under another sun

A beautiful morning, I went up onto the dunes for a bit of drawing. Absolutely fascinated by the wind and the marram grass and the dunes. Lorraine and I popped into the hot tub, which was like having a bubble massage. In the afternoon we all drove off to the oldest town in this part of Denmark, Ribe . First job was for us all to go into a cafe restaurant, to wolf down an open sandwich. I  chose one with herring and pickles and salads and dab of curry sauce. Very yummy. I wanted the herring as Romy had lent be a book of short stories by a Danish writer, the first of which featured herring. Then we walked through the old town, looking very lovely and not dissimilar to  places in England, however the doors had a flavour of their own, some of them looking quite Tolkeinesque. The cathedral rather nice and made out of bricks. Some gorgeous glass inside, and the doors very interesting too. I loved the symbols for the evangelists on the heavy doors (eagle, bull, lion and man/ angel)....

Properly rainy morning, all a bit wild. Toby and Romy slipped into the hot tub. I went for a longish walk and did a bit of sketching. Just the way the wind blows over the dune grass is lovely. All looked pleasingly bleak. In the late afternoon we all piled into Lorraine's car to Nymindegab Kro -- a hotel restaurant Romy had been recommended. Good food there, and a nice atmosphere with attentive service.  Below  the Kenny bros in the restaurant, a damp start, Toby and Romy in the hot tub, which Lorraine and I went into too. I took a pleasingly bleak looking walk along the beach, and our party in the restaurant.

A pleasant flight, despite my misapprehensions and nervousness. I was looking at my phone at some of my recent poem during takeoff and this, along with Lorraine next to me, made me feel strangely calm. At Billund the Brexit dividend of a long slow queue. Lorraine talking to people in the queue and several going to weddings. Once through, we got a first 'tak' from a man. We collected our hire car from a very pleasant Somali origin guy. The car hire building set apart and nice and calm.  The landscape seemed to be very open and rural, with excellent roads, with hardly any cars on them. A big difference to southern England. Once Lorraine installed in the car -- a new automatic Audi -- and had become a little more confident as she had never driven an automatic before, she really liked it. The trip to the west coast of Jutland incredibly easy with very few other cars. Farmland, hedges and the odd wood, and the occasional small village or town. All very lovely, like an unspoilt Engla...

Sunny at first, with the bloody seagull tapping on the kitchen door again. I leant out of the window and photographed it doing so. But the big thing today was... Rain. Rain at last falling on Seaford this afternoon, and fairly heavily too. We had a garden morning, potting up tomatoes, chilies and so on.  Lorraine drove some cardboard off to the nearby recycling, and I floated about in the back garden for a few minutes just soaking up (ahem) the experience of rain. Petrichor, I learned recently, is the word for the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after long heat. And there was a sense of the garden sighing with relief. The fish pond, which had been making me feel anxious because its level was so low, despite sneaking buckets of water into it, was replenished by a good amount too.  Was contacted by an old school friend today, Peter Hoibak, out of the blue for the first time in over forty years -- via his wife's linked in account. A pleasant surprise. I guess we ar...

Did not burst in my sleep, although a fairly ghastly night. Able this morning to pee again with something approaching normality, which was ( boom-tish)  a relief. Claudia left for Ashford today. I really enjoyed having her to stay, and she is a funny, intelligent  girl with bags of character.  She is, without a doubt, my favourite niece. A day of rest, I stayed still. In fact I was glued to the gold sofa and sleeping heavily. However my lovely Lorraine drove us to three nearby houses to look at them before I returned to the gold sofa. Two were really nice. Contacted by Carl who said Ellie had started a holiday job in a chip shop, which she had gone out on her own and got. He is very proud of her. Also had a chat with First Matie, who is saying Yes to life in lots of ways. Details are embargoed but I am chuffed for her. Also an email from Richard as his and Jane's Tuscan sojourn is drawing to an end. "We’ll miss the vibrant street markets; pre-dinner drinks in the ...

Obama cut Off with Toby and Romy to meet Gillian and Anna who was a local guide. We went out towards where Obama's old area was, and passed his house guarded by police cars. It is next door to a Synagogue. We also saw Hyde Park, including a lovely Japanese garden. Past universities and so on. Paused at Robie House by Frank Lloyd Wright. And we took the tour, while Anna took a break. It does seem to have a discernible Japanese influence. Fascinating place, although I can't say I particularly warmed to it, for reasons that I find hard to pinpoint. I would love to see the exquisite Falling Water one day however. After much more walking we stopped off at Obama's barbers. We popped our heads in where various people were getting their hair cut as you would expect. You could get an Obama cut for, I think, $23. Behind perspex was the actual chair, and I dutifully snapped this for lovers of kitch everywhere. Back to the hotel to collect Lorraine who had been shopping and chilling ...