I'm not buying it

Today was close, very close, within a gnat's crotchet of caving close.

I had a long day, a commute from hell and managed to ruin my dinner.

When I'm passing time I often browse ebay on the off chance some of the things I've been looking for might just be there. Lo and behold, today of all days I struck it lucky, or not as this month I won't be buying anything stylish.

I've got a fabulous pair of cropped trousers which are few years old now and I really love them. They were always a little on the tight side but I've resigned myself to buying the next size up if I can find them. The old pair are on the pile to sell at a jumble sale in a couple of weeks. So in my mind if I find a pair they are just replacing old for new. I've looked day in day out for a replacement pair and bingo - today I spotted some on ebay.

Coming in at around £6 with postage they are a steal. Ordinarily I'd bid on them without question, especially after a day like today. Not this month.

It's so frustrating not to be able to keep my original intentions for those trousers alive.

Seems it's masochist May for me. Last weekend I took myself down to Crystal Palace to visit a pal and of course a few vintage shops. The south London spot is something of a Mecca for vintage furniture and clothes stores. I looked in at the collectors market, Vintage Hart - the tiny vintage shop in the front of the White Hart pub, Vien clothes shop and tea room and ID Furniture & Lighting on Church Road.

Gerald Kelly Saw Ohn Nyum Tretchikoff print (photo by Tori Mayo)

This was staring me in the face as soon as I walked through the door of the 20th Century design shop. 

I first came across this Gerald Kelly Saw Ohn Nyum Tretchikoff print in the Notting Hill Exchange bric-a-brac shop. At the time it was being sold for £80. I didn't buy it then but did win one on ebay for about £50. When I got it I was disappointed with colours of the reproduction and re sold it on ebay at a loss. So there she was, haunting me. The colours in this version were just right and the frame was perfect too. Just shows it's best to buy these thing where you can really see them and not from ebay.

Pleased to say that this time I resisted. 

This is a real test alright!