Fake retiree organist outed by the press (Rousse)

All the shops on Edinburgh’s Broughton Street opened late to cater for Festival visitors. I felt particularly sorry for the staff at Crombies, still dressed in their white butchery outfits at 9pm.

Nevertheless, my father-in-law and I took advantage of the extended shop opening hours to buy some cut-price gifts (including a lime green snakeskin wallet), and to pick up a steaming joint of lamb that my sister J had paid for earlier in the day.

Our purchases were soon forgotten when we returned home. We found everyone glued to the television news. It seemed that a whistleblower had finally informed on the least popular member of our household.

When she returned home later, she marched into the flat screaming that all the accusations were false. She had not faked her retirement. Nor was she an ‘organist’, whatever that meant.

I did not respond, but simply wondered when the rest of my revelations would be made public.

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Kidnapped by vegans and rescued by a drugged fruit salad (Belle)

The conference had taken an unexpected turn when a small group of people stormed the venue. They were reviewing the menus and checking the biscuits for butter content. The delegates spent the night sleeping on the floor.

The next morning, one of our captors sought me out. She offered me a bowl of fruit salad and winked at me conspiratorially. She told me I could easily leave the venue by carrying the bowl with me and to enjoy the ‘cream’ as it had “really good hallucinogens”.

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The trial of Nicola Sturgeon (Rousse)

The trial of Nicola Sturgeon did not live up to the hype. Indeed, at times it was more entertaining for me to observe other members of the audience than fix my eyes on the screen. Given that we were in a cinema in Edinburgh, some of these people must have known the film’s two protaganists (Sturgeon and Alex Salmond). I actually slept through the most boring scenes.

Afterwards I lost TPR’s yellow and pink striped jumper and my navy blue swimming costume when cycling back through the city to our hall of residence for grown-ups.

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Extravagances of a cash-strapped couple (Rousse)

I suggested to my cash-strapped sister that she offer afternoon teas as a money-making venture. Even if she only catered for paying guests at weekends, the extra income would help address her tricky financial predicament.

She turned her nose up at my suggestion, then invited us all to the massive show-off party that she and her husband were throwing in a huge gazebo attached to their house.

Despite our misgivings about the cost of this display of supposed wealth, TPR enjoyed playing bowls with our niece A’s boyfriend D at the party.

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Committee meeting expulsions (Rousse)

Dressed in old stone-washed jeans and a tatty T shirt, and carrying a 4 litre plastic bottle of milk, I ran from my grandmother’s bungalow to the meeting venue.

I felt very out of place, and somewhat ashamed, when I saw the other members of the committee in their suits and smart dresses. And why ever did I think that my fellow committee members would appreciate the gift of a bottle of milk when there was a full trolley of refreshments in the meeting room?

I made a quick apology and scarpered back to my grandmother’s house so that I could change and rejoin the meeting in more appropriate, professional, dress.

By the time that I returned to meeting room, however, the only person left there was the chair. Furious, she had sent everyone else home because none of them had correctly completed the advance paperwork for the meeting.

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Cigarettes in colour (Rousse)

As I sorted the cigarettes according to their colour (pink, mint green, yellow, baby blue), I wondered whether this brand might be less harmful than BR’s regular roll-ups.

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An Olympian book tour (Belle)

I had published a book called “Yestermorrow“.

My publisher had sent me on a book and dinner publicity tour around various Olympic Games athlete’s villages. I ate and stayed with gymnasts from eastern Europe and discus throwers from Australasia.

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A precious Corstorphine carry-out (Rousse)

Where had  I left my coat, blue shoulder bag, and best jewellery? I thought that I had checked all the possible places on the Queen Margaret campus in Corstorphine. Little D (M’s sister), who had also misplaced her belongings, joined the hunt. We eventually found everything on a coat rack on the lower ground floor.

The next challenge was to safely cross the river, with all my belongings, on a rising tide. TPR swam over to help me. I wore my coat and shoulder bag, and carried most of the jewellery on my person, stuffing the rest into the pockets of TPR’s Barbour jacket.

We had to hurry because the warden wanted us off the premises by 4pm.

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Topless dining (Rousse)

My online friend K invited me out for a meal with her husband A.

I wouldn’t have accepted had I known that she would sit at the table topless, and expected me to ‘dress’ the same.

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Edinburgh Fringe misery (Rousse)

Encouraged by favourable reviews from 2024, I felt foolish to have bought tickets for this truly dreadful Edinburgh Fringe show one year later.

My miserable face on the audience selfie distributed after the show said it all.

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