One of the first things we did when we bought Lillian was to replace the mattress on the bed. The one we got with her needed a bit more than airing. So we bought a memory foam mattress to fit the exact size the bed was, not quite a standard size at 4′ 5″ by 6′ 8″. This mattress did fine for some time, but it’s memory seems to be doing so well that it remembers the positions that we both sleep in quite well and there is now a mountain between us!
£150 for a brass bedstead
This lady bought 6 beds today
On the other side of the railway is Newark Auction Centre. Mick had expressed an interest in going along to watch an auction there and last night whilst looking to see what was in today’s sale he noticed a long list of mattresses. The sale was of modern and antique furniture, not that much of it was second hand. With guide prices for the better memory foam mattresses between £60 and £100 we thought it would be worth a go.
One of them had to have our name on it!
So we braved the drizzle to cross the railway and have a look round. Sofas, beds and tables and chairs filled the warehouse,1072 lots in total. The mattresses were lined up. The ones we were after cost £600 on the high street, there were about eight in total for sale today. Hopefully our luck would be in.
A Stage Managers dream. 6 figurines for £8!
Elephants
CD players by volume
Through in another warehouse the auction had already started, here you could buy a cubic yard of CD players, a selection of elephants or several ammunition boxes should you choose. We sat and waited getting really rather cold. Mick had thought to put fleecy lined trousers on, but I hadn’t and the place was bitter. After the sofas had been sold in the main warehouse we took refuge on a rather squashy one which helped insulate us a little whilst we waited.
After three hours the mattresses started. Some went for £45. We had decided that if we could get one for £80 plus vat and fees that would be good. Mick was poised. The first one went for £85, then the next for £130, £85. We were bidding against bids already placed and one chap on each lot. I think he’d put in a bid before the auction and was hoping to get them all for £65, then we turned up. He had to give the thumbs up to the auctioneer to go higher than our £80, so that is what happened, the rest went for £85 and not one to us! Well at least we cost the pointy shoed man an extra £120 today.
A bowl of soup to warm us up was needed which Waitrose provided us with.
Fat handled hooks
The rest of the day Mick has taken down the Christmas lights and I have made up some fabric yarn to start on my next fat crochet project. My Christmas present to myself arrived in the post today, a set of easy grip crochet hooks, for people with crooked fingers. Mick also had a delivery, he’d treated himself to 10 filters. Lucky boy!
0 locks, 0 miles, 3 hours at 4 degrees C, 1 cubic yard CD players, £130 a sofa, 1 annoying man, 0 Christmas lights, 6/31,11 hooks, 4 pairs of chop sticks used as bobbins, 7/31, 4 oil filters, 6 fuel filters.
NB Lillyanne 