Saturday, April 15, 2006

Not Second Hand Saturday

I'm usually out of town for Easter so it came as a bit of a shock to discover all my fave second hand haunts closed for the weekend. Eek!

Luckily I have one I prepared earlier (as they say). You know when you're off sick and by mid afternoon you're getting restless? Thursday was like that - too late to go to work for the rest of the day so what's a girl to do but return to the whiz-bang spreadsheet and decide to mark at least one new Op Shop (for me) off the list. And I chose one which was (apparently) only open during the week. Of course when I got there I saw a large sign on the door saying they were open Saturday mornings as well. Pah!

Meet
The Smith Family, my charity of choice (this is where I donate the stuff I'm getting rid of and I also sponsor a Learning For Life child through them):
Not the most welcoming entrance but it looks like the space was originally supposed to be a garage. Inside they stock mainly clothing (with one of the best plus size ranges I've seen in an op shop yet), with a small area for bric a brac and another small area for manchester. Their wool was in two different areas (which I steered clear of) and they had a small bin of fabric (also ignored). That black and white sleeve directly below the Boyswear sign looked promising but it was a rugby style sweatshirt which is so not me. Pity.

I didn't leave empty handed though. Got these two beauties for 50c each and was tossing up about a white curtain with tiny black daisies on it but it was a) $10 and b) so obviously not destined for a window that I had to leave it in the end.While I was down south I popped into Vinnies in Phillip: Where I picked up two more winter tops for $6 each (do you see a theme emerging in my buying?)And a white plastic flour sifter for $1 (which I forgot to photograph as it is downstairs waiting to be washed). I completely ignored this area except to take a quick picture:Last stop before I headed home was Vinnies in Curtin (I forgot to take pictures there - next time, hopefully) which had 25% off all books. So I picked up the following for a total of $4.50:Single white email, The Queen and I and Girls' night out. And guess what? I already own them all so first person to leave a comment gets them! One book each, please...

This morning I did make it to Ross's Relic's in Yass (and, of course, the Vinnies there was closed). Yass is a small country town about 40 minutes away from Canberra and Ross's Relics is a massive place with a neverending warren of rooms groaning with stuff:

Unfortunately the prices had me groaningso I came away empty handed.

In the afternoon I met up with S for a very yummy lunch at Old Parliament House followed by a wander round the exhibition Mrs Prime Minister: Public Image, Private Lives . Another excellent and accessible introduction to important yet often overlooked women in Australia's history. Oh - and some great outfits and bags as well!

And since we weren't able to take photos inside here's a lovely typical Canberra tourist shot: Look! People!!

(Soundtrack: Massive Attack, Protection)

2 comments :

Shanna said...

OMG! i can't believe you passed up on the yarn and that knit book!! OMG! but i know, i know...you're crazy! you're in that use what you have! lol

what??? did i see you purchased green???

and your st. vinnies is SO much nicer than mine! mine is some junky building that no one wants to go in. i'll post about it when i get back.

Thriftin' Gal @ Junk In My Trunk said...

Oh I would kill to go rummaging through that Ross's Relic place! Love your site, I put a link to you on my thrifting/collectible blog, if you don't mind :)