A Day with Grethe

Friday, July 8, 2016--Copenhagen

Thanks to avoiding napping yesterday afternoon and to taking a melatonin tablet before going to bed, I was able to sleep until 7:30 this morning.  I know from years of experience that I would have automatically awakened at 4:30 without the tablet.  However, it's still a "foggy" day in my mind and I have felt like napping.  Therefore, it is another day of forcefully staying awake and taking melatonin at bedtime to try to get adjusted to the time.

Grethe's apartment is so much nicer than it used to be.  They did some major remodeling a year ago.  Her small balcony was incorporated into the interior which makes her dining area much bigger than it used to be.  They built a new, larger balcony on the outside of the building, so she still has a balcony (one that is more usable because of a bigger size) while getting the extra space inside.  In addition, they remodeled her bathroom by taking out the old tub and installing a shower along with a new basin and toilet.  It makes the bathroom seem much bigger because the old tub was a large one that took up a lot of space.

We just sat around and visited in the morning.  I gave her the SAS shoes (a summer dress shoe with an open toe and a small heel) I brought her along with a special pepper she wanted.  She loved the shoes and they look good on her with the bright red nail polish she has on her toes.  In the afternoon, she did some shopping, and I cleaned the outside of her windows for her.

I spent part of the afternoon cleaning her patio windows.  They were spotted by dried rain drops, and she wanted them cleaned for the dinner party she is having tomorrow night.  She prepared a bowl of soapy water which I used to wash them, then I dried them using a cotton dish towel.  They looked very clean and nice until it started raining in the early evening hours!!

She prepared most of our dinner, but I helped.  She made the frikadeller (Danish meatballs).  I helped make the cabbage in gravy by mixing the butter and flour in the pan and then adding the milk and cabbage juice and stirring until it was thick and boiling.  She prepared the fresh boiled potatoes from her brother's garden and carrots.  It was a delicious dinner.

We watched part of the Tour de France on TV in the afternoon.  They were racing up one of the major hills.  And after dinner, we watched the news on TV.  Then I read some in the novel I started on the plane while Grethe did some things on her phone.  She's like most Americans.  Her phone is burping and binging several times an hour, and she finds it hard to resist seeing what it's all about!