Author Archives: Dreamaticus

A tale of three lodgers: human, rodent, and crustacean (Rousse)

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Dreamaticus

OC was still our lodger – almost 30 years since he first moved in wth us. Would he ever leave?! TPR and I pondered this question as we gazed out of the bedroom window and observed the lilies visibly sprouting … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bedroom, crustacean, evict, frame, garden, grow, human, leave, lilies, lodger, lodgers, mouse, pond, prawn, rodent, rot, window, woodwork | Leave a comment

Secret sex with students (Rousse)

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Dreamaticus

X wanted to move to the same Californian seaside town where I had settled. The first job he took there was as a waiter, but he had an eye on something more exciting – teaching watersports to children. I tried … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged breakfast, California, car park, cereal, cereals, children, clothing, dress, dresses, food, forget, free, job, money, muesli, order, save, sea, seaside, secret, sex, shore, sleep, student, students, summer, TPR, waiter, watersports | Leave a comment

Child thieves adopt boy scout disguise in cash raids on Lake District hotels (Rousse)

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Dreamaticus

On the final day of the conference in the Lake District I packed my bag, checked in online for my flight to Amsterdam, and then wandered down to the hotel dining room to ask for a sandwich (in French). Although … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Amsterdam, baby, bag, basket, beach, boy, bread, bridge, cash, change, check, cheese, chef, child, children, climb, conference, criminal, criminals, departure, dining, dip, disguise, distance, EasyJet, filling, flight, flights, French, ham, hotel, hotels, hunt, husband, kitchen, Lake District, leader, lunch, March, motto, ornament, plane, planes, pouch, promise, raid, raids, ringleader, roll, room, sand, sandwich, scout, seed, skyscraper, staff, swim, thief, thieves, tourist, tourists, view, waiter, walk, warm, water, west | Leave a comment

Tibetan monks in icy ponds, packs of dogs on snowfields, and a wrong turn to the Blairgowrie 10k (Rousse)

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Dreamaticus

NP, DT, WB and I were all running in the Blairgowrie 10K. We were supported by TPR, JM, SF, my parents and C the cocker spaniel. We drove up the A9 in separate cars. I was in the back seat … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 10k, admit, BBC, Blairgowrie, broadcast, car, cocker, council, destination, dogs, drive, estate, highland, ice, journey, line, lost, mistake, monks, mountains, outskirts, packs, parents, participate, play, ponds, race, Radio 4, run, seat, signal, snow, snowfields, spaniel, starting, Stilo, Tibetan, turn, turning, visit, wrong | Leave a comment

Back to the future (Belle)

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Dreamaticus

It was the 1980s again and I was living in an abandoned sweatshop on Brick Lane with a much better version of my (worst ever) boyfriend. He’d become a nice person and I had a really great haircut and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged boyfriend, Brick Lane, haircut, miners, Scritti Politti, seatshop, tattoo | Leave a comment

University of Birmingham stages reconstruction of Manor House fire (Rousse)

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Dreamaticus

The Manor House reunion served several purposes. First, it was a chance for old undergraduate friends to meet up again. Second, it gave the fire service an opportunity to stage a reconstruction of the recent arson attack. Third, senior female … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged arson, attack, baby, Birmingham, Birmingham University, boasr, buildings, bump, distress, Euston, female, fire, flames, Friends, futuristic, hall of residence, home, Manchester University, Manor House, meet, mother, nephew, Northfield, public engagement, reconstruction, staff, stage, station, undergraduate, university, University of Birmingham, University of Manchester, work | Leave a comment

Princess Anne, a posh prat, polar bears, and perfume preferences (Rousse)

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Dreamaticus

We’d all worked hard on the show for months. Even S played an active role, kindly agreeing to deliver the opening address. I did wonder, however, if she now regretted this offer given the fuss that I was making over … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adress, all-terrain, audience, bear, bears, black, body, brown, clutches, conversation, cotton, guest, hair, happy, interval, offer, opium, perfume, polar bear, polar bears, posh, prat, Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Queen, red, royal, sandals, scent, show, skirt, socks, speech, trip, whiff, wool, wrap, Yves St Laurent | Leave a comment

Queen’s safety comprised by ‘sleepover break-in’ at Grey Gables (Rousse)

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Dreamaticus

We were all invited to Grey Gables for New Year’s Eve so I didn’t think it would make much difference if we arrived a day early. Surely Peggy Woolley wouldn’t mind? We walked past the gardeners who were planting up … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ambridge, Archers, arrest, beds, bobble, Borders, break-in, brother, cotton, defence, endanger, Eric, flower, gardeners, Grey Gables, house, life, monarch, New Year's Eve, party, Peggy Woolley, plant, Queen, Queen Elizabeth II, residence, Rhys, sheets, siter-in-law, sleep, sleepover, Special Branch | Leave a comment

Strathpeffer: highland holiday destination (Rousse)

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Dreamaticus

My mission was to restore Strathpeffer to the glory of its Victorian status of sought-after spa town and top holiday resort. Braving the midges I set off along the river to the ornate former railway station, which I heard had … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged activity, buidling. bodies, chairs, council, destination, dining, disabled, drown, food, glory, highland, holiday, lukewarm, midges, ornate, railway, restaurant, river, riverside, room, signage, silence, spa, station, Strathpeffer, swimmers, therapy, town, Victorian, walk, walks, water, worker | Leave a comment

What to do at Grand Central Station (Rousse)

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Dreamaticus

At Grand Central Station in New York we would regroup for the next leg of our journey. In the meantime I scattered my business cards in the hope of widening my network of work contacts. I then returned to my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged business cards, contacts, female, frighten, Grand Central Station, journey, network, New York, relation, relations, work | Leave a comment