Bottom of the Barrel

A week last Saturday, I took a trip to West Bridgford centre to rummage around the three or four charity shops alongside all the other hopeful bargain hunters. I was looking for a cribbage board for Lando C and I as we had realised that watching the pegs race each other around the board is more exciting than counting gates of five on a piece of paper. Sadly I wasn't able to find one there but there are a few lovely ones on Ebay. I like this one and this one but I think they are beyond my budget.

Even though I didn't get what I went out for, I did find a couple of unusual bargains. It's amazing what you can find at the bottom of a forgotten box in a charity shop.



This is a box of eight rubber stamps mounted on clear 4cm plastic cylinders representing British coins from about 1983-84. The only coin stamp with a date is the 20p piece with 1982 but the pound coin, also in the collection only came into circulation in 1983. This set also includes the ½ penny piece that went out of circulation after 1984 and the larger 50p, 10p and 5p pieces that were shrunk in the early 1990's. I think they may have been designed for teachers to devise monetary problems in school math lessons, but I don't remember ever seeing such things when I was a child. I like them though because they remind me of the era I grew up in. They were a bargain at 99p.




My other 99p bargain from the bottom of the box is this medium sized wooden flower press. I don't know how old it is but it's in good condition. I had hoped to find some flowers still in it when I opened it up although I am content with the used blotting papers instead. I already have a miniature flower press ideal for travelling but it has limited capacity and this one will help press some of the larger flowers in our garden.