Tag Archives: house

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

A lack of stemware, a missing husband, and a woman obsessed with Wham! (Rousse)

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I was so proud that I was able to host the conference at my parents’ house, especially when the delegates demonstrated their appreciation of the venue by taking photos of the grand rooms and the huge ornate staircase. However, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged analogue, Andrew Ridgeley, conference, digital, dinner, drinks, excursion, George Michael, house, husband, machine, missing, music, parents, park, pool, reel-to-reel, sherry, slide, staircase, stemware, tape recorder, TPR, water, wave, Wham! | Leave a comment

Secret military airbase at Edinburgh airport harbours unexpected relations (Rousse)

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I knew that it was too good to be true, but this didn’t stop my enjoying the company of my long-dead aunt, uncle and grandmother when I stumbled across them living happily together in a small house on the edge … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airbase, airport, alcohol, athletes, aunt, auntie, baggy, brother, children, computer, cousins, dead, death, dentist, drinking, Edinburgh, facilities, fit, Frankie says, gloom, Glow, grandmother, granny, hack, hacking, house, Kate Middleton, kids, military, plumbing, royal, screen, secret, siblings, sister, slim, souvenir, T shirt, teacher, toilets, tomato juice, uncle, wedding, wine | Leave a comment

Haunts old and new, and party dresses (Rousse)

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The small Birmingham back garden was crowded with people clamouring to climb trees, the shed and the summer house. Even I managed to scale the trunk of a bare apple tree. From the top I looked back up the garden … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged accommodation, bed, Birmingham, bridge, counterpane, cushions, dress, dresses, house, Laura Ashley, Monsoon, office, painted, room dividers, satin, shed, silk, Somerfield, summer house, trees, white | Leave a comment

Alternative cycling in the Hebrides (Rousse)

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Water started pouring through the upper floor of our cottage at Timsgarry on the Isle of Lewis. My partner guessed that the source of the problem was most likely the spring further up the hill. The urgency was such that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cycling, cyclist, cyclists, flood, flooding, hill, horse, horsemen, horses, house, Isle of Lewis, Timsgarry, water | Leave a comment