It had to come. My Diary "Part 1" is now full up, and hopefully to your great satisfaction, I shall continue on this page with "Part 2" (6th Dec. 2006 - 21st Jan. 2008):
Part 3 starting 22nd Jan. 2008 Click here!

Monday January 21st 2008:
It is now exactly 4 weeks since our son, granddaughter, and grandchild moved in with us. It will be very strange when they shall leave us in a couple of weeks. Just today they recieved some of the final papers telling that everything should be OK. We shall miss them - but not until beginning of Feb.

Sunday January 20th 2008:
Walked the dogs - 3 of them - twice today. The first time a longer walk, the second time a nicer walk, since Katrine chose to join me. She and her brother are staying with us for the weekend. She enjoyed it, too, she said.
No wonder - she was with her granddad!

After the two walks I rode about 20 miles on my bike, so it has been an actice day.





Saturday January 19th 2008:
I took two of our three grandchildren to the Zoological Museum in Aarhus today.
At the point of the exhibition, where they are standing on the picture, I told them of the dangers of a too strict diet.
They didn't seem to appreciate!








Friday January 18th 2008:
I am putting on weight - in spite of all my intensions of the opposite. Last night we were invited to eat with my brother's, and we really had some excellent food. My sister-in-laugh is a very good cook. Somehow I wish she wasn't (no, I don't). I ate much too much.
After dinner we watched Denmark loosing to Norway in a handball match at the European Championships. Loosing is one thing. But loosing to Norway is worse.

Thursday January 17th 2008:
I do not like getting up early. This morning I had to get up at 6.45. How dreadful! But then again: The day becomes a longer day, and I have more time to write. And that is not bad. And I mustn't forget either that Else is very pleased with me when I get up early and take her to work. And that certainly is worth something!

Wednesday January 16th 2008:
Of course we use quite a lot of gas, heating our caravan during the night. But this has been no problem. It has been rather cheap. But then suddenly today the price went up with nearly 50%. I was shocked and cursed a bit. But I was told that the former price was a "sales offer". I wonder!

Tuesday January 15th 2008:
I worked at my brother's company today. As it happened their accountant was there, too. And he told that he is an OB-supporter (Odense). OB-supporters are often rather fanatic, but always very nice people. I told him that if he wanted to keep his job at my brother's company he'd better think of changing his support to AGF. I cannot wait till I meet him next time.

Monday January 14th 2008:
Already last night I made big plans for today. I planned to jump on my bike and go to Ebeltoft to meet Else. I comfirmed this plan to myself when I got out of bed. BUT - when I got out of the cararavan - our present bedroom - I had to change my plans. The weather did not allow such an excursion - how annoying! So I have spent the whole day in front of my computer writing on my book. But that is not at all a bad way of spending a day. I reached a lot. My bike must wait!

Sunday January 13th 2008:
I am proud to tell that today I walked for an hour with Else, Peter's dog Gipsy, and my own dog Sydney. Even if it was a bit chilly we enjoyed it - and no less did the dogs.
I may even do it again!









Saturday January 12th 2008:
I slept in this morning - in our caravan. Everything is so quiet out there. Else went to work very early so I had plenty of time to sleep - and plenty of time to get up. Wonderful. Only a couple of years ago I would have been up long before seven. But not now. I enjoy that on my older days I have finally learned to sleep longer.

Friday January 11th 2008:
It has been three long days. I haven't been able to update my website because my server has been down since Tuesday. But here I am again - fresh, smart, and good-looking as ever - especially in shorts. I hope that my server will be in good shape for the next couple of years. What happened was that my host felt it was time to change system. I wonder why!

Tuesday January 8th 2008:
A true football fan will follow his team in its "ups" and "downs". I am not very good at that. I much prefer my team's "ups". They are a lot easier to cope with.
Just now my team is "down". They are in Dubai in nice and warm weather in order to get fit as quickly as possible. They have a hard job waiting for them, when the last half of the season starts in March. May the sun shine upon them at that time, too!

Monday January 7th 2008:
Having our family, Birgitte, Peter, and Cecilie, staying with us because they are between two houses is not bad at all. They have been here since December 24th, and Else and I are enjoying it very much. There is always good company. It is so nice having them. Today we even celebrated our daughter-in-law's birthday with presents and all. Tonight it will be a good dinner - and good redwine. Lovely!





Sunday January 6th 2008:
Yes, we did go to the caravan exhibition - two in fact - and No, we didn't buy another one. After all the one we have is only 3 months old.
But what was more interesting was that we saw our old caravan placed for sale at an honorary place just inside the doors looking nice and new - and at a fair price.







Saturday January 5th 2008:
My dear wife is just mad about us visiting a caravan exhibition tomorrow. I am not keen at all. The last couple of times we went we more or less walked away with another caravan. I am afraid that I cannot persuade her to stay at home tomorrow, so I'd better go along with her. Otherwise she will certainly come home having bought something extravagant - for example another caravan.

Friday January 4th 2008:
Today has been (and still is) bitterly cold in Denmark. It is one of these days when you wish to be somewhere in a more pleasant temperature - Australia for example. And then - as it happens - I could go and watch some good cricket. If only it isn't too hot there. I hate high temperatures.

Thursday January 3rd 2008:
Today I told our granddaughter that I am trying to follow a diet. I need to loose a couple of stone. Do you know what? She looked at me and said, "Granddad, you are not too big. You do not need a diet!" How I love that child!

Wednesday January 2nd 2008:
It is now the second day of the year. How time is running. Now it is only 364 days til next New Year's Eve. Great! (You must remember that 2008 is a leap year with 366 days. Not a day too many!).
On this the 2nd day of the year I have been busy writing my book - or rather editing - since my sources are now "worn out". So I am soon off to Silkeborg to find some new ones. I am looking forward to that.  

Tuesday January 1st 2008:
New Year is here. Let's hope it's a good one with nothing to fear. This is more or less what John Lennon said a short time before he was shot, not knowing that he did have something to fear.
I hope that you and I haven't, and that 2008 will be a kind and good year for all off us - not forgetting my football club who needs all the good luck they can get.

Monday December 31st 2007:
We are going to celebrate New Year's Eve with four friends. A good meal and some good redwine and probably a beer and a drink or two afterwards. Fireworks and The Queen's traditional speech at 6 p.m. I am sure it will be nice - all of it.
All best wishes for 2008 for all of you! Happy New Year.

Sunday December 30th 2007:
Else and I sleep in our caravan each night. Wonderful, reminds us of holidays at various sites in beautiful weather. This is nice to remember since the weather has been a bit dull lately. But then today - marvellous!. I am looking forward to going early to bed tonight. Tomorrow will be late.

Saturday December 29th 2007:
Today is our 45th wedding anniversary. I've never been married so long before. Not many marriages last as long as that. We never divorced since we couldn't agree on whom should have the children. Neither of us wanted them!
See wedding picture on Danish Diary. Click here!

Friday December 28th 2007:
Today our son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild said a final good-bye to their house. It is now owned by some other people. Feels a bit strange for them that they shall not go there again, and that we shall not visit them where they have lived for 12 years. It's a changing world!

Thursday December 27th 2007:
Yes, I got it. I wished to have a "weather-station" for Christmas. You know a "machine" on which I can read time, temperature, pressure, date etc. And I got it. Lucky me.
It is now ready for use, but not that I could find out myself how to do it. Without success I read the instructions and tried to adjust it - nothing worked. I read and tried again and again. Nothing happened. I then asked our son, and in less than a minute it was ready for use.
Why is it that instructions are written to experts by experts? We mortals haven't got a chance!

Wednesday December 26th 2007:
Boxing Day has been very much like Christmas Day. Done very little - eaten very much. Well, I did help a bit when Birgitte and Peter moved their final items from their former house into our conservatory. We are now 5 people in our house - which we shall be, till they have decided on another house. But there is no haste. You should be careful when you decide for another place to live. And we can easily manage here. We have two caravans in our front garden - and Else and I sleep in ours.

Tuesday December 25th 2007:
Christmas Day has beeen as it should be. I have done nothing - except enjoying my presents from last night and eating left-overs. I have done both - in other words also eaten, which I probably shouldn't have done. But........After Christmas - eeh - after New Year's Eve  - eeh - or perhaps some time in the spring I shall be on a strict diet and do a lot of biking ---- I hope!
Anyway I intend to do a lot of biking.

Monday December 24th 2007:
Tonight is the big night. Christmas Eve - all the family here - with dinner (duck and roasted pork, red cabbage, and a lovely dessert), good redwine, good beer, Christmas tree, dancing around it and - not to forget - presents galore. The kids are delighted. So am I.
You Brits will have to wait till tomorrow. I always wondered why!
I wish you all A Merry Christmas! Hope that you will have big presents!

Sunday December 23rd 2007:
Yes, I got it. Today I received all the names of players on the picture from their reunion. And as I thought and hoped I could remember all of them, except one. I am very pleased that I got the names, and now I think you should see the picture, too.

Saturday December 22nd 2007:
What a wonderful thing happened to me today! From my old friend in England I received a picture of 11 cricketers who had a reunion (see also diary 17th December this year) a couple of weeks ago. How nice it was to see this picture of people that I played cricket with nearly 50 years ago, even if I could only recognize 2 or 3 of them. I hope soon to have a list with their names on, and then I am sure that my memory will come back - and I surely hope that I can meet them some time next year.

Friday December 21st 2007:
To my horror I read in a Danish newspaper today that a helicopter with Santa Claus and a lot of presents on its way to some charity arrangement was shot at in Rio, Brazil. Unfortunately Santa Claus happened to fly over the slums where drugs are on sale on every corner, and somebody thought that it was a police control. Fortunately neither Santa nor anybody else was hurt. I wonder if they would have shot had it been Rudolph and his friends and the sleigh.

Thursday December 20th 2007:
There is no point in hiding it. I have just got up from a very enjoyable lunch with quite a lot of the Danish national drink, "snaps". I know that I've had too many, but so what? I enjoyed it, and tomorrow's hangover is at least 15 hours away. I couldn't be bothered less!

Wednesday December 19th 2007:
My door locks in my car have been "on strike" for some days. This means that the remote door key does not function. I have to open each door one by one by using the key in the tiny little hole which I cannot see because it is dark more or less the whole day. I had it repaired a year ago, and my garage has promised me that if the fault is due to the spair things they put in at that time, the repair will be free. Pray for me. It is ridiculously expensive.

Tuesday December 18th 2007:
Today we went with our son, granddaughter, and grandchild to look at a house they might like to buy. It is the second time that we have a look at it, and that might mean that they are interested. It all depends on the price. But just on tonight's news it was told how much prices are going down on real estate. So perhaps the house will be their's. We wouldn't mind.

Monday December 17th 2007:
Back in the fifties and sixties I played quite a bit of cricket for my friend's team "Epsom Old Grammarians", in Surrey, England. It was pure pleasure. I played for them each summer for 3-4 years and got to know them quite well. I thoroughly enjoyed it and liked my teammates very much. Last week 11 of them met for a meal and a drink, and it seems that they will meet once every month. If I possibly can I shall join them for one of their meetings. I would love it.

Sunday December 16th 2007:
Yesterday I read that Capello will be England manager from the coming season. I think he may be a very good choice, so that you can play more organized football in your defence.
But what would really be interesting for you to know is that I know him. I sat right behind him in a plane from Manchester to Gatwick in June 1996.
I am sure that he remembers me! If not you should find yourselves another manager.

Saturday December 15th 2007:
What is supposed to be the last shoot of this season is over. And I am very tired having walked a lot in rough terrain and picked up a lot of birds. I may be getting too old for it - my poor legs!
But I am already looking forward to next year's retrieves.

Friday December 14th 2007:
We have received nice presents from England yesterday and today. Keep them coming! Anyway it is nice to hear from old friends. Next year we shall celebrate our 50th anniversary with our old friends, and fortunately they have decided to come and visit us again in September.
There will be song and merry laughter - and a pint or two.

Thursday December 13th 2007:
It has been a busy day. I have repaired our roof, I have repaired my bike (saddle broke - overweight?), and I have moved some furniture and some other stuff for our son and his family. They are all going to live with us for a period of time from 28th December. The reason is that they have sold their house and not yet bought another one. It will probably be some time in January. Of course it will be a bit crowded in the house with another 3 people living here, but we are looking forward to it anyway. Can see our granddaughter every day.

Wednesday December 12th 2007:
I am very pleased that I have started writing again. After a long break I feel that I have got the inspiration back. It is still very difficult because I have to be very precise. Writing history (about the poor-house where I grew up) is demanding. But I have reached quite a bit within the latest couple of days. Yet I have no idea when I shall finish the project. I have a vague notion that it will be autumn next year or perhaps spring 2009.

Tuesday December 11th 2007:
Our son, daughter-in-law and grandchild Cecilie have sold their house and will move out between Christmas and New Years Eve. So packing is high on the agenda. Today I helped pulling down the kennel in their backgarden. It needed a specialist, so they should have asked somebody else. But we managed.

Monday December 10th 2007:
It gets dark very early now - already at about 3.30 p.m. We came home a bit late today - around 4, and I took Sydney, my dog, for a walk, when it was nearly pitch dark. In the darkest of the forest it was no darker than I could see a boy of about 10 years old coming towards us. I could also see that he was somewhat apprehensive - partly because of the darkness, but also because he saw this black dog running around. I called Sydney in. When we got close I was just going to tell him that everything was alright, when he put on his bravest smile, looked at me, and said "Hello"!
"Well done, lad!" I thought, when I said hello!.

Sunday December 9th 2007:
Had the whole family in for a very good Pre Christmas Lunch today. Was very nice and was good for us all since we had spent part of the morning in the woods selecting and cutting our Christmas trees. Even if the weather wasn't very kind it was a very nice experience - and just the way to spend a December's day. 

                              

Saturday December 8th 2007:
It was a good party last night. Especially I enjoyed the redwine which was excellent. But I did look after myself knowing that I had to get up early to retrieve the whole day - which I did and had a wonderful day. Our two youngest grandchildren were there, too. They also had a very nice day, I am sure. Next Saturday will be the last shoot of the year.

Friday December 7th 2007:
Tonight I am going to this year's first Christmas Party. I shall be together with a lot of interesting people at my brother's company. It means plenty of talk and laughter - and plenty to eat and drink. I have to be careful with the latter mentioned, though, since I shall be up early in the morning retrieving at a shoot at Møllerup. I am looking forward to this, not least because our two youngest grandchildren will be there as well.

Thursday December 6th 2007:
I should have told this yesterday - but I forgot. It was such a "historical" day. We finished buying Christmas presents. Normally we would buy the last one on 24th December. But not this year. For the first time ever. We are improving - aren't we?
PS: Today there are exactly 100 days till our next footballmatch - an away game, and 104 days till our first home game!

Wednesday December 5th 2007:
I happened to find this one today - by Eugene McCarthy (former American senator):
Being a politician is like being a football coach. You have to be clever enough to understand the game and stupid enough to think it is important!"

Tuesday December 4th 2007:
This is how it looks here for the time being. Not too bad - and rather nice to look at when you are sitting inside in a comfortable temperature.














Monday December 3rd 2007:
I have been working at my brother's company today. Well, "working" is perhaps not the correct word. All I had to do was to answer the telephone, and since only few people called, I had plenty of time to surf on the Internet. This way I found out that England are doing badly against Sri Lanka in the first test after a good start. When did I hear this before?

Sunday December 2nd 2007:
Well, what can I say? For once I wasn't there when AGF played. And what happened? By Jove, they won. 2-0. What a joy! If only I had been there. And now there are 4 months till the next game.
YES, WE WON! Would you believe it?
PS: I watched the whole game on TV. It was wonderful!

Saturday December 1st 2007:
Is it cheating when in a supermarket Else sends me to queue at the cash long before she has bought what we need, like she did today? I just stand there with a few things in the trolley, and then she brings the rest, and we can pay and walk out long before we should have, if we both had walked around picking the various items. Is it cheating?
I think it is, but I must admit that it is timesaving!

Friday November 30th 2007:
Last night's game was exciting. Result: 3-3. Of course we should have won, were 3-1 up after having a goal against us after 1½ minutes.  3-1 in front - and still no win on home soil. Disappointing. However there is another opportunity on Sunday. But I shall not go and watch it. I am fed up with the team. I shall throw casual glances at the game on TV.
PS: Acoompanied Else to hospital today for a routine heart check. All was well - fortunately.

Thursday November 29th 2007:
Monday's cancelled game will be played tonight. And I shall be there in my usual state of nervousness. Fortunately I shall not be on my own. My son Peter, my brother Kjeld, and my good neighbour Carl will all be there. We MUST win! Think of me!

Wednesday November 28th 2007:
What a grey and dull day it has been today. Not inviting at all to go out. Nevertheless we took a walk and found out that it was exactly as cold and miserable as it looked.
I cannot wait till spring and summer. And as far as I am concerned you might as well skip spring and go directly to summer.

Tuesday November 27th 2007:
What a farce! Sitting ready for yesterday's game on a cold stadium we were suddely told that the game was cancelled due to frost in the pitch. Some stupid people have decided that they will not turn on the grass-heating until April. But we were not prepared to wait as long as that. So we went home none the wiser about the result, which was so important.

Monday November 26th 2007:
Well, tonight is the night. Football - an important match, 7 p.m. It is now 4.45. I am all nerves. I think I would rather go to a dentist or to a bank and ask for a loan.
We MUST win! Think of me!

Sunday November 25th 2007:
I have been to no less than two supermarkets today. May it never happen again - and that on a Sunday! I thought that I could just drop in and quickly pick up the 4 little items that I was sent for. But I had another thought coming. The queu was so long that in one of the supermarkets I simply left without bothering to buy anything. It was more crowded than Piccadilly Circus on a New Year's Eve. In the second I queued for nearly 20 minutes minutes, which was bad enough.
What is it that makes people go absolutely berserk as soon as Christmas is nearing?

Saturday November 24th 2007:
Today visitor number 60.000 entered my website. It started on January 28th 2005 - officially. But more than a year passed till it really started (January 9th 2006), when I learned to edit.
I am a bit proud of the number of visitors. So keep on "visiting" my website.

Friday November 23rd 2007:
I need a tranquillizer of some kind. I have just come home after purchasing 4 tickets for next Monday's game. It is so important that we win. I am willing to bribe everybody who has some influence in the hope that it will help. I surely would like to know who is going to referee. I would call him and offer him a couple of quids to look the right way in the right situations. I am sure it would help - and it may be the kind of help that we need.

Thursday November 22nd 2007:
That Denmark did not qualify for Europe next year was no surprise and has been a fact for quite some time, even if we beat Iceland 3-0 last night.
But that England will be missing out as well was a huge suprise. What went wrong? Loosing to Croatia on holy home soil, Wembley! What the world has come to, I don't know!
On Monday, however, it becomes much more important. Will AGF win their first homegame?

Wednesday November 21st 2007:
It is getting cold in Denmark. I am pacing the floor, waiting impatiently for a better opportunity for a ride on my bike. No way am I going out in this kind of cold, windy and miserable weather. Furthermore I have caught an irritating cold. And the forecast doesn't give a lot of hope. What can one do? Not a lot I am afraid. I wish we had some Italian weathermen/women. They seem to have no problem in providing a milder climate!

Tuesday November 20th 2007:
Today I read in a Danish newspaper about problems at "Visit Scotland", the Scottish Tourist Information. Recently a German couple visited Stonehaven in Scotland and returned and said that they were a bit disappointed. They thought it was Stonehenge, which of course is in England. Another tourist entered the bureau to ask if there was a "Marks & Spencer" at The Isle of May - a small island which is only inhabited by seals and birds. Others asked for help to see a "topless bus" and a ghost while an elderly gentleman looked in to ask for help with his crossword puzzle.
Must be an interesting place to work!

Monday November 19th 2007:
I have beeen on my own nearly all day. A sharp contrast to having all three grandchildren for some days. Fortunately they have returned for a short while, but will be back home tonight.
I had planned a bike trip to Ebeltoft, but I thought that the weather was too rough, even for me.
So I stayed at home and watched our stove in our livingroom being dismantled. A very sad day.

Sunday November 18th 2007:
"Denmark humiliated in Belfast - lost 1-2".
How bad can it be? Very bad, obviously. We are ashamed. We want a new manager, a new coach, 21 new players, and a completely new staff around the team. Will we have it? Probably not. The management seem to think the world about Morten Olsen, and all he is, is a stubborn old man. I hope they will all read this.
It was nice to get this off my chest - now I can spend the rest of the day celebrating my 67th birthday with my family - except those (Annette & Kent), who are in Dublin.

Saturday November 17th 2007:
Tonight Denmark are playing N. Ireland at Belfast. How interesting can it be?
We have got 0,000005% chance of qualifying for next year's European Championship.
So being tired after today's hunt I am sure to watch the match with closed eyes.

Friday November 16th 2007:
Having all three grandchildren staying with us I took the two youngest to town today. They both had some money that really "burned" in their pockets. We spent it all + some more.
They thoroughly enjoyed it - so much that their hunger forced us into 7/11. That was good, too, they said.

Thursday November 15th 2007:
Today I spent my time on a conference with my brother's company. I had some duties to perform - helping and selling books.
I enjoyed it. Met some nice perople and had a very good lunch. I like good lunches - and nice perople.

Wednesday November 14th 2007:
Election is over. And funnily enough all parties seem to believe that they won - even those who lost a great number of seats. That's how it normally is in Denmark.
"Even if we lost so and so many seats we think that we had a splendid campaign and a good result. We shall come back next time bla, bla, bla". I think that you may recognise this from UK.

Tuesday November 13th 2007:
Today is election day in Denmark. We have cast our vote and pray that the right party will win. Last night my football team won. Very important. Convincingly we thrashed them 2-0. Let us hope that this is the turning point. We need it like I need my supper right now. See you tomorrow?

Monday November 12th 2007:
Here we go again. Tonight another crucial game. We must beat our nearest rivals, Viborg. Otherwise we are really in the dumps. I do no hesitate in saying that a loss tonight surely means relegation. And I am afraid that is what will happen. Dare I watch it on the telly?

Sunday November 11th 2007:
I woke up very late today - 10 a.m. I got up very late - 10.30 a.m. I had breakfast very late - 11 a.m. I had lunch very late - 1.30 p.m. I intend to have my supper at the correct time - 6 p.m.
It is a very good day.

Saturday November 10th 2007:
Just now I am very tired - once again. After a perfect day retrieving with my very nice dog Sydney I have now returned to the comfortable temperature of our own house. It has been very nice today, though - fresh and sunny. I really enjoyed it.
Already looking forward till next Saturday and another shoot.

Friday November 9th 2007:
Lately Else and I have spent quite some time looking for a pair of shoes that would fit her. It was difficult and time consuming, but we think that we finally succeeded. It was difficult because Else's feet suffer from effects from the time when women were expected to wear high heeled shoes - which she had to, since she worked at a shoe shop. But I warn you young women. Do not wear them. They will hurt you later. High heeled shoes were only invented because many years ago a woman was kissed only on her forehead.

Thursday November 8th 2007:
We went to the show mentioned yesterday. And I tell you: IT WAS NAUGHTY - very naughty. I blushed all night. But did we laugh! It was so funny, and I did get a bit sick from laughing - or was it the amount of Chinese food that I had before the show? We had a marvellous night.
I am glad, though, that I don't have to translate it into English. It would make me blush again. I normally I don't blush easily. But I enjoy a good laugh.

Wednesday November 7th 2007:
You would be immensely interested in knowing that Else and I are going to see a great show tonight. It will be very funny and rather "naughty". A well-known Danish showgroup - "Sons of the Desert", will perform their fantastic show. I usually get a bit sick from laughing when seeing them. But I hope for the best.

Tuesday November 6th 2007:
Else and I went into town today - in our car. What a traffic! So many cars and of course the enevitable roadworks. The traffic jammed completely, and I sat there wondering what all those cars were there for. Why don't they just stay at home and enjoy life? That's what I would have preferred.

Monday November 5th 2007:
In this country it is very difficult to have a craftsman come and repair whatever is wrong in your house. They are much too busy, and it can take months before they will arrive. We hear about this problem every day, and also today in a newspaper.
This reminded me of what Woody Allen once said, "Not only is there no god. But try and get hold of a plummer during a weekend."

Sunday November 4th 2007:
We lost - again, again, and again, 0-2 to FCK. When will it stop? I don't know. Relegation is the word. What a shame! At least I am glad that I am not a shareholder in the club which I very nearly became some time ago.

Saturday November 3rd 2007:
My football team is playing on home soil just now as I am sitting here writing. I am not there because I preferred to retrieve on a shoot, and I have just come home. I am not sure, though, that I would have gone anyway. I think the entertainment is very limited. And furthermore we are playing last year's champions - quite a mouthful. But I hope we can win.

Friday November 2nd 2007:
Today we woke up to a phonecall from our eldest granddaughter. With a sobbing voice she told that her rabbit was dying, and that they were on their way to the vet to have her put down.
She asked me if I could come and dig a hole to bury the poor little animal in. I promptly went over there to dig, but also to try and console Katrine. Very sad. But that is the consequence of getting an animal in the house - but still a consequence which shouldn't keep you away from having it.

Thursday November 1st 2007:
I am quite happy that I didn't bother to go and watch my football team last night. First of all they were dreadful, and secondly they lost 0-1. I demand entertainment when I am there and enthusiasm, not a bunch of boring players who are bored and only looking forward to a cup of tea during the break and a big dinner after the game.

Wednesday October 31st 2007:
There is no point in hiding it. I should have been at a football match tonight - a cup game against one of the leading clubs, FCM. But I shall stay at home and watch it on the telly. Weather and lack of interest keeps me home. Had I known that my team would be doing well, I probably would have gone. But not as it is.

Tuesday October 30th 2007:
Being retired is not at all an easy job. One is busy more or less all the time. But today I had 4-5 hours at my own disposal - alone at home - only to find out that being together with Else is much nicer, even if she makes me work hard. She is that kind of a wife. And I love her for it!

Monday October 29th 2007:
I've got a present today - for the magnificent shelf at my workshop.
Some presents you appreciate more than others. This one is some kind of a record.
But which way?








Sunday October 28th 2007:
I have had two good days yesterday and today. Good, because I have enjoyed two nice days retrieving with my dog Sydney. Also good because my football team won 3-1 yesterday evening - an important win.
Sydney and I are already looking forward till next Saturday when we shall be out again.

Saturday October 27th 2007:
First pheasant shoot of the year is nearly over. We shall continue tomorrow. Sydney and I had a great day with nice weather and well flying pheasants. We are both very tired - probably I am more tired than my dog is.

Friday October 26th 2007:
A couple of days ago our son and daughter-in-law succeeded in selling their house, which is not at all easy these days. Today they announced that they have more or less bought another one. In 3 days they did what we never did. But perhaps our wish to do so was not big enough.

Thursday October 25th 2007:
Today I reached this year's target of 2.750 kilometers (about 1.718 miles) on my bike. So I have got plenty of time to beat last year's record of 3.006 kilometers (about 1878 miles). There are about 2 months to go, and weather permitting it shouldn't become a problem for a tough biker like me.

Wednesday October 24th 2007:
Yesterday I worked extremely hard in our garden removing a big lilac bush. Boy, was that hard! Today I had the "pleasure" of taking it all to the refuse. That was pretty hard too, because as usual we also had plenty of stuff that should have been taken away a long time ago. Not least our compost heap was tough - and very, very smelly. And it wasn't the smell of violets, I can assure you. But fortunately it is now all over and done with, and I can carry on a happy man.

Tuesday October 23rd 2007:
I just read in a newspaper about a blind Estonian who was stopped driving a car drunk as a lord. When asked to blow he refused because - as he said, "I cannot see the result". And furthermore it was the second time this happened. Both times he had persuaded some friends to direct him when driving. He is now in prison and was also fined £300.

Monday October 22nd 2007:
We must realize that summer is over - if there was one at all. I like summer, and I dislike winter. The only good thing to say about it is that you do not have to mow your lawn - a job that I have to do once or twice per week in the summer. I am rather fascinated by the new mowers that are small computers. All you have to do is programming them, and for the rest of your life they will start on their own, mow the lawn, and go back into their "garage". You don't even have to be home. Wonderful. I must have one.

Sunday October 21st 2007:
How sad! Last night England lost the Rugby World Cup final. I saw parts of it and walked away disappointed but non the wiser upon the rules. I think, though, that I wasn't quite wrong when the other day I said that it is a little bit like boxing or perhaps even better, wrestling.
Hope you will win next time.

Saturday October 20th 2007:
We Danes like to think that we some wonderful bridges, and we do have some long and beautiful ones. The longest is the bridge between Fuenen and Zealand - all in all about 12 miles across Great Belt. It is motorway all the way (and trains go "underwater" part of the way).
Yesterday a Belgium tourist gave himself an extraordinary experience when crossing the bridge on his bike with a small trailer on which he had pinned his country's flag. He succeeded in going the whole way across before the police caught up with him.
I must try this one day. No trailer, though!

Friday October 19th 2007:
Having just come home from our initial tour in our new caravan I must apologize for not having been able to update my diary lately. I am so sorry. But I was not sorry for the trip. We had four wonderful days. Now I don't know how make time pass till our next trip - or even till Sunday with the big rugby final in Paris. I hope that I shall understand just a bit of it.

Monday October 15th 2007:
This week - number 42 - used to be my autumn holidays when I worked. Our traditional big party for all children and their parents (about 1500 people) was over on the Wednesday the previous week, and I thoroughly enjoyed week 42 after all the hard work at school planning, running, and being responsible for the big party. Even if I don't work anymore I still feel "no. 42" as a "holiday".

Sunday October 14th 2007:
I didn't have a lot of beers yesterday night - 2 in all (see last line of diary of yesterday). We lost. We lost. Alas, alas. 1-3 to Spain, and now it is crystal clear that Denmark (as usual) is not going to be part of Europe 2008 in Switzerland/Germany. What a shame! How embarrassing! (I had quite a few Irish Coffees, though. Just to console myself.)

Saturday October 13th 2007:
After a nice bikeride of 48 miles to Ebeltoft and back again I watched a little bit of England vs. Estonia. Not an interesting game. When I stopped watching at 65 minutes it was 3-0 to England. A bit boring. Tonight will be much more exciting. Denmark vs Spain. We must win. Otherwise it is goodbye and no hope of qualification for Germany next year. It is important for me that we are a number of people gathered for such a crucial game, so fortunately some friends of ours will join us for something nice to eat and some beers - and some more beers, if we win.

Friday October 12th 2007:
We had to go a short distance on the motorway today - only about 15 miles. Nevertheless we were caught in a queue for 30 minutes. Like all other people I find it boring - very boring - to just sit there and only be able to move a few feet at the time every second minute.
Just the other day I heard on the radio that in the future queues will grow much more and longer, and as far as I can see we shall all have to avoid motorways and take to the roads, which - I believe - was the opposite of what was the intention to start with.
But on the other hand it may mean more space on motorways and fewer queues - or what?

Thursday October 11th 2007:
Picked up our brand new caravan today. Very exciting for both of us. It is now safely parked in our front garden ready for being used in the near future.
Tomorrow we shall put all the things that we removed from the old one back into their new "environment". Hopefully it will be more than 9 months till we buy the next caravan!






Wednesday October 10th 2007:
I have become a member of an exclusive group of people who want to study the history of my neighbourhood in Silkeborg when I was a boy (3-13 years old - the old poorhouse). I frequently receive newsletters from the man in charge, an employee at the local museum. He is very keen on the matter and has written a lot about the town. He is now concentrating on "my" part of the town.
Because of my book I have been invited to take part in a meeting on November 2nd when he and the other members of the group will be there. I am looking forward to it.

Tuesday October 9th 2007:
Perhaps my blood pressure was a bit high yesterday in my nervousness of last night's game. But that is nothing compared to what it was when we left the ground. We lost 5-3, but were cheated twice in decisive situations. Normally I wouldn't say this. But I have seen the two situations on the Internet today, and there is no doubt that their 3rd goal was after a handball, and they should have had a player sent off after a nasty tackle when we were up 3-2.
But that's how it goes. Only it isn't good for my health.

Monday October 8th 2007:
Went to my doctor today for a routine visit. Walked happily away with my doctor's words that everything looked fine. I told him that my blood pressure might be a bit high since I am somewhat apprehensive about my team's game tonight. I shall be leaving in 45 minutes. (Blood pressure was normal, fortunately).

Sunday October 7th 2007:
The old castle ruin at Kalø is always worth a visit - especially when you don't have to walk all the way out there. We stopped less than halfway, took a picture, and walked back again.










Saturday October 6th 2007:
Being once again visited by "A British Lot" we had to show them the centre of Aarhus. The two young ones (our granddaughter Katrine, 13 and  our vistitor Emma, 10) quickly dissapeared into various shops while David and I in our sedate way could walk through the pedestrian street and I had the opportunity of taking a picture of David taking a picture of the Aarhus Cathedral. This young man of 41 has some "tough" memories of him walking the whole way up the stairs of the tower many years ago. It seems impossible for him to forget it. He still talks of it as if he won a gold medal at the Olympics by doing it.

Friday October 5th 2007:
Today Else and I have prepared for "the invasion" of another British "lot", namely the son and granddaughter of our good old friends, who were here last week. The two young ones are visiting us for the weekend, and we hope that they will enjoy their stay with us. We are going to meet them at Aarhus Airport tonight. We are looking forward to having them.

Thursday October 4th 2007:
We did it, Else and I. After some thinking we bought a brand new caravan, which we have been looking at for some time. We are very pleased with it and are looking forward to using it shortly.
It's the third caravan we have within 9 months. So you may say that we are keeping business up.






Wednesday October 3rd 2007:
I am ready to give you a very thorough explanation of why I haven't fixed the leg on our table yet. But it will take so long time and fill so much in my diary that there wouldn't be space for anything else. So even if my mind is very much occupied with it I shall save you the boredom of it. I would rather tell you that I went on my bike to pick up tickets for Monday's game. Why we bother to go I don't know. I think of it as our masochism.

Tuesday October 2nd 2007:
I have been rather busy today. Among other things I have repaired our broken table leg (see Sept. 29th), and I am going to put it on very soon. The glue just has to dry up a bit more. I am very proud of myself that I could make it. But - there is a "but" - I haven't fixed it on the table yet.

Monday October 1st 2007:
Today is "saying good bye day", always a sad day. Tears will stream. Our friends will be going back this eveneing. Fortunately they have promised to come back same time next year.

Sunday September 30th 2007:
Another nice day with our English friends. We went to see the lighthouse at Helgenaes, and we had borrowed the keys from my brother who owns the place, which made it possible for us to go up the tower and enjoy the view.
PS: My football team lost 2-0. So I am a bit down.







Saturday September 29th 2007:
We had all our family in this morning to meet our English friends. Very nice brunch and very nice "getting-together".
What wasn't so nice was that when I cleaned up afterwards I broke a leg on our nearly new dining table. I do not know what happened, but when gently pushing the table back to its normal position one of the legs simply collapsed. To me it is another proof that they don't make furniture any more the way they used to. And forget all your theories about me sitting on the table. I didn't.

Friday September 28th 2007:
Today has been a "lazy" day. We have done nothing except a visit to my "hate-place" no. 1 - IKEA. I was graciuously allowed to stay outside while our English friends and Else had a thorough look around in the shop. They said they enjoyed it, and so did I - I enjoy every opportunity I have of NOT going to IKEA.

Thursday September 27th 2007:
Another bright day. We have been very lucky weatherwise while our English friends are here. The normal "procedure" is that we have plenty of sunshine for our excursions and the coffee on the terrace afterwards. Then dinner - inside though - but still with nice sunshine. When dinner is over it starts raining, and it keeps on till the next morning, when we set out again. Wonderful. But I am a bit sceptic about tomorrow.
Today we went to Ebeltoft to see the town and visit some of our friends. Very nice. I was a bit "unpolite" and went on my bike and met them over there.

Wednesday September 26th 2007:
Now, don't you dare hinting that we do not have some great experiences while being visited by our English friends. We are having such a good time and the entertainment outside the house is also formidable. Just have look at what we saw today at a garden centre (It is nearly too much to think that Christmas is so close), and at at Bilka (big supermarket).














Tuesday September 25th 2007:
We have all been on a very nostalgic trip today. To Silkeborg of course. Opposite what the meteorologists had promised it was beautiful weather, and we enjoyed seeing the town again - and a lot of shops.









Monday September 24th 2007:












Eventually our very nice English friends arrived. We have known them for 49 year, and it is always nice to see them. It is also nice that my time of clearing up and cleaning in and outside the house is finally over. I now hope to just sit down and enjoy their pleasant company.

Sunday September 23rd 2007:
With my eyes still wet after yesterday's defeat I woke up this morning to receive a number of orders from my wife on what to clear up and clean in the preparation for having two innocent and nice Englishman visitting us from tomorrow. I really felt the burden too heavy, so I quickly imported labour from neighbouring villages. They came at once and their salary claims were fair.













Saturday September 22nd 2007:
I am depressed - very. Sitting here in front of my computer with tears overflowing the table and destroying my keyboard I cannot forget what I just witnessed a couple of hours ago. A defeat om home soil. 1-2.
I must try and find something that doesn't ruin my day like watching AGF loosing all their home games. Maybe even synchronous swimming (hope it it the proper translation) would be more entertaining. And there is nothing that bores me more than that!

Friday September 21st 2007:
Sorry, completely forgotten my diary today. May it never happen again!

Thursday September 20th 2007:
Picked up tickets for Saturday's game - already anxious about it. I hope so much that we can win. In the shop the two owners, Lena and Benny unfortunately told me that they are going to stop selling football tickets from January.  What a shame. I have known them for 11 years, and they always know what tickets I want. Life is difficult!

Wednesday September 19th 2007:
We are expecting visitors from UK on Monday, and we are looking very much forward to it. However - due to that - my dear wife has ordered a thorough cleaning - including my little den which is not at all used to that. But there was no way that I could talk myself out of it. So now it is nice and orderly. Don't tell her that I just put the stuff behind doors and curtains and in drawers just to make it look nice - which it does.
If you are very keen you can see the result on pictures on my Danish Diary. Click here!

Tuesday September 18th 2007:
Also up early today. Not so early as yesterday, though. But still it was 6 a.m. when the alarm went. It doesn't matter at all, since I have had another splendid day at the seminar. All I have to do now is to go to bed early, which I probably don't. But who cares? We won last Sunday!

Monday September 17th 2007:
Today I have spent quite some time at a seminar arranged by my brother's firm. It was very interesting, and I enjoyed it. What I perhaps didn't enjoy so much was the fact that I had to get up at 4.30 a.m. It was pitch dark and I didn't feel like getting out of bed at all. But there was no mercy. I have just come home and do feel a bit drowsy. But it doesn't matter. I am off again tomorrow morning and it will be a lot later. I can lie lazily in bed till about 5.30. So who will complaint? Not me!

Sunday September 16th 2007:
Yes, we did it! Game just finished 30 seconds ago, and it was an away win over Randers one of the top teams. But in a local derby anything can happen. We won 1-0, goalscorer our quite new player Williams who had his debut and was matchwinner. Life is wonderful!

Saturday September 15th 2007:
I read in today's paper about a Frenchman, Alain Robert. He obviously has a passion for climbing down the tallest buildings in the world. He seems to enjoy every bit of it even if he is regularly arrested by local policeforces. He has succeeded in descending from over 70 tall buildings all over the world. And he was arrested nearly the same number of times. A bit of a daredevil!

Friday September 14th 2007:
I have often thought that the younger generation should take advantage of my great experience and come and ask for advice whenever needed. I am sitting here ready for it. But they don't. They do come, but they give me advice on what I ought to do.
You know, older men enjoy giving pieces of good advice. It comforts them, since they are now unable to act as a bad example.

Thursday September 13th 2007:
Due to some days' holiday in South Jutland my diary has not been updated for a few days. I regret this. But Else and I really enjoyed the stay in this old town which is certainly worth a visit.
Perhaps I'd better continue a bit on the football. From being considered out of The European Ch. Denmark is suddenly in again. After defeat for N. Ireland and a draw for Spain - both against Iceland, Denmark managed a draw in Sweden and beat Liechtenstein 4-0. So maybe and perhaps we shall play in Germany next year - hopefully with UK also there.

Saturday September 8th 2007:
Tonight is important for our Danish XI - football. They are going to meet Sweden in a crucial game. A draw or defeat means "out of European Ch." next year. My pessimism prevails. We shall certainly loose. We haven't got a team - or a coach. It was fun while it lasted - but no more!
 
Friday September 7th 2007:
We are looking very much forward to having our good old friends from England visiting us in about three weeks. Furthermore their son and daughter have just confirmed that they will visit us a week later. We are also looking forward to that. 
It will be rather "British" in our little house for a while. We hope they will all enjoy it.

Thursday September 6th 2007:
Also today I have worked at my brother's company. I really enjoy it even if I am given the most monotonous jobs - and often those that do not aquire too much brain activity. They keep teasing me that that the jobs they give me stretch "my little grey cells" to their limit. Maybe they are right. I don't mind, though. I am pleased that I can help out when needed.

Wednesday September 5th 2007:
Today is to me a very memorable day. At 1.42 p.m. it was exactly 2 years since I put out my last cigarette standing outside the hospital to take Else home after her heart problems had been fixed. And I haven't touched "the stuff" since. Else and I have promised each other that we may start smoking again when we are 75. But I believe that we won't. I hope that I shall never smoke again - but you never know!

Tuesday September 4th 2007:
Our nice old English friends always said that the difference between Englishmen and Danes is that the former eat to live while the latter live to eat. And I always agreed.
Just today, however, I found out that from the very beginning it was Sokrates who said, "Others live to eat, I eat to live!"
But still I feel that our English friends are right.

Monday September 3rd 2007:
I helped at my brother's company today. Some 5.000 letters have to be enveloped and stamped. It is rather monotonous, so it was nice that today a young boy of only 14 came to my assistance. The best thing was that there was somebody to talk to, and I found it interesting to sit for a couple of hours having the opportunity of talking to a nice young man. He is quite bright and is also rather keen on football. That was, however, not the only reason why he was nice to talk to. He seemed to know about quite a few things. Not all youths are "hopleless"!

Sunday September 2nd 2007:
Our lovely daughter Annette is 40 today. We celebrated it with a very nice family lunch at their house. Nice food and wine. At the same time we celebrated our grandchild Kristian's 10th birthday. It was a super day, although the weather wasn't anything to talk about.
Click here and see pictures on my Danish Diary.
PS: We lost 2-0 last night to the club at the very bottom. Things do look a bit dark now!

Saturday September 1st 2007:
First shoot of the year just finished. Came home only 30 minutes ago. Has been a very nice day, and both Sydney and I are pretty tired. I may be more tired than he is, but then again he is only 3 years old, whereas I am nearly 67. That explains a lot, don't you think?

Friday August 31st 2007:
On this the officially last day of the summer 2007 I must realize that the weather is exactly as the very first day was. Rainy, windy, and cold - like nearly any other day during our socalled summer. It has been somewhat depressing. But who cares ? I do!

Thursday August 30th 2007:
Rumours today are quite persistant that my football club has bought a new forward as a sustitute for Mike Tullberg who was sold to Reggina in Italy the other day.
The new player is from Liberia, has played in Sweden, and is said to be very good and has played for the Liberian national team.
Wish him luck. We all need it.

Wednesday August 29th 2007:
Today 64 years ago (I was only 2½ years old - it was 1943) was a historic date. On that day Danish officers and marines sank what was left of our navy (about 30 ships), because the Germans wanted to have them. The same day our army was dissolved and all soldiers were interned. From that day our resistance really started. So I like to think of the 29th August as an important date.

Tuesday August 28th 2007:
It was a draw last night. We probably deserved more, but that's how it is. I am still hopeful. My team seems to play better and better, and even if they just sold one of two forwards to an Italian Serie A-club, I think they will improve. It gives them money to buy something better. And we do need some aggressive players up front.
PS: Went 48 miles on my bike today.

Monday August 27th 2007:
Again I am all nerves. Guess why! In 10 minutes I am off for an important football match against another team from the bottom of the league. So it is most important with a win - or at least a draw. So, wish me luck. I need it!

Sunday August 26th 2007:
Youngest grandchild was 9 years old today. Consequently nearly the whole family including 3 from Ashford, England were there to celebrate. We had a very nice day, and the main person told that she also had a wonderful day, not least due to many very nice presents.
We promised her to be back next year.

Saturday August 25th 2007:
Having once again all three grandchildren to stay for a couple of days we seem to get some extra exercise and a little extra to eat. And we enjoy it all immensely.
Just now I have a small break since Else has taken the two youngest to the beach to catch crabs. I am sure they like it - and that they will talk her ears off.
They just came home and told that they caught two giant crabs.

Friday August 24th 2007:
I trained my dog today. This is not unusual these days since the shooting season is close. Starts tomorrow week. What was unusual was that Else accompanied me to see how far I have come with my good dog Sydney. So it was a kind of a test. I am happy to tell that he passed with flying colours. He is a good dog, is Sydney. And he is always so happy. One can learn a lot from this.

Thursday August 23rd 2007:
I shall kindly ask you to read once again the last line of yesterday's diary. I more than hint that going to watch Denmark vs Ireland would be a nice experince. It wasn't, I tell you. We played miserably - worse than ever and lost 0-4. It was pathetic.
It will be a long time till I shall waste my time watching our Danish XI. I am sure that our local team, AGF would have done better. At least they wouldn't let 4 goals in!

Wednesday August 22nd 2007:
In today's paper I read the interesting news that one out of five wives regret their choice of husband. The Daily Mail has obviously asked quite a few married couples and come to the above mentioned result. Of course this is not the case here at Stenvendervej 15. I know for sure that my good lady is more than pleased with me - as long as I do a certain amount of work in the garden.
Also thé same newapaper has found out that only one out of ten husbands regret their choice of a life companion. I am happy to tell that I am not one of this one tenth!
PS: Going to watch Denmark vs Ireland tonight at our local footballground. Not bad, eh?

Tuesday August 21st 2007:
Today going to collect our football tickets for next Monday's match I couldn't help noticing that the two people in the shop, Lena and Benni, were happier than they have been lately. And generally they are a happy couple. I needn't ask them why. It was the win over Brondby last Friday. I haven't stopped smiling either!

Monday August 20th 2007:
Went to buy birthday present for our youngest grandchild today in "Toys R' Us".
I couldn't help noticing how quickly we passed through the shop. Normally when I come there I am accompanied by at least two youngsters, and it takes half a day to get through because every item is thoroughly examined. It took Else and I less than two minutes, and we felt that somehow something was wrong since it was so quick.

Sunday August 19th 2007:
I didn't have the time yesterday to tell about a comprehensive win of 1-0 in Brondby. We did it, and it really saved the day - which was a good day anyway with the cricket. But we were all very pleased about it.
Today in my joy I went to Ebeltoft and back on my bike - nearly 48 miles. That was another win.

Saturday August 18th 2007:
A full day's cricket with my brother at Herning. Quite nice to just sit down for a whole day watching the game. The quality was a bit mixed, but we enjoyed ourselves. After the game, though, we decided that the next cricket game we want to watch should be an international. May it come soon!

Friday August 17th 2007:
I recently heard a person, who had just been to a party saying the following, "If the soup had been as warm as the wine, and the wine as old as the fish, and the fish as young as the maid, and the maid as willing as the hostess - it would have been a successful dinnerparty."
Help me - I am not sure that I fully understand!

Thursday August 16th 2007:
These days I have finished selecting people to retrieve on coming season's shoots at The Moellerup Estate. As usual it has beeen rather difficult, because obviously many people like to go, and it can be quite difficult to give everybody a fair amount of shoots. But I am fortunate that so many are interested and like to retrieve - so do I.

Wednesday August 15th 2007:
There is nothing like good neighbours. Today we have had some changes made in our bathroom and toilet. Not a lot, but far too complicated for me. Fortunately all I have to do is ask my neighbour two houses away. He is a real handyman and can mend and make nearly everything. How I envy him his skills.
He was here today for a couple of hours, and now everything works well. I hope I can help him another time. I know I can. Because I am the one who always gets the tickets in for football.

Tuesday August 14th 2007:













Went for bikeride today (35 miles) mainly to watch my football team practise. I know that they don't do very well in the league, but I must admit that they practise very hard. I hope that their efforts will soon pay off. Remember from yesterday's diary about your evening prayers.

Monday August 13th 2007:
I am so sorry to write this. But my team lost yesterday. 0-2 in Aalborg. I nearly do not know what to say. But it looks pretty bad. One draw in five matches. Remember to mention this in your evening prayers. The Good Lord must step in and help. We need a win - soon!

Sunday August 12th 2007:
In a couple of hours I shall settle in front of our TV and watch my football team play an important game against Aalborg. I am not so sure that the word "settle" is correct. Perhaps it should rather be "jumping up and down" or "nervouse spasms all over". To be honest I am not sure if I dare watch it. Perhaps I should just ask my son to call me and give me the result after the game.

Saturday August 11th 2007:
I certainly enjoyed yesterday's ride to Silkeborg. But I certainly would also have enjoyed watching cricket in Copenhagen. So today it was important for me to establish that there was in fact no cricket yesterday, and as far as I can find out there wasn't. For some reason that pleases me.

Friday August 10th 2007:
Today has been pure nostalgia. Should have been to Copenhagen with my brother to watch cricket, DK v. Bermuda. But the weather in our capital was bad, so we cancelled the trip and instead we went for our scheduled bikeride to Silkeborg and back. Should have been next Wednesday.
We visited all the places in the town that once meant something to us. We had a wonderful day in nice weather, and I went 68 miles, and do feel a bit of pain at a certain place - or rather "all over the place"!

Thursday August 9th 2007:
Today Else started working again at the university. More exams are coming up. That meant up very early this morning - even before seven. But really I don't mind. The point is just that we have got so used to sleep in during our holiday and have in fact enjoyed it.
I never was a good sleeper, but it seems that since I got my blood pressure problems I have been able to sleep longer. I don't know why. Must remember to ask my doctor. But then again why ask him. Suddenly I am not in such a hurry to get my blood pressure down. I like to sleep in.

Wednesday August 8th 2007:
If you were very attentive yesterday when you read my English diary you would have noticed a spelling mistake which is now corrected. A very good friend of mine who used to teach at Jellebakkeskolen told me. He wrote to my "Letter Box" and said that "Kangaroo" is with a "K" and not with a "C" as I thought. I like him for doing that, because I like to learn, and he is such a nice chap - and English by the way.

Tuesday August 7th 2007:
Today I happened to read that kangaroos are becoming a major problem in Australia. An estimated 57 million of these animals live in the country Down Under and are moving into towns, especially Canberra where they like to "attack" litter buckets and people's gardens. It is now seriously suggested that kangaroos should be "on the pill". Scientists reckon that this would prevent them from increasing their number even more.
Also animal activists support the idea because they rightly think that pills are better than bullets.
The idea of pills for kangaroos made me think that since our country is being invaded by a certain kind of snails (The Iberian snail, or "The Killer Snail" as we call it) it might be an idea to also give them the pill. The only snag may be, who is going to find and give the pill to the snails? And how do you see the if it is a male or a female snail? But I think it is a splendid idea!

Monday August 6th 2007:
Planning holidays to us often has meant last minute decisions. But not this time. Next year's longer holiday trip will go to Normandy in order to meet our very nice old friends from England. It is our 50th anniversary. We first met in 1958 in Silkeborg, and we all think that such an anniversary calls for some kind of celebration. That's why we would very much like to meeet. It will probably be in August 2008. We are looking forward.

Sunday August 5th 2007:
Well, we didn't win last night, but lost 0-1. We played quite well and had deserved a draw. It did not come. It is a great comfort that we are getting better from game to game, and I still dare to be optimistic. I must admit though, that a win in the near future is needed in order to keep up my optimism. Hopefully it will be next time.

Saturday August 4th 2007:
Normally when waiting to go to a football match like tonight I am very nervous. But not so today. I shall be leaving in about an hour, but surprisingly I am not too worried. Probably it is due to a certain amount of fatalism. We are going to play last year's champions FCK, and we can only surprise. I hope we shall! But odds are high and you would win a lot of money if you betted on AGF.

Friday August 3rd 2007:
Today's ride gave me a lot of excercise. 25,5 miles in very hilly landscape and with a brisk wind that all the time felt as a headwind. But it was good training for a coming ride with my brother. We have planned to go to Silkeborg and back again - about 65 miles. I wonder if he can do it.

Wednesday August 1st & Thursday August 2nd 2007:
I know, I know! There was no update on my diary yesterday. I simply forgot it. Has never happened before and shall never happen again. My memory happens to be perfect, says I. Some members of my family have another opinion on that, but they are only rarely right.
The reason why I so surprisingly forgot might be that nothing much happened yesterday. It was a bit of a hangover from Tuesday night when I had some excellent food and redwine. We were visited by my brother and his wife and had a very nice evening.

Tuesday July 31st 2007:
The miracle was there. 2-2 against one of the top clubs. Not bad. We were even on 2-1 until 86th minute. Could easily have been a win. But we are on our way.

Monday July 30th 2007:
I am in for a difficult night. My club will play at Esbjerg - a formidable opponent, and it will be on TV. Miracles are needed to get just one point. So that is what I hope for. As you may know until now we have played two games, scored one goal and haven't got a single point.
Dare I watch it?

Sunday July 29th 2007:
How can an active man exist when it keeps on raining and storming, and he is very keen on getting out on his bike, and the bad weather keeps him "grounded"? I might have gone out today, but grandchildren's visit to our local natural hitory museum had a higher priority. Hopefully the weather will soon change, and once again I shall be seen on Danish roads. And you lot who have just had 3 relaxing weeks on the French roads can forget all about catching me!

Saturday July 28th 2007:
Once again I have been struck by the amount of rain you are getting in UK. I just saw on Sky that residents in Gloucestershire are advised not to go out tonight because more rain is expected. Can you take any more? I often think of the poor people who live in flooded areas. It must be terrible, and the only advantage I have seen is that some children seem to enjoy all the water a lot. I am sure that their parents do not share the enthusiasm that the kids show.

Friday July 27th 2007:
Being visited by all three grandchildren on their yearly week-long holiday with us we have enough to do. And even if it may be a bit demanding we still enjoy it. Little trips are made including shops and shopping centres. I even enjoyed walking up and down the central shopping street today. Tonight we shall all five ride on our bikes and go to the local yacht harbour for an ice cream. Not bad!

Thursday July 26th 2007:
When eventually a Danish rider is wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France it turns out that his whereabouts are somewhat dubious. He has told everybody that he was training in Mexico when it turns out that in fact he was in Italy. And now one has to ask oneself: Why this lie? Could it have something to do with drugs. Answer: Yes, I am afraid so.
I am glad that I do not have to lie so much to get my own drugs, when I go out on my bike. They are simply Mars bars, and you can get them in Italy as well as in Mexico - even in Denmark for that matter.

Wednesday July 25th 2007:
An opinion poll in Denmark yesterday showed that 40% of all people use a mackintosh as protection against rain and 60% an umbrella.
How interesting can it get?
I am sure that the thousands of people in UK who are now without electricity and water and perhaps are even evacuated from their homes are very keen to hear this.

Tuesday July 24th 2007:
In Denmark we have had a terribly wet summer with quite a few floodings. But I do realize that compared to UK this is nothing. It has been a awful experience to watch the news on television on all the floodings in central England and elsewhere. I do hope that it will soon come to an end.
It is a paradox that for quite some years watering your garden and washing your car has been forbidden in several parts of UK.

Monday July 23rd 2007:
Although I hate to write about it, and although it was no surprise I have to tell that we lost last night's game 0-2. The opposition were a lot better than we and deserved to win. I only hope that there is a victory waiting for us before soon. We need it.

Sunday July 22nd 2007:
Another "nervous" day. We are going to watch our team playing against OB at 6 p.m. It will be very difficult since they were number 4 last season, and we are just promoted. But I shall hope and pray! And I need a bit of help for that.

Saturday July 21st 2007:
Last night we went and had dinner with some very good friends - a former colleague and his wife. We really enjoyed it since the food was excellent and the company, which also included another very good former colleague and his wife, was 1st class.
It was very enjoyable and we are looking very much forward till next time we shall meet.

Friday July 20th 2007:
I recently read or heard that London Transport every year loose millions of pounds on passengers not buying their tickets. I believe it was around £ 75 million.
I have got an idea of how to reduce this loss to only half of it: Lower ticket prices with 50%.

Thursday July 19th 2007:
To our great disappointment yesterday's match was a defeat of 1-2. All the more so because we were in command nearly throughout the game and should have won easily. I hope that the team will come back, and I think they will, since there was so much very good football in our new team. We shall see on Sunday when we have the next game - also at home against Odense. But it will be very difficult.

Wednesday July 18th 2007:
I am warming up for tonight's game. Not with beer or any other alcohol. No, mentally! It takes strong nerves to go and watch the game, and a beer or two may be needed in the end. Fortunately I shall not be on my own, since my dear wife, my son, my brother, and a loyal neighbour will join me. Hopefully they will all take part in a healthy and joyful celebration after the match - that is of course if we win! But we must!

Tuesday July 17th 2007:
The following was heard in an Irish court recently:
Judge: "How do you plead? Guilty or not guilty?"
Defendant: "Would it be alright if I gave you my answer after I've heard the evidence?"

Monday July 16th 2007:
Biked 30 miles to pick up 5 tickets for the game on Wednesday. I had a wonderful ride in beautiful weather.
As you can see they are all lined up ready for use.













Sunday July 15th 2007:
Her I am again, ready to write my diary to the enormous joy of my readers. Well, at least I have missed writing.
My thoughts are already on Wednesday's first match. I shall be all nerves, but still looking forward to it. A win is more than essential, and for once I am an optimist although we have two injuries and a red card.

Thursday June 28th 2007:
Just to show you that what I told you yesterday about rain is not exaggerated.
All we need is a couple of ducks swimming around in our back garden.
And soon we shall all go on our summer holiday!









Wednesday June 27th 2007:
Sky News the latest days have told a lot about rain and flooding in GB. But today they might as well tell about the same in DK. I do not remember a June day with so much rain as today. We can almost sail the whole way down to the beach from our house. May it stop soon!

Tuesday June 26th 2007:
I am happy to tell that AGF have signed with 2 very good players (defence/midfield) - one from Rostock, Germany and one from Esbjerg. Rumours are going that a very good forward (Danish - playing in Spain, Morten Skoubo) is on his way. That makes it 3, so now we only need 3 or 4 more good players. I hope that we shall soon know their names.

Monday June 25th 2007:
I haven't quite overcome yesterday's defeat. I can clearly feel that my mood is a bit down. There we were. Looking forward to one big party and a comprehensive win of big figures. And what happens? A defeat. It is always difficult to be an AGF-supporter.

Sunday June 24th 2007:
Another humiliation! After having secured promotion last Sunday today's match was supposed to be one big party against the very bottom team. I expected a 4-0 or 6-0 win. And what happens? We loose 1-3 in front of 17.500 spectators. I hated it!

Wednesday June 20th 2007:
Today both Else and I saw our respective doctors for various checks. Everything fine and we won't see them again till after our holiday. And that is nice. Still looking forward till Sunday!

Tuesday June 19th 2007:
Today Else got some excellent results from a blood test. Everything is fine, and we are very pleased.
Today I also bought the final tickets for this football season. On Sunday we are going to celebrate with probably 20.000 other spectators that next season it is The Superleague. I am sure it will be a great day on Sunday. Winning is better than loosing! Right?

Monday June 18th 2007:
I cannot get my arms down, and they are getting very tired. They have been up since yesterday at about 5 p.m. when promotion was secured. But as far as I am concerned they may stay up all night as well.

Sunday June 17th 2007:
YES, we did it! Promotion is now secured. A comprehensive victory 0-2 away made our dream possible. Next season superleague. I am already looking forward to it. Next Sunday will be pure celebration in the last game of the season - a home game against one of the lowest teams.

Saturday June 16th 2007:
As you may know pitch invasion is more or less the norm in Denmark. There have been some incidents lately - the most notorious one of course beeing the "fan" who attacked the referee in the crucial match against Sweden a few weeks ago.
In Australia they don't seem to have these problems. But they have others. The other day a door fell down with a big bang on a football ground in Melbourne - only a few yeards from a group of spectators.
As it turned out the door had fell off a small aeroplane. This has never happened in Denmark.

Friday June 15th 2007:
We are preparing to have our grandchildren in the weekend. For me it means sleeping in the caravan, since we haven't got beds enough. But I don't mind. In fact I enjoy it there.

Thursday June 14th 2007:
We did it! An emphatic win of 3-1 last night was just what we needed. Promotion is in fact secured. One more point is needed in the next two games, and perhaps not even that, provided that we don't loose too much. A positive goalscore of 7 goals makes it nearly impossible for anyone to reach us.
I do admit that I predicted that we would not be promoted this season. Fortunately my pessimism wasn't enough. Next season: The Superleague. Hip hip!

Wednesday June 13th 2007:
Very important game tonight. A win will very likely mean promotion. We've got 3 games remaining and need only 4 points. I am very nervous and have diffficulties writing this. My hands are shaking, and my poor old heart is going berserk.
I shall feel a lot better tonight after the game - provided we have the right result.

Tuesday June 12th 2007:
A record breaking day. Went 73 miles on my bike in blistering hot weáther. Very nice, though.
Will last some time till next record.

Monday June 11th 2007:
Very much against my expectations my football team is now close to promotion. A win yesterday and defeats to the nearest competitors brought us within 4 points from reaching the Super League. And we have 3 games in which to get them. There might be a chance - although my natural pessimism tells me otherwise. Next game is a home game on Wednesday. Exciting? Yes!

Sunday June 10th 2007:
Completed our annual "Tour de Mols". 6 elderly gentlemen - all more than 60 - managed to ride the 25 miles in very high temperatures. Well done, old boys.
See pictures on my Danish Diary! Click here!

Saturday June 9th 2007:
We had a wonderful evening last night. Weather just fantastic, couldn't be any better. We ate well and talked a lot and enjoyed every second of it.
Tomorrow will hopefully also be a good day. We are going for our annual bike ride - 7-8 elderly men being sailed across the Aarhus Bay and then left on their own with their bikes and their lunches and about 25 miles in front of them. The forecast promises up to 30-35 centigrades.

Friday June 8th 2007:
Today I have prepared for tonight. Else is at work. We are going to have some friends in for a BBQ, and we are both looking very much forward to it. Our garden is "an absolute beauty" thanks to my efforts, which have been big. I am rather proud of myself. Perhaps a pro would not be impressed. But who cares? I am.

Thursday June 7th 2007:
Went to that very big place called BILKA, a mega supermarket: Even the name itself makes me shiver and brings cold sweat on my forehead. But there was no avoiding it. For some obscure reason I even voluntered to go along with my beloved wife because of the amount we had to buy. But once again I was praised for my courage and helpfulness. And that is not bad.

Wednesday June 6th 2007:
63rd anniversary for D-day, the landing at Normandy. I shall always remember that day as very important. Not that I remember anything from it personally (was only 3½ years old), but I shall always think of it as one of the most important days in European history.

Tuesday June 5th 2007:
Today is our Constitution Day. We all ought to take part in celebrating it. But I must admit that I didn't. I did consider it, though.
Instead I went for a bike ride to Ebeltoft. Not far, only 22 miles. Else met me there, and I put the bike in the back of the car for the ride back. One is getting older.

Monday June 4th 2007:
I have been very very busy today. I won't even start listing all the things I have done. And mind you - it was mostly in the garden which normally is not my favourite pastime.
But best of all. My dear wife was very pleased with me when she came home, and I am more than happy to sweat and toil when she praises me afterwards. It may mean a very nice tea tonight.

Sunday June 3rd 2007:
Went for bike ride to our local cricket ground to watch a game. It is the first time for a couple of years and only the second time for a decade. It was nice once again to walk around the ground where I have played I don't know how many games. I enjoyed very much being there, and the weather couldn't be any better.

Went about 25 miles in all on my bike.











Saturday June 2nd 2007:
Rather a passive day. Apart from working in the garden - which I do not enjoy at all - I have done very little. I must think of something more constructive and interesting for tomorrow - could be bungy-jumping somewhere in New Zealand.

Friday June 1st 2007:
Yes, I did it. I did go for a ride on my bike. Not very far, only about 18 miles. But I did it, I enjoyed it, and was rather proud when I came back. I haven't done enough riding this year and must improve on it. The weather was - if possible - better than yesterday.

Thursday May 31st 2007:
It may interest you to know that today the weather has been absolutely beautiful. Just the weather for a long ride on my bike - which I intend to make tomorrow. If the weather is just as nice, of course!

Wednesday May 30th 2007:
Went with Else to the hospital today for her routine check of her heart. Everything was just perfect, and she may need only one more check late in November. We were both very happy.
It has been a great day.

Tuesday May 29th 2007:
Coming home from a short Whitsun holiday yesterday I was rather excited about my football team and its home game against one of the lower teams. A very narrow 1-0 win was the meager result - but of course better than a draw or a defeat. We are now second, but only with the margin of one goal.

Thursday May 24th 2007:
Today I read about a terrible fire in the library of The White House. Both Presidant Bush's books were destroyed. Very sad. But what was the big tragedy was that he had only had time to colour one of them.

Wednesday May 23rd 2007:
Just to show you that just now we have a very beautiful tree in our garden. Don't you think?












Tuesday May 22nd 2007:
I like to listen to a good joke, and I also used to enjoy telling one. But it seems to me that new jokes are getting more and more rare. I am sure that if Adam returned to earth he wouldn't recognize a thing - except the jokes. And only very few people (not including myself) have the ability to tell a joke and make you enjoy it and laugh. I think I only know one person - a former colleague from my school - who masters this art. It is a pleasure listening to him.

Monday May 21st 2007:
After a 1-1 draw yesterday I am afraid that promotion for my football team seems very far away. The remaining games must more or less all be won, and that is not likely to happen.

Sunday May 20th 2007:
Middle grandchild, Kristian, had been away for 4 days on a scout camp. We picked him up today, and he has had some very nice days and had a lot to tell. We simply couldn't stop him, and he was not prepared to listen - only to talk. And he did during the whole ride back which was about 45 minutes.

Friday May 18th 2007:
Went for a not too long and very nice walk today with Cecilie (youngest grandchild) and Else. If you would like to see pictures of it (which I am sure you do), just click here.
With the appetite I am having these days I ought to do it more often. But the tennis season is coming up very soon, and I do need the excercise.

Thursday May 17th 2007:
There is no point in hiding it. I haven't done a thing today - except for taking Else to a garden center. But funnily enough I am still hungry. But not in a moment or two.

Wednesday May 16th 2007:
I went to Ebeltoft today to see old friends. I should have gone on my bike, but courage left me at the last moment, so I went by car. How lazy can one be?

Tuesday May 15th 2007:
Getting old is part of life - hopefully.
But when are you old? I often think of that.
Bob Hope once said: "You know that you are getting old when the candles cost more than the cake!"

Monday May 14th 2007:
Yes, I did take the risk and went to watch the football yesterday. It wasn't very good, but at least it was a 1-0 win, and that was what mattered. Convincing? No!

Sunday May 13th 2007:
I may be going to the football game at 3 p.m. But I am not sure. It is nervewrecking to watch them sometimes.

Thursday May 10th 2007:
As you can see I am back. If I am stronger than ever is a good question.
I haven't done a lot today. A visit at my daughter's meant some hard work taking all their litter to the recycling place. But of course one is only happy to help when needed. But I didn't know it was that needed.

Monday May 7th 2007:
Due to technical reasons my website will not be updated for some days. Sorry!
I'll be back stronger than ever.

Sunday May 6th 2007:
Football yesterday. A draw of 1-1 was very humiliating. It ruined my day. The only interesting point was the toilets. Have a look.













Friday May 4th 2007:
Today it is 62 years since Germany surrendered to Field Marshal Montgomery in a humble army tent in the north of Germany, and Denmark could wave goodbye to the German troops who had been here for 5 years. Of course it is an important day in Danish history, and we all used to celebrate it by placing candles in our windows. Unfortunately this is not done very much any more.

Thursday May 3rd 2007:
Another visit to IKEA. You probably know that I am not too keen on the place. But my sweet wife promised me that all I had to do was to sit and wait in the car - which I couldn't because it was too hot. So I walked patiently up and down in front of the shop, till she finally came out. She only bought two items, but as you know IKEA is a big place with no short cuts. You have to see it all when first inside. And I believe she did. It took a very long time.

Wednesday May 2nd 2007:
I took my car to service today. I have always feared these "sevice-days". Not only do I have to find out how to get to and from the garage, but they are usually much too expensive. I even didn't dare ask for an approximate price when I picked up the car in the afternoon. I shall get the shock when the bill arrives shortly.

Tuesday May 1st 2007:













Peter and Cecilie (son and grandchild) went fishing today. They obviously had a splendid day and came home with no less than 30 herrings. They will be smoked in a near future, and I only hope that I may be offered to help eating them. I happen to love smoked herrings - or rather all smoked fish.

Monday April 30th 2007:
Yes, I know, I know. I am ever so sorry. I did not update my website yesterday. The reason was simply that I did not feel very well. A visit to my doctor today has fortunately made me feel fine again.

Saturday April 28th 2007:
Went to the market at Hornslet today and strolled up and down the high street. Hundreds of people in very nice weather made it a nice day. Of course we bought quite a few things. Else was there.
Just look at the table she bought. It will be very useful for our barbecues, she says. And she is probably right. So we had to buy it.














Friday April 27th 2007:
You may have noticed that bike riding is one of my favourite hobbies. For that very reason I went for a modest ride today - only 26 miles. But what may be interesting is that the purpose of my ride was to pick up 6 tickets for AGF's game against another Aarhus team 5th May on their ground. That will be the first AGF-away game that I have ever attended in my life.

Thursday April 26th 2007:
We went to Ebeltoft today in our car - just for the ride and a bit of shopping. Weather absolutely beautiful, and we made a detour on our way back in order to enjoy the magnificent landscape - and the sunshine.
That is one of the privileges of being retired. You have got the time for such "extravagances".







Wednesday April 25th 2007:
Long ride on my bike today. 43 miles in beautiful sunshine. The wind was, however, a bit stronger than I thought. But then again. It always is.
I enjoyed the ride and visited - among other places - the training grounds of our old football club. Not a player could be seen. I wonder what they were all doing! They do need the training!













Tuesday April 24th 2007:
I just felt sure that you were just mad about seeing one of the latest pictures of me:













Monday April 23rd 2007:
I have spent nearly the whole day in front of my computer writing on my new book. So I need a bit of physical excercise. That is why I shall now get up and go to the kitchen for a cup of tea. I hope it will not be too hard for me.

Sunday April 22nd 2007:
AGF humiliated. Lost 4-2 in away game to no. 1 Lyngby.
We even got 2 "red cards". What shall I say?
I know, "Rubbish."

Saturday April 21st 2007:
With 3 grandchildren staying with you for some days you always know what to do. Not that they are especially demanding, but of course we want them to have a good time.
After the two younger ones had played very well for quite some time, and the eldest had spent even longer time in front of the computer grandmum and granddad suggested that everybody went for a walk with the dogs.
To our surprise they all agreed that it was a good idea. So we walked in the beautiful sunshine and enjoyed it.

Friday April 20th 2007:
Unfortunately a visit by some friends from UK was cancelled today, since it was not possible to book air tickets for the trip early in May.
But we expect to see them here some other time in a near future. If not I shall have a word with them. And I am good at "having words".

Thursday April 19th 2007:
For quite a few weeks we have followed a couple of swans at a small lake not far from where we live. Obviously they were preparing for the brooding season. Then for more than a week we could only spot one swan, and we were rather worried about this. Where was the other? Had it died or what?
And then - oh joy - today we were told that now there are two swans again. That made us glad.

Wednesday April 18th 2007:
My wife is unremitting. She wants to travel. For the time being it is London that is highest on the agenda. She was there only last September. The other day it was Vienna which followed right after Rome and Barcelona. She also told me that she wouldn't mind a small trip to Berlin, Stockholm, or Paris. She is also very keen on a trip with our new caravan.
I don't blame her, so we may plan to go somewhere - besides going with the caravan.

Tuesday April 17th 2007:
Today I was very pleased to hear/read that some of our English friends obviously have enjoyed reading what has been translated into English from my book (9 chapters).
Some time when I really have the time for it I might translate some more.
 
Monday April 16th 2007:
Besides of riding 33 miles on my bike I also today had  some time to work a bit on my new book. As you may know I want to write something from my very early home at the workhouse where I lived from 1943 to 1954, some historical facts. My father was caretaker/inspector at the place.
I am working hard to collect materials, and it has prooved rather difficult. Several visits at the local library at Silkeborg and contacts to the "Silkeborg Museum" have been useful. I shall carry on - perhaps not so much during the summer, but I hope that I can work on it from next autumn.
I found it rather easy to write my autobiography. This seems much more difficult - but exciting!

Sunday April 15th 2007:













A great day. A win over number 2 in the tables, Sonderjyske. 0 - 1.
This means that we are now number 2 and are going to meet number 1 in an away game next Sunday. If we can win there too, my scepticism may fade away and I may start thinking that promotion might be possible. But it takes a lot to take away my pessimism.

Saturday April 14th 2007:
Another day with hard labour. This time it was the caravan. It needed washing, said my lovely wife. I did not agree, but that made no difference. Now it is very clean.

Friday April 13th 2007:
Having my shower today after some hard work in the garden I happened to think of a quotation by Henny Youngman (British comedian), who once said: "This morning I spent 10 minutes under the cold shower. Tomorrow I may consider turning the water on".

Thursday April 12th 2007:
I was very pleased to read and hear about England's victory over Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup. As I understand it England need to win the coming two games to reach the semifinal. I hope they do and I shall follow them very closely.

Wednesday April 11th 2007:
I haven't dared riding om my bike since my near-collapse on Friday 30th March. But I tried today and rode a short trip of 16 miles, and it went well. I may try again tomorrow because if I do not get started my chances of riding The Tour de France are only very small.
I have been approached by several teams, but I have avoided mentioning Friday 30th March.

Tuesday April 10th 2007:
We all have good days and bad days. Until late in the afternoon I thought that today was a pretty miserable day. But then a phone call from one of my very nice nephews changed my attitude. He spoke fondly about my book which he has nearly finished reading by now.
I now think that today is a wonderful day.

Monday April 9th 2007 (Easter Bank Holiday):
Just come home from football. An emphatic win of 2-0. I am sure that I shall sleep tight tonight, even if my team did not play well - but in this case well enough. But we needed a win after Thursday's very bad experience.

Sunday April 8th 2007:
Going to the baker's this morning I realized that I shouldn't. Rolls with butter and Danish pastry are not officially part of my diet. But I did it, and I had my rolls and my pastry. But I must try and improve on my diet. Easter has not been good as far as that is concerned. Too many temptations, and if there is something that I cannot say no to, it is temptations.

Saturday April 7th 2007:
Today we had the family in for a wonderful Easter Lunch, and we enjoyed every bit of it.
The reason: Else's birthday, and for the first time for 50 years I did not have a birthday present for her. It will not arrive till later in April. I was a bit ashamed.
But she keeps on telling me that it is alright - and I must believe her.





Friday April 6th 2007 (Good Friday):
Today has been a very lazy day. It has been far too cold to do anything outside, so I have spent quite a few hours watching some DVDs with cricket from The West Indies (2004) and South Africa (2004-2005). I enjoyed England winning both series, and I wasn't overstrained in any way.

Thursday April 5th 2007:
Oh dear, oh dear. A 1-1 draw against the team in the very bottom of 1st division. How humiliating. It cannot get any worse. Unfortunately I have already bought tickets for the next game on Monday. If it wasn't for that I certainly wouldn't have gone. Today was a torment.

Wednesday April 4th 2007:
Yesterday we got 6 cubic metres of firewood just thrown into our garage where of course it cannot remain. That's why I have toiled all yesterday afternoon and this morning to have it all nicely stacked in the garden. It is very hard labour, and I have not yet finished. There will be more waiting for me tomorrow. Poor me!

Tuesday April 3rd 2007:
I know, I know. No update of my website yesterday. But it wasn't my fault. Due to some technical reasons nobody - including me - could open it. I am ever so sorry, and I promise that my website host will do everything they can to avoid another breakdown.
But have a good look at the picture just below. Wonderful, isn't it?
PS: I did sleep well Sunday night!

Sunday April 1st 2007:
Yes, we won. A comprehensive victory of 4-1. What a relief.
And the weather was also perfect.
I may sleep well tonight.













Saturday March 31st 2007:
Tomorrow is an important day. The first game in the latter part of the football season. I am very excited and yet for once quite optimistic - rather unusual, isn't it?
But I think that we have now got a much better team, and even if one of our very good defence players is out injured, I feel that we cannot loose.
I even dare not think of the consequences if we do. It will be fatal.

Friday March 30th 2007:
Seen in hindsight yesterday's near collaps was perhaps a bit more serious than I first thought. It has taken me since then to recuperate and I cannot say that I am totally over it. What struck me most was the dizziness and failing ability to focus. I was obviously completely emptied for all energy and could not stand up without having something to cling to - mainly because I was dizzy and couldn't see. I have had to promise my family never to do it again.

Thursday March 29th 2007:
For the first time ever I had to give up on a ride on my bike. It wasn't very far - only 24 miles. But due to some very tough hills (Mountains), too strong head wind, too little sleep last night, and too little breakfast I had to give in and phone Else who came with our car and picked me up. I was very close to a collaps.
All in all it was humiliating, and I hope that it will never happen again. It was a "defeat".

Wednesday March 28th 2007:
No update yesterday of my website due to the fact that I couldn't get near my computer. We had the floors cleaned and varnished and it wasn't dry till this morning. That's why. Hope you were not too disappointed.

Monday March 26th 2007:
Four weeks have passed since my latest check with my doctor concerning my blood pressure. So I went to see him today. Fortunately it has gone down and is now only a little above "allowed" maximum. So I shan't see him till some time late in June, but of course continue with my pills.

Sunday March 25th 2007:
How can I put it? We lost to Spain. We had a player sent off after 20 minutes, and that was fatal even if we won the second half 1-0 and deserved at least a draw. But it wasn't to be.
Why is it that the beer is so bad when you loose?

Saturday March 24th 2007:
I have just come out from my shower - fresh and bright - ready for tonight's big "football battle", Denmark v. Spain, a European qualifier. Of course we are all excited. A win is important even though we may do with a draw. Usually we loose all important games against Spain, but quite a few experts believe that this time Denmark is the favourite.
Else and I will watch the game with my brother and some friends (and perhaps a beer or two).

Friday March 23rd 2007:
Having nearly recovered from yesterday's tough endurance of visiting IKEA, I have done only very little today, apart from a bike ride to and from Aarhus helping a bit at my brother's company. I am, however, sure that you will be pleased to know that my football club (1st divison) today beat Horsens from the superleague with no less than 4 - 1. Well done, lads!

Thursday March 22nd 2007:
I know that I did it voluntarily. Nobody forced me - it was even very nearly my own decision. 
What was it that I did? Well, to be totally honest: I went to IKEA, this mother of all wicked department stores. You have to walk through all parts of the shop to get through. There are no short cuts. I hate the place! All I had to buy was a notice board - and in fact I got it. But I wish that I could have bought it elsewhere, because I had no desire of seeing all of IKEA, which I did.
The notice board in question is now hanging right behind my computer, easy for me to see, and will forever remind me of my hopefully last visit to IKEA.

Wednesday March 21st 2007:
You may have noticed that today is the vernal equinox. In other words day and night are equally long - just about 12 hours. I always thought that from this particular day spring is here. And it isn't. We have had a bitterly cold wind. But fortunately the forecast, not least for the coming weekend, is fantastic. So, everybody: Spring is here!

Tuesday March 20th 2007:
Today we got a new receiver for our satelite TV, since the old one failed every now and then, and that was a nuisance. It is a rented one, so it has not cost us anything. That is alright. But what is not alright is that I shall now have to learn how to use the flippin' thing. And that has proved a problem. I was never good at reading instructions for such "machines". I always feel that they are written for experts by experts and we mortals have a problem.

Monday March 19th 2007:
Today I happened to cast a glance at a kind of a postcard that has been pinned on the wall over my computer for years. It has an inscription that I would like to pass on to you:
The more I study the more I know.
The more I know the more I forget.
The more I forget the less I know.
So why study?"
Don't pass it on to your kids!
PS: Have bought the first football tickets for 2007!  Matchday: "April Fools' Day"

Sunday March 18th 2007:
Due to gale force I don't know what, today has been an indoor day - too much wind.
Besides of writing a bit on my new book I just managed to drive to the baker's for a loaf which they didn't have and a newspaper which they didn't have either. So I had to go to the nearest petrol station where I could buy both. It is a funny old world sometimes.

Saturday March 17th 2007:
Yes, we won. We beat Malmo 2-1. That makes me a bit optimistic. But since I was born a pessimist I have to be careful with my joy. I hope from deep in my heart that promotion will be a reality, but I am still apprehensive.
I may allow myself to be optimistic about my blood pressure. I have just finished testing it, and it was normal. Hope it will continue.

Friday March 16th 2007:
These days "my" football team are at Cyprus in order to get ready for the season which will start on April 1st. I certainly hope that they will come back fit for fight. They are facing a tough half-season. Only one defeat in one of the remaining 16 games may mean good bye to promotion.
I have just heard that they have won a game against some minor Swedish team, and tomorrow they are going to play against Malmo. And that is another kettle of fish. If they can come out victorious - or even with a draw from that game I may become a bit optimistic, but ever since before the season started back in August I predicted that they will not be promoted in 2007. I hope that I am wrong, but I am afraid that I am not.

Thursday March 15th 2007:
Today I received a link that makes it possible for me to start planning a "maybe" trip to England within the next few weeks. Perhaps you will not believe it. But my brother and I may go there just to watch TV - but not "any old TV". We hope that some hotel might accomodate us and ensure that they can provide us with TV from the World Cup in cricket. We shall see. If we succeed it will be the first trip in my life to a foreign country with the only purpose of watching TV.

Wednesday March 14th 2007:
The World Cup in cricket has started in the West Indies. I wish I were there. Unfortunately I am not. But I have been given the task of finding out if it is worth going to England and watch as much as possible on TV. Consequently I shall phone my English friends and ask them how many games we could see if we popped over for a couple of days. Would be nice, wouldn't it?

Tuesday March 13th 2007:
Today I went with Else for her quarterly check at the hospital - thyroid department. Everything was well, she was very happy. Next check is in 3 months.
After the hospital she felt that we ought to "celebrate the good result" by paying a visit to IKEA. I cannot think of a worse place than that, but agreed. We were looking for a small table for the kitchen, and found it.

Monday March 12th 2007:
Today has been the most wonderful spring day you can imagine. 15 degrees centigrades, a clear blue sky and beautiful sunshine. It was pure pleasure to ride on my bike into Aarhus even if I went 32 miles yesterday and was a bit sore - you know where, and even if I had a strong head wind going out and only very little back wind going home! Still I enjoyed it.

Sunday March 11th 2007:
On this date our former King Frederik 9th had his birtday. Every year, mind you. The reason why I remember this so clearly is that on this particular date all schools in Denmark closed, and we could all stay at home in order to celebrate "His Majesty". I am not sure that I took part in any kind of celebration, but I am sure that I enjoyed my day off.

Saturday March 10th 2007:
Cleaning our car is by no means my favourite hobby. But nevertheless it has to be done. I don't mind the washing - it is done at the nearest Q8 in a fantastic machine that most of all reminds me of some giant light show. I only wish that the same machine could also clean the inside. That is not the case so I have to do it myself - that is if Else doesn't do it for me, which she did today. Lucky me! So in fact all I had to do was the hoovering.

Friday March 9th 2007:
A very unfortunate Dane yesterday fell head first into a sewer, and only his legs could be seen above the ground.  The "sewer-man" fell down because he dropped his keys. They went through the grille. When he removed it and bent down to pick up the keys he slid into the sewer. He was not a tall man and couldn't possibly get up on his own. He was stuck for half an hour until somebody happened to pass by and called the police who helped him out. He quickly recovered.

Thursday March 8th 2007:
Our walk today was in absolutely beautiful weather - the sun shining from a cloudless sky. I always find it so wonderful to have the sun in my eyes after weeks and weeks with clouds and misty weather. So I really enjoyed the walk.
And I needed the excercise since I had a cake for my afternoon tea. I haven't had one since 2006.

Wednesday March 7th 2007:
When you buy a pet for children it is important at some time to tell them that some day the sweet little creature will die. You must prepare them in good time that this is enevitable.
But what can you do when it happens earlier than expected? Today one of two rabbits belonging to two of our grandchildren suddenly died and a lot of tears have been shed.

Tuesday March 6th 2007:
Did you know that when at my age you take a nap on the settee after lunch it is called "A Grandad" in Danish?
I had a nice "Grandad" today. Should have one more often, but I find it difficult to get time for it.

Monday March 5th 2007:
Unfortunately today once again we had to take our new caravan to the dealer's. You may remember that only last Thursday we picked it up after a lengthy repair. No sooner had we come home that day than we found out that something was wrong with the TV aerial. Something was broken. It is now fixed, and now hopefully everything should be in order. If not murder is a possibility. It is 65 miles every time we have to go, and I am not that fond of towing a caravan.

Sunday March 4th 2007:
I went to church today. I cannot say that it is something I do very often. But I like now and then to go up there and follow the service, sing the hymns, and especially listen to the sermon. I was, however, not impressed by today's sermon, so I'd better go next Sunday as well.

Saturday March 3rd 2007:
Today our former Princess Alexandra is getting married to some Danish bloke after having divorced Prince Joachim some years ago. And I couldn't care less. But obviously one of our TV-channels is having a field day and wants to show every little detail of the stupid wedding. This prevents me from falling asleep watching a good football game on the telly, since Else wants to see the "not at all royal and indifferent event". Bless her. But I am not amused.

Friday March 2nd 2007:
Today is an important date for Else and I. It is exactly 50 years since we first met. Quite a span of years. But we have enjoyed them all and still do.
Golden wedding in 5 years. Time is running.

Thursday March 1st 2007:
I always thought that March 1st marks  the start of spring. Sometimes it has been in the middle of a gigantic blizzard, but not so today. Nice and sunny with temperatures of 8-9 centigrades, and no wind. We celebrated this by picking up our new caravan at the dealer's where it has been for the last 2-3 weeks for minor repairs and changes. So Else is very happy today.

Wednesday February 28th 2007:
Just to keep your curiousity at bay I can tell you that since New Year I have lost 1½ stone. I am pleased with that, but intend to loose even more. My doctor and I have agreed on a certain weight that should be the best for me. But I am not going to tell you what it is - only that I have to carry on a bit more.

Tuesday February 27th 2007:
Today yet another result of a blood test. And fortunately yet again a good result. But I do feel that during the latest 3-4 weeks I have had so many blood tests taken that Dracula might be interested in the leftovers.

Monday February 26th 2007:
The snow is slowly disappearing - but mind you, we have still got quite a lot of it. This made my 1½ hour long walk today quite hard mainly because the snow is wet and heavy. One must suffer to get healthy. The excercise is good for me and my high blood pressure, and our dogs enjoyed every minute of it.

Sunday February 25th 2007:
Coming back from a huge caravan exhibition in Herning I thought that I would just sit down in all quiet in front of my telly and watch what was left of Arsenal v. Chelsea. It was 1-1 and a bit eventless so I dozed off, and would you belive it? I missed a big fist fight among several players, 3 red cards, and the decisive goal.
Why is it that football sometimes makes you fall asleep?

Saturday February 24th 2007:
As you can see we still have a lot of snow. This of course makes it difficult for birds. So we try to feed them every day and obviously we are very popular in the bird population. Just look at the picture from our garden:













Friday February 23rd 2007:
The blizzard is still here. We are having another day with snow and strong wind. A lot of our roads are blocked. But I had to go out in our car. I had to see my doctor to have my heart checked (ECG). As usual I was rather nervous - I always am when going to the doctor - but fortunately without any reason. My heart seems to be strong and healthy. I was happy when I left.
The ride in the car? It went well. I had to drive very slowly, but apart from that - no problems in spite of huge amounts of snow.

Thursday February 22nd 2007:
The blizzard that started yesterday really struck during the night. This morning we woke up to I do not know how many inches of snow. But it must be some kind of a record. Look at this:













There are no busses to catch in our village, and the snowplow hasn't been here. Nevertheless we managed to drive to the supermarket in order to buy something to eat tonight.

Wednesday February 21st 2007:
Winter is here. A blizzard is making its way across the country. It is not all that bad, but enough to make our fireplace a cosy focus point in our living room.
There is nothing like the crackling sound of burning wood, when snow and storm can be heard on the windows and through the chimney.
Hopefully it will be all over tomorrow.

Tuesday February 20th 2007:
I have mad one of my very rare mistakes today, but at the time I did not know that it was a mistake.
I thought that I would bring some order to my photos on my website files, so I deleted a big number of these pictures. What I didn't know was that deleting them on the file where I find them, also meant that I deleted them on the website. So at nearly all pages pictures were missing.
I have now restored most of them apart from my "Diary part 1" which unfortunately cannot be restored. Consequently some pictures have gone missing, and I doubt it that I can put them back. The page is overloaded. Sorry, but I did not know the consequences when I started deleting. I shall never do it again! It took me 3-4 hours to correct it.

Monday February 19th 2007:
Unfortunately my blood pressure today suddenly decided to go up again. I talked to my doctor about it, and he told me not to worry. This happens. Consequently I shall try not to worry.

Sunday February 18th 2007:
Not only have we this weekend looked after Peter's two dogs, but for the last week we have also been looking after our eldest grandchild's budgie. She and her family have been skiing in Italy and came home yesterday, and we took it to their house this morning.
Tomorrow the two dogs will be picked up and suddenly our "zoo" is a lot smaller.

Saturday February 17th 2007:
Every day I check my blood pressure. And I am happy to tell that it is coming down.
Today my best "result" was 134/82, which is clearly within the limits of normal pressure (max. 140/90). Of course I hope that it will remain that way. I shall see my doctor on Friday, and then it is up to him to decide if the average figures are good enough. They are just now 149/85 for the latest three days, but coming down.

Friday February 16th 2007:
Yes, I did play on my fiddle today. Not for a long time, only 10-15 minutes, and it sounded reasonably well, I thought. I may not yet be ready for Carnegie Hall, but surely on my way. Else was kind enough to say that it wasn't too bad, and our dogs (4 of them since we are also looking after our son's two dogs this weekend) did not seem to mind. So I might try again tomorrow.

Thursday February 15th 2007:
You may not believe this. I am going to fix my violin. It hasn't been played on for more than 20 years, but for quite some time I have thought of taking it up again. And now is the time.
I am sure that neither my family, nor our dogs, and nor our neighbours will appreciate it. But I must try it - just to see if I enjoy it.
Perhaps I very quickly find out that it isn't worth while, and then at least I can make quite a few people and a couple of dogs happy. I like making others happy.

Tuesday & Wednesday February 13th & 14th 2007:
Due to tchnical problems my website has been closed down for two days, so I have been unable to write my diary, and now I have forgotten what I did. Don't laugh - it will come to you, too, sooner or later!

Monday February 12th 2007:
You may have noticed that the word "Football" has not been mentioned in my diary or elsewhere on my website for a very long time. I have been a bit fed up with it due to the many bad results. But now - as the spring season comes closer - I can feel that I might be interested again. Our club has signed a few new players whom I expect will do well and perhaps bring promotion within reach. But still I must admit that I am pessimistic.
Anyway. I have decided to go and watch the first game on April 1st.
Wish me luck!

Sunday February 11th 2007:
Our son and daughter-in-law (and Cecilie) today had their new TV-set, one of these fancy flat ones to hang on the wall. Good quality, sharp pictures, and they were very pleased with it. 
Else and I might want one of the same kind, but our problem is that we would then have to get rid of our fireplace and more ore less refurnish the whole house.
So perhaps we won't bother.

Saturday February 10th 2007:
Today has been rather a lazy day. Apart from going to our local supemarket and DIY-market I have in fact done nothing. I even had a nap early afternoon. So theoretically I should feel rested by now, but I don't feel that way. Is it a flue coming up - or what?

Friday February 9th 2007:
Through quite a few years I have always with pleasure noticed that at 8 o'clock on 9th of February it is completely light outside. I do not know why this has caught my attention, but it may be due to the fact that I always met at 8 o'clock when I worked. I thought you would like to know this.

Thursday February 8th 2007:
Today once again I have spent some time on preparing my next book. This time it will be a historical subject. I have decided to write all that I can possibly find on the place where I lived from when I was 2 years old till I was 13.
I am not on my own, since our son Peter is also involved in collecting materials.
Until now we have talked to Silkebrog Museum, the local newspaper, and the local historical archive, and we have already managed to find quite a few things - also on the Internet.
If you would like to see a picture of the place, please click here (Torsdag 8/9 2007). The picture was taken in 1956.

Wednesday February 7th 2007:
For the first time for a very very long time I had a nap this afternoon. I do not know what came over me, but suddenly I felt a strong need for dozing off - just for half an hour. I felt quite well when I woke up. Perhaps I should do this more often, but I feel that I have no time for it. I have got so many things to do.

Tuesday February 6th 2007:
A few people in England may be pleased to know that very soon the postman will arrive on their doorstep and hand them copies of my book. I posted them today. Of course the book is written in Danish, but not to leave the British totally in the mist, I have translated 9 chapters and sent them as well.

Monday February 5th 2007:
Today I accompanied Else to her doctor. The purpose of her visit was to have a single blood test taken. She was a bit excited waiting for the result,  but it was good. So we were relieved when we left.
From the doctor's we went to Randers towing our new caravan. There are some faults and minor flaws that are to be taken care of at the shop. We shall have it back in a fortnight.

Sunday February 4th 2007:
Today has been rest day. I have done as little as possible, watched a bit of TV and having had a nap on the settee. But still I feel tired. Perhaps yesterday's Irish Coffee is the cause.

Saturday February 3rd 2007:
On this the third day of February according to tradition we had our first Christmas Party today. Since we all know how stressful December can be it has for many years been a tradition that we meet with some of our old friends and start celebrating Christmas already in February. And that is what we did today. We ate and drank for 7 hours, but most of all we talked. It was very nice. And of course there were plenty of gifts.

Friday February 2nd 2007:
Today we have had our summer holiday confirmed.
We are going in our new caravan to Fuenen. I do not know why we are in so good time. We usually aren't. But now we can relax and wait till that beautiful summer morning arrives, when we set off for 2 weeks' relaxation in warm and sunny weather right on the beach at East Fuenen.

Thursday February 1st 2007:
Today, besides of a visit to Silkeborg in order to find material for my next book, I have spent quite some time translating for my brother (also see 30th January).
And in fact I had some difficulties. Some words that are quite obvious to us are so difficult to translate that sometimes I feel that there is no word for it in English. Fortunately I have a good friend, an Englishman who used to work at my school, and he often helps me.
But my main problem just now is this:
What is the difference between "Educational Guidelines" and "Pedagogical Guidelines" ?
Anybody who can give me a good answer to this is more than welcome to write to me at my problem page or at my E-mail adress "gr@sport.dk".

Wednesday January 31st 2007:
Today I happened to discuss humour with some people - you know what is good and what is bad humour. It reminded me of a quotation by Frank Colby (American editor and writer): "People are willing to admit treason, murder, arson, artificial teeth, and wigs. But how many are willing to admit that they have no sense of humour?"

Tuesday January 30th 2007:
Today I have sat in front of a computer from 9 a.m. til 6 p.m. First I helped at my brother's company (a lot of figures for "The Taxman"), and next I went home and did some translation (Danish-English) also for him, but on my own computer. We are talking of many pages, it has taken a long time, and I am nearly through. He is planing a large conference in Dublin later this year. If only I could come along and see the results of my efforts.

Monday January 29th 2007:
Today I received the results of some blood tests that my doctor took last Friday. I am more than happy to tell that they all were very fine. I did have some worries, but they fortunately were totally groundless. It calls for celebration, but I am too tired to open a bottle of champagne. Perhaps Else will help me.
PS: Today it is exactly two years since I had my first day a retired vice head. This perhaps also might call for some kind of celebration, but again: Obviously I am more tired than retired.

Sunday January 28th 2007:
Today was our yearly and very traditional day when my brother, my son, and my son-in-law met at our house. We spent the day watching cricket on DVD for nearly 7 hours, had a good lunch and a few beers. This year we watched England vs. Sri Lanka and England vs. Pakistan.
We saw some very good cricket, and it made it extra exciting that my brother and I in fact were at Trent Bridge to see one of the matches that we watched today, England vs. Sri Lanka early June.




Saturday January 27th 2007:
Today we picked up our new caravan at Randers. It is nearly becoming a habit that we change once a year or once every second year. But this time it may very well be the last caravan that we possess. It is exactly as we like it. Perhaps it doesn't look very much from the outside, but it is very nice inside. New caravan on the left, old one (and Else) on the right.













Friday January 26th 2007:
I had an appointment with my doctor today - a follow-up on last Friday's check.
I now have to face the fact that my blood pressure is too high, not alarmingly, but still too high. I have started taking some pills for it. In 4 weeks I shall see him again, and hopefully things are alright by then. Fortunately my problem does not affect my activities. I can still ride my bike, work hard, and play tennis as much as I wish. In fact this will only help me.
If only it wasn't for the present bad weather I would start all threee immediately.

Thursday January 25th 2007:
Today we were supposed to have picked up our new caravan from the shop at Randers. However we have to wait, since the carpets that should have been there for some days, have been delayed from the factory.
So new "pick-up-date" is Saturday 27th. Else nearly cannot wait.

Wednesday January 24th 2007:
Today we went to congratulate our son on his birthday - 36 years. Would you belive it? I think that it was only yesterday that he came in and asked if I would help him getting his wellies off. They were full of water inside. Time is running.
I also visited my old school today giving some of the staff a copy of my book. Very nice.

Tuesday January 23rd 2007:
Besides taking a long walk I also spent some time today on signing more books. There are quite a few persons whom I have promised a copy, and I hope to be able to hand them their book very soon.
Of course I am excited what they will say about it.

Monday January 22nd 2007:
What a fantastic day it has been. I have received "first edition" of my book, and at a modest reception tonight the first signed copies were given to family and friends. A great day for me.
Others will receive the book - also signed - as soon as possible.













Sunday January 21st 2007:
I have slept in our caravan for two nights. I do not mind because I always sleep very well in it, and it reminds me a bit of "holiday".
The reason for my sleeping there was that we have had all 3 grandchildren with us since Friday, and we do not have beds enough for all 5 of us.
How nice it is to have them, and how nice it will be tonight when they have gone home - and very quiet. But I wouldn't miss having them.

Saturday January 20th 2007:
Within the latest 15-20 hours we have had so much rain that a lot of places all over the country were flooded. Among these was my new workshop. 2 inches of water all over the floor. We filled 8-10 big buckets of water and threw them out. I am only glad that it wasn't snow that came. That would have burried us. See pictures from our flooded garden at my Danish Diary. Click here!

Friday January 19th 2007:
I went to the doctor today for a "5000-miles-check-up". I was a bit worried, because I haven't felt quite "on top of the world" lately. But fortunately the "medicine-man" had no objections to my health, except for a blood pressure a bit higher than average. I expect that loosing another stone will help solving this problem - I have lost one since New Year. Not bad, is it?

Thursday January 18th 2007:
Today I have sat in front of a computer nearly the whole day - not my own. I had promised to help my brother in writing quite a bit for him.
It has been interesting, but quite hard. I tend to get a sore shoulder when writing too much, and that is why I shall stop now.

Wednesday January 17th 2007:
I have just read in today's newpaper that nearly all tennis players in Australian Open have difficulties in coping with the heat. More than 50 degrees centigrades makes life difficult for them.
I do feel with them. I dislike temperatures over 22 degrees when I play tennis. But then again I am a bit older and not so well paid. Still I could wish for them that they could play later in the day or move the whole tournament till March.

Tuesday January 16th 2007:
Today I thoroughly cleaned my trusty bike. I mean really cleaned it. It took quite some time, and I had to stand outside. But that was pure enjoyment. Very little wind (after nearly 3 weeks with nothing but gail force I don't know what), sunshine, and 8-10 degrees centigrades. Lovely.
After that I could not resist the temptation of having a ride. 28 miles it was in very nice weather. I really enjoyed it. Biking is living.

Monday January 15th 2007:














Eventually.
Today I picked up the very first copy of my book, "The Story of My Life". It is a socalled "dummy", which means that it is a specimen copy, but it looks exactly as it will look when finished. Now I have to read it through very carefully looking for printing errors. Spelling mistakes and other minor mistakes have been dealt with long ago. When and if I can accept the book as it is now, it will be printed. Hopefully it will be soon so that others can start reading it as well.
I am more than excited.

Sunday January 14th 2007:
This Sunday will probably be remembered for the very strong wind that we have had until late afternoon. I must admit that I am fed up with wind and storms. We haven't had anything but that since New Year. But just now the wind has weakened quite a bit. I hope that tomorrow will be a good day.

Saturday January 13th 2007:
I regret what I wrote yesterday about the day being "even a bit boring". I did not mean that. I am only very rarely bored and never a whole day.
I think that life is too short for being bored. But perhaps the weather depressed me a bit.
Cheer up, old bugger, and look at the bright side of life. (I was talking to myself).

Friday January 12th 2007:
It has been rather an eventless day today - perhaps even a bit boring. But I suppose that not every day can be full of experiences. The weather has been stormy, grey, and dull. So nothing much to cheer you up there. Hope that tomorrow will be better.

Thursday January 11th 2007:
Lately I have slept in quite a few mornings. But not today. I had been asked to take our youngest grandchild to school, and I gladly accepted. I was up at 6 am. And even if the weather was dark and gloomy I enjoyed accompanying her, and I also do believe that Cecilie didn't mind that Granddad for once took her to school. We were there in good time before 8 o'clock which is the starting time, so I also had the opportunity of meeting some of the other children and one of the teachers from her group. That was nice too.

Wednesday January 10th 2007:
You may know that our winter till now has been quite extraordinary. We have a lot of rain and wind, but what is most astonishing is that we have temperatures between 8-10 centigrades. That is a lot more than usual. One would expect that today's temperature would have been around the freezing point or lower.
So we may have to change the name of the month from January to Junuary. Anyway that is what one of our newspapers suggests today.

Tuesday January 9th 2007:
I do know that last Saturday I told that I had finished translating 4 chapters of my book into English. I was telling porkies. I finished today. I have translated 3 more chapters, so that now there are prescript, 7 chapters, and postscript in English. I like doing this.

Monday January 8th 2007:
Some time ago I received at letter from the police in Prague, and I happened to find it today.
You may remember that I had my wallet stolen by a pickpocket when on holiday in September.
The interesting point about the letter is that I do not understand one word of it. I have never learned to speak or read Czech, and I haven't got the faintest clue of what it says in the letter. Perhaps I am being denied entry in the country on suspicion of a false notification - what do I know? I wonder why they have sent me this letter! Know anybody who speaks Czech?

Sunday January 7th 2007:
Today I received a text on my mobile phone. This of course happens quite frequently, but this one was from my brother and his wife who are having a holiday on a small island west of Tenerife. Hierro is the name. And quite interestingly they could tell about sunshine, 20-22 degrees centigrades, swimmming-pool, good food, relaxation, etc.
So what? I dared not tell them that we have plenty of rain, quite a wind and record temperatures of about 8 degrees. That might make them shorten their holiday and go back before time.

Saturday January 6th 2007:
Today I have finished translating preface, 4 chapters, and postscript of my book for my English friends. The book is not yet out, but I have it on my computer.
Hopefully I can hold the book in my hands in 3-4 weeks and start distributing it. It will be a great day for me.

Friday January 5th 2007:
Tonight is the socalled "Twelfth Night", the night when you end Christmas celebrations and tell your children about "The 3 Kings of the Orient" or "The 3 Wise Men" - the Magi, who came from Persia, Nubia and Saba to worship the newborn Christ. They were Balthasar, Melchior, and Caspar. They also came as a symbol that what had happened, was not only for a small number of people, but for the whole world. (In some books you can read that all three came from Persia).
When I was a boy we always celebrated the evening of the 5th of January by lighting 3 candles - one for each of the three.
I shall do the same tonoght.

Thursday January 4th 2007:
A whitewash - comprehensive whitewash. 5-0 Australia in 5 tests that clearly showed which is the better cricket team. Perhaps one was not surprised that the Aussies won - but 5-0! I thought that England were a better team than this They certainly have to improve before the coming World Cup.
I do know that the final game is not quite over, but I consider it a formality that Australia will win that one as well.

Wednesday January 3rd 2007:
This afternoon I have spent quite some time on translating a few of the chapters from my book into English. I have promised some of my friends to do that and send it to them.
It will not be the whole book, since it is 235 pages, and that would be too much.
It is a very demanding but interesting job. I clearly feel, that it is very difficult to translate so that you "hit the same tone" in English as you did in Danish. But I have done my best and rather enjoyed it.

Tuesday January 2nd 2007:
It may not surprise you that today we bought ourselves another caravan. We seem to do that every year or so. It is 15 months since we bought our latest one. But for some time Else has not been able to forget a Hymer caravan from 2001 (German) which we happened to see at Randers in December. I accepted to go along and have another short look at it, but within 15 minutes she (we) had bought it.
PS: Those of you who are most capable of reading Danish are asked to take part in my new poll on my football club. CLICK HERE! You are asked to vote on promotion or not promotion. It is quite simple. Top circle is YES. Bottom is NO.

Monday January 1st 2007:
Knowing that today is the first day of a new year I find it a good reason to speculate a bit on what 2007 may bring us. I suppose that we all have our own wishes for it, and so have I.
There may be several big and small wishes. Of course my big hope is that my family's health and mine will continue being OK, but one must of course get used to the thought that fear of being struck by some illness grows with age.
A much smaller - but still important - wish is that my football club will surprise me and be promoted. And this even if I long before the season started predicted that they will not.

Sunday December 31st 2006:
May I use this opportunity to thank everybody that I know for 2006. Thank you for your interest in me and for your care.
I hope that you all will have a good year in 2007 and that you may prosper.
Happy New Year to all of you from me.

Saturday December 30th 2006:
I thought that I'd better not mention it - but then, why not?
Yesterday was our 44th wedding anniversary. It was a bit embarrassing that neither of us remembered it till about 10 o'clock a.m. I was on my way to Aarhus with my brother, when Else called me on my mobile and told me how sorry she was that she had forgotten all about it. But so had I.
We must remember next year, and perhaps we will, since it will be 45 years.

Friday December 29th 2006:
I DID IT!
"What did you do?" I can hear you say, and I shall tell you right away.
My objective for 2006 was to ride 3000 kilometers (1865 miles) on my bike, and I DID IT.
Just today I rode the last 81 kilometers (50,3 miles), and I was "home and dry". What a wonderful feeling. I have decided to ride one "Tour de France" every year and that is about 1865 miles. Next year I hope that "Le Tour" is a bit shorter, so that my objective can be a bit smaller - for example 2500 kilometers (1554 miles). We shall see. It has been a very good day today.
You can see some rather nice pictures from today's ride on my Danish Diary (Click here).

Thursday December 28th 2006:
News these days seems to underline the general perception that more and more people in this country are getting richer and richer. Unfortunately this is not the case for me.
But thinking about wealth I remembered a quotation by Howard Ahmanson (American multi-millionare, Home Savings Bank), and after some search I found it: "I am so happy to be rich that I am ready to bear all the consequences of it."
Looking for that quotation I happened to find this one by Francoise Sagan (French novelist): "Money makes nobody happy. But I'd rather weep in a Jaguar than in a bus."

Wednesday December 27th 2006:
One of my Christmas presents was a DVD.
"So, what?" I can hear you say, and I do not blame you for that. For how would you know that on this particular DVD is a summary of Test Matches and ODIs of last summer in England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan? And how can you possibly remember that I was there watching one of the games, the Trent Bridge-match against Sri Lanka? That makes this DVD extra interesting for me.
I love watching cricket - in fact I cannot get enough of it. And I am looking very much forward to seeing all the other games. In very few moments I shall be in front of my TV watching the DVD.

Tuesday December 26th 2006:
"Boxing Day" - to us Danes a strange word for the first day after Christmas Day (Provided it is not a Sunday, which of course it isn't this year).
When I was much younger I was taught that "Boxing Day" is the day when rich people put left overs from all the Christmas tables in boxes (hence the name) and gave them to the poor.
I was also taught that it was the day when you put all your Christmas decorations in boxes (hence the name) and stoved them away.
I believe that the first one is the correct version - or what?

Monday December 25th 2006:
Last night's spree with all its food, drinks, and presents is over - and so is today's. Perhaps not so many presents today, but plenty more to eat. I have given up. I cannot take any more. I intend to fast for at least a fortnight which would be very good to my weight as well.
But I have enjoyed it and my very big hope is that this is also the case for all children.
Today we were visited by our own children, their respective partners, and 3 grandchildren + Birgitte's sister and brother-in-law and their little son from Ashford.

Sunday December 24th 2006:
Eventually it is here - Christmas Eve, the night especially all Danish children have been looking forward to for ages. As opposed to you Brits tonight is "the night" in Denmark. It is the night when all the good (and heavy) food is consumed, and most important to the kids, tonight is the night when all the Christmas presents are exchanged. We simply cannot wait till tomorrow morning like you do.
Tomorrow is for us the day when we gather all family members including those who couldn't be there on Christmas Eve. A big Christmas Lunch is waiting so that if you may be a bit hungry and did not have enough to eat on Christmas Eve you will have plenty of opportunity on Christmas Day.
We shall only be 5 of us tonight, but tomorrow will be more crowded, and we shall be 12 in all.
I wish you all A Merry Christmas and hope that you will have a lot of big presents.

Saturday December 23rd 2006:
I know this is not very flattering for England, but today I happened to read an article about shoplifting. And it showed that UK has the European record. Last year shoplifters stole for 3,58 billion pounds. This is 1,59% of the total turnover in all shops in the country. Finland are second followed by Portugal and Greece with Switzerland as the lowest with only 0,89 %.
According to a study razorblades are the most poular item for shoplifting in England followed by alcohol and toilet requisites.
Unfortunately I do not know where Denmark is placed on this list, but probably we are close to England.

Friday December 22nd 2006:
I am sure that you are very keen to know something about my book which is due right after New Year. I have decided to disclose a bit of it - the front page. 
Looking at  that you may wonder who that handsome chap is. Let me tell you - it is me, 17½ years old!
Picture taken in 1958 on a holiday when Else and I went on our bikes to Copenhagen.

Yesterday I did the last of the proofreadings but one. There may be few minor changes to do yet with the making up.

I am very excited to hold the book in my hands.














Thursday December 21st 2006:
It was disappointing - "Casino Royale". I may have seen my last James Bond film. It lacked all that I used to enjoy about them. Where was the humour? Where was the refinement?
To me it was dull and first of all monotonous. Besides it was much too violent. I mean, somehow you must expect J.B.-films to be violent, but I expect it in a more sophisticated way than this one.
And the sound - I may be getting old, but the sound was overwhelmingly loud.

Wednesday December 20th 2006:
It's growing into a habit. For the second time within a week Else and I are going to the cinema tonight. This time "Bond, James Bond." The film, of course, is "Casino Royale" and we hope that it will be good. People that I have talked to, and who have seen it, tell me that it is very entertaining and I believe also very educational. At least I think that you can learn a lot from these films about solving international problems in no time like James Bond does it. As far as I know all his films are authentic. We expect to see an "edutaining" film.

Tuesday December 19th 2006:
Thank you very much, David for your answers to my questions from yesterday and the day before. I feel a lot more enlightened - they were interesting answers, and can be read in my "Letterbox". Click here.
But perhaps the drink you mention that you drink at Christmas time may be a bit diffrent from our "Juleglögg", even if some of the ingredients are the same. However I hope that some time I may have the opportunity of tasting it.

Monday December 18th 2006:
Since yesterday my eldest granddaughter has read my diary and suggests that "Juleglögg" may be translated into "Eggnogg". I have looked carefully in dictionaries and found in one of them that "Eggnog" may be the same as "Eggflip" which is a kind of drink, an "eggbeer" - at least it is something "drinkable". What do my English friends or others think of that?
And I also want to know the English word for the little "dumplings" that I wrote about yesterday.

Sunday December 17th 2006:
This afternoon we were invited by our former neighbour to visit him in his new house not far from here. He served a special hot drink which we in our country have named "Juleglögg" (Jul = Christmas. "Glögg" comes from Swedish, meaning "a hot drink"). "Juleglögg" is hot redwine mixed with a special extract (glögg), raisins, almonds, and you can also add brandy, whisky or other stronger drinks. We only drink "Juleglögg" in December.
I have looked in various dictionaries to find an exact English translation of the Danish word for this drink, "Juleglögg", but I have been unsuccessful. Can anybody help me with a proper translation?
He also served a little something to eat, "æbleskiver". Directly translated it is "Apple-slices", but that makes no sense. They are sort of little "balls" made from the same recipe as pancakes. You eat them with sugar or marmelade. But what is the proper English word for these little dumplings? Please let me know and please write your suggestion in my "Letterbox".

Saturday December 16th 2006:
Last night I went to the annual Christmas dinner at my old school. I cannot help telling you how wonderful it was once again to meet these very nice people at Jellebakkeskolen and how happy I am that I am invited every time. I do appreciate that I can meet them all at such occasions. The only snag was that there was not time enough for me to talk to all of them and that I had to leave a bit eartly because I knew that today I had to get up rather early for the last shoot of the year.

Friday December 15th 2006:
Proofreading is hard work indeed. I have sat in front of my computer for nearly 5 hours and I am not nearly halfway through. But it was nice to see the book again - now in the form that it is going to be printed in. I doubt it that it will come out this side of Christmas which is a shame since I had thought that it might be a nice Christmas present to friends and family. But of course presents for New Year could also be nice. And that perhaps is more likely.

Thursday December 14th 2006:
Another check at hospital for Else today. This time at "department for broken hearts". It was only good news and next check is in 6 months. That is the longest span she has ever had between checks.
Today I also started proofreading my book and it is very exciting but will take quite some time. I shall have to read every word carefully - no mistakes of any kind permitted.

Wednesday December 13th 2006:
I am sorry to say that it is too seldom that Else and I go to the cinema.
We did today and have just come home. We saw a very interesting film, "The Queen".
The film gives a glimpse of what went on between Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. It was hard to reach a compromise between treating her death as a private tragedy for the Royal Family and appeasing the public's demand for an overt display of mourning. But they did.
I hadn't expected a lot from this film, just another "bla bla" about Royalties. But I was surprised. It was different - and very good.
If you can trust the image that this film creates of your English Queen Elisabeth II she is not as "stiff upperlipped" as I thought she might be. In fact she seemed rather human at several occasions - at least a lot more than her very stiff and rather stupid husband who obviously does not possess any feelings at all.
But of course she is "the result" of a royal upbringing that is now obsolete. I must admit, though, that I was surprised to hear her say "Bugger it", when her car broke down at the ford in the middle of the river. But mind you - she was quite alone there.
We both really enjoyed the film and can recommend it to you. I think that especially Helen Mirren but also Michael Sheen were very good, indeed.

Tuesday December 12th 2006:
Yesterday we recieved a parcel from England for Christmas. Today we got another.
We are looking very much forward till tomorrow.
PS: Else had a check at the hospital today. No surprises.

Monday December 11th 2006:
It is not often that I spend time in the afternoon watching a film on TV, but I did today. I didn't see the whole film but part of it, and if it wasn't because Else wanted me to help in the kitchen skinning and cleaning 6 pheasants I might have seen it all.
The film in question was the classic "Mutiny on the Bounty". Years and years ago I saw an earlier version of the film with Marlon Brando, but this one was from 1984 with a very young Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins and not least Sir Laurence Olivier. A great film.

Sunday December 10th 2006:
What a glorious day it has been. Blue skies and sunshine more or less the whole day. What more can you wish in December? I know that traditionally picking and cutting your own Christmas tree in the big forrest should be in snow and frost, but I must admit that I enjoyed it as it was.
The whole family were there and we went home with 3 trees - one bigger than the other, and ours by far the smallest. In fact it was so little and "skinny" that it nearly became the laughing stock to our children and grandchildren. But we "grey ones" thought that it was nice and that it suited us fine because it will not take up so much space.

Saturday December 9th 2006:
I have been on a very nice shoot today. Weather fantastic, very good pheasants and royal company - our Prince Joachim was there.
Also present was another very distinguished guest, our grandchild Kristian (see picture). He was on his first shoot with granddad, and he had a very good day. I think I might persuade him to come along another time.







Friday December 8th 2006:
In a few moments I shall be on my way home from a big conference in Odense. We started early yesterday morning and will finish in 10 minutes.
It has been very good and very hard, and I have enjoyed it immensely.
Tonight we are having the annual Christmas party in my brother's company (in Aarhus) with plenty to eat and drink, and very early tomorrow morning I am off for a shoot, and my dog shall retrieve for a royal party.

Thursday December 7th 2006:
I am pleased that I got my receiver back yesterday. Last night I really enjoyed watching FCK beating the living daylight out of Celtic with a comprehensive win of 3-1.
I know that it didn't matter - FCK are still out of CL but they did a lot of good to Danish football. I might even become a FCK-fan (I thought that I should never hear myself saying that - and tomorrow I may be sorry that I did).

Wednesday December 6th 2006:
I think that I have saved this coming evening. Two days ago our satelite receiver unfortunately decided that it needed a repair. I promptly took it to the TV-shop and was a bit apprehensive that I might miss tonight's CL matches. But I don't. At about 1 p.m. they called and told me that it was ready to be picked up. I took my by bike and went for it.
And would you belive it? It didn't cost a penny. I have got such a nice mechanic.