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Tuesday 28 July 2015

Two Carboot Sales

We knew that it was going to start raining on Sunday at around 11am so we were up and out early to the Cheshire Carboot sale. We had my sister and nephew with us as they had come to stay for the weekend. We arrived at 7.30am and were finished by 9.30am as there were only a couple of rows of stalls. Even so I bought some bargains and these included the following.

Two lovely Yankee Candle votive holders in black and old gold colours. These held a votive each in two different scents: Under the Palms and Citrus Tango. These cost £1 for all four items which is unbelievably cheap as the votives alone usually cost £1.80 each. The votive holders range in price but I suppose they would have cost around £3 each judging by prices on the Yankee Candle website. So just under £10 worth items for £1.



I also bought a boxed set of 9 tealights from The Candle Factory in Ocean Dreams scent for 50p. You can never have enough scented tealights as far as I am concerned.


I loved the French soaps that I bought the other week so much that I kept an eye open for the trader who sold them to me. Sure enough I found her again and bought 6 bars of soap for £2. I bought 1 bar of Vanilla Bourbon scent, 2 bars of Almond & Honey and 3 bars of Lemon Vervain. These are made in France, contain 25% Shea butter cream and smell divine. I found the Institut Karite website for the shop in Paris and had a look at the range they sell and the soaps normally sell for €6 each although they are on offer at the moment at €4.55. This makes the 33p cost that I paid for each one a bargain.



The lady I bought the Yankee candles from also sold me a full bottle of Clinique mild liquid facial soap for £1. This is usually £16.50 to buy and I like to use a liquid or cream facial soap rather than a bar of soap to wash my face.



There were a few stalls selling home items and I found these two cushions for £1 each which look like new. The lady selling them said she had bought them only recently. I love the little doggy on the front and think these will be great to use outside on the patio chairs. They are well made with a concealed zip. She was also selling this fine china tealight holder which has snowmen engraved into it. I think this will look lovely at Christmas on the windowsill once it is lit and the snowman design shines through. This was also £1.







I like to use hot plate food warmers on our dining table when we have guests round for a meal. There is nothing worse than eating luke warm food so when we put food into serving dishes we put them on the food warmers to keep the food at a hot temperature. We had a Chinese take away on Saturday night and ordered a banquet for 4. This was plenty for the five of us (my Dad came round) and we put the food out on a warmer that we already have. This one was £3 and identical to the one we currently have. It is made bySalter/Russell Hobbs.

I picked up a couple of 50p items from different stalls such as the Chanel Quick Shine for Nails in natural (usually around £14) and a bath bomb by Bomb Cosmetics called "in the mood" (around £2.09 to £2.29 each) plus four DVDs, one of which has not been opened and is still in it's cellophane. I also bought the boxed set of the complete series of Ever Decreasing Circles staring the late and the great Richard Briers. I loved this series when it was first shown on the BBC in the late 1980s. I have watched repeats of them but was delighted to find this for £2 in mint condition.





I like Cross pens and journals and found this cute Cross ladies watch on a stall where a couple were selling lots of items that I had been given as wedding gifts. The lady said she felt bad but they had received so many items that they were overwhelmed and had decided to have a clearout. They were selling 12 bottles of champagne as they had received loads as gifts and so we bought a bottle of Moët at £15 and I also bought the watch at £3. It needs a battery but David will,sort this for me. I looked on line at Cross watches and was horrified at the expensive price when I had just paid £3 but I suppose better for me to use than for to have it sitting in a cupboard unused and unloved.

My final purchase was this handy DKNY bag for £1 which will be useful for shopping and taking away for weekends to carry a few bits and pieces in.



As I had my sister and nephew with us I thought we may aswell take them to another Carboot sale near Wimslow. We have not been to this before but managed to find it easy enough. It was 10 o'clock when we got there and there were only a few stalls selling mainly scruffy stuff but I still managed to find a new and unused Soap & Glory toiletry bag for 50p, a packet of two Liz Earle pure muslin cloths for 50p and two new and boxed candle holders from Partylite which were £1.50. I already have two of these and they are supposed to resemble ice cubes. I think it will be useful to have four as I will be able to have them down the centre of our oblong dining table.







David bought a selection of items including a Rochs John Rocha T shirt which was new with tags for £1.50 and a Marks & Spencer Autograph shirt for £2 which fits him beautifully. My sister bought boots, sandals, a travel bag on wheels with pulling handle and some clothes for herself and her daughter.


Tuesday 21 July 2015

Another Cheshire Carboot Sale

I know I always seem to st art these carboot posts about the weather but it is a major factor on the number of sellers and so number of bargains to be had. This Sunday it was wet and I mean very wet. There was one point when the rain came down so hard that we took refuge under a tarpaulin that a lady was holding over her stall. Within moments, six other buyers had done the same and the great British spirit came out with us all laughing and chatting. The stall holders dog was the only one that was dry because it was sat on the front seat of the car. The rain stopped about 10 minutes later and we had dried off with minutes as the sun came out and the anoraks came off.

So this Sunday it was a little mundane and I find that I am repeating myself on last weeks purchases. There has just not been the volume of stalls and good weather to bring the home clearance car booters  out. You must know the ones I mean. Those who have redecorated or had a change of style and are selling everything from a matching kettle and toaster to table lamps, cushions and throws.

I bought my favourite Yankee Candle tealights in Fresh Cut Roses scent for 50p. It is a box of 12 tealights and these normally cost £6.99 so I was pleased with the 50p price. I think these will be burnt during some summer evenings over the next week or two.



I said last week that I would not buy any more Soap and Glory products as I now have enough for Christmas presents for my sister and niece. But..... who can resist 3 full sized brand new bottles for £1 for all three. When I asked the lady the price and she said £1, I thought she meant £1 each so thought this was a good price. I gave her a £5 note and expected £2 change but when she gave me £4 back I realised she had meant £1 for all three so just over 33p for each item. The first is a bottle of pump action Clean on Me shower gel which I guess is worth about £6.50. There is a tube of Whipped Clean shower gel which currently sells for £7 and a bottle of Calm One and Calm All bubble bath which is £6 at the moment. So £19.50 worth of bath & shower products for £1. I am keeping these for myself.





I bought 6 travel sized items for 50p each from another lady. Marc Jacobs Daisy shower gel, DKNY Be Delicious body lotion, Clinique clarifying lotion, Elizabeth Arden toner, Elizabeth Arden Exfoliating Cleanser and Soap & Glory Glad Hair Day shampoo. For 20p I got a Soap & Glory hand Gel which currently sells for £2.50. I also bought a boxed set of two large Lush bath bombs for £1. These are usually £3.35 each so not a bad price.





My regular readers will know how much I love Samsonite luggage. I buy suitcases or vanity cases to store items in and when I found this brand new vanity case I thought it was a cheerful shade of red and a snip at £2. Samsonite are currently selling a similar style for £65.




Both David and I currently have quite a few IKEA storage boxes for DVDs, CDs and Videos... Yes we still have videos. IKEA no longer stock the range we have so we keep a look out for these at car boot sales. We bought 2 large boxes and 2 small boxes this Sunday for £8 for all 4. Not very cheap as we have picked them up before now for 50p but as these were in excellent condition and we really wanted them we parted with the money.

I bought my usual collection of DVDs and paid no more than 50p for them. Three of these are boxed sets. Miranda - series 1&2 with a £14.99 price sticker on it and the Bourne series staring Matt Damon and containing 3 films. I have these already but know my dad will be pleased with them as part of a Christmas gift. The last set is Bill Bailey in three different live sets. I love his humour but bought this for David when he was left behind at a stall buying numerous vinyl LPs for 20p each. He just got there before a dealer turned up and bought what David left behind looking rather miffed.

My last buy was a large padded white cloth beach bag with grey handles and detailing. This must have come free with a Dolce & Gabbana perfume as it has a large luggage tag with D&G Light Blue stamped on it. This was just £2 and has never been used. I think it is quite stylish and will be taken away with me when we go to Turkey in October.



Not an especially sparkling week but not too bad. What bargains did you find this week?

Monday 20 July 2015

Foodies Festival

We are fortunate to have two National Trust properties within a 15 minute drive away from where we live. One of these is Tatton Park and I have been visiting the house, gardens, parklands and lake since I was a small child through being a teenager and now as an adult.



Every weekend throughout the summer they hold events and this weekend it was the Foodies Festival featuring a number of top chefs and wine/beer experts. I had seen the advert for it in a magazine but thought David would not want to go with tickets for the two of us at £26. This last week David had to work at Knutsford and when he got there he found a number of free tickets had been given to his employers so came home with 2 tickets for both of us as a suprise for me.



What a fabulous day we had with sunny weather, live music and plenty of food and drink tasting. We signed up for two tasting sessions that involved both food and drink and enjoyed both of them. They involved matching beer and matching sherry to food. This made a real change from matching wine to food and were very informative. I was driving so David did most of the tasting with me just having a taste on my lips rather than drinking. This meant he had my share aswell as his own so he was bordering on merry on the way home. Just lovely!







We were given lots of freebies from the various stalls selling food and drink or just wanting to promote their products. I was pleased with the following freebies.

Two very handy sized pink shopping bags from Rose d'Anjou.



Lovely pink shopper from a farm that sells the most scrummy bacon I've tasted in a long time. It is not pumped full of salt water so you do not get that white scum in the pan when frying it. I also got a handy re-usable wine carrier from The Co-op.



Free copy of the August edition of Cheshire Life worth £3.99. I love Cheshire Life because it is full of places that I know and/or visited and I like to drool over the property that is up for sale. I can dream but don't think I will ever be able to afford a house worth £700k plus.



Two £3 off shopping vouchers at The Co-op with no minimum spend and a free pizza voucher.



A dozen 50p off vouchers for Boursin cheese. This is half price at Tescos at the moment so I will use some to get cheese at 67p instead of £2.35. It is on offer at £1.17 a pack so with the 50p voucher it is 67p.



A dozen 50p off vouchers for Stella Artois Cidre. We sampled some of the different flavours (sadly a small mouthful for me) and both of us agreed that the pear flavour was our favourite. The Stella Artois stall also gave us free glasses so we were pleased to get a matching pair.




There were plenty of stalls selling all kinds of food and drink from all over the world plus plenty of kitchen gadgets. We browsed them all but just bought the bacon from the Spoilt Pig stall and resisted impulse buys.




There was some great music but our favourite was a band called Half Crown who were just brilliant. Everyone was clapping, tapping their toes or dancing and I picked up an EP which we've already played a few times. Visit their Facebook page to see some footage of them playing. I think they would be just fabulous for a party or function. 


We returned home with pink noses from the sunshine and full tummies. I look forward to the event next year.


Monday 13 July 2015

Saturday at The Lowry

We are blessed to live not too far away from The Lowry. We love visiting the theatre and often spend an evening seeing shows or bands at The Lowry. It is based on Salford Quays and there is also a really good outlet shopping centre there with plenty of shops, a cinema plus bars and restaurants.





We visited on Saturday and had a packed late afternoon and evening. We went to the Marks and Spencer's store first and they had a pretty good clearance sale on. I was pleased to find this jersey dress for just £9. The length of some dresses can cause me some difficulty as I am tall so often knee length means above the knee and bordering on mini on me. This dress is just the perfect on the knee length. I love the navy pattern and think it will be great as a work outfit with a navy jacket and heels. It would equally be lovely to wear on holiday with sandals on a warm evening when going out for a meal and a few drinks. It will make a change from maxi dresses.


I also bought some dark navy pull-on jeggings for £6 which are a decent length on me. I usually buy M&S trousers in "long" but this can be a bit hit and miss with some fitting perfectly but with others being a bit too long and I end up with trousers dragging on the floor or with wrinkled ankles. These are "medium" and just sit perfectly on my ankle. I tried on some lounge pants also in "medium" length and fell about laughing in the changing room as they were half way up my calves.


My dad needed some shorts as the one's he has been wearing for the last couple of years had become too tight on him so he gave them to my nephew while we were all on holiday in Tenerife earlier this year. He was sad that they no longer fitted and I managed to find him a pair for just £6 in his size.

After some shopping we went to Cafe Rouge for a meal and to use the £20 voucher I had with Tesco clubcard vouchers. I have heard mixed reports about Cafe Rouge but whenever we have been we have had a lovely meal with efficient and friendly service. We usually keep it simple and we both ordered the steak and frites, bottle of house wine and shared the cheese plate for dessert between us both. All were excellent with the cheese plate in particular being a fabulous dish served with candied figs and celery sticks.



We then went to the theatre to watch Wicked. What a great show this is with drama, romance, comedy and friendship running through it. It was fantastic to watch with wonderful costumes, great acting and brilliant songs. I would recommend anyone to see this as it appeals to all ages and the children in the theatre looked mesmerised.









It was gone 11pm when we got home so it was straight to bed as we knew we would have an early start in the morning for our favourite carboot sale in Cheshire.

What shows have you enjoyed seeing?