The Auction

Well I had been well-prepared by Susie and Glenn for what to expect at my first auction and it didn't disappoint! We drove to the town of Little Britain to an auctioneer's barns called Corneils. There's an auction there every Friday. There were about 500 people there but I was prepared for the crowds and the noise of three or four auctioneers calling through microphones at the same time in various parts of the large barns. There was everything from junky kitchen dishware to hockey card collections to framed prints and huge pieces of furniture. I saw tons of stuff that would have been excellent as props for some of my musical theatre shows, from old hats and suitcases to telephones and radios. I wonder where on earth they get all this stuff! Stuff I would just throw away having no idea that antique and collectables dealers make a decent living buying and selling these items. It was all so fascinating. Susie is a pro, working through the crowd, explaining to me as she went, looking through tables of stuff, turning over tea cups and china plates to look for the logo on the bottom, trying to determine whether something is vintage or replica, looking for that little treasure amongst the junk. I stood with her while she bid for several items and got totally caught up in it all. I did scratch my head at one point and noticed the auctioneer look straight at me so I had to quickly shake my head and from then on keep my arms firmly by my side! I was happy to see Susie win several items, mainly things for the cottage, and in particular a small print called Dancing Goose by Benjamin Chee Chee - Glenn had spotted it on the wall and we looked the artist up on Susie's iphone to verify the print name. We did have to wait three hours for an auctioneer to get to that section of the barn but it was worth it. I did indulge in a buttertart to keep myself going and mmmmm it was divine, no raisins, homemade pastry, deep and delicious. Must find out if there are auctions in the Harrogate area, I'd love to go as an observer and see what happens from there.