Thrift Store Finds and Foxes

A pre- Christmas visit to several thrift stores proves this point for me...we as a people are adrift in a sea of stuff.  Shelves piled high with all manner of items.  The lady at the Salvation Army store was telling me they can't keep up with all the bags and boxes of items that get donated.  They are always overwhelmed with volume. And I'd added to it that day by donating my own bag of goods!
The other interesting thing she said was that more and more items are coming in that are brand new, or in a box- obviously never used.  When she first started working there 25 years ago, they sorted items by well used or gently used; they didn't even have a category for new though once in a blue moon something would appear that had a tag still on it.  Not any more.

 Why is this, I asked her.  Here is the gist of what we came up with.

  People can't be bothered trying to make use of things i.e. recycle.
If people get a gift they don't like, they don't mind throwing it out whereas one time we would feel obligated to keep it.
People redecorate all the time and chuck out the old stuff.
No one wears anything out as such anymore.
Things would have to be broken or unfixable before they would be discarded.  Nobody fixes stuff anymore.

 What do you think?

 I bought Christmas cards there that had been donated by several local charity organizations and this pair of cross stitched pictures.

The stitching is beautiful and I think you know why I couldn't resist these.  Acorns, oak leaves, thistles,  But I have no clue as to who stitched them which is a little sad or whose design it is.

And this rather large sized book.

With full sized patterns for applique.  A great little resource and though old, had never been used.

 Driving home I glimpsed a smallish animal crossing the road up ahead of us.  I recognized the tail and got hubby to pull over as soon as it was safe to do so.  We backed up, rolled down the window;  I grabbed my little SureShot and took a photo.  The animal had disappeared by then but I was hopeful my quick shot had gotten a brief glimpse.


Here is the original photo.  So sorry it is squish and you have to twist your head but my position in the car was off and hurry, hurry was all that was in my mind.

And my magnification at home revealed Mr. Fox, pausing ever so briefly to glance back at me.  Oh if only I had been quicker.  He was quite large as foxes go, a striking reddish and stood out beautifully against the drab gray of those trees.  I sense a wonderful photo opportunity lost.  Ugh!

Btw, can you spy him in the original photo?

What is it about foxes that interests me?  They appear to be such lone, independent creatures.  There is something haughty about them when grown, but their kits look and behave like puppies.

I can't resist sharing this quote I used in a former post about the fox in Daughter's garden.
 It is taken from  the longer poem Red Fox by Margaret Atwood.


                             " The red fox crosses the ice
                                intent on none of my business.
                                It's winter and slim pickings."

Here is a link if you have a mind to read the whole thing.

Red Fox