Making Good Use

That Charity Shop Programme

Has anybody else been watching Mary Queen of Charity Shops?  I was asked if I'd been watching it, and what I thought, in the comments yesterday.  I have to say I don't really know what to think of it all.

I feel that Mary Portas, wonderful though she is, is trying to make charity shops into something they just aren't.  She keeps banging on that people don't really want to shop in them as they are at the moment - hmm, well excuse me, but this person most certainly does want to shop in them, and the bigger a mess they are the more I love 'em.  I, for one, don't want to see all charity shops turned into faux boutiques with laminate flooring, wooden hangers and sky-high prices.  Give me a few boxes to dig about in, or racks of old linens to check out and I'm as happy as the proverbial pig in muck. 

Also, it seems to me, that when charity shops have a 'make-over' they never seem to have as much stock as they used to.  There's one in Billericay which is now positively empty since it had it's re-fit compared to how it was before.  The same thing has happened to the Salvation Army shop near my Mum's house too.  What is it with that?

I was astonished by some of the absolutely disgusting articles that these poor volunteers have to dig through whilst trying to find something that can be sold.  Dirty nappies, stinking rugby boots, ripped and paint-spattered T-shirts are ridiculous donations and really shouldn't be anywhere but in people's own bins.  It has made me think hard about what I give to charity shops as I certainly wouldn't want to make those sorters' lives any more difficult. 

Although there is room for improvement with some of the stuff that makes it out on to the shelves too. I recently bought a shirt for P in a local hospice charity shop which when I got it home I found the collar and cuffs were totally threadbare.  I was annoyed with myself at the time for not checking more thoroughly but it all had a happy ending as I used the fabric as the backing for my Patchwork Cushion.  Earlier this week I heard someone in the local Oxfam shop returning a pair of trousers she had bought as the hems had been cut off and were all raggedy.  I've rarely taken anything back to a charity shop myself (although I do recall taking back a duvet cover some years ago as when I opened it out to wash it it was covered in a bleach-like stain all over one side), but if charity shops are going to up their prices then a lot more people will be returning items if they're not fully satisfied.

Nice idea to stock charity shops with high-class items but who is really going to donate such things?  Perhaps the chattering classes will but I don't see many people donating Jimmy Choo or Mulberry handbags to their local charity shop.  Mary Portas keeps reiterating that we're in a serious recession - well, yes, quite, so do you really expect people to give away such expensive items?  Having said that, I did notice a leather Hobbs jacket hanging behind the till in a charity shop in Billericay yesterday with a £150 charity shop label hanging off it.  I have no idea how much such an item would cost new but I know Hobbs are a very expensive shop so, presumably, £150 is a good deal - although it was in a rather acid shade of yellow!

Finally, I thought the make-over of Mary's shop made it look lovely but also feel that the £15,000 (what the - that's a lot of money) could have been put to better use by the charity.  And I personally feel that she is very patronising to the (mainly elderly) volunteers who (wo)man the shop - or is that just me?

I'd love to hear your views on this. 

A.G.E.S.

It has been ages and ages since I went over to Billericay, so this morning I thought I'd head over there to see what was what and have a look around the charity shops.  It wasn't a bad morning's work all in all, even if I did get caught in monsoon-style rain at one point (luckily, I could take shelter in the Oxfam shop).

A simple but quite useful sleeveless top for me - £3.20.  Here's hoping we get a bit more warm weather this summer so I can actually wear it!

An Ikea cushion and cover which took my eye because of its unusual design.  It seems to be all about cushions this week.  That was £1.50.

I also got a pair of M&S Superman summer pyjamas for DN - £1.99 - and five pairs of brand-new Tesco boxer shorts for him for the princely sum of £1.00.  A quick jaunt around Waitrose completed a nice morning out  Even Waitrose seem to be cutting their prices considerably as they had English raspberries half price at £1.83 for a large punnet - delicious, and lots of other good deals which I didn't take advantage of.  You know times must be tough when even Waitrose begin slashing prices!

Small, But Pefectly Formed

I bought three tomato plants at one of the local charity shops this morning (yes, even the plants are charity shop buys around here), for 25p each.  They're not very big as yet, indeed they look positively dwarfed now they've been planted up in a growbag, but I'm hoping they might actually grow. 

I've put the growbag up on three bricks and against the wall of next-door's garage as that's the only part of the garden that faces south.  I was hoping that the rough surface of both the bricks and the garage wall will keep the slugs at bay (luckily, this is a fairly slug-free area) but just to be on the safe side I've also added some slug and snail repellant powder that I found in the shed.  It must be years old and was pretty well solid in its tin, but after a good few bangs and knocks I managed to dislodge enough powder to put around each plant.

Also small but perfectly formed are these teeny strawberries which have mysteriously started growing just outside the shed door.  There are only about half a dozen tiny green strawberries but I'm hoping we'll be able to have just a taste of a few each when they're ripe.

Patchwork Cushion

I have a bit of a thing about cushion pads, they have to be feather-filled.  I have got a few that are foam filled but they just don't do it for me, I really really prefer the squashiness and plumpness of proper old-fashioned feather-filled pads.  But those darn things are really expensive, even if you can find them in charity shops or at car boot sales (and I never can, or not at a price I want to pay!) 

So I was really pleased when a nice feather-filled cushion pad ended up in our skip the other week.  We had a bit of space left over in the skip after we'd filled it with the garden waste we had and I asked my next-door neighbours if they had anything they wanted to get rid of in the skip too.  They didn't, but suggested I phone the lady who cuts our hair, and who only lives round the corner.  Now she was very pleased to be offered a bit of skip space as she and her husband are having to clear her father-in-law''s house.  Five minutes after the phone call her husband arrived with an old cane chair, some other bits and bobs and an old cushion.  As soon as he had gone again I had a good investigation of the cushion and found that inside the rather tatty cover was a lovely feather-filled pad.

So I'd been mulling over what sort of cover to make for the cushion when I decided I wanted to make something patchwork but very simple. 

This is what I ended up with.  Nine whole strips of fabric plus one strip made up of some smaller bits of material.  Three of the strips were made from leftover bits from my pillowcase totes, four were actually made using new fabric (including some I bought at the Vintage and Handmade Fair), one was from a very pretty (but tiny) skirt I got at a car boot sale (I'd only bought it for the fabric), one from some lovely fabric I got from a blog giveaway and one from some patchwork pieces I got in a charity shop with a very small piece of Kaffe Fasset fabric in the middle.

The back is made from a very nice M&S shirt I got for P in a charity shop but once I got it home I discovered the collar and cuffs were totally shot (that'll teach me not to check things properly before I buy them).  It works really well as the backing fabric and the buttons mean the cover can easily be taken off and washed.  I could quite get into making these cushion covers, I just need to find some more feather-filled pads somewhere cheap.

Thick as Two Short Ones

I normally like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent person but a couple of incidents over the last few days have really got me wondering about my IQ levels. 

The first thing was me bemoaning the fact that I would have to go to Aldi as soon as I got home from Bristol last Monday because there would be no fresh milk or anything for our evening meal in the fridge.  Mum said couldn't I just nip to the corner shop for milk but I said that basically Aldi is our corner shop and if I was going to schlep down there for milk I might as well pick up salad stuff for tea too.  All of a sudden, like a bolt from the blue, I thought of the Sainsbury's supermarket at Paddington station.  I've been shuttling back and forth through Paddington station for the past five years and, much as I knew the Sainsbury's was there, I'd never been in it let alone bought anything from there.  Well, it worked out wonderfully.  I got two pints of organic milk, some very tasty salady things for the evening meal and some organic chicken breasts to go with it.  As we can't buy organic chicken where we live, and P and I won't eat chicken that isn't organic, it was a rare old treat indeed to be able to enjoy it lightly grilled for our evening meal.  So, that is something I'll be doing again, why oh why had I never thought of it before!

The second thing was concerning ebay listings.  A few weeks ago, when I sold the Liberty tana lawn, I had the good sense to list it internationally (I normally list items UK only).  This week I had listed some Rowan yarn (UK only as usual) when I had an e-mail from somebody in the US asking if I could post them there and what the postage would be.  I have no problem posting overseas so I amended all the listings for the yarn so that they were international sales too.  That afternoon I sold three lots to the US.  Then I thought why not list some of my bags internationally too.  That was a couple of days ago and since then I've already sold one to Japan and another to Denmark.  D'oh!  Why hadn't I thought of doing international sales ages ago.  Sometimes I scare myself with how dense I can be!!  Still, never mind, better late than never, eh?

Thursday Boot Sale - At Last!

I've finally managed to get to the Thursday Car Boot Sale.  This season up 'til now I've either not been in Essex or the weather has conspired against me so I was really pleased that it stayed dry and sunny for the car boot this morning. 

I always enjoy a little jaunt to this particular car boot sale as, being held on a Thursday morning, it's never too busy and it also means I can justify a trip to Sainsbury's at the same time.  (I absolutely won't pay £3.30 in bus fare just to get to Sainsbury's.)

This morning there were quite a lot of sellers about and not just the usual traders either.  Amongst other things I came home with some knitting patterns which were 20p each.

Including this one for socks on two needles - I got this especially for Mum as she is quite a prolific sock knitter but only on two needles.  (Mum if you want me to post this down to you let me know.)

And a vintage Pingouin knitting book which I quite liked for these really chunky hoods / collars (not the red balaclava-type article on the right as I think I could definitely frighten the neighbours if I went out wearing that next winter!!) 

A few books, of which one was good for Amazon, and the one pictured above with the fabulous artwork on the cover which sounds like it might be a reasonable read, the books were also 20p each.

And a rather nice unused thick felt Hallmark Gift Bag which I don't really need but thought I'd have anyway as it was only 20p.  It may well come in useful at Christmas.

So I had a jolly old time at the car boot sale and then went over to Sainsbury's where I discovered to my horror that they had re-arranged the entire store.  Hell and damnation, I couldn't find a darn thing in there.  Why oh why do they do that?  They may think it persuades people to buy more but in my case it frustrated me so much that I just wanted to get out of there.  The swines.  I think it may be some while before I venture in there again - grrr!

Back to Reality

After the most lovely 10 days with my family in Bristol (the only slight downside being that I carted my pillowcase bags all the way there only to find the local art shop, which I hoped might be interested in stocking them, was closed for renovations - b*gger), it was back home to Essex yesterday and back to real life today.

The weather is of the 'phew,what a scorcher!' type, 26 degrees and sunny which meant that for the first time this year we had our evening meal al fresco yesterday, the plum trees are virtually groaning under the weight of all the mini plums growing on them and I've just hung out the second lot of washing of the day (the first lot having been dried to a crisp in less than four hours).

I had to go shopping this morning and what with all the sun and the phenomenal growth of everything -  especially the weeds - in the garden, I bought a couple of geraniums to brighten up the wall outside the dining room.  I've also got plans to plant some lettuce seeds in a couple of really wide but shallow pots too but today is just too darn hot to bother with that.  I'll wait 'til tomorrow when the temperatures will be considerably cooler.  I was hoping to sit out in the garden this afternoon and do a little bit of knitting, but it's so tropical out there that if I don't make the effort to fetch the parasol out of the shed then it won't just be the washing that'll be done to a crisp.

Vintage and Handmade

Mum and I have had the most lovely day out in Chipping Sodbury visiting the Vintage and Handmade Fair.

We got there about an hour after it started and the venue was packed to the rafters.   

I got to meet some of the people behind such lovely blogs as Cowboys and Custard - who had a fabulous array of vintage toys and games as well as some of her lovely cards and shadow boxes.

And The Vintage Magpie - Mabel the rabbit was just gorgeous, as were all the other beautiful handmade animals on the stall.

The sun shone all day and Mum and I had a very tasty pub lunch cooling off under the shade of a tree. 

Then on to wander around Chipping Sodbury - one of the traditional Cotswold market towns and somewhere I'd never been before (despite it only being a 20 minute drive from Bristol.)

It is such a pretty place, with little lanes and closes running off the high street. 

And can you believe that this amazing studded door is at the entrance to the charity shop (very nice, very upmarket and I came away with a new top and a pair of summer sandals.)

And, of course, there were a few purchases made at the fair itself.  Two fat quarters of floral fabric for my patchwork project, two packs of very pretty patchwork pieces, a handmade lilac soap (it smells wonderful), and a lavender lip balm.  It was a truly lovely day out - nearly, but not quite, as nice as DN's birthday earlier in the week.

Spotted in the Garden this Afternoon

A fairly unusual butterfly.

Enjoying the nectar on a flowering shrub.

Having consulted her 'Observer Book of Butterflies', Mum is fairly sure it's a Painted Lady.

Also spotted in the garden this afternoon was the neighbourhood stray, known fondly in this house as 'Baby Cach'.  DN called him that some years ago and as we don't know what his real name is that is how he's always known.  He may be a stray but he's fed in countless houses up and down the road and has his own comfy chair, with blanket, in one of the neighbour's outhouses should it get a bit chilly at night.

The Nylon Shop

This shop is not too far from where my Mum lives and it sells the most glorious selection of fabric and trim.  I know the outside doesn't look like much and, indeed, it has appeared unchanged, albeit slightly more decrepit now, as long as I can ever remember. 

The name itself, 'The Nylon Shop', is a terrible misnomer as although they certainly do sell some man-made fabrics they also sell some really lovely pure cottons too.  I think the shop can best be described as a 'glory hole' - although it is considerably tidier now than it was in the past - which suits me just fine as I love a good old rummage.

I'd specifically gone there this morning to buy some more trim so you can imagine how delighted I was when I saw this pile of goodies on the table, and all at 40p a metre.  They're getting rid of all this trim so I bought two metres each of what I liked plus a few offcuts.

This little lot should keep me in trim for the foreseeable future.

They also had large offcuts of lovely soft and warm floral flannelette - £1.50 per offcut - so I bought four with the idea of making some really snuggly pillowcases for next winter.

I couldn't not buy a metre of this cheerful gnome-print cotton from America.

Nor a metre of this red and white check one with hens.  They were £3.00 per metre.  Not sure what they'll end up as but the material was far too nice not to buy some.

Mum wants me to make a bag for her from this fox and rabbit print cotton.

And I bought just 25cm of this pretty ditsy print cotton as I've got a small patchwork project in mind and this print was ideal for that.

If anyone in the Bristol / Bath area likes an interesting fabric shop (and a good rummage), I can highly recommend 'The Nylon Shop'.  It's on Two Mile Hill Road in Kingswood.