A 10,000 Mile Tuneup and Some Thrift Store Shopping

I had a haircut appointment yesterday morning and I needed it. I was starting to feel like an Old English sheepdog. Last spring, after my adventure in the ICU, my hair started falling out. I have a lot of hair, so most people probably didn’t notice what was happening, but it was coming out by the handful and I could feel how much thinner it was. Thankfully, the hair loss stopped after a couple of months. Now it seems to be growing by leaps and bounds.

I haven’t checked the trap lines—what the husband calls my thrift store circuit—for a couple of weeks. I hit all the stores in town yesterday. The Goodwill had a lovely Singer 401 in a beautiful case for $9.99. I probably should have picked it up. That’s much lower than they usually price machines, which often start in the $50 range. I’m trying to avoid adding to the machine collection, though, in favor of accessories and items I can list on eBay.

The selection of items at thrift stores recently has been pretty slim. I noticed that stores here (and in Spokane, too), have really cleaned up and streamlined their inventory. The stores are less cluttered, yes, but there is also much less to choose from. Perhaps it’s the time of year—winter isn’t a good time to declutter and haul stuff to thrift stores—or perhaps it’s a conscious decision on the part of stores to look less “junky.” I don’t know. I’d rather determine for myself whether something is desirable or not.

The last store was where I hit the motherlode. This is exactly the kind of store I like to visit. They have everything. I found an assortment of slant-shank attachments for Singer machines, including this ruffler:

Rufflers are such fun-looking attachments.

I also found an elusive Kenmore Q foot in the original packaging. That one will definitely get listed on eBay because I don’t have any Kenmore machines. Apparently, it’s designed for sewing on knits.

I didn’t limit my shopping to sewing machine accessories. I need to add to the “toy basket” that I keep in the living room for when the kids come over. A bag of little Tonka trucks was perfect:

And of course, guess who saw them as soon as he got home? They are husband approved.

It rained yesterday. That did a lot to help melt the snow. We still have a ways to go, but at least I can walk to the greenhouse on bare ground now instead of ice. I worked on the deadline sewing project, which is almost finished, and I have plans for something else to start this week that I’m pretty excited about. Pictures to follow.