Cold.

 It's been a bitterly cold day with frequent heavy showers including noisy hailstones clattering against the windows.

I had planned for a full day baking in the kitchen but looking through the local auction catalogue last night I had to go and look at a couple of lots. One thing I intend to get eventually is a draughtsman's chair to replace the recycled battered old office chair that is currently at my PC. I like to sit higher up, at the moment I sit on several folded blankets, while having my feet resting up high too. Having failed to see one of these for sale second-hand I thought I'd wait until we moved.

However when we were looking at new kitchens I thought a high bar stool might also be suitable. In tomorrow's sale there are two bar stools. At the auction viewing I moved some furniture around to get to the stools so that I could sit on them. One wasn't very comfortable but the other was fine. It's the model shown below. I found the photo on line so I know the price when new which isn't a lot but if I get it cheap I can see if not having wheels makes a lot of difference.

The other reason I went to the auction house was that there's an old sewing machine being sold. It's the same make as my one though not the same model. I hoped that it would have the same foot pedal which it may well have had but unfortunately there wasn't a foot pedal with it. It had the same socket but no pedal. I checked inside the machine but nothing. I think a lot of the goods in the auction come from house clearances and the pedal may have been overlooked. 

I went down to the auction in the car even though it is only at the bottom of Pilton Street. My excuse was the weather but also I needed to be quick so that I could begin baking. While I was out I picked some more flea drops for Speedy from the vet's which is nearby. Baking today began with triple chocolate cookies and Leibuchen (above) with a batch of two tone biscuits still in the oven. Decorating the biscuits with chocolate is planned for tomorrow and also decorating the Christmas cakes which have plenty of whiskey poured over them.