Mixed Lot

I've been wearing women's clothes for most of the week. It's not as bad as it sounds though (I just wanted to get you to the second sentence without falling asleep). What I have actually been doing is wearing Beth's socks. They are too tight for me but there it is. My socks have disappeared and I have absolutely no idea where they are. Why do socks disappear like that?

There are many unexplained things in life - like why someone would pay £80 for a silver ring at yesterday's auction that we couldn't sell for £3 the time before... The sale was certainly profitable with more than 90% of lots getting away including both star entries - the 18ct gold pocket watches. The Baskerville seal ring sold too, for £418 ABP. The French Foreign Legion hat went for £94 ABP, the Victorian pinchbeck brooch for £99 ABP, and the Julian Trevelyan print (pictured) for £182 ABP. We nearly didn't have a sale at all. During the preview, one of our cabinets collapsed - fortunately, the Moorcroft was in the other cabinet...

We look forward now to next week and two house clearances which should ensure that our next sale on the 14th April is a bumper one. It's been a while since we had a house clearance so it will be good to get back into that particular saddle. House clearances provide much of the 'bulk' of a sale - you have to have a bit of large tat amongst the tiny finery. Talking about tat, LOT 85 - A dog ramp, sold for £2! The sale of the dog ramp stirred much amusement within the room. We should have listed it as a mystery item because no one had seen such a thing before. Apparently, they sell for £40 new! It is essentially a device to enable elderly dogs to access a vehicle. I nearly bid on it myself - after all, I am a lot older than my wife and there will come a time when...well, let's not go into that now.

After the sale we did what we do in The Doghouse (not before reassuring a CCTV controller that the gun toting woman in shades on St George's Street was actually just a rather eccentric member of my team and posed no genuine threat to passers-by). The Doghouse is our natural habitat. Linda, Helen, Daniel, and I (The Quadraphonics) were joined by Martin and Steph for several lime cordials and a bit of gossip. I don't really remember getting home, my last memory being chilli and beers at The Cottage on Silver Road. The barmaid there used to work at The Shed (an old watering hole of mine). The sun shone all day yesterday just like it always used to in The Shed's garden. Spring is almost upon us and life is good.

A lazy day for me today - lazyish as I do have a 'top executive meeting' at The Dog House to attend to over lunch. Then it's The Cloisters Fair tomorrow (Saturday) - 8am til 4pm 50p entry (trade free between 8am and 9am).