Tag Archives: island

Dealing with unwanted garden intruders and a boat ride to a Scottish island (Rousse)

Posted on November 7, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I climbed out of bed and stepped across the room to open the shutters. Outside our bedroom window I saw a small dog in a bright red Santa jacket nosing through the vegetable patch, and a man – presumably the … Continue reading →

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Identification of an eighteenth century island greenhouse (Rousse)

Posted on January 27, 2025 by Dreamaticus

‘It looks eighteenth century to me. Do you know the architect?’ asked the super-snobby woman seated with her grandmother on my mother-in-law’s sofa. Whatever gave her the impression that I would know anything about an ancient greenhouse on an island … Continue reading →

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Sailor ditches assets in bid to fake 9/11 death (Rousse)

Posted on May 29, 2024 by Dreamaticus

A lack of sailing qualifications was apparently no barrier to buying a yacht, especially when the owner was in such a hurry to sell. Our new boat came with a lower deck stuffed with smaller vessels, and a resident black … Continue reading →

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Moral opposition to second homes (Rousse)

Posted on September 10, 2023 by Dreamaticus

Setting off on a hill walk in yellow Crocs was a bad idea, but not as stupid as buying a modern three storey house on a remote Scottish island with an unpronounceable name that sounded like a sneeze. We’d only … 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 private island and missing fortune (Rousse)

Posted on July 17, 2022 by Dreamaticus

CO and AM had gone for the upmarket version of the holiday. While we were stuck at the resort with everyone else, they hired their own private island (maximum occupancy 3), and came over by yacht to join the rest … Continue reading →

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Hugh Grant’s wife spills sex story beans (Rousse)

Posted on March 25, 2022 by Dreamaticus

On the spot I volunteered to give the address at the end of the University reunion dinner. What better subject than the sexual exploits of two girls from my hall of residence, now respectable grown women, and seated before me … Continue reading →

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Ramsey MacMahon and a whale (Rousse)

Posted on June 5, 2021 by Dreamaticus

Before we headed to the ferry terminal, LM and I checked the birthday cards in the stranger’s flat. They were all for someone called Ramsey – most likely the BBC Alba presenter Ramsey MacMahon, who I had just seen in … Continue reading →

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Arran by bike (Rousse)

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Dreamaticus

I was the front passenger on a blue five-saddle tandem steered by my nephew P from very the last seat at the back of the bike. To ride the winding one-track roads of the Isle of Arran without protective clothing, … Continue reading →

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Viking ship spotted off the Isle of Lewis (Rousse)

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Dreamaticus

On a far northern shore of the Isle of Lewis the locals built a snowman – the size of a house. They saved it from melting over the summer months by topping it up with ice from their domestic freezers. … Continue reading →

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