Supermarket shelf stealer looks forward to a weekend away at the Balcary Bay Hotel (Rousse)

Since we ran out of storage space in our house, I had taken to secretly commandeering some shelves in Tesco. There I left a dozen Moomin mugs in a raffia basket, and several spare duvets in John Lewis boxes.

On the day that Stephen the store manager found out about my exploits, he told me that he was ‘somewhat sympathetic’. However, he also warned me that I couldn’t do this forever: he needed the shelving to display detergents.

On my way back from the supermarket I found three abandoned items on a wall: (1) a small iron cauldron (not unlike one that I had recently seen on the Antiques roadshow); (2) a mermaid sculpture: and (3) a dolphin doorknocker. I picked them up to carry home and show to my family before we set off for a weekend away at the Balcary Bay hotel.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Head seeks full-bodied boyfriend (Rousse)

The head that bobbed in the corner of the gym swimming pool moaned at me (again) that she still hadn’t found a boyfriend.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bride misses men in cashmere suits (Rousse)

Even though it was my wedding, my mother would not allow me to go running with my sisters. Instead I was sent to my father to be chastised for not attending the cashmere suit fashion show after the wedding ceremony.

I argued that I loved men in suits and that I would never have missed this event had I known that it was part of the nuptials programme. Simply nobody had told me about it.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thieving World Cup football fans (Rousse)

I was pleased that the meeting was called in Corbridge because it was an easy ride back from there to Edinburgh. I checked the old-fashioned departure board at the railway station and confirmed my plan to catch the 13:45 service north.

However, at the very start of the meeting we were told that the venue was switching to an airport hotel in Newcastle that had been set up for a wedding and the football World Cup. LM was particularly aggrieved by this because (a) it was a Sunday and (b) she had made the effort to travel to Corbridge all the way from Glasgow.

Then we discovered that there were thieves among the football fans. My iPhone was stolen, as was LM’s handbag.

‘That’s one way to justify an upgrade to an iPhone10’, I concluded.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Belle’s beautiful romance

While attending a series of final year shows, I met a handsome young artist.  We got along so well, we agreed to spend “exactly 24 hours” together to do “come what may”.

It was quickly obvious we were a perfect – if rather unusual – couple. We went to a party in a large mansion. My beau said that they had rung the owner to find out the value of the house and taken out an insurance policy in case of accidental damage.  I was impressed by this thoughtful gesture.

He took me to the seaside and we watched sheep climbing the outside walls of the cottages.  Their progress was disrupted by a donkey climbing down from an upstairs bedroom. Eventually I was taken to a restaurant to meet my lover’s older sister who disapproved of our affair.  However, I soon won her around with my use of alliteration.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Highland traffic problems (Rousse)

After a comfortable night in a remote highland bed and breakfast, the following morning I was appalled to find that it was located next to a huge roundabout at the intersection of several motorways.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A broken-hearted friend (Rousse)

HJ clearly considered me rude and unsophisticated. She hadn’t told me that she would be in Edinburgh, and told me off for calling out her name when I saw her in the street.

I was heartbroken that HJ would choose to spend her time with her drab new friend rather than with me.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An unhappy return to Nantes (Rousse)

Nantes was unrecognisable to me after my 33-year absence. I was also very nervous about returning to France barely able to speak French.

It didn’t help that I had brought no French cash with me, and that the University sports centre was built for aesthetic reasons only (without steps, nor signage). I was also annoyed to find that the hall of residence was a 40 minute bus ride from campus and the return fare was £8.

I was going to hate this year abroad just as much as the last one.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hexham cocktail bar kidnapping (Rousse)

My mother and sister S ordered cocktails at £150 a shot in a posh bar in Hexham. I knocked the drinks over because they had been delivered to a brown leather sofa cushion.

When I complained to the staff that they had left the drinks in a stupid place, a bulky waiter responded by kidnapping me. He transported us by a secret hotel lift to a rural location, where he made all manner of terrible threats.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Small yellow leather cross-over handbags (Rousse)

In an Ullapool shop we discussed the merits of small cross-over handbags, and the usefulness of those in yellow leather. Even AN joined in – although the likelihood of her ever carrying one was low.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment