My Trashy Update!

What a couple of jewels I've discovered this weekend. Having spent the last few weeks indoors at my computer, it was a true delight to go out and play. And look what I've found.

My first discovery was Raspberry Rascals, a fantastic children's shop that's just opened in Langton Place, Bury St Edmunds. Here's Heather, the founder, sorting out a few clothes that I decided to buy for the children.



Now this shop might look expensive, but Raspberry Rascals isn't just any old new shop if you get my drift. It's a gorgeous nearly new store aimed at children under 5. With clothes, toys, books and nursery equipment, Raspberry Rascals stocks a wonderful range of items in such excellent condition, you'd hardly know they were pre-loved.

It's a real gem of a shop and a perfect addition to the town centre. I can see it will be a regular hang-out for a fussy bargain-hunter like me.

Talking of real gems, on Sunday I popped over to one of Bury St Edmunds' other treasures, the wonderful craft fair at Blackthorpe Barn, a major event in Suffolk's Christmas calendar.

And look who I bumped into! The fabulous Steve Weeks, who'd travelled all the way up from Wiltshire to promote her stunning collection of handcrafted bags



And they really are beautiful, but as you can jolly well guess, I wouldn't just rave about any old bags, apart from my gorgeous Radley of course.

You see, each handbag is made from rescued materials that are sourced locally, which means every item is unique and a real eco-friendly find. Steve's work is really worth a blog post of its own, so I'll be coming back to that in the new year. In the meantime, take a look for yourself at www.beaubags.co.uk.

And if the weekend wasn't exciting enough, Just Gai over at Zero Waist has published December's Carnival of Trash today, so do hop over and have a read of all the fabulous posts. Then when that's done, tune into BBC Radio Suffolk's James Hazell Show on Tuesday morning when I'll be popping up at around 11.10 to chat about minimising waste this Christmas.

At last I'm beginning to feel some festive vibes. It's about time too. After all, I've done nothing but polish off mince pies since Friday. So before my Christmas spirit takes another nosedive, I'm off to decorate the Christmas Tree and wrap some presents.

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