Pencils for "colouring in" were

bought yesterday. I had absolutely no intention of buying them at all. It just so happened that I needed to be out and about and came across a "garage" sale ( a "yard sale" or "boot sale" or some other sort of sale in other places. 

In this case the owners of the property had things lined up in their driveway. There were books at the front. Inevitably I stopped. Books? Books! I looked. No. There is a list of books I would like to have but I am trying to be good and not buy more unless they are on that list. (This is all about eventually having to move.)

But there was a box of coloured pencils there. It was a big box. It was new. I looked at them. I looked at the price. I know how much these sets cost. They are very expensive. I saw the prices when I was buying Middle Cat's birthday present a couple of years ago. (Brother Cat and I put together some art materials for her into a box the Senior Cat had made some years before.) I had also bought a much smaller set for a person I know who loves to "colour in". 

This set was still expensive, more than I could really afford but.... I asked how they happened to have such a set for sale.

"Oh we accidentally bought two. Our children love to colour in and we thought it would be cheaper this way than always buying small sets." 

"Accidentally bought two"? I could not imagine that. They had bought them for their own children too. Maybe it was more economical that way but even so... I stood there and thought about it. If I went on bread and water for the rest of the month... I did some calculations. The woman looked at me and asked, "Do you want them? Do you do a lot of colouring in?"

"Oh they wouldn't be for me!" I told her. It is years since I picked up a pencil to do some colouring in. "No, I think I can do this. They might be able to go as they are to a school for refugees or the school can break the set up and make smaller sets for individual children."

The woman looked at me as if I was just a little crazy. Yes, perhaps I am. I was not sure I liked her or wanted to contribute to her coffers. It would have been nice if she had given them to me for that purpose. She didn't of course. 

I took a deep breath and paid for them. She did put them on the back of the trike for me. I brought them home and put a message up on the relevant FB page. Oh yes, they would be pleased to have them and yes someone will come and get them.

Of course it won't really be "bread and water" for the rest of the month but I will need to be even more careful for a little while. It is worth it though. There are five hundred and twenty pencils there. The claim is that there are that many colours as well. I looked. Some of them are so close it seems an exaggeration but never mind.  I know the brand. The reviews are good. They are good pencils for schools and there are a lot of them. It should help an entire school for more than a year...and I might lose a kilo if I stop eating so much. That would be a win all round...but what sort of family accidentally buys two such big sets for their own children?