Monthly Archives: January 2011

Distressed baby elephant upstaged by new republic (Rousse)

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I stole the enormous slices of carrot cake from the supermarket staff’s Christmas party, then LM and I gorged ourselves in an illicit bedroom picnic. The pretty little red-haired toddler gazed up at the snow-topped range from the car window … Continue reading →

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Shh – it’s a secret society (Belle)

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The fire station was an attractive modernist building overlooking a river, but the rest of the city was ugly. It was just a badly painted pantomime backdrop. Meanwhile I had inadvertently joined a secret society of librarians and an over-enthusiastic … Continue reading →

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Life as an abandoned wife (Rousse)

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I made an uncomfortable 47 year-old undergraduate banished to the University of Birmingham to finish my degree, and to do so properly this time around. The youngsters resident at the Manor House gradually became used to my presence, and gladly … Continue reading →

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The Extended Shakespeare Company (Belle)

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Dreamaticus

It was the last day of term at my boarding school. The school’s Shakespeare production was stonkingly slow and the class nerd was the most unlikely Romeo. Not only did the play drag on for days, but some liberties had … Continue reading →

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Time travel by train and a deadly secret unveiled (Rousse)

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Time travel at York railway station was easy-peasy. By crossing from one platform to the other and boarding the north-bound service to Oban I was transported back to circa 1982. This filled me with delight. I could now make a … Continue reading →

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Belle keeps it in the family

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Dreamaticus

After a brief fling with a rotund middle-aged man I had ordered from Facebook, I found myself dating his much more appealing son. At some point I was going to have to come clean – but not yet. We were … Continue reading →

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Christmas calendar mystery (Rousse)

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I whizzed down Castle Street as fast as I could. Even so my bike couldn’t carry me fast enough to reach EF at the junction. As she turned right on to Queen Street she called back cheerily “Thanks for the … Continue reading →

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The popular rabbit (Belle)

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Dreamaticus

This was one of the worst library conferences I had ever been to. People were paying more attention to one of the delegates, a friendly ginger fluffy rabbit, than to the speaker. When the conference chair invited the pregnant conference … Continue reading →

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Rousse withholds confectionery and debates fun at work

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Dreamaticus

We now deeply regretted offering our services to AC. The ten or so people squeezed into the tiny sitting room did not match my usual audience demographic. I couldn’t ever remember presenting to anyone who hid their face behind a … Continue reading →

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Swimming or drowning? (Belle)

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Dreamaticus

My time in the pool was being ruined by a group of men being competitive. Those who weren’t engaged in the race were hanging on to the sides screaming encouragement at the competitors. As I hung to the side I … Continue reading →

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