Author Archives: Dreamaticus

A kaftan and Kew (Rousse)

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Dreamaticus

At the school reunion I whirled around in a huge brown tent of a kaftan dress. Then I sat down next to AH who told me all about her job at Kew. She was in charge of all media and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged activities, botanic, brown, dress, gardens, job, kaftan, Kew, media, PR, reunion, royal, Royal Botanic Gardens, school, tent | Leave a comment

Bodies discovered after exercise class (Rousse)

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Our elderly friends spent their days at their sitting room window watching the neighbourhood. I had a taste of this one day as I observed a group of local women practise yoga and pilates in the street. By the end … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bodies, class, danger, dangerous, elderly, friend, Friends, heap, neighborhood, neighbourhood, observe, pavement, pilates, practice, practise, room, session, sitting, street, taste, watch, window, yoga | Leave a comment

Champagne and caviar versus washing up and weight loss tips (Rousse)

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Dreamaticus

IH called up the stairs to MS that she would open the Prosecco. “Don’t”, he cautioned. “Rousse is down there and she’ll guzzle the lot. Just uncork a bottle of wine”. They didn’t realise that I had overheard them from … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bottle, bottles, caviar, Champagne, conversation, fridge, guzzle, kitchen, loss, offer, overhear, Prosecco, raid, tips, uncork, wash up, weight, wine | Leave a comment

A missing slide deck (Rousse)

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Although they said that it would never run again, I found that the conference was actually meeting in secret, and I was an invited speaker. In the break on the last day I went up to the podium to upload … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ballroom, break, coffee, computer, conference, deck, forget, hall, invited, lecture, meeting, missing, podium, pose, presentation, seat, secret, slide, slides, speaker, stop, tracks, waltz | Leave a comment

The complexities of catching a train from Carlisle (Rousse)

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Dreamaticus

After a long day chasing over the hills of Northumberland, it was time for us to head north again by train from Carlisle. The taxi that we booked to take us to the station arrived late so it was an … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A69, anxious, £36 scarper, bridge, bump, car, Carlisle, cars, complexity, distraction, drop, forget, hill, hills, jam, journey, M6, miss, north, Northumberland, overtake, pavement, pray, railway, road, run, service, signpost, sliproad, snow, staircase, station, stationary, steps, suitcase, summer, taxi, TPR, traffic, train, Victorian | Leave a comment

Family entertainment (Rousse)

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Dreamaticus

It was my mother-in-law’s dream: a house full of children of all ages enjoying one another’s company. The older ones were in the vast garden playing cricket under the guidance of my colleague RK. The smaller children were kept at … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged approval, baby, bedroom, blanket, buggy, children, colleague, company, complexion, cousin, cream, cricket, dream, enjoy, entertainment, family, garden, grandfather, Indian, mother-in-law, newborn, niece, peaches, pushchair, Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, sister-in-law, TPR | Leave a comment

Kitchen makeover decisions (Rousse)

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Others found our living arrangements somewhat unconventional. TPR and I lived in the apartment on one side of the building, and MSB and her husband DB the other. We shared the massive kitchen. It only became a problem when I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged agree, apartment, chip, decision, decisions, husband, kitchen, loving, makeover, modernise, modernize, problem, TPR, wood, woodchip, yellow | Leave a comment

An illogical trip to Birmingham (Rousse)

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I popped out of our Broughton Street tenement and down to the corner shop. I needed some extra milk because AMcN and her husband PP had just rung to say that they wanted to take a break on their journey … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged answers, Birmingham, break, Broughton Street, buidling, car, crevasse, cup, discovery, door, Edinburgh, flat, husband, illogical, journey, milk, millionaire, penthouse, Perhsore Road, Pershore, questions, south, tea, Tenement, top, upstairs, Weest Midlands | Leave a comment

Tom Skelton’s one-man show, a dress from Woolworths, Dave Eggers, and icing penguins (Rousse)

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Although by mid-September the Edinburgh Fringe was well and truly over, a few acts had stayed in town to try their luck with the locals and last of the summer tourists. Tom Skelton of Racing Minds was still performing his … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised, audience, bake, black, book, Bruntsfield, cake, California, colony, comedy, cream, Dave Eggers, decorate, dress, Edinburgh, Eggers, festival, friend, Fringe, garment, grandmother, granny, icing, locals, magic, mobile, move, participation, penguin, penguins, perform, performer, phone, post, professiona, props, Racing Minds, receommendation, Rik Mayall, room, school, September, show, star, the Circle, ticket, Tom Skelton, tourists, tricks, veue, white, Woolworths | Leave a comment

Mammal or amphibian? The curious case of the “salamander” (Rousse)

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Dreamaticus

The four-legged creature was the size of a small labrador and sported the most beautiful brown multi-toned short fur coat. At first glance it looked like a dog, but it didn’t exhibit dog-like behaviour: it had no curiosity whatsoever, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged amphibian, bark, brown, coat, creature, curiosity, dog, fur, iPad, labrador, mammal, mini, salamander, TPR | Leave a comment