - where they can interact with their friends and relatives, and so they are not particularly interested in spreading the word. But I'm not entirely sure. However, it makes more work for Lois because she is constantly publicising the empty half-days and pleading for help. Poor Lois!

19:30 While Lois updates her files, I settle down on the couch and watch a bit of television. An old edition of Top of the Pops from March 1984 is on.

It's a bit of a surprise to see Special AKA's "Free Nelson Mandela" song, which I have not heard before. Lois and I were living in the US at that time, and this song did not reach the US market for some reason, and Lois and I did not see it on the American MTV channel.

Special AKA's "Free Nelson Mandela!", a jolly song!

"And the coloured girls go .." (copyright Lou Reed)

"....Free Nelson Mandela!"

Mandela was finally freed 6 years later, in 1990. I always knew that the apartheid system itself was violent and indefensible, but I must admit that at that time I was not that sympathetic to Mandela, whom I looked on as a violent terrorist who had tried to kill people. Later, after he got to be president, I became aware that he had become a true statesman. Even a great man like me can sometimes be wrong, surprising as it may seem.

Flashback to March 1984 in Maryland USA: Our daughters, Alison (8)

and Sarah (6 years), along with Lois (left) and Kathy, my sister,

who at that time worked at the British Embassy.

20:00 Lois has finished her pop-up shop tasks so we sit together in front of the computer and send a reply to Sarah's email. Sarah, our younger daughter, moved to Australia in December 2015, together with Francis, her husband, and their (then) two and a half-year-old twins, Lily and Jessica.

Sarah sent us an email earlier this week - she wants us to spend an entire year in Australia, and maybe settle there permanently if we decide that we like the life over there.

We decide to send her a holding reply. We say that Lois is currently very taken up with her administrative tasks to do with her church's pop-up shop, and is also working at the shop herself a few times a week. But we thank Sarah for having looked into the question of local real estate agents, visa regulations, etc., and we promise we will think about her proposals over the next few months. We hope we will not hurt her feelings - my god, we miss her so much, but we are not sure that we would want to move to Australia - good grief, life is sometimes hard, no doubt about that!!!!

21:00 We settle down together on the sofa. Unfortunately, there is nothing very interesting on television, so we watch a programme I recorded earlier this week, "Hotel Inspector". The host of the programme is the charming Alex Polizzi.

As usual with these kinds of reality programmes about the hotel industry, Lois's and my first priority is to find out if the two men, Chris and Jonathan, who bought this hotel are a gay couple or just two friends who have decided to open a business together. We have become so shallow - no doubt about it !!!! We assume from Alex's comments that the two men actually are a gay couple, but we are not entirely sure - damn!

It is always interesting to see how pitiful so many hoteliers are and this couple was the worst example we have ever seen. Chris, who takes the role of hotel manager, does not have the faintest idea of how to train or manage hotel staff.

After Alex, the host of the program, bawls Chris out a couple of times, he makes an appropriate effort to improve his management, but Lois and I are quite sure he will go back to his old habits as soon as Alex steps out of the door .

Our advice to Chris: "Quit now, Chris" - you're in the wrong job !!! ". But our advice would not have given viewers an hour-long program.

In other words, "Hotel Inspector" - an hour of our lives, which we will never get back again ha ha ha !!!

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

04:30 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

08:15 I jump back into bed with Lois and we drink our morning tea. We go in the shower and afterwards we have breakfast.

10:00 I get up to the attic and I find even more (about 100 extra) children's books. I decide to carry them down so we can look at them and hopefully take some of them along to the Red Cross's local recycling shop. Yesterday I had already found about 100 children's books up there - what a nightmare !!! It is a truly scary sight to see the attic, which is packed with things that we mostly do not need any more.

While I'm in the attic, Sarah, our daughter in Australia, calls me. She wants to talk to us on Skype. I drop my idea of bringing even more books down and I come back into the dining room and tell Lois.

We talk a little with Sarah and her twins, Lily and Jessica, who have their 4th birthday on Wednesday (July 25th). The call is a lot of fun as always, although there is the usual chaotic mood - the girls have hundreds of things - toys, drawings, ballet class certificates, etc. - to show Lois and me. My goodness! There's no opportunity to talk more seriously to Sarah - maybe that's a good thing right now!

We talk a little on Skype with Sarah, our daughter in Australia, and her

little twins, Lily and Jessica:

12:00 We have lunch and afterwards we go out. Lois has agreed to help with manning her church's pop-up shop this afternoon in the town of Tewkesbury. I drive her over to the town and drop her off just around the corner from the shop. I drive home and go to bed to take a short afternoon afternoon - zzzzzz !!!!

14:30 I get up and see the 2nd episode of "Dicte" in the Danish crime series' 2nd season. The series is about a crime reporter in Aarhus named Dicte Svendsen, and her friend in the local police, John Wagner.

  

Another exciting episode, but also a little surprising, especially when it comes to the inappropriate behaviour of the local criminal investigation department and its detectives - my goodness!

The policeman Wagner, one of the two main characters in the series, is harbouring an African prostitute (an illegal immigrant) in his apartment. Why would he take such a risk ??? With each passing day, Wagner becomes friendlier and friendlier with the woman. In this episode they swim together in their underwear - what madness !!!!

And Wagner's lesbian assistant, the gorgeous Officer Bendtsen, has started an affair with Wagner's boss, the lovely (happily married?) police commissioner, Louise. Today they go off for a couple of days. Louise has to attend an Interpol conference in Paris, and Bendtsen decides to share a bed with her in a hotel over there during the conference. It's fortunate that Wagner does not suspect anything - I'm absolutely sure of that !!!

Police Commissioner Louise (left) and Officer Bendtsen

Good grief, Aarhus police enjoy living dangerously - no doubt about it. This borders on madness!!!

Dicte's parents are Jehovah's witnesses and many years ago they got their church to expel Dicte from the church's fellowship when, as a teenager, she had an illegitimate baby. But it appears that Dicte's father has become disillusioned with the church, but at the same time he is afraid to rebel against his wife and the church's leadership. In this episode, he tries to communicate with Dicte without his wife's knowledge - but unfortunately he dies before he can talk to her - that's bad luck! Poor man!!!! It appears that Dicte's father also wrote Dicte a letter, but Dicte's mother has confiscated it - my goodness, more and more mysterious !!!!

The episode is packed full of hookers or ex-hookers, as always. The policeman Wagner's African friend is an ex-hooker. Dicte's son-in-law, a famous football player, in this episode was discovered by journalists in bed with a hooker.

The episode's criminal case is about a 12-year-old girl who disappears after spending an evening at a local disco. And it turns out that the girl has a mother who is a hooker. My goodness, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

Last week's episode was packed with kinky sex, and Lois decided she would stop watching the rest of the series. She is out of the house this afternoon, so it gives me the chance to see the section without bothering her with it. The members of our U3A Danish group will definitely want to talk about this episode at our next meeting in 3 weeks' time, and I cannot let them down! Of course, I and the other group members are only interested in improving our Danish - we do not watch the series because of the saucy content - needless to say !!!

16:15 I drive over to Tewkesbury to pick up Lois after her afternoon in the church's pop-up shop.