Things I like

I always find November / December / January very dull and uninspiring. I’m not a fan of Christmas and all the forced jollity that goes with it, this year was even worse than usual due to a series of stressful episodes and getting quite cheesed off with it all. I never seem to find anything amazing in charity shops or on Ebay this time of year either, I wonder if it’s because there is nothing about or if it’s due to being in such a bad mood I’m not very receptive to anything. Usually it’s not until my birthday in February that I start feeling enthusiastic about stuff again. Roll on the summer and car boot sales!! Although I was very disheartened to see this article in The Portsmouth News about the council wanting to stop the car boot sales on Castle Fields in Southsea: http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/east-hampshire/seafront_boot_sales_are_too_downmarket_1_2358607 (my Mum phoned me to tell me that it was also in The Telegraph!). How ludicrous. I’ve spent 5 summers going to the car boots at Castle Fields and have always found some really good bits there. Portsmouth Council is so out of touch with what the community actually want, it’s pathetic.

Anyway, last week I did actually have a series of good finds:

I was very excited to find this in the Save the Children shop in Ryde, especially with a £1 price tag as they are sometimes quite pricey on Ebay or collectors sites. I’ve got two of the larger canisters with lids (http://sarahdobinson.com/tate-lyle-canisters/) but this is the smaller version that you fill from underneath and shake the sugar out of the holes in the top. There is a bit of crazing, but that’s fine, I won’t use it and will just have it on display with the others.

I saw this in the window of the Save the Children shop, with a price tag of 50p! No idea how old it is, or who made it, but I thought it was really cute. There used to be gold around the rim of the cup but it has worn off and there is some slight crazing, but again I won’t be using it and it looks nice on display.

I got this in the Hospice shop in Ryde for £1.50, it’s in excellent condition and looks like it hasn’t been used. The only thing wrong with it is that one of the pages at the back is missing the plastic that covers the photos. I love it because the coloured bits look like they’ve been done in felt pen!

This was a bit of a skanky find, but when I saw it I knew I had to nab it. I was on the way home from the gym and had just reached the back of that building where I live, and in one of the alleys where people dump their rubbish I saw an old mattress covered in this fabric. It must have only just been dumped because it definitely wasn’t there when I left the flat two hours previously, my radar would have kicked in and I would have seen it. I pulled the fabric off the mattress which took a while as whoever had covered it had used some kind of weird resin-y glue to stick it down, and it was so dusty and rank (and I was worried about fleas / scabies etc etc!) that I couldn’t take it into the flat, so I dumped it in a bag and took it down the laundrette. It’s quite a massive piece as used to be a pair of curtains that were sewn together but despite washing really well the glue wouldn’t come off and there are a few holes in it so I am going to chop it up and make cushion covers – possibly for the tulip chairs around our dining table, I haven’t decided yet.

I actually found this about 3 weeks ago, but gave it to Chris as he is more of a fan of West German vases than me, unless they are orange or green. Thought it was good enough to include here though.

Also got this in the Hospice Shop in Ryde. Have got to clean it up though as there is some unidentified food on it, probably from the 1980’s. Blee!