Tag Archives: house

George Clooney charms Edinburgh (Rousse)

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Dreamaticus

George Clooney was back in Edinburgh, and now that we were firm friends he opted to stay at my house rather than a hotel. It was a pity that I had to go to work while he visited, but that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged autograph, autographs, bus, campus, charm, charms, Edinburgh, George Clooney, hotel, house, office, photo, photograph, photographs, photos, work | Leave a comment

Central Birmingham palace “sponsored” by Asian airline (Rousse)

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Dreamaticus

We travelled in a smart black stretch limo to see the new house of Z and SM. This was the most appropriate form of transport for visiting multimillionaires. In short, if we turned up in our own (modest) car, we … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airline, Asian, Birmingham, car, computing, drive, driving, elephant, entrance, hall, hot tub, house, IT, limo, limousine, logo, millionaire, millionaires, multimillionaire, multimillionaires, new-build, palace, room, stretch, tile, tiles | Leave a comment

An unplanned journey to the Hebrides (Rousse)

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Dreamaticus

My father paid £19 each for all five of us to visit the castle and within minutes I had ruined everyone’s day. How was I to know that the bus was not a shuttle around the estate, but instead a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bathing costume, beach, beaches, bus, castle, coach, Dane, dressing gown, father, foreigners, Harris, Hebrides, house, houses, journey, Kyle of Lochalsh, Lewis, mobile, mother, phone, separation, shuttle, sister, sisters, swimming costume, swimsuit, tartan, tourist, tourists, towelling, worry | Leave a comment

Belle and the Russian oligarch

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Dreamaticus

The three oligarch brothers were becoming increasingly influential in the borough. From appearing on the glossy pages of celebrity magazines to taking over the running of the local hospital, it seemed they had fingers in every pie in Lewisham. While … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged brothers, hospital, house, Lewisham, London, oligarch, sofa | Leave a comment

A grandmother, assorted colleagues, South American doctoral studies, and an ex-boyfriend (Rousse)

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Dreamaticus

The venue for KB’s last meeting before she finally retired was the sitting room of my grandmother’s house in Hexham. My last visit to the house was in 1992, but little had changed in 20 years. I tested the comfort … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1992, academic, bedroom, boyfriend, carpet, colleague, colleagues, comfort, distress, doctoral, door, ex, ex-boyfriend, garage, grandmother, granny, green, Hexham, house, lecturer, meeting, PhD, porch, retire, sitting room, sofa, South American, student, students, studies, study, studying, supervise, supervising, supervision | Leave a comment

An intruder, a storm, and the terrible after-effects of tree resin rain (Rousse)

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Dreamaticus

There’d been a number of break-ins at our flat over recent weeks, none of which had triggered our burglar alarm. We were sure, however, that it was just matter of time before we would walk in on the culprit(s). When … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acoustic, after-effects, alarm, alternative, arrest, bell, black, bouquet, box, boxes, break-in, burglar, caramel, celebrate, celebration, chocolate, chocolates, coffee, conversation, culprit, cushion, cushions, damage, door, flat, flower, flowers, fly, flying, friend, friendship, garden, gardens, ground, guitar, gym, hall, headlice, house, houses, identity, intruder, kettle, kitchen, lice, lifestyle, loss, memory, mother-in-law, mystery, neighbour, neighbours, paralysed, paralysis, peanut, peanuts, police, policeman, prison, rescue, resin, Russian, sitting room, sky, sofa, stiff, storm, stranger, tea, TPR, training, tree, weather, wind, windy, woman, work | Leave a comment

Ambridge sensation: Pat Archer is “happy” (Rousse)

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Dreamaticus

The months of misery were over and my friend Pat Archer was finally smiling again. “It’s only been on the market for a week, and with the Christmas holiday coming up I knew it wouldn’t sell straightaway, but I’m optimistic … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ambridge, Archers, bridge, Bridge Farm, Christmas, farm, happy, holiday, house, husband, market, misery, Pat Archer, sale, selling, Tony Archer | Leave a comment

Catch a falling star – in West Sussex (Rousse)

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I was catching tiny red stars in my outstretched palms. These had fallen from the shower that could now be seen making its way across the meadow to the east of my sister J’s house. I asked TPR why such … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomical, catch, catching, fallen, garden, house, meadow, meteoroid, privilege, privileged, red, shooting, shower, sister, star, stars, TPR, treasure, West Sussex | Leave a comment

Rousse’s mistaken hot property purchase

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I was looking forward to moving house. We were going back to the north east of England to be within a one hour drive of my parents. It would be wonderful to be surrounded by friendly northerners again. TPR left … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bar, beating, buckle, children, council, door, fields, flat, floor, floors, friend, friendly, garden, hospital, house, job, kids, lady mad, mistake, neighbour, neighbours, north east, northerner, northerners, parent, parents, patent leather, playing field, property, purchase, real estate, rota, running, school, shoe, smoker, smokers, smoking, student, students, TPR, York | Leave a comment

School reunions: beware the ex (Rousse)

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Dreamaticus

It was difficult to establish my role at this reunion. For example, when KP and I disappeared to the ladies for an hour we felt terribly guilty, believing that we would be missed. However, when we emerged again afterwards, nobody … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged auditorium, bathroom, Birmingham, Birmingham University, car, cashmere, classmate, classmates, driving, film, friend, Hoppings, house, jersey, jumper, ladies, movie, Newcastle, Oxford, pupil, pupils, reunion, school, sweater, teacher, teachers, Town Moor, TPR, university, University of Birmingham, University of Oxford | Leave a comment