Bargain finds

I am trying to drastically declutter this year, you know, the things you don't use or have multiple of, so I could probably have done without a browse around charity shops yesterday.  In my defence, the items I purchased were bought with purpose, (with one exception), so I think I'm ok?

Firstly, this Agatha Christie puzzle.  

I'd been looking at these in Waterstones at the weekend, there are various book related ones, as you are completing the jigsaw there are clues to spot or solve, I wasn't even aware that these existed and I was very tempted to buy one, but as the price tag was £16.99 I resisted, so you can imagine my delight when I spotted this one in the charity shop for £3.95 😁 

A little wicker planter for £1 - which was the perfect fit for the pot of narcissi's I bought in the supermarket a couple days before

A little chopping board for £1.45

I've been on the look out for a smallish board for a while to use for a cross stitch finish, the stitched piece has been patiently waiting for three or four years at least.  

 I wasn't sure If the board would be too small, but look, it will be perfect! ( I bought the little gingerbread man topper with this finish in mind a few years ago).  

No excuses for not fully finishing this one now!

This Moroccan style dish had to come home with me for £3.00 - it will make the perfect place to keep fruit instead of keeping it hidden in the cupboard, it might even encourage me to eat more fruit as I can see it, lol.

My last find does not have a use, and I definitely don't need it, but priced up at £2.49 I thought It was cute enough to rescue.

Now Its not a design I would stitch, I think it's very typical of the English designs from the 1980's but I have a thing for houses, and wouldn't you just love to live in a little thatched cottage like this?

I was quite happy with my 'finds'

How about you, have you found any bargains lately?

-X-

Ridiculous! (bit of a rant)

I popped our nearest Aldi yesterday and this is what I found.

No there hasn't been a zombie apocalypse warning, but the media did hype up the weather warning, and what does everyone do?  They buy bread of course! Personally I've never understood why bread is the first thing to sell out, we only buy it very occasionally, I could happily live without it altogether.

They also cleared the shelves of vegetables, meat and eggs and coffee and tea!

What is wrong with people!  Hording and stockpiling food doesn't sit well with me, I just can't understand it, buy what you need and perhaps one extra, you are not going to starve! perhaps then there would be enough for anyone else who couldn't get to the supermarket until after work.

All this was because the media said we were due the biggest snow fall for ten years, at least a foot or more in our area they said.

And yes we have had snow, this much when I got up this morning.

Nowhere near the amount that was predicted and as I'm typing this it has mostly turned to slush and I wouldn't be surprised if it's all but gone tomorrow.

I wonder if all those who raided the Aldi yesterday are feeling silly now they have umpteen loaves of bread to get through.  More importantly, how much of what was bought will go to waste?

-X-

2025 in books

 I completed my Goodreads challenge on 26th December, early for me this year, I did adjust my read aim down to 55 from 60.

These are my stats according to Goodreads -

Books read - 55

Pages read - 19,402

Shortest book  - Death Row by Frieda McFadden

Longest book  - It, Steven King

Average book length - 352 pages

Most shelved book - Ugly Love, by Coleen Hoover.  3,935,968 also shelved this book

Least shelved book - The Cure, Eve Smith. 480 people also shelved this book.

My average rating was 3.3

Highest rated on Goodreads - The Mercy Chair by M.W Craven. (not a surprise his books are excellent)

My two favourite books for this year were Ugly Love and Yellow Face.  Both very different books but I couldn't put either one down.

My least favourite was The Shadow Key.

I read 2 on my kindle

15 on Audible

5 library books

25 from my own shelves

8 for book clubs

I see my reading challenge as a bit of fun, certainly not a competition, I do like to see the stats at the end of the year and seeing what was popular on Goodreads.  I did well with reading from my own shelves and I still have plenty on my TBR shelf to keep me going this year.  I've also got Kindle Unlimited free until the End of February and have downloaded a few books already, (might be more than a few, it might be a lot, lol).

I'm always up for book recommendations, so do tell if you have read anything good lately, I will have a go at most genres although I generally avoid fluffy romance or anything labelled as a 'cosy read' and I'm not a fan of horror.

What are your favourite books from 2025 have we read any of the same?

-X-

 wa

Happy New Year

Our Christmas decorations came down yesterday and everywhere had a good deep clean,  The place seems a little bare but so much lighter without the Christmas clutter.  

While I was still in the cleaning mood I cleaned the oven, tidied the panty and the larder unit and cleaned out the fridge this morning, it feels good to get things back in order again. 

  

I've been busy making a list of things to get done around the house over the coming year too.  

We've made a start on something that we kept putting off last year first, painting the kitchen.  Mark has sanded everything down and is going to paint the ceiling tomorrow and I will carry on with the walls when he is back at work next week, I'm happy to do decorating at a slower pace these days, it still gets done but without burning ourselves out in the process.

No other plans really, I don't set New Year resolutions although it would be nice to find my stitching mojo at some point, I lost it earlier in the year but I daresay it will come back of it's own accord when it's ready.  I have got my eye on a couple patterns I would like to knit and like many people I'm going to try and use what I have rather than add to the stash, I did pretty good on that last year so I'm hopping I can carry that on in 2026.

I'd like to wish all those who follow or read my blog a Happy New Year. 

I hope 2026 brings you health and happiness along with many reasons to smile and be thankful.

 

We are looking forward to some exciting things in 2026, I just know it's going to be a very happy year.

-X-