Pick'n'Mix - the joy of the chaz in '26!

SandyShores

What a lovely painting @Frith she's really captured the features and smile - I wish I was so talented.

Artprice.com had a couple of links to other pieces: Margaret CLAREMONT is an artist born in 1920 and deceased in 1992. The artist's works have gone up for sale at public auction 11 times, mostly in the Drawing-Watercolor category. The oldest auction recorded on our site is for the artwork Temple Flower Seller  presented in 2020 at Ewbank (Drawing-Watercolor) and the most recent is for the artwork Oxen Turning a Water Wheel, Africa presented in 2025 (Drawing-Watercolor).

(if you look closely at the back of Temple Flower Seller someone has written £175 on it).

beanielou

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81964723#Comment_81964723

Thank you. Every day is a school day.

Rosa_Damascena

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81964723#Comment_81964723

Shambles are indeed ubiquitous! (Colloquial word for the local authority).

D123456789

I have G Plan cupboard and drawers in 2 parts in my living room that we got about 12 years ago from freecycle. I am a bit fed up of them now - are they actually worth anything?

goldfinches

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81966025#Comment_81966025

My local auction house sells quite a lot of furniture from that era and here is the result of typing in g plan to their search box Mallams | Auction Search. The sold prices aren't magnificent but they're not nothing either.

Floss

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81966025#Comment_81966025

If in good condition they can be, as Mid Century Moderm / MCM furniture is very "in".

Rosa_Damascena

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81966322#Comment_81966322

My parents' G-Plan extendable dining table was purchased in the 1970s and is still going strong. Its always been under a table cloth and despite daily use there is not a scratch on it. Good solid stuff.

Watty1

I have a GPlan extendable table too. It was gifted me for my first house which had a dining room and I had no furniture and I loved it. Table had belonged to a boyfriend at the time's parents and it must have been bought late 1950s maybe. I rehomed the chairs some years ago as they did not really fit in with the style of the cottage I now have but the table remains covered with a cotton throw as a table cloth. Such great quality. I've sometimes extended to its full length when hosting parties. I'd only part with it if I had a much smaller house - or - if I gave in to a temptation to buy an ercol light wood version :)

Rosa_Damascena

I had to share this. My problem with chazzer a is over rather than underconsumption!: https://apple.news/AC_eBryM7TkO8U5Uo0y_MQQ

goldfinches

Evening all,

@Rosa_Damascena - that's an interesting article and it makes me wonder how long it will be before mainstream retailers start advertising the durability etc. of their products to lure customers back.

I haven't posted about several recent charity shop purchases this week because I've been rushed off my feet so now I've finally managed to make contact with the sofa the updates begin!

First I snapped up these squeezy icing bottles all with fancy nozzles that some kind soul donated to the Oxfam shop in Summertown as well as a Wilton 21cm anodised aluminium cake tin which were all priced at the bargain rate of £1.99. Then I found the Donna Leon and the Anthony Bourdain books upstairs in the same shop for £2.49 and £2.99 respectively.

Then across the road in the Helen and Douglas House shop I found the 500 biscuits etc. book for £1.50 and the pretty Suzie Cooper dish for £4 because it has a small hairline crack on one side but it's still nice to look at so I bought it anyway.

Then, I found the Posy Simmonds, the decorative doilys, the rollers and the circular needles in the Mind shop on the Tuesday after Easter but cannot now recall what I paid and am too lazy to get up and fetch the receipt so never mind. The GoodFood slow cooker book came from Oxfam for £1.99. The rollers are exactly what the salon stylist recommended I use at home when she last cut my hair so I'm very pleased that they are BNIB.

These two rather nice pieces of clothing came from the Helen and Douglas House shop in Summertown. The shirt is a Jaeger (£9.50) with a very fine pink and white stripe and double cuffs while the gilet (£15) is a Rowlands. I always coveted Rowlands clothes when I lived near one of their shops but could never afford all I wanted and they always seem to fit me beautifully so I snapped this up.

I think that's the lot for now unless I've overlooked any bags in the hall. I'm going to have a massive tidy-up and declutter from now until May Day and have decided that until I've donated, sold or otherwise taken out a minimum of 100 things I shan't be setting foot in any more charity shops or buying any more than the bare necessities anywhere else either. Famous last words eh!