Answering back!

   I still haven't discovered how to answer some of the kind and helpful comments that my readers post! So, Gillyflower, you are quite right in saying that a lot more people are aware of prices and values, thanks to T.V. and masses of info in the Press.  On the whole, this is a good thing and means that people don't throw away interesting and valuable items that they buy, inherit or find in the attics!  On the other hand I often wonder if this is because most of all, they are interested in the money, or whether this gives them a taste for beauty and design?    Personally, if you told me that a Martinware owl jug was worth several thousand pounds to a collector, it would not make me love it any more!    I hate them!
    I am glad that you are interested in my progress as a home maker, furnishing first a little Mews house in London when first married, through a modest Queen Anne village house with attractive joinery for windows and doors, and mantlepieces and staircase, and lovely panelling, (so not much decoration needed), on to a large and demanding Regency country house in Essex.  The final selection of furniture and belongings came when we 'retired' to the West country - first a village house with a large garden and then, our final present abode, a lovely Palladian -fronted house in a small market town.      I was so lucky to have some  practice with all the different houses and styles and to get the hang of planning and disposing and swapping furnishings and I came to enjoy it hugely and find it all very exciting.    When I started up in the antiques world with no training or mentor, I found I was able to help some of the customers with their plans, and supplying them to make their homes comfortable, livable and attractive was truly a great joy for me.  As I increased my stock and knowledge of the French market, I met so many interesting people, film wardrobe ladies in particular but also those from theatre and opera, architects,  interior designers and many different skilled and artistic people who were producing new fabrics, furniture and decorations.  The 80s was a great time for new furnishing styles and ideas and I was so lucky that I was 'in' from the beginning.  People had some money to spend and were changing their lifestyle from the very formal to a much more decorative look, so there was lots of scope for me!
I hope this little diary of my past life will give you some idea of the great times I have had with houses and their furnishings.