Living Between the Lines
A wry look at family life
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Oh Maggie!..
Huh? I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Just fancied curling up with something that belongs to the Boss. I really didn’t mean to chew the bobble off that hat. Honestly, humans! This human has lots of other hats and look, she’s smiling in spite of telling me off. What’s a little bit of chewing after all? I do admit that I surprise myself sometimes with my ingenuity. I surprise the Boss and the other humans too. Take last week for instance: I was woken rather rudely by someone coming down the stairs when it was still dark. Apparently, that is the norm now. Anyway, the said someone,…
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Maggie’s first Big Adventure
Hi, Maggie here on the keyboard for the very first time! I just had to tell you about my first big adventure. It began on the morning not long long after I had arrived. I thought I was safe from ever going outside that front door, unless carried. We had been to the place where they prod and poke you and then try to distract you while they prick you with something sharp. ‘She can go out in a week’, the Vet said. The Boss carried me back to the car and I was ushered back into the house. That, I thought, was that. Here I would stay with Charlie.…
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The Arrival of Maggie
Well, Charlie Brown here again…and there is so much to report! My life has changed. I am no longer the only dog in the house. ‘The Puppy’ has arrived. She appeared in our midst, a couple of weeks ago actually. They are calling her ‘Maggie’ and she is just a smaller version of old Flossie. It has taken me this long to get over the shock, I can tell you. At first she didn’t do very much, sort of hung around the patio or slept in her pen, emerging for food and cuddles and necessary trips to the garden before curling up and falling asleep again. I was pleasantly surprised.…
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The Value of Turnips
A few years ago, in 2013 to be precise, I created a tale about turnips and money. I came across it again recently and thought it deserved a re-post. I should say that Abi-Eshu, who is the protagonist in this story, is a fictional character from Ancient Mesopotamia, circa 3500BC. (Not to be confused with Abi-Eshuh, the 8th king of the 1st Dynasty of Babylon who reigned for 28 years from c. 1648–1620 BC or 1711–1684 BC) Abi-Eshu bears no relation to any living person – or does he? Do read on! A friend of mine came back from a London seminar this week, with some startling facts and figures.…
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A Rumbling in the Jungle…
Good afternoon, Charlie Brown here, after rather a long hiatus… Listen – there is a rumbling in the jungle! I have overheard the Boss talking in excited tones about – a puppy?! If what I have heard is true, my position as Top Dog could soon be challenged. I can’t say I’d mind too much. You see, since my foster Mum, Flossie, left us, I have had to fend for myself. (Violins optional) I kid you not, remembering to ask to go out to ‘perform’ has been a trial for me. Since I was a tiny pup, I have not had to ask for anything. Flossie saw to that. She’d…
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A nice Cup of Tea…
The recent controversial news from America regarding salt in tea, using a kettle versus microwaving (eek! What?!) I thought as a Brit, I’d pen a few key points that make tea the number one drink for all occasions using a kettle (in my opinion – as a Brit, I am not pushy LOL!) My thoughts when: 1. A friend pops in feeling glum me. I’ll pop the kettle on, sit down and relax for a bit 2. A stressful situation is getting out of hand… me. Calm down, have a nice cup of tea 3. I really don’t know what do next… me. Have a cup of tea, it’ll help…
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I do as you do…
I can no longer berate Dave every time he leaves something on the car roof and drives off. (The last item was his mobile phone which fell off as he drove down the road and was run over by anon. It was found some time later and returned and although the phone was no longer functional, he managed to extract the sim card.) Over the years he has left wallet, phone and numerous other stuff on the roof – most times remembering it before it was lost for good. Today, I had an eye test appointment. Good opportunity, I said to myself, to go to the shop next door afterwards…
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Behind the scenes at Butlins
This post was written back in 2011 in answer to a question from my youngest daughter who had recently become a mother. I was recently reminded of it by a reference made to Butlins Holiday Camp, Clacton-on-Sea, in a Facebook post. It is evident from the comments within that post, that many people hold fond and nostalgic memories of their holidays at Butlins, back in the fifties, sixties and seventies. I have never holidayed there so I cannot comment. My own experience of Butlins, it has to be said, was memorable but for the wrong reason. I was not a carefree holiday maker of course, I was staff. I was…
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The iron, the ironing board and the sales assistant
Having struggled to clean our old steam iron (maybe not so ‘old’ as neglected) after its latest run-in with fabric that left the mysterious brown rust mark on its plate, I gave in. We needed a new iron. Not only that, but the ironing board itself had begged to be replaced years ago. It had come close a while back, I ordered one online. When the board arrived it was more suited to a doll’s house. It was quite possibly, the smallest in history. So, a trip to an actual shop was called for. We headed to that well know store that sells electrical goods of all descriptions. There was…
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Washington DC and friendship
USA Part Two After two wonderful weeks in Texas, having said a tearful ‘goodbye, for now’, we board an internal flight to Washington DC. Why are we not flying home to England? Well, many moons ago, when I was eleven years and three months old – February 1968 in fact, I applied for a USA penfriend through my weekly comic, Princess Tina. I begged a fourpenny stamp (pre decimalisation) and an envelope, from my mother without telling her what it was for. I posted the form in the local post box and told no one. Exactly what my mother had thought I was doing I am not sure! I had…
