Tothesunset

Shame they couldn't park the woman out of the way.

Shocking. And unforgivable. Whatever happened to Silversea? A premium experience? Pah!

Thanks. It's strange to find things like your figurine that seem to one person unattractive yet to others quite special. I saw an absolutely stunning, mint Goldscheider figurine from around the 1920s of Dolores Del Rio. It was priced, reasonably for its quality, at £2.5k. Rang the dealer to view only to find it had just been sold. Showed OH the picture and she really didn't like it. I'd really have been in the doghouse if I'd bought it. Lucky escape! Some Art Deco ceramics and pottery are impossibly attractive. It's finding undamaged and unrepaired pieces that presents a challenge.

The vases. Mid haggle..

It really does. And it's not always the obvious thing that gives the most pleasure. We have a pair of long-stem Waterford crystal wine glasses with simple blue glass bowls that are probably worth very little, maybe a couple of hundred pounds, but are so perfectly clean of line and form that make them just so joyous to look at. Needless to say, they'll never go anywhere near a place setting!

That's it exactly. Plus we were amongst the first through the gates. I reckon they'd have been snapped up had we been even a few minutes later.

On Good Friday Europe's largest Antiques Fair was held about 20 miles from us in Peterborough. Hang in there, this is going somewhere. We have had some dealing with a small business that trades in early 20th century pottery and it was great to meet the owner in person and gratifying that his stock of Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper and William Moorcroft items was, by some margin, the most carefully sourced and defect-free. Indeed, the majority of the stalls - and there were hundreds - seemed to be trying to sell tat with just a few carrying worthwhile antiques. Nearly there now. However, we happened upon a dealer with 2 large Moorcroft vases in the pomegranate style, each vase being perfect, properly marked to the base, large and definitely genuine. I'd normally expect each one to retail for £1500-£2000 and maybe 2.5 times that for a perfect pair. He wanted £895 for both and settled on £800. They were the only Moorcroft he had, his stock being mainly small pictures and jewellery items. So there we are - conservatively £3-£4k worth for £800. Do we feel smug? Of course we do! At the risk of boring you even further we also unearthed a small (7 cm) but exquisite rimless Moorcroft pomegranate vase fired in 1914 with an extremely rare blue base (the only year that particular firing happened). Seemed a bit ambitious at 195 but got it at 160. Hard to value for auction/retail because of its rarity but it's something I'd probably have gone up to £500 for. So, all in all, an unexpectedly successful day out. It was even a warm, sunny day. In England. At Easter!

I wonder how difficult it is to learn to butle?

He did. You should see him on a casual day.

Reflecting on Easter - which we weren't - I feel quite humbled by how my homeland has changed in the 25 years since the Good Friday (Belfast) agreement that brought an end - or at least a long term intermission - to 30 years of sectarian violence and division in the North of Ireland. The GFA is a model of compromise and clarity extending to around 30 pages of a concise but profound undertaking to democratise a fractured country, yet retaining enough wriggle-room to allow for changing conditions in an unforeseeable future. Sad, I know, but I carry a pdf of the agreement on my phone the better to understand its terms and clarify misconceptions. Even the abstract reintroduction of the British border post-Brexit has so far failed to undermine the towering achievement of those who took that step into the unknown 25 years ago this weekend. Sometimes, just sometimes, people with polar-opposite visions can get together and subordinate their politics, prejudices and egos to achieve something good and righteous.

You make that sound like a challenge..

I'd be happy with dogs but wary of the passengers.

I'm sitting in a car park, in the rain and cold, waiting for OH to finish shopping. I laughed out loud at your quip!

That is absolutely disgraceful. I had to read that twice to make sure I hadn't misunderstood. I'm really shocked.

I'm not sure it's that sort of cruise. 😉

That'll be the long flight.

Did they succeed in Fantastic Voyage? Or was it all in vein?

Sounds like a scene from the film Fantastic Voyage! 😎

Slow service means different things to different people. OH and I like a good few minutes between courses as, especially aboard ship, we are never in any rush. OTOH late M-i-l and F-i-l would start to get antsy if the next course didn't arrive within milliseconds of the previous course. I never understood the rush!

I saw the thread title and thought: "This Dawn lass is a generous sort."

Maybe. But at breakfast...?

About 15 years ago we traveled Air France from Frankfurt to, if I remember correctly, Atlanta. Anyway, on the return the inbound flight to CDG was delayed and there was something like 45 minutes before the Frankfurt flight took off. To our surprise we were met at the aircraft by an airport vehicle which whisked us to the other end of the airfield to board the flight which was waiting on the taxiway. I always wonder if those onboard thought we must be VIPs - normal people surely don't arrive so precipitately during the taxi. Whatever, I was immensely impressed.

It's a great privilege to be able to mould young clinicians into caring, competent Dr's. It's even more of a privilege for those young doctors to be guided by someone who so inspires them.

Probably the best Ethiopian food is found in Ethiopia. Of course, there they call it food.

Maybe it was a crew member who wanted to sit there. But he got cold feet?