car booty

 More carbooting this morning- how cute is this little 70s dress-up doll for 50p? The girls love her...

some Pyrex dishes, 50p the lot- loving the ducks...

and I'm especially stoked with this g-plan corner table for £4...

Happy days!

car booty

I woke up with a tingling feeling in my fingers in my toes this morning- I just knew we were going to be in for some luck at a little village bootsale we were heading off to. And my thrifting instincts did not let me down- just look what we picked up! 

An Agfa camera & a Super 8 for £2 each...

Two bright yellow camping mugs for 20p the pair...

A Stylophone for £3 (Steve's wanted one of these forever)...

and he also picked up a mountain of records at 50p each...

 

I picked up two house leeks at 80p each- I've been meaning to get some for ages to pop in these vintage sugar bowls...

 

and I also came away with this jolly vintage vanity case for £1...

Even with the inevitable bags of plastic tat and stuffed animals the girls picked up along the way (including a rather noisy rollerskating Dalmation)- we all came away very happy with change for a £20 note- hurrah! I'm off to admire all your car booty treasure now, before I tuck into Sunday lunch! x

granny chic

Since we got back from our holiday, life has taking over a bit and I've been meaning to post an update about Pear Tree Cottage for a while now. Steve has been hard at work chopping, digging and burning- it's a huge job and feels a little bit like slow progress sometimes, but there is now a sizable space cleared. The soil feels pretty decent, but is full of stones- removing these will be the next big job. Any tips about how to do this most efficiently would be greatly appreciated!

We were also busy at the weekend with car-boot sales, this time on the other side of the pasting table. We had quite a few bits and bobs to sell (including the last of the baby stuff, sob!) so on Saturday we decided to gently pop our booty cherry and hawked our wares at the annual charity car boot sale, up the road at the very grand Buscot Park. I was surprised how much I enjoyed myself and even more suprised that we made over £70.


However, we still had a whole car full of stuff left over at the end and, rather than unpack the car and load everything back into the shed, I decided to brave a proper hard-core car boot sale on Sunday. So Flora and I got up at 5am and headed off together to Blunsdon to compete with the pros! People had warned me about people swarming the car as you unload, but I still hadn't quite anticipated how alarming and intimidating this is, especially with a child in tow. Despite this, we soon relaxed and got into the swing of things and my dad joined us later armed with bacon sandwiches and a flask of hot coffee. I was delighted to take another £50+ and I took anything that was left over to the charity shop on Monday.


I was quite good and resisted purchasing much off the other stalls, but I do keep seeing these beautiful brightly-coloured vintage knitting needles everywhere I go, so I gave into temptation and bought a few sets.


I prefer to knit with bamboo needles, so I'm collecting these purely because they appeal to magpie tendencies, but don't they make a wonderful display?


Together, they remind me of one of those model atomic structures you always see in science museums.

apusskiduski

Another sunny Sunday morning of car-booting, and while I didn't pick anything up for myself, Flora chose some wonderful Ladybird books, which I will enjoy reading with her.

Steve picked up quite a few records- I especially liked these BBC birdsong LPs which I might end up claiming as my own...


We then went to a garden centre with my dad, who recently had his fish pond pilfered by a neighbourhood cat, so the girls helped him choose some replacements.

They then set them free from their tiny polythene bag into the big wide-world of his pond...

ready to make it their comfy new watery home.


Let's hope these ones look less appetising to felines!

My dad also made the girls a makeshift swing in his garden to keep them occupied, which proved very popular, despite the scrapes and bruises which were incurred during it's trial.

When we got home I planted out my Moneymaker tomatoes in this ingenious grow-bag hider, who'd have thought there was a garish plastic grow-bag underneath?


I'm now off to finish off some bits of knitting I owe to a few friends' new babies and I plan to slump on the sofa having a nosey through this free magazine I picked up at the garden centre.

Rock 'n' roll!!

shake your booty

Spring is the season for car boot sales and we all got lucky when we ventured out early to a local one this morning. Pearl came away with a talking Iggle Piggle (which already needs a wash after being flung in a puddle), Flora chose some usual lumps of plastic tat and a whoopee cushion, Steve got some records and I claimed booty victory with a real wool crocheted granny blanket for only three pounds! Quite what would posses anybody to sell such finery is a mystery!

Back home I 'potted on' some courgette plants and then, while Pearl took a nap, Flora and I entertained ourselves by making pets from Hama beads. The afternoon was spent sunning ourselves in the garden and indulging in our second barbecue of the month, washing down marinated chicken and Mediterranean veg kebabs with Somerset cider. It's been so warm and I'm hopeful we may be able to enjoy another al fresco scrabble-athon this evening, may as well make the most of the nice weather while it lasts. Flora will be back to school in the morning, after the Easter holiday and her brand new summer uniform dress is hanging over the back of her chair, ironed and ready for the new Summer term ahead.