Friday

A couple of year ago, I was searching for a phone cover on eBay and found the perfect one. 

So I got my darling husband to buy it for me.  When it arrived, I was surprised to find I was sent two with the same pattern.  Darling husband then told me that it was 99c for two covers, not just one.  Oh and this price INCLUDED postage.  ;)

WELL, I nearly slapped him silly because I could have chosen one in a different design!  

Anyway the one in the photo is now well used and I'm almost ready to pop on my new one.  I'm now at peace with the husbeast because honestly, I do love the design.  See how well it goes with my shirt?  LOL!

Music to my ears

I just chose a topic off the top of my head for no apparent reason.  Just because I felt like it and had a little time to kill before tackling a few yukky jobs today.

So, music.  *Most* of us like music.  A lot of us love music.  And for some of us, it's our whole life.  I will never understand the latter though, as I think there are way too many more important things in life.  But having said that, yes... music can make our day or just make us feel good for a short or long while.

When I was younger, lets say between the ages of 15 and 30....  I was obsessed like quite a lot of young people would and will get.   But let's go back even further than 15 just for a second.  I would turn on the radio every chance I could just to listen to some music.  Back then it was 1970's stuff, some kitsch and some great and some not so wonderful.  It all mattered though, just because it was music that was going into my ears.  

So then came the 80's music.  My friends and I would go clubbing and had a great time dancing to music with whatever was in at the time, we'd love it even if it wasn't the best sound.  Heck, it was MUSIC AND IT WAS IMPORTANT. 

Then somewhere after the mid 80's, a work mate introduced me to music that I had never heard before and sounded quite intreging and so different to what I was used to, I got hooked straight away.  I instantly fell in love with The Smiths for starters.  Then Depeche Mode.  Then New Order.  Then The Sundays.  And the list went on and I could see a pattern... all these artists came from the U.K.

Then came the 90's.  I was still loving my U.K. music but the artists I loved were producing less songs.  90's music for me was a bit of a blur, because I can't really think of specific artists that changed my life all that much.  Yes, there was some nice music, but there was also a lot of music that one needed to forgot!

Somewhere after that, music got less important for me because.... well.... simply because of life and the other things it had to offer.  My love for it was still there of course but it wasn't the first thing that I thought of everyday.  Then less and less.  The truth is that I still adore music.... but in a different way than back then which is a little tough for me to describe.

Today I can reflect back and know what type of artists I truly loved and still love.  These few are still high on my list of favourties, but in no particular order apart from the first one;

Depeche Mode
The Smiths
The Sundays
Seal
David Bowie
Heart
Prefab Sprout
Midge Ure (Ultravox)
Tears for Fears
Iceheart
Alan Parsons Project
David Sylvian (Japan)

This list isn't the end all of course, but you sort of get the gist of what I'm into.


Now that I've got my music thoughts and chatter out of the way, I can show you a couple of collectables that I picked up yesteryear.

Stunning little crystal vase found for just $2.  How can one not love this? 

Gorgeous little Quartz pineapple clock and if my memory serves me well, it was either $5 or $6.  Just one of those things I had to have!

BIGGEST SCORE IN THE WORLD!!!

I've not been well lately, due to medical issues but I'm not going to bore you with that.  What I will bore you with instead is a 'special' find at my local second hand store recently.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I'd find what I did last week.
I walked into the op shop and usually the first thing I do is head for the crafting section.  Well that's what I call it anyway.... it can be as big as a whole corner full of stuff or one lousy small basketful.  But on this particular day, I spotted a MASS of knitting wool and nearly had an aneurysm.  The impact was so intense that I nearly blacked out.  

At first my sight went a little blurry and in the span of just a second or two, I thought to myself 'I must have walked into an up-market wool store by mistake?!'  But then I realized that there aren't any yarn stores where I was.

So I got closer to the HUGE MASS of wool and I stood there with glazed eyes.
There must have been 3 huge plastic tubs full of it and I honestly didn't know what was going on.  Was I dreaming?  Was somebody playing a practical joke?  WHAT???  It was like I was going through the 5 stages of grief.  I've also seen it as the 7 stages of grief, but let's stick with 5 for the sake of keeping it shorter and sweeter;

Denial
This can't be happening.  This is can't be real.  Am I in an op shop or did I mistakenly enter a high priced wool shop?  Is somebody going to jump out from hiding behind a clothes rack and shout 'SURPRISE, YOU'RE ON CANDID CAMERA!!'  No, it's a big mistake, I'm quite sure of it.

Anger
I swear if ANYBODY tries to touch that wool, I'm going to knock their blocks off.  If anybody more than looks at it, I'm going to..... well I don't know what I will do but it will be very nasty.

Bargaining
Gee, I can't afford to buy ALL of this wool.  I've got a good amount on me but it's mostly for food shopping.  But gee-wiz-golly.... if I don't buy what I can now, I will regret it.  Self, look at it this way;  if you buy a heap of this wool, it will last you for years to come.  You won't have to buy more for a really long time.
Go on, you know you want to.  

Depression
But, but.... oh it's food money!  We will probably go without eating for a week or two, get all thin and gaunt and we'll become very sickly.  It's a sad, sad situation.

Acceptance
A sigh of relief.  The truth is that it's only money and I can steal, beg or borrow more money for food if I have to.  LOL.

Dear friends and those who aren't, I forked out $145, and mind you there is only 90% of it showing in the photos.  The other 10% was still in my car from lack of room: 

Can you see what it is?  Click on each photo to see!  Do you know how much all this wool is worth new?  Some of it is discontinued, some you can still find.
Example: one ball of Rowan kidsilk aura could set you back $8 per ball.  And there are ones in there that you'd have to fork out more that $10-15 per ball/skein.  The whole lot would have cost me closer to $1000 if I had been in some swanky, snobby yarn store.

-Rowan, including cashsoft, wool, wool/cotton, silky tweed & fine milk.
-Alpaca Silk
-Classic Elite Yarns
-Malabrigo

Maybe now you will understand what all this hoopla-hoo-ha was about and why I'm ranting and raving.  I think the only people that would appreciate this find, are the knitters and crocheters out there, and those that understand the worth of beautiful, luxurious yarn.

I shared my find on facebook (crafting group) recently.  I could tell there was a little jealousy, even though nobody said so but some were actually over the moon happy for me.  One lady said she went to her local yarn store to find some Rowan, just out of curiosity to see the prices.  She was gobsmacked.  She told the store attendant of what I found at the op shop, and she didn't believe it.  Apparently NOBODY GIVES AWAY EXPENSIVE WOOL TO AN OP SHOP, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!  IT DOES NOT HAPPEN!

So there you go, I'm a liar.  It never happened.

But do you think I'm worried whether people believe it or not?  All I care is that I found it and I'm very happy - it was a deal of a lifetime find!  And I have sore feet from all the little happy dances to prove it.

I think I've just turned into a yarn snob.  ;)

Saturday

Today is the 26th of January.   Here in Australia, this makes it Australia Day.

I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains....  (by Dorothea Mackellar).    



Happy Australia Day, to Australians everywhere.

Freebie found yesteryear;  A whole packet of glass beads, and there's plenty to make a long necklace.   I feel a project coming on!
Boo to the person that tossed these away, but yay for me!

 

Thursday

I love real BARGAINS, I love great DISCOUNTS and I love fantastic REDUCED PRICES!!

These things also help when you are going through a rough patch, such as being jobless.  Can you imagine if there weren't discounts and reduced prices??  I don't like to think about it to be honest.  

But lets concentrate on BARGAINS for now.  Where do you find a bargain?  Where have you found a bargain?  Where do you think you'll find a bargain?

If you are anything like me, you'll be thinking either eBay or second hand stores.  Right?  Well, not always.

Regarding second hand stores;  I have said it all here before and I will say it again....  With the prices they put on used stuff today, you may as well buy them new!  This obviously depends on what the item is.  But let's concentrate on the cheaper items for now.  The people that put prices on second hand rubbish (*ahem*.... referring to it as 'rubbish' because I'm angry with their warped pricing!) are living in LA LA LAND or a just being plain old greedy or they are not experienced.

One example;
I find 50 cent knitting and crochet books/magazine/patterns at one op shop.  Then I happily mozzzzy on down to the op shop across the road or suburb, only to find them at $2 each.  AND I have found the same 50 cent magazine/book at one store, for $2 at another store.  There is no uniformity with op shops.  I don't think they even have an interest in that.  While one shop finds it fair to place 50 cents on a book, another finds it fair to place $2 on it.  Who is supposed to be right?  Who makes up the pricing rules and why?  I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND IT.

Honestly, where has the charity gone?  Out the window.  Ka-put.  Gone, baby gone.  Hasta la vista, baby.  You get the idea. 

Having said all that....  I can still find bargains if I look well enough and happen to be at the right place, at the right time.  And I will let you in on a little secret... there are 2 or 3 stores where I can find knitting and crochet books/magazine/patterns for just 25 cents.  You heard me.... 25 cents!  Or another store that has 3 for $1!!  And to take it a step further..... they have balls of GOOD wool (some real wool and some acrylic) for 50 cents each!  And to top it off with a big bang... they occasionally have half prices days!!  So that means 12.5 cents for a knitting/crochet pattern/mag/book or 50 cents for 3 ... AND 25 cents for a ball of wool. WOW.  I almost feel like I'm stealing from them.  LOL!!!

Those shops are the REAL charity shops.  They are the ones that people go to time and time again. 

So, please take note, high priced op shop owners and / or workers.  We see you.  We notice you.  We are not impressed with your pricing.

Eventually your prices will match the normal shop prices, then we will stop buying second hand.  Be very careful how you price things.  And remember why the op shop actually exists and what it's function is.  Not only should it help the charity that the money goes to, but it should also help the buyers just as much. 

And back to why?.... some of us are jobless and struggling.  Yours is the only store that can help us with struggling times, if you'd only see it that way and not just see it as mostly a money making scheme.


Onto a great op shop find.... I paid just $3 for this AWESOME Asian bottle, which I think held some kind of herbal liquid medicine or the likes at one time.  It's one of those things that I'm glad I found and bought.  :)

 

Saturday

UUGGHH!  We are having a heatwave in Perth.  It's horrible.  I feel like I can't breathe.  We need relief NOW.  Power here is costly, so we use our air conditioner very sparingly.  We usually have it on fan mode, which is just blowing warm air around.  I don't know what's worse, the warm air blowing around in the house or the heat outside.  Both are horrid, both are giving me a headache.

But I will try to sound energetic, happy and cool for you now.  

Only because of my love for wood, did I buy this lovely John Jaques wooden chess set with its own wooden case.  No chess board available though.  Found for $3.99.  Who knows when I will get an urge to play a little chess?  I can make my own tacky looking chess board easily.  ;)

The bottom felt was coming off a little from some of them, but I just glued them back and they look as good as new.  :)

Sunday

Well, well, well.... what do we have here?  IMAGES!!

 

But after trying to post more, it gave me the same message as last time ; 

" Whoops! You're out of space. You are currently using 100% of your 1 GB quota for photos. Upgrade storage

Photos are stored in your Picasa Web Albums account and are included in your 1 GB free quota for photos. Additional storage you purchase is shared between several Google products and is in addition to your free quota. Learn more "

Well if that's the case, why on earth could I post those?

 UUGGHHH!  The frustration is overwhelming.