A play, a pie, a pint, and passion (Rousse)

Posted on January 7, 2024 by Dreamaticus

A play, a pie, and a pint was so heavily advertised that all Edinburgh seemed to have gathered at the Festival Theatre for the first performance of the season. I feared that TPR and I would lose one another in the huge crowd.

I was right to be concerned. I was ages in the ladies – partly due to the length of the queue, partly due to a battle with the shower attachment in the disabled cubicle. The audience numbers had grown so large in this time that I couldn’t see TPR at our agreed meeting spot afterwards. It was impossible to use our mobile phones to locate one another because there was no signal in the building.

I didn’t feel like battling the hordes to find my seat in the auditorium, so instead I headed home. Along the way I met TF. He too had lost his partner LF in the crush. We were so delighted to have found a friend (if not our partners) that we shared our relief in the most passionate of embraces.

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Black and white bearded ballerina (Rousse)

Posted on January 6, 2024 by Dreamaticus

I was astonished at the beauty of the framed black and white photograph. It depicted a bearded ballerina in the foetal position, arms wrapped around his knees, his long feet shod in ribboned pointes.

KD (recently deceased) had put a lot of thought into this highly appropriate present for BR.

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Pussy willow berry style (Rousse)

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Dreamaticus

I made a radical change to my hairstyle by chopping off all my locks and replacing them with a single homemade top-knot to hang over my forehead. My creation comprised fluffy grey pussy willow, dried blueberries painted red, and some unidentifiable white berries.

My new look was admired by all, especially ET-S.

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Homeless photographer takes a trip to Japan (Rousse)

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Dreamaticus

I packed away the white bed sheet that I slept in each night at the doorway of the Bethany shop on Leith Walk, Edinburgh. Then I set off to join the family reunion in Japan.

As a reunion venue, a train in transit was rather impractical. It was difficult for family members to locate one another and hold meaningful conversations across a string of moving carriages, and there was absolute chaos whenever we entered a railway station to change service.

The good news, however, was that at one stop I managed to take some beautiful photographs of the Japanese landscape and industrial architecture. I climbed to the top of a sand and shell midden heap for the best views.

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A swim, a drink, and passion in the public library (Rousse)

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Dreamaticus

Even in the pool of a luxury hotel, £30 for expensive for a swim. However, this was a rare opportunity to spend precious time with NP, so I grabbed it. The charge included use of a romantic bedroom and access to the beach, so you could argue that overall it represented value for money.

By lunchtime NP was gone, replaced by LM. Between us, we downed a bottle of white wine with a light salad for our lunch.

I had intended to return straight home immediately after the meal, but just as I was about to climb into my car it occurred to me that I was over the legal alcohol limit for driving. I rang TPR to say that I would stay in the hotel room for the rest of the afternoon. I had plenty of work to keep me busy on my laptop. Once the drink was out of my system, I would set off home again.

It was difficult to relay this message to TPR because he was in a state of distress having just received a voicemail from PC. In this, PC sounded both drugged and suicidal. I offered to investigate.

First I telephoned Falkirk Public library, a favoured location of PC’s when ‘working at home’. The member of library staff who answered my call was so familiar with PC that I wondered if she was having an affair with him.

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Not ski-ing in the Alps (Rousse)

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Dreamaticus

My book group pals bombarded me with photographs of their latest trip.

If only I were free to join them in the snowy Alps for a jolly ski-ing holiday.

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‘Are they as rich as us?’ ask nosy neighbours (Rousse)

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Dreamaticus

It appeared that our new upstairs neighbours were friendly with the family three doors along the street. It also looked like none of them liked us.

Was this because I was evasive when questioned about the health of our joint bank account?

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Bath tub blues (Rousse)

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Dreamaticus

TPR was having an affair with a woman called Maria, and now my mother had toppled into the bath while I was having a soak.

Stuck in a tub with an octogenarian while my husband was out enjoying himself with another woman was not the future that I had hoped for.

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Dropped dialect dough (Rousse)

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Dreamaticus

Peering at the sink in DM’s kitchen, SC asked me to pass something to her. She used a term that was completely unfamiliar to me: a dialect word for ‘pastry dough’.

I dropped it on the floor during the manoeuvre. This didn’t matter. DM’s kitchen floor was sparkling clean.

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Museum marital mistake (Rousse)

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Dreamaticus

While admiring the museum display, I felt the warmth of another body approach me from behind.

‘You have a lovely body’ said the stranger, wrapping his strong arms around my middle.

No offence was intended, and none taken. The poor man had mistaken me for his wife.

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