Wednesday 28 September 2011

Portmeirion Shopping

Of course there are a number of shops in Portmeirion with all sorts of interesting and attractive stuff.   I really enjoy looking in tourist shops because I know I'm not very likely to buy anything and there is a lot of pretty stuff to look at.  It's just not normally what I need to own.  For example, I had no desire to own anything to do with The Prisoner.


Though, as a fan of hats, Bill enjoyed at least considering a couple.  I was grateful he turned them down.  

One of the main things I noticed about the shops was their use of  bright colours.

 
They seemed to take a leaf out of the village notebook.   On looking at this again, I get why you would want to hang a coloured jar with a tea-light in it, but why would you want to hang a coloured jug with a cork in the top?



Slate is of course a major export for Wales.  This heart would just match the slate on my roof at home, but I managed to resist.


I'm still collecting shopping bags to use in place of at least some of the plastic, but I don't buy them as a rule.



Kitchen shops have the most interesting gadgets.  Everyone needs a spatula that looks like a fried egg, right?


We have a large collection of teapots from our mothers and we don't even drink that much tea, but the colour of the display made these almost tempting.  I've just spotted that basket.  Glad I missed it when we were there.  Then again, it wouldn't come close to holding my magazines.



I don't know what Bill found this so amusing.  I DO NOT SNORE!

I'd read about these from Frugal Scholar, who hates to peel potatoes.  Here in Britain, these things are called 'exfoliating gloves' and one uses them on one's body, not on the carrots.  I can see that it might sort of work, but I doubt they work well.  I couldn't see the difference between the one for 'carrots' and the one for 'potatoes'.  Can you really imagine changing gloves when you picked up a different vegetable?


And whilst I can just about see exfoliating veggies with these, what would you do with the glove after you'd scraped the skin off a fish?  This is not an idea that appeals to me at all, these gloves.


I've seen these banana bags before and the just out of photo banana transport containers; someone at work got one for a birthday gag gift.



I've never heard of bags for bread or potatoes, though.  I can tell you are are bubble-wrap covered with plastic made into a draw string bag.  I had to leave their vicinity not to pop all the bubbles!



We did have a purpose in here:  we had spotted some luscious looking blackberries on the walk up from the train station and wanted some inexpensive containers.  We found two small 'tupperware' like boxes (meant to hold cupcakes, yeah right) for 99 pence each, surely the cheapest thing in the whole place! 


The only other item that remotely interested me was these large bowls that remind me very much of one I already own that belonged to Grandma.  Aren't they lovely?  Only it turned out they were not pottery but enamelware.  Besides that I already own one or two (dozen) bowls.

2 comments:

Jo said...

Love to look in these stores to see all the things they dream up to sell.

Years ago Mother received a tea pot with a cozy top from an English couple who would come to the US to visit their daughter and family. Always thought that was such a good idea, kept the tea warmer longer.

Mary Beth said...

Ah, you're a better woman than I! I would have definitely bought a teapot, been looking for one exactly that shape. :)