Before I embark on today's tales - here is the set of bellows that I picked up yesterday while rummaging through the boxes Heather was given. They will look a little more stylish when the fireplace has an actual mantel piece of course!

I had next to no sleep last night due to the weather - too hot to have the bedding on, not hot enough to have it off. I finally nodded off around two this morning after several false starts.

So you can imagine how I felt when the alarm went of at six to start my day at the Garage Sales.

Still I managed to get a load of washing done (the shirts and nightgowns of yesterday's score) an on the line as well as walking the dogs before Heather arrived twenty minutes early (argh! No breakfast!) just the weetbix were soaking up the milk, sigh.

 One of my purchases today was one of those dog beds that consists of a metal frame with a hessian bag over it to make a hammock. Shadow had one when he was a wee fellow but it fell apart as he got bigger. This one is sturdier, but actually purchased with Seb in mind as Seb is, of course a smaller dog. Shadow didn't care and climbed aboard anyway, even if he did spill over the edges somewhat. (You will note that they had fun tearing up a cardboard pizza base in my absence).

 This delightful object set me back five dollars - no idea of its original intention - it looks like a work basket for a keen knitter - certainly not one for someone who sews.

It is lined blue satin with a rouched overlay of hailstone muslin. There is a handle missing on the bottom drawer, but that is easily fixed, and a coat of paint will make it look a little prettier I think.

 Here it is with the bottom drawer open - also lined as you can see. Pity the lining is stained in parts, but you can't help bad luck.

 This mysterious object is a tool bag. It is placed over a bucket, as you can see, and your smaller tools and tape measures etc sit in the pockets around the outside. Larger tools, boxes of fixings etc go inside for ease of carrying around a selection of what you will as you are working. I spotted one of my tradies using one and have looked for them everywhere, so I was rather pleased to pick this one up for seven dollars!

The tins of paint were a total of one dollar, and as you can see from the dribbles are in two shades of blue - they will be good for the cane basket I think!

This beautiful chair is very well made indeed with a timber frame and sprung upholstery - it will be an elegant addition to the loungeroom once the loungeroom is no longer a storage shed for building materials, and that hole in the wall is fixed! The front feet are cabriole in three parts - so the middle curvy bit and a wing to each side. Some of the wings are broken or missing, but I have enough there to model new ones one if I spend a day at the Mens Shed (I will need to work out what the timber is and see if I can source some bits).

Rather disconcertingly it has rather a large quantity of cat fur in the corners (you would think they would vacuum it before putting it up for sale). It was part of a suite that consisted of two chairs and a very petite two-seater couch. Since Heather also wanted a chair we talked the vendor into selling us the chairs separately at ten dollars each. Once the legs are fixed and I get it steam cleaned (which is on the list for my sofa as well) it will look rather nice in the loungeroom. Meanwhile I have covered it with a rug to protect it from further depredations.

I am, of course, quite exhausted by all this running around - I cooked some chow mein for dinner which was nice, and brought in the last of the loads of washing I got done this afternoon after settling my purchases in their temporary homes and I think I can be pretty sure of an early night tonight!