Monday 24 September 2012

Christmas is coming...



Here we bloody go again.  At a time when my personal cash-flow resembles that tap which I really must get round to fixing in the bathroom of our compact but adorable city apartment, I am hemorrhaging money from more orifices than I suspected I ever had, and fiddling whilst Rome burns by writing this blog and chatting up barmaids.

Last week, I lost a small fortune (in personal terms) by selling stuff at auction at under half of what I paid for it, and the week before that, my second attempt to fit the air-pump (you know, that one sold to me from Istanbul) resulted in the confirmation that I had - indeed - bought the wrong model and now have to spend another small, personal fortune in getting another.

70% of my work at present involves watching plaster dry, and the other 30% involves mixing it.  I have no idea when I will be able to put in a bill for it.

So I decided yesterday - in a fit of desperation - to sell the 16th century brass candlestick on eBay (again) having been convinced that it is an amalgam of two sticks, the top English and the base Dutch - therefore only worth a fraction of what it would be if an intact English one.

Fuck Blow me if - within about half an hour of listing it - some kind soul emailed me to show me this 100% English one which looks pretty damn close to my style, and sold for about £5000 (I think) at auction last year.

I have had so much conflicting 'information' with regard to this stick, that if it were not for the fact that nobody who thinks it is 'right' has bought it for a price which would guarantee a handsome profit on resale, I would hang onto it until I no longer felt the desire to sell it because I didn't need the money.

So if you pop over to eBay right now, you can (A) possibly grab yourself a bargain from a field which you have no previous knowledge of or experience in, and (B) discover my real identity so that you can commit an act of fraud by hacking into my bank account, details of which may be found hidden within the site. (Don't even think about it, Peter).

Neither would do you much financial good in the short term though, but you could end up with a pretty candlestick just in time for Christmas - a pretty expensive one at that.

22 comments:

  1. I just thought that John Gray was missing any mention of candlesticks right now.

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    1. ... and I thought I would be the first one to mention Christmas - another little, seasonal, personal triumph. What a sad life I lead.

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  2. Can we all get through effing Halloween first!

    Nice stick. I presume you don't mention that it could be an amalgam!

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  3. Shame about your auction result ... Retail Christmas has begun already where I live. Just dreadfully sad to see all the tinsel so many months from the actual day.
    That is a handsome candlestick. Hope it sells well on evilbay. x

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    1. We have a 360 day-long shop here called 'December 25th'. Beat that.

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  4. I Guess I cannot really complain....we have not been subjected to a bloody candlestick post of ages now........it had to happen

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  5. Five grand for a candlestick! Blimey.

    I have a pair of pewter candlesticks (they're silver coloured but definitely not silver) which I have had for ages, do you think they'd be worth anything? I was thinking of giving them to the village chapel.

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    1. Send me a photo, and I'll give my opinion. If they are shit, I will tell you so, and if they are good, I will tell you they are shit and try to buy them from you.

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    2. and if they are sticky up things you can put candles into, I will tell you the post is shit
      x

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  6. I shall have to do a candlestick post for John so that, like buses, they all come along at once!

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  7. Last year you congratulated me on the first person in blogland to mention 'Season of Mists and Yellow Fruitfulness'. May I in turn congratulate you on being the first person to mention Christmas! Incidentally, I love that candlestick and I am not influenced by whether it is an amalgam or not. But sadly I have also spent unwisely over thelast few weeks (mainly on clothes - what's new about that for a woman?) so cannot afford a candle, yet alone a candlestick.

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    1. I am playing it safe this year, Weave. A women? Spend unwisely? Nah - your having me on. I have spent so unwisely in the last 20 years, that I didn't get where I am by spending wisely. Get out of that.

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  8. The effing postage for across the Pond would put this candlestick well out of my reach.

    I have a pewter candlestick on the mantle right now, looking a tad lonely as it's candleless.

    Perhaps i ought to blog about New Year's Eve? so we can get some of the Big Holidays covered.

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    1. I'll quote you $25 for airmail door to door - get off and buy it. NY, NY, NY? Why not? Happy Birthday!

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  9. We're also spiralling into bankruptcy here at Chateau EM. Will have to move into the piggery very soon when the lectric is shut off. So will be in the market for candlesticks. Though sadly not 16thc brass ones. More like a candle stuck in a saucer. Actually we don't have any saucers either and we're not looking forward to Christmas. We've already considering the Rat Casserole on offer down the local.

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    1. Get hubby to sell his golf clubs - that'll focus his mind. If things get too bad, I will post you some Price's candles - cheap and cheerful.

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  10. Dutch/English - I think that candlestick is lovely. Hope you do well with it, though it seems an awful shame to sell it.

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    1. It seems an awful shame to own it too, in my experience.

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