Yes, yesterday & today. Yesterday we did the Tesco weekly grocery shop & I talked Himself into nipping across the roundabout to look in Lidl. They've got a gardening middle aisle event going on. We bought a patio chair (£29) and a grass strimmer (£19). Put the strimmer together & it wouldn't work so back today to exchange it.
I went to the tip today first thing. There were a load of things I managed to squash in the car, but principally the patio chair that Oz & Ruby loved to claw was the first thing in the boot followed by cracked earthenware planters, random building bits & bobs, the outdoor mat, an outdoor rust proof metal wall ornament that had rusted, two garden silver balls (I know! A gift) and I even managed to secrete the hated cement frog that mother-in-law gifted without Himself noticing. I would have liked to have included the garden duck she bought, but he was watching me intently by then. Next time. It was chaotic at the tip. A long queue had formed because they were removing the full skips & setting up the empties. The blokes there to supervise & help were busy drinking coffee and looking at their phones so I had to be quite noticeable which I managed with no trouble at all. The nice men emptied my car for me and deposited my offerings into the correct containers.
The gardener was due but, because of the rain, he’s coming tomorrow so, instead of making coffee for him, I went out to Wickes and then over to the M&S food hall.
I've spent this week loading my car, not an inch of space left. There is a jumble sale tomorrow at the village hall, cleared the house of things to good to go the tip, plus the village hall is only minutes away and there will be people there to help unload the car in the morning. I find charity shops getting fussy of what they will take these days, last time I ended up going on to the tip who were happy to take most of it for their community shop.
There was a time before Covid when we seemed overrun with charity shops. That's no longer the case. There are however Salvation Army clothing banks quite near and Tesco has similar so that's where I deposit unwanted clothes these days.
I always give my things to the Air Ambulance. I have recently had another clear out and donated 3 huge bags of clothes, beauty items, bedding, CDs and DVDs etc. Quite a few of the clothes were brand new, still with the labels on them, because they’re now too big. The bonus is that clothes that didn’t fit well before and which I kept “just incase” anre now the right size and so I’ve got quite a few “new” things to wear. The beauty items were brand new and were gifts but I know I’ll never use them.
We do have a few charity shops in town but I’d not fancy staggering down the high street with the amount I usually donate. At least The Air Ambulance collect it from the doorstep and will also come when they’re not due for street collections if you give them a ring.
I take mine to the local hospice, they have a warehouse on an industrial estate and are happy to take as many bags as you care to donate rather than the 'only one bag' policy that a lot of charity shops have these days, plus I can park right outside the unit. Each donator has their own ID number and periodically they let you know how much they've raised from your donations, I had one the other day they'd sold my last lot for £96 plus the gift aid which gives them another 25% on top of that, it's good to know how much it helps
People who are wrong are just as sure they're right as people who are right, the only difference is they're wrong
While the gardener dealt with all the sweeping and bagging it up, I did some minor DIY. I removed the old caps off the top of the posts on the ballistrade and replaced them with new ones. New solar lights to go on them are due this week.
Yes, for my six monthly thyroid blood test. I then went on to Wickes to buy a decent yard broom like the one my gardener uses, so I can keep on top of Autumn, before he arrives.