five pounds!?!

When we first got to Bristol, I was hoping to find a second hand shop to help furnish and fill our flat. We found one, but it didn't have much in it. I was really hoping to get great mismatched dishes like Tamara and Deron got at ValueVillage, but the store we found didn't have any, so we got new ones. I would have preferred second hand dishes, even for a slightly higher cost for environmental and consumerist reasons. I'd rather that my dishes weren't shipped from Asia, and I'd rather that they weren't wrapped in plastic and cardboard.

Today, nearly a week after buying dishes and the like, we came across a GREAT second hand store. We hadn't noticed it before because it is only open 3 days a week. We got wonderful things. Interestingly, much of the smaller stuff doesn't have prices on it, so when we took our assorted items to the counter, the employee just looked at it and said "Five pound? Sound good?" Here's the haul:

There is a copy of Fast Food Nation that I have been told to read dozens of times, but just never have, a small tea pot just right for two cups of tea, a mug for James' coffee, a canister to keep our brown sugar soft and a sugar bowl for the white sugar. Oh, that's right, and BOGGLE. Original old-school BOGGLE. Take that, Laura and Dom! We have the big noisy shaker, and everything.

And now, du coq à l'âne, from the rooster to the donkey, or, and now, about other things, if you'd prefer. As you have read, James and I are doing much of our laundry by hand. This is a move to save money, as we don't want to use the laundromat, or laundrette, too much, but also in a move to save water. We have tried, over the past year to be more aware of our consumption, both or resources and general consumer goods. This is why, when we finished our first quart of milk (not a litre, let me tell you) I filled it with water and placed it in the tank of our toilet. This way, we are saving over a litre of water each time we flush. Over the time that we are here, we figure we will save about about 2000 litres of water. I encourage each of you to do the same. Take a 1 litre plastic bottle, like a milk jug, or anything similar, fill it with water, screw the lid on, and place it inside the toilet tank. You will save water and money on your water bill.