Living Between the Lines
A wry look at family life
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The Sky’s the limit (100th Post!)
Another marathon phone call, with those very nice people at Sky, led to more than one misunderstanding as I struggled to explain what I wanted and they grappled with the complications this entailed. All was plain sailing at first. I am transferring my nephew’s telephone, TV and Broadband services, to a new address for him. Since we became responsible for his welfare, we have had his account in our names for billing purposes. To complicate matters, we have two other Sky accounts. One of these is at our home, another at our holiday home in Cornwall. Treleigh. Taking the bit between my teeth, I logged into my late sister’s old…
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When a house bleeds
Those of you who regularly read my blog, may recall that my husband and I are responsible for the welfare of our 29 year old nephew who has both Aspergers and Klinefelters Syndrome. The ramifications of this new responsibility are many. It is not the easiest task we have ever been given but it is by far the most surprising and undoubtedly, one of the most humorous. James often phones to request my help on one matter or other. I wrote only recently of the ‘Steam Punk Goggle’ request. I found this one very interesting and learnt a lot in the process. I have since been asked to obtain an…
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Magic Boots
Memories are funny things. They pop into one’s head at the most odd times and for no apparent reason. How wonderful the good ones can be though, and how they can make one smile. As I trudge through the woods with the dogs this morning, the legacy of a night’s rain drip-dripping on my head from the overhanging branches, an early morning sun barely visible, I am glad of the wellington boots encasing my feet, rubber boots that squelch through the mud and wet. Heedless of the water-logged ground, I splish-splash on my way. The Duke of Wellington stumbled, quite literally, on a great idea when he modified the original…
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Print versus e-book
For some time I have hovered on the fence regarding e-readers versus print. Well, ‘hovered’ may not be quite the correct term. I have always believed and still believe that the hard copy book beats the e-reader hands down. I mean, what can possibly replace the feel of a good book in one’s hand? What can emulate the pages that waft excitement as you turn them and allow one to breathe in the aroma of crisp print-on-parchment? (I get fanciful now). Furthermore, a hard copy never needs re-charging and sits, tantalizingly inviting, on the bookshelf, begging to be read. Despite this love of the printed material, I do possess both…
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Quirky Inns and Karaoke
We have a couple of particularly quirky pubs near us. One has to be visited at Christmas time, without fail. This pub, run by a garrulous gay couple with theatrical leanings, is a veritable feast for the eyes, a chocolate box of taste, bearing testimony to every knickknack and piece of memorabilia ever created. (That is the impression it creates as one walks in through the door) We are drawn to it for those special occasions when atmosphere and experience is everything. My eldest daughter has held her birthday dinner there for the past few years, ever since the day we turned up for a quiet evening drink and were…
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Mummy-brain is a long term condition DJ!
I was listening to ‘Pop Masters’ on BBC Radio 2 this morning. This is not a competition I am ever likely to enter. Musical facts and dates are just not things I can reliably recall to order. My prowess at musical quizzes stops short of being able to name much more than the winner of ‘Eurovision’ in 1967 (Sandy Shaw) I was ten, I liked ‘Puppet on a String”. The DJ introduced the first contestant. “If I do badly, I think I can claim to have ‘Mummy-Brain’ even though my daughter is seven months old,” declared the latter. The DJ was sceptical, “Can one have ‘mummy-brain’ after the event? Isn’t…
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Steampunk Goggles (the mind boggles)
My research has just taken a new twist. A temporary twist I might add, hastened by a request from my late sister’s son. My lovely nephew, he with Asperger’s and a deep interest in Star Wars, Games Workshop and Re-enactment role play, stumped me this morning. Last week he requested a green cloak, a two-man army surplus pop-up tent a flash memory card and a foam hammer (the latter he is saving up for himself). All these items seemed easy to find and I could visualize them in my head. He has been craving a Classic Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor P71 for some time and his requests do not…
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A World Without…
I dreamt I had had my iPhone and purse stolen, two possessions integral to my daily life and needs. The dream was surreal, as most dreams are, in that I was stranded at Waterloo Station, without means to propel myself home again. As is the way with dreams, I soon found myself in a taxi worrying how I would pay the fare. This worry was compounded by the driver appearing to lose his way. I duly noted that there was no SatNav in the car and the driver relied on a walkie-talkie for communication with his base. It was all, most strange. Stranger still, when I eventually arrived home, (Taxi…
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Pandora’s Box
“Research is a waste of time – get on with the writing” ? I spotted the headline on the cover of ‘Writer’s Forum’. If you are like me, you will have read that line and bristled at the idea that all that precious research you have clocked up, might be classed as a waste of time. I read the article and of course, Jenny Colgan was not saying that all research is useless, rather, her argument was that we are all in danger of getting bogged down in the research at the expense of the writing at times. Never has this been more true than this week. In a…
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Tea with Charles Dickens
This week marks the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens. Just about everyone knows the name, even if they may have never read his work. We were introduced to his books in school, and some of us retain a life long attachment to them. Who, when reading those books, has not shed a tear at the story of Little Dorrit or Oliver Twist or been at once saddened and enchanted by A Christmas Carol? Disney may have made A Christmas Carol, his own but the original story lives on. These gems, Pickwick Papers, Great Expectations – all are favourites of mine. There was of course, more to the man than just…
