From the latest issue of BRW

Charity begins at the stores: "The Salvation Army's shops have gone from cluttered to classy. The cheak and now chic Salvos stores have had a professional revamp and it's worked."

Poplarves to offload stuff

I found these placemats at the tip shop. We had the exact same ones when I was growing up. They remind me of brussels sprouts being covertly concealed in napkins. Aaah, nostalgia.

And this sweet little pot. I found that in an op shop.

My father brought some figs around and I'm going to make this which I saw over at chez MMMC. And I have to copy everything she does.

This wall hanging was retrieved from father's garage. It used to hang in my childhood kitchen. I love it. For many reasons.

And this! This was also retrieved from puppah's garage. (Note the crepuscular light in this shot.)

It (and the two armchairs) will require new foam and fabric. I have no idea what kind of fabric. Maybe I'll sew some child smear-hardy calico just for the interim. From what I've seen people reupholstering Fler suites tend to remain faithful to the era's muted hues - greys, greens, blues.


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image via

But I'm tempted to go for something bold. Husbandido has suggested cerise. (I know! Who knew?) Any other suggestions?

Autumn in onkytown is rather stunning. The light, the turning leaves, the sunshiny days. There are quite a lot of poplars in these here parts. I love poplars.

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And my mind is turning, as it does at this time of year, to cashmere and US ebay.

I think I may buy these:

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Can you think of anything more luxurious and snoogly than cashmere knickers?

And socks. Some cashmere socks.

Playing along with Sophie

Just in time to stock up on winter clothing...

(Particularly useful as autumn seems to have disappeared off the calendar)

The Zonta sale is this weekend:
(Thanks to Maria)

And reader Cindy emailed us today to pass on details of the next Vinnies Monster Warehouse Sale, which is on 15, 16, 17 March, 9.00 to 4.00 pm each day. For those going for the first time, Vinnies is at 10 Buckland Street in Mitchell. Eftpos and Cash Sales only.

Cindy points out that the sale overlaps with the Lifeline Book Fair by a couple of days. Smart thinking Vinnies!

Lunchtime finds in Braddon

Another city worker here, I planned a city op-shop visit for last Friday with a co-worker. So in the pouring rain we visited the ADRA Shop in Braddon and Brain Injury Foundation Shop.

All my purchases were from the ADRA shop, the sewing pattern and Little Golden book were both only 50 cents, and the bag of lace and trimmings was $1.50. There is a lot of women's black suit jackets in stock.

No purchases in the Brain Injury shop, they did have a rack of BNWT, plus size clothing suitable for travelling - all in black and all knits.