I thought yesterday was good when I got a patchwork cushion for $1, some picnic cups in an old leather case ($2) and some old books. Today was much, much better. I have to brag somewhere, and as I’ve got no mates up here, I may as well indulge in some cyber-bragging. M bought me a present - a brand new fishing rod and reel. It’s amazing. A seven foot Jarvis Walker Fishunter- Series II. Totally sexy. We also learnt today that with the modern, chemically sharpend hooks, barbless ones are just as effective as the evil barbed ones - and it’s important to use hooks that rust, so if a fish gulps one and gets away, its stomach acids dissolve the hook. Stainless steel ones just stay there and fester. OK. Those are my fishing tips for the month. Back to…the Loot!

So, in the same hour that I received my special rod, I found myself the perfect present to accompany it. A boat!! I bought a boat! Guess how much it was? Twenty whole dollars. From the Tip Shop. It is a bit run down, but M is very optimistic that we’ll have it cleaned up and looking sharp with a couple of days work on it. He is going to make me a mast, centreboard and rudder - and I will have to get some oars. I am going to name her Oomoo. Wah-hoo! I will post some pictures of the tarting-up process. At the tip shop we also got two old wheels, which we may use to make Oomoo easier to manouvre, and I got a very quirky, sixties looking book called ‘A Christmas Story’ by Richard Burton. Yeah. That’s right. Liz’s ex. M went squiffy over eight lengths of hardwood that will be perfect for supporting the house eyebrows that he’s been diligently working on - he got them all for eight dollars and took great delight in working out what the same kind of wood would have cost from Bunnings - $140 - yike. We also got an ugly standard lamp type thing, that has now - as I type - morphed into a very kooky birdfeeder via some paint, wood and ingenuity.

Earlier, at a car boot sale, I scored a very nice stainless steel thermos ($5) and a cute little red suitcase ($2) which will live in the boot of the Humber and be stocked with impromptu picnic necessities. M filled a bag with clothes (three shirts, one jumper, one t-shirt) for two dollars, snaffled a brand new eight-cup Bodum coffee plunger ($5) and an extractor fan ($1). By the time we got home at about 3pm, our van was weighed down with our accumulations - we celebrated with a long neck of Cooeprs Sparkling. It was like a mini-Christmas.