HERE'S ONE I BROKE EARLIER

In a bid to make millions on EBay I've been reading 'Miller's Collectables' books. To be honest I don't know why I torture myself doing this because the books are full of stuff I've broken.

Take this cup for example - a Midwinter 'Festival' design, quite rare. If you'd got the whole teaset comprising of 2 plates, 2 cups & saucers, teapot, milk jug and sugar basin, it would be worth about 350 quid. If you'd got a cup & saucer it would be worth 25 quid. I've got the cup .... broke the saucer. Net worth 5 quid. I'm going to sell it anyway, bollocks. Off to the car boot tomorrow to find a Troika vase for 50p.

Phoned mother to tell her that a Midwinter vegetable tureen she's got in her cupboard is worth 5 quid & she got quite snotty about it. "You can have it when I'm dead". Let's hope she lives a long & happy life & it escalates in value then. No skin off my nose.

I've also been Googling seeds for the allotment next year & trying to stop myself from buying heritage collections that I'm bound to kill.

I once looked into being a 'guardian' of heritage seeds - propagating them & saving seed to be sold on. The rules were pretty complicated: hand pollinate, keep away from other varieties etc. Decided against it in the end as it would be typical of me to be responsible for the demise of a 'rare bean'.

Maybe I'll just get all my seeds from Wilko's this year on the 'Buy One Get One Free' offer they have when it's far too late to plant anything.

RANDOM ITEM NO.4

Today's random item is a bit disturbing. On the way to the Co-Op with Alfie I spotted a vicious-looking, folding flick-knife in the grate outside The Jester (not unsurprisingly given the reputation of the pub)

I've been following the story of Meredith Kercher, the student murdered by her friends in Italy & feeling sick to the stomach by it. Seeing a flick-knife so obviously designed to be clipped to a belt, drawn quickly and cause maximum damage with a curved shape & serrated edge made me feel even sicker. I suppose if I was to think about it rationally, it might be a fisherman's knife and he dropped it accidentally. But outside The Jester? Maybe not.