The Many Stop Read.

Over the Canberra Day long weekend, Taph and i went down the coast. Taph had to work on the Saturday, but got the Tuesday off in leau, so Sunday morning we packed the car and headed down the coast. Sunday Avo was a relaxing affair on the Beach.

Monday we had some work for I-op to do. The list of Coastal op shops is very bare, so we were going to see if we were able to expand this list, and an account to this trip will be posted on I-op, later. (ok, when i get around to writing it).

However when we look through an op-shop, i am usually finished and waiting for Taph to finish. Usually i find a book of short stories or similar and read while waiting, but on this occasion, we were planning on visiting many shops in the area, so i started reading a book that would be in most of these shops.

Yes, i started reading a Dan Brown Book.

I started it at the Narooma Vinnies, Found another copy and kept reading it at the Narooma United Care shop, and so forth over the rest of the Monday and Tuesday. Tee following weekend i read some more at the Lifeline book fair.

I now have a quest, and will continue to find and read shop copies of this book while waiting.

And I will always love you.

Taph and I made our annual pilgrimage to the prime ministers eleven cricket game. This year they were playing the Sri Lankan team.

It did not stop raining, and at 2pm, the game was declared a washout.

We were unable to Kinear Julia Gillard, but we did spy Mike Whitney in the crowd.

It looked to us that he was having a chat with some old friends, and we felt it would be intrusive to interrupt him for a photo, however a number of other people were not so considerate.

With the events of Australia Day, it would have been funny to get him to reprieve this performance for Ms Gillard.

Embed link to youtube.

Johnson Challenge update

Taph has to get the best girlfriend award. She was in Salvos in Tuggeranong last week and she picked up a set of Johnson Brothers Regency White. This addition to my collection now gives me a table setting for 15 and i have the following pieces:

• Dinner plates 27 cm 15
• Dinner Plates 22 cm 4
• Side plates 17 cm 17
• Side plates 18.5cm 4
• Cereal bowls 17
• Soup plates 3
• Soup Touraine 1
• Saucers 24
• Tea cups 25
• Coffee mugs 16
• Teapot 1
• Sugar bowl 2
• Milk jug 1

Of course the search continues for some other bits, like the serving platters etc, but the main search can now be scaled back into a watching brief.

It is not a quest ...

...if you are only going to the shops for some tobacco.

When i first started my Johnson challenge Taph said it was not a challenge it i just go to Peters of Kensington. Well we spent a month scouring op shops and ebay, and all we found was one very chipped plate in an op shop.

So i decided to test the waters and see what was around that was new. Peters of Kensington had some stuff new and i will be making a pilgrimage there, but the shock to the system was the TV shopping networks' website. I was not able to help myself and bought a tea set and a set of coffee mugs.

I do not know what came over me, maybe it was the concept of finding an internet site in Australia who had some for sale. Maybe it was because i had been looking for matching bits for my parents set for years and had only ever found some cups and saucers, and i felt this search would go the same way.

Whatever the reason, i bought these items, and blew the budget in the process. Of course now i do have a teapot and associated items.

And a road trip to Sydney in the near future.

Growing My Johnson.

I have been doing the search for the pieces to grow my Johnson collection with, and i have had quite a few false positives as i spy plates that look like the set i am searching for, only to turn them over and discover that they are completely the wrong thing.

On their own the "Sheffield Bone White" looks like a "Johnson Brothers Regency White", but when you put them side by side you can see they are very different.

My reactions when finding these pieces (and one set) has ranged from an "oh dam-it" to one occasion where it took every bit of my self restraint to stop myself from smashing the pieces in disgust.

The plates at Salvos jammo

Having said that, if you are looking for replacement pieces for a Sheffield dinner setting in the Bone White Style;

• Vinnies Gungahlin have a setting for four (well they did last week),
• Salvos Jamison have 7 dinner plates (but one is very chipped),
• Salvos Phillip have a dessert fruit plate,
• as does Aussie Junk in Mitchell.

Oh well my search continues, and i hope this post helps in yours.

A quick update. Here is a photo of two plates found at Aussie junk.

And Salvos Belconnon have two cups and saucers.

Free Range Money - 12 July

Well here it is, week two of the free range money challenge and I figured I might as well do a progress report.
Cans collected 131 or $1.31
Shopping trolley returned $1
Petrol dockets $7.50
Money found/given $0.20



This gives me a total free range money for the two weeks of $8.91. The recent federal government tax cut gave me an extra $8.40 a week.

I have also decided to impose some rules on myself. As this is a self imposed challenge, I can make and change rules as I please.

• I cannot beg. These first two sound obvious but I have to put it on the record. I cannot beg for your money, cans or shopping dockets, however, if you decide to give them to me, then that is ok.
• I cannot steal. In the same vain, taking something from private property is wrong, but taking it from a public place is ok.
• I cannot go through recycling bins for cans, however if cans are obviously put into the normal garbage, then they are fair game. But it must be obvious. I do not want to go digging around in peoples garbage.

The Johnson Brothers Challenge.*

My parents have used a Johnson Brothers dinner set in the Summer Chintz patten for over 20 years.

I stumbled over a Johnson Brothers dinner setting (well a nearly complete setting for four) in the Regency White patten.

I am now looking for the pieces to make a setting for 12, along with the other table setting bits (gravy boats, soup tureens, serving platters, etc) and I want to do this for around $2 a piece (well, i may pay a bit more for soup tureens and serving platters), so dear readers, if you see something, let me know.

As I find pieces I will post photos and the cost. The 14 pieces found today cost $25, and I got 4 dinner plates, 4 side plates, 2 cereal bowls, 2 cups and saucers.

*This is not to be confused with a “Johnson and Johnson Challenge”.

Free Range Money

Well a new financial year is approaching, and it is time to start a new challenge for blog posts.

The Quest for free range money.

Aka, how much money can I find in a year just lying around. I can see four main sources for this income.

1. shopping trolley deposits – Several supermarkets near I frequent require deposits for the use of their shopping trolleys. Some people do not return them, so these I will take back and collect the money.
2. Can collecting – Aluminium cans currently have a scrap value of 92 cents per kilo, or about 1c per can.
3. A great man said “a penny saved is a penny earned” so any shopping fuel discount dockets found, and used (however, not the dockets I get for my shopping) can be considered free range money.
4. Any coinage (or notes) found in the street are to be included. This also included gifts of money (but not birthday, xmas presents money).

The goal is to prove in these tight financial times, and also that people are wasteful of the recourses around them.

I will report at least monthly on this blog, and more often if I feel like it.