General Chat

Terri, My poor husband gets a bit frightened when I go to a church fete, wondering how on earth everything will fit into our small van. Last time I bought a dressing-table mirror - 3 part. Mind you, he can buy dozens of books and I squirm if they're not what I like. Sylvia

Terri, Yes, wouldn't it be strange if we bumped into each (literally I mean) at a jumble sale. You can have the designer dresses, in fact any clothes, just leave the books, spoons and china for me, then we won't come to blows!! I wish we had the car boot sales here; we do have second sales, but its not the same. I like church fetes too.

When I was a child jumble sales were the main entertainment - I loved watching two women fighting over what each thought they had seen first! We used to queue outside and then there would be a scrum to get in. My best bargains were: 1.a teddy bear, much-loved, that I still have which cost 6d - 3d of which my brother lent me. As he is fond of saying, I never paid it back! 2. My mother picked up a beautiful, unworn white blouse with pintucking all done by hand down the front and on the cuffs - fantastic handstitching. So sad it ended up at a jumble, but good for me. I wore it till it fell apart. Nowadays I like to rummage in a charity shop. When we moved into our new, much larger house, we had bare walls everywhere, but the old owners had left all the picture hooks. So I nipped out and bought lots of cheap, cheerful pictures and frames for family photos and bunged them up to give a homely feel. I've bought lots of useful things - puzzles and toys for the boys when they were little, that had been outgrown but not damaged. A favourite board game was "Inspector Higgins" and "Dinosaur Memory" which kept many children amused for hours. Also still have mock-mahogany bookcase which cost me a tenner and matches my other bookcases perfectly, a tv stand I got to house kids' playstation. Also, £5 for a huge, lovely framed mirror which fits a space on the landing wall perfectly. I also do my bit by regularly having a good sort-out and depositing stuff with charity shops - what a useful idea those bags they leave for collection are!

Hello Sylvia, I have to 'do' the charity shops nearly every time I go into town - picked up some really good toys and books for my grandaughter and I'm always on the look out for glass decanters - don't have to be old as long as they are pretty - got quite a few now but empty unfortunately! I'm not above buying clothes in charity shops either - bought a Ralph Lauren baby suit for 75p. Baby clothes are generally in really good condition - there's really no need for kids to look scruffy these days. Daughter not proud either so grandaughter wears Gap, Next, DKNY - all at bargain prices! Magsx

We have lots of garage sales here in the US and they were a new concept to me when I arrived here. My husband and I love them and often pick up bargains we didn't know we needed. Ostin looks out for tools and other 'guy' things while I often pick up a good read for 25c or even less, or sewing patterns or some-such. We even found a beautiful painting, much admired now it is on our wall, for just a few dollars, and a lovely coffee table for even fewer. As Di says, it's an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday morning and you get to meet lots of new people.

Hi Terri, Yes, you had a bargain. Just think what a soft toy would have cost. I love jumble sales, car boot sales etc. Will be looking out for some when I visit England in September. Sylvia

Have you ever bought a good bargain at one of these sales? Sylvia