Lund Blog

 

CHIRSTMAS LETTER 2016 .

 

DEAR FAMILY & FRIENDS.

 

Christmas is upon us again and time to sit down and write a “brief” report of the family Lund’s activities during 2016 where so many lovely things have happened.

First visit came from Australia where Tima’s old friend John came with his wife, daughter and her boyfriend , so nice to see John again after so many years and also to meet his lovely family. and we all had a nice lunch in Windsor together with Tima.

 

The early springtime was difficult as our good friend Jim died few weeks after his 78th birthday of his melanoma cancer, and the last few month were very hard both for us and not least for his wife,

Anita, but of course we tried to help as much as possible. It is just so sad to lose another good friend.

Luckily we still had Kristien here every day from early morning to after school as he still had not got a place at a school in Windsor like his siblings, but I enjoyed having him and to attend functions at his school now and then. Claus continued to come here every Saturday morning with all three children for our breakfast club, a time I enjoy very much.

I then spend a lot of time trying to organize my 80th birthday, as I wanted to celebrate it in Denmark on Egeskov Castle’s Heartland Festival together with as many of my friends as possible. Not all were able to attend ,so instead we drove round in Denmark & Sweden visiting them and invited them out to dinner where they lived . We would have to drive all the way via Holland, Germany and then a ferry to Bornholm (DK) as there is no ferry from UK to DK anymore . It would be a 5000 km trip so we decided to buy a new car as my first present , and it is of course a Clio in flaming red  a lovely car that got us safe all the way with John as the driver.

 

First stop was the little island, Bornholm, to visit Anker & Ulla for three days. We drove round the beautiful Island enjoying the landscape , visiting art galleries and the highlight was a gourmet dinner at Stammershalle restaurant in celebrating of 3 x 80th birthdays namely mine, John’s & Anker’s, and what an unforgettable dinner that was, so thank you so much Anker & Ulla , also for all the champagne.

Second stop Gl. Holte to visit Lone & Soeren. We celebrated my birthday again by a trip to “Bakken” ( an amusement park)

Third stop was Alleroed  to see Ruth & Joergen (old Kenya friends) with more good food, champagne and a trip to Ravnsholt forest in the nice summer weather.

Forth stop was a quick lunch with Hanne & Henning in Ishoej as they had promised to come to Egeskov on my birthday.

On to Hundested to visit Inge & Sven for a couple of days again with lots of good food and not least excellent company. Trip to the harbor to see several art exhibitions and still enjoying lovely sunshine.

 

Fifth stop Lysekil in Sweden to visit our old friends Ann-Kersti & Jan to see their new  “down sized” house,

 

which was fantastic and not at all small and they still have a lovely garden both outside and indoors. The whole upstairs was a guest apartment where we enjoyed some relaxing days, good food and more champagne. In celebration of our birthdays they invited us for dinner down at the harbor where we could dine outside in the nice summer evening

 

 

 

 

Six stop Strandby in Denmark for more celebration, together with Pernille & Bjarne and their three children We celebrated Sigurd’s 24 birthday with a grill party on the terrace and he had made the most fantastic lemon mousse for dessert

as he remembered, it was John’s favorite dessert. Nice gesture from a young man. John & I took a trip to Skagen museum to see their new exhibition,

which was great and then a walk in this charming town plus a drink at the waterfront before driving back to Pernille, who had prepared my favorite dinner, fresh small fish filled

Seventh stop was Skoedstrup for a 24 hour’s visit to Else (another good friend from Kenya). More good food outside in the hot sunshine and a trip to Aros in Aarhus to experience their fantastic Rainbow installation plus a quick tour through the Music  house.

 

Last stop in Jutland was Viborg to visit John’s family and more birthday celebrations.

 

I invited the family to “Lakridsen” for a dinner, and the next day is was cousin Ebbe’s birthday where he invited the whole family-children & grandchildren included to another good restaurant in Viborg for dinner.

 

Sunday cousin Suzanne & Erik invited us and the family to a special exhibition at the Prince barracks museum ( One Erik has arranged), and it ended with lots of homemade cakes and more Champagne, what a treat.

The final stop in DK was Odense where we stayed  with Lolita & Soeren ( Friends from Borneo).

We spend a whole day in the fantastic Odense Zoo, where Lolita work as volunteer, so she was a good guide. On my birthday 11 June after a very special breakfast with Champagne we all drove to Egeskov Castle and the Heartland Festival. Joining us were Pernille & Bjarne, Hanne & Henning, Lolita & Soeren plus Anita from UK and

 

then came the best present I could have wished for. John had arrange for Claus, Stevie and my three lovely grandchildren to fly over from UK to be with” bedstemor” Ulla on her big day.

We all enjoyed the whole day which finished with a banquet dinner in a big tent again with lots of Champagne.

I was sorry that Tima could not come but she had her work plus all her dogs to look after.

Back in UK for Kristien’s 10th birthday which we celebrated with a trip to Tower of London together with Claus & Mikkel.

It was a great day out., where the boys experienced both trains, the Undergrounds and a trip on the Thames plus dinner in a restaurant, not bad for a party.

 

 

 

 

Mikkel’s 8th birthday was celebrated with a day trip to Legoland where he decided what to do and where to have lunch. On Helena’s birthday she also wanted a trip to Legoland but this time with the other grandparents..

 

 

 

 

 

The 21st  July was Kristien’s last day at Harman Water school in Bracknell after having attended it for six years.

 

He finally got a place at St. Edmonds Royal Free school in Windsor where he is very pleased to be , but I have to admit I miss his daily visit . Mikkel & Helena are both very pleased with their good school in Windsor and all are doing well.

In September we celebrated John’s 80th birthday with a daytrip on the river Thames for the whole family in the most fantastic weather with picnic basket and more Champagne , another perfect day. Tima could not leave her puppies for a whole day so instead the three of us had a nice dinner in a lovely restaurant.

 

Tima is busy as always with all her dogs plus the four new litters- two of Cocker spaniels  + two of Alsatians  and a new job which she started in September. Luckily she can sell all her puppies as people are on a waiting list for them and she also produce very good dogs.

Claus & Stevie are busy extending our old house in Windsor into a “castle”, so it has been a little difficult year for the children with no place to play but hopefully they will be ready in the near future.

A big thank you to you all for making 2016 such a memorable year for us and thank you for all the presents. I know we are 80th but it is better to be over the hill than buried under it

 

 

Now it is time for the Christmas celebration. The food is ordered, the ducks and lobsters in Tima’s freezer, and we are having the traditional Danish Christmas dinner in our small house but we will manage

 

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a good and prosperous New year and we look forward to hear all your news from 2016.

 

LOTS OF LOVE FROM ULLA & JOHN