A £1 charity shop, now that's cheap

Right, what's been going on today. My day hasn't been terribly exciting but I'll cobble something together as you've taken the time and trouble to click on my link. I know you do the rounds because I can see where you're coming from. I do the same, blog hopping, ooops, must go and have a look over there, and there, and there. Before I know it I've got a dozen pages open on my desktop. 

I've just stuffed my face full of vegetables, mainly from the garden, with some bought broccoli. I tried growing that once but it was very high maintenance because I had to pick off the caterpillars daily. Won't bother with that again. Tonight I had a few of the reduced mushrooms in a tasty garlic sauce. Easy to do, just add some soft cheese with garlic. I always save a few potatoes until the end, and mash them with my fork to soak up the excess sauce. Don't waste anything. Twas a very nice dinner. 

As I look out of the window I can see the sunflowers getting another battering from the wind. It's a wonder they haven't collapsed, but they are holding on. A few more flowers have appeared, still more to come. Talking of sunflowers and how much they drink, I've had my half yearly water bill this morning from Anglian Water. I thought it might be a little higher than usual, but it isn't. They have used an estimated reading and calculate that I have used three cubic metres, which cost the grand total of £9.31. Then I get charged for the disposal of the dirty water which is £4.91. This amount gets passed on to Severn Trent Water, who will be sending me a bill shortly for the removal of the rainwater into the drains. It won't be much, pity I don't have a soakaway to get it down even more. Anyway, I've checked the meter, and their estimation is over by one cubic metre, but I'm not bothered about that piddling little amount. I'm not going to ring them up asking them to take a couple of quid off.  

I did a quick dash to town today, wanted to get some maps from the library. I parked close to the shops it's free for one hour. Time to look in a couple of charity shops. I always use the hospice shop which is at the other end of the High Street, their prices are always competitive with a good turnover of stock. Today I couldn't be bothered to walk that far, so I went up a side street near the market to the Age UK shop. I was surprised to see it has turned into a Pound Shop, everything is £1. Quick look to see if there is any cotton fabric for my patchwork. I found this massive duvet cover, and I mean massive. It goes right down over the sides of my double bed. It's yellow on one side and pink on the other, with a floral pattern. I might use it as a backing for my quilt. There would be enough to cut some squares from around the edge and it would still be big enough. Keep a look out at your Age UK shop, has it turned into a Pound Shop yet? Loads of chuffin bargains in ours.    

Remember the sunglasses I found while out walking? Well, a young teenager came to mow the lawn for my neighbour the other day, he does it to earn a bit of pocket money. I thought, aha, I bet he would like them, and he did. He was chuffed to bits with them, and kept them on while he finished the lawn. He looked dead cool, ha ha.

The weather hasn't been too good today so I've got on with some sewing while being entertained with catch up programmes on the computer. I picked up a book while I was at the library, it caught my eye as it was on the New Book display. 'Ausperity, Live the Life You Want for Less', is written by Lucy Tobin. Apparently she is an acclaimed personal finance editor at the London Evening Standard, and writes a weekly column, 'How To Save It.' She shares her secrets to living a prosperous life on an austerity budget. The blurb on the back cover sings her praises, so I'll have a look at it and report back if I find some money saving tips to share with you.

Before I hop off, welcome to the new readers, I see my numbers have crept up a little bit. Nice of you to drop in, I shall go and have a nosey at your blogs.
Toodle pip