Retail therapy

Our house is full of boxes and my head is full of decisions. Do we keep this? Is it too soon to pack that? The man from the charity shop has come and taken a load of stuff away and I've dutifully recycled dozens of glass jars that were waiting for preserves and little plastic containers that were breeding at the top of the pantry while they waited to hold things in the freezer.

In some ways I love moving. It's a deadline-driven process, like my work, and it's a great opportunity to cast off all the stuff we seem to accumulate that serves no real purpose. I try to do this while thinking of that William Morris quote - 'Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful' - sometimes that's easier said than done.

Useful AND beautiful

But at the same time, there's something about moving that compels me to acquire more stuff. Yesterday Rachel and I finally managed to achieve our year-long aim of trawling a couple of our favourite charity shops together. I gave myself a stern talking to before we left, but it wasn't entirely successful. I had to bring this silver-plated cake tray home because I couldn't bear the thought that I might never get to this particular shop again. It will be just the thing with some little fancy cakes on, don't you think?

I was quite pleased with my little treasure (and how strongly I had resisted a set of tiny martini glasses that Rachel thought were for vodka-loving small children) but then I saw the gorgeous finds that Debby at Cooking Up A Storm In A Teacup has found. And then I remembered that there's a charity shop at the end of my new street. Such fun awaits!

Are you addicted to charity shops? What have you found recently? Go on, make me jealous!