Mum loved a bargain - anything from remnants of material to make clothes to shopping in the sales and developing a liking for Aldi version mini cheddars

She was particularly good at finding bargains in auctions and her purchases included a large Art Nouveau sideboard which cost more to deliver than she bid for it and a chaise longue.  I now have this as I re-covered it after researching upholstery - before the days of youtube - complete with a button back which it lost in a professional overhaul 

I think she enjoyed the excitement of auctions and especially when we had plenty of house room in Lancaster and initially in Leicester she could find interesting objects without causing clutter. I think she tried to follow the advice of William Morris to have nothing which wasn’t useful or aesthetically pleasing. She also kept household items for decades if they proved to be useful 

It was always a pleasure to find presents for her that she would enjoy