all work and no play...

..makes Laura a dull girl, so yesterday I took the day off (not even any sewing!) and even left the house for a non-work/supermarket destination. Crazy, I know!

And what do you imagine I did with my day off? Why, I went charity shopping, of course! This little lady was my best purchase of the day. I found her in the very first shop I went into for a top bargain price of 50p! That was a very good start to the day.

I love her so much, I'm even sharing the back view here for no particular reason. I'm thinking of making a little felt flower for her to hold since she has a handy hole between her hands.

This pair are the other top find of the day. Please allow me to introduce you to Hope and Glory! Hope is the little one and Glory is the big one. (I should confess now that their names are not official as Graham doesn't approve and they were a joint purchase.) We bought them as loving companions for Pride and Joy.

Remember Pride and Joy? How could you not?! Possibly because I bought them before I even had a blog... Hmm... Well, Hope and Glory now live directly underneath Pride and Joy. It's poodle central!

Since I have been pretty shoddy at sharing any of my own photos here of late, I made sure I took my camera out with me yesterday. One of the best things about our charity shopping days is actually the journeys between charity shops. We always see something fun. This card always makes me smile. It's in the window of a nice interiors-type shop called Marie Brown At Home. One of Marie's friends (I presume!) knitted her this card to wish her luck when she opened. It shows the shop with all its "fab stuff" and a very enthusiastic Marie outside. I say this like I know Marie. I don't. Marie might not even be her real name... Still, it is a card of greatness and I think it is so sweet that it is kept in the window permanently.

Just as we had jumped on the bus for our second destination, we saw that a jumble sale had just started in this bowling club. Thanks to the beauty of an all-day bus ticket, we were able to jump off and go for a nosy. We didn't buy anything, but it was worth the 50p admission just to look at the old photos and trophies and marvel at the bar and the comfy seats. It must be nice to be a member of a bowling club... Just before we jumped off the bus to go here, I witnessed a young man nearly lose his life in a re-enactment of a 1980s road safety advert! He was playing with his football at the side of the road, when he lost control of it and dashed out from between two parked cars to retrieve it. His nose ended up about 1cm away from the side of our bus and the ball went right under the wheels and exploded with a loud bang. He wasn't very happy, but should remember that it could have been his head that went pop under the wheels instead of his football. You see, I paid attention to road safety adverts when I was growing up!

After the jumble sale, we hopped back on the bus and went to the charity shop mecca. There are five charity shops in charity shop mecca and we always get something in at least one of them. Charity shop mecca is also where we got the omnichord. Well, yesterday neither of us got anything for the first time ever, but I could quite easily have bought this cross-stitch (which made me laugh) so we won't dismiss the charity shop mecca theory just yet.

Another bus journey later, we realised we had time to stop off in the lovely Langside Cafe for a cup of coffee...

..and an empire biscuit. Yum yum. And I can confirm that treats taste so much better after weeks of abstinence :)

On our way from there to more charity shops, we noticed an art and craft fair was on in Langside Halls. There were quite a few nice stalls, but I didn't buy anything this time. Langside Halls was where I did one of my markets just before Christmas. The building is amazing inside and doesn't look like it has changed for years. Look at the lovely tiles! I didn't manage to explore much or get any decent photos when I did that market there, but yesterday we went for a wee wander around and nosied in quite a few of the rooms.

So, that was yesterday. And what of today? Well, I have not been as productive as I would have liked :( I have made two big pots of soup for the freezer and experimented with a prototype for a new product (which looks like it should work nicely) and completed a mini interview for Fifty-Two, an exhibition that some of my embroideries are going to be appearing in soon. (Click on the link for more details and to read interviews from other contributors.) That's all good I suppose and it's not even 7pm yet, but I have the horror of having to go back to work in the morning not having made anything to sell at the markets which are now only four weeks away. Eep! That is the downside of taking a day off the day job as a day off the hobby job... That's a bit of a tongue twister.

Graham has just gone out to the cinema and I have stayed at home in order to produce. I hear lavender bags a calling... Better go and get on with it - I wouldn't want to have missed out on a cinema trip for no good reason! Enjoy your Sunday evening :)