❓Ask A Question etc 🧵🎱

Yes, love them.
Haven’t been to one for a while.
There are lots of National Trust type places nearby which do them.
When the weather gets a bit warmer we will go to one (MrC can’t go out in here cold because of his lung condition)

Do you have a favourite antique piece?
I’ve got a ‘proper’ Staffordshire spaniel that’s been in the family for yonks which I’m quite fond of

I've never been to a large antiques fair but they look interesting. On Bargain Hunt on the telly you often wonder if anyone is going to pick up a fabulous bargain, but it rarely happens as surely anything which looks promising has been sifted out beforehand. I've been to the odd car boot sale.

Has anyone picked up a real bargain at either one of these?

About 25 years ago I bought a nest of 3 tables at a car boot sale for £2. They are still in use today, at either end of my sofa and by my reclining chair. I like them because they are higher than the average nest of tables. The owner wanted £10 but we haggled. What a bargain! He even carried them to the car for me.

Same question.....

I bought one of these commemorating Princess Diana, at a selling price of around £10, 25 years ago and am astonished to see what they are being auctioned for now!

Same question please.

OMG Tilly! Do they actually fetch that sort of price?
I bet they go for even more in the US.
I loved beanie babies.
I had several.
The bat was my favourite.
I gave my mom the purple platypus when she was dying in hospital.
He is in retirement in my sock drawer.

Sorry - Tilly’s question

Ahh that’s a sad story Fanny . I like to think mine might be worth that much but don’t want to have her valued as 1) I don’t want to get rid of her and 2) If I was told mine had the wrong shaped ears or something I would be disappointed 😬

Same question :
Have you ever picked up a bargain or something which has become valuable?

Fanny Beanie babies. My extra literacy group at school was called The Bats. When I retired they gave me a bat baby.I still have it.

I am quite partial to Art Nouveau and we have a few bits with Liberty on the bottom.
What is your favourite art period.?

I like art deco but it wouldn't look right in my flat. My son had a lot of art deco in his house and it looked just right there.

Do you have too many books? I do.

Yes far too many, I buy quite a few from charity shops and I am often given books or book vouchers as gifts, friends also tend to pass their novels on. I also have too many recipe books. I really need to thin them out, I still have a few books I’ve had since I was at school but it would be hard to part with those now.

Have you still got any books from your childhood?

I have a copy of The Princess and Curdie with beautiful illustrations which my grandmother gave me for my 11th birthday. Its a childhood fantasy tale. All the other books I had got passed down in the family.

Do you have any old records?

I still have a couple of 78s somewhere although nothing to play them on. One is a Buddy Holly version of "Maybe Baby"

I still have my vinyl collection including the first 3 singles bought in 1964. I play the odd one occasionally.
I also have some of the classics album covers displayed as artwork 🖼️

When did you last go to a gig?
I saw Eric Clapton on New Years Eve.

The last band I went to see was Dr Hook in Sheffield, it was a while ago, before Covid hit. They were very good.

Do you still use a camera for taking photographs or tend to take them with your phone or i pad. I have a really good camera but very rarely use it now. I have so many photographs on my phone, something else that needs thinning out.

I need good quality photos for my online business so I have several cameras. I prefer them to a phone although I do most of the manipulation using professional editing software. I just take the memeory card out of the camera, stick it directly into the built in reader on my computer and the photos load immediately. The photos are stored on my computer and on a back up system.

Do you have any tricks or tips for getting to sleep?

I often read til Im tired.

I admit that I often resort to prescription drugs.
I’ve got a mild opiate addiction due to the industrial amounts I had to take due to my hip and nerve pain.

I play word games in my head.

Bach Sleep Rescue remedy seems to have magical qualities.
I used that when I was teaching and couldn’t sleep due to persistent worrying (I worked with some incredibly challenging kids. It was my job to stop them from being excluded. When I left, several kids got the boot pretty sharpish)

I digress.
Any more sleep tips? 💤

I try not to worry about not sleeping and just reach for a book, which makes me doze off. I can tell how badly I’ve slept by how low the battery is in my kindle. The difference between that and when I used to get up to do marking or prep, is that I’m warm and insomniac instead of cold and tired.

Does Evening Primrose work for anyone?

I took evening primrose oil for many years and had no menopause symptoms.

Do you take vitamins? I wondered if they would give me a boost on these grey winter days.

I take vitamin D as I was told (following a blood test) that I was short of it.

Anyone else take vitamins?

I take a supplement called Osteocare it contains Vit D Zinc, Magnesium and calcium. I had a blood test that showed my vit D levels were quite low.

(I’m in a similar situation Fanny, have had opiates and Gabapentin on a repeat prescription for a long time for sciatica caused by spondylosis & degenerative discs).

Have you ever tried using a shampoo bar instead of the usual liquid shampoo? I got one as part of a Christmas gift but haven’t tried it yet.

Yes I try very hard to buy such things. Always check for
parabens, sulphates, etc. Shampoo bars I love. My hair is very fine and they leave it super lovely.

Sorry question…

Favourite ice cream ?

Strawberry - with real pieces of strawberry in 😋

Have you ever eaten a whole knickerbocker glory?

Yes - not recently though

What’s your favourite dunking biscuit? Mine is a plain digestive.

My current favourite biscuit is M&S almond and pistachio cookies. I also like their sultana cookies.
I’m partial to chocolate malted milk (I can eat a whole packet 🐷) but they are difficult to come by (probably just as well)

Same question!

Oh Fanny you are so decadent 😜

I’m like crazyH nothing beats a plain digestive for me.

If you saw a 5p coin on the floor would you pick it up?

Yes. I would hate the place to look untidy.

If you found a purse with not much money in it, what might you do?