What did I buy?

 At Malvern, there's a house clearance (I presume he is anyway) type stand who has boxes and boxes of "stuff".  I've bought from him before but sometimes he is a bit too spot-on with the value of something so I decide not to buy.  This time I bought:

Several lovely Victorian moulds.  I have a little copper one the same as the horse-shoe/hoof in the middle.  There are 4 of those.  To the left is a pretty jelly mould, and to the right a lovely copper mould.  He had several of these.  I need to polish it up now. I like items of kitchenalia like these.

The chap was muttering something about American tourist piece, ashtray etc.  It is of course a little brass(?) model of an Indian teepee, open at the top, and ideal for repurposing now for joss sticks.  It's fairly rare - none on Ebay, one sold on Etsy and I'm not joining Worthpoint to find out its value on there.

Both French ceramics and from the same pottery by the look of it.  Bought on different stalls and a change from all the blue/turquoise colourway I am normally attracted to.  Our friend Adam had the jug, and of course asked after Keith . . .  It's so hard having to tell friends that he's died and when friends of course reach out to comfort you, so hard to hold it together.

Not my normal fare, and I probably won't bother again, but this is an old vintage Davenports beer crate. Sorry it's such a poor photo.

A little child's chair with a beautiful Elm seat.  Needs some tlc, but I can manage that.

A little doll made from old Welsh fabrics.  No great age to her but as a quilt-maker she appealed to me, and just the plain simplicity of her spoke.

Above is the Mouse pattern I got (much reduced, 70% off!) from Etsy when looking up my bigger mouse from the other day.  Think they are going to be fiddly, but hey, I can do fiddly on occasion.

What I didn't buy, but liked the idea of . . . could make up my own pattern as simple enough.

Yesterday was hot and sunny again and I changed another bed, washed linen and one of the granny quilts. The tops are a generous size with just a little ruffle on the drop down edges rather than a full valence skirt.  The hexagon area covers the top of a double bed, but they are of course generous singles. I did 80% of the ironing pile too.

I did a good bit more tidying up in various places about the garden, and melted!  I rewarded myself with a sit-down in the sunshine on the step outside with a cup of tea and my stitch-ripper and began unpicking the poor quilting on the bigger applique quilt.  I'm just doing the border, not the entire quilt so will have to prevent myself getting OCD about the rest!  It was very pleasant sitting there, I have to say, and grief could be held at bay for a while.  I was listening to a new book on Audible yesterday and can really recommend it.  It's called The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods and I don't know why I chose it but am so glad that I did.  You get drawn in straight away.  I finally (sadly) finished Edward Rutherford's The Forest in the morning.

Yesterday evening I went out for another evening function (gosh, twice in a week).  It was a Rotary Club quiz night down in town, and in aid of the Builth Heritage Society, which I've finally joined (rather than going as a guest).  Our team came 5th out of 14, which wasn't too bad, but I have to say was NOT due to my contributions, which were few and far between.  It was like trying to do a Codeword when they have just changed the Compiler and you don't have a clue what his/her angle is, favourite words etc!  So many things I had never given a thought to.  Which British county has the shortest coastline?  Which of these 4 countries has the longest etc.  One on Colours was quite fun - 3 colours found in Cluedo; who first appeared in A Study in Scarlett (which I knew).  I couldn't help thinking though, as the room was absolutely packed, well, if I'm going to get Covid again, it stood a good chance of wiping us all out in there if someone had it!

Today I have an appt. at the Bank to discuss savings and whether to invest some in an ISA.  I also have to phone the Council again after another letter from them saying that the last payment didn't go through as Keith had died and the Bank refused to pay it from a deceased person's account.  Yeesh.  If they had their way, they'd have £644 out of me in a month for 3 payments!  2/3 of my pension.  I don't think so.

I shall go to Aldi whilst I'm in Brecon anyway, and kill two birds with one stone.  Fortunately I don't need anything other than cat biscuits from Morrisons there, as they are so expensive.

I am looking out at grey skies this morning an the heating is on for half an hour as it's only 16 deg C (60 deg F) in here and I am chilled. Indoor jobs later I think.