Shopping as Therapy? Nope.
I know that when many women go shopping they will look at shoes (and yes I do need a new pair of warm gumboots for the winter), or new underwear (reaching for a rag in the milking room yesterday there was a pair of my knickers on top of the pile – they are getting so ‘used’ now that when I folded the washing in a hurry I must have thought this pair was just another rag and put it on the rag pile), and my hair is in desperate need of a cut – (I have not been off the farm for more than a few hours since March – was it March?). Maybe a new blouse – (I have one good going out top this summer and it is in the “Good Clothes” pile because it has no holes or stains on it).
But I am not shopping for any of those. John has found a second hand truck in a near-by town that is not a bad price (though I will have to do some wheeling and dealing to get it down to what the farm can afford). It has reasonable mileage for its age and a long bed. It is hard to find a one ton double cab pick up truck with a decent sized bed but that is what I need. 
I care not at all for the latest fashion of tiny truck beds behind the cab – how useless- this is to be a farm truck that needs to pull the stock truck, fit a good load on the deck of the truck and seat five, so all my workers can fit in too. To get all this I need to go back in time evidently, so this is not a young vehicle. Today I am going to leave my Young Farmers in charge and drive over and bring this truck home for everyone to look at and we will make a decision. (Unfortunately it is a Martha Stewart beige too – my least favourite colour but a little mud should fix that).
But first I must get started early on my chores so as to carve out some time for an expedition. Then i will change into my Cleanest Dirty Shirt and set forth.
If the farm does buy this truck its second job is to drive to Indiana and get another couple of those Porta Huts the pigs sleep in. Its first job is to transport mine and Jake’s chickens to the abbatoir on Monday. (OH how much easier that sounds!). I need a reliable heavy farm truck desperately.
And Sheila is not giving up her bed thank you very much.
Yesterday it was finally dry enough in the garden to plant three good rows of late summer greens that I will cover with double cloches and hopefully keep going until it gets really cold. Diane from Missouri has challenged me to do this so I am looking forward to seeing how it goes up here in Illinois.
I hope you have a lovely day – mine will be an adventure driving back in this long, pickup truck.
Much love
celi
49 Comments on “Shopping as Therapy? Nope.”
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Can’t wait to see the new truck!
There’s nothing like a one-ton truck with an 8′ bed! They are very hard to come by. Good luck!
And four doors! c
4 doors makes life oh so much easier.
Oh Celi! Go get the ruddy truck and then get on line and buy some new knickers and an autumnal pretty blouse: I have bought almost all my clothes thus for 20 years and it is awfully good evening fun and half the price for twice the quality. But then get into your cooking-oil car and get your hair all pretty again: that WILL make you smile 🙂 !!!
I hate online shopping even more – I cannot bear the wait and then they don’t fit – I just wait for my yearly holiday and shop when i travel.. Just one or two pieces a year are good for me.. c
*big smile ere I leave for the day* Just as well we are all delightfully different. I have never had time for shopping but LOVE clothes: simple and stylish outerwear and delightfully ‘naughty’ beneath!! In 23 years of buying thus [always from sales and ‘throwouts’] I have had one pair of tight shoes, replaced within a week. Find no difficulty waiting 2-4 days for delivery and I pick ‘freight-free’ days! Latest: a dozen pairs pure cotton name-brand bikinis for $A20!!! All my food is bought on line also: supermarket truck tomorrow from 40 kms away – + spices from Sydney, best charcuterie in the ‘world’ from Canberra, salmon and trout products from Tasmania etc. Overnight in chilled containers. Have just bought all the Chrissie beer for the workers here for some $A80 cheaper than it will be by November – oh, give me on line any day . . . and so much fun doing it late at night from my study!!!!
Oh my yes and it’s not because i’m too far away from stores. When I walk into the department store and see all that “stuff” I’m just too overwhelmed and I turn around and high tail it home. It’s okay if I’m looking for a specific, say black dress pants but just to poke through all that “stuff”? Can’t do it. Give me one-click amazon.com any day!
I love the fact that I can shop when I am relaxed after a day’s work and ‘visit’ a number of stores in 5 minutes flat to see what is available – what are they ‘throwing out’ of ends of lines at no price at all! I have my list of ‘neededs’ by my side – if something comes on the market – like a pair of delicious black culottes to ‘wear out’ last night, down from $120 to $10 to get rid of the last few pairs – heavens above: I pounce!!!
I agree absolutely! I hate clothes shopping, all the crowds and noise… so I have bought most of my clothes online for years. Much easier, especially when I live about an hour away from the nearest decent clothes shops, and who has time to do that very often? With my computer I can click my mouse and buy all over the world! I have to confess that I do love the clothes themselves, it’s just the shopping for them I don’t like. And shopping online makes it almost too easy, I have far more clothes than I need! After a while you get an idea of what works for your colouring/shape, and the sizes for different brands. I haven’t started food shopping online yet. There is something about browsing aisles looking at all the choices that I like to do in an actual shop… strange isn’t it, when I can’t stand doing that for clothes!
Oh, Miss Kitty, I LOVE going up and down those isles – but my local s’markets are pretty far away and , hmmm, somewhat ordinary – the one which will deliver tomorrow is about the size of a football field but too distant : there has been a huge increase in mothers with a parcelful of small yelling kids and the elderly sporting walkers etc that find this an absolute blessing!! THEY want one to come back, so the quality is totally ‘hand-picked’ and I usually find a ‘spare’ bag of all the new things on the market as a ‘bonus’! One of our chains delivers free over about $100 per trip – the one I use charges according to time ordered: it can be nought, or $4 – I pay $10 shopping and delivery ’cause I wanted the 8am-11am ‘window’. I top up from a Melbourne warehouse, usually buying basics in whole boxes – toothpaste and sugar and any tins last well past a year . . . pay about 25% or s’market price!! Have no idea of how this works in the US and elsewhere . . . thanks for the comment!
Good luck on your shopping trip. I will need one of those too soon. You can put vinyl decals on it… Flowers! Pigs, cows, and chickens, oh my!
I enjoyed reading your post. Good luck on your truck deal and no worries about only having one good blouse. There’s more to life than clothes. However a little something special never hurts 🙂
http://Www.thetalelighttrekkers.com
Hope the new truck is mechanically sound too, how exciting if all is in good nick. Laura
I think that it is time to buy new knickers and a new blouse.
When i come to France i will.. c
I confess that my favourite undies are the soft, old, comfy ones where the elastic doesn’t dig too much and everything is a little stretched… Every so often I’ve had to retire the worst pairs to a new career as dusters or cleaning rags. I buy quite a lot of my clothes in Op Shops (Goodwill or Thrift shops to US readers), but I do draw the line at previously-loved underwear!
I hope the beige Martha-truck is everything you hope for and gives years of faithful and efficient service.
I just love shopping at the Thrift Shops too Kate! I mean, how can you beat buying a nice pair of jeans for fifty cents or a dollar?! And I always find kitchenware I can use, or pots and pans and such for feeding animals on our small farms. I have decided though, to not buy things, especially shirts, that already look tired, even if they only cost a quarter! 🙂
There are a couple of second hands shops around here and to tell you the truth the clothes are awful but also very expensive.. I have never seen jeans for 50 cents! more like 12 or 15 dollars – where are you shopping>?} c
I’m not so sure why we have so many thrift shops around here! Maybe because it’s a rather depressed area, and we also don’t have many other stores for shopping. But there are thrift stores everywhere, with lots of great deals. And often the thrift shops have half price sales, which is when I usually go! 🙂
And I don’t like the idea of perfectly good things being thrown away. And I recycle nice fabrics into my quilts too, so they get a third life.
Almost every piece of clothing and pair of shoes in my closet came from some kind of thrift shop. I have beautiful classic pieces for under $30(Cdn) which will last me for a loooong time. I have super quality that I simply could not afford new. I also buy simple summer stuff and blouses or T`s that I’m happy to get a couple of seasons out of, then it goes on to a new life somewhere else. At my age I have little use for sweaters, or anything too warm, but I`ve found some lovely wool vests that go over a simple blouse with jeans or leggings. I shop at the Salvation Army Thrift Store, The Goodwill if I can find one, Value Village (Savers in the US I think). And there are 2 others in my city that are run by churches. Sometimes there are deals on baby or children`s items that I wash and pass on to local women`s shelters – they need help and this way I can afford to do that.
3 weeks ago I found a KitchenAid Mixer (bowl lift style), the big one that takes a 6 quart bowl. There was only the body, no bowl or beater – but I can find those fairly inexpensively. So for a $50 initial investment I`ve got a wonderful Christmas gift for my granddaughter who will be so thrilled! (Yes, I plugged it in and ran the devil out of it in the store to make sure there were no wobbles or awful noises or smoke!) I had planned on passing my kitchenaid to her someday, but now there`s no rush.
I love real Irish linen tea towels ($2) or tablecloths (under $10). Every kind of bath or kitchen towels, sheets, handmade quilts or table runners. Bone china mugs ($1) for Christmas gifts – just add special tea, homemade cookies, etc. Dishes, sometimes I find pieces of silver or glass that match my mother`s patterns – long discontinued – what a thrill. The Thrift Store usually sells paperback books for 99 cents, so I don`t mind buying a book, reading it and then taking it to church to stock our `book sale shelves`.
I have so much fun – it`s my entertainment – and lots of times I bring nothing home. There are drawbacks – you need to go often, understand or learn about quality goods, have an eagle eye, be prepared to look at everything. I am super picky about what I will bring home, and there are things I will NOT buy (undergarments, upholstered pieces, plastic to name a few). But there are great rewards, not least of which is keeping things out of landfills.
Hope your truck deal went well. And I`ll bet John knows someone who could get rid of the Martha beige.
Chris S in Canada
Shopping – Hate it…. but necessary so I endure it. Hubby LOVES TO SHOP…. Now isn’t that backwards? Good luck on the truck.
JOhn is like that too – he likes to shop – so i send him to do the groceries!
Dearly wish I could send my John to do groceries but it’d be a disaster. He would not stick to the list and he wants to shop the middle aisles, can you say “Little Debbies”.
Oh I detest shopping too, but have found the perfect substitute by shopping online. Pick your favourite chain and I’ll bet they have an online service too — just google them. “Retail therapy” is something that has never worked with me, not even for a moment; shopping is simply just irritating.
I don’t know from trucks but hopefully yours works out for you as it sounds like you’re really needing its services. Hope Ms C’s great adventure has some fun injected into it. ~ Mame 🙂
So excited about the new/old truck!!! An 8 food bed is a necessity on a farm! Ours was the first thing we bought for our new farming adventure after moving back from Thailand. We weren’t thinking that it should also be a 4 wheel drive pickup, as we do get snow and ice here in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.
And so excited that you’ll be growing your fall garden for awhile! You will love eating your own veggies for a bit longer! And if you cover any root crops you plant, I’m thinking that just maybe they may make it through the winter and you’ll be eating sweet, delicious veggies in March! But, I’m not promising anything! 🙂 We do have milder temps down here! xo
We did do it last year and it was great until a huge avalanche of snow hit the glass top of the warm frame and smashed it.. that was not good! c
Best of luck on the truck and I know you will do well on the covered greens, If I can still be harvesting double covered cold hardy greens for Christmas in Ontario, in my cold area, then I am quite sure you will be just as pleased to be doing the same..
Yes, you do so well with your greens out there – c
Don,t know much about trucks..flat bed or not…but if its what you want,what you need..then you should have it..happy driving MissC
Buying a new truck counts as retail therapy, I’m sure. I do most of mine in food shops 😉
Beige shows dirt like no other color. You’ll have it prettied up in no time!
Excellent..c
I’m hoping we can call it the good luck truck. Clothes are over rated. I have clothes that are more than 20 years old and continue to wear them. I bought my first new bras this weekend. They were on SALE!!!! I didn’t throw out the old. Yet. I’ve found men’s shirts at the thrift store are cheaper and more serviceable for working in than women’s shirts. I don’t feel so bad about what I do to them since I spent so little. I get one new outfit a year, sometimes, at Christmas. If there is anything out there I want to wear. It’s coming to a place where I’ll have to make my own because it’s ugly out there.. Keeping my fingers crossed for your shopping therapy.
I am the same – I should have gone shopping when i was in portland – bet they have some good shops.. c
Yes, we do. I absolutely love it here and have lived all over the world. Well not in the southern hemisphere yet. Can’t do heat. This is a great small town/big city. 🙂
Portland has Value Villages. Excellent thrift shops. Much love, Your penny-pitching Gayle
I so understand the need of a good pick-up truck. Good luck! I hope you like it!
Linda
I bet one of your talented farm workers could paint a fresh peacock or Sheila portrait on that beige truck. My grandmother used to make her girls clothes from bleached flour bags, those days are gone. Safe travels with the new truck!
I can totally relate!
For me the best therapy is a good book and a cup of tea OR a cartoon movie (one I used to watch when I was a kid lol)
Best of luck with the truck deal Celi
Good on your John for finding the truck. We recently bought a pick up and had a devil of a time finding a four wheel drive, four door with a 6-1/2′ bed. The four doors mostly have that stingy 5′ bed. I believe those trucks are for the yuppies in denial and their four wheel drive or tow/haul mode never gets used!
This is exactly why we hand onto BIG GREEN. A 1996 Ford F350 long bed crew cab with the tow package.. a 150K on it. I wish it was 4WD, but alas… you just can’t have it all! 🙂 I can’t wait to see your purchase!! Practical items are always great therapy for farm women!!
Just a little note to say that I find your pictures grounding and nurturing. I’ve had a busy day/week and just seeing the earth, the animals and the colours of the farm and nature has lifted me up. I look forward to reading your blog and seeing your pictures. Thank you for sharing ☺
A new pre-loved Farmy truck, with decals and / or signwriting… thekitchensgarden.com & women farmers rock ♡
YES! The Perfect comment
Nothing is as much fun as adopting a truck looking for a home. (Ones without long beds are simply high schoolers’ ego vehicles)
I hope the new truck works out splendidly! So nice to be able to get something one really needs to make their job a bit easier.
my stress reliever