Rainy Sunday

I was up at 5am this morning topping up and pricing odds and ends for a car boot sale in the next village this morning . I should have been suspicious when the cat had his breakfast and promptly dragged his wet muddy ginger backside into the clean wash basket ...Please tell me why he does that?
Anyway you guessed it despite the BBC weather saying a chance of showers in the east , I start loading the car and it turns into drizzly murk time . Mr Bah Humbug helpfully points out it will clear up soon and its now after lunch hes snoring on the sofa and its still lashing it down.
So ive been listing on ebay  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle take a look

8 metres of vintage nylon 

do you like the new pheasant  tablecloth 

do you like my horror dollies theyre attracting lots of watchers but not a single bidder , i had to list them at auction because i'd no idea of value .

does anyone bid on auctions these days?

Edwardian Medical Book Giveaway

I thought id give something away , a new volume to The Home of Redundant Volumes . A 1908 home medical book . with the current state of the UK NHS  we may need it . Its a great read , full of interesting medical facts and theres a cure for everything ! Poisons , TB , Mental Health problems . Theres Recipes , how to feed children . Hydrotherapy seems to be the new thing So enjoy

Giveaway is open to the world doesnt matter where you live though if its a long way away it will be sent by surface mail which is cheap but travels at a snails pace . Winner will be picked by the scientific method of munchkin and names in a pillowcase .  Giveaway closes on the 4th of July 2014  just leave a comment to enter and of course spread the word !!

Selling an Angel on Ebay

Sometimes it grates selling possessions you want to keep , but ive a garage bill to pay and Mr Bah Humbug has bust his windscreen which is partly covered by insurance but not all ..lol ..such is life
So I thought why not list an Angel in  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle  
Ive had this one for 30 years and will be sad to see her go  . Religion isnt a huge seller in the UK , but calenders and  ones this size do sell.

Plus theres the Grimsby local interest aspect which is only 50 miles away , it  wont make my fortune but its still a  rare item . ive had to list it as a buyer collect because there isnt a courier born that would get it there in one piece . A little bit creased and has thousands of thunder flies behind the glass. If i removed it from the frame i could probably post this overseas.

But then again theres a few replacements waiting in the wings 

Auction Time!!!

Sometimes i buy crazy stuff at the auction , I skived work and went to a virtually deserted sale room with a very meagre budget yesterday . Saints help me if it had been pay day !!
There was tons of strange and wonderful items and i bought just two lots it would have been 32 if id had the money ..lol
One lot was perfectly normal tons of kitchen plastics and trays cool boxes ,tupperwear and dozens of boards of one sort and another it will keep mr Bah humbug in fishing bait containers forever, plus 2 big boxes of  good quality general household stuff will go to the church charity shop , a lot was brand new and still had the prices on . £4 the lot,boxes and boxes of it .
Now in the real world would you buy two hge box's of very smelly faded filthy curtains? accompanied by the biggest suitcase ive ever seen that you couldnt even open or lift ? I did

Look what i found , someones fabric stash from the 60s and 70s  never opened for years tagged and with the receipts and the garden looks like an indian bazaar, theres curtains and stacks of fabric lengths , a pile of amazing vintage nylon florals , tweeds suit lengths taffeta in a myriad colours . Now this cant possibly come into the house till its washed so it will have to drape around the garden until it does , my daughter has claimed a pile of greens to make her prom dress .

Vix , these are very you 

still unpacking 

 Now some i can see a purpose in, theres a pair of heavy dark blue velvet curtains beautifully faded in lines that scream ..lazy cow do yourself something goth in them . Some of the virulent orange and turquoise screams rag rugs to me . I think this could be a whole winters worth of projects if i let it ..lol

The little fabric shop in the garden 

When Special Needs Grow Up

Were a big mixture of a family between Mr Bah Humbug and Myself we have 5 children but its the youngest whos the problem , he lives with his mum who does the best she can with him . He has a chromosome abnormality that left him with cataracts at birth and as was later discovered, behavioral problems . Now in this country a child can be "statemented " for educational needs , sometimes its the parents need statementing more than the children and it does bring an awful lot of extra benefits money wise if not always care wise .
My stepson was diagnosed with Aspergers and high functioning autism at quite a young age , so received extra help and support throughout his school years , it didnt help him educationally because despite being exceptionally bright he failed everything , it did help his teachers and the other pupils. He can be exceptionally disruptive .
But then he went to college and now that he is 18 all his help has stopped . He is drowning and becoming increasingly depressed and frustrated . The friendships he makes are with people who use his gullibility against him . He understands that he is different to other people , but has no idea or ability to change . He appears quite normal its only in conversation over a period of time that you realise something isnt quite right . Hes like a ticking timebomb every phone call makes you flinch , at times i find him quite chilling .
In the last week he was sent to us after being caught yet again shoplifting , his dad thinks that a visit to the little prison camp in the fens and a week of breaking stones and chores will cure him . I know there isnt a cure and his law breaking will escalate and his so called friends will continue to use him . Its breaking his dads heart . Eventually something really bad will happen and the police will have to take notice the excuse that he doesnt understand wont wash forever .  ......

Ebay Sunday Car Boot Challenge

So I knicked all of Mr Bah Humbugs change this morning and toddled of to the little car boot in the next village while he enjoyed his fathers day lay in bed .
 So what did i find?  Laser discs !! do you remember these , they lastest about as long as Betamax back in the late 70s early 80s . My daughter was horrified that i paid a £1 each for them . When I got home Mr Bah Humbug saw the Peter Sellers one and had the same thought i did , that they would make great pictures . I also picked up the classic Stephen King Carrie and Chaplins dictator . Once upon a time they were big sellers on ebay , now a £1 is a fair price for these wonderful forgotton bits of retro

2 Proper JAJ and Phoenix pie dishes , so hard to get these days . I already have some,so into ebay they must go . Yet another quiche dish , lets see if this lasts more than 2 weeks ..lol
A couple of 25p tomato plants to sit in the porch and a courgette plant . Cat in the Hat for the munchkin , plus daughter has bought a mountain of KNex and Meccano for a couple of pounds .

Meanwhile in the world of  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle  i had a strange thought while staring at the scrap man pile in the yard , now im quite used to going to Mr Bah Humbugs play area and asking to swipe bits of rusty rubbish for repurpose , but i bet theres loads of people who just cant lay there hands on rusty rubbish for repurpose , steampunk or altered art . So into the ebay shop I have put , some small packs of rusty rubbish to see if anyone will buy it . I can see a use for this stuff if it doesnt sell , so nothing lost nothing gained .

Norah Welling doll

So I won a single lot at the auction i was counting on to bring me tons of stock ....such is life , but im not daft enough to pay over the odds just because i need stock .

 Looking over the catalogue , it was an online crap picture they was just rammed in the box and i thought it was vintage baby clothes with a couple of dolls. It was  to far to go for the viewing , so not worth a huge risk . But once again it was a box of dolls , I dont collect dolls i just seem to keep finding them at the moment. Fortunately my daughter was at that end of the county today so was able to collect my box of
horror dolls .

The little lady id seen hiding in the box is a Norah Welling  fabric doll made from 1926 to 1959 and quite a small rare one, complete with her foot label . A stylised American Indian Maiden . I didnt know this i just thought she had a sweet little face...lol

As a bonus theres a cup of severed china heads that i thought would sell as a haloween repurpose project?
Theres a folk art black West Indian nut doll , my daughter says it looks like a voodoo doll , shes not in great condition but i think worth listing , theres even a very old wood headed Scottish doll with a missing arm .

Plus a walkie talkie Palitoy Big eyes doll , cabbage patch baby and a few unidentified probably off to car boot dolls . The only serious casualty is the black doll with badly broken legs who will probably stay , guess im starting a dollie rescue as well . so over the weekend i will be cleaning and listing dollies in http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle

Are Things Looking Up ?

Im skimping on blogging and ebay this week im a very busy lady . Between the munchkin , daughter climbing the walls with boredom , tripping over sons everywhere and feeding the 5000 on a budget of zilch .
Oh and i musnt forget knitting my nettle knickers for not being frugal enough...lol..   http://frugalinsuffolk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/cost-effective-self-sufficiency-or-self.html
Life is just over complicated and much overated at the moment ...i feel as if i should get a saffron robe and sit in a corner going OHMMMM.  The lousy weather still comprises of biblical floods and glorious sunshine excellent growing weather , but not very useful on the getting out and finding stock front . So ive been reduced to bidding online.  http://www.bidspotter.co.uk/en-gb/auction-catalogues, if im lucky i may have stock tomorrow , if not ...well
Thats the negativity over with , on a plus note , daughter has got a  2 month temporary contract doing something for the council , shes not sure what, but it pays well for a newly graduated politics student . Shes pleased because all her other interviews have failed because of her lack of workplace experience . It means i get more munchkin duty , but i enjoy that anyway .
Heres a 50s doggy print , I saved from something , he always looks as though hes about to burst into tears , wouldnt you with a basket like that ?

Ebay Turbo Lister ..I Hate You

Grounded due to lack of fuel today ..lol  so i thought i would load a few bits into the ebay shop  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle. its looking practically empty . Im trying to conquer my aversion to listing clothes as ive had a few good things in my fill a bag collections . But im finding it heavy going , I cant take good photos no matter how i try , the light quality is terrible today and it just keeps on raining so I cant play outside . grrr

Ive also started on filling a box with paperwork and ephemera to take to the car boot . Once upon a time you got good prices for sheet music , programmes , vintage guide books and a million other strange paperwork items , nothing is worth listing for 99p these days because you know thats likely what you will get for it , except for the odd bidding war . This is all stuff from the early days of the shop and i just want rid of it . So if it doesnt go at the car boot its going on to Freecycle as a job lot . Just found a pile of Home Farmer magazines ..WHY..im so glad i dont buy magazines and newspapers anymore , i dread to think what ive spent on them over the good years ..lol
Theres little point in giving to most charity shops these days as they throw more in the bin than goes on the shelf , they get £7 for a sack of rags so wheres the incentive to actually sort through what they are given , the rag man also takes books and shoes . There are good charity shops and bad but we all know the slick overpriced worst offenders on this score.

A big pile of knitting pattern that ive been throwing in a pile for ages , lots of 50s and 60s , so they should go well at carboot , might get a whole £1 for them.
Meanwhile having spent most of the day trying to list clothing , I find that Turbo Lister is refusing to let me upload anything of a clothing nature due to a problem with item specifics????
AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH

Thrifty Bits

This week there hasnt been an awful lot of thrifting , work and play have rather caught up with me , plus a simple lack of cash . Ive done an awful lot of work the last couple of weeks but it takes months sometimes to get paid. then theres the fact i have to find the fuel to do the work upfront..joy
But i popped in to the Christian cafe a few days ago and they were sending several large boxes of books to the ragman ,one of my friend is a volunteer there so he  let me have a root . after a coffee and a natter I pointed out a theory to him . They had had a 10p book sale to try and clear a lot of books , they had got rid of a few but it hadnt cleared the backlog . so why didnt he try giving them away for a donation?  So we sat and watched for a couple of hours and sure enough people would fill a bag and give him a couple of pounds for them , we made more money giving them away in boxes to root through than at 10p presenting them
nicely...

Thens this little cardboard singer box that i thought might have something useful in it . A whole pound it had a nearly full,  vintage box of machine needles all useable almost 100 , thimble, feet , kilt pin, bodkins , what appear to be black rubber somethings ?? a metal plate that is obviously to a sewing machine that doesnt say Simanco so may not be singer , but best of all a needle holder with screw for the one my daughter lost for her handcrank that she has had since she was 5

Missing in Action

So I snuck away for the weekend , to a Scooter Rally . You know tents, waterlogged field with foot high grass , lots of blokes holding pint glasses and talking rusty rubbish..lol   Females are required to cook , clean , bitch and drink alcohol
Right direction 2014 at Leicester , the sun started to shine as we packed up to come home . I spent the weekend cooking bad burgers and I have been christened the cheese fairy , cheese of the plastic kind  is compulsory to hold the greasy burgers in the bun .

Now let me explain about rallys they are a strange pastime mainly for men who have escaped from the missus for the weekend . Lots of ale , then more ale , daft games more daft games . Stunningly bad bands and dj's.
This year was exceptional !! on the Saturday afternoon we had a troop of Morris dancers show up? I think the minibus must have been passing and they thought this was a normal camp site or they could have come early for the country fair thats been held next week ? Bacchanalia were surrounded by strange skinhead types with glazed expressions and a few climbed out of there tents bringing their hangovers . they did soldier on bravely .

Better explain skinheads to the Americans hadnt I ? Our skinheads arent of the Aryan Nation type that feature in the documentries , ours are middle aged blokes who only get out during the scooter season , there also models with brown and black skin , so no racism . They love Northern Soul music Ska and Reggae , wear braces and dms and half mast bleached levis .
  We also have the bad Paul Weller clones another tribe that hangs out with us , they do named clothing, man bags, think they can still manage recreational drugs and most dont ride scooters because thay cant fix anything and they might chip a nail .
My other halfs tribe are Scooterists , they are the blokes who try to kit up and tinker with an Italian shopping moped so that it does a ton , they wear camo all the time , even on xmas day , if they own a Lambretta it will usually be seen broken down on the side of the road , they think nothing of stripping an engine inbetween bites of a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea .
so all in a good, if strange weekend ....normal thrifty service will be resumed later