Category Archives: amusements

Auction Oddities

We’ve not had a selection of the eccentric and downright weird auction items recently. This is mainly because the last couple of sales at our local auction house have been on the dull side. However here is a selection of the best oddities from the March and April sales.

A charming set of eight buttons, each styled as a Victorian watch face, the numerals linked by swags of flowers, each button 2.6 cm Image

A collection of wooden plucked musical instruments Image

A Royal Albert Flowers of the Month part tea service, an orange lustre tea service decorated with romantic couples, a Royal Doulton toby jug The Walrus and the Carpenter D6600, a small quantity of souvenir ware, a Japanese vase and a safety deposit box and contents

A Victorian entomology cased and glazed set of pinned moths Image
As so often that isn’t quite what they mean!

A nice collection of mainly wood and metal ware including cased set of chessmen and dominoes, 19th century wooden box present from Loch Fyne, 19th century hand painted tea caddy, a collection of alabaster eggs in wicker basket, religious wares, 19th century inlaid stoneware desk paperweight and candlestick, set of three hand painted wooden candlesticks, wooden bowls, letter racks, milking stool, a box of hand tools, brushes, two copper jelly moulds, etc.

An old red plastic telephone, a box of tea and magazine cards including Valiant, old magazines including Rin Tin Tin, Tweety, Sylvester, Look and Learn, and a signed card from Dave Clark of “Time, The Musical”

A mixed lot including a 1906 copy of The Temperance Party paper, a fashion print, cigarette cards, silhouettes, two folders of official slides of medieval frescoes in Yugoslavia, a quantity of silver-plated commemorative spoons, miniature porcelain and a 1938 copy of The Daily Telegraph, etc.

A green plastic carton containing a miniature horse and trap, powder boxes, a decorative spoon, hat pins, a pair of stylish early 20th century door handles, a shell purse, lighters, a model alpine house, photo album, etc.

No allocated
But it has an Image!

A child’s vintage Lilliput typewriter, cased men’s grooming sets, a ladies vintage shoe stretcher, a silver plated sugar sifter, a cased set of M Dobson binoculars, a cased Greenkat telescope and a decorative horn

A good lot of pewter in three boxes comprising a 17th century style candle wall sconce, table wares, tureens, dishes and bowls, steins, an art nouveau butter dish with liner, a jelly mould, toast rack, a pair of pricket candlesticks, coffee pot, etc., a box of reference books on collecting including pewter and money boxes, and a Victorian folding deckchair

Not Allocated
Another which also has an Image!

A most interesting collection of 38 Friendly Society ceremonial staff heads in brass, mounted on wooden stands

A Victorian pottery jardiniere stand supporting the bust of a lady
That could have been better phrased!

An old metal trunk with labels containing blankets
I’m still puzzled as to how to get a blanket in a label

A vintage Nativity set, a pair of vintage scales, two large table lamps, a small oak stool, a vintage record holder and a large vase

Three bamboo and rattan tables, a wickerwork basket, three towel rails, a lampstand, a rocking horse and a glass-fibre boot stick stand

As so often it is the odd juxtapositions that make many of these stand out, despite the lack of crap taxidermy.

More anon!

Bank Holiday 20 Questions Meme

Just for a bit of time-wasting amusement here’s a twenty question meme for the end of a bank holiday weekend.

  1. Name a food that you can’t stand but which most people seem to love. Butternut squash.
  2. Name a food beginning with each of your initials. Kale. Custard. Marmite.
  3. Who is the most famous person you’ve met? Author Ian Rankin.
  4. What was the last thing you read? This screen.
  5. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Get rid of the depression because pretty much everything else would follow from that.
  6. What vegetable do you most hate? Sweet potato.
  7. What superpower would you most like to have? Omnipotence – with that you can do anything else.
  8. What would you love to be an expert in? Doing nothing.
  9. If you could make any discovery, what would it be? The secret of immortality. Let’s face it, none of us really wants to die.
  10. What would you like to have named after you? A dung beetle would probably be most appropriate. Or a wasp. Yes, I’ll settle for an annoying wasp.
  11. If you could meet any figure from the past or the future, who would you meet? Elizabethan composer William Byrd.
  12. What was the last thing you put in your mouth? Earl Grey tea.
  13. Are you a good influence? I very much doubt it; indeed I might be worried if I were.
  14. Does pineapple belong on pizza? Definitely not; neither does peach, unless you’re making a specifically fruit pizza. (Must sometime write up my method for fruit pizza.)
  15. Something that’s worrying you at the moment. Diabetes.
  16. One skill you don’t have but wish you did. The ability to magically attract money. Well, who wouldn’t!?
  17. Tell me one unpopular, but entirely logical and far-sighted opinion you hold. The private car (van, etc.) should be banned. Yes, it would be tricky, but it could be done and it needen’t be as horrendous as you might imagine. (I must write an essay on this sometime.)
  18. Do you ever write in pencil any more? Yes, actually quite a bit of the time: old programmers always write in pencil.
  19. Do you wear rings? Yes. I’m currently wearing three: wedding ring, silver wedding anniversary ring, and a copper ring. Oh and my original (very worn) wedding ring on a chain round my neck.
  20. Tell us three things you did today? Tried (and failed) to get a very old laptop working. Started reorganising the patio. Made a chicken salad.

Nobody is tagged, but join in if you want – just leave a comment here with a link to your answers so we can all enjoy them.

40 Things About Me

OK, just to waste a few minutes, here’s a meme of 40 things about me. I changed one question from the original I saw as I thought it too American.

  1. Do you like blue cheese? Yes; certainly most of them.
  2. Coke or Pepsi? Coke, but it has to be Diet.
  3. Do you own a gun? No, guns are illegal in the UK without a licence. Anyway why would I want one?
  4. What flavour of fruit juice? Mango.
  5. What do you think of hot dogs? People should be convicted for leaving dogs in cars.
  6. What’s your favourite TV show? The off switch.
  7. What is your favourite movie? I don’t do film.
  8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Tea; always tea; and lots of it.
  9. Can you do a push-up? Very doubtful, but then why would I want to?
  10. What’s your favourite jewellery? My white gold signet ring (made on our 25th wedding anniversary).
  11. What is your favourite outdoor activity? Drinking beer, sitting in a deckchair, in the sun, watching good club cricket.
  12. Do you have ADD? No.
  13. Do you wear glasses? Yes, since I was 14. I’ve never liked the idea of even trying contact lenses.
  14. What was/is your favourite cartoon? Cartoon strip? Probably The Wizard of Id.
  15. Name three things you did yesterday/today? Paid some bills. Drank a few beers. Slept.
  16. Name 3 drinks you drink regularly? Beer. Wine. Gin.
  17. Current worries? Depression. Brexit.
  18. Current hates? The UK government.
  19. Favourite place to be? Dungeness.
  20. How did you bring in the New Year? Sitting up in bed with a glass of Champagne.
  21. Where would you like to go? Iceland.
  22. Name five people who might do this? I can’t think why anyone would waste their time.
  23. Do you wear slippers? No; always bare feet indoors (socks if very cold).
  24. What is your favourite colour? It varies with mood: sometimes green, sometimes yellow, sometimes …
  25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No idea; never tried them.
  26. Can you whistle? Only very badly.
  27. Where are you? Sitting at my desk in the study.
  28. Would you be a pirate? Never; I’m too prone to motion sickness.
  29. Favourite food? Curry. Or maybe pasta with seafood.
  30. Favourite music genre? Sacred early music.
  31. Do you wear proper pyjamas? No; haven’t worn anything in bed since I was a student.
  32. What’s in your pockets? Nothing; I’m wearing the Emperor’s new clothes.
  33. Last thing that made you laugh? Would I do anything so frivolous as laugh?
  34. What’s your favourite animal? Cats.
  35. What’s your most recent injury? Pulled muscle in my back.
  36. How many TVs in your house? Two.
  37. Worst pain? Total knee replacement, if only because it isn’t something that is over with in 5 minutes.
  38. Do you like to dance? No; I hate dance.
  39. Are your parents still together? As they’re both dead I have no idea.
  40. Do you enjoy camping? In a tent? Yes, I certainly did when I was young; not sure I could do it now.

Ten Things

Something different for this month’s Ten Things …

Ten Fish which are also Surnames:

  1. Roach
  2. Rudd
  3. Pike
  4. Salmon
  5. Herring
  6. Sturgeon (pictured right)
  7. Pollock
  8. Parr
  9. Whiting
  10. Grayling

Greenery

In honour of St Patrick’s Day, there are Seventeen Green Things:

  1. Grass
  2. Green Man
  3. Parrots
  4. Emeralds
  5. Shamrock
  6. Absinthe
  7. Avocado
  8. Envy
  9. Green Goddess fire engines
  10. Holly
  11. Original UK postboxes
  12. Green Woodpecker
  13. Kermit
  14. Asparagus
  15. Sea glass
  16. Oak Bush Crickets
  17. Sphagnum moss (ie. Irish bog)

You Never Know What You've Got …

Yes, indeed, you never know what you’ve got until you look.
We have the decorator man in to give the hall/stairs/landing a lick of paint before we have new carpet put down.
On day 1 (yesterday) most of the time was taken removing the old carpet. And on the turn of the stairs we were awestruck at finding treasure …
Nestled in the angle of the tread and riser, between two strips of carpet gripper, underneath the carpet were found two tiny and entire mummified mice.
The poor little things had obviously, years ago, crawled in round the edge of the carpet to escape a feline kidnapper, and been unable to get their way out (or died from injuries).
Treasure trove indeed.

Ten Things

This month Ten Things brings you …
Ten (Almost) Unbelievable Real Places in the UK:

  1. Brass Knocker Hill, near Bath
  2. Brown Willy, Cornwall
  3. Cocking, Sussex
  4. Dull, Scotland
  5. Fishpond Bottom, Dorset
  6. Limpley Stoke, near Bath
  7. Long Load, Somerset
  8. Lusty Glaze, Cornwall
  9. Twatt, Orkney (pictured)
  10. Ugley, Essex

And yes, you really can find all of these on the map!