Friday, 24 January 2025

An Atmospheric Read, and Bargains That Just Had To Be Had

 


With storm Eowyn battering the lodge and the wheelie bins making a break for freedom, I sat cuddled into my fleecy heated blanket this morning and finished the final couple of chapters of this wonderful book.  

I started reading it with snow lying on the ground, so it seemed very authentic to finish it with high winds whipping small items into the air all around our house.  I could easily imagine the Winter long blizzards that battered the prairies and left the families battling to survive The Long Winter.

It was a very good read and is a book that I will be keeping to read again, perhaps next year if we have another storm. 😬


In other news we battled the storm to take some clothes and china from Mum's bungalow to the local Hospice shop this morning, but we got there at 9.20am and it didn't open until 9.30am.  So we took refuge in Booths to wait with a cup of coffee and a toasted teacake.  I obviously brought home the leftover sugar, sweetener and butter along with the unused napkin.  It's my mission to gather in as many freebies as possible this year and document them for my own amusement.

On the way out the charity book table grabbed me and made me buy this book.

The manager was serving someone when we got into the charity shop so we stood waiting and these two items, hanging together just like this, caught my eye.  A brand new Barbour t-shirt, original price £34.95, and a new Weird Fish fleece jacket, original price £60, but currently reduced in the sale to £40, for a combined cost of £19 ... and in my size.  

It had to be done!!

So we went out to make a donation and I ended up spending £20, but what good bargains I got, I'm happy.  😁


Sue xx



26 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I was very happy with them and they fit perfectly. :-)

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  2. Fabulous buys and counts as one of your charity donations for 2025. We still being battered here in Hamilton-our daughter has lost fences on both sides of her garden. Stay safe and enjoy your new book. Catriona

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    1. What with a few purchases and lots of donations I should get a good round up of my donations when the figures are sent out from this particular shop in May. It's good that they let you know how much your items have made for the charity including the Gift Aid total.

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  3. I loved the Little House book series, as did my daughter and granddaughter. Maybe I will read them again as it’s been awhile since I read them. Great buys! Cali

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    1. It was a really good read, I'm glad that i bought the set.

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  4. Fabulous bargains. We buy all our clothing, apart from underwear, this way. We've been doing it so long that I'm genuinely shocked and flabbergasted when I wander into a clothes shop and see how much stuff costs new.
    I do wish we had Booths down south 🥹

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    1. I'd rather get quality clothing from charity shops etc, than buy cheap clothing from 'proper shops'. Do you have a Waitrose, they are very similar in lots of ways.

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  5. When you get bargains like that it would be daft not to spend the money.

    I am glad you have talked sternly to your dustbins. Mine are currently locked in the garage after having been told to think about their life choices and travel options, which do not include escaping from where they are usually coralled (and have never blown out of before).

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    1. I gave up in the end, they were determined to have a lie down, so I left them that way. Each one blocking the others lids so that the contents couldn't escape. They didn't want me to go out and to be honest with the wind blowing a hoolie I was happy to stay indoors. :-)

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  6. You'd have been mad not to snaffle those bargains, what great finds!
    We walked back from the cinema earlier talking about how the town seemed to escaped from the storm unscathed only to discover a tree which had been brought down at the corner of the road and crashed into the flats beneath it. The man whose flat it was was very philosophical, saying that it was only possessions and he had a campervan to sleep in. xxx

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    1. I was very happy with them, so much so I even forgot to check out the bookshelves in there!! Wow, lucky that he had a camper van. I saw the photo on your blog post, those flat dwellers had a lucky escape. We've lost a few big old trees here too, but luckily none near any homes.

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  7. Brilliant bargains and impossible to ignore ;) I'm still 2nd in the queue at the library for The Long Winter. It will be Spring at this rate before it comes in...lol...
    Angie x

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    1. Perhaps THIS will be your week. It's well worth waiting for, I'm having trouble deciding which book to read next now.

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  8. I really think you would love the Little House series. They describe Laura Inglis Wilder's life on the American prairies very well. Great bargains.

    God bless.

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    1. She did write really well didn't she, as you say very descriptive.

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  9. Glad you enjoyed the book. Stay safe during those storms.

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    1. We got off extremely lightly compared to some in this part of the world. I'm glad my son transports heavy machinery as his loads, as a lot of HGVs were blown over on the motorways that he uses day in and day out.

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  10. Wow I didn't know charity shops sold clothes costing that much!

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    1. As an ex-charity shop manager myself I can appreciate when quality new items, still with their tags are priced at those sort of prices. You are aiming to get the best possible prices for your donated stock. Together new, these two items would have been £75 at the time that I bought them so paying £19 seems reasonable.

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  11. I love all the Little House books but that one is a favourite. It is very evocative.
    Amazing bargains too - you couldn't leave them there for that! xx

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    1. It is a really good book, I'm glad it was recommended to me. :-)

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  12. I have a collection of the little house books and last read that one when we were snowed in with a blizzard. Great bargains.

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    1. It does read well when you are living in 'almost' similar conditions. I'm glad I had more than bread and gravy to eat while I read them though. :-)

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  13. Lovely that you enjoyed The Long Winter, it’s one of my all time favourites and I often read it in the winter as it seems to add to the atmosphere 🥰
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. It's just got to be done hasn't it. I can't imagine reading it on the beach or on a hot Summer's day. :-)

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