Author Archives: Dreamaticus

Popular in Pitlochry (Rousse)

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Dreamaticus

S and T completely remodelled their house in Pitlochry to enlarge the space for a visit from former colleagues. As we settled into our new environment someone mentioned a trivia quiz. Suddenly I was the most popular person in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged benefit, colleagues, general, house, knowledge, Pitlochry, popular, quiz, remodel, space, team, trivia | Leave a comment

A divorce and 15 year old drivers (Rousse)

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Dreamaticus

Although X and Y had been divorced for some time, Y was at X’s birthday celebrations. TPR and I were grateful for this. If Y hadn’t been there, we would not have known anyone. The only problem was that we … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 15, April Fool, birthday, bitter, career, celebration, divorce, driver, expense, February, helicopter, jamboree, kitchen, March, sacrifice, table, TPR, winter | Leave a comment

Cheapest fares from Edinburgh to Korea via London Heathrow (Rousse)

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Dreamaticus

AC and I were running very, very late to check in for a flight from Edinburgh to Korea via London Heathrow. If we didn’t flag down a taxi in Leith soon, we would miss it altogether. At the airport the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 16, airport, blue, Boarding, British Airways, charge, cheap, check-in, Edinburgh, elaborate, fare, frost, Heathrow, helpful, Korea, late, Leith, London, metal, miss, pass, replacement, taxi | Leave a comment

Bedroom and bathroom makeover with Moomins (Rousse)

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Dreamaticus

I was so tired on the first night back at home after a long period away with work that I didn’t notice that anything was different. Even the next morning my first thought was only that the bathroom looked very … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bath, bathroom, bed, bedroom, bird, blue, chandelier, clean, colour, dressing, duck, egg, exotic, fabric, family, garden, gold, green, Helsinki, ice, lamp, lighting, makeover, Moomin, Moomins, purple, redecorate, scheme, shower, shrine, soak, store, table, tired, trinket, troll, tulip, turquoise, wallpaper, work | Leave a comment

Live ‘badgers’ for sale in Edinburgh store (Rousse)

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Dreamaticus

KD and I stumbled across a new set of interesting shops in a mews building at the west end of Edinburgh. Amongst them was one that sold ethnic goods such as Turkish rugs and handcrafted wooden furniture from the Far … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged badger, claustrophobia, colour, display, dog, dye, Edinburgh, ethnic, far east, furniture, goods, live, mews, rug, sale, shape, sheep, shop, smell, store, Turkish, wood | Leave a comment

Uncovered: monkey researchers and shoplifter engineers (Rousse)

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Dreamaticus

RR had a very low opinion of the entertainment troupe that had turned up on campus to liven up our engineering programme. ‘They’re a bunch of monkeys who know nothing about research!’ he complained. Meanwhile I was busy investigating public … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged campus, claim, culprit, engineering, entertainment, expenses, fake, female, fraud, honesty, lecture, monkey, opinion, public, researcher, sector, service, shoplift, shoplifter, spare, staff, time, troupe, university, visit | Leave a comment

Trapped without shoes in a country house hotel (Rousse)

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Dreamaticus

I returned from test-driving the tandem and followed TPR into the posh hotel dining room. We felt somewhat embarrassed eating there, especially since I was unshod. After the meal TPR returned to our (more modest) accommodation a couple of streets … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged accommodation, bufties, communicate, country, deep, dining, doom, drawing, eat, embarrass, hotel, house, luxury, mobile, modest, posh, room, shoes, sofa, tandem, test-drive, TPR, trap, unshod | Leave a comment

Marie Antoinette world record attempt (Rousse)

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Dreamaticus

The place was swarming with hundreds of people dressed up like extras from Adam Ant’s Prince Charming video. I asked my school friend AR (sporting an elegant eighteenth century gown) what was going on. She explained that she was taking … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Adam Ant, attempt, Champagne, classmate, field, friend, gown, Marie Antoinette, picnic, Prince Charming, record, rug, school, world | Leave a comment

A tale of two journeys (Rousse)

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Dreamaticus

One minute I was wrapped in furs, slipping through a sparkling wintry landscape in an open sleigh discussing the merits (or not) of daughters with regional accents. Next I was on the East Coast train service, squashed up against French … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged accent, Cardiff, Cardiff Wells, daughter, east coast, French, fur, furs, journey, passengers, regional, sledge, sleigh, sparkle, tale, train, unknown, Wells, winter | Leave a comment

Deadly dressmaker on the loose (Rousse)

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Dreamaticus

There was a deadly dressmaker on the loose and I was in big trouble. This was not because I was a likely victim. Rather, in the past I had been seen running the cycle paths of Leith with the notorious … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Apprentice, cycle, dead, deadly, dressmaker, Leith, loose, murderess, notorious, path, shield, trouble, victim | Leave a comment