Living Between the Lines
A wry look at family life
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Birthdays, babies, bugs and the Silent Assassin
Summer slips away and Autumn ambles in. We barely notice the change in the weather until we realise another layer is required and it is no longer wise to leave one’s coat at home. The late summer holiday we spent in Suffolk, has become a treasured, if distant, memory with its brightly coloured beach huts and softly lit fields. All the while, we were wondering if grandchild number five would arrive while we were away. We need not have worried, Florence Bluebell chose to be born on 16th September and what a wonderous thing it is to have a granddaughter. Her arrival, on the very day we had gathered to…
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Hold the line please…
Nothing is guaranteed to frustrate one more, than sitting at the end of a telephone line, listening to the robotic voice giving one options… Here am I, wanting to order a few baby clothes for one of my soon to be born grandchildren. I log in to boots.com and am delighted to find that I have quite a lot of points on my Boots Advantage card. I can pay for the entire order using these points. What could be more satisfying? I load my basket and press: pay with points. I have done this before; it is relatively simple. The site goes through the motions and finally, asks me to…
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How very dare you…
The silver-haired lady, strode with a purposeful air across the hotel lounge. “My daughter’s parking the car – I want to find somewhere to sit and then we will want some tea,” she instructed a uniformed member of the staff who was manning the bar. The young man nodded at her politely. We three, Dave, our friend Lisa and I, had been sitting quietly on a pair of comfy sofas either side of a coffee table, by one of the great windows. We had been enjoying the view of the rugged cliffs and rolling waves of North Devon. It was certainly blowing a gale outside – quite unseasonal apparently, but…
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The Alternative World of Steam Punk…
Steam Punk may or may not be a familiar term to you. If you read one of my earlier posts, back in March 2012, Steampunk Goggles (the mind boggles) then you may well remember that I had no idea what it was until my nephew brought it to my attention. Asked to buy him a pair of steam punk goggles, I duly did the research and discovered a whole new world of which I had only been partly aware through television and film, until then. In that earlier post, I wrote: “One site I found claims that the Steampunk movement is about to move above ground. Has it been underground…
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Long live the bonfire!
If there is one thing guaranteed to light my fuse in a British summer – it is the emergence of garden bonfires. As soon as the first rays of sun bathe the land, so too, will the first wisps of smoke be seen above hedgerow and fence. That the bonfire lighters are mainly men, is immaterial but I don’t know many women who regularly take pleasure from piling garden rubbish at the bottom of the garden and setting it alight. My own husband has been known to create a charred, blackened mound in the middle of the lawn or on the patio in the middle of winter, before now. What…
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Eastenders : Does the Plot Hold Water?
Having just hit the 65,000 word mark, while editing a novel that has had me tearing my hair out at the improbabilities and twists and turns I had originally written into its plot, the characters leading me down blind alleys, despite my protests, I feel almost vindicated having watched Eastenders last night. Anyone who has not been caught up in the live “Whodunnit” frenzy of Eastenders, this past week, wont understand what I am talking about. However, if you haven’t noticed the tension mounting on social media, on the radio and just about everywhere you look, then you have missed something that has been quite amazing. I am not saying…
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A Step too Far
The trials and tribulations of Charlie Brown… The world is a strange and scary place for a pup sometimes. Charlie Brown is almost 6 months old … “a big dog in a small body” to paraphrase those who know the breed well. In the house, he is indeed a pocket rocket, living up to his pedigree title. As we relax after a hard day’s work, he zips from room to room, ball in mouth, only stopping to attempt to tease Flossie into playing as he passes. Sometimes she obliges. Sometimes she ignores him. Should I scold Charlie, Flossie is quick to distract him from whatever he has done to annoy…
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Where did November go?
Well, really, where did November go? One minute I am watching my niece get married, on my birthday (the 1st of the month) and the next I am staring Christmas in the face. The last few weeks have been a blur and it gets no better as December moves in. The annual NaNoWriMo was barely attainable this year. Though I did manage to reach the target of 50,000 words – I do not feel a worthy winner since the first ten thousand had already been written. Still, as a personal goal, it was good. Next year I promise to give it my all. Could this little chap have had anything…
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Bang!
A slight frisson of fear ran through us just as we were about to take off from Gatwick. A lone passenger stood up and demanded to leave the plane. His sudden departure sparked an unscheduled search of overhead lockers – in case he was a terrorist and had left an explosive device on board, I presume. The airline staff opened every locker, matching each bag to the remaining passengers. “Why are they only searching half the plane?” hissed my worried friend, not realising that while one worked from the front to middle, her colleague was working from the back of the plane to middle. Dave did not move – he’d…
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Big Max and me
Did I tell you I am building a doll’s house? It may have slipped my mind due to recent events (dentists, mothers and puppies). If you remember, I made a doll’s house many moons ago when my three daughters were small. Here it is again: Alas, the doll’s house disappeared during our last move although my husband denies all knowledge of its demise. Since then, I have harboured a desire to build another, more elaborate version. Having four grandsons I decided not to wait for a granddaughter to arrive but really, this project is for me. The boys are showing an interest I must say. I didn’t want this to…
