Sunday 27 March 2016

Weekly Rundown: Ayr Shopping

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone is having a nice long weekend. This is actually my second long weekend in a row, having had a three day weekend last week for taking the car in to Ayr (plus I had a four-day week the week before with my hospital appointment). We decided to treat Friday as an extra Saturday so I spent my time knitting, writing letters and watching The Battle of the Five Armies for my film review posts.

Back to last Monday though. We've almost had Bluebell for a full year so it was time for her to make a return trip to Arnold Clark in Ayr for her MOT and service. We took advantage of the day out to indulge in a little retail therapy.

I've mentioned it before here, but I love visiting Ayr, especially for the charity shops. I've noticed that some places seem to have a better quality of goods in their charity shops and Ayr seems to be at the upper end of the scale. My wardrobe has been in need of some updating and my 30th birthday is fast approaching, so Mr Click suggested that we turn the charity shopping trip into an extension of my birthday treat, in order to pick up some goodies for me.

And that we did!

Our first stop was The Works, where he spoiled me with some new colouring pencils (did I say I was 29? I'm actually more like nine!), some butterfly stickers (ages three and up) and a pack of washi tape I'd looked at in Glasgow the week before and decided against getting, then regretted it.

Through the course of the day the main aim was to get some stuff for my wardrobe so that I can retire some of my smart casual tops to the casual drawer, and actually get some stuff I can wear for work. Also, something warm and snuggly to replace my favourite hoodie which is slowly disintegrating, much to my disappointment (though not to my surprise, since I pretty much live in that hoodie and only really take it off to wash it).

And boy did we score!

I think the major bargain of the day was a snuggly grey jumper with 'WILD ONE' splashed across the front of it, which cost a grand total of 50p!

I've also got a zip-front top to replace the above mentioned hoodie, a brand new white work shirt (still has the tags on), black jeans, black pin stripe trousers, a dressy up top, a long-sleeved top and a pink top with rainbows and butterflies on. Oh, and we found a book about Dad's Army (perfect timing as we just started watching the TV series last week), plus a book which caught my eye (and was only 20p).

Our final stop was the Red Cross shop.

Every time I visit a charity shop I check out the inevitable basket/folder/pile of knitting patterns. I've always looked in hope of finding a Jean Greenhowe pattern booklet and until last Monday I've never been successful. As I flicked through the contents of the basket, something bright and colourful caught my eye, which stood out against all the dingy eighties patterns in the bunch. It was the Knitted Clowns booklet. And it was only £1!

While I was celebrating my good find, Mr Click had his eye on a Casio digital watch. We purchased my booklet and left the shop. Mr Click couldn't stop talking about the watch. We got about a hundred yards down the road and it was clear that he was regretting not picking it up. And he'd spoiled me rotten.

So I treated him.

Cue one really happy husband.

And one happy wife too.


I've cast on for Bertie Bloomer already. He's a gardening clown so I think he'll make a good birthday present for my father-in-law. After losing my knitting mojo and struggling through a project I wasn't enjoying, I've got it back and I'm steaming through my work on Bertie.


Hopefully I'll have photos to share soon.

8 comments:

  1. Sounds lovely! But you didn't buy any bacon whilst in Ayr? Cue joke in thick Scottish accent...

    A woman goes into a butcher in Scotland and the butcher is standing with his back to the fire. The woman examines his meat and asks: 'Is that your Ayrshire Bacon?' 'No!' he replies. 'I'm just warmin' the top of ma legs'.

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    1. Hehe, no bacon, but I'll remember that one for next time. ;-)

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  2. Glad you had a good time especially when you find something you like.

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    1. Thank you, it was a lovely day out and full of goodies.

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  3. I've got some of those '80s knitting books. Inherited, mostly. Although, I do have a couple magazines that I bought myself. I learned to knit in the '80s.

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    1. I'm slowly collecting all the Jean Greenhowe pattern books, there are a couple which are proving a little trickier to track down thought.

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  4. As you know, I love charity shops and it's always brilliant when you find clothes still with the tags intact :) I like Mr Click's retro watch - very 80s looking! You should let us know which Jean Greenhowe pattern books you're still after - you could reach a lot more charity shops through us!! Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace

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    1. That's a good idea about the pattern books. I'll have to update my list of the ones that I'm looking for and share it here. ;-)

      I think his watch is really cool too. I'm pleased I persuaded him to let me get it for him. I'm a massive charity shop fan, but I don't think I've ever had as good a haul as this trip.

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Let me know what you think. :-)