It's a cracker!

Mr Nielson better known as Sid, and I used to enjoy attending auctions.

I say attending advisedly, since neither of us were very confident bidders.

Once, with a little encouragement from a friendly bystander called Alex, Mr Nielson better known as Sid bought a veritable horde of questionable treasures.

One of which was this old sea chest made of embossed leather.

Every time Sid bid, Alex the friendly bystander would shout out, 'It's a cracker Sid!'

The chest has a rounded top, making it unusable as a coffee table, and so since I am unlikely to need it on an ocean voyage it sort of just stands around taking up space.

It does have a rather wonderful, paper lined inner and sometimes I open it to remind myself of its secret beauty.

As it was being loaded onto the truck after the auction with all Mr Nielson's other unnecessary purchases, a man offered to buy it from us.

'Definitely not, I shouted, 'it's ours and we're not selling!' This, after berating Mr Nielson endlessly for buying it.

Mr Nielson just smiled.

He knows me so well...

xxx elle