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something to cook on.
    Witty remarks made at my expense this morning due to the purple bruise on my forehead. Was particularly annoyed as Mr Woodnut, our regional sales manager, was in our office today and it made me appear somewhat undignified.
    Had toad in the hole for supper but, as Julie is still persisting with this diet of hers, she only had “toad”.
    January 20th – Tuesday
    Electricity strike is definitely going to start on Friday or Saturday according to the papers. Julie said she’d buy some candles from Staynes. Went into North Wales on my rounds today. Snow started falling and it was so cold that, instead of having the ham sandwiches Julie had packed for my lunch, I decided to pull up at a little pub called the King’s Head and have a hot meal. Had a very delicious Lancashire Hot Pot, followed by apple pie, and saw large notice about an auction sale of furniture and effects, to take place on Tuesday January 20th at Plas Coch. Mine host saw me looking at this with interest and said, ‘It’s a large house just down the road on the right, old Lady Morris lived there. Beautiful house in its hey day. You might pick up a good bargain or two, especially on a day like this – there won’t be many people turning out today.’
    Never averse to picking up a bargain or two, I thanked him, paid my bill, got into the car and decided to go to the sale.
    â€œJust down the road” turned out to be an exaggeration. It took me a long time to find it. I turned right at the first large house I saw, but it turned out to be a girls’ school, with a game of hockey in progress. However, after about five miles, I came to Plas Coch and, despite the weather, there were quite a few cars there. The house was monstrous, ugly and icy cold inside. You could have put the whole of Springcroft Meadow into it and still had room to spare. A man with a large moustache handed me a catalogue. I said, ‘Thanks very much’ and was annoyed to find it cost me 25p.
    I think all the good stuff must have gone in the morning because what was left was very shabby. Frankly I was amazed at the prices things were fetching. An old china chamber pot went for £15 and a wooden clothes horse, which was falling to pieces, for £17 – this went to a woman standing behind me and I heard her saying to her friend, ‘I shall make it into a Japanese fire screen.’ Good luck to her, I thought.
    I was just going to leave when I saw that Lot 270 was a PATENT UNSPILLABLE GLOWRANGE, one of the original Glover’s Glowranges. The words seemed to come up and hit me in the eyes. With the electricity strike on my mind, it seemed just the job.
    â€˜Who’ll give me £1 for this excellent and practical heater – in full working order,’ asked the Auctioneer. Someone must have winked at him, but I was determined to get this and, when he said £1.75, I held up my hand, and became the proud owner of the Glowrange.
    â€˜I’ll take it with me,’ I said to the porter chap. He seemed surprised when I said it was Lot 270 and I soon realised why. Included in my lot were two iron bedsteads, a broken rocking chair, an enormous mirror with a crack down one side, three volumes of Missionary work in Bantu Africa and a wooden candlestick.
    My main concern was that I shouldn’t scratch my Vauxhall Viva. I drove home crouched under the bedsteads and arrived home with a stiff neck, but luckily the car seems to be alright. Julie took it all very well really.
    The new television had arrived and, as I sat watching it in our “new” rocking chair (which is really quite handsome and which I will enjoy repairing), I thought how cosy we’d be during the strike. I felt quite satisfied eating my ham sandwiches.
    January 21st – Wednesday
    Kippers for breakfast – tasted a bit “off” I thought and told Julie so. Had a bit of an argument about this. How could she know? She