Wednesday 28 March 2012

Doncare Nth Blackburn & BSL Eltham

I feel I've been a bit of a blog hog lately, so I apologise to anyone who's sick of seeing my posts!

This morning I hustled into Doncare op shop in North Blackburn with a singular purpose:- to buy the 3 mugs I'd spotted there on Monday but hadn't bought. When I saw them on Monday I dithered about whether to buy them or not, and decided I'd take a pass as they were $2 a pop. (I know, chicken feed in the scheme of things, but it's funny how we get hung up on how things "should" cost based on the pricing at other op shops!) While in the Dandenongs yesterday I saw the EXACT same mugs displayed (new) in the front window of a homewares shop. Would have taken a goosey gander to see how much they sell for new, but the shop was closed at the time. Drats. Nevertheless, I took this as a sign from the op shop gods that I was MEANT to buy those mugs (yes, it was fate, folks), so I was pleased to find that all 3 mugs were still at Doncare this morning, and I snaffled them up.



This arvo I visited the shop where Gina volunteers on Fridays, Brotherhood of St Laurence in Eltham. It's tucked away in a little arcade but I managed to find it without too much trouble. I bought a pretty queen size doona cover & matching pillowslips for $14. It's a little more than I would normally pay for a second hand doona cover, but I really liked the pattern of cream coloured leaves at the bottom changing to darker leaves up top so I bit the bullet and forked over the money. (Also, I would have felt I was letting Gina down if I'd visited her shop and left empty-handed!) Sorry - photo came out a bit dark.


I was bemused to see this op shop selling old horseshoes for $5 each; when I was a kid I roamed around Caulfield racecourse and the stables (all empty at the time, and accessible by a gate that used to be permanently open from the tennis court next door), and used to collect stacks of old horseshoes. Now, seeing how much they sell for, I wish I'd kept them all instead of throwing them away when I was a teenager!

While in Eltham I paid a visit to Gina to drop off some fabric and take her up on the offer of a cuppa. It was lovely to meet Gina in person and see some of her op shop treasures, plus some of her crafty bits & bobs. She is mega talented in all things involving thread, needles or fabric and has more energy than most people a quarter of her age. Thanks for the tour, Gina!

6 comments:

Lisa @ .Simply Me. said...

That's funny about horseshoes - when I used to do horseriding you can pick them up for free all over the show, and I'm guessing at any breeder/stables you'd find the same!

What's the bet that they'd be considered rubbish or would sell for max 50c at a rural op shop? LOL

Stella said...

My local tip shop (I can highly recommend them by the way) sells cups for $1 each and I think they should be flogging them 10cents. There are dozens upon dozens of them and mainly emblazened with 'Williamstown Festival 1992' etc. I wanted to buy a whole pile for mosaics but baulked at paying that price. But other great stuff to be had especially for building or renovating.

FrolickingFroggy said...

Stella - ha, maybe they're hoping for an influx of customers who attended the Williamstown Festival in 1992, all deciding they need to commemorate the occasion with a mug!

Ren said...

I do like those cups. For me though, I have to pick them up and feel their weight before deciding whether they're "good" or not. The other cup criteria I have is that they must be white on the inside, that way I can tell how strong my tea is! Great finds and I thanks for posting. I'm a very slack poster as the effort of downloading the photos takes too much time!

Gina E. said...

'Froggy', thank you for those kind comments! We had fun, didn't we - and I had even more fun last night when I spilled all those fabrics out on to the floor and saw how much there is! I've written a post with photos on my other blog if you want to have a look.
LOL you are funny - as if I care whether you bought something at the BSL in Eltham! No skin off my nose - ha!
Don't apologise for 'hogging' this blog - I did the same thing last year when not many people were posting. It's good if one or two can keep it going when nobody else has been buying stuff, and others will return eventually.

Asa-Marie said...

That is so true about how much things "should" cost based on the prices at other Op shops. I have often caught myself muttering "$5!! That's a rip off"....Hmm! I feel refreshed with renewed poerspective, thank you.