Monthly Archives: September 2013

Corbridge attracts Texan property investor (Rousse)

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Dreamaticus

As my father cycled at full pelt up the hill he explained that two very astute business women had bought up most of the residential property in the pretty Northumbrian village of Corbridge. The first was my mother. The second … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bike, business, Corbridge, cycle, father, hill, investor, mother, Northumberland, property, residential, Texan, village, wealthy, women | Leave a comment

How to reverse safely along the motorway (Rousse)

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Dreamaticus

To test whether or not I was dreaming I put the car into reverse and zoomed backwards along the motorway. No matter what I crashed into, there were no adverse consequences whatsoever.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged crash, dream, dreaming, motorway, reverse, safely, test, zoom | Leave a comment

Julian Clary, seals, and a dolphin on the Isle of Harris (Rousse)

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Dreamaticus

Comedian Julian Clary led the workshop in a house just above the village beach in Northton, South Harris. As well as displaying his extensive knowledge of local archaeology and wildlife, he also performed magic for his audience. Like everyone else … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged archaeology, audience, battery, camera, cameras, card, comedian, deck, dolphin, dolphins, Edinburgh, fake, house, Isle of Harris, Julian Clary, magic, Northton, seal, seals, shot, spell, summer, TPR, trick, wildlife, window, winter, workshop | Leave a comment

A trip to Middle-earth, the Shire and Hobbiton (Rousse)

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Dreamaticus

She was only just back from her summer holiday, yet already AM was off on another exciting trip – to Hobbiton in Middle-earth. I clicked the link that she had posted to her Facebook wall and marvelled at the photographs … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged accommodation, ball, beard, beards, chalk, dinosaur, doors, Facebook, Fairy Glen, fast food, ferry, geology, glacier, grass, hill, hills, Hobbiton, holiday, husband, island, Isle of Man, kilts, lawn, link, men, Middle-earth, mobile, mountains, mow, mower, old, park, phone, shack, Shire, Skye, summer, trees, trip, windows | Leave a comment

A new job at the University of East Anglia (Rousse)

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Dreamaticus

EH’s confession was that she had not really been “working at home” on Monday, but at a job interview in Norfolk. She had been offered, and accepted, a chair at the University of East Anglia. “Whatever’s wrong with working here?” … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged chair, confession, corridor, hospital, interview, job, luxury, MacBeth, Norfolk, offices, Patrick Stewart, University of East Anglia, work, work at home | Leave a comment

Herman’s hermits’ secret identity (Rousse)

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Dreamaticus

When I mentioned that I was a toddler fan of Herman and the Hermits, the American drag queen with the shock of orange hair could barely contain his/her excitement. “I wanted to marry Peter Noone when I was three” I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1960s, American, bag, bags, bouffant, business, car, card, chat, conference, cover, drag, dress, dresses, driver, driving, fame, fan, female, frock, girl, hair, hairstyle, hairstyles, Herman, Herman and the hermits, hermits, hotel, identity, magazine, man, marry, mini, Orange, pencil case, Peter Noone, picture, pretty, Queen, red, seat, secret, suite, toddler, TPR, weekend, women | Leave a comment

Claustrophobic passenger trapped under tarpaulin on Calmac crossing (Rousse)

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Dreamaticus

It was January and the main ferry was in for service. This meant that we would travel back to the mainland on a spare vessel. I looked out for it from the pier and was rather surprised at how small … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blue, board, bumpy, claustrophobia, claustrophobic, crew, crossing, dead, dirty, ferry, fish, January, live, livery, mainland, oranage, passenger, port, rush, service, small, spare, strategy, stuck, tarpaulin, TPR, trapped, vessel, white | Leave a comment

A misremembered Loughborough childhood (Rousse)

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Dreamaticus

BP took to holding staff meetings on Saturday mornings. I was first this week, so I left TPR in bed and wandered off to my appointment, curious to know what was on the agenda. BP and I shared experiences of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged academic, agenda, appointment, bed, childhood, education, Loughborough, meeting, meetings, misremember, primary, Saturday, school, secondary, TPR | Leave a comment

Herman and his (twenty-first century) hermits take a trip to Manchester Airport (Rousse)

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Dreamaticus

“It’s Herman the German” hissed AW when I asked who was at the wheel of my car. Now I understood why WB was chatting away in her native language in the passenger seat. Herman was driving us all to Manchester … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airport, Birmingham University, business, car, china, coincidence, departure, documents, driving, German, Herman, Herman and the hermits, hermits, holiday, language, LinkedIn, lounge, Manchester, Manchester airport, Manor House, park, parking, recycle, sofa, trading, travel, trip, University of Birmingham, vehicle | Leave a comment

Discussing ‘Before I go to sleep’ is more tempting than running (Rousse)

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Dreamaticus

I was assured that one of my parents would accompany me on my run around Arthur’s Seat at 06:00am. When neither would confirm which of the two would volunteer I was pretty sure that this would not happen. As things … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alarm, Arthur's Seat, Before I go to sleep, chaise longue, hotel, Land Rover, navy blue, parents, running, sister, SJ Watson, volunteer | Leave a comment