Reduced

I told you the sales had started. I braved them this morning. Town was bursting with shoppers and most of them were in a post-christmas-must-get-a-bargain frame of mind. In other words - they kept getting in my way! The majority of shops I looked in had stuff in the sale that was in extra extra large sizes. No good for me. I did pick up a nice blue cardigan though, to match my eyes!

Sunset Steeple

The steeple of St Gregory's church as the sun was going down on another day.

I hope you all had a good Christmas. Mine was great, but it is what you make it. Here in the UK its Boxing Day today, basically a bit more of Christmas Day! The sales start and today is being called Super Saturday, as its the first time in 11 years that Boxing Day has fallen on a Saturday. Retailers are hoping that sales today will be beat those of Christmas Eve, when 1 million pounds was being spent every minute! Recession? What recession?!

Bargains Galore!

Reduced, discount, bargains, half price, clearance - it all means the same. SALE! The winter sales used to start in January but more recently they've started on Boxing Day. This year the stores were slashing prices long before Christmas. All the shops were desperate to get every penny they could before the festivities and they did all they could to get the shoppers through the door. The best I saw was 70% off, who knows what they came up with for the post Christmas sale - paying you to take it away?! I guess it's a sign of the times, every penny counts. This week more High Street names have announced that they have gone into liquidation. Unfortunately, I think that it'll be common place to see more closures in the next year.

The answer to yesterday's mind play photo - It was a reflection and I posted the photo upside down. Well done to everyone that spotted it.

_

Christmas Blues

As many of you may know the chain store Woolworths has gone into administration, one of the latest victims of the credit crunch. The store has been on High Streets up and down the country for nearly a century, after coming to us from America. It was the place to get those things that weren't in every shop - "try Woolies." Unfortunately shops like Pound Land and Wilkos did it better and cheaper, and Woolies just couldn't compete. By January 5th all of its 815 stores will be closed and the 27,000 employees will be out of work. Not the best Christmas for them.

Sorry for my absence - I've been struck down with the Flu. Feeling better but not 100% yet.

_

Open Air Art

Every summer the Imperial Gardens, behind the Town Hall, plays host to the Open Air Art Exhibition. The event runs for four weeks, and each week each of the 25 different panels display a different artists work. The artists are made up of people who belong to local art clubs or people who paint for a living. All of the paintings and drawings are for sale, with the money going directly to the artists. It is a great opportunity for locals to showcase their work and each week there is always something new to see. When Phoebe and I had a look last week we were surprised at how high the standard was, there were several pictures that even I would have paid out for!

Do you have anything like this where you live?

Bargains Galore

We are half way through January and the sales continue apace. In the past January sales used to start on the 2nd of the month, but now they begin on Boxing Day (26th December), and the poor sales assistants are lucky to get Christmas day off. Here in the U.K pre-christmas profits for the nations high streets were up on previous years, even with the expected dip in the economy ahead. Many stores are offering massive discounts to get shoppers to part with their cash, some with 75% off. I don't normally bother with the sales, as all my money goes on Christmas, but this year I had some gift vouchers and picked up some great bargains. So in effect I got more for my money for free!