Plates

Plates? Really? A blog post about plates?

Let me try and make some sense out of the jumble of thoughts and emotions that are compelling me to sit down and contemplate plates. Contem-plate. Oh dear!

Back in 1985 when I started to make a home with my first husband, my mother-in-law presented us with a whole lot of "bottom drawer" stuff that she had been collecting for her son. Included in this was a set of crockery. Please don't get me wrong - I was very grateful for everything, especially considering we had very little money at that time -  but I did feel that I had been deprived of the pleasure of choosing the things I wanted in my life. Things that I would be using every day.

The dinner set she provided wasn't even that hideous. This was many years ago but I remember them being a sort of magnolia colour edged with a double border of pale blue and pink and with a mass produced 'hand-made' rustic feel (forgive the contradiction but it is the best way I can describe them).   They were OK. They were fine. We ate many meals from them. Did they make my heart sing with joy every time I set the table or washed up? Absolutely not.

I had dreams... modest dreams in the scheme of things... dreams of a simple but elegant lifestyle of everyday luxury... a lifestyle that for me was embodied by the epitome of classic design that was the Imperial Blue Denby dinner service! I would look longingly at displays of it in shop windows and department stores.

I did eventually become the proud owner of a starter set and was given a few pieces to add to the collection but no amount of crockery could fix an unhappy marriage. I lost interest in more than just the blue Denby. Over the years there were breakages but I held onto what was left and never completely fell out of love with them or what they had stood for.

The whirlwind of my second marriage has not allowed a great deal of time to dwell on the subject of plates, blue Denby or otherwise (disregarding a few notable exceptions: Inca Plates, A Tale of Two Plates, Dinner Party)

In 2008, I cooked Christmas dinner for a large contingent of my extended family. I went to IKEA and bought enough plates and bowls so that every place setting matched. It was a lot of plates and bowls.



I have been using the same plates and bowls ever since and no matter how many of the inevitable breakages we had, there were always enough (more than enough!) for our needs. Until now.

One of my daughters has recently set up home with her fiancé. She did not have enough plates. I happily donated a set to her from my endless supply. I actually found myself in a state of shock when I realised that the endless supply had in fact ended. With only four plates left, it was time to do something.

I still had four of my original Imperial Blue Denby dinner plates tucked away at the back of a cupboard so I pulled them out as a stopgap until I could find a new matching set of replacement plates. The emotional response to the Denby was still very much in evidence.

I think that for the most part, I have achieved the simple, elegant lifestyle I always craved and with my second husband it is (again, for the most part) joy filled and wonderful. My Imperial Blue Denby plates no longer represented an aspiration but were more like old friends... old friends I was very happy to have at the table performing the everyday task that comes with being a plate.

I had to take my car to the garage for a service today. Whilst I was in town I had a long overdue (simple and elegant I hope) haircut and a mooch around the charity shops. It felt like fate, or a rare alignment of old dreams and new reality, when I spotted in a charity shop across the road from the garage, a stack of twelve Imperial Blue Denby plates in three different sizes, in perfect condition with a modest price tag.

The blue Denby had always had the power to make my heart sing but never so much as in that moment. Added to the surviving pieces of my original collection, it made more than enough for a complete dinner set

Here they are, purchased, washed and draining on my draining board along with another of today's charity shop finds - two crystal sherry glasses to replace my glass of choice for port which met with a shattering demise over Christmas.

The restoration of my Imperial Blue Denby dream will most certainly warrant a toast with a glass of port tonight.

Shopping, books and brain shaped jelly

I've been thoroughly enjoying the unexpectedly warm, sunny days but the fallen leaves and the nip in the air this morning reminded me that we are now very definitely into October.

I went shopping with my daughter Ivy yesterday. I do enjoy buying new things but there is a very insistent voice in my head that holds tightly to the purse strings and convinces me that I don't really need the majority of the items that catch my eye. Luckily for my retail therapy (less luckily for my bank balance) Ivy's voice is louder and with her encouragement I came home with far more bags than I expected! I went a little bit mad in the underwear department and now own as many pretty, cleavage enhancing bras as I do shapeless sports ones designed to hold everything as flat and motionless as possible. My girlie side has been indulged.

With it being October, the influence of Hallowe'en is evident in the shops (alongside the expanding Christmas ranges). In Primark, I continued an annual tradition of buying Hallowe'en socks and found a must-have glow in the dark T shirt depicting the iconic Mickey Mouse silhouette constructed from three spider's webs. The Hallowe'en range in Asda was fun too. I loaded my basket with skull tableware, candles and the best thing EVER - a brain jelly mould. If my girlie nature was indulged by lingerie, my gothic side was leaping for joy with these few acquisitions.

The start of a new month also brought to mind my resolution to make 12 small changes for the better throughout the year. It has been far more effective than the traditional New Year's Resolution  approach that rarely lasts beyond January. Here we are rapidly approaching Christmas and I am still going strong.

My September change was simply to Read More Books which tied in beautifully with my mum discovering a new charity shop with extensive stocks of paperbacks and hardbacks for sale at 4 for £1. She freely admits that it has become something of an obsession to pop in, choose four books and add them to the pile that grows far quicker than she can ever hope to read them. Dad is a little despairing by the disparity between bookshelf space and books but mum keeps him sweet by going to the charity shop and searching out the books about trains or World War II for him. He can't complain then, can he she says, knowingly!

Every time my mum finishes a book, she passes it on to me, usually with the glowing review that it was  the best story she's ever read. She was taking a long time to read a particularly thick novel by Jilly Cooper. Rather than keep me waiting, she went to the charity shop and bought an identical copy for me (along with three more titles to qualify for the 4 for a £1 deal). You can almost hear my dad sighing with resigned defeat. As well as the books she has finished reading, she also brings me books I might like. I really am spoilt for choice and enjoying stories that I would never have picked for myself.

Once I finish a book, I give it back to mum to return to the charity shop... and while she's there it would be wrong not to look through and see if there are four more she could buy for a pound  (cue dad's exasperated eye rolling).

I love my never ending supply of 'lucky dip' reading material courtesy of mum's obsession but I do have to balance it against my own backlog of books that I want to make time for. It is not unusual any more for me to be part way through three books at any one time (four or five if you include non fiction). Right now I am reading: Overheard in a Dream by Torey Hayden (one mum thought I would like), the brilliant Game of Thrones series by George RR Martin (my choice on the Kindle) and The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh (recommended by my daughter Taylor).

I can think of nothing nicer as the October evenings close in than to snuggle up (halloween socks keeping my feet warm) with a good book (and possibly a brain shaped jelly!)

Goodbye Old Wellies, Hello V Festival

This weekend is the V Festival weekend. If the weather forecast is to be trusted it is going to be a WET one, which means - welly time!

These are my wellies.

They were part of the Tickled Pink range in Asda many years ago, raising money for Breast Cancer Charities. I fell totally in love with them. They were actually pinker then but time, muddy festivals, gardening and creosoting fences have all taken their toll. I would overlook the fading and the brown splodges but I could not ignore the big split that appeared, new for 2013.

Reluctantly, I had to accept it was the right moment to replace them.

I could not find a design to rival my beautiful 'black lace over girly pink' so I opted for shiny black wellies.

I found a pair of shorts in a local charity shop to wear with my new wellies which means I am ready for my weekend of live music and the horrifically churned up grounds of Weston Park.

I don't suppose the shiny blackness will last for long!

Eminent Solina F225

When I received a text from my daughter Taylor's boyfriend to say that there was an organ for sale in the charity shop that he volunteers at,  I admit I was tempted.

Daughter Charis has been playing piano for Sunday services at our local church for nearly a year now and has been given all sorts of opportunities as a result. One such opportunity was to learn the organ. The synchronicity of organ tuition and a serviceable second hand organ available with a modest price tag made the purchase seem almost inevitable. Only 'almost' because I was worried that we would struggle to find a place to house it.

Saturday morning, I set off with my husband and little ones for a walk through town to the canal for some duck feeding. I found myself thinking about the organ - wondering if it would be available still or if some other enthusiast would have snapped up the bargain.  As we looked through the charity shop window, there it was. No SOLD sign in sight. Enthusiasts are maybe in short supply. We went in to have a look. It was an Eminent Solina F225 - bigger than I imagined but my husband was not deterred. He was ready to buy it there and then but I suggested we think about it and bring Charis back later that day to see if her enthusiasm would offset the the hassle of having to rearrange our home to accommodate it.

We had a lovely walk by the canal. Two beautiful swans and more ducks than we could count delighted the children with their antics as my husband and I acknowledged the start of December with a celebratory mince pie (or two!)

Back home we told Charis about the organ and she was in her shoes and ready to go before we had even finished describing it. I stayed home with the little ones while she and dad went back to the charity shop.  Although the organ was tucked behind a rather large wardrobe and getting to it meant clambering over piles of assorted occasional furniture,  nothing was going to stop Charis from treating the charity shop volunteers and customers to a good attempt at a tune! Money exchanged hands and the organ was ours.

The whole rest of Saturday was spent moving furniture, clearing out clutter and reorganising. Miraculously we created an organ sized space. On Monday, the organ was delivered. Three volunteers manhandled it into position. I plugged it in to make sure it still worked and spent much longer than I needed to 'make sure it worked' fiddling with knobs, sliders, switches, pedal and keys to make some very satisfying noises.

When Charis got home from school she could not resist the lure of her new toy. I was impressed with how well she adapted to playing the unfamiliar instrument making recognisable renditions of some popular tunes that she was sight reading from the yellowed pages of an organ music book that came with our purchase.

This is a 30 second video of her first attempt at Greensleeves.

With a little more practice and some tuition, I think she could quickly become an accomplished organist. I look forward to the house being filled with hauntingly beautiful Christmas music and the Gothic classic toccata and fugue. I would be disappointed if she didn't throw in a few cheesy uptempo pop songs and the odd waltz. It would transport me back to the opulent splendour of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Time to push the furniture out of the way, put on my sequins and dance!

I love that a charity shop and a talented daughter can bring so much richness into my life. 

Magpie Monday - Chillies

It's been ages since I joined in with Magpie Monday at the Me and My Shadow blog but I really wanted to share this particular find that has been brightening up my kitchen and making me smile since I parted with the £2.50 to make it mine.

My daughter's boyfriend volunteers at the local Relate charity shop and I often pop in to say hello when I happen to be passing. The shop sells mostly furniture (which was massively useful when I held a big family party and found myself with a shortage of chairs) but does also have a few books and odds and ends.

On one particular visit, a colourful string of chilli peppers immediately caught my eye. On closer examination, I found that they were ceramic rather than plastic and I knew I had to have them. I love chillies from a culinary point of view and find them aesthetically pleasing in shape and colour. My daughter, who was with me at the time, shook her head in disbelief that I was considering buying such a piece of nonsense and the chap who took my money actually laughed at my purchase. He wasn't laughing so much that he didn't try to sell me a second string (candidate for charity shop salesman of the week!!) but this one was chillies in autumnal colours and held no appeal to me whatsoever.

It was a little dusty but it washed up beautifully and I love it!

Oh, and here's one I knitted earlier!

Tadpoles in a Jar

With it being Spring Equinox today, it was lovely to see so many signs of the season, including glorious spring sunshine.

I was heartened to see that despite the difficulties endured by the frog population over recent winters, there was still plenty of frogspawn in my pond. I'm not usually one to interfere with nature but I have such fond childhood memories of expeditions to the Chalvey brook with my jam jar to collect frogspawn. I still find  the metamorphosis that begins with a tiny black dot in its protective jelly, completely fascinating.

It was my husband who suggested that our Addy was the perfect age to witness this magical transformation first hand and I didn't take much persuading.

My daughter Taylor does actually have an irrational fear of frogs so the jar of frogspawn that suddenly appeared in our porch did push her to the limit of where she is comfortable. I'm not sure how she will cope as things develop and the wiggly swimmers start to grow legs for jumping. We shall cross that particular bridge later!

I was really happy today to see a little fish bowl for sale at my local Sue Ryder charity shop. It had gravel in the bottom already and for £1.95 I thought it would make a much more suitable home for our amphibious house guests.

I don't know who is more excited about our nature project, me or Addy. (One thing I definitely do know, it isn't Taylor!)

Jigsaw Mania!

Since reviewing a couple of lovely children's puzzles from Ravensburger (Thomas & Friends Clock and Lion King) my 17 year old, Taylor,  has had her jigsaw appetite well and truly whetted.

She found four old puzzles in the games cupboard that she completed in record time and then set to work on a ridiculously difficult 1000 piece "Murder Mystery" puzzle that I picked up for her in the local charity shop. It was quite intriguing in that there was no picture to work from, just a booklet that told the story of a fatal shooting that happened during a partridge hunt. The idea was that by completing the jigsaw, you uncover a clue that enables you to solve the crime and work out whodunnit.

I manage to contribute about six pieces in total - and that was more by luck than skill.

With perseverance, Taylor did sort of complete the puzzle and solve the mystery. I say sort of  because the 1000 piece puzzle turned out to be a 999 piece puzzle - (the danger of purchasing goods second hand). Although denied the satisfaction of placing the final piece, she took it in good humour.

Today, the collection of puzzles was finally put away so she once again has a bedroom floor - but not before a quick photograph to remember her efforts by.

Black Sacks of Surprises

I am not great at buying clothes for myself but I do love finding a bargain on a sale rail or in a charity shop or occasionally a jumble sale. Even better than this is when a stylish, generous friend has a wardrobe clear out and brings a car boot full of clearly labelled black sacks containing neatly folded, good as new, floral fragranced, quality clothes for you to sort through and take your pick from.

It was like Christmas opening the bags and finding out what surprises were contained within. 

It didn't take me long to sort out a dozen items destined for my wardrobe.

It didn't stop at merely a dozen! I now have enough warm woolies to help me cope with whatever winter throws at me. I won't need to buy another plain T shirt, short or long sleeved, for a very long time and best of all, I have some things that  I probably would never have thought to buy for myself but fell in love with when I tried them on for size. 

Two of my grown up daughters have found some keepers and I'm sure my other two will once they have had a chance to look through. 

My mum thought I must be preparing to go on holiday when she came to visit and saw a hanging rail full of clothes in my front room. I told her about my generous friend and invited her to take a look and see if there was anything that she liked. She liked everything but didn't think she'd find anything in her size. I was so pleased when she found some skirts and blouses that fit her and totally suited her elegant style of dress.

There will no doubt be some things left over that can't find a home in any of our wardrobes but I will take great pleasure in donating these on to the local charity shops in the knowledge that there will be some very happy customers walking away with some gorgeous bargains that I really wish had fitted me!

Magpie Monday - Knitting

My Knitting Pattern Radar did not fail me last week as I browsed the Charity Shops. I was so pleased to spot this Jean Greenhowe book of Knitted Toys.

I know my mum has a small mountain of wool oddments left over from the equally mountainous collection of jumpers and cardies she has made for her grandchildren. I thought this would be an ideal way of using up some of those oddments and putting a big smile on the faces of the grandchildren who would benefit from something a bit different from the usual offering from their lovely nana.

The book was unpriced. I would happily have paid £2 for it so it seemed like a fantastic bargain when the cashier asked for only £1.

I have to confess that the scarecrow featured on the front cover did not appeal to me greatly. However, flicking through my latest acquisition over a cup of coffee back home uncovered a treasure trove of inspirational ideas within the covers.

This collection of "Witty Knits" has some fabulous little Hallowe'en characters that would make perfect decorations for that time of year when the veil between worlds is thin...

... and my Christmas tree will be jollier with the addition of some of these festive cuties.

I am not an accomplished knitter like my mum but I'm not afraid to have a go and I know the basics of casting on and off, simple plain and pearl stitch and increasing and decreasing. Looking at the patterns, I felt confident that some of them would be well within my ability.

I gave my mum the book and she was predictably delighted. I also mentioned that  I would love to have a go at some of the simpler designs myself under her watchful guidance.  The next time she visits, she has promised to bring wool, needles and the patience to help me if I get in a pickle (which I undoubtedly will). I can't wait to get started.

I have told my mum that she absolutely has to make this toy as a tribute to the days my dad served as a Coldstream Guard.

Spot the difference!

Magpie Monday - Two of My Favourite Things

I've found some fabulous things in Charity Shops over the years, however, the pleasure of seeking them out tends to be greater than the pleasure of actual ownership. Often, prized items will be absorbed into the general blur of homelife and their origins all but forgotten. There are, of course, always exceptions to the rule. Some purchases refuse to fade into the background. This post is to acknowledge two such items.

The first item is a child's book. It cost me 49p and I bought it with several others that looked as though they had been donated by the same person. They were all in excellent condition and I knew my daughter would make good use of them.

Little did I know that this particular book would capture the imagination of my daughter in the way that it has. The book is called 'You Choose' by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart. Each page is packed with detailed illustrations from which the reader is invited to choose such things as places to visit, homes to live in, modes of transport, food, clothes, pets, careers, leisure activities, even which bed to sleep in.

Working through this book has become an important part of my daughter's bedtime routine. Her vocabulary has improved dramatically as we talk together about her choices and it has offered some great insights into the world of her imagination.

Her favourite page gives the opportunity to choose friends and family from a portrait gallery. She loves to find the images that correspond most closely to the important people in her life and has an uncanny knack of picking good likenesses. The image she chose for mummy and daddy made me smile. I love that she sees me as youthful and glamorous.

However, if I am to feel quietly smug about that, I can't ignore that sometimes she picks this one for me too.

We all have bad days!

My second item is another one I bought for my daughter. I think the reason that this one refuses to sit quietly with other similar items is because I came so close to not buying it.

I had recently been on a visit to my mum's where I bought a lot of china at the amazing price of 5 items for £1. When I later found a child's plate in my local Oxfam for 99p, it seemed expensive. I let the experience of my earlier purchases cloud my judgment.

I have to remind myself that each charity shop purchase has to be judged on its own merit. Trying to assess value and worth against the asking price in the limited time you have to make the decision to buy or not to buy can be tricky. I am very glad that I threw caution to the wind and parted with my 99p to become the owner of this lovely La Chaise Longue china plate.

I absolutely adore it and can't believe I ever hesitated.

Magpie Monday - Why I Love Charity Shopping

It was a beautiful day today so I thought a walk into town to browse the charity shops would be a nice way to spend and hour and take my mind off my achey legs after a fairly extreme session at the gym this weekend (one of the trainers targeted my daughter and I because we obviously looked as though we were being totally ineffective - I was actually struggling to get my foot into the pedal strap of the exercise bike which wasn't really showcasing my dedication to fitness)

The thing I  love most about Charity Shopping is you just never know what you're going to find.

I always look out for knitting books for my mum and my daughter Taylor has made a list of all the Stephen King books not already in our collection in the hope of picking them up. We also have another project on the boil at the moment.

Since the family band recorded their original song, they have been thinking of ideas for a music video to accompany it. Liberty has drawn up a story board of her vision and has the idea of buying all the props from charity shops to keep the production costs to a very limited budget. I was delighted that the idea to do this was inspired by Ivy's birthday party.

I didn't find any knitting books, or Stephen King books but I did find a Business text book for Taylor and a book of the Scripts from Ricky Gervais' comedy masterpiece, The Office, which I will enjoy flicking through before passing on to Media Student and wannabe Script Writer, Ivy. I also found a little book of brainteasers that always go down well with my girls and three lovely books for my little ones.

I couldn't resist this simple, pink china bowl that I think will look lovely on a shelf in my little girl's room, maybe to keep her hairbands in...

...and finally, an item that I think will fit in with Liberty's wardrobe vision for her music video, (which I maybe ought to have arranged neater for the photograph!)

All of this set me back the trifling sum of £2.97.

Pleasurable, productive, surprising, inexpensive - these are just some of the reasons Why I Love Charity Shopping.

Magpie Monday - Dinner Party

Last Wednesday, I went to visit my mum in Wrexham for a spot of lunch and an afternoon of shopping. As well as buying myself some pick 'n' mix underwear from La Senza with a voucher that has been gathering dust at the bottom of my handbag for too long, some bigger shoes for my little girl (including some light up trainers that she chose herself because there was a buy one get one half price deal on) and some of the fabulous Comic Relief merchandise available at TK Maxx, we did the grand tour of the charity shops.

It wasn't easy. We had two pushchairs to manouevre through tiny shops stuffed full of grabable items and two babies getting a bit fed up.

Mum was great. She found a book about fairies for 10p that kept my little girl amused and with a couple of packets of chocolate buttons in her pocket to administer when appropriate, we bought ourselves more browsing time than we would otherwise have been allowed.

I actually made all my purchases in just one shop. I was looking for tableware for my special dinner party for Ivy and this particular shop had a sign in the window saying "All Bric-a-Brac 25p an item or five for £1". I entered the shop full of hope and was not disappointed.

The first thing I saw was a set of six Royal Victoria Rose Bouquet dinner plates. I loved the colour and the rose design reminded me of my nan who died a couple of years ago and is still greatly missed. They were a bit grubby but otherwise in excellent condition. I put them straight in my basket.

There were piles and piles of odd china. I rummaged through selecting anything I liked look of. I ended up with 15 items (including a pretty little tea cup and saucer for my mum). If I had had unlimited time and carrying capacity, I would have bought more but the chocolate buttons were running out and the bottom of the buggy can only hold so much. I paid my £3 and left happy.

Back home I filled my sink up with hot soapy water and gave everything a good clean. The Rose Bouquet set washed up beautifully. Just out of curiosity, I had a quick look on ebay to see how much they would sell for. I found a set of six priced at £20 and a Royal Doulton Sumatra dinner plate (another of my finds) selling for £6.99. It isn't the sort of profit I could retire on but it did make my bargains quantifiable. By far the most important thing is that I loved what I bought and it was getting me excited about the dinner party.

Guest of honour and Birthday Girl, Ivy, arrived home on Friday night and on Saturday morning after a leisurely breakfast of pancakes dripping with lemon juice and liberally sprinkled with sugar, we set off on our charity shop challenge.

It was wet and miserable but our moods made up for that. I was on the lookout for some interesting glasses and a couple more small plates to complete my table setting. Ivy's challenge was to stamp her personal style sense on every guest by dressing or accessorising them with charity shop finds within a £20 budget. Sister Taylor came along to help and between them they did an amazing job.

Ivy's skirt, Addy's dress, dad's funky trousers

Taylor's dress and hat

Also purchased were a clip on bow tie to be worn by sister Liberty, bangles for Charis who was actually at a friend's sleepover so with us in spirit only, dinosaur trousers for the baby boy and a top for me. What you can't see in the picture of dad is that beneath his white shirt he was wearing a skin tight, lycra cycling shirt. Not a pretty sight as it clung to every inch of beer belly but Ivy couldn't resist a bit of parent abuse! All this and still within budget.

I didn't find any glasses that were particularly interesting but I did find a set of six unusual pottery drink receptacles - neither goblets or beakers but somewhere in between. At £1.99 for the set I thought they'd do nicely.

 

I used my own cutlery but everything else was a charity shop bargain, including the coasters (that had a very Karma Sutra-esque design) and the glass tea light holder.

My large glass bowl looked great filled with sweets that went down well during a hilarious (cider fueled) after dinner game of Family Fortunes (a last minute impulse buy in the final charity shop we visited before heading home).

It was a fabulous party, full of fun and laughter. 

Some of the things we bought will no doubt find their way back to the charity shop but most have found new permanent homes and will be enjoyed many times over.

Magpie Monday - Getting a Head Start

Part of my plan for my daughter's 20th birthday dinner party involves buying 2nd hand tableware from our local charity shops. It occurred to me that doing this all in one go was going to be difficult, if only for the sheer weight of the items I intend to purchase. For this reason, I decided to try and make life a little easier for myself and get a head start.

I had a lovely afternoon foraging through the china and brought several pieces. I never quite settled on a colour scheme so after consultation with the birthday girl we have decided on a 'rainbow' theme. This is very in keeping with her personality and does mean I can get away with just about any mix and match combination.

So far I have been particularly pleased with this heavy glass bowl.

I think it must have been used for floating candles because there was a dullness to the interior with limescale deposits from the water but it cleaned up a treat. I can imagine filling it with Ivy's favourite sweets for her birthday (did I mention that she is a big kid at heart!) At £1.50 it was cheaper than a plastic one.

My next bargain shouldn't be included in a Magpie Monday post because I bought them new from Wilkinsons. However, at 25p for two glass champagne flutes I can't resist giving them a mention. They were Valentines Day merchandise reduced to clear from £3.50 to £1.75 to £1 to 50p and finally to 25p. It was definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time. I bought three sets of two at 25p each. A total  of six champagne flutes for 75p! Certainly enough for a rainbow toast to Ivy.

My mum has told me that her local charity shop sells china for 20p an item so provided everyone is fit and well (I have one daughter off school today with a cold and a snotty, grumpy baby boy) I am planning on a visit. Lunch with my mum and a leisurely explore of the Charity shops of Wrexham sounds like a lovely way to spend a day.

Magpie Monday - Books

I have made a regular donation by direct debit to the MacMillan Cancer Charity since the death of a friend just over a year ago. I was unable to attend his funeral so this was my way of saying goodbye and doing something positive in his honour.

Other than that, my charitable contributions are fairly hit and miss and tend to be of a loose change variety rather than any significant amount.

My favourite way of supporting worthy causes is through the Charity Shop route. I regularly give donations and every once in a while I will take a walk into town without my little ones in tow with the express purpose of doing the Charity Shop Circuit. I find it strangely relaxing and enjoyable and if I am ever lucky enough to come away with a bargain, that is a bonus.

During the summer last year, daughter Ivy volunteered at our local Cancer Research shop. I would pop in regularly to see how she was getting on and have a little browse while I was there.

I am usually drawn first to the books.

I have picked up some lovely, good as new picture books for my little girl to boost her growing collection (she is already showing signs of being an avid reader).

From 25p to £1.49 each

I always check the shelves for knitting books to keep my mum busy with her wool and needles.

I love it when I find a novel that interests me.

Buying full priced books for myself is something I just don't do. I sometimes go to the library but I get a bit panicky about overdue books and fines. Buying a book from the charity shop means I can read at my leisure, not worry if one of the babies should get hold of it erroneously believing it to be a colouring book / teething toy and I'll even allow myself the luxury of reading it in the bath without fear of the proximity of the paper unfriendly water.

During a recent forage in Oxfam, I purchased a hardback copy of Stephen King's  epic novel "Under the Dome".  I love the horror genre and Stephen King's style of storytelling. My daughter Taylor is currently working her way through my collection, rekindling my interest. My latest acquisition sits temptingly on my bookshelf with the rest of the "to be read pile".  Now if only I had the time......

£1.99 compared with jacket price of £19.99

A contribution to Me and my shadow's Magpie Monday