Tag Archives: books

Belle the bad bookbinder

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Dreamaticus

In an interesting career move, I had become a self-employed bookbinder. My USP was that I only used bright yellow leather in my work. I still hadn’t learned how to make the gold lettering stand out, so most of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bookbinding, books, career, gold, leather, lettering, mystery, yellow | Leave a comment

Why Belle woke up tired

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Dreamaticus

I had invented deep-fried cauliflower cheese balls. I couldn’t wait to eat them for lunch, but it had been a massive mistake wrapping them in a sheepskin rug to take them into the office. _______________________ Walking through a leafy square, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airplane, Austria, baked potato, Blake Lively, books, bracelet tattoo, cauliflower cheese, money, playing cards, publishing, sheepskin, tattoo, tourist | Leave a comment

Cult TV, a pirate ship and Gothic furniture (Belle)

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Dreamaticus

I was on the set of “the greatest kids’ TV programme ever made” (my own words). The presenters included the entire cast of Rosanne and a famous American newscaster of the 1970s, whose name I couldn’t remember. There were dance … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged basketball, books, children's TV, double bed, newsreader, pirate ship, Rosanne Barr, TV progamme, van | Leave a comment

Call for Sunday opening at the National Library of Scotland (Rousse)

Posted on October 1, 2016 by Dreamaticus

‘And this is why we need Sunday opening too’ said the librarian as she led us through the main reading room of the National Library of Scotland (recently refurbished with lovely new blue chairs). I glanced over and understood her … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blue, books, chair, librarian, mahogany, National Library of Scotland, NLS, opening, opening hours, reading room, student, Sunday, table, tower | Leave a comment

Danger down under in Australian seaside resort (Rousse)

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Dreamaticus

Tigers roamed the street of the Australian seaside resort where my colleague and I were conducting some research. ‘Isn’t this rather dangerous?’ I asked a local. ‘No’, he replied, ‘It’s very rare that any of the tigers attack anyone’. We … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged appearance, ascent, attack, Australia, bathroom, beast, beasts, books, bothy, bus, colleague, danger, dangerous, David, down under, face, foot, form, forms, Hebrides, highlight, hobble, housebreaker, hygiene, island, Isle of Lewis, local, Mangersta, medical, mirror, mouth, name, nurse, perilous, personal, research, resort, rock, rock face, Ross, sea, sea stack, seafront, seaside, shame, soap bag, stack, statsu, step, steps, stone, study, sunbathe, teeth, tiger, tigers, toothpaste, tour, town, tree, trip, victim, Western Isles | Leave a comment

How to feed a baby pigeon and other vital advice (Rousse)

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I kept a baby pigeon in a tiny cage in the corner of my granny’s kitchen. I regretted my decision to store his favourite food (fresh broccoli) with the coal in the bucket next to the back door. The coal … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acquisitions, advice. broccoli, anxiety, baby, back, bird, book, books, boss, bucket, business, cage. tiny, Carl Newton, class, coal, coffee, copy, corner, door, dust, enemy, evil, Facebook, favourite, feed, food, fresh, grain, granny, green, hands, house, invoice, iPad, kitchen, library, little, man, mice, mouse, office, pet, PhD, pigeon, refund, rodent, rodents, sprig, staff, supply, textbook, textbooks, title, town, TPR, university, vegetable, vital, worry | Leave a comment

The definitive guide to Windows 8 (Rousse)

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Dreamaticus

TPR’s backlist of technical papers and books, combined with his retired status, made him an easy target for publishers. He was even pestered by a man we met on holiday, both in person at the resort and by phone when … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backlist, bags, book, books, escape, guide, holiday, manual, paper, papers, phone, resort, retired, ski-ing, skiing, target, technical, TPR, Windows 8 | Leave a comment

Woman in a pink nightdress “haunts” modern Georgian house (Rousse)

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Dreamaticus

At first I thought that this “modern Georgian house” was pretty dull. Of course the drab paintwork and the tall presses on the ground floor were in keeping with the Georgian ideal, but you could find this kind of decoration … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ballroom, books, conservatory, decoration, drab, Edinburgh, estate, Georgian, house, housing, landing, modern, nightdress, nightie, paintwork, palm, pink, press, RBGE, Reader's Digest, Royal Botanic Garden, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, The cookery year, woman | Leave a comment

The beach body (Rousse)

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Dreamaticus

When we first arrived at our exotic Caribbean holiday destination I identified the poolside as the spot where we would spend most of the week. However, we were soon drawn to the beach from where everyone watched the huge waves … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bay, beach, beach bodies, beach body, bikini, boats, bodies, body, books, Caribbean, corpse, cycling, dead, destination, drown, exotic, fat, girl, green, helmet, high, holiday, library, middle-age, middle-aged, picnic, pool, poolside, red, sand, slim, spot, sunbathe, swell, T shirt, teenage, teenager, tide, TPR, water, wave, waves, woman | Leave a comment

Antiquarian book collecting for beginners (Rousse)

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Dreamaticus

Each morning we swam with seals. RI would join us, provided that he had not stayed out too late the night before on “tom cat” excursions. In the afternoons we liked to vary our activities. Today OC took us to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged a catalogue, activities, afternoon, antiquarian, beginners, binding, book, books, British Library, cartoon, charity, Christmas, church, collect, collecting, collection, donation, drawing room, family, highlands, holiday, house, janitor, morning, nineteenth century, parents, photographs, pile, presents, rare, retire, seals. Late, stockings, swim, tarpaulin, theological, theology, Tom cat, treasure, venture, White House | Leave a comment