Tag Archives: busy

A busy morning with Uncle J (Rousse)

My Uncle J sat on the sofa and enthused about his new business idea: to sell custom-made T-shirts to the British middle classes. I told him that this venture was doomed to failure. I was British and middle class, and … Continue reading

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An ‘executive home’ in Birmingham (Rousse)

On a complete whim we bought a modern ‘executive home’ on a main road in a northern suburb of Birmingham. Since we couldn’t afford to run two houses in two different countries, we cut our ties with the beautiful city … Continue reading

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Teenage victim’s death inevitable (Rousse)

Teenagers spilled out into the middle of the busy road. It was inevitable that one would be struck by a car and killed. The victim was a boy of about 19. DT took him out. Everyone was distraught.

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An audience with the Queen at Buckingham Palace (Rousse)

By the time Granny H and I reached Buckingham Palace to interview the Queen my feet were terribly blistered from wearing the pale blue shoes. TPR had borrowed them a couple of days earlier to wear to DT’s party and … Continue reading

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Over the Archers’ paving stones for an aborted walk to the beach (Rousse)

GB had struggled to find a couple of pals who were willing to walk all the way over the far hills to the remote beach so was delighted when she thought that KA and I could accompany her. I was … Continue reading

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Simon Cowell champions women in science (Rousse)

It was all very well for so-called consultants and other well-wishers to advise me to share out the work, but everyone else was just so busy – and I couldn’t trust them to do the job properly anyway. Everything was … Continue reading

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Staff fired over spilt coffee (Rousse)

Our maid Norah split TPR’s mug of coffee all over our white bed linen. She didn’t flinch. “Don’t you realise that you could have scalded me?” I shouted from under the covers. From the look on her face, it appeared … Continue reading

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A weekend salmon fishing (Rousse)

“Are you OK to go salmon fishing the weekend of 12th March?” asked EH. “12th March? When does the season start?” interupted some random bloke. I concluded that this man was a half-wit: doesn’t everyone know the dates of the … Continue reading

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Packing advice: don’t forget your bread knife (Rousse)

I would have loved to have been a full team member for the project cooked up by IS and MG, but my role ended up to be more of an observer than that of a full participant. At best, my … Continue reading

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Braving the British Library lift system for a blip (Rousse)

The lifts at the British Library had a terrible reputation. They could be crowded, smelly and airless, and it was said that you could suffocate from a lack of oxygen if you were unlucky enough to travel all the way … Continue reading

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