Tag Archives: present

Foil-wrapped Easter bunnies prove more interesting than professorships (Rousse)

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Dreamaticus

We ejected the two students from the table and got down to business. Our newly-appointed bearded colleague contributed much to the discussion. This was just what we hoped for when we took the decision to recruit external experienced staff on … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged appointment, appointments, beard, birthday, bunnies, bunny, cafeteria, experience, foil, parents, present, presents, professor, professors, professorship, professorships, promotion, rabbit, rabbits, staff, student, students, table, university | Leave a comment

Friday afternoons in academia (Rousse)

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Dreamaticus

If the funding councils knew how we spent our Friday afternoons, they would probably close us down immediately. A selection of my favourite colleagues – including MR, AM (normally resident at another university), JLW (not an academic) and an American … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged afternoon, afternoons, American, beige, birthday, box, cardigan, cashmere, close, colleague, colleagues, council, councils, Friday, funding, lady, office, pairs, pink, present, presents, shoes, sleeveless, university | Leave a comment

Condensed milk cures homesickness amongst British ex-pats (Rousse)

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Dreamaticus

Whoever thought that I was qualified to examine a PhD in Latin on the French Enlightenment needed their head examining. Four of us gathered for the viva around a table in an over-heated room at the end of a long … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged abroad, autumn, box, British, C18th, card, chair, condensed milk, controls, convener, convenor, cupboard, doctorate, eighteenth century, embassies, embassy, enlightenment, ex-pat, ex-pats, exam, examining, foreign, French, heat, heating, homesickness, Latin, milk, news, PhD, present, room, station, student, study, table, thesis, train, viva, work | Leave a comment

Changes in the marine environment to suit a red-haired mermaid (Rousse)

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Dreamaticus

We were coming to the end of an uneventful family holiday. On the morning of our last full day away I bounced out of the big shared family bed and asked my little sister (aged 12) whether she would like … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged attraction, attractions, bed, bedclothes, canvas, comb, combing, cut-out, cut-outs, Edinburgh, environment, family, father, first, hair, holiday, home, MacBook, Marine, mermaid, nude, painting, picture, present, red-haired, rock, scenes, second, semi-naked, sister, sleep, space, underwater, wall, work | Leave a comment

Picked up at Park Lane Four Seasons (Rousse)

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Dreamaticus

Looking ridiculous in a wide-brimmed lilac straw hat, in a gap in the traffic LC dragged me over Park Lane and we made a dash for the reception at the Four Seasons Hotel. Wet sleet was falling and mixing with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged aged, beau, best man, blond, bride, brim, connoisseur, date, designer, desk, dress, dresses, face, faces, flimsy, Four Seasons, glass, glasses, groom, ground, hair, hair-do, handkerchiefs, hat, high heels, hotel, lilac, monogrammed, old, Park Lane, pillar, present, reception, red, sip, sleet, slide, slip, slush, snow, stain, stains, suitor, summer, tall, toast, TPR, traffic, vintage, waiter, wedding, wet, wine | Leave a comment

James Bond and a hand-knit metallic jumper surprise (Rousse)

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Dreamaticus

HH opened the massive cardboard box that she’d brought on her visit. “Just a few presents” she announced as I spied the beautiful hand-knitted string jumpers in a dazzling array of metallic colours. I grabbed a golden one and pulled … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 007, blue, box, cardboard, Casino Royale, colour, colours, comedy, Ealing, electric, gift, gifts, golden, hand-knit, head, James Bond, jumper, knit, knitting, niece, present, presents, skinny, surprise, sweater, television, TV, visit | Leave a comment

Daring Danish rescue attempt ends with death (Rousse)

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I’d only met C in real life once before. Since our brief encounter earlier in the year all our recent contact had been online, where C’s alias was A. He’d agreed to pass on some photography hints to TPR so … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged act, ambulance, babies, baby, car, chat, Chinese, congratulations, Dane, Danish, daring, dead, death, diary, drive, driving, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel, escape, evil, facility, fake, family, Filofax, flat, friend, Friends, gift, grandmother, granny, great Dane, guard, guards, hail, hints, home, inmate, Isle of Skye, key, keys, kill, Leith Walk, lock, locked, McDonald Road, mother, Online, photography, Pilgrig Street, Portree, pregnant, present, red, rescue, road, sect, toilet, TPR, tramp, trick, wife, yard, youth hostel | 1 Comment

Partying takes precedence over painting (Rousse)

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Dreamaticus

DT and KJ bought a big house to renovate and sell before moving to the US. Their crazy work and party schedules got in the way and not a single can of paint was opened. Guests at the big farewell … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged barbecue, bonfire, cover, farewell, house, iPhone, paint, party, partying, present, renovate | Leave a comment

Cool Christmas presents: introducing Mighty Mouse! (Rousse)

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Mighty Mouse screeches over the carpet at top speed. Whenever he hits a piece of furniture he bursts into several pieces revealing all his electronic innards. This is the toy to buy for Christmas 2012! You can easily reassemble Might … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2012, Amazon, Argos, £25, carpet, Christmas, climb, cool, coolest, dust, dusting, electronic, family, furniture, houewives, housewife, IKEA, leg, mighty, Mighty Mouse, mouse, neckline, present, presents, room, skirt, table, toy | Leave a comment

Top wedding style and a most unusual gift (Rousse)

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Dreamaticus

My parents laid on the party at the White House as a combined hen and stag night for SB and fiancé AG. The date was chosen to take advantage of the ceilidh on the beach, a short walk along the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1970s, beach, bedroom, beer, boots, bride-to-be, ceilidh, clothes, collar, collars, Darlington Road, designer, dog, dress, egg, eggs, face, fiance, foundation, gift, goth, goths, guest, guests, Hartburn, hat, highland, Iguanas, machair, marathon, meat, meats, mother-in-law, neck, necks, parents, party, perm, photograph, pink, poodle, present, punk, quiche, quiches, salad, salads, Scotch egg, Scotch eggs, shoreline, Stockton-on-Tees, stranger, strangers, stud, studded, studs, sundress, television, TPR, valve, valves, wedding, White House, White Stuff | Leave a comment