#tring auction

Another trip to the auctions. We bought two oil paintings and a Victorian wall clock that has a pendulum. I need to purchase a clock key, it ticks pleasingly if I manually start the pendulum so I’m hopeful. I think it chimes too. Saw two of our lots sell. The mixed box made £28 and the “South American” ceramic pot made £65. There were 7 more lots of ours we didn’t see, maybe we did ok?!

I had a catching up day today, cleared a frightening backlog of paperwork now all sent out through secure email. I’m keeping a low profile with work colleagues. I don’t want to get wound up in any more disputes. I do however want to solve the dispute I’m currently embroiled in, to my favour. It’s all about the standards we offer to blind students. My colleague wants to lower the standards and my manager agrees. Do you know, if you’re blind you get a bum deal in life, at least the people who understand you could give a fuck! Trouble is I’ll be in trouble for doing a good job. It’s a rock and a hard place moment. This photo shows a person who bought a box of ceramics I put together, for £28. We made £108 overall, result.

At Tring Auction, I love the buzz of it and this time I remembered to take photos. I bought a cuckoo clock, two is not enough! Now I’m home sorting it out, it starts ringing but doesn’t stop, first off though it wasn’t working at all. A is enjoying the fact he’s finished his job, haircut for his new job this afternoon! I feel more upbeat a lot of worries have resolved or melted away.

You can tell I'm short of photos. I've been prowling round our house looking for likely subjects. These are coriander seeds. We're off to Folk by the Oak today, with The Levellers headlining. Weather is neither one thing nor the other. Sun cream and sweatshirts then. We bought a French 19th century bed and a 17th century coffer at the auction, both for £230 with delivery, not bad. Missed a lot that I'm going to pine for, it was two folios of paintings and graphics for film sets sort of 40s/50s era, so foolish, I panicked when the lot was announced.

The auction day is coming round again, A's still keen on something 17th century, I'm after Georgian stuff but I'm broke. Car repairs and holiday accommodation have wiped me out. Went to meet two students in the park and one of my colleagues appeared, I hid for a little while. She was there with the SEN Team of a local school. No one knows what we get up to, somehow I felt fraternising with students might be off limits. It didn't cross my mind that she might feel the same about being spotted out and about. What a crazy world we live in.

Sunday morning listening to Talking Heads, Fear of Music. When I first loved them it was only vinyl. I had one of the first cassette Walkman's people were fascinated by it. I loved how the music seemed to be happening in your head. Probably done some damage to my hearing! Auction yesterday, we got a Victorian carved desk. The carving is a bit folksy, fat angels/putti, dragons, goats - maybe a devilish connection. It has lots of little drawers inside. A was after a 17th century trunk, so something made in the 1600s, could be yours for just over £100. He didn't bid in the end. We could replace everything in our house with stuff from pre-1840, there's a thought.

We went out to see the big event in the street theatre festival, Imagine Watford and found the the LP Cafe were putting on a little gig. It's the tiniest venue and the band played twirling around either to the folk inside or the lot spilled out onto the pavement. Off to the auctions today, what will we buy, stuffed squirrels, a fruit machine, an optometrists case, a 17th century chest? I'm sure all will be revealed, watch this space.