A Good Start To The Day....

Very first thing Tuesday morning, I was treated to the most spectacular aerial view of London on the first flight of the morning back to Copenhagen. It was a beautiful clear morning, and as London sprawled out beneath us, I was able to follow Old Father Thames winding his way through the city I love best.


I could have kicked myself for not having my camera to hand, but I was pleased with this picture of my 90 year old Grandfather, together with his newest Great-Grandaughter Isla. At less than 40 hours old at the time this picture was taken, they were the oldest and youngest people in the room! My Grandparents were actually the reason I had gone home for the weekend, in order to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary with a big family party. Sixty five years is quite an achievement I think you will agree! Around a hundred of us shared a great afternoon, some of us meeting for the first time, most of us reminiscing, and all of us amused by the drunken antics of the vicar's husband (who had let us say, slightly over-indulged in the wine department!)!

I also managed to catch up with some good friends, and spent some quality time with lots of my family, which made the trip all the more worthwhile. For a few days it was really nice to relax and forget about the stresses of the forthcoming move.

So with everything going swimmingly, what with the successful trip and the easiest flight in the world, the pessimist in me half expected something to go wrong. It was right...

I arrived home exhausted after my early start, so my other half very kindly offered to take the children to an appointment with him so I could have a rest. Less than two minutes later, they were back. A screaming small boy stood panicking that one of his imaginary friend's, Bulgus or Dinty, had shoved a piece of gravel up his nose, and it wouldn't come out. There was nothing for it, A&E beckoned. All the staff seemed to think his predicament highly amusing, but as he couldn't see anything, and just in case the stone was stuck much further up, the Doctor was worried enough to immediately send us to an ENT Doctor at a hospital much further north. After a 45 minute drive, we were met by a Nurse who asked us to take a seat in a waiting room with walls covered in objects recovered from peoples various orifice's, including marbles, pins, toothbrushes minus heads, shells, beads and of course stones! The doctor was a lovely chap who persuaded the Small Boy to let him investigate with an endoscope. All was going well, and I sat trying not to laugh at yet another situation caused by the our resident "friends". Then the Doctor mentioned he may well need to further investigate by putting Small Boy under a full anaesthetic. They certainly don't mess around here, and suddenly it didn't seem quite so amusing anymore! Luckily, it was decided that instead of that (rather drastic) measure, we were to keep an eye on any runny nose that he may have over the next couple of weeks. If it appears that he has any infection, it's likely there is something still stuck up there and we are to go back. I will keep you updated, but in the meantime, I am hoping that when we leave, "Bulgus and Dinty" might decide that they can't bear to part with Denmark!...

Inspirational People...

Last week I went to Jette Frolich's garden. Jette is famous here for her beautiful Christmas decorations that she has designed for over 30 years. The words 'Christmas Decorations' may not exactly be inspiring, but fear not, there are no Singing Santa's in Jette's range, it is all gorgeous Scandinavian designer stuff, some of it I wouldn't just use for Christmas either. Search out her stuff in Illums and Magasin etc. If you are coming over, it's well worth it! Anyway, her artistic skills don't just stretch to objects, her gardening skills are fantastic too. She opens her garden once a year to show her beautiful rose garden and actually does the tour herself. We spent a very pleasant morning there and also had a tour of her studio. For someone of Jette's age her energy, vigour and general cheerful nature were all inspirational.

Talking of inspirational people, last night we returned from a weekend in Maastrict, where we had a huge family reunion. My Grandmother is Dutch, and 48 people from that side of the family all gathered together to spend the weekend reminiscing, generally catching up and for many, meeting each other for the first time. It was amazing. Most of us arrived on the Saturday afternoon where we installed ourselves into the Limburg farmhouse.
A few of us later went for a walk to explore the surroundings, and also climb the 12th century tower. The following morning we had breakfast, had time to look around the small Mount St.Peter Museum, and then we all gathered at a local restaurant for lunch before we went to the Caves of Mount St. Peter. These caves are an important part of our family history, as My Great-Grandfather D.C Van Schaick was the first person to map out all of the galleries of the caves, quite a feat considering their vast size. Initially, he found his way around by gas-lamp, marking the cave walls with notches so he could find his way back out again, but he eventually came to know them like the back of his hand. Many people haven't been so lucky in getting back out again, so as much as I enjoyed the tour of the caves, and the great drawings etc. inside, I was secretly quite pleased to see the light at the end of the tunnel!



My grandparents also met here, so you could say a good few of us owe our lives to them too! My great-grandfather would sometimes show people around the caves, and on many occasions my grandmother would also help. On one occasion, her group consisted of British air-servicemen stationed nearby during the war (the caves also played their own valuable part in the war, keeping people safe and also keeping important works of art hidden from the Germans), one of these airmen was my grandfather. My grandfather's words in his diary that evening were "today I met the girl of my dreams". They married not all that long afterwards.

It was a lovely weekend, but also quite an emotional one. Visiting the house where my mother was born, visiting my great-grandfather's grave and witnessing my grandparents revisiting the places where their life together began. Also for the first time realising my grandmother's great love for a country she left over 60 years ago was very humbling, and put my own experiences of missing home in balance. She left the country and the people she loved forever, for the man she loves, and I am grateful for the sacrifices that she made. My grandparents are incredible people, and remain a huge inspiration for many of us. I also feel very lucky to have such an interesting, varied and HUGE family! The 11 hour drive in both directions (listening to Roald Dahl on a loop again and again!) was definitely worth it!

History Repeating...

Have just been going through some pictures of our time back in the UK, I love these: This is my grandparent's house and garden. I used to spend hours rolling down this bank together with my sisters and cousins, it was great to watch my children doing the exact same thing in what continues to be one of my favourite places on the planet.