Right Said Flo

[Green Aura]

I wonder if water boiled in a £500 kettle tastes better.

[ina]

Makes you feel oh so rich!

Or poor - if you'd spent money you didn't have in the first place...

[Flo]

Well - I wouldn't even have been tempted to buy it - never had that kind of money! But if I had seen it for a tenner in a charity shop, I'm sure I would have grabbed it, just for fun.

Do you think we'd be so lucky? Perhaps there are some very upmarket charity shops. I have a feeling that that sort of donation is set aside and sold through places on the web or put into auction. I know Oxfam certainly does that. And a lot of other major charities have an online presence nowadays - not that the average bag of donations ever make it through to the internet. But anything they think that can be sold for more often is on tinternet.

[Flo]

Right said Flo - I could have hired a carpet cleaner and done the job myself. However, it wouldn't have been much cheaper by the time I'd hired the cleaning machine which would have had to be delivered. So today, a man and a lad came in a marked van, steam cleaned with environmentally friendly cleaner (so the website said), and ran a mopping up machine after to make sure that as little wet as possible was left. Oh and a stiff brush to raise the carpet pile again. And they moved most of the furniture (not the heavy wardrobe, nor the Welsh dresser by request nor the computer set up but you can get a machine under there anyway. The price was a special offer of £99 for three rooms - well bedroom, lounge and a filthy hall fitted. Sometimes doing it yourself is not as financially effective as having the right local firm come in and do job.

[Green Aura]

It's good to support local small businesses where possible. Keeps people in jobs and the local economies healthy. I learned all about "local multiplier effect" when I went on a course about Social Enterprises.

[Flo]

Right said Flo - the daughter asked for a cooking apple tree and an eating apple tree on the allotment. Her hubby wanted pears.

We'e already taken some but this is the major harvest. The daughter sounded a little pathetic as she and her hubby were in the cooking apple tree. I was just the clearer up and provider of tubs.