It was our first car boot sale of 2013.
We did not expect too much.
Most of our stock for sale had been trailed around for a couple of years and although the house, garage and garden were scoured for potential items the car seemed a little light as we set off for the venue at 6am. It was rare for me to be able to see out, via the rear view mirror, to the road behind but my vision was not obstructed on this particular day. The pasting table had been easily accommodated on top of the loaded items for the first time in my experience of participating on sunday mornings in the summer months.
The whole point of car booting and a mantra that should not be forgotten is to get a bit of cash for items that would otherwise be 1) boxed up and stored in the attic 2) left anonymously on the doorstep of the Charity Shop 3) dumped.
It is best to have no preconceived ideas on pricing apart from a couple of "star" items for which it is worth holding out for. To illustrate this I can state that in our seven or so seasons of car booting the highest single price achieved has only been £25 and that was for a deep glazed Belfast Sink which had been removed in a remodelling of our kitchen.
The rest of the items are there to be sold and realistically any offers should be considered even if a bit on the low side.
The venue was our favourite one on a sports and recreational field on the northern edge of the city. It is in a good location within reasonable walking or cycling distance for buyers to get up, have breakfast and then mosey on down with their budget in a small plastic coin bag to seek out that elusive trinket, potentially million pound treasure trove or the final artefact to complete a collection, be it Dinky, Wade, Peppa Pig or Disney.
In our practical experience if it is an idyllic summers morning there is a scarcity of English buyers. They will be on their way to the seaside and you may as well leave boxed up and in the back of the car the ornaments, bric a brac and general tat which is on dull day is at best their staple diet at a car boot.
The main demand on such an away day sunday has to be made up by the European contingent as well as the African and Middle Eastern communities who have a keen eye and strong negotiation skill over shoes, good quality clothing, suitcases, jewellery and electrical goods.
We set up our wares, backs to the sun and awaited the first interest from a steady stream of potential customers.
The dealers who have special dispensation from the venue organisers are hovering about even as the car is unloaded. They have a special affinity to sniff out a bargain as well as seeking out their specialist market for, this season, mobile phones, Lego sets and antique toys.
Unfortunately we had none of these goods.
It was down to the general public to patronise our sales pitch. Within a few minutes all of our best items were snapped up including boxed Monopoly board games, Blu-Ray discs, DVD's and video games. This left us with our usual core collection which had not attracted any interest in previous years.
However, times, fashions, trends and fads change rapidly even in our area and to our utter astonishment we offloaded the elephant dung paper, S Club Seven CD with autographed cover and competition frisbee.
Conversely what we had expected to be dead cert winners just sat on the table attracting no interest whatsoever.
When not wandering up and down behind the decorating table rearranging the display goods the car boot sale affords an ideal opportunity to people watch.
It is as if the whole world in cross section has descended on the playing field venue.
As the individuals or family groups approach slowly, scanning what is on offer from our neighbouring sellers some sport can be had in guessing their nationality.
In most cases we are miles away apart from our fellow countrymen and women who bring to the field the national characteristics of loud voices, on-going arguments between husband and wife, conversations started over breakfast and a running commentary on what other members of the family happen to be doing today.
We have also been engaged by complete strangers on an involuntary basis in strange dialogues on medical issues, matters of political doctrine, religious arguments and goaded into guessing the age of a particular senior individual. Interest is feigned in such contact in case there is a prospect of a transaction but if we accept that we are providing a social and therapeutic service then it is no trouble to give a few minutes of our idle time.
My son was half chuffed and insulted by an elderly man who approached him as he stood at our pitch and asked him if he had any cheap tobacco to sell. That made his day. Apparently anything goes at the car boot.
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