And today's impulse purchase is:

[CelticRambler]

One could argue that it's already 'art' ; the two tyres don't match for a start. It began life as the axle on a US military vehicle, but appears to have been modified for other purposes since. I intend to continue that tradition, with a notion that I'll turn it into une trinqueballe of sorts - what the 'Mericans call a "log arch" for dragging tree trunks around.

The two wheels were completely seized up when I looked at it on Saturday; now they're turning freely, so that's a great bonus. Unfortunately, one of the tyres (and tube within) is split wide open, which I didn't spot at the time, and getting a replacement could be challenging ... and costly.

[Del.Monte]

Two more William Huston bird paintings for me tonight from Scarva Auctions, County Down. As usual there was another bidder but I won out - a massive outlay of £75 + commission.

[678904673]

Jonathan Sumption's 4 volume history of The Hundred Year War. Each book is around 700 pages in length. So it should keep me off the streets for a few weeks:)

[Del.Monte]

Bought this interesting survivor on Delcampe today from a seller in Belgium of all places. I'll probably sell it on once I have read it through and it looks very interesting from the pages used for the online listing. Just €27 including postage.

[Del.Monte]

Won this superb bottle label on eBay tonight for just £8.50 incl.postage and it ticks several boxes. I like the artwork and the brewery is still owned by a prosperous branch of my mother's family albeit they are only in the drinks distribution business these days. Who's to say with global warming they won't restart producing their pineapple drink using locally grown pineapples.



Also bought a signed, hardback copy of "A Life in the Trees" by Declan Murphy on Adverts.ie - for just €10 - all about the return of Great Spotted Woodpeckers to Ireland. I have the painting, and now the book but I still haven't seen a woodpecker - probably the only person in the country who hasn't at this stage!

[Del.Monte]

I surpassed myself today and got myself under control when bidding in the South Dublin Auction. I threw in a few half-hearted bids on a Lot of 300+ DVDs and then let somebody else have them for just €30; but I managed to acquire a quite valuable early work by noted wildlife painter, Julian Friers, for just €50 which was well below the pre-sale estimate of €150/300. The artist was only twenty at the time and the painting has little of the quality to be seen in his later work but still worth far more than I paid for it.



Finally, I also spotted some interesting shipping line ceramics and won them for just €11. They are not from the White Star Line, or any of the other great passenger lines. but from a Liverpool freight operator, the Harrison Line (1853-2000) big in their day but obscure in terms of collectability.

[isha]

Well that prompted a moderately long few minutes foray into birds holding eggs in their mouths. Which I hadn't known about. So the prime directive of learning something new every day is met.

[Del.Monte]

Another Sunday and another leap in the dark - I was not able to go to the viewing at South Dublin Auction (always advisable) not that it would have made any difference given the Lots I was bidding on! Who knows what the courier will bring but there's a lot of it so it could be like an early Christmas.

[Del.Monte]

And my purchase of the mystery pallets turned out to be the disaster that I feared - the most expensive one €70 + commission + courier was baby toys! All the pallets arrived today and the baby toys have been redistributed to two local charity shops - at least somebody's happy. A lesson learned.

[Del.Monte]

This was very much an impulse purchase made at Victor Mee's August Decorative Advertising, Pub Memorabilia and Collectables Sale which contained 74 items of quality railwayana. I was still a teenager when the line closed in 1975 and narrowly missed out on travelling over the 9 mile branch off the Dublin/Galway line. It opened in 1890 and was built by the Midland Great Western Railway under Baronial Guarantee i.e. the ratepayers made good any losses.

It was unique in that right to the end the railway operated mixed trains of passenger and freight stock - the last Irish line to so do. It had been on the CIE hit list for years and while local interests succeeded in preventing earlier attempts to close the line there was surprisingly little protest in 1975.



232 with one passenger coach, eight wagons and a brake van, near Lynchfort level crossing, with the 15.30 Loughrea – Attymon Jct mixed. - October 1975.
Photo: by Albert Bridge, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.p ... d=31393751



While I never had a trip over the line, bar a few hundred yards at Attymon Junction, I now have a really exciting piece of railway history which will rest for a while in my collection.

While I purchased the staff on the 1st August it only arrived in the Sunny South East today via GLS Couriers - must have been leaves on the track!

[Del.Monte]

This was very definitely an impulse purchase although I do have my old Prep school on numerous searches but little or nothing ever shows up. This came up on Adverts a day or so ago (€26 including postage) and a I had to have it. Some people hate their old schools but I have an obsessive interest in them and was fortunate enough to have had a great time in both of mine although academically I left fairly unscathed.

[Del.Monte]

Bought this tonight. after watching it on eBay and on the seller's Fine Art website for over two years. It was painted by my Great Aunt who although having attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin remained an amateur artist and thus her work is of little value on the market. I think it started at over £300 when first listed but tonight I picked it up for £67 including delivery to Northern Ireland. I never knew my Grand Aunt but I still feel the need to buy her paintings whenever they appear.....I have six or seven of them at this stage. I like this one especially as her signature is cunningly hidden on the edge of the table.