This morning I did my usual weekly trawl of the charity shops. I was looking for a blanket for one of my dogs, Levi. He has this naughty habit of shredding his blanket when he gets over excited and he drags it around the floor. Over a period of a few months it usually ends up ripped and tatty and I end up having to throw it away. I have tried everything I can think of to stop him doing this, even seeking the advice of the dog trainer whose puppy training classes we took the dogs to but nothing has worked. He's 7 now and I have resigned myself to the fact that every few months I will have to get him a new blanket. I don't actually mind this too much because I have found that washing dog blankets clogs up the washing machine and I would rather buy new blankets that a new washer!
I love hunting for bargains and quirky things in charity shops and I have supported charity shops for years, even before they became trendy. I buy most of my books there and then when I have read them, I re-donate them so they can be re-sold and raise more money for the charity and I always donate any clothes that I don't need. There are quite a few charity shops in the town near where I live and they are usually a great place to find a bargain but I have noticed recently that the prices are getting rather steep. I appreciate that the charities have to raise money and that they have overheads for the shops and the electricity and such that they have to cover but £10 for a plain old bog standard summer dress I think is rather steep. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that someone would pay it but for me, it would be too much.
Anyway, today, I managed to pick up a lovely pink 100% Wool Whitney blanket for Levi for £2 so he will be snuggly and cosy, well until he shreds it again and I also picked up another 2 copies of The knit and Stitch Magazine at 99p per issue. It has 2 balls of wool free in each magazine so I got 4 lovely balls of wool for £1.98. Bargain. The new issue is already out, costing £2.50, but the newsagent still had some of the old issue still on the shelves.
I also wanted to share a picture of the lovely salt and pepper grinders I bought from a charity shop before Christmas and didn't get around to photographing. They look like Cornishware but I'm not sure because I couldn't find any marks on them but even if they aren't I think they are lovely and I'm glad I spotted them. They will look lovely on my dresser when I have re-vamped it and painted it.
