Lifeline Canberra June 2009 mini-Bookfair

Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June 2009, 9am – 4 pm

Our first Lifeline Bookfair in the Tuggeranong Valley, the June Mini-Bookfair will be held in the Auditorium, The Vikings Club, 6 Ricardo Street, Erindale (opposite the shopping centre).

Fiction will be a special focus with sci-fi/fantasy, crime, thriller, war, adventure, detective and mystery, humour and romance included.

Cooking and children’s books as well as a range of Australiana and other non-fiction will be on sale.

This is a family-focussed event with the help and support of The Vikings Club.

Entry by gold coin donation.

Bookfair Contacts

http://www.act.lifeline.org.au/minibookfair09.htm

Baby and Kids Market

As Redmag posted the Baby & Kids Market has started in Canberra.

The next one is 20 June 2009 at the Fitzroy Pavilion, EPIC. 9am-12 noon.
Admission is $3 for adults, kids are free.

I've put the dates for this year's Canberra markets in the sidebar and you can sign up for a newsletter from the Baby & Kids Market website.

Did anyone go to the last one? What was it like? There were certainly a lot of cars when we drove past.

St Ninian's Trash & Treasure 13 June

St Ninian's Lyneham will hold its next Trash and Treasure from 9am to 2pm on Saturday, 13 June. Hopefully they will also be offering tea and scones like they did at their last pre-loved clothing sale!

YMCA CLEARANCE SALE

Saturday 30 May

10am – 3pm

YMCA Yarralumla, Mueller St.

(next to the tennis courts)

Clearance SALE - All goods reduced to clear – best offers accepted.

SALE INCLUDES:

Clothing, Manchester, Fabrics, Books, DVD's, CD's, Records, Toys, Games and Bric-a-brac.

We are also offering our famous $4 a bag Children's and Adults Clothes.

[YMCA Volunteers will be running the sale].

ETA - yes there was a sale last Saturday (23rd) and there will be another this coming Saturday (30th). It is small and is inside the hall only. According to the person I spoke to at the Y - this will be the last for the year.

Bad karma follows uncharitable act of thievery

Shamelessly pinched from The Age on a tip-off from TOF .

Author Jim Schembri
Date of publication 22/05/2009

THOSE large Dalek-like charity bins that dot the burbscape of Melbourne are not merely places where kind people deposit goods for the benefit of the needy. They are heartening reminders of how we live in a compassionate society composed of big-hearted citizens who are so full of the milk of human kindness that they ought to froth.

Yet also living among us are thoughtless sods who consider charity bins as dumping sites to offload junk that is obviously, well, junk. A genuine, you've-got-to-be-kidding fact is that clearing away this garbage costs the Salvation Army about $1 million a year in Victoria, and $3 million nationwide. Which is revolting.

Worse, though, are those degenerate types who cruise charity bins at night looking for stuff to steal, either for themselves or — believe this if you dare — to sell at garage sales. Such behaviour is despicable, contemptible, shameful.

That is, of course, unless you happened to be walking by a charity bin after a pleasant night out and saw standing there what appeared to be a brand-new, pristine, solid-metal DVD storage tower that would look just great in your living room.

Cast in the diffused light of a nearby pharmacy sign, the tower gleamed and sparkled. It appeared to be looking for a home — specifically mine. "Take me. Take me home. I'm yours," it seemed to say. (I may have been a little drunk.)

Then came the moral dilemma. Wasn't it wrong to take off with something intended for the less fortunate? Or was there a sound case that could promptly rationalise this pesky thought into oblivion?

People in need don't own that many DVDs, I figured. If anything, they rent, and certainly not 50 at a time, which is what this magnificent thing could hold. So it'd surely be wasted on them. Also, the tower wasn't next to the bin but stood about two metres away, hence it could be argued that it was actually on its own and had nothing to do with the charity bin.

So with the liberal application of some good old-fashioned Nixonian deniability, I persuaded myself that I had "found" the tower, promptly wedged it under my arm like a jousting lance, and took it home.

Filled with my 50 favourite classic comedies — including the entire Bud Spencer/Terence Hill catalogue and the wildly misunderstood Raise the Titanic — the tower now took pride of place next to the plasma, right between the yellow and red milk crates.

It looked splendid. Heck, it looked like it belonged.

Then, at 3.17am, right in the middle of a medium-level nightmare about being speared with a lance by Richard Nixon, came this almighty crash that sounded like the house was being broken into by the monster from Cloverfield.

I ran to the living room, hit the lights and saw that the DVD tower had collapsed, and in a very special way. It appeared to have been aiming for my new, very expensive, tax-deductible Blu-ray player, which it had missed by a matter of millimetres.

I quickly deduced, CSI: Miami-like, that the welding on the metal base must have been faulty when I "found" it and had given way under the weight of the DVDs. Bugger, I thought. I consoled myself with the fact that I was now in possession of the world's longest toast rack.

Then I realised what this was. It was one of those "karma" deals, where the Great God of Getting Even with Thieving Bastards exacts revenge on wrongdoers with a customised calamity as divine punishment for their crime. I mean alleged crime.

The scrap metal value of the dismembered tower was about 12 cents, and the idea of paying a handyman to re-attach the base completely violated the sacred principle of getting something for nothing. So late that night I carried the thing back to the charity bin and deposited it with a small type-written sign that read: "DVD tower, free to good home. Base needs mending."
This, I hoped, would square me off with whatever deity was suddenly taking such an interest in my affairs and who presumably took almighty note that I left the charity bin exactly as I had found it, even though that large toaster oven looked to be in perfect working order and probably had really good resale value.

The Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal door knock is on this weekend. Dig deep.

Yass Op-Shops

Yass has two op-shops. Vinnies and a Salvation Army Red Shield Store.

Both are on Meehan Street, which bisects the main drag.

Salvos is Open 10am-12.30pm Thurs and Friday in an old church hall, so I can't tell you what it's like - we were there on a Monday. This is what it looks like, though.

Vinnies is just like any other Vinnies. We didn't bother to take a photo.

Prices are roughly equivalent to Canberra prices. Stock is similar. Clothing of all kinds, shoes, bric-a-brac, books, toys and linens.

There were some excellent linens the day we were there (but I resisted) and some very good woollens (which I didn't even try to resist). I brought home two new fine merino tops to use as thermals for $5 each, and a gorgeous woollen cardi in perfect nick for $20. That was a mistake, I thought it was $12, but we'd had a long day by then and I can be forgiven a small transgression.

Goulburn Op-Shops - Red Dove

Strictly speaking this is not an op-shop. It's a hand-craft shop operated by the Uniting Church, but a peek through its window showed baskets of yarn and needles. I spied a basket of vintage Totem and nearly wept.

The shop is in the Wesley Centre on Goldsmith Street and is very near the Smith Family shop. It's open 10-1, Tues-Thurs.

Goulburn Op-Shops - Smith Family

The shop is in its own building in Ellesmere Street wich is behind and parallell to the main street (Auburn Street). There's plenty of free parking in Ellesmere street and we recommend parking there, doing the Smith Family and walking through the Reject Shop or the pub to Auburn Street for its delights.

Oh, the Smith Family, how I have missed you.

Lots of clothes, men's, women's and children's. Our visit also coincided with a delivery of ski gear, which was well priced $8-$25 for suits, pants and jackets.

Clothes prices were similar to those in Vinnies and Salvos in Canberra but regularly reduced. I bought jeans originally marked at $8 for $4, for example. Reductions are based on time in store. At the front of the store was a 50c rack. A lined leather skirt and a lined suede dress came home to be transformed into bags (eventually).

Shoes were a little pricey for the condition at about $10 a pair.

Reasonable craft section. 50g balls of wool $1 a ball, knitting needles and crochet hooks $1.

Well organised but crowded and busy and the staff were pretty flustered the day we were there.

Goulburn Op-Shops - Father Riley's and Red Shield

The best way to describe these op-shops is "traditional".

They are poorly lit, a little grubby and smelly. There are bargains to be had, however. A ball-winder and a silk scarf made their way home with me for a few dollars each.


Situated in an old pub at 404 Auburn Street, they are a reasonable walk down Auburn Street from the other op-shops. Not too far, though.

There are two Fr Riley shops, one for bric-a-brac, records and books and one for clothing and furniture. They appear to be operated by a family team.

The Red Shield shop is a cramped litte shop between the two Fr. Rileys. Packed with all manner of things. The day we were there a large amount of new acrylic yarn had been donated and was going for $1 a hundred gram ball.

Goulburn Op-Shops - Red Cross

In Auburn Street, the Red Cross op-shop is an absolute boutique. If you didn't know it was an op-shop, a casual glance wouldn't give it away. Clothing and shoes only.

Very ritzy fit out, clothes arranged by gender and then by colour. Prices were $8 +, with a handy rack of $2 items. Items were individually priced according to quality and condition. New men's shirts in brand names were $12, used $8.

Excellent and separate collection of larger sizes. I bought a lined evening jacket in a size 24 for $8.

Shoes were $10+ but were all in new or near new condition. A selection of new sunglasses, earrings and necklaces were also available.

Also, the Baxters Boots factory shop is nearby and also worth a look. Baxters supplies boots and shoes to the Commonwealth Police - so you know they must be good. They are, I had a pair of riding boots for years and they were lovely.

Goulburn Op-Shops - Vinnies

Vinnies has two locations in Goulburn.

This shop in Auburn Arcade on Auburn street, just south of the park, is your typical Vinnies. Friendly staff who were definitely on for a laugh and a chat, clothing, small amount of craft material, shoes, brica-a-brac, a small but good collection of books and shoes. When we were there, new ugg slippers of exceptional quality were $15 a pair. Shame neither of us wears a men's size 14 or a women's 7.

Clothes were in the $6-$8 range with a good and separate selection of women's larger sizes. I brought home a pair of woollen knit trousers (to wear to the footy) for $6.

There was also a very good selection of linens.

The furniture shop is just off the main drag in Verner Street.


Furniture - nothing special when we were there; bric-a-brac - the usual; books - a good variety; and knitting patterns lots (I only bought one which is more an indication of the extent of my collection than the quantity and quality on offer, which was good).

And a bonus second hand shop next door which had a nice supply of sewing and craft materials as well as furniture, bric-a-brac and collectibles. Prices seemed pretty reasonable, too.

Baby & Kids Market this SATURDAY

I' m told its.....

Over 40 stalls filled with quality preloved baby & kids goods. Plus handpicked gorgeous new goods too.

From 9am to 12noon this Saturday at Woden CIT Auditorium Cnr Hindmarsh Dve and Ainsworth St, Phillip.
Plenty of free parking. $3 entry, kids free.

They say something silly about people with prams getting in the way in the initial rush and recommend them turning up at 10:30am which seems a bit mean.....and will be ignored by most people.

Future dates at EPIC in Mitchell 20 June 2009 and 19 September 2009

More pears for the collection. And the return of a new old favorite

(Reprinted from The Shopping Sherpa)

Hurrah! Yesterday I finally had the time to go op shopping. More importantly, when I opened my wallet I discovered there was money in there. Always a handy thing to have when you plan to go op shopping...

I did the Salvos Jamison/ Vinnies Belconnen/ Salvos Belconnen/ Salvos Mitchell run and spent $19 of my $20.

There were five more pears bought for my collection at Vinnies Belconnen:$4 for a container which included a pile of other mini fruit as well (which will be returning to an op shop near me in the very near future.)The colours are a little bright for my collection so I have plans to experiment with various paint finishes and see what happens.

The excitement of the day was this dress which I bought at Salvos Jamison:It was a complete rip off at $15 (I didn't even have a full Salvos card to bring the price down to something sensible) but I just had to buy it.You see, I have an identical dress which I'd just mournfully realised was really past the state to be worn in public after several years of weekly wearings through Autumn, Winter and Spring. It was inching towards the rag bag while I tried to convince myself I really couldn't decently wear it again. So to find a replacement was something to celebrate indeed, at whatever price...

News from a reader

Hello I am a regular lurker here and on TSS.

I wanted to let you know there is a $2.50 kids clothes sale at Salvos Fyshie. There is also a fabulous caramel coloured Debenams wool coat a la Barbra Striesand in The Way We Were size 10-12 (sadly, or it would be mine now)...

Cheers A

Good vibrations

Salvos new Mitchell shop is opening in about August this year.

It's taking over premises previously occupied by a sex shop. We are informed that there will be no exorcism.

I'm trying to come up with something profound to say about a church run op-shop ousting a sex shop, but I can't stop giggling at the thought of some very confused, if infrequent, shoppers who turn up expecting the previous tenants