It's Own Reward

Before I start, you may have noticed the new photo of me on the front page of Fudge.

Got to say, it's rather LARGER than I had thought it would be - I thought it would be thumbnail sized but never mind ...

You may (as Emma Kate has discovered) also noticed that all the photos are gone from the Fudge blog posts.

That was me I'm afraid - pressed a button and BAM - no photos left which is why I inserted the new photo - I expect you were all tired of seeing me in my bikini anyway!

So, on with the post ...

I like to think that I'm the kind of person who would happily do something for nothing.

My default isn't 'what's in it for me' but that doesn't mean I get nothing out of it - far from it.

Helping Janet move house the other week was back breaking work but I know, if I were in the same position, Janet would do the same for me so I didn't do it for the thanks, I didn't do it for the personal gratification.  I didn't do it for any other reason than she is my friend and she needed me.

I'd do the same for any of my true friends in the sure and certain knowledge that they would do the same for me.

But I WAS rewarded!

Janet had a huge amount of STUFF and every time I admired something she tried to give it to me.

Well, I could have filled two houses over with the amount of things she had to admire and I wasn't helping with that in mind but I did see the value in some of the things that she just doesn't have room for any more so I said I would take a few of them and then, in the Summer when SD and I do the rounds of the VW shows I would happily set out a stall, sit in the sun and sell a few of those things she didn't want anymore.

It wasn't entirely altruistic - SD will have me sitting there with a pile of wheels and tyres and other car related things anyway no doubt so it will be nice to have a few other things of interest to draw people in.

People involved in the VW scene are very into anything retro, anything vintage, anything they can accessorise their vans with and so a wicker picnic basket which, although not complete and not in perfect condition was a bit of a find:

This kind of thing is loved not only by the Vdubbers but also the vintage car owners who will put it on the back seat of their car.  Even incomplete it will probably fetch £30 - £40.

I also came across this (something I hadn't seen before) - a Pac A Pic preci ware stacking picnic set.  Again, it's not complete.  There is one tupperware lid missing and some of the cutlery is also missing but anyone with an orange and white camper van would love to own this:

Again, I think it should fetch good money for Janet.

There are a few other odds and ends too - a huge stack of VW magazines, some rarer than others, many still in plastic wrapping.  I really need to do a little investigating to see if Ebay may be the best place to sell on some of them.

In a drawer I came across a little bag full of badges.  I was curious as Miss Mac collects badges to pin to her college bag but these I think are worth trying to sell:

Certainly the Robinsons one's I have seen being sold for about £5 each and the Action Man ones have a following too.  The Guiding badges may be of interest to someone and I rather like the Lyptons tea badge and the Miss Piggy badge.

But these aren't my reward although like I said, it's nice to have something non car related around.

There were a couple of things that Janet offered me that I did say yes to keeping for myself.

The first thing is this:

A little cupboard with a drawer.  Something about it really caught my eye.  It needs a little work doing to it.  One of the legs is a bit wobbly and it really needs repainting but you can't see the best thing about it from this photo :

The cupboard is hinged at the bottom - I LOVE the quirkiness of it!

Fully open it looks like this - SO cool!

The other thing she gave me is this:

This little set of drawers is made from a kind of covered card and was part of a filing system at the Post Office at some point.  Inside each drawer there is a stamp:

Supplied for the Public Service with a crown above the stamp.

It's a little bit worn and battered but I think I like it like that so other than giving it a good clean I'm not doing anything to it.

I think it will sit on top of my 15 drawer merchants chest which I had been considering changing the handles on for card holders like the ones on these drawers so it will go with it perfectly!

Finally, a bit of a curio really and I'm not sure how or where to go about selling this for Janet but it seemed wrong to let it go to the tip!

Janets late husband used to have an aviary at the top of the garden where he kept small birds like finches etc.  This box was clearly custom made for transporting small birds.

Inside it are four of these cages:

I'm pretty sure they wouldn't meet modern regulations and so couldn't be used for their original purpose but I'm equally sure that there must be someone out there who would love to have this - I just have to find them!