An Unwise Car Boot Sale Purchase?

It was back in 2021 that I found this plant stand from a car-boot sale for £20.

Since then it's been painted twice, had plants on and off and  seems to have been mentioned in 15 blog posts!

After it's new paint and update this was it in May last year.

It's tied to the trellis and is a bit rickety now, all the shelves are sloping forwards rather a lot but it's still just about usable and everything - mainly various succulents, survived the winter.

But when I spotted this at Stonham Barns car-boot sale on Sunday and the lady wanted £5 I bought it. It's very sturdy  and I thought it would be a good replacement................BUT it was only afterwards that I wondered if it is actually made for standing outside as it has solid shelves!

With no drainage on the shelves maybe it would be better to re-sell it as I'm sure it's worth more than £5.

Back Soon

 

Trying, Not Finishing and Persevering

 Seems I give up easily!

I really tried with the one on the left 'The Crooked Cross' by Sally Carson until it got too depressing. It's a 2025 Persephone publication originally published in 1934 by an English author who spent a lot of time in Germany pre war. The story is an account of the fictional Kluger family, including daughter Lexa, who at Christmas 1932 is engaged to be married to a young doctor with a Jewish name - Moritz Weissman and how their lives are changed  during the rise of the Nazis.

Persephone have now published the follow up to this story 'The Prisoner'. I won't be reading it.

Then I tried the middle book, which is  2013 crime fiction by a American author but set in the UK despite misgivings, as sometimes US authors have not bothered to use our English words for various things that have different names across the pond. This story is the 13th in a long series featuring American Dorothy Martin who lives in the UK with her retired British Chief Constable Alan. I was getting on OK with it and then the author starts to mention several times that Dorothy hasn't had time to floss her teeth! For goodness sake - talk about padding the word count!

Having abandoned two books quarter of the way in, I hoped to actually finish the book on the right 'The Weather Watcher ' by Claire Anders. It turned out to be a lighter than I thought read, a coming of age story about a young Scottish girl, who, when her mother decides she ought to marry the son of a family friend just before the War starts, decides instead to join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and train as a Meteorology  Assistant.  I might have given up as it's leaning towards being a romance but persevered as the details about a 'Weather Watcher' were interesting and hopefully researched and accurate. There was information of something I'd never heard of despite it happening in Felixstowe - Operation Outward.  I've read so many books about  WWII but never heard of this.

Picture from Wikipedia of balloons being released on the east coast for Operation Outward

I've still got 6 other library books to try before the library van is round again at the end of the month and only one of those I definitely know to be readable, so there may well be another post about trying and failing to finish!

Back Tomorrow

Random and Odd Stuff From Last Week

The cheapest nearest diesel was £1.86 a litre last Sunday,. Apparently this is £8.46 a gallon - good grief. (thats's $11.37). I'm so old I can remember when petrol was £1 a gallon - that was in the late 70's. Have to travel, so need fuel -  I'm keeping topped up.

Did anyone else watch the 2nd series of  'Capture' on TV over the last 6 Sundays? It ended last Sunday, I  have no idea what it was all about.😕

Started on the 10 minute journey to Keep Moving Group only to find after half a mile  that the way out of the village was suddenly 'Road Closed' - no warning = 3 point turn = back the way I'd come and  then several miles on small back lanes = all jolly good fun! Arrived 20 minutes later = only just in time.

Did you hear about this .....Supermarket Digital Labels? Instant price changes when demand is higher/lower- with electronic shelf edge labels-  Oh good grief. For instance strawberries and cream would cost more on a hot Summer Saturday and less on a wet Winter Monday. Thankfully no supermarkets here have plans to introduce these -Yet!

On Thursday morning my phone made an unusual bleepity bleep noise, when I looked it was wishing me Happy Birthday! It wasn't a message or a phone call - just Happy Birthday on the screen. How strange.  AI creeping in?

17 days of The World Snooker Championship starts on TV today, it will keep me company while I'm reading and half watching. There are 11 Chinese players in the starting 32 - that must be the most ever.

I see blogger is playing up again - sometimes not updating the "Blogs I Read" when a new blog is posted. 

Have a good weekend .