Making Good Use

Still Holding Off ....

.... putting the central heating on.  Thanks to the el crapo terrible weather of the last week or so, it has become more and more tempting to flick the switch and turn on the central heating.  So far we've held out by wearing a minimum of three layers and huddling round an electric radiator in the living room during the evenings.  P has taken to wearing his knitted hat at all times (including in bed) when he's in the house, often with the hood of his hoodie pulled up over it.  I'm going to crack open the winter pyjamas tonight as I've been somewhat chilly in bed recently.  The summer was so bad this year that we never did change to a lighter duvet but maybe the time is rapidly approaching when we'll have to have the double layer of duvet again.

It's not too bad during the day when I keep moving but in the evening it is bl**dy freezing.  And as for showering in an unheated bathroom - well, brass monkeys having nothing on it!!  Of course, no central heating means no hot water in this house (apart from the electric shower - thank goodness for that!!) so I'm still having to boil several kettle loads of water every time I wash up or do any clothes washing by hand. 

Why are we torturing ourselves like this you may ask?  Well, a few years ago now we managed to have a gas bill for the summer quarter which was £0.00 - absolutely zero (still never figured out quite how that worked as the hob in the kitchen is gas but never mind.)  Ever since then I've been longing to get another zero gas bill - though I think the sneaky gits at British Gas have changed the way the quarters run which makes it all the more difficult.  Can we hold out long enough - hmm, not sure really, it all depends on just how nippy the weather gets.  Tell you what, though, if we do manage another zero gas bill, I'll be framing the damned thing!!

Improvisation

It's hard to believe with the amount of food I lug in every week that I could find myself totally out of tinned tomatoes.  But that was what happened late this afternoon as I was about to add what is a somewhat vital ingredient into the bubbling pan of Chachouka (made with ordinary hens eggs and not duck eggs here.)   I could have sworn I'd got at least two tins somewhere but evidently not!  B*ggerations!!

I searched every shelf in the kitchen (just in case I'd erroneously stored a stray tin with the tinned fruit) and then I moved on to search everywhere else in the house that could possibly be hiding a tin of tomatoes (in the large wooden cupboard in the hall, both under and in the sideboard in the dining room - all places where tinned and packet foodstuffs can be found lurking due to lack of storage space in our teeny tiny kitchen.)  Sadly, no tins of tomatoes came to light.  At this point desperation was setting in and I knew it was time for some improvisation.  I found I had two jars of pasta sauce - one specifically for bolognese and one claiming to have mediterranean vegetables.  Having squinted to read the ingredients of both jars (do they have to print those things so damned small!), I opted for the veggie one as that only contained onions, peppers (also a vital ingredient in Chachouka) and courgettes.

Well, it worked OK-ish.  I had to up the quantity of smoked paprika to try and mask the taste of basil but other than that it was alright.  Come Monday morning, I shall be stocking up with at least half-a-dozen tins of chopped tomatoes from Aldi and checking what other vital ingredients I'm low on and adding those to my list too.

Thrifting - It's Not All Flim Flam and Fripperies

I do pick up a lot of fripperies when thrifting - some for me to keep and some to sell on.  There are all sorts of bits and bobs that catch my eye at the boot sale and when they only cost 20p or 50p they inevitably end up coming home with me.  Some I keep for a long time, some I think better of almost immediately and they get donated to a local charity shop.   However, just lately, I seem to have a good run at finding really useful, sensible, practical items.

There was, of course, the wonderfully timely find of a hot air brush a couple of weeks ago which I definitely consider as a useful item (though maybe some would say it is just a frippery!!)  There was also a haul of unopened packs of washing-up gloves (Vileda, no less) at 10p a pair.  I get through washing-up gloves at a fairly brisk pace (I seem to manage to stab the fingers with a fork on a frequent basis!!) so I was very pleased to find those.  Especially as the last pack of three pairs that I bought from Aldi - which I discovered are rather more expensive than I'd realised at £1.40 per pack - had a hole in the first pair I pulled from the pack.  My 10p-a-pair haul should last for a nice long while.

At the weekend I got two large bottles of liquid soap at 50p each - which, when added to stash I've got from the Co-op's current 'buy one get two free offer', means I've probably got enough liquid soap supplies for the next couple of years.

Yesterday at the 'Coffee and Jumble' I found an unopened pack of five zip-up suit covers.  Not something I would have automatically gone out and bought but when I saw them I realised they'd come in very useful as a lot of our 'posh' clothes are getting very dusty just from hanging in the wardrobe.  Also, I've been worrying and fretting about moths getting into my Icelandic cardigan (I've been taking it out every couple of weeks and shaking it vigorously just in case!!) and now it's all nicely zipped up in it's own cover - safe, I hope, from the ravages of the HUGE moth population we seem to have in this house.  I paid £2.00 for the pack of suit covers - which is pretty top-whack for the 'Coffee and Jumble' - but I realised after I got them home that those things cost an awful lot more to buy retail.

Also found at the 'C&J' was a new Venetian blind cleaner - a funny looking object with three furry prongs - which turned out to be wonderfully effective on the one and only Venetian blind in the house.  I'm ashamed to say that the bloomin' thing was so dusty that after one use the - luckily detachable - furry cover is going to have to be washed!!  Ahem!!  That useful object cost me all of 50p.

What sensible, useful, practical items have you thrifted recently?

A Few Bits & Bobs

It was bloomin' cold at the boot sale this morning, with rather a strong wind blowing.  For the first time in aaaaages, I could have done with wearing a jumper or a jacket (or even both).  As there had been no boot sale last week there were a lot of sellers - but sadly not many selling anything I wanted to buy.

There was this assortment of toiletries for me - all 50p each (my 'usual' price for toiletries!!) and all new and unopened.

Two brand-new Hobbs pure silk polda dot scarves - 50p each.  These are destined for ebay because much as I would like to be someone who can nonchalantly wear a silk scarf with aplomb, unfortunately I never seem to be able to pull it off.  Don't know why really, but I'm guessing my very short / practically non-existent neck may have something to do with it!!

A selection of very sweet vintage transfers / decals.  If I remember correctly, I think my sister had some very like these on her cot when she was a baby.  They were 20p each.

A vintage Irish linen tea towel featuring alpine plants - 60p - which I'm thinking I may use in a sewing project at some point.

And another 60p vintage linen tea towel which I think is lovely.  I'd quite like to frame this one somehow as I really like the dolls in national costume print.  I was a very keen collector of costume dolls when I was little and this really reminds me of some of the ones I used to have.

For the first time in ages I've linked this post to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Warm Weekend Weather = Winter Wollens Washing

We had such a gloriously hot and sunny weekend that it prompted me to get out the winter woollens - hats, scarves, gloves and get them all washed and dried whilst the going was good.  Not content with that, I also gave some of the knitted and patchwork blankets a good wash too.

I knitted this patchwork blanket four years ago and it has proved useful time and time again on chilly evenings.  It's just the thing for putting over your legs for a bit of extra warmth - especially on those autumn evenings when it's not cold enough to put the central heating on.  I knitted it up from all sorts of odds and ends of wool that I got from charity shops and it took me most of that summer (and approx. £15.00) to complete.  I love having it draped over me on cold winter days and remembering how nice and warm the weather was and how light and bright the evenings were when I was actually knitting it.

This quilted blanket tends to live on the bed in the winter and is quite handy for giving just a bit of extra warmth when it's really nippy at night.  I think I made this one about three years ago.  The front was made from a pile of patchwork pieces my Mum found in one of her wardrobes, the back is a piece of vintage sheeting that I had in my stash and the 'batting' is an Ikea picnic blanket that I got in a charity shop years ago.  This one cost pennies to make and came together really nicely.  The gorgeous colours and prints warm up any winter's night.

Appley Dappley

The plums may have been absolute rubbish this year, but the apples are certainly making up for that.

The tree is positively groaning with frut and they are all ripening beautifully in the lovely hot, sunny weather we've got here at the moment.

I picked a large bagful this morning and every one was as nice on the inside (no creepy crawlies like there were in the plums) as they are on the outside.  It's stewed apple and custard for us for pudding this evening (and for quite a few more evenings to come I would imagine.)  I'm also wondering if apple vodka would be a possibility - yum!!

Just What I Needed

Sunday evening the hot air brush that I have had for YEARS (seriously, so many years I've no idea where it ever came from) sadly breathed it's last.  It didn't go out with a bang or even a whimper, it just stopped working.  Never mind, thought I, I'll have a perusal in Boots and get myself a new one - thinking, oh, how foolishly, that a new one would cost about £15.00.  Having searched the teeny tiny Boots in the high street I eventually found what I was looking for (right next to the door - no doubt a shoplifter's delight!!) and was astonished to find that a new hot air brush was going to set me back £44.99!!!!  Say, WHAT!!

So when I got home I thought I'd try a last ditch attempt to resurrect my old one and changed the fuse in the plug.  Unfortunately, still dead as the proverbial dodo.  Having chucked the old one in the bin I set to and had a perusal of hot air brushes on Amazon.  Their prices were much more reasonable - from £20.00 upwards - and I do have £20.00 of vouchers that I can cash in from the Valued Opinions website.  However, being the procrastinator that I am when it comes to spending money, I'd held off from cashing in my vouchers and actually placing an order.  Which was just as well because ....

what did I find at the Thursday boot sale this morning?  Only the exact thing I was looking for, barely used (the woman selling it had very short hair and the brush was too big for her to get her hair round,) complete with an extra brush head, a carrying case and all the literature that came with it, all for the extremely decent price of £3.00.  I don't think I've ever found just what I needed, just when I needed it at a boot sale before.  I was well chuffed, I can tell you!

Applique Labels

Some of the iron-on appliques I got at Sunday's boot sale were a bit too wee for making cards with, so I thought I'd use a few on some plain and boring luggage tags instead.

Having just sold one of my hand-knitted beanie hats to a lovely lady in Oslo (this is third beanie of mine she's bought and I can't tell you how delighted I am that some of my hats will be being worn around and about the beautiful city of Oslo this coming winter,) the little 'cute critter in a hat' label was just the ticket for this parcel.

I bought the 'thank you very much' stamp at the boot sale a few weeks ago.  It only cost £1.00 and I knew it'd come in handy at some point.

A Good Haul

Yesterday's boot sale gave me the best haul of the year so far (and, let's be honest, as it's now September, it will probably be the best haul of the rather dire 2012 boot sale season!!)

A really pretty large Readicut Rug Kit bedroom rug.  It's in lovely condition - though does need a bit of a wash - and I just loved the combination of pinks and violet.  Not entirely sure where I'm going to put it but for £3.00 I wasn't going to leave it behind.  I've got a nice fireside rug in the living room which I bought for £3.00 in a charity shop in Nottingham in 1996.  I hummed and hawed about spending £3.00  at the time but my Mum, who was visiting for the day, encouraged me to buy it and it has been proudly on display in every home we've lived in since.   I do like a nice fireside / bedside rug but they're not easy to find in good order these days.

I also found an unused Anchor embroidery kit for £1.00 (destined for ebay); two never-used oven gloves to replace the disgustingly grubby ones I have been using - £1.00 ; a set of Pecksniff's Lavender and Vetiver toiletries for me - £2.00.

A kitsch-tastic vintage melamine tray featuring the most startled-looking kitten I've ever seen - well worth the 50p price tag for the 'startled kitteh' value alone

Over 30 of these Japanese iron-on motifs - £2.00 the lot.  The stallholder had wandered off and left her husband in charge and he didn't know what price they should have been so he suggested £2.00 and I quickly agreed and scarpered.  These make lovely cards when ironed on to some recycled card stock so I was mighty chuffed to find them.

Then this morning at the 'Coffee and Jumble' I found this 1970's melamine chopping board.  It has had a hard life and I wouldn't want to use it to chop anything up on but I did really like the image and have been looking for something to stand hot saucepans on - and for 50p I reckon this'll do the job nicely.

Would You Haggle in a Charity Shop?

I was recently chatting to someone who was very proud of their ability to get a bargain.  He was telling me how he never pays the full price for anything and that he haggles whereever he can, including in charity shops.  Now, much as I have no problem with haggling on occasion at a car boot sale - though usually only if I'm buying more than one item from the same seller - the idea of haggling in a charity shop somewhat appalled me.

I've certainly been known to moan about the prices in some charity shops  (I recently saw the classic charity shop faux pas where they were selling a Primark T-shirt for £3.00 which had the original £2.00 Primark label still attached - that one made me smile).  I've also been know to bang on about about how some charity shops are trying to emulate upmarket boutiques - with hardwood flooring, smart chrome clothes rails and fancy-pants wooden clothes hangers - with the upmarket prices to match.  I have, indeed, been somewhat flabbergasted lately to find certain chain charity shops charging for their carrier bags - an outrageous developement in my opinion.  But, seriously, haggling in a charity shop? - to me that is taking bargain hunting a step too far.  After all, the clue to why they are there in the first place is in the name - they are raising money for charity.  If I don't like the price of an item in a charity shop (and often I don't!!) then I just don't buy it. 

What do you think, is it just me?  Do you haggle in charity shops? If you work in a charity shop, do people often try to haggle?  I'd really love to hear your opinions and / or experiences.