Unwelcome chair, cat, and guest (Rousse)

What was my mother’s old recliner-riser chair doing back in our sitting room?

Why was my sister’s cat rolling round on the floor?

And – more to the point – how had my sister managed to get into the house overnight to set up camp in our study?

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Belle invents a new word

While trying to explain the enormous pumpkin I had accidentally grown, and which was now stored on the kitchen floor, I told my neighbour it was caused by ‘probundance’ – problematic abundance.

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Party animal (Belle)

I woke up on a park bench and saw I was wearing a very ugly pair of bulky black shoes. I asked my companion what had happened. He explained that I had been ‘blackout drunk’ and had gone on a shopping spree, declaring that this was the day I was giving up high heel shoes. I could not accept this story. I had never been drunk in my entire life. Nor would I have willingly thrown away a pair of stiletto shoes.

Later that day, I went to a party and stayed out all night. The sun was pouring into the party house and I sat on a sofa trying to remember how I’d got there. Strangers kept telling me “the party’s over” but I did not take the hint to leave until five people sat on me, squashing me flat.

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Let’s get ready to rhumba (Belle)

I got into a jostling-style altercation with a Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer and I shouted “You just prance around on the telly for a living”.

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Natural conception at 62 (Rousse)

When I discovered that I was pregnant, my first thought was for our holiday plans next year. To my surprise, my husband was unconcerned.

It took some time before I questioned how someone aged 62 could find herself in this position. Did I really want to take care of a teenager into my 70s?

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Rousse’s ear-ring recovery

One of Professor SR’s tiny ear-rings dropped to the ground. All the staff gathered around her tried to recover it by scratching through the dirt and dust, but I was the one who found it.

She told me that she was very grateful for the efforts of a ‘stranger’. I replied with the explanation that I was connected to her more closely than she might imagine, especially through my links to Professors DM and JS.

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Tackling Scottish ridge walks in winter (Rousse)

NP was seriously considering TW’s suggestion that they walk ‘The needle’ in January. Neither had the fitness nor skills to tackle this treacherous ridge near Ullapool under winter conditions.

I hoped that my pleas would put them off such a reckless venture.

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Mother returns from the dead to interfere in household tasks (Rousse)

My (deceased) mother accidentally loaded the tumble dryer with a pile of dirty laundry and a cup of soap powder. Before she switched it on, I retrieved all the clothes and carried them in a bundle to Corbridge.

On the outskirts of the village I found my (also deceased) paternal grandmother living in a handsome stone house next to a field of Shetland ponies. I complained to my granny about the mix-up with the washing.

I also questioned my granny about the appearance of my mother. What business did she have interfering in my domestic duties, especially since she was dead?

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Gatecrashing Edinburgh’s exclusive New Club (Rousse)

MB’s mother IB and I blagged our way into Edinburgh’s exclusive New Club and cantered up the stairs to the top floor. With very little effort, we then gatecrashed a lunch served to a small group of delegates who had just completed an embroidery course.

We very much enjoyed our illicit, and most delicious, handmade hamburgers and salad.

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Illegal sandwiches (Rousse)

OC-I broke the rules by bringing meat sandwiches on the pilgrimage. He really had to get rid of them before we reached the hotel at the end of the route.

He suggested that he could dig a hole in the ground and bury them. I wondered why he didn’t just eat them. I even volunteered to help with this task.

Later I saw my school friend JT outside ST’s bedroom. She’d heard that I had broken the rules, and asked whether I was ready for my interview with the police.

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