Thrift Shifter and the Great Set of Knockers

Please note: title is dedicated to Hoppo Bumpo.

This seems crazy, I know, but I can't keep out of op shops lately. It looks like I'm going to have to set up a shop because my husband is going to hit the roof and then some. But I just won't tell him about this score.

I try and go to my local one at least once a week (and now I've found out which day the big load of booty arrives - hoorah!) to keep check on what's happening in the local world of charity shops.

Today, my dear reader, was no exception.

After looking around and around I felt a little dejected. For the first time I thought I was going to leave empty handed. I thought - how could this be? I can't leave empty handed! No no no, there must be something deep in the bowels of this shop for me.

So I did another circuit. The $25 crochet tablecloth that I love so dearly was still there. But I think that's just ridiculously expensive (in fact katiecrackernuts blogged about the prices just yesterday - and as an aside, I saw this via Mikes). Anyway. I left it there. Again.

Nothing yielded in the linen/crafty section.

I went to the toy section. A whole bunch of real ugly softies. But then further down - a great pair of Italian-made (anything Italian is fine by me) red binoculars. My little dude and I made cool binoculars not long ago out of - you guessed it - toilet rolls. We decorated them, and toted them around the yard, bird-watching. He took those 'knockers' around everywhere, to the butcher, to the supermarket. We bird-watched 'til the break of dawn. It was a fun little activity.

Then in my big bin score, I found some very old school 'knockers' that were a little battered, so he had those. "They might be somewhere," says my son. That means, they're down in the abyss that is the back of the couch.. Or under the bed.. Somewhere.

So today, we've been back out bird watching. Spotted so far with the new 'knockers':
- 1 kookaburra fluffing up its feathers

- 1 currawong harassing the kookaburra

- 1 grey bird high up in some branches

Not much in the way of bird life today.. but we're about to go walking, so maybe we'll spot some more in the 'hood.

I also found some Willow tableware. This made me happy because it reminds me of the unit Matt and I lived in before we had babies. The person that owned that unit had a bit of style and had the Willow print put onto the fridge and the water heating unit. It was cool. Trust me. So this find had nostalgia written all over it.
Some Cuisenaire Rods - awesome. I found some of these a while ago too..

And finally these awesome vintage blue plastic beads. They are heavy! Sorry about the dodgy photo a la Mary Boleyn. It was the best I could do in a mad flap.

Plus these funny little karafes that I found while on holidays. Kind of weird because I bought these two - then after that, every single op shop I went into had either one of the designs. Apparently they've gone out of vogue in Tamworth! Shock! Horror! It was like playing Where's Wally with small jugs (that one was for Hoppo Bumpo too).

- Someone asked a few posts back what oppy meant.. Op shops! Just op shops.. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I wasn't playing hard to get. I am just sloooooow.