Tag Archives: grandmother

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

Reuniting teddy bears at the White House (Rousse)

Posted on July 7, 2018 by Dreamaticus

My efforts were paying off: after hours of wading my way through mountains of junk, at the White House (Hartburn) I managed to group families of teddy bears that had been separated for years. In most cases they comprised threesomes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alcohol, bear, drink, father, glass, grandmother, granny, Hartburn, lunch, mother, pink, reunite, Stockton-on-Tees, teddies, teddy, threesome, White House | Leave a comment

Incidental divorce lawyer advice (Rousse)

Posted on June 10, 2018 by Dreamaticus

My parents, sisters and I travelled in our pyjamas to Dryburgh Abbey for my father’s last hurrah. On the way back home we stopped off in Corbridge. Here we called in on my grandmother’s house (which had not been knocked … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1980s, abbey, advice, bedroom, bedspread, brown, chest of drawers, childhood, Corbridge, divorce, door, dressing table, dryburgh, father, friend, furniture, grandmother, grandparent, incidental, lawyer, lock, media, old people's home, Orange, parent, Redmires, sister, The fighting temeraire, Turner, wardrobe | Leave a comment

National Insurance contributions for a private school teacher (Rousse)

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Dreamaticus

I accepted a job as a teacher at the tiny private prep school that my grandmother operated from the extension at the back of her house. I hoped that this was all above board, and that she would pay my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged contribution, extension, grandmother, insurance, national, national insurance, prep, private, school, teacher | Leave a comment

Dying gerbil mistaken for dog (Rousse)

Posted on October 22, 2017 by Dreamaticus

Like all farming families, we had many pets. In our household my Granny T was the one responsible for feeding and tidying up after them. So when LTP&S came to visit and P asked about the dying dog in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged die, dog, dying, farm, feed, gerbil, grandmother, hamster, kitchen, pet | Leave a comment

Meeting a metal-framed monarch mother at the New York mausoleum (Rousse)

Posted on April 16, 2017 by Dreamaticus

I was auditioning for the role of mistress of an American millionaire. A small Jewish Italian New Yorker appeared to have taken a fancy to me so I did my best to impress him by spending the afternoon with his … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged American, blue, British, cage, calorie, car, children, chocolate, clothing, commentary, department, Elizabeth, frame, funeral, glory, grandmother, granny, hat, impress, Italian, Jew, journey, knickerbocker, knitting, mausoleum, metal, millionaire, mistress, mother, mourn, navy, needle, preparation, Queen, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Mother, reassurance, rib, rod, stay, store, sweet, verbal | Leave a comment

Teesside veterinary practice moves south to Leeds LS1 (Rousse)

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Dreamaticus

‘If the practice moves to Leeds where will the pets of Teesside be treated?’ I asked. The two young vets glanced guiltily at each other, and then their lawyer. The three of them were sitting the green sofa at my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged address, board, grandmother, Hexham, influence, labrador, lawyer, LS1, men, paperwork, parent, pet, practice, sister, sofa, Teesside, TPR, vet, veterinary | Leave a comment

Furniture graffiti (Rousse)

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Dreamaticus

My ten year-old nephew and his little vandal friend treated my grandmother’s sideboard like a school desk. I was furious. My sister thought I was harsh.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged desk, friend, furious, furniture, garffiti, grandmother, harsh, nephew, school, sideboard, sister, vandal | Leave a comment

Granny on the Internet (Rousse)

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Dreamaticus

Granny T was very happily installed in the old people’s home. In the upstairs residents’ lounge she had created herself a cosy corner with a desk, noticeboard, and view of the garden. She made this her base from which to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged base, corner, cosy, desk, garden, grandmother, granny, home, Internet, lounge, noticeboard, old, resident, surf, view | Leave a comment

A course in Corbridge – with popsicles (Rousse)

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Dreamaticus

The venue for the course was the sitting room of my (dead) grandmother’s house in Corbridge. It was exactly as it was the last time that I had last visited it in the 1980s. The brown curtains still hung at … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1980s, baking, birthday, cake, cameos, candles, chase, Corbridge, course, cousins, curtains, freemason, gold, grandmother, hospital, house, hoverboard, jewellery, mental, ornaments, participants, patient, photographs, popsicle, popsicles, rings, sisters, skateboard, street, syllabus, television, training, walls, window | Leave a comment