i love a good Rummage

Rummage - what a wonderful word

–verb (used with object)

1. to search thoroughly or actively through (a place,receptacle, etc.), especially by moving around, turning over,or looking through contents.

2. to find, bring, or fetch by searching (often followed by out or up ).

I absolutely love a good rummage. I blame my Dad. As a young adult his garage was like Aladdin's Cave. No matter what you needed to fix a problem my Dad would disappear into the garage and find a little something to help. I used to follow him in and that was ok but if I wandered off on my own to peruse the shelves, full to brimming with bits, he was soon at my side to see what I was up to. He’d gently remove from my hands whatever I’d picked up and place it back. If I looked at something repeatedly I’d find that it would soon be re-homed never to be seen by me again. So you see my Dad loved to collect ‘stuff’ (and hang on to it obviously lol), but to do that he had to rummage first.

I remember when he landed his dream job, I don’t think he realised it was that when he first got it, and my Mom certainly never imagined the impact it was to have upon her, but my Dad was soon in his element – He became a council tip attendant lol. You can imagine can’t you; re-cycling was still something only 'Friends of the Earth talked about and Charity Shops hadn’t taken off yet, so everything went to the tip whether it worked or not. Now my Dads collecting really took off, much to Moms bemusement.

Fast forward to September of last year and my need to buy seating for the cottage - It needed to be cheap because we’d no idea if it was going to be ruined by damp, mice or worse. I popped into the British Heart Foundation Shop and within 10 minutes I’d bought a 2 seater sofa and 2 large comfy armchairs, all for the wonderful sum of £150 – wow, what a bargain, I was hooked. Since then I have ‘toured’ the charity shops wherever I go and do not mind admitting it. I have a mental list of the things that would be good to acquire and, as long as I’m not in a hurry, gradually I come across each of my items. The bookcase and lamp I mentioned yesterday came from charity shops, I’ve picked up lovely old glass vases and candlesticks for a song and we’ve a wonderful growing collection of old books at the cottage that are not only cheap but their patina adds to the overall charm. Oh yes I’m hooked alright.

Take today for example. My hair appointment wasn’t until 10:00 but I took myself into town straight after the school run so that I could do the rounds first. Occasionally I’m disappointed, but sometimes it’s because I don’t look properly. You see I think you need to be able see the potential more that anything else, and I can’t always. I once picked up a wooden item with a £2.50 sticker on it from underneath the bottom shelf and held it up to look at. An assistant bounded over and asked if I knew what the item was as they’d been discussing it and no-one knew. “I think it’s a magazine rack” I said, and held it against a wall to demonstrate. I did walk away with my prize but not before magazines had been rounded up by the assistants to ‘test’ my theory. A little bit of tlc and paint later and my lovely magazine rack now adorns the seating in the conservatory, you can just see it to the right of today’s acquisition. Hmmm, I think we’ll talk about that bench some other time.

So, rummage, my word of the day that’s somehow turned into a bit of a happy trip down memory lane tinged with a bit of sadness. You see sadly my Dad is no longer with us, and I didn’t intentionally write this post about him (or to be sad) but as I wrote about the British Heart Foundation (BHF) being the shop that got me hooked I suddenly stopped in my tracks and sat staring at the screen as I realised the connection. You see the BHF would be my first choice of charity because my Dad suffered with heart problems most of his life and ultimately didn’t survive them. And now I truly don’t know if this paragraph should stay or go – but I do thank my Dad for my love of rummaging xxx

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment – Sorry for the sad bit at the end but I think I need it to be there.

Wendy xx