Today's Carboot Finds

After last Sunday's dreadful weather when it rained solidly all day, it was a relief to wake up to that slightly pink sky when you know it is going to be a good day. Although we did not get home and to bed until 11pm last night, I was up at 5am and we were at the car boot sale 30 minutes before it officially starts.

So what I did buy today at the Cheshire carboot sale? Here are my finds:

I found one stall holder who had the same size feet as me - size 8 - and it is not often that this happens on carboot sales. I bought two pairs of sandals from her for £3 a pair and as they are both nearly new I was pleased with the price.

The first pair are from the Papillio range by Birkenstock and I love the Pucci style design on them. I am a plain Jane when it comes to patterns but find I am getting more daring as I get older. I think these will look great with jeans or plain shorts and of course a bright coloured pop of nail varnish on my toes.

The second pair are more conservative and are from Clarks. The soles of the sandals look like they have never been worn. David said that they are so "old grannyish that they look trendy". These are a deep dark brown and again a colour I would not normally choose but I just loved them when I saw them. I think these will also look great with jeans or navy cropped trousers/ navy dress.

I bought this Le Crueset salt pig from the same lady for £2 and these usually retail for £26. It is new and unused and will look great on my black kitchen counter tops.

I always buy a couple of gifts for family. Sometimes I put things away for them for Christmas and birthdays and other times I give the gifts to them straight away for just being lovely. I bought this Bench toiletry bag for my nephew for 50p, this Hello Kitty mug with mini box of hot chocolate for my niece for 50p and this copy of Lawrence of Arabia for my dad, also for 50p. It is one of my dad's favourite films and he loves telling me that there is not one single woman in the film. He forgets he has told me and then tells me again months later. I never tell him that he has already told me this and act suprised each time he tells me. I also bought the other DVD for 50p for myself.

I also bought these Billabong binoculars for my nephew for £3 but I will put them away for his birthday in June.

One girl was selling these two fruity sets of Radox shower creams for £3.50 for the two. I just had to buy them at that price as who can resist yummy smelling coconut kiss body wash, passion fruit splash and mango mahem shower gels with a cute sponge shaped like an ice lolly. They are probably more suitable for a young girl rather than a woman of my age but I just love these for weekends away.

I couldn't resist the Jelly Belly set with shower gel, body lotion and bath orchid for 50p either. The shower gel is raspberry and the body lotion is blueberry. I reckon I will be smelling like fruit salad by the end of the summer.

I also found some other toiletries. This full size bottle of Boots No.7 gentle toner for £1. This is normally £8 from Boots.

These two travel sized Lancome bottles of cleanser and toner at 50p each.

And this lovely little set of two heart shaped soaps plus two full sized soaps. The full sized ones are a pink one with pale pink butterflies and a green one with a Christmas tree and stars. I will use these pretty much straight away but put the green one away until Christmas time and then use it in the bathroom when family are visiting and staying over.

I love pewter bags for on holiday and on our recent trip to Tenerife I had my current pewter bag start to die on me (sob!). The handles started to look tatty and so did the corners where I had put the bag down on the floor or on seats. I was reluctant to throw it away and even yesterday hesitated near the bin and put it back in my bedroom. Well today I bought this replacement for £1. It is pretty much like new with just a little wear on one corner. The lady who sold it to me was lovely and asked me to check the inner sections to see if anything was in it. I found a purse and some receipts. I opened the purse and pulled her leg saying there was a £50 note inside but there was only 3p. She laughed her head off and then promptly put the purse on her stall to sell.

I bought the boxed set of Upstairs Downstairs (series 2  - 13 episodes) for 50p. I love this series and already have the first one so may watch it again to get up to speed before watching this series two.

I found this two series boxed set of Luther detective dramas starring Idris Elba for £3. It looks like it has never been watched.

Finally I bought a mixture of Gardener's World and Good Food magazines and The Gardener's Year book for £1.50 for the lot. The book alone had originally cost £7.99 so I was pleased with this little haul.

I also bought 30 petunia bedding plants for £6 and am going to spend the rest of the afternoon in the garden planting these out and generally pottering around.

This is my daily blog for Blog Every Day in May. Follow me on Twitter # BEDM.

Clearing Clutter & EBay Sales

I am back onto my mission to clear the clutter in my house and give items to family, to charity or to sell them on eBay. I am suprised how easy it is to list items using my iPad and the eBay app. It is fairly quick and simple given that I can take photos with my iPad and don't have to bother with a camera and then loading them up onto a laptop etc. I appreciate that the photos are not always razor sharp but most do the job. It has made life much easier.

 I recently cleared out my bedding chest and found two new pillow shams that I have never used. I had bought them for using at our previous house where my bedding was cream. I now use white and these do not match. Given that we have lived in our current house for 10 years, it was time to let these go. I had bought them at £30 for the two - half price and sold them for the same amount (less costs to eBay and PayPal) so a little loss but I was just glad to see them go.

I am still selling my shoes, make-up and am now starting on my clothes. Over the last couple of weeks, I sold these loafers from Marks & Spencer and worn only a couple of times. Although they are my size, the sizing comes up small and they pinched my big toes. I'm glad to see these go along with a navy Nails Inc gel effect nail polish that I was given as part of a set. I know blue varnish is very "on trend" at the moment but it is just not me. 

I have also started to list unwanted and unused handbags. Many have come free with perfume or skin care gift sets but there are only so many beach bags or totes that I can use at any one time. I am not selling them for much and am pleased to find I am starting to free up some space at home. I still have a long way to go and need to be patient as I do not sell that much each week. I might get 1 or 2 sales a week but then again I have not got that many items listed. 

Having said that I actually had quite a good week this week and sold 5 items. These were a boxed Royal Worcester mug given to me as a gift (sorry but an un-needed present), a pair of shoe boots that pinched and were a little too tight for me, two tops that I no longer liked and were also a little too tight and a brand new swimsuit that is just gorgeous but far too small for me. I suppose I should explain that I am a terrible yo-yo dieter and over the last few years my weight has fluctuated greatly so clothes are often too big or too small. I do have some clothes that fit at anyone time but plenty that don't so I need to sell them.

Although I have sold some clothes already, I am almost bracing myself for selling the huge amount of clothes I have stored away in suitcases in the garage. Many are too small or too big or just not wanted. Some are new with their tags still attached. I get annoyed with myself for buying items and then not wearing them. How foolish. I hope that once I start to list the clothes I will realise the error of my ways and learn to live with a smaller wardrobe. How do these women manage with their capsule wardrobes that turn into 20 outfits?

I think it will probably take me until the end of the year to clear everything out and get things straight and have a house that is a little less cluttered and more streamlined. I am happy with this long term goal and as I am keeping a record of all my sales, less costs, it will be great to see how much I will have made from my unwanted things.

Day of the Blog Every Day in May challenge. Follow on Twitter # BEDM.

Night Out At The Lowry

Wednesday evening saw us heading to the Lowry theatre to see a fantastic dance theatre show called Chotto Desh.

We started off with a meal at Cafe Rouge which we have visited many times at this location. I normally visit here when I have vouchers or at least a code or offer on the meal. This time I had a 25% off voucher which David used on a main course whereas I plumped for the fixed price meal and had two courses for £12.95. 

The restaurant had been refurbished since we last went and looked so much more fresh and inviting. The service without fail is always excellent and we always have charming waiting staff who can never do enough for you.

The food is generally what you would expect and is never overly exciting but is standard Anglo French food. There is nothing to rave about but then again there is nothing to complain about either.

We then visited the theatre and had a drink outside in the evening sunshine overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal (very cosmopolitan!!). The area has really taken an upturn over recent years with the BBC being based there along with ITV moving there from the city centre. 

The Imperial War Museum North has been based there for some years now and I love the shape of the building. I last attended the museum for the final Senior Officers Mess Ball some 4 years ago and we had a fantastic evening.

The show we went to see was called Chotto Desh and it was just mesmerising. The show was a story through dance but with the most stunning visual effects and music. It was a one man show telling the story and he worked so hard at the dance that he must have been exhausted at the end. We went with low expectations but left absolutely enthralled by the performance. It was just a beautiful and entertaining show. You can see the trailer Here

On the way home we chatted about how lucky we are to live so near so many attractions but far enough away that the countryside is just a 15 minute drive away in the opposite direction. 

We are visiting the theatre again this Saturday but this time it is at the Opera House in Manchester City Centre. I'll let you know all about this outing in another blog.

I am taking part in the "Blog Every Day in May" challenge. Keep updated on this via Twitter on #BEDM.

Morecambe Carbooting

This is day four for me on the Blog Every Day in May challenge. You can follow this on Twitter at #BEDM.

It was raining all day Sunday and the two car boot sales that are held on the way to Milnthorpe were both closed. With heavy hearts and low expectations we went to the Morecambe & Lancaster college indoor sale instead. We have been to this indoor carboot sale before and there are usually slim pickings. 

I bought 3 DVDs for £1 ands further 2 for 50p each. I also bought a bottle of Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb body lotion for £1. Not a huge haul for me but David was delighted to find a man selling off his CDs and music DVDs for 5 for £2. He bought 28 CDs and 2 DVDs and was pleased with his £12 spend.

We headed off to the carboot sale on Morecambe market but there were mainly market stalls rather than carboot stalls because the weather was so bad. The one stall that was there was our favourite stall where it is 3 items for £1 and there is also a "fill a bag for £1" section. We had a little from both sections and came home with £2 worth of items. My favourite is this brand new le creuset pan handle holder. Le creuset griddle pans have metal handles and need some cloth around them to stop your hand burning. I usually use a tea towel so this holder is great and cost 30p.

We filled the £1 bag with books, vinyl and cassettes along with a magazine from last month and a large photo album which holds 120 photos. Last Christmas I filled up a small album of photos for my Dad. I had pictures of us all together on holidays over the years and he was delighted with it so I thought I would do the same again this year with this larger album.

I also bought this handbag cleaning & care kit for £2. It has items for cleaning both normal & patent leather.

We ended up visiting the reduced food stall again as we cannot resist the bargains to be had and this time I bought 2 boxes of cereal for 75p each, 6 small sized tins of Heinz baked beans for £1.60 and 3 tins of Batchelors baby potatoes for £1. These are for David who loves tinned potatoes. I think they are simply horrid.

We bought 2 more boxes of the Thornton's Continental chocolates at £2 a box after I had looked on line and realised they cost around £12 a box. I also bought two boxes of these praline chocolates at £1 a box. I stocked up on some more of the lasagne kits at 3 for £1.

We spent the afternoon in Morecambe at the festival on the front where it was raining very hard and all four of us looked like drowned rats at the end of the day. The day before had been just beautiful weather.  There was live music, a fairground, food stalls selling everything from Paella to pizza and a very wet outside beer tent. No-one was bothered by the rain and people were sitting outside at the ables drinking beer! We caught the tail end of the procession, it was great end to another busy day.

Beauty Haul at Morrisons

I popped into Morrisons supermarket in Morecambe on Sunday to buy the Sunday papers and some vegetables to go with our Sunday roast dinner. I did not expect to be leaving with a beauty haul but on the way to the till I walked past a reduced section to find toiletries reduced and could not resist buying the following items.

Piz Buin 1 day long SPF 30 sun tan cream for £3.99. This was reduced from £5.98 so a saving of £1.99 - not a huge saving but still a saving and as I bought 2 tubes it was a saving of £3.98.

Garner Ultralift Intensive Serum at just £2.50. This usually retails at £11.99 but I have managed to find it as low as £8 in Sainsburys. This serum has had rave reviews. They had two boxes left and I bought them both.

L'Oreal Advanced Correcting Serum at £4.50. This is usually £16.99 and is currently on offer in Boots at £11.33 so I have made a good saving. I bought the two boxes that were on the shelf. I love serum for under my moisturiser and use it every day in the morning. I tend to just use a night cream in the evening rather than serum and moisturiser. 

Finally I bought two boxes of L'Oreal BB Cream 5 in1 Instant Blemish Balm in medium. This was also £4.50 a box and is usually £12.99 and is currently on offer in Boots at £8.66. Another good saving. I have one of these already opened and in use at the moment and it is a great tinted moisturiser for this time of year. I chose the medium rather than fair shade as I still have a slight tan following my Tenerife holiday and this matches my skin tone really well. 

There were some other items that I was tempted to buy but I reckoned that I did not really need them and I was just buying them as I thought I was getting a bargain. A bargain is only a bargain if you need it so I resisted.

This haul should keep me going for the rest of the year (I think?) I might just see how long they last me and report back as I have no idea how long I take to use up a tube of serum or moisturiser.

This is another daily blog under the Blog every day in May challenge. See it on Twitter #BEDM

Charity Shop Finds

I am following the Blog Every Day in May challenge which has linked fellow bloggers on Twitter #BEDM. This is post two for me. Read about it on Rosalilium.

I visited a number of charity shops in Morecambe, Carnforth and Milnethorpe over the weekend and bought the following items:

An old fashioned 100% pure new wool tartan travel blanket for keeping in my car. These are always handy to have in the car for impromptu sitting on a beach or park when the weather is good. This was £1.50 in a half price sale. At the same shop I also bought this full size bottle of The Body Shop gingerbread shimmer body cream and this travel sized shower gel from Soap & Glory. These were also half price and cost 75p for the two. 

I bought six paperbacks all by Alexander McCall Smith whose most famous novel is probably The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. These were 20p each and will last me through a couple of holidays for beach and sun bed reading matter. From the same shop I bought 2 Record Collector magazines for David also at 20p each.

I bought 3 Homemaker magazines for 20p each from another charity shop and Lancashire Life & Vegetarian magazines from a 3rd charity shop. In this 3rd shop I also bought these spongy shoe trees for £1. I think these are great for putting in evening shoes for keeping their shape and stopping them from getting wrinkly toes. I also bought some Bayliss & Harding toiletries at 20p each and a travel sized Soap & Glory shower gel and a Simple skin toner for the same price.

I spotted this Kipling shoulder bag for £5.50 in the same shop in a mauve shade. Not the kind of bag or colour that I go for, but it is such a well made bag and in such good condition that I could not resist buying it. I think I may use this on future holidays as it has some useful zipped sections and an adjustable strap so I can use it as a shoulder bag or hand carried bag. Handy for on the plane and sightseeing.

I also could not resist this Marks & Spencer Blue Harbour jacket in a brown canvas cotton for David for just £1. It is like new apart from a faint pen mark on the front. What a bargain price at £1. David loved it when I gave it to him and wore it straight away. 

There is small carboot section of the market on a Saturday and I bought 4 DVDs for 50p each. The two The Persuaders DVDs are for David as he loves any series from this 1970s era. I also bought 2 Disney films as who can resist a little bit of Disney escapism at any age?

I have some more car boot finds to show but more on this in another post.