Oh yes

I hardly ever go thrifting. When I say that thrifting is the way I shop, this is to be understood in one way; I never shop. I hardly ever buy anything. OK, food when the fridge is empty, tape when the tape is out, thread when thread is out, paper for printing - you get the picture. I wear my clothes until they fall apart (literally), and then - I shop. Out of necessity. And I hate it. My feet and back aches, and I'm emotionally torn to pieces from looking at my body from five different angles over and over again trying to find the right pants (because it's always pants, isn't it).
But just for the fun of it?
Never.
It's just not on my priority list, and probably has something to do with money. We have chosen a simple life with more time and less income, so that's a natural limitation to shopping sprees. It just so happens to coincide with me not being a shopping girl. Good for us.
But suddenly, I found myself having a thrifting date with a friend. She's a single mom to three boys, and had one of those rare weekends-all-by-her-self only two steps away (she's about to have one of her twice-a-year experiences, and chose to go thrifting with me? We are weird...). Then, at the hand of some mischevious force that seem to be having great fun every now and then, one of her kids break an arm and another gets a bad cough. (Last time we had a date, she ended up in the hospital with one of her boys).
So what happened? The thrifting spirit had already paid a visit, that's what happened. (Oh, I'm not worried about her kids. They'll survive anything :) ) Over the next two days, its presence grew stronger and stronger and in the end there was no other option than to acknowledge its presence in full - and go thrifting alone. I spent two hours in one salvation army shop. I must have spent 3/4 of it trying to decide which textiles to bring home and which to reluctantly leave behind. I hadn't brought enough money, so I actually had to leave behind two sets of bed linens from the 70's. (I'm glad I'm not a shopping girl. I wouldn't have been able to find my kids in all the stash. Because I am the kind of 'oh, that might come in handy' and 'oh, I could sew something out of this' girl.)


So, what did I buy? Not the dolls, that's for sure. Things are not that welcome in our house. But a beautiful huge green damask tablecloth, a small yellow tablecloth with embroideries (but bought mainly for the hem - is that the word?), a brown/pink cotton and several embroidered handkerchiefs. All going to be cut and made into something else. And you know what else? This incredible bird embroidery set - look at them! We have a whole family of these bullfinches living in a tree outside our livingroom window. I try to get good shots of them every now and then, but then - they are small.
The set came with needle, thread and everything, but I don't want to fill in these lovely thin lines with thick woollen thread. As a matter of fact, I like them just the way they are.
I came home with a couple of old frames as well. All for less than 16 pounds, all packed in this quite cool plastic bag. It says 'thank you'. Thank you for shopping second hand, and for helping us helping others.
You're welcome :)