Merry Christmas Kristian.....

Yes you read it right! Tonight Kristian got to use his Christmas present from me. It was 2 tickets for James Taylor who was playing in Tivoli, Copenhagen. I was hoping he would take me along on the second ticket, and he did!! (Good decision, otherwise he would have had one unhappy wife! haha) 

We had a brilliant evening.

Because the concert was in Tivoli´s Concert Hall there was free entry into Tivoli, so we spent a bit of time wandering around before the concert. 

                                             
                                                       One of the crazy rides.

 I got to meet him after the concert. I got his autograph and thanked him for a really great concert, to which he replied..."Oh thank you so much for coming and being a part of it." I was one happy lady! haha

We came out to a wonderland of lights. Very romantic!

Another great memory made and completed for the memory box. 


The only thing missing though was the snow for the walk back to the car, it would have made Kristian´s Christmas present totally complete - then again, maybe not!! 


If you want to have a listen to him sing one of my favourites, then just press play......

And another one that I love......

A lot has been happening......

Our date night on Thursday went really well. We had such a cosy evening. After we had had something to eat we headed to one of the lakes not far from us and watched the sun go down. Very romantic! 

Kristian went around taking pictures........

 And I always have my Kindle at the ready, just in case I can get a bit of reading done. It was lovely to sit by the lake and read.

 Even though it was a beautiful evening, it was cold.

 In the end we got in the car and found a great parking spot in which to watch the last of the sun set. It was nice and warm in the car.

It was then off to the cinema to see the Danish film which was sooo good. I really did enjoy it.


Friday Leah came home from a week away at camp with her school. It was lovely to see her again and she had a great time on one of the beautiful Islands of Denmark.


Saturday, Sara had her Gala at school. (It´s a bit like the American Prom) She looked beautiful....

Saturday evening I met up with my friend Anne. We had a lovely evening together catching up.


Kristian has been away racing this weekend and he did really well. He came home with 2 medals. A fifth place yesterday and fourth place today. All in all, it has been a lovely weekend.

Botox or not to Botox....

Last night after Jette went home Kristian had a bit of fun with one of our pictures. He put it into Photoshop and played around with it. Have a look at the two pictures below...can you see the difference?

In the top picture he has taken away the bags from under our eyes, along with a few wrinkles and blemishes here and there. He has also made our teeth a little whiter. It´s amazing what you can do to a picture with a computer. We look clean and fresh in the first picture.We have just realised how old and wrinkly that we are!! haha


Ah well, old and wrinkly we don´t care. No matter what we look like we still enjoy hanging out together and that´s what matters. So in a few hours time, us middle aged, old and wrinkly couple are off on a date night. Can´t wait!


We are going out to dinner and then on to a movie. It´s a Danish movie about the Danish underground movement/freedom fighters during World War 2. I am really looking forward to seeing it and also, to have some time to hang out with my hubby.

Cosy evening....

My good friend Jette came by to visit this evening with her two beautiful children. 

 I love when the kids come over because then I get to play....

 Jette wanted to try out Kristian´s camera so we became the models for her....

 We had fun!

 Then Jonathan got to be a model....

 We played hide and seek. I had to count....

 Andrew hiding......

 After dinner, Jonathan and Josefine spent most of the evening hanging out with Andrew in his room.....

 Andrew is soooo good with small kids....

 Time to go home....

 While mum got on her coat and shoes, we had a sing song.....

 Then goodbyes were said.....

 And I caught Kristian red handed....kissing another girl!!!

It really has been a great evening! 

Desert Island Discs.....

When I was a teenager, our church youth fellowship, sometimes held a Desert Island Disc Evening. It was here that each person had to bring a song that they would take with them to a Desert Island. The song was  recorded  unto a cassette tape (I´m showing my age here! haha) and it was played at the meeting. Each person would then explain why they had chosen that particular song to take with them. I used to LOVE these evenings.


Well, today I heard a song that I thought was so beautiful and I automatically thought "I would play that song at a Desert Island Disc Evening." Then reality quickly hit and I realised I was not 18 and didn´t go to any Desert Isalnd Disc meetings anymore!! 


The song is called "Golden"  and sung by good old Cliff Richard. It is a song he had written as a thank you to his fans for his 50 years in show business, hence the name "Golden"


But I thought the words were just beautiful. Words that a husband could say to a wife, or vice versa. (Kristian, have a listen to the words, it´s a wee message from me to you!) But as I listened to them today, I also thought that they could be words that I myself could say to God. Words of thanks to Him for standing by my side, for always being there for me. For always having open arms to me, for blessing me....and I could go on.  I just thought it was a beautiful song. 

Love affairs, don´t always last forever.
Like flowers in the rain they fade and die.
But you and I stood side by side,
through the storms together,
because of you, I kept my dream alive.
And love has been the song upon my heart
through all these years.
And I have lived a life that has been blessed,
through laughter and through tears.
And as the seasons change,
one thing remains the same,
you´ve always been right there with arms wide open.
You're the treasure in my soul,
and I will never let you go,
a love affair, that never will be broken.
You have been golden.


Destiny has brought me to this moment.
I stand before you now with no regret.
What a chance to thank you for the memories,
you´ve given me a life that's filled with happiness.
And love has been the song upon my heart,
through all these years.
And I have lived a life that has been blessed,
through laughter and through tears.
And as the seasons change, one thing remains the same.
You have always been right there with arms wide open.
You´re the treasure in my soul,
and I will never let you go
a love affair that never will be broken.
You have been golden


And as the seasons change, one thing remains the same.
You have always been right there with arms wide open.
You´re the treasure in my soul,
and i will never let you go,
you gave me life,
you gave me strength,
and throughout the years, 
you have been golden.

Amy and Danny....

Since Wednesday afternoon we have had two guests staying with us from Ireland - Amy and Danny.

Amy we have known since she was about 3 years old. We became friends with her parents while at a family camp at Capernwray Hall in England and we have been friends ever since. That´s about 17 years!! Danny we have only just got to know. He is Amy´s boyfriend and he is absolutely lovely.


So basically Amy and Danny have been looking after themselves while we have been at work. Thursday and Friday they spent in Copenhagen but today we had a chance to do something with them. So I had a plan....


It started with them visiting our wee town for an hour. Then it was off to see Hillerød and do a little shopping. We had lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant. After lunch we headed off to see the Queen`s Summer Castle in Fredensborg.

We made a wee stop at Esrum lake as well.

We decided to head further north and ended up at Gilleleje, a beautiful, cosy seaside town. We walked down to the beach, around the harbour and ended off with a huge ice cream, even though we ordered the smallest!

Gilleleje town did a lot for the Jews during World War II. They helped to hide Jews all over the town and sailed them out in small fishing boats to Sweden. We went to see one of these small boats and could see how they would have hidden them. 

It was then off to our favourite spot - Heather Hill. The weather was fantastic and it was just so wonderful to be out in the nature again. 

It was then home to relax, eat a delicious Mexican meal and enjoy some Miranda on TV. It has been really great having them and I so enjoyed my day out.  I really have to take time off just to enjoy the country side around me. Today I was reminded of that! 


Now it´s time to get to sleep. I have a 5am rise in the morning to take these young people back to the airport so they can head back to their life in Ireland!

Soon back to porridge...

Tomorrow we all start back to work and school. Another holiday gone. 



Yesterday was Easter Sunday and we had a wonderful service at church. A great time of celebrating what Jesus did for us and the fact that He rose again from the dead. 

After church Leah and I decided we would head out for lunch. We had a delicious lunch. 

 Leah had Nachos and I had garlic prawn salad. Yummy!!

It was then home for a quiet afternoon. I lay and read and Leah was on the sofa beside me with the laptop surfing.


Kristian arrived home late last night. He had a great weekend. He didn´t win anything but had fun with the boys. (Mother here has gotten over the fact that he went anyway this weekend, so he is not in the dog house anymore. All is good again on the home front!)


This morning Kristian went to the Bakery and got some delicious bread. I made bacon and eggs and we had a lovely brunch. Now we are all relaxing. It is a grey rainy day - just the sort of day that I love.

Quiet day....

It has been a quiet day on the homefront. Andrew and Leah have been hanging out in their rooms, as teenagers do.


Kristian and Sara are at a go-kart event and will first be home Sunday evening. Sara left on Wednesday and Kristian left yesterday after collecting me from the airport. (The less said about that the better. But you can be sure that Mother here has not been a happy woman since she heard that she would be spending the Easter weekend without her hubby. Especially since I haven´t seen him for a week. But when it comes to Kristian and racing, I am no competition...racing wins everytime! Oh don´t get me started again!!! Lets quickly move on)


So I had a good long lie in this morning. It has been a very relaxing day. I had no plans (you know me being on my own and all - ok I know I´m milking it now!! haha) I got the fridge cleared out and then went food shopping and stocked up for the next few days. It was nice to be back in my local supermarket. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon on facebook catching up with friends on the "live" chat. 


This evening at dinner Andrew, Leah and I sat and watched some old videos that dad had put on some discs for us. We had such a laugh. Leah was about 4 years old and was just so cute. Andrew was 8 and was just as cute and Sara was about 10 . She had lost her cuteness by then!! hahaha  It was so much fun to see the kids this young and we all had a good laugh.


This evening I talked to dad. It doesn't look like he is getting out of hospital anytime soon, maybe on Tuesday. I am glad I got to spend the week with him when he was at home but I wish I could also be there to visit him in the hospital. He has gotten 4 units of blood today and they want to check him over and do some tests. My wee dad is such a gem, he just takes it all in his stride and is just content. He has his Kindle with him, so he is a happy man. 


Tonight I watched the Lazer show from the Titanic Building, live on the internet. At the start I thought it was slow moving but I must admit, it was impressive as it went on. When I talked to dad earlier I told him to go to the window and have a look, to see if he could see anything. He is on the 11th floor in The City so the view is usually fantastic! He was hooked up getting his blood transfusion but hoped to be able to wheel it over to have a look. Hope he saw something.


So now I am about to head to bed. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. A wonderful day - can´t wait to go to church and  celebrate that Jesus is alive! 


I read this quote tonight on face book and I thought I would steal it.   "I may not be perfect but Jesus thinks I´m to die for! " Love that!  Happy Easter everyone!

I´m back....

....on Danish soil again.


It´s amazing how one hour you can be in one country and the next in a totally different one. 


Last night I was in Ireland with dad. During the evening we discovered that he needed bread. We talked about going up to the supermarket but considered leaving it until today. Then we thought it would be better to get it out of the way. So off we went just to get bread. Look what we came home with.....

There were so many bargins. Ah well, at least his cupboards are stocked!


So my plan was to get up early today and get all the beds changed, the washing on and clean the house for dad before I left at 1.30pm to head down to get the 2pm bus to Dublin. I would then fly out at 7pm. At about 11.40pm last night, I decided to go on line and check in. Thank goodness I did as it was then I discovered that I was actually booked on the 11.05am flight back to Copenhagen!! (Thank goodness we went shopping last night!)

Yikes - I needed to get busy. All the things I had planned to do today I needed to do before going to bed. It was nearly midnight so I couldn´t hoover, it would make too much noise for the neighbours. I did get dads bed changed though, got some washing ironed, folded and put away. It was 1 am when I finally turned off my light knowing that in a few hours I would be up again. Not a nice thought!


I was up at 5am! I caught the 6am bus to Dublin. Everything went like clockwork. I had time had the airport to get lost in my book and I actually finished it. That´s book number two finished. Just about to start book number 3 for the week! I LOVE having time to read

I talked to dad this evening. He was up getting platelets today but last night he wasn´t feeling the best. He was more breathless and feeling very tired. This is usually a sign that his blood is low. So today when he went to the hospital, sure enough his blood count was low. He now needs yet another transfer. So he is in the City Hospital getting blood again. Hopefully he will be home tomorrow (Saturday). I now feel so far from home. I wish I was still there.

An "old" friend....

Yesterday (Wednesday) I met an "old" friend for lunch.

Rhoda was my bridesmaid 22 years ago. A few years after I moved to Denmark, she moved to Scotland. The last time I saw her in person was about 9 years ago when she was on business in Denmark and came to stay with us for a few days. 

Well for once we both were home in Northern Ireland at the same time and so we decided we just had to meet up, if only for a few hours. 

I did something I have never done before in Ireland. I took the train to Ballymena! I got there in one piece! (Only had a problem getting the train doors opened! Didn´t realise you just pressed a button! haha) Rhoda drove to Ballymena to meet me. Her mum came along too. It was lovely to see her mum again. It has been years since we last saw each other too. 

We had a lovely lunch together. I really enjoyed seeing them both. We did a little bit of shopping too and ended the afternoon at a wonderful craft shop. (Took us a while to find it, but find it we did!!)

Rhoda and her mum had been telling me about how they had started to crochet. I remembered my granny teaching me to crochet when I was about eight years old but I have not crocheted in years, in fact I couldn´t tell you how to crochet now! But they got me interested in it again, so guess what I bought.......

Yes, a crochet needle and a ball of wool!! Let the crocheting begin!! And it did. We found a wee cafe and while waiting on our tea and cake I had my lesson in crocheting. Ummh it was harder than I remembered and I must admit, things didn´t go to well with it. In the end I had to rip out everything I had done because it was not a pretty sight. It´s a good thing we have youtube - help is at hand! I am not giving up just yet!


Last night our friend Garvin dropped by for a wee cup of coffee and we had a lovely evening chatting and eating far too much cake!!


Today was dad´s day. I had decided that Dad could decide what we should do today. It was the one day he didn´t need to go to the hospital or stay in for blood. 


 I thought we could go and see the new Titantic exhibition but dad thought we should go to the Ulster Museum instead as it was free to get in!! (haha he has Scottish blood in him!) 


First we went over to visit his neighour Ellen to say Happy Easter to her. It was then home to get ready for our wee trip out but dad was feeling a bit breathless and so decided it might be better for him to just stay at home. Dad decided he would spend the time making DVDs of old home movies of Sara, Andrew and Leah for me to take home.


Since dad didn´t want to go anywhere I decided I would head into town to buy Kristian and the kids their favourite sweets to take back to them. I think this is the first time I have been in Ireland and haven´t been in Primark!! I couldn´t be bothered going in today. It was straight to pound stretcher for the sweets and then to M&S to stock up on dinners for dad. 


I can´t believe that it is already tomorrow that I go back to Denmark:-( The week has just gone too fast!