What to do when the trains are up the spout and you’re stuck at Walton on Thames station waiting 45 minutes for a train to Clapham and you only have 25% battery on your phone? Write a blog post, that’s what!
Well, it’s been a while and a lot has happened in that time. I finally got a job, which is why I’m in Walton. It’s only a six month contract, but as my Nan used to say “Beggars can’t be choosers”.
The people are lovely and Walton, unsurprisingly, has some great charity shops. I’ve had to limit myself to one trawl per week, as I was spending too much money, but I now have some designer clothes and vintage handbags to show for it. In fact I’ve managed to furnish myself with an entire summer wardrobe solely from charity shops, and not just those in Walton.
Everywhere I go, I hunt out and visit the charity shops, you probably wouldn’t be wrong to describe it as an addiction. I love them, you never know what you might find; salt & pepper pots shaped like bunches of asparagus; shelves of cosy crime; brand new and unworn shoes, and best of all… my drinks trolley.
I’d wanted a drinks trolley for a while and one day, as I was mooching around the British Heart Foundation furniture shop in Croydon, there it was and just £20! The reason that deserves an exclamation mark is because there is an identical trolley for sale in the antiques shop up the road and it’s £85.
Anyway, back to my trolley, it was filthy, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to purchase it. So money was exchanged. I wheeled my prize home and gave it a good scrub in the shower, a thorough going over with anti-bacterial wipes and a good dose of furniture polish. What a gem. Once all the nicotine had been removed, you could really appreciate the mid-century beauty. After sitting back admiring it for a while, I formulated a plan to decorate the shelves with pictures of Hollywood Greats from yester year. I still had the collection I amassed in my teenage years, so it wouldn’t be a problem. A good time was spent arranging and rearranging the images until I was satisfied with the display and started spreading the PVA.
This was followed by a few days of patting myself on the back, smiling at my handiwork and relocating the neglected bottles of spirits from their home in the kitchen to the living room. Now all I had to do was adorn it with the accoutrements of a cocktail bar. The search was on!
I found cocktail and shot glasses of varying shapes and sizes, champagne bowls and a complete cocktail shaker set in the charity shops of West Wickham, Addiscombe and Wallington. A fabulous jug in the shape of a pineapple was obtained in BHF in Croydon, and Alison sent me some magnificent, original 1960’s cocktail sticks and Babycham glasses. All I needed to complete my dream was an ice bucket. I hunted high and low and even broke my intention of charity shop only, by looking online. But no, nada, nothing… It seemed as if the good folk of Croydon and its environs, didn’t want to part with their ice buckets.
In all it took about three months, but like Robert the Bruce’s spider, I didn’t give up and my persistence was rewarded with a bright orange 1970’s plastic ice bucket with a lid. Thank you Scope in Addiscombe, you magnificent, quirky little charity shop you.
So my vision is complete and I am often to be found sitting on the sofa with a soppy grin on my face, a dry martini in my hand, gazing dreamily at my charity shop furnished, vintage mid-century drinks trolley.
Viva the middle-aged woman with a dream, and viva the charity shops of Great Britain.
Consulting Hannah 