Among the antique shops (or approximations — the third was noted to have a Simpsons promotional book on sale… not quite fitting my definition of antique) we visited on Sunday was the Masonic temple in Newport. It’s too big to be merely a shop, and they sell all kinds of stuff, not just antiques, so I reckon it’s not so much an antique shop as a secondhand warehouse.

Justine (who is known to preside over a few old things herself in a professional capacity) dubbed it “The Temple of Crap.” It seemed a most suitable name, and I think if I ran the place, I’d get just such a sign made for it. It’s full of the kind of stuff that most people have sitting around their house, unused, and just wish they could get rid of it somewhere other than just chucking it in the bin. Old clothes, cutlery, crockery, furniture, records, you name it, if it was made before about 1960, they had it.

Okay, so undoubtedly this kind of stuff appeals to some people. I could see my mother hauling stuff away by the cartload — if she had the space for it. If you were looking for a specific thing, you might well find it in some place like this. Even, most appropriately, a Masonic apron.

But mostly it was exactly the kind of extraneous stuff I’m trying to get out of my house. Hmm, I wonder if they’d buy my superfluous crap?