I went out walking yesterday.

I needed scissors, and I thought I'd explore the neighbourhood some.

Thrift stores in London are all called charity shops, and each one is tiny, and advertises what charity they support on the sign.

So yesterday I found one that supports cats.

And it's staffed entirely by gay men. Or at least men who really, really set of my gaydar.

I went in wearing my rainbow sweater, and one of the guys very sweetly snuck up behind me with another sweater off the shelf and suggested I might like it as well.

Well, I hadn't planned on buying a sweater, but this sweater is everything I like in a sweater. Unabashed bright colours, geometric kind of patterns, and best of all, it looks hand made (and %100 wool! I never wear acrylic).

So I bought it, along with a couple feather pillows. One night of sleeping on a polyfil pillow, and I remembered why I liked feathers. I don't mind that they're used. They looked and smelled clean, and that's all that matters to me.

I think this is my new favorite charity shop. Also, the prices were good.

There were a couple more down the block, one of them staffed by two old men. One was eastern European of some type (Polish maybe? The thrift store next door definitely was a Polish one and there seemed to be a lot of flow between the two), and a mouthy old English man.

The two men carried on a lively conversation the whole time, each accusing the other of selling everything way too cheaply, and loudly greeting anyone who came in the door.

I liked that one, too, because at one point this older woman came in, and she looked pretty rough, like street rough. The English man took her to the back and showed her a bunch of bags of clothes and told her to take what ever she needed. I thought she was going to cry.

Anyway, I found a king size bubblegum pink wool blanket. When I asked how much, the English man declared "For you, madam? FIVE POUNDS!"

I thought about trying to bargain, since that seemed to be prevalent there, but five pounds was a good price for it, and it was a nice shop, so I just paid the man.

And I gotta say, it's been the best purchase so far. It drapes right down to the ground on my bed, and keeps cold air and monsters from getting inside.

So yeah. Settling in.

Still hunting work.

Lots of interest, but no bites yet.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

.

Rosie.

Before&After