Fire! Fire! Fire Screen.

Look at this beauty I bought for just £10 at our local auction house!

Gorgeous wood surround - oak perhaps? I'm afraid I'm rubbish at identifying wood (except for orange pine, which I can spot at a hundred paces and avoid like the plague.)

And a beautiful embroidered scene behind the glass. Featuring this little chap

And some purrrty flowers.

All set against a lovely linen background.

Tidies up the fire place no end.

I'm constantly amazed at the bargains that are to be had at auctions. I'm also constantly amazed at the high prices that some items seem to attain. There seems neither rhyme nor reason to what goes for big bucks and what can be had for a song.

It's so much fun to wander around the sale room for the auction preview never knowing if that 'thing' that you've been after for ages might be there. I always leave commission bids (which means you fill in a form detailing the item you are interested in and the maximum you are willing to pay for it) for the items I'd like to win because I can't spare the time to be at the auction itself; it also means that I won't get tempted into a bidding war and end up paying more than I really want to/can afford for something. It even adds to the excitement since you never know if you've won something until you call the auction house the next day (clearly, I'm easily excited...)