Cold.

It's been a wet and wintry election day. By tomorrow we'll know if the country will continue to be led by a wealthy elite who care nothing for ordinary people or if there will be change. 

Anyway back to less controversial subjects. This morning I marched briskly down to the auction room though I needn't have rushed as they were running a bit late. The stool was lot 179 so I knew there'd be a while before it came up and I plonked myself on a chair. I've been going to that auction for over 20 years and some things have changed. No longer does each item have to be held up by a lad and the winning bids written on a sheet which has to arrive at the office before you can pay. Now the catalogue is on-line days in advance and the lots appear on two large tv screens along with the bidding. I have to say that the auction rules didn't seem to be followed too strictly as there were a number of times when the hammer went down after the 'third and final time' and then another bid either from the room or on-line continued the bidding. The auctioneer's banter was still fun to listen to and I even joined in at one point when he told everyone they would all be going to the pub after the end of the sale tomorrow. They have so many lots they have to run over two days and have a separate 'antiques' auction as well. It's such a good place to pick up some lovely older pieces of furniture and I had to restrain myself as I looked around. Because it was running late I had a good look through the boxes of misc(ellaneous) in case the sewing machine pedal had made its way into one but no luck. As can be seen by the photo below I got my kitchen high stool which is perfect for my needs. I put my hand up at the first bid of £2 but there was an on-line bid of a fiver so I got it for £6 plus the fee of £1.37 which was not bad. I've lowered it a little and it's fun swinging round with my feet up on the rest.

Once I'd paid for the stool I made my way into town.  There I picked up my prescription without any delay and did some shopping. I have some knitting to do for Christmas (somebody has lost their much worn Hobbit fingerless mittens) so I trawled through the charity shops. It is harder to find yarn that is all or nearly all wool but I found several possibles. I still have a full ball of the wool I need but I need a bit more for the larger size. The sparkly mohair mix was too nice not to buy, maybe a pair of mittens for myself. 

Before the phone ran out of charge, hence no auction photos, I took a photo of fudge being made in Roly's. I now know it's a franchise but it really is the best fudge ever.

On my way home I collected the stool. It wasn't that heavy to carry though I was getting tired by the time I got home. On the way I called in at the Polling Station to cast my vote. Sadly the news coming through from the exit polls right now is not good. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent decorating biscuits with white chocolate and decorating the two Christmas cakes. One is going in the post and needs to be less than 2 kg including the packaging. Christmas cake is heavy! I got down some boxes for posting and then found that I didn't have a cake board for the round cake so I'll have to make one out of card covered with kitchen foil.