Tag Archives: retire

Wimbledon tennis star happy in retirement (Rousse)

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Dreamaticus

The two international tennis superstars squealed with joy when they saw me. “We’ll never forget your performance in the semi-final at Wimbledon 2013” said Charlotte as Natalia covered me with kisses. “Do you ever think of coming out of retirement?” … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2013, court, crash, final, fluke, international, joy, kiss, performance, racket, recquet, retire, retirement, round, run, season, semi-final, star, superstar, tournament, Wombledon, women | Leave a comment

A prediction, skewered prawns, and rude remarks about Dame Kelly Holmes (Rousse)

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Dreamaticus

The stranger was astonished when I guessed that he was a city worker who had retired early from a career in finance. I was almost right: he’d spent his entire working life at the Treasury. After queuing for my food … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged buffet, career, chair, city, climb, companion, Dame, dining, edge, finance, food, friend, guard, hotel, Kelly Holmes, ladder, life, plate, point, prawn, prediction, proprietor, queue, remark, retire, rude, sea, seal, shoreline, sit, skewer, step, stranger, sunshine, table, tennis, tide, treasury, umpire, vantage, water, work, worker | Leave a comment

Dangerous Borders river walk (Rousse)

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Dreamaticus

I could have visited the M family when I was at the conference in Paris, but instead I decided to go out for a walk with some of the other delegates. These included two retired nurses, one of whom know … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged barefoot, Blipfoto, blue, Borders, camera, Canadian, concrete, conference, confines, contact, danger, delegate, family, frined, hard, hedgerow, help, hug, lift, lose, medical, mud, netlles, nurse, Paris, path, Peebles, phone, photo, photograph, position, replace, retire, river, room, rucksack, school, shoes, sparkle, sunflower, surface, swan, terrify, tiny, TPR, value, walk, water | Leave a comment

Adding a second floor to a bungalow (Rousse)

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Dreamaticus

‘We need to get this car fixed’ I said to TPR as it juddered up Burnland Terrace in Hexham. I was embarrassed that SM was a passenger in our old Fiat Stilo, and witness to its poor performance. The problems … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged add, adding, bank, bedroom, Broadway Gardens, bungalow, Burnland Terrace, car, door, estate, family, Fiat, fix, floor, garage, garden, gardeners, Hexham, house, landscape, mansion, renovate, retire, roof, second, security, Stilo, TPR, upstairs, weeding | Leave a comment

How to save money when dining out in Kendal (Rousse)

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Dreamaticus

TPR and I moved to Kendal. At first we thought it would only be a short stay, but we took the decision to retire to the town, largely because its hilly streets would keep us fit. To save money we … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged board, cook, couple, dine, fit, food, game, hills, house, Kendal, Lake District, meal, meals, money, paper, pen, pens, player, players, recipe, request, retire, save, Scrabble, serve, steal, Subbuteo, victim, victims, wood, write | Leave a comment

A diamond-studded solid gold hedgehog dilemma (Rousse)

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Dreamaticus

When I gave away the silk cloak that came free in the cornflakes box to two colleagues in the school office, I never expected it to be the one that contained the diamond-studded solid gold hedgehog. Now I faced a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged brekfast, cereal, cloak, cornflakes, diamond, dilemma, free, gold, hedgehog, jewel, office, prize, proceeds, retire, school, silk, staff | Leave a comment

Antiquarian book collecting for beginners (Rousse)

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Dreamaticus

Each morning we swam with seals. RI would join us, provided that he had not stayed out too late the night before on “tom cat” excursions. In the afternoons we liked to vary our activities. Today OC took us to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged a catalogue, activities, afternoon, antiquarian, beginners, binding, book, books, British Library, cartoon, charity, Christmas, church, collect, collecting, collection, donation, drawing room, family, highlands, holiday, house, janitor, morning, nineteenth century, parents, photographs, pile, presents, rare, retire, seals. Late, stockings, swim, tarpaulin, theological, theology, Tom cat, treasure, venture, White House | Leave a comment

Poodle puppies and the promise of an operation (Rousse)

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Dreamaticus

TPR had been keeping a secret. I had no inkling of the pregnancy, but when I walked into the kitchen and found a new litter of tiny grey poodles I was overcome with joy. Then I panicked. How could we … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged castrate, dog, dogs, family, homes, joy, mate, neuter, panic, poodle, poodles, pregnancy, pregnant, pup, puppies, puppy, pups, retire, retirement, secret, spey, TPR | Leave a comment

Tried and tested techniques for keeping young, travelling free of charge on the M1, and repelling criminals (Rousse)

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Have you ever wondered how to keep young, which is the cheapest form of travel between Leeds and London, and how can you best avoid the attention of burglars? If so, read on… How to keep young I was under … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged belongings, burglar, burglars, cage, coach, comfort, criminal, criminals, fare, father-in-law, free, how to, Leeds, London, M1, metal, motorway, office, paid, pay, PhD, repel, repelling, retire, retirement, safe. safety, stranger, student, students, supervision, technique, techniques, travel, travelling, young | Leave a comment

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