It's been a busy week this week with quite a few different things going on. I've spent quite a lot of the week doing work for my small business which I'm pleased to say seems to be starting to pay off, which is great and I feel like I'm getting back on track. In addition, we are currently visiting secondary schools for Little Bird, so Thursday night was taken with one such visit, which was interesting although it wasn't actually her preferred choice of school.
Friday here was a bit of a washout. It started in the morning when I took the dog out and a fine rain came down for the second half of the hour long walk and soaked me. My feet were wet through as I was only wearing canvas pumps and was walking in grass a lot of the time. Silly woman.
I had intended to go to the allotment, but the recent wet weather rendered it unfeasible as the ground would just be too wet to walk on and transplant things, which was the main job that I needed to do. Too dry last week, too wet this week. Not having much luck in this regard. Instead, I took myself out this afternoon, as I was going a bit stir crazy at home, to deliver this month's food bank donation and do a bit shopping which was a touch naughty. I went to TK MAXX looking for a winter coat, but unfortunately, (fortunately for my budget) didn't find one I liked in my size. I had a good look around the rest of the store, but nothing really appealed to me for once, which is actually highly unusual. I was quite proud of myself. To be honest I'd only gone out to take my mind off something that was troubling me.
I had to pay a visit to Little Bird's teacher after school. She's not had a great week at school on account of one of her classmates. I don't like to go running to the teacher about the slightest little thing, but sometimes on an important point of principal, I think they need to know what has gone on in their class, that might not be on their radar. I was discrete and didn't mention any names as that was Little Bird's wish - she didn't want to upset anyone or get them into trouble. Not that they cared about upsetting her sadly. Anyway, enough said.
The rest of the evening I spent trying to feed everyone and exercise the dog and myself (Zumba class on Friday evenings), before finally returning home in the rain to spend the remainder of the evening relaxing in front of the TV/laptop with a glass of Bucks Fizz (£1.99 from Lidl not the real thing). Thank goodness for the weekend.
It was a filthy evening weather wise. The drains here in London don't cope too well with a lot of rain and it usually results in large puddles in the gutters. I'm grateful that I'm not forced to be a pedestrian or cyclist in this weather, as you tend to get splattered by passing cars if you're not careful. Watching Monty on Gardener's World and Lucy Worsley's programme on Women in the 17th century on iPlayer managed to restore my equilibrium, thankfully.
Saturday, 14 September 2013
Friday, 13 September 2013
Holiday Post Part 4 - Oceanside and San Diego
After our night in Palm Springs, CA we headed south to the California coast and the lovely beach at Oceanside. The town was recommended to us by a taxi driver on our way out of Las Vegas and we weren't disappointed. We arrived at a reasonable hour this time and we were able to call into the local Tourist Information Office where two lovely ladies gave us oodles of information about the area and California in general. Probably the most important bit of information they gave us was the location of a car park in the harbour where we could park up our van overnight for a lot less money than it would cost us on a camp site so we headed there first to check it out.
When we got there it was rammed with cars, trailers, vans and campervans as it was Sunday afternoon and everyone was at the beach with their families, eating, hanging out and just generally relaxing.
We managed to squeeze the campervan into a tight spot and headed out onto the beach for a couple of hours. Here's a picture of the beach complete with volley ball nets, taken from the car park the following day, which was right on the beach front.
When we got there it was rammed with cars, trailers, vans and campervans as it was Sunday afternoon and everyone was at the beach with their families, eating, hanging out and just generally relaxing.
We managed to squeeze the campervan into a tight spot and headed out onto the beach for a couple of hours. Here's a picture of the beach complete with volley ball nets, taken from the car park the following day, which was right on the beach front.
It was a lovely beach, with a pier a bit further along and a rocky harbour wall that you could walk to the end of. As the evening wore on families drifted away and the car park gradually emptied of vans, save about a dozen that like us stayed overnight. In the evening we took a walk around the harbour which had lots of small restaurants and shops, some with entertainment. It was a lovely little spot.
By 10 pm it was quiet and we were able to get a good night's sleep. We were woken at 6am the next morning by the beach clean up team who were clearing up after the busy weekend. We didn't mind as we normally woke up pretty early anyway.
The next day we spent the morning on the beach. Unfortunately, by this time OH had come down with some sort of virus and wasn't feeling well at all. He had spent a dreadful night shivering and feeling cold and as consequence he stayed in bed most of the morning trying to sleep it off. I, in the meantime went for a swim in the Pacific Ocean with Little Bird. It was great fun as the waves came crashing in.
In the afternoon we headed into Oceanside itself, to seek out a particular store that Little Bird had wanted to visit. It was a craft store called Michaels, it was huge and filled with every kind of craft item you could ever possibly imagine. We also paid a visit to a local Target store, which is a supermarket chain in the US, and did a bit of a food shop as we were running low by now. All shopped out, we then headed back to the beach car park as we decided we would stay another night there as OH was still not feeling good and was not well enough to drive any distance.
Later that afternoon we decided to have a walk down to the pier before the tide came in and made it difficult to get there along the beach. The pier itself was lovely.
There were lots of people fishing the whole length of it and at the very end was Ruby's Diner.
We couldn't resist going in and having a drink and a milkshake. It was a super retro style American diner. Here's the gumball machine as you walked in.
If you got a red gum ball you won a root beer. Little Bird got one on the way out which was unfortunately too late for us to try it, but I was quite curious to know what it tasted like.
We were seated in a booth like this.
I loved the uniforms the staff wore.
We just stayed for a drink as we were intending on having fish and chips for supper, from a kiosk at the other end of the pier. OH started feeling unwell again so he headed off back to the van to sleep and Little Bird and I ordered our fish and chips and ate them and then set off back along the beach, stopping to clamber over the rocky harbour wall before returning to the van for the night.
We'd had a lovely couple of days in Oceanside, but early the next day it was time to move on to San Diego a bit further south along the California coast.
It only took us a couple of hours to get to San Diego, but finding the camp site that we intended to stay at took a while longer as we got a bit lost. We managed to get some help, ironically from a woman who used to live in Brighton of all places, who sent us off in the right direction. We were also able to book into the site early so by lunchtime we were hooked up again and went off to the small inland beach which located on the campsite where we remained for the rest of the afternoon.
That night we headed into San Diego Old Town which had a very Mexican feel to it.
It was quite quaint with lots of little shops, bars, restaurants. We had a wander around. I loved the colourful doily-like bunting adorning some of the restaurants. (Apologies about the quality of the photographs here).
The next day we were moving on again but before we did I managed to get some washing done in the campsite's laundry. I was shocked at how inexpensive it was. I paid $1.50 for the wash and $1.25 for 40 minutes in the dryer, which completely dried everything. Some campsites we stopped at were cheaper still. I couldn't believe it. I can pay up to £7 in London to do a wash and then dry clothes, if my washing machine breaks down.
Before leaving San Diego we drove downtown for a look around and drove over to Coronado which is an island that you get to via a very high road bridge. We felt a bit vulnerable crossing the bridge in the van as the bridge sides weren't that high. We stopped off in Coronado to watch fishermen on the pier. One even caught a sting ray which a tourist then tried to grab in the region of it's stinger. Not to be recommended.
We then headed to where a US naval aircraft carrier was docked and has been made into a museum. It was huge and we wanted to stop and take a look, but unfortunately parking the van was impossible in the vicinity, so we had to carry on on our journey. This huge statue of a sailor kissing his girl is sited just by the museum.
With hindsight, we would have liked to have spent more time in San Diego. There was plenty to do and see here, but we were aware that time was becoming an issue so we pressed on.
In my next post we continue our journey to Los Angeles, visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame, spend a night in Malibu and a day at Santa Monica Beach.
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Currently Reading.....
I love to read and almost always have a book on the go. It might take me an age to read it, but I always have one on my bedside in case I have a spare half hour at the beginning or end of the day to read it.
For a while now I've been more drawn to books that I would consider to be a lighter read, in that they tend to be humorous and easy to pick up and put down. The book I'm currently reading falls into this category. It's called The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella.
I think I probably picked this book up at a car boot sale or charity shop and it is the second book written by this author that I've read to date, the last one being the Secret Dream World of a Shopaholic. In fact I watched the film version of this latter book on TV the other night, which was quite amusing, but the film seemed to have been altered somewhat from the original book, which often seems to be the case these days, for dramatic effect I suppose.
Anyway, I digress. This book by Kinsella is in her usual comic style, with a somewhat hapless if highly intelligent heroine whose life spirals out of control. In this instance, the heroine is a lawyer, working all hours in London, with no personal life and who is completely undomesticated and cannot cook, sew, wash clothes, do housework, etc. I'm not sure how realistic this character is, but I can imagine that it might be possible to be so work orientated that most of one's daily domestic duties are carried out by other people, paid by you to do them.
The plot centres around a mistake made at work by the central character, which she discovers on the morning that she is expecting to be made a partner of the law firm for which she works. On discovering her error and realising that she has cost a client 50 million pounds, she does a runner from her job and life and jumps on a train to anywhere. When the train stops, she stumbles up the drive of a large country house and as a result of a misunderstanding finds herself in possession of a new job as a housekeeper.
Obviously there follows lots of farcical situations where she attempts to hide her incompetence, a love interest, help from unexpected sources, and things begin to come good again. Just as she is starting to enjoy her new life, it is thrown into disarray by a visitor, a discovery and an important decision to be made about her future.
I'm currently more halfway through this book and am finding it an enjoyable and amusing read. It is well written and entertaining. I am compelled to continue reading to find out how it all pans out in the end, although some of my early suspicions as to how the plot might unfurl have been realised, but in a completely unexpected way. So far, I can definitely recommend this as a funny, intelligent and entertaining read.
I've already lined up my next Sophie Kinsella read which is a book called 'I've Got Your Number', which I picked up in a charity shop yesterday. (Yes, I did fall off the wagon so to speak, but only spent £2.60 for two t-shirts, a book, three pieces of lace and four reels of cotton).
For a while now I've been more drawn to books that I would consider to be a lighter read, in that they tend to be humorous and easy to pick up and put down. The book I'm currently reading falls into this category. It's called The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella.
I think I probably picked this book up at a car boot sale or charity shop and it is the second book written by this author that I've read to date, the last one being the Secret Dream World of a Shopaholic. In fact I watched the film version of this latter book on TV the other night, which was quite amusing, but the film seemed to have been altered somewhat from the original book, which often seems to be the case these days, for dramatic effect I suppose.
Anyway, I digress. This book by Kinsella is in her usual comic style, with a somewhat hapless if highly intelligent heroine whose life spirals out of control. In this instance, the heroine is a lawyer, working all hours in London, with no personal life and who is completely undomesticated and cannot cook, sew, wash clothes, do housework, etc. I'm not sure how realistic this character is, but I can imagine that it might be possible to be so work orientated that most of one's daily domestic duties are carried out by other people, paid by you to do them.
The plot centres around a mistake made at work by the central character, which she discovers on the morning that she is expecting to be made a partner of the law firm for which she works. On discovering her error and realising that she has cost a client 50 million pounds, she does a runner from her job and life and jumps on a train to anywhere. When the train stops, she stumbles up the drive of a large country house and as a result of a misunderstanding finds herself in possession of a new job as a housekeeper.
Obviously there follows lots of farcical situations where she attempts to hide her incompetence, a love interest, help from unexpected sources, and things begin to come good again. Just as she is starting to enjoy her new life, it is thrown into disarray by a visitor, a discovery and an important decision to be made about her future.
I'm currently more halfway through this book and am finding it an enjoyable and amusing read. It is well written and entertaining. I am compelled to continue reading to find out how it all pans out in the end, although some of my early suspicions as to how the plot might unfurl have been realised, but in a completely unexpected way. So far, I can definitely recommend this as a funny, intelligent and entertaining read.
I've already lined up my next Sophie Kinsella read which is a book called 'I've Got Your Number', which I picked up in a charity shop yesterday. (Yes, I did fall off the wagon so to speak, but only spent £2.60 for two t-shirts, a book, three pieces of lace and four reels of cotton).
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Breadmaking Fiasco
Inspired by Frugal Mummy over at My Beautiful Life, I dug out my old bread maker last night. She posted a simple recipe for white bread made in a bread maker, which differed from how I had always made it so I thought I'd give it a go.
When I've used the bread maker in the past, we found that the bread tended to be pretty dense and heavy and instead of experimenting with a little less flour or a little more water, I had given up completely and not even attempted to use it. As a consequence it had languished in the back of one of my kitchen cupboards for a couple of years at least.
When I saw Frugal Mummy's post I thought I would get it out again and give it another try, as I figured that if the recipe worked for someone else and produced a nice loaf, it might work for me too.
There followed the locating and pulling out of the machine and then the careful measuring of ingredients and putting them into the machine in the order suggested in the post. I turned it on, left it for a few hours and then took a look and it looked to have risen beautifully and just needed to bake for the last half hour.
I was looking forward to a freshly baked loaf when all of a sudden, I was pitched into total darkness. I thought at first it was a power cut, which we do get from time to time, but when OH checked the fuse box and we tried turning off the bread maker, as it was the only appliance that we had on that we don't normally, the lights and everything else came back on. We re-tested the bread maker a couple more times and it continued to trip out the electrics, so came to the conclusion that it must be faulty and really not safe to use.
How annoying and disappointing. Anyway, not wanting to waste the dough I scooped it out of the pan and into a loaf tin and popped it into the oven for half an hour or so until it looked baked through. Waste not want not as they say. Here's the result.
Not the most attractive looking loaf I've seen mainly due to the way I plonked it into a loaf tin lined with baking paper, but it tastes good and we've munched our way through most of it already.
Thank you Frugal Mummy, for sharing your great recipe. It looks like I might have to make it by hand if I really want to make my own bread in future. Now that will sort the women from the girls, to appropriate a similar saying.
When I've used the bread maker in the past, we found that the bread tended to be pretty dense and heavy and instead of experimenting with a little less flour or a little more water, I had given up completely and not even attempted to use it. As a consequence it had languished in the back of one of my kitchen cupboards for a couple of years at least.
When I saw Frugal Mummy's post I thought I would get it out again and give it another try, as I figured that if the recipe worked for someone else and produced a nice loaf, it might work for me too.
There followed the locating and pulling out of the machine and then the careful measuring of ingredients and putting them into the machine in the order suggested in the post. I turned it on, left it for a few hours and then took a look and it looked to have risen beautifully and just needed to bake for the last half hour.
I was looking forward to a freshly baked loaf when all of a sudden, I was pitched into total darkness. I thought at first it was a power cut, which we do get from time to time, but when OH checked the fuse box and we tried turning off the bread maker, as it was the only appliance that we had on that we don't normally, the lights and everything else came back on. We re-tested the bread maker a couple more times and it continued to trip out the electrics, so came to the conclusion that it must be faulty and really not safe to use.
How annoying and disappointing. Anyway, not wanting to waste the dough I scooped it out of the pan and into a loaf tin and popped it into the oven for half an hour or so until it looked baked through. Waste not want not as they say. Here's the result.
Not the most attractive looking loaf I've seen mainly due to the way I plonked it into a loaf tin lined with baking paper, but it tastes good and we've munched our way through most of it already.
Thank you Frugal Mummy, for sharing your great recipe. It looks like I might have to make it by hand if I really want to make my own bread in future. Now that will sort the women from the girls, to appropriate a similar saying.
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
Loving on TV at the Moment
I don't watch a huge amount of TV, but I do like to sit and relax in front of the TV of an evening for a couple of hours whilst sometimes doing a bit of patchwork. As autumn approaches, the choice of viewing has magically improved somewhat and I am finding a few great programmes to watch. My current favourites are:
Monday 9pm BBC Two - Robert Peston Goes Shopping
I watched the first episode of this series last week and it was really interesting. It traces the development our nation's shopping habits through the centuries to where we are at present, whereby shopping has become an addictive leisure activity and debt has become the norm in modern life. I really like his style as a presenter. No nonsense, telling us like it is.
Sunday 9pm ITV - Vera (Series 3)
I can't resist watching this great series about a Northumberland detective played by Brenda Blethyn. Although she can be a frustrating character to watch at times, I find myself becoming more and more fond of this stubbornly independent female detective. Brenda Blethyn is particularly superb in this role. This is definitely my current favourite for Sunday evening viewing. My only complaint, however, is that it finishes at 11pm and gets my week off to a bad start as I can't get out of bed on a Monday morning after staying up to watch it.
Saturday BBC 1 - Strictly Come Dancing
Yes, I'm afraid I'm a Strictly fan and can't resist watching this on a Saturday evening much to the chagrin of OH who makes himself scarce for the duration. Although it hasn't officially started proper yet, I'm looking forward to following my favourites from week to week.
Wednesday BBC 4 - Harlots, Housewives & Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls
I do love a good history programme and I'm not frightened to admit it. I loved watching an episode this series last week. I must admit I do find Lucy Worsley's infectious enthusiasm for presenting history draws me to watch many of the programs she presents.
There's also quite a few new dramas starting I have noted, but I haven't actually found the time to watch most of them so I'm probably missing quite a few good current programmes from this list. Is there anything on at the moment that you are really enjoying?
Monday 9pm BBC Two - Robert Peston Goes Shopping
I watched the first episode of this series last week and it was really interesting. It traces the development our nation's shopping habits through the centuries to where we are at present, whereby shopping has become an addictive leisure activity and debt has become the norm in modern life. I really like his style as a presenter. No nonsense, telling us like it is.
Sunday 9pm ITV - Vera (Series 3)
I can't resist watching this great series about a Northumberland detective played by Brenda Blethyn. Although she can be a frustrating character to watch at times, I find myself becoming more and more fond of this stubbornly independent female detective. Brenda Blethyn is particularly superb in this role. This is definitely my current favourite for Sunday evening viewing. My only complaint, however, is that it finishes at 11pm and gets my week off to a bad start as I can't get out of bed on a Monday morning after staying up to watch it.
Saturday BBC 1 - Strictly Come Dancing
Yes, I'm afraid I'm a Strictly fan and can't resist watching this on a Saturday evening much to the chagrin of OH who makes himself scarce for the duration. Although it hasn't officially started proper yet, I'm looking forward to following my favourites from week to week.
Wednesday BBC 4 - Harlots, Housewives & Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls
I do love a good history programme and I'm not frightened to admit it. I loved watching an episode this series last week. I must admit I do find Lucy Worsley's infectious enthusiasm for presenting history draws me to watch many of the programs she presents.
There's also quite a few new dramas starting I have noted, but I haven't actually found the time to watch most of them so I'm probably missing quite a few good current programmes from this list. Is there anything on at the moment that you are really enjoying?
Monday, 9 September 2013
A Visit to a Local Festival and Films in the Park
It was and eventful day in our locale on Saturday with lots of things going on. In the morning I went off for a mooch around the local Hospice Jumble Sale. When I got back there was a local festival starting up on the road at the top of our street. It was the first time it had been put on, but seemed to have a good turn out. The street had all been barricaded off to traffic and there was an impromptu football pitch for the kids on the road, a bouncy castle, bands playing, a dog show and a general milling around of people of all ages socialising, drinking, eating and generally enjoying life on the street. It was funny to see some of the dogs we meet in the park parading round at the dog show. I'm not sure who won, but there was a lovely community atmosphere.We met up with some neighbours whom we hadn't seen in a while and had a good chat, which was enjoyable.
Little Bird, meanwhile, had headed off to the park with some other neighbours for their son's birthday party and also to watch a film at the outdoor cinema and family picnic that had also been organised for Saturday afternoon and evening. We headed down later to join them with the dog and a bottle of wine and watched most of the second of two movies being shown, which was a movie by a local filmmaker about London. We made sure we wrapped up warm as it was quite chilly. I had on two cardigans and a wool gilet, leggings and walking socks and I was nowhere near overheated. Just shows how much colder it has got all of a sudden.
At around 10.30 pm we headed home thinking that living where we do is great sometimes and some really great events get organised by very community spirited people. Hopefully yesterday's festival will return, become a regular yearly event and go from strength to strength with more local people coming along to enjoy it.
Little Bird, meanwhile, had headed off to the park with some other neighbours for their son's birthday party and also to watch a film at the outdoor cinema and family picnic that had also been organised for Saturday afternoon and evening. We headed down later to join them with the dog and a bottle of wine and watched most of the second of two movies being shown, which was a movie by a local filmmaker about London. We made sure we wrapped up warm as it was quite chilly. I had on two cardigans and a wool gilet, leggings and walking socks and I was nowhere near overheated. Just shows how much colder it has got all of a sudden.
At around 10.30 pm we headed home thinking that living where we do is great sometimes and some really great events get organised by very community spirited people. Hopefully yesterday's festival will return, become a regular yearly event and go from strength to strength with more local people coming along to enjoy it.
Sunday, 8 September 2013
A Jolly Jumble Sale
Now I know I was trying to stop bringing stuff into the house, but yesterday there was another Jumble Sale at our local Hospice. I really enjoy attending these so couldn't resist popping along. They are quite well known in our borough and always attract hundreds and hundreds of people, filling shopping trolleys and bin bags with clothes, bric a brac, shoes, linens, etc.
I always enjoy looking out for vintage linens and fabrics. Sometimes I also buy a few clothes or shoes and other bits and pieces too, depending on what takes my fancy.
Today I managed to fill a couple of shopping bags with stuff, which was a bit extravagant for me, but I only spent £25 or so and it all goes to a very good cause so I am very happy to part with it. Here's a few examples of what I bought.
First stop as always was the linen stall where I bought a candy striped cotton sheet and three matching frilled pillow cases. I love these as they remind me of my childhood and are good quality cotton so always feel nice to the touch.
I also bought a very pretty single sheet and pillow case which was an old Marks and Spencers one, which will either go into my bed linen collection or I may use for patchwork fabric. It has a lovely ditsy print.
I bought two lovely matching grey and black paisley cushion covers too, which I may use for the fabric, plus a few other small items.
I paid about £5 or £6 for all of these items including this brand new spotty H & M shower curtain still in it's packaging, which cost me £2.
Moving on, I found a few bits and pieces in the scarves bin. A couple of pure wool and cashmere scarves which I hope to use for a patchwork wool blanket, a lovely woolly snood from Top Shop with the tags still attached and a lovely grey woolly bobble hat by John Rocha. I paid £2 for all of these items.
I then went upstairs to where they sell slightly more upmarket brands of clothes and shoes where I found a leather belt for £1.50 and a lovely pair of leather heeled sandals from Aldo for £4. I know it is coming up to autumn/winter, but these were such a flattering style and great price that I couldn't resist them. There's always next summer to wear them.
I had a good mooch around the book stall, but there weren't really any books I fancied reading. I did pick up a couple of travel guides for the Netherlands and Naples though as we're hoping to visit Amsterdam at some point in the near future and OH has always wanted to spend a holiday in Southern Italy so who knows, maybe next year. I also got a book about succulents and cacti as I fancy growing a small collection. All three books cost just £1.
My last visit was to the sewing/knitting stall and the jewellery stall. I bought a lovely black beaded necklace for £1.50 and a pretty floral leather cuff bracelet for 10p at the latter. I was particularly happy about the black necklace as I had been debating buying a not too dissimilar one from Phase Eight for over £30, as I really wanted a nice statement necklace. The great Cosmic Supply Company came to my rescue here for definite.
On the sewing stall I found a lovely uncut pattern for a pencil skirt with small pleats in the front for 10p, plus a small pair of knitting needles for 10p and two balls of lovely Jaeger tweed merino/alpaca wool for 50p each.
Finally, before going home I picked up some bone handled butter knives, a small wooden spoon and 1L Pyrex measuring jug (I've needed a decent sized one for a while now) all for £3.50. I was very happy with everything I bought today and further inspection when I got home didn't involve any disappointments.
The next jumble sale will be at their Xmas Bazaar in November. I will definitely be heading back there to see if there are any more bargains to be had.
I always enjoy looking out for vintage linens and fabrics. Sometimes I also buy a few clothes or shoes and other bits and pieces too, depending on what takes my fancy.
Today I managed to fill a couple of shopping bags with stuff, which was a bit extravagant for me, but I only spent £25 or so and it all goes to a very good cause so I am very happy to part with it. Here's a few examples of what I bought.
First stop as always was the linen stall where I bought a candy striped cotton sheet and three matching frilled pillow cases. I love these as they remind me of my childhood and are good quality cotton so always feel nice to the touch.
I also bought a very pretty single sheet and pillow case which was an old Marks and Spencers one, which will either go into my bed linen collection or I may use for patchwork fabric. It has a lovely ditsy print.
I bought two lovely matching grey and black paisley cushion covers too, which I may use for the fabric, plus a few other small items.
I paid about £5 or £6 for all of these items including this brand new spotty H & M shower curtain still in it's packaging, which cost me £2.
Moving on, I found a few bits and pieces in the scarves bin. A couple of pure wool and cashmere scarves which I hope to use for a patchwork wool blanket, a lovely woolly snood from Top Shop with the tags still attached and a lovely grey woolly bobble hat by John Rocha. I paid £2 for all of these items.
I then went upstairs to where they sell slightly more upmarket brands of clothes and shoes where I found a leather belt for £1.50 and a lovely pair of leather heeled sandals from Aldo for £4. I know it is coming up to autumn/winter, but these were such a flattering style and great price that I couldn't resist them. There's always next summer to wear them.
I had a good mooch around the book stall, but there weren't really any books I fancied reading. I did pick up a couple of travel guides for the Netherlands and Naples though as we're hoping to visit Amsterdam at some point in the near future and OH has always wanted to spend a holiday in Southern Italy so who knows, maybe next year. I also got a book about succulents and cacti as I fancy growing a small collection. All three books cost just £1.
My last visit was to the sewing/knitting stall and the jewellery stall. I bought a lovely black beaded necklace for £1.50 and a pretty floral leather cuff bracelet for 10p at the latter. I was particularly happy about the black necklace as I had been debating buying a not too dissimilar one from Phase Eight for over £30, as I really wanted a nice statement necklace. The great Cosmic Supply Company came to my rescue here for definite.
On the sewing stall I found a lovely uncut pattern for a pencil skirt with small pleats in the front for 10p, plus a small pair of knitting needles for 10p and two balls of lovely Jaeger tweed merino/alpaca wool for 50p each.
Finally, before going home I picked up some bone handled butter knives, a small wooden spoon and 1L Pyrex measuring jug (I've needed a decent sized one for a while now) all for £3.50. I was very happy with everything I bought today and further inspection when I got home didn't involve any disappointments.
The next jumble sale will be at their Xmas Bazaar in November. I will definitely be heading back there to see if there are any more bargains to be had.
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