Tag Archives: parents

Flat conversion plans (Rousse)

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Dreamaticus

We inspected the damage the morning after the night before. I thought we’d picked out all the sleeping bodies amongst the debris of my parents’ post-party house, but my mother said that we should also check “the flat”. Until this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 000, £38, bodies, body, car park, conversion, damage, flat, floor, house, income, mother, NCP, parents, party, planning permission, rent, shop, sister, unit, units | Leave a comment

A tandem upgrade and trying twins (Rousse)

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Dreamaticus

I peered out of the car window to the left and gazed up at the faded wooden sign. In peeling red and green paint, it advertised a long defunct fishmonger. Just here, where we were now queuing in traffic, there … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acquaintance, acquaintances, audience, bicycle, bike, birthday, blonde, car, clue, clues, cycle, dead, driver, driving, Dundas Street, frame, friend, Friends, girls, green, identical, lecture, lights, market, paint, parent, parents, passenger, passengers, photograph, queue, red, seat, sign, tandem, TPR, traffic, transport, treat, twin, twins, upgrade, window, wood | Leave a comment

William Morris book design determines undergraduate reading habits (Rousse)

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Now that the degree results had been published it was time to prepare for the graduation ceremony on campus at the University of Birmingham. Of course, TPR would be in the audience as usual, and I invited my nephew P … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged arts and crafts, audience, bedroom, Birmingham, book, Borås, campus, ceremony, certificate, certificates, clothes, cover, degree, design, display, exemption, exemptions, fighter, graduands, graduation, Great Hall, guest, guests, hair, librarian, librarians, library, library school, library schools, neighbour, neighbours, nephew, niece, page, parents, primary, pub, publication, publications, random, Reading, results, school, stage, study, Swedish School of Library and Information Science, T shirt, TPR, undergraduate, University of Birmingham, unshaven, William Morris | Leave a comment

Rousse’s Northumbrian anxiety

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Dreamaticus

This was a worrying prospect: taking LM to meet my parents in Northumberland. Whatever would she make of their house?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged anxiety, house, Northumberland, Northumbrian, parents, worry | Leave a comment

A patchwork quilt, property in Perthshire, and a stay at the Palace (Rousse)

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Dreamaticus

My parents were selling up and disposing of their possessions, as was the University of Birmingham. If I wanted to save anything, now was the time to act. I wanted nothing from the White House, but was keen to retrieve … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Birmingham, carpet tacks, cottage, dentures, evidence, false, family, holiday, house, Manor, Manor House, palace, parents, patchwork, Perthshire, photo, photograph, Pitlochry, Queen, quilt, rent, restoration, royal, sell, stair, stationery, Stockton-on-Tees, teeth, university, University of Birmingham, White House | Leave a comment

How to stop your kids fighting at mealtimes (Rousse)

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I found it a lonely experience eating my dinner in my parents’ vast dining room at a table all to myself. I also observed that the servants had to cover so much extra ground when forced to serve the same … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged children, dining, family, fight, fighting, how to, kids, lonely, parents, prevent, room, servants, sisters, stop, table | Leave a comment

Birthday Belle oversleeps

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Realising that I had been asleep for over 40 years, I decided to wake up. I was astonished to discover both of my parents at the foot of my bed. And to learn that it was my birthday.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bed, birthday, parents, sleep | Leave a comment

Divorced couple set to remarry – in spite of ghoulish guests (Rousse)

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Dreamaticus

My parents were very relieved to hear that TPR and I had overcome our differences and decided to remarry. Our divorce in the mid-1990s had been pretty low-key (he’d simply “gone off” me) and since then we had been spending … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ceremony, chaos, couple, divorce, ghoulish, guests, make-up, marry, mother, parents, remarry, sister, Stockton-on-Tees, Thriller, wedding, White House | Leave a comment

A crowded holiday with basking sharks (Rousse)

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Dreamaticus

How many people can you fit on to a tidal rock for a family holiday? In our case it appeared that the invitations were unlimited. Here were gathered: my parents; my sister J; my niece A; an aunt; two cousins … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged aunt, basking shark, basking sharks, cliffs, cousin, cousins, Cuban, family, father, holiday, impostor, parents, rock, school reunion, shark, sharks, sister, Tidal | Leave a comment

JK Rowling bakes a mean meringue (Rousse)

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Dreamaticus

This is the tale of the day that JK Rowling and I finally secured our friendship. It didn’t start well… BR scolded me. He couldn’t understand why I thought it acceptable to walk the length of the railway line completely … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art gallery, backside, bag, bare, Birmingham University, blonde, bottom, campus, casserole, chute, classical, concert, dish, friend, friendship, handbag, Harry Potter, home-made, JK Rowling, library, library assistant, line, meringue, meringues, music, naked, parents, party, performance, railway, readers, Reading, reading room, room, seating, sisters, student, students, sunshine, tea, track, University of Birmingham, woman | Leave a comment