This is my new bike, restored by one of my fencing club members. It had been lingering in a garden when he rescued it, fixed it up, replaced the handlebar tape, seat, wheels, chains, and brakes, and probably more. The awesome pink is original, though, and I want to add a charming basket for carrying my picnic lunch or flowers or juicy tomatoes from the farmers market or school books or Dorothy’s little dog (now the Wizard of Oz witch theme song is running thru my head) or whatever.
It is all part of a new life path for me that has opened quite recently, not local spinster witch but graduate student. The crux of its relevance for this blog is that I brought it with me, along with my clothes and desk and a few kitchen items and nothing else. The mission I’ve given myself is to furnish my cottage with items as much as possible from thrift stores, garage sales, and give-a-ways, just to see if I can do it.
So how is it going so far? Well, I’ve always had luck with thrift store shopping for clothing but haven’t ever really shopped for furnishings, so that’s a new thing for me. At Goodwill, I found some rugs that looked new, but I was grossed out until I washed them, and now they are even better than new because they were much less expensive.
I also found some lovely lace curtains for the window.
What I haven’t had much luck with is finding silverware, so I only have one fork, one spoon, and one knife, mainly because I don’t want to buy a $50 ivory-handled set in a custom box, no matter how lovely they might be. I paid 75 cents for the set and I’ll keep looking for more. The Goodwill store also had brand new kitchen towels and shelf liner and I found some lovely crystal cereal bowls.
I still need a desk chair, table, and living room furniture. But I’m in no rush, and I’ll keep looking for the good stuff. You look too – you never know what treasures you’ll find.
