When ‘going for a run’ means a different form of exercise (Rousse)

I was heart-broken when I discovered that whenever my husband left the house declaring  ‘I’m going for a run’, he was really off to spend the afternoon in one of two love-nests – either with SS or LP.

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A very spoiled dachshund (Rousse)

P and SM’s once immaculate house was now the domain of a very spoiled dachshund – and littered with the fluffy white innards of half-eaten soft toys.

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Kidnap on the Otley Road (Rousse)

It made sense to stay with O and R in Otley the night before my day in Leeds. I was happy to take the bus to my meeting, but they insisted that they drive me into the city centre. They would drop their daughter off at school en route.

We had just joined the dual carriageway when R, who was driving, forced O and the little girl out of the car, while screeching at me to stay in my seat. As soon as the others left the vehicle, he locked all the doors and accelerated hard.

I now understood that I would not be spending my day at a meeting in Leeds, but as a kidnap victim trapped in a car on the Otley Road.

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Parading with fire engines and sourcing reusable nappies from Natalie (Rousse)

Two of my duties as a new Edinburgh community councillor were (1) to join the public services parade from the New Town up to the mound (we followed the fire engines), and (2) to source reusable nappies from a woman called Natalie to give away to local residents.

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Collecting Finlandia porcelain (Rousse)

I returned to my old office on campus to fetch the remnants of my antique Finlandia porcelain collection from the shelves. These were the last of my belongings to take home.

I hoped to see BR while I was there, but he was nowhere to be found.

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Albert Finney ad man (Rousse)

What a coincidence! I came out of an all-night film show to come face-to-face with Albert Finney. While he was not the star of the main movie, he did feature in one of the adverts shown during the intermission.

When we chatted about his performance, Finney admitted that he was not terribly proud of it. He expressed regret that his career had floundered to the point that he was forced to accept work on commercials.

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Crocs and camping (Rousse)

The soles of my Crocs had been wearing thin for some time so I was not surprised that a hole appeared in the right one. Now I needed to confirm the colour of my replacement pair, and work out the best way to place to buy: in the UK, US, or Canada.

I had something else on my mind. I was taking part in a sleep-out and had not yet decided on the tent that I would use. I had an offer from SM’s family, but it was unclear as to whether all five of us would sleep in the same space, or I would have a canvas ‘room’ of  my very own.

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Outdoors investment advice (Rousse)

My mother-in-law stood at the top of the grassy slope, dishing out investment advice in a very loud voice. Meanwhile, in the distance, I could see my former colleagues holding their Wednesday afternoon research meeting.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the participants came towards us – some on foot, some on bicycles. All but one completely ignored me. The single exception was a former PhD student. She explained that the colleagues did not appreciate my mother-in-law’s interruptions to their business.

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Queen drummer Roger Taylor plays the saw (Rousse)

Queen drummer Roger Taylor played the saw as a publicity stunt for my sister J.

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A dream audit for house contents insurance renewal (Rousse)

Since I couldn’t visit the property to check in person, I reckoned that the best way to audit my mother’s belongings for the house contents insurance renewal was to dream myself there. TPR agreed to ‘come’ with me, and we combined the trip with a meet-up with our university friends SPL and HJ, and SC.

It was much easier than envisaged to reach the house in our reveries, and soon I was wandering through the rooms, pen in hand, noting down the details of each item of furniture and artwork. I found familiar pieces such as a rocking chair that I once thought was enormous, and new (to me) objects such as a child’s high chair. Other surprises included a fridge full of yoghourt, a fox playing on the lawn (seen through the siting room window and which drove our own collie mad), and an encounter with S as she left quietly to take G to school.

We didn’t see anything of SEH because she was asleep in bed upstairs. SPL also went missing in action, preferring to spend her time inside our dreams with climate activists from the Isle of Man.

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