no real news but quite a few shoes

To-do lists are so good for my brain and general well being. I made one recently for the first time in ages and felt a great sense of achievement ticking things off it. Here's my new to-do list for this "weekend". (Tuesday is the new Saturday. It's all very confusing.) I'm really just sharing my to-do list so you can see my spiffing new notepad. Isn't it lovely? I got it from Anke Weckmann (a.k.a. Linotte) who is one of my very favourite etsy sellers. It's just the right size for a manageable to-do list and will be perfect for writing little notes to pop in with parcels too. When I make to-do lists I like to add some really easy and enjoyable tasks so that I can feel efficient even during downtime. That's why watching Mad Men is on here - not exactly a task I admit, but I will still give myself a big generous tick when it is done :) You'll see I have only ticked off one item so far today (change sheets and tidy bedroom) but this was quite a big job, involving sewing on buttons, heaving around mattresses, doing 3 washes, hoovering, sticking old cinema tickets in an album, getting distracted by the craft-book shelf...

While I was tidying the bedroom, I realised that I should throw out these shoes. I was wearing them up until about a week ago and yes, that is my finger you can see poking through the enormous hole in the sole... I'm not very good at throwing things out, but these are in the bin now. Fortunately I got a new pair of boots from a charity shop last week, so will not be a shoeless wonder.

I don't think even this shop could have saved those shoes. I snapped this last week because I liked the before and after signs on the shoes. I was glad we stopped to look in this window (that we must have walked past hundreds of times) because it turned out to be rather interesting. As well as repairing shoes and making nameplates for your door, the people who run this shop will engrave a personal message onto a glass Irn Bru bottle! Genius!

This window display was not so genius, but still made me laugh. Can you see why? They obviously get a bit over-excited when a let is agreeed. I like to imagine the staff shrieking "Agreeeeeeed!" as the new tenant signs on the dotted line. Maybe they even have a special let-agreement dance.

I saw this transfer on a cot in a charity shop last week. My sister and I used to have these style of transfers on our bedroom door (and in our cot though I don't remember sleeping in a cot) when we were little. I had a total flashback when I saw it. Did you?

This photo is actually from a charity shopping day out in May, but I realised I hadn't shared it so I thought I may as well include it in this catch-all blog post. I love the random assortment of items on display. Graham and I love trying out the fitness equipment in charity shops, even though it nearly always ends in one of us falling off. When Graham tried out a similar fitness machine in a charity shop in France it nearly ended in death by balcony plummet. Health and safety standards are very different on the continent! ;)