Tag Archives: north

Pensioners purchase Perthshire sporting estate popular with Germans (Rousse)

Posted on August 25, 2025 by Dreamaticus

My elderly in-laws bought a sporting estate in Perthshire. It came complete with a majestic main house, numerous workers’ cottages, stables and other outbuildings, and a stretch of prime salmon fishing (normally let out to rude German tourists who had … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cottage, eighties, estate, family, father-in-law, German, house, in-law, migration, north, outbuilding, pensioner, Perthshire, river, sporting | Leave a comment

Avoiding the expense of the House of Bruar (Rousse)

Posted on December 9, 2024 by Dreamaticus

My Uncle P, Auntie M, and cousins called in to check the arrangements for our family holiday in the far north. I was worried about the potential cost of lunch en route, especially if we broke the journey at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A9, aunt, bikes, clothes, cousin, expense, family, holiday, House of Bruar, lunch, north, packing, sandwiches, Tomintoul, uncle | Leave a comment

Cat food and shameful northern roots (Rousse)

Posted on October 22, 2023 by Dreamaticus

‘Cat food! You need to do more investigations into cat food!’ screeched the scruffy man as the smart black Citizens Advice limo drove past him. ‘And bitcoin too’, muttered my friend JT as she sat down next to me. She … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bitcoin, bob, cat, Citizen's Advice, elegant, food, friend, loss, north, northern, nudge, posh, shame, southern, Stockton-on-Tees, weight | Leave a comment

Pitlochry: the Cotwolds of the North (Rousse)

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Dreamaticus

JS and RR moved with us to Pitlochry, recently declared the ‘Cotswolds of the North’.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cotswolds, north, Pitlochry | Leave a comment

North Sea cello concert (Rousse)

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Dreamaticus

At dawn on the last day of my holiday, I walked down to the shoreline of the cold grey North Sea. Already there were several brave souls in the water. Most were taking an early morning dip dressed only in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cello, cold, concert, grey, hall, hotel TPR, north, sea, swim | Leave a comment

An octogenarian goes cycling (Rousse)

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Dreamaticus

My mother and I joined the main carriageway carefully – which is just as well because a large timber lorry had obviously not seen us on our bikes, and nearly took out the pair of us. We were heading north … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bathing, bike, cliff, cycling, cyclist, father, gorge, lorry, mother, north, octogenarian, pool, stamp, waterfall | Leave a comment

A cave holiday with a two-husband trip to Edinburgh Zoo (Rousse)

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Dreamaticus

TPR booked an unheated cave for our summer holiday in the far north of Scotland. Although compact, its floor-space was still greater than our first house in Birmingham. Red curtains at the ‘door way’ mouth provided adequate privacy. When my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged animal, Birmingham, cave, curtains, dog, dog-goat, Edinburgh, enclosure, entrance, escape, free, goat, holiday, house, north, peril, red, Scotland, summer, trip, unheated, visitor, zoo | Leave a comment

Checking for Czechs (Rousse)

Posted on February 24, 2018 by Dreamaticus

I tried walking home along country lanes at night time, but this proved too dangerous. Even in flashing trainers it soon became obvious that drivers could not see me, and that I was risking my life. I changed my plan … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A40, accommodation, bonus, boy, car, check, city, conversation, country, Czech, dangerous, daylight, deal, demean, driver, Edinburgh, flash, flat, foreign, friendship, growl, hair, hitch-hike, holiday, holiday-maker, home, in-laws, intinerary, lane, life, location, man, Manchester, Manchester Metroplitan University, map, night, north, Nottingham Trent University, old-fashioned, passenger, pet, plan, plate, risk, see, slip road, student, trainer, trick, trip, wait, walk | Leave a comment

Race to rescue earthquake victim in northern Russia (Rousse)

Posted on January 14, 2018 by Dreamaticus

When the earthquake struck in the Russian far north TPR was standing directly on the fault line above a seam of white marble. He fell several thousand feet into the enormous crevice. I was sure that I would never see … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged crevice, earth, earthquake, fat, fault, find, line, marble, north, race, rescue, reserve, Russia, seam, survive, survivor, text, TPR, white | Leave a comment

Academic is owner of magnificent mansion on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne (Rousse)

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Dreamaticus

I knew that it was unconventional to take one’s sibling to a school management meeting, but now that mine worked at the University (albeit in a different department), I thought that I would get away with it. SS glanced over … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged academic, admire, art, black, blue, briar, bush, causeway, children, door, gate-crash, glorious, Holy Island, house, interior, lecturer, life sciences, Lindisfarne, magnificent, management, mansion, meeting, mother, name, north, Northumberland, notes, paintwork, panel, path, peel, pharmacology, photo, plan, red, rich, school, scrap book, scribble, sea, sell, ship, sibling, sky, stop, text, tide, TPR, university, upkeep, view, water, wood | Leave a comment