More Charity Shop Bargains for 2018 & beyond!

Owain_Moneysaver

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

Wow, I wonder why someone was getting rid of all that!

In my mother's case, she had been keeping all the nice toiletries she got for birthdays and christmases but never used because she only used the unfragranced stuff and had never told anyone.

dolly84

CJ - that soup maker sounds fab.


Pollycat - glad to hear you are doing well.


Yesterday I got DS a grey Regatta jacket, very lightweight, in grey with a hood, zip pockets and red mesh lining - £2.99. I got a pair of BNWT Gap pure linen trousers, wide leg but not too wide, cropped to mid calf length on me, natural colour and lovely quality linen, paid £4.50 for these and they were the exact thing I have been looking for. I want to wear them as lounge wear with thick socks, silk cami and a chunky wool cardigan and also as summer trousers.

Pollycat

Thanks, dolly84

DigForVictory wrote: »

Two pairs of (Karriomor & Berghaus) shorts which fit & delight my mountain biker son, £2 each.
Rohan trousers for youngest, technical chinos (£75 usually) now on him for £3 of my pounds.

It never ceases to amaze me about the quantity of 'sports' type clothing that turns up in charity shops.


I think it might be dolly84 who seems to get all sorts of running/cycling/gym stuff at great prices.

Maybe it's people who think 'I'll go to the gym' or 'I'll start hill-walking', buy a shed-load of expensive gear, then lose interest and off-load it to charity shops.

DigForVictory

I only went to the gym as I got a pair of trainers for 99 pence in a colour & configuration my sons absolutely would not contemplate borrowing. When they died, I replaced them, to discover their sibling trainers in a charity shop at under 10% of the price & vowed not to buy new again. So my gym kit is eclectic (as in not at all matching in colour, style or brand) and when the plantar has been coaxed back into submission I'll be back. Mostly as it's restful, bizarrely, and I stagger back filled with warmth and tolerance & generally awash with endorphins.

Whisper it, but the gym is more reliable for endorphins than charity shops. I'm a serious fan of cs retail therapy, but my seriously brassed-off scouts are set to tent pitching, firewood chopping & helping the quartermaster (do any heavy mindless repetitive task). It doesn't take long for them to brighten back up to their happier selves.

Wednesday2000

I can't remember if I already said this but I got a new black winter coat for £1 the other day. Perfect condition. Vicky Smith. I hadn't ever heard of that brand before.

C_J wrote: »

For ages I have scoffed at the idea of a soup maker - I have saucepans and a blender after all - but a couple of friends/work colleagues have been singing their praises enough to make me slightly curious.

I have just made my first batch of soup, and I have to say I am really quite impressed. I made a big pan (it says 4 portions, but it’s more like 8!) of leek, green chilli, garlic and potato soup in precisely 19 minutes without having to stay anywhere near it, and it was velvety smooth with no strands of leek visible at all - smoother than my stick blender could ever make it. And the best bit is that after emptying the soup out, you just add some hot water and a squirt of washing up liquid and it has a rapid clean function which makes cleaning it s(o)uper easy.

I always wondered what was so good about them. I like my soup so I might look out for one.

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

In my mother's case, she had been keeping all the nice toiletries she got for birthdays and christmases but never used because she only used the unfragranced stuff and had never told anyone.

Oh right.

Miró

Had a quick squiz round a couple of chazza shops yesterday but only spotted one thing of interest. An Escada gilet thingy in raspberry, sleeveless but with a detachable hood and shoulder cape. Felt it was overpriced at £4 so will wait and see if it turns up on the half price rail eventually.

Apologies for going O/T now....when away on hols recently and in the middle of nowhere we came upon a strange flea market sort of thing. Populated mostly by locals but with a few hippy dippy tourists too. Could not resist a rummage natch! My eyes fell upon a tangle of ancient broken and dusty costume-type jewellery and in particular an oily/dirty grim looking conical shaped thing that looked a bit like a pendant. Giving it a scratch with a thumbnail it gleamed a bit and I thought it must be brass and was so intrigued I asked the price to be told $2 so I bought it. Anyhoo...fast forward...got home and gave it a good clean and it came up looking quite respectable. 1 3/4 ins long with white stones on the front and a tiny loose golden ball encased in leaves on the bottom. A bit of damage to the leaves and elsewhere. Then I noticed some stamps on the thingumidoo that a chain would go through (bail?). Got a magnifying glass which revealed the 375 stamp for 9ct gold :eek: Also an anchor which I believe is for the Birmingham assay office and the initials PFB or possible PEB. Anyhoo I was so intrigued that I took it into a local antwacky jeweller to have it looked at. Not only is it gold but the stones are diamonds :eek: (teeny tiny ones tho). Jeweller thought the bail thingy might have been added at a later date and that it might have been one of a pair of earrings...possibly Punjabi in style/origin. Would love to know it's history now and how it got to Costa Rica!

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Bogof_Babe

Wow, that's gorgeous Miro. Did you get a valuation?

C_J

Lucky you, Miro - that's fab!

DigForVictory

Ohmyword, what an amazing find - get you to a storyteller, show it to them with all the facts you have so far and step back. Odds on it'll not be truth but if that doesn't give a Muse a solid nudge?!

Offhand I'd guess at a trader, over here with money in the pocket, wandering around the jewelry quarter wanting a treat for a lady back home, describing something & this being the agreed on design. Who then may have lost his money at cards, or succumbed to something local, & never got to take it home.

I'd also look at getting it to a museum or another jeweller and asking for guidance on if there are any records of PFB then getting in touch saying I got one of these, what can you tell me about it? Meanwhile I hope you have a strategic length necklace on which to wear this little glory so others can share in the delight at the beauty & ponder its tale.

Two pounds, for gold, diamonds & a lifetime of stories?! That I call a bargain!

dolly84

miro - what an intriguing find.


I smashed all 3 of my 30 year old pyrex dishes yesterday (by accident), wow that stuff shatters. I now just have 3 lids so I will be on the hunt for some 'new' dishes.