I am sitting here whilst the 3 eldest watch Fantastic Mr fox ( I only have to listen - Mr Clooneys voice is enough for me thank you very much ) , 2 are feeling rather poorly tucked under a blanket ,the other tucking into sweets . Arthur on the other hand is stomping round the living room in his first pair of shoes leaving a trail of destruction behind him wherever he goes .

Another quiet week, weekend ,day with a few good finds in my good old charity shops this week , I have my favourite ones you know and I have come to the conclusion that the grottier looking the shop , the further away from the highstreet , and dare I say the stronger fousty aroma it has - the more i get excited and the more I find .

I love Mary Portas but she has a lot to answer for when it comes to smartening up the charity shops - personally I don't like the ones where everything is colour coordinated , they sell their own brand new goods and you end up paying £ 5.00 for a top from New Look that probably only cost £6.00 brand new.

Don't get me wrong I know these shops have to make money for their causes and I support that but some have most definitely got too expensive .

  Then we have the 'vintage 'rails where if its an item that somebody over the age of 65 would wear then its vintage and 3 times the price of everything else in the shop ....grrrr. So to conclude give me a  grotty, in the middle of nowhere , fousty shop and I am happy lady !

A few of my recent finds , my favourite being the floral chopping board which i hasten to add will not be used as a chopping board in this establishment , no sireee !!!

When i go out rummaging i do often have one book mad companion who will bury herself in the book area of the shop for as much time as i will give her - pound coin firmly clutched in her hand . On this occasion we went to my very favourite shop I made my way over to the fabric and off she went to the books however as we went to go our separate ways both our eyes widend a little when we saw this beauty ,

my young lady because she is positively horse mad and I because I just love the painting and the doe eyed look of this pretty pony and all for the princely sum of £3.00.

I also had this beautiful blooming beauty

I did paint the frame white and it makes me just a little happy .

On a non thrifty note ,

A ceramic owl from South of France on my mantlepiece

a pressie for the OH made from very old stamps ( not by me). On a recent getaway to Brighton - the only city I would ever want to live in , in a little street market there was a lady selling 1000s of old stamps , we spent an age just looking at all the different letters words, fonts . the OH was quite taken with them , so when I saw this in the Made By Hand show I knew I had to get it .

Finally a little make that I made for my girls bedroom

Hope you all have a lovely week xxxxx