Rousse and Belle join the ‘Read an article a day’ (Rousse)

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I signed up for a scheme entitled ‘Read an article a day’. Under sufferance, Belle agreed to ensure that I kept to the regime.

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A trinkets ban and a secret smoker (Rousse)

Posted on April 8, 2025 by Dreamaticus

Before I saw the table setting, I had already decided the colours of my mother-in-law’s bouquet: pale greens and yellows, with a splash of white. What a coincidence that SLHG had laid out green grapes on pale green Lalique glass plates for breakfast.

Around the table, all three of my sisters-in-law discussed birthday present suggestions for their mother. ‘No more trinkets!’ I interjected.

It looked like I would be ignored – as I was when I told SJMcC that we knew that she had taken up smoking in secret, and that it was high time that she stopped.

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Cycling in the Pentland Hills (Rousse)

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I had stripped down to my underwear in the charity shop, but the staff couldn’t care less – presumably because I was their best customer. However, it was getting late, and at 9pm TPR was anxious that we might miss the 9:30pm bus south. I shooed him away and said that I would soon catch up with him at the bus station.

By 9:15pm I was dressed again and heading down the street. My only guarantee on reaching TPR on time would be to hop onto a passing bus or hail a taxi, but no such vehicle passed me.

Then I remembered that I had my bike! As I climbed up the single track roads into the sunny Pentland Hills and enjoyed the scenery, I completely forgot our rendezvous at the bus station.

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A sea view and a criminal trespass (Belle)

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Dreamaticus

Although I had already landed back home in the UK, and I hate flying, I decided to fly back immediately to my friends’ home “just to see the view again”. They were astonished – and not too happy – to find me in their living room staring out at the sea through their French window.

I tried to make my apologies but got distracted by a deformed pigeon that was being brutish to another animal. As I looked closer, wondering if I should intervene, the animal being attacked opened its wings. It was a massive butterfly revealing an intricate pattern on its wings that I confidently identified as ‘The Umbrellas of Cherbourg‘.

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Care home pros and cons (Rousse)

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Dreamaticus

The care home had its attractions. My favourite activity – for residents and visitors alike – was to leap with the others into a field of soft, waist-high, broad-bladed grass.

However, the broken blue and white crockery in the galley kitchen for guests was rather inconvenient (especially the teapot), and my mother’s bad behaviour extremely embarrassing.

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An open invitation to theft and burglary (Rousse)

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I was asking for trouble when I left my handbag next to a bin beside the road when I went for a run. By the time I returned my bag was gone – and with it my bank cards, keys, and mobile phone.

I sought help in a posh tailor’s shop swarming with loud Edinburgh University students. One – Connor – lent me his phone. The only number that I could remember was my middle sister’s landline. When she picked up, she declared that she had no sympathy for my plight and refused outright to rescue me.

Then I remembered the public information film about burglars’ strategies for matching keys to households. We were bound to be robbed and TPR would never forgive me.

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An unwelcome arrival (Rousse)

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Dreamaticus

Only a couple of people noticed XXX when she appeared at the door of the café. However, when she raised her voice to announce her entrance, nobody could miss her arrival. The two tables fell silent.

DTJ was in seated the middle of the long table, along with JM and AC. I was on a ‘satellite’ round table with some of the others. Anxious glances shot across the room.

Where would XXX ‘land’? Although there was no real space at either our tables, those on the bench at the longer one could shuffle up to accommodate her. Wherever she ended up, this was going to be extremely embarrassing.

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Concorde crash-lands in city square (Rousse)

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Dreamaticus

My holiday companion – a stranger – ate her breakfast at our table at the pavement café. None of the calorie-laden dishes on offer appealed to me, so I walked into the market square to look for a stall that sold croissants or something similar.

Along the way, I found TPR – just as Concorde fell from the sky.

‘Run!’ I screamed. ‘We need to get away from the museum quarter as fast as we can. Otherwise, if any of these tall buildings are hit, they could collapse and completely squash us.’

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Cousin betrayal (Rousse)

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I witnessed a double betrayal when I caught TPR and my cousin BB locked in an embrace in my bed. I then discovered that this was their second encounter within a few hours.

I considered retaliating by seducing DB on our long drive south in his Tesla the following day, but what would be the point?

In the end JB and I forgave our respective spouses.

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A view of Edinburgh Castle and a cat in the dentist’s car seat (Rousse)

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Dreamaticus

TPR and I didn’t miss the city when we moved to the outskirts of Edinburgh. Our house was a luxurious new-build with an extraordinary number of bathrooms. From a thin window on the top floor, we could see in the distance the outline of the Edinburgh castle and other landmarks along the High Street (amazing at sunrise). So we really weren’t that far away from our old life in town, after all.

My sister S came to visit one day. She arrived in her dentist’s blue sports car, complaining of toothache. She didn’t stay long, and was about to leave when she noticed that her cat was missing from the front passenger seat of the car.

My parents joined us to hunt for the errant pet. I was the one who found the boney bag of thinning fur. This made me the hero of the day, at least in the eyes of my relieved sister.

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