Tag Archives: garden

Edinburgh versus Bristol (Rousse)

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Dreamaticus

Since the sale of our beautiful Georgian flat in Edinburgh, we were staying in a cramped modern, windowless, flat in a rough part of Bristol. This would be a temporary arrangement until we found a new home more to our … Continue reading →

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Greedy goldfish and slapdash workmen ruin house and garden (Rousse)

Posted on May 20, 2023 by Dreamaticus

The house and garden were a complete mess: the house because workmen had damaged the newly wall-papered corridor at the back of the flat; the garden because two enormous, greedy goldfish had taken charge the pond, recently flooded to cover … Continue reading →

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2023 sycamore seedling infestation reaches new heights (Rousse)

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Dreamaticus

I climbed high up the red brick wall that separated our back garden from the narrow yard next door. When I reached the top, I complained to myself about the mess of smashed clay plant pots and broken plastic containers … Continue reading →

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Thirsty in Tain (Rousse)

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Dreamaticus

By the time that we arrived in Tain, my throat was so dry that I could hardly speak. TPR and I stood by JS and AT’s garden wall and waited until one of them appeared. Soon JS returned to her … Continue reading →

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Scruffy cellar dwellers (Rousse)

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Dreamaticus

I dropped a line of muddy footprints along the pale blue carpet when I came into the house from the garden. I really should have taken off my wellingtons at the back door. Now I would have to waste time … Continue reading →

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Urban garden woodpecker and wood (Rousse)

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Dreamaticus

I looked out of the bedroom window and couldn’t believe my eyes: there was a woodpecker on our bird feeder! I looked out a second time and saw my old colleague BP picking up logs from the lawn. ‘Please just … Continue reading →

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A boat trip to Greenock (Rousse)

Posted on September 25, 2022 by Dreamaticus

I couldn’t reach SD’s house in Stirling in time for our book group meeting so made a separate arrangement to meet LM in Greenock. While I streamed the gathering in SD’s garden to my phone, I negotiated the ticket barrier … Continue reading →

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A pocked-marked, cabbage-eating, intruder with a deadly disease (Rousse)

Posted on September 25, 2022 by Dreamaticus

The pock-marked intruder was chewing on a cabbage leaf from my vegetable patch. There was no indication of how he had scaled the high wall, and I was certain that he had not come through the house, so it was … Continue reading →

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A cottage in Lanarkshire (Rousse)

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Dreamaticus

TPR bought us a second home in Lanarkshire – without making a single viewing. The details in the printed sales brochure was enough to convince him that this was an excellent investment. On arrival at the cottage for the first … Continue reading →

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A swing, a helicopter, and a sauna (Rousse)

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Dreamaticus

Even I was doubting the sense of my latest charity shop purchase: a plastic orange children’s swing set, just about the right size for a Barbie doll. The others at AH-S and CH-S’s vast house looked at me with pity … Continue reading →

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