This German version of the introduction has been translated by Google. The English text can be read at the English version on this website. My apologies for any errors.

“Eli Celli and Mario” wurde vor einigen Jahren zum ersten Mal geschrieben, als Eli Celli ungefähr 4 Jahre alt war. Eli Celli ist jetzt 7 Jahre alt und die Geschichte wurde entsprechend aktualisiert.

Es spielt in der Schweiz, wo er mit seinen Eltern Fiona und Haki und seiner kleinen Schwester Nuria Melek, die 4 Jahre alt ist, lebt. Sie wohnen in der Nähe ihrer Großeltern Stef und Pia, deren Heimat das nächste Dorf ist (Meierskappel im Kanton Luzern). Fionas Bruder ist Onkel Simon und er hat einen Hund namens Gwin.

Fiona lieferte die Illustrationen in Umrissen und Stef fügte Farbe hinzu. Ich hoffe, Sie werden mir zustimmen, dass sie wunderbar schrullig und “Swiss Perfect” sind!

Es gibt auch eine deutsche Version dieser Geschichte auf dieser Website. Die Übersetzung und Adaption dieser Version wurde von Renanta Bachmann geleitet, unterstützt von Stef und Pia.

Als Nuria die Geschichte von „Eli Celli und Mario” hörte, wollte sie eine eigene Geschichte.

Diese Geschichte heißt “Nuria Melek und Mario”. Es gibt es auch in Englisch und Deutsch auf dieser Website. Ich sollte hinzufügen, dass die englischen und deutschen Geschichten nicht identisch sind.

Die Familien Hagmann und Bonthron sind seit 1978 enge Freunde, als Stef und Pia einige Jahre in Glasgow lebten.

This is a gentle, old-fashioned love story told in a rather gushing style.

It should take about 30 minutes to read.

Go on, dive in!

This tale was stirred from my memory banks by a friend at Writers’ Circus.

At the time, there was a challenge to write 500 words “To make Sir Billy Connolly laugh.”

In by youth I worked in the same shipyard as Billy and our paths crossed when I asked him to sing at a folk night organised by a church youth fellowship I was involved with. He was very funny and I am sure he would readily agree, so were many others we worked alongside at that time.

Here is the tale, from those long ago days when the shipyards were full of characters larger than life.

(I did try to get it down to 500 words but they could not contain the story and do it justice.)

This is a little tale about a boy who likes to play hide and seek.

One day, he found a very unusual hiding place which was a wee bit scary.

The illustration of Dorothy the Dragon is by their big cousin Matthew, who is 9.

The illustration of Sebastian the Scorpion is by Ethan, who is 6.

This little tale has been lurking in the back of my mind for years. It is based on a family story told many times by my father, Jack, who did indeed cycle out to far flung building sites, in all weathers, his yellow cape and sou’wester his only protection against rain, sleet and snow, often returning home frozen to the bone.

At that time, building trade workers were paid ‘travelling time and expenses’ and, with ‘overtime’ at ‘time and a half’ for weekday evenings and ‘double time’ on weekend days, every extra penny was welcome in our single end at 84 Greenview Street, in Pollokshaws.

(To read a bit more from this period, before the re-development of Pollokshaws under the slum clearance programme, try searching on this website for ‘The Go Between’.)

When Writers’ Circus set a challenge to write on the topic of ‘rubbish’, I decided to try to write it down. Yes, the link is tangential but it was the best I could muster.

The title of this piece?

My Mum was a tea drinker, Betty the Tea Jenny. Like Granny Bremner, Mum was teetotal all her life. Her tipple was American Cream Soda.

So, read on, delve back into the past. Nostalgia never dies.

Many thanks again to Kareth my Editor, who hoes tirelessly through my output of drivel to correct all sorts of spelling, logic and grammar errors and meticulously ensures necessary ‘commas’ are added while battling to eliminate my penchant for the spurious ‘that’ word!