Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Valuation Day


I passed this house in Golders Green yesterday while walking up to the antique dealer's "Valuation Day" event. By my count, there are 15 rubbish bins and six shopping carts in that front garden, plus a weird section of wooden fence that's not attached to anything except a tree, and lots of assorted bags of debris. Quite a display!

The "Valuation Day" was interesting and somewhat successful. I took a wristwatch and a silver coin belonging to Dave, and the dealer bought the coin for exactly what my earlier Internet research had determined it was worth. He made an offer on the watch, but we didn't think it was enough, so we kept that -- even though Dave never wears a watch and it hasn't seen the light of day for as long as I've known him.

Best of all, the dealer also bought that box of clay pipes I found on the sidewalk back in February. He gave me £20 for all of them, which was fine by me, considering they cost me nothing. I thought they were cool but I didn't really want them. Now they're back in the hands of someone whose business is antiquities and who will properly appreciate them. I wish I'd also thought to take that weird silver vase (or whatever it is) I found years ago.

Anyway, it was good to get out and walk. The event was held at a hotel almost three miles away, and I walked there and back, so I got a fair amount of exercise.


I passed this groovy dry-cleaners' sign on the way. Why is it that dry cleaners and laundromats (or launderettes as they're called here) always seem so retro?

Otherwise, yesterday was pretty chill. I read some in the afternoon -- remember how I'm trying to read all the Newbery medal winners? Well, I'm working on the most recent one, "When You Trap a Tiger," just to make even a tiny bit of progress over the summer. I still have about a third of the list to go and I don't want to stall out now, but I probably won't get back to reading Newbery books in earnest until school begins again in a few weeks.

Oh, a sad note. Someone -- I assume from the council -- finally came and cut down the once-viney tree, which did indeed die. I feel so terrible about that situation. I still can't understand what killed it. Taking that vine away shouldn't have hurt it, unless it was already weakened, either by the burden of the vine itself or in some other way. (There was some street construction beneath it just before I removed the vine, and perhaps that had damaged the roots?) I've even wondered if someone unhappy with my project deliberately killed it with an herbicide. Maybe they didn't like me coming around and paying attention to it. But that seems a little paranoid.

Anyway, I do feel guilty, and I've learned my lesson. Next time I'll think twice before involving myself unasked in something like that. It sounds extreme but I think it will literally bother me for the rest of my life.

I've been on a Faye Dunaway movie kick the last couple of nights: "Three Days of the Condor," which was good, and "The Eyes of Laura Mars," which was less so. I should really watch "Mommie Dearest" again. I haven't seen it in years and I remember it being a hoot.

44 comments:

Moving with Mitchell said...

I wonder how old that Temple Fortune sign is. It looks Jetsons ’60s. The bin house is an eyesore. With that many bins, you’d think there’d be no trash on the ground. Great news about the coin. Too bad about the watch. I wonder how much that dealer will get for the pipe collection. Faye Dunaway is/was a good actress. I understand she’s not such a good human being. Ah, celebrity. Sorry for what you’re feeling about that tree. My sense is it was choked of health for too many years. You were the good guy who tried to save it and it did flourish briefly after you removed the vine. That was its way of saying thank you.

gz said...

All those bins...and all the small bedsits that a house is divided into....

The street construction probably killed off the tree...which probably had been struggling due to growing under a pavement, and previous excavations

jenny_o said...

We've had one tree and several bushes that seemed to falter over a period of years until one year they just didn't come back (my black thumb, maybe) so I'd say it's not anything you did that killed the tree. Any number of unnatural causes may have contributed. Trees in a city have a hard life.

Are you sure you're remembering Mommie Dearest correctly? I thought that was based on a biography of child abuse by a movie star!

Well done on the successful coin and pipes sales.

Tasker Dunham said...

Those dustbins - perhaps they've got quintuplets and use a lot of nappies.
Could the tree already have been dead when you removed the vine?

Anonymous said...

Not bad at all at the Valuation Day. I remember the clay pipes find, worth twenty quid hey. Well done you. The bins look terrible but it can be hard to control how rubbish is dealt with.

Debby said...

That is very cool about the clay pipes! That was such an excellent find. My husband was very impressed with those.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Very sorry to hear about the premature demise of "The Once Viney Tree" by Steve Reed, a tragic tale which did not win a Newbery medal. And I am surprised that you didn't get Olga valued.

Bob said...

I don't don't if it's the sign or the lettering or my early morning eyes, but I read that laundromat sign as "Terrible Fortune" at first.

Too bad there's not Valuation Day on trash bins ....someone could make a terrible fortune.

e said...

Sorry about your tree...more people should care.

The Bug said...

I'm sorry about the tree. I feel like it was probably not very healthy all along and if anything what you did let it live a little longer.

I wish you'd taken the "vase" too - that way we could have found out what it is. Be sure to take it the next time they have one of those events!

Mary said...

Not a bad day at the valuation event. £20 for something you got for free is pretty good. Plus, something different to do.

Understand how you feel about the tree, but as others have remarked, it is highly likely that the road works did in the roots leading to its demise, not you. Had you not cut those heavy vines it might have toppled even earlier. What you should feel good about is that you CARE. The mark of an excellent human being...and you are, Steve.

ellen abbott said...

I wonder what's going on with all the trash cans. and I'd guess 20 pounds made it worth the effort to lug those pipes to the event. as for the tree, whatever caused it to die had nothing to do with you cutting away the smothering vine. and didn't it say thank you by blooming after you did that? so your guilt is misplaced.

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear about that tree. I would guess that the road work there probably killed it. I can't imagine that you cutting away the vines is what killed it.
Six miles is a nice long walk!

Ms. Moon said...

Oh, Steve. I wish I had a magic wand to wave and lift the burden of that tree's demise from you. From what I have observed in my life, it is the dying tree that the vines cover. Which comes first? I have a feeling that by the time you tried to save it, it was already too far gone. There's no way that tree was getting the light or water it needed in that precarious position practically on the street!
Good for you for getting rid of a few things in exchange for money!
Hey- when was the last time you watched "Bonnie and Clyde"? That was a good one.

Linda Sue said...

Well, Mr. Money Bags, must have been a chore hauling all of that cash home. I would have given you more than 20 quid for the box of pipes. Carry on caring and doing what you do to help and maybe save too far gone trees.
They appreciate it and, you know, everything dies...You did a good thing!

Sharon said...

You might try watching "The Thomas Crown Affair", the original version. I love the new version with Pierce Brosnan but a few months ago I watched the older one with Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen. It's good too. Dunaway has a cameo role in the newer movie too.
Good job with the antique dealer. That mess of trash cans and garbage is pretty unsightly. Sorry to hear about that tree you tried to help. The loss of a tree is always a sad thing.

Red said...

Sometimes I don't understand what these dealers buy and don't buy. They bought my old reel to reel tape recorder and got double the price when they sold it.

Kelly said...

Wow! Those clay pipes are fascinating!

Try not to feel guilty about the tree. I have a suspicion that it was already dead or dying from the aggressive vines.

Sabine said...

So sorry about that tree, you did try your very best, Steve. Would you dare to try a have a look into the bins? Could be the beginning of a riveting true crime podcast.
That laundry sign made me think of My Beautiful Laundrette, must watch it again, once one of favourite films.

Ellen D. said...

Good luck on selling at the Valuation Day! Sorry about the tree you tried to save. That giant vine had smothered it, I think. Don't feel bad about it because at least you tried!

Pixie said...

I don't think it was anything you did that killed that tree. If there was work being done near the roots, I'm guessing that did it. I think Mary Moon may be onto something too.

I don't know if many landromats are built anymore. Most people have access to their own machines now. I would like to own a laundromat with a small coffee shop in it that served cinnamon buns and had books to read while people waited. I'm pretty sure I would lose money at it.

Pixie said...

So I looked up the most beautiful landromats in the world and this is what showed up.

https://www.internationaltraveller.com/world/laundromats-around-the-world/

Steve Reed said...

It's a very '60s sign, but I wonder if it's authentic or just made to look retro. It doesn't look new, does it?

Thanks for the kind words about the tree. :(

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, it makes you wonder how many flats are in that house!

Steve Reed said...

Yes, "Mommie Dearest" IS a tale of abuse. But it's one of those movies that's so over-the-top that it has become a parody of itself. No one watches it to seriously absorb the plot -- they watch it to see Dunaway screaming "NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!!!!!!"

Steve Reed said...

It was alive when I first removed the vine, and it seemed healthy immediately afterwards. It even bloomed the following spring. But that summer was very dry and the tree was newly exposed to the light and heat of the street, and I think that did it in.

Steve Reed said...

I was mostly just happy I found a home for those pipes with someone who would appreciate them.

Steve Reed said...

They were cool-looking, it's true! But I have enough stuff.

Steve Reed said...

I'd have to pay THEM to take Olga.

Steve Reed said...

"Terrible Fortune" -- ha! The neighborhood is called Temple Fortune, hence the sign.

Steve Reed said...

I wish the people who lived right next to it had watered it from time to time. That might have saved it during our dry summer last year.

Steve Reed said...

I know! I could kick myself for forgetting it.

Steve Reed said...

I think there were multiple factors contributing to that tree's demise: road works, a need to adjust to the removal of the vine and a VERY dry spring and summer among them.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, I was happy to get £20 for those pipes! It's true that the tree did bloom the following spring. I wish I'd given it water and helped it adjust, but I just didn't realize it needed that. And maybe it wouldn't have made a difference anyway.

Steve Reed said...

If it was a healthy tree, removing the vine alone definitely wouldn't have killed it. Something else had to have happened. But it LOOKS like I killed it, and I FEEL like I killed it!

Steve Reed said...

At least we got one good blooming season from the tree. I remember telling Dave, "I just want to see it bloom once." Apparently the tree heard me! I think it had multiple problems -- possible root damage, a too-dry spring and summer, a too-small opening in the sidewalk to get water, and the shock of being exposed when it had been previously shaded by the vine. I think it would have died anyway, but I'm sorry I couldn't save it.

Steve Reed said...

You need those pipes like you need a hole in the head! Aren't you trying to get rid of stuff?!?!

Steve Reed said...

That's a GREAT idea! I've never seen that movie, either the newer or older version.

Steve Reed said...

It's amazing what has value. It's just a matter of connecting the right person with the right object.

Steve Reed said...

They were a very cool find, but not something I wanted to keep forever. You're probably right about the tree. I just have to get over it. LOL

Steve Reed said...

Ha! I would NOT want to look in those bins. Yes, "My Beautiful Launderette" is a great movie! When we lived in Notting Hill there was a laundromat down the street called My Beautiful Launderette.

Steve Reed said...

I think multiple factors, which I mentioned above, spelled the demise of the tree. I still feel guilty, though.

Steve Reed said...

I remember thinking, when I saw that roadwork being done, that it was risky to try to remove the vine then because if the tree died, people would hold me responsible! But I really didn't think it would happen.

Steve Reed said...

Interesting! Basically cafes/bars with washing machines. I guess if a cafe or bar alone can make a profit, then adding washing machines could only help, right?