I umm'd and ahhh'd about going to the car boot this morning. As cheap a past time as it is, I'm acutely aware the money spent adds up over the weeks to some hefty cash as well as bringing too much stuff into the house. Just yesterday I turfed out five carrier bags of stuff to the charity shop and four bags to the tip, so that I'm not one day found by the fire brigade lying underneath a horde of clutter.
However, it was a lovely morning and I fancied the exercise, so as a bit of a compromise, I resolved to stick to hunting for things that were directly useful for the house and garden, or something I needed to replace. For the most part I was pretty successful.
Let's start with the bargain buy - an apparently new pair of John Lewis curtains for £12.50. I remember looking at this fabric a few years ago as a possible material to run up some cushions for, but thought it was very thick for what I wanted and didn't get it.
John Lewis curtains normally retail at £120 for a ready made pair of this size, and a great deal more for ones that are made from scratch. I'm thinking these are made from scratch as a) I cannot find the usual label that comes on the ready made pair and b) you don't get goblet headings on the ready made pairs, only pinch pleat or eyelet. I can also see where the curtain linings have been hand stitched to the fabric, and the ready made cutains don't have that detail. I am super chuffed.
These have replaced the velvet door curtains, which just yesterday I washed and put up ready for winter. However, the velvet was starting to look a little rough in places and I had it in mind to try and find a pair of replacements soon. The velvet curtains will now be relegated to the back of the house to replace an even rougher pair of thick blue curtains that hang at the back door and across the back corridor. Those blue ones will now go into the garage for Martin to use.
The rest of the finds:
Decorator's caulk 4 x 50p - forgot to buy some at homebase on Friday (and now glad I did!) so I can finish some bits of the bathroom pipe boxing.
Turtlewax car wash (1L), T-Cut and red colour restorer; £1 for all three- barely used and about £20 for the three new. We had just run out of car wash and the T-Cut was running low so great find.
New Chubb security chain for the back door 20p - we'd had a discussion about securing the back door better, so I wasn't leaving this behind when I saw it.
Four new cushion pads £4 - I washed a lot of my cushion pads, only to have them break into pieces and ruin. Now I can replace them.
Plant propagator set £2 - I went to buy a small unheated propagator set back in March that I could leave outside and didn't bother when I found out it was £8 for three bits of plastic. This set has three 24 cell trays, three seed trays and three propagator lids.
Oak wooden utensils £1.50 - to replace some manky wooden spoons and plastic utensils.
Bulb planter 50p - I was looking out for one of these as I was sick of trying to dig down into hard soil to plant bulbs.
Fixing blocks, 50p for around 20 - for fixing two boards at right angles to each other, and I needed a pack to finish off the bathroom pip boxing and the kitchen worksurface.
New linen tea towel 10p - now I can replace the mankiest from the kitchen.
A new Allmay lip gloss and Avon mascara, £1.00 for the two. I have already used and thrown out their predecessors last week.
So that was the stuff I needed and will be used straight away.
Now for the stuff I didn't really need but bought anyway :(
A complete set of period costume dramas produced by the Daily Mail in conjuction with the BBC. There around 16 in total and I was charged £1.There are so many here I haven't seen so I'm really looking forward to Sunday afternoon's from now on :)
The DVD Contagion, which is tonight's viewing pleasure.
A new M&S desk planner 50p - I realise I'm fighting a losing battle trying to keep Martin organised but I have to keep trying. This will sit on the living room desk right next to the phone in the hope it will be remembered by him when he takes phone messages.
Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking 20p - I sold a copy of this a few years ago and it was snapped up so fast the buyer nearly took my hand off. I always regretted selling it.
Napolean Hill's The Law of Success, complete and unabridged £1. This was the predecessor to Think and Grow Rich.
A soft bag featuring sights of the UK, like stonehenge and Windsor Castle, £1.
A 70% blue wool cardigan with little hearts £1 - couldn't leave that behind!
A pair of size 10 knitting needles £1, some interfacing for 20p, and a pack of balsa craft wood for Martin.
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I could have bought a lot more. A lot more. However, it would have been a lot of wants, not needs, so I walked on by and left the rest of it.