Trip to Brockville – the auction

 We consider ourselves quite fortunate. Our lives have certainly changed with COVID, but nothing like many people have faced. That said, we had a touch of normal on Friday. I bid on some items from the online auction for the estate of Bill McPhee. 

I was surprised that they were selling off cleaning supplies. 

I like doing research. You can tell the character of a person from the things they hold dear. The family lived in a semi-detached home in Brockville. For sale was a full set of Royal Albert dishes. My late mother always liked those, and spoke of them with reverence!

Bill liked his motorcycles, according to his obituary, and passed away in August. (His leathers were for sale in the auction.) His late wife, Evy, passed over a year ago March. They liked their travels, this couple.  "Bill and Evy shared many happy hours travelling on their motorcycles and Spyders." (A Spyder is a three-wheeled motorcycle!) They must have had many happy memories.

This is a Spyder!

I won several items, and after lunch we took a drive to pick things up. Normally, one picks up items at the  auction house. Sometimes, we drive to the family home to pick items up directly. It makes for an interesting adventure. We would often do this, then have lunch somewhere. That isn't happening for us for a long time. Ontario is up to 1000 COVID cases a day. 

Pick up was between noon and 6 p.m. I had to Google the address to figure out how long it would take to get there. There is a Spyder from a 2015 Google image. 

What was really funny is that the family home was on Windsor Drive. We lived on a Windsor Dr. in Bala! There are delightful bungalows on this street. It's a nice little neighbourhood in NE Brockville.

We parked, I put on my mask, got out of the car, and I handed in my sheet of paper to staff at the tables set up for this purpose. We loaded up, and were ready to go, when this couple parks right in front of us, effectively blocking the driveway. Sigh. It was free right behind us!

There were lots of motorcycles about.

JB, my personal assistant, had a brilliant idea. I had loaned the clock I'd won at auction a year ago. It came back missing the little wheel that allows you to change the time. At his suggestion, we visited the clock repair store to see if they had a piece. They found an old one, and, at no charge, they replaced it for me. 

Home again, I set out some of my treasures. Aren't these fun? 

This is some of my loot! Some garden items. I shall repaint the ones that need it. I like the blue heron, especially!

This is Evy, I believe. I bought her paintbox, which someone made for her. It's a sign of a happy life, and hobbies. They were a respected couple in the city.

This didn't need much work. I resprayed the black parts with black anti-rust spray paint. 

I used the paints I bought, as well as my own, to repaint the pieces. It was a lovely day, and a peaceful project.

As I said, it was a lovely day. On my way back from the far trailcam, a sundog! 

After subzero temperatures, the snakes came back out. I rescued this one from Nutmeg, and I sent JB to put her indoors. It was a ribbon snake.