Tag Archives: sister

Spreadsheets, arguments, and a spiral staircase at the auctioneer’s sale room (Rousse)

Posted on December 17, 2024 by Dreamaticus

The auctioneer’s accountant praised the clarity of the layout of our financial transactions. ‘That comes from years of working with spreadsheets’, I said with pride. The accountant’s colleagues were not so happy that we sisters argued openly in front of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged antique, argument, auctioneer, Barbara, bed, double, family, handbag, junk, Newcastle, room, sale, sister, spiral, spreadsheet, staircase | Leave a comment

No junk in Jesmond (Rousse)

Posted on December 8, 2024 by Dreamaticus

I had dreaded the visit to my sister S’s house in Jesmond, convinced that I probably wouldn’t even make it past the front door. This was due to the quantity of junk that she stored from floor to ceiling in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged antique, flat, flatpack, IKEA, Jesmond, junk, sister, Tyneside, vintage | Leave a comment

Gatecrashing the Choral Society concert (Rousse)

Posted on November 24, 2024 by Dreamaticus

I was desperate to the attend the sell-out concert at the drill hall. Without a ticket, I hatched a plan to gatecrash the event. Just before the concert start time, I walked boldly into the reception area of the hall. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged audience, blog, choral, concert, drill, Elastoplast, gatecrash, hall, mouth, prawns, publicity, sister, society, ticket, TPR, wok | Leave a comment

An unreliable review of ‘An instance of the fingerpost’ (Rousse)

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Dreamaticus

The woman opposite us on the bus was playing a podcast out loud on her phone. Its host gave an enthusiastic review of An instance of the fingerpost by Iain Pears. ‘I hated that book’, I muttered to my sister … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged An instance of the fingerpost, book, bus, Iain Pears, podcast, remark, review, rude, sister | Leave a comment

Hoarder order (Rousse)

Posted on September 25, 2024 by Dreamaticus

The rumours that my sister lived in complete chaos were false. She had disposed of all the hoarded belongings from one room in her flat and was now busy painting it white. Her bedroom was also very neat and tidy. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bedroom, carpet, chaos, chest, complaint, drawers, flat, hoard, hoarder, kitchen, paint, pity, sister, sitting room, white | Leave a comment

A forgetful bald friend and queuing for a flight to Denmark (Rousse)

Posted on September 14, 2024 by Dreamaticus

With her bald head, RJ looked like a cancer patient. I said that I hoped that her family and friends knew that she had shorn off her hair to raise money for charity. Otherwise, they would be very worried about … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airport, bald, cancer, charity, cycle, Denmark, family, flight, friend, hair, museum, niece, pool, queue, research, sister, towel | Leave a comment

Outward bound course death wish (Rousse)

Posted on August 22, 2024 by Dreamaticus

According to the ‘experts’, my sister wanted me dead because of an outward bound course in 1977. They concluded that she was jealous that my parents were willing to pay for just one of us to take part in this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1977, bound, dead, drown, outward, parents, pool, quarry, safe, sister | Leave a comment

Problematic property purchase prompts panic attack (Rousse)

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Dreamaticus

My sister-in-law SG led us along the drive to the new house. ‘This is the piece of land that caused us so much hassle with the National Trust’ she explained. We entered the house through the side door. The first … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Biggar, bus, dump, house, Merchiston, mother, National Trust, panic attack, purchase, sister, sister-in-law | Leave a comment

(More) conference confusion (Rousse)

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Dreamaticus

My sister S drove the rickety old grey Land Rover. Her passengers were my other sister, her husband, their daughter, and their daughter’s partner. They carried hardly any luggage having ‘gone minimal’ after their recent house clearance experiences. This meant … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged article, author, chair, clearance, comic, conference, delegate, house, journal, Land Rover, Marvel, paper, presentation, sister | Leave a comment

Northumbrian holiday secrets of ABBA (Rousse)

Posted on July 13, 2024 by Dreamaticus

Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson bounded down the narrow staircase. Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad followed more quietly behind them. Nobody had ever spotted the four members of ABBA on their regular visits to Northumberland. It was our family secret … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Abba, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, cottage, holiday, Holy Island, husband, Lindisfarne, Northumberland, sister, staircase | Leave a comment