Tag Archives: family

Stolen secret family treasure (Rousse)

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Dreamaticus

I reached up for the book on the top shelf in my long-dead paternal grandmother’s kitchen. ‘I’m taking Granny’s diary for safe-keeping’, I told my mother. We both knew that I would hide it from my sisters and cousins, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cousin, diary, family, grandmother, kitchen, sister, steal, treasure | Leave a comment

Super-friendly furry animals, early blooms, and stolen chocolates (Rousse)

Posted on March 19, 2019 by Dreamaticus

Four grey squirrels, each accompanied by a tiny rust-coloured baby kit, leapt from the treetops into my coat as I passed through the market. I managed to shake the squirming animals out of my clothing by the time I reached … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged animal, April, bay, bowl, box, chocolate, coat, cold, display, family, flower, foliage, furry, kit, market, May, paint, squirrel, summer, TPR, treetop, tub, white, yard | Leave a comment

Alternative wedding activities (Rousse)

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Dreamaticus

As the guests arrived for my sister J’s wedding, I chatted to my young cousins in the kitchen. This was more interesting than making small talk with middle-aged men in dark suits. I also wanted to avoid getting into arguments … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bird, board, bridal, ceremony, cousin, cricket, dress, egg, family, gown, house, jewel, kitchen, mahogany, marriage, photograph, pitch, shift, small-talk, species, table. cheese, wedding | Leave a comment

Dogs days with Sir Sean Connery (Rousse)

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Dreamaticus

Mine was one of the first families drafted to perform anti-terrorist service. We lined up inside a long plastic tent at the junction of Queen Street and North St David Street in Edinburgh, following the instructions of the police to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cabin, claustrophobia, dog, Edinburgh, family, log, police, punishment, remote, Sean Connery, terrorist, volunteer | Leave a comment

From turtles to a wish to weigh under ten stone (Rousse)

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Dreamaticus

I left my school friend KC in charge of the mixed selection of beautiful green-striped turtles that were climbing up our side of the bath. This allowed me to drive south to collect my mother from my cousins’ house in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged antique, bath, blue, Borders, building, cousin, cupboard, dress, family, friend, grandmother, house, kitchen, meeting, school, stone, turtle, weigh, wheelchair, wing | Leave a comment

Sunny South Shields shelters skiers (Rousse)

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Dreamaticus

We were travelling to our Alpine ski holiday on an early morning flight from Newcastle airport – as, it would appear, was half the population of the north east of England. All the airport hotels were fully booked, so we … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged accommodation, airport, Alps, baby, bay, camp site, cigarette, civility, DIY, family, flight, grandfather, hotel, leg, Newcastle, picth, run, sand dune, seaside, shore, ski, skier, smoke, South Shields, South Tyneside Council, sun, tattoo, toddler | Leave a comment

Smoking spliffs in the sunshine (Rousse)

Posted on December 8, 2018 by Dreamaticus

In the scorching heat at a family picnic JMH and JLR sat on the car bonnet and smoked spliffs. Meanwhile FDS played in the sunshine and I sheltered in the shade. We returned home by tram along the yellow painted … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airport, bonnet, car, coaster, family, Firth, Forth, heat, hill, Pentland, picnic, roller, roller coaster, scorch, shade, smoke, spliff, sunshine, tram | Leave a comment

Saving Sir Anthony Eden from infected flies and imprisonment (Rousse)

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Dreamaticus

I was warned not to travel across London to the crescent that was swarming with infection-bearing insects. However, I argued that it was essential that I attend the meeting. There I found Sir Anthony Eden expressing concerns about his forthcoming … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Anthony Eden, concern, crescent, family, flies, fly, friend, imprisonment, infection, insect, London, meeting, plight, Sir Athony Edeb, swarm, travel, trial, warn | Leave a comment

Christmas and Lindtt chocolates in Nottingham (Rousse)

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Dreamaticus

In Nottingham AN interrupted the overweight yellow Harris Tweed clad waitresses as they gossiped about their boss’ complicated love life. “Do you serve lunch on Christmas Day?’ she asked. I was aghast that the idea of not preparing the festive … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged affair, boss, chocolate, Christmas, Christmas Day, connection, drink, family, festive, Harris, invitation, Lindtt, love, lunch, meal, Nottingham, railway, station, train, tweed, waitress, yellow | Leave a comment

A crash on the Paris péripherique (Rousse)

Posted on July 21, 2018 by Dreamaticus

Racing through Paris by car without a satnav, TPR’s erratic driving along this haphazard route was bound to end in disaster. We were meant to be heading into town – not out of it – and now I was pretty … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged car, corpse, crash, crop, data, death, delete, disaster, drive, emergency, family, field, implicate, iPhone, Paris, péripherique, pedestrian, Place d'Italie, road, roundabout, satnav, stop, teenage, TPR, vehicle, winter | Leave a comment