Second Hand Rose

One thing we have learned is not to carry a lot of clothes around with us from one housesit to the next. We have been doing this since last December and are in our tenth month. That means we have gone through a winter, spring, summer and now fall.

Here is what we do:

1. Keep one good business suit for me for when I have to do workshops.

2. Store some clothes with our good friends in Sechelt and pick them up from time to time.

3. Go the thrift shops every season and give them all our old summer clothes that we are sick of.

4. At the same time we pick up the new things we need.

For example, today, I needed a sweater and some gloves and a winter work blouse. So off we went to St. Vincent De Paul's. Now this is our favourite thrift shop of all of them. I picked up some little wool gloves for fifty cents, a blouse for three dollars and had to have a super lightweight jacket for four bucks. That is all I probably need for the season now and it cost me less than $10. We never buy retail, I mean never.

It helps that, as house and petsitters we are not expected to look polished or anything, but we look neat and clean and who cares if we wear a few outfits over and over. I mean, it is not as if anyone is going to see us day after day.

The only thing I couldn't do without is my sheepskin slippers. Houses are a lot colder in the winter than our condo and I had to pick these up in Sechelt last December. They were pricey, but my Christmas gift. They are made right in Sechelt and they will always repair them for free.

When I think of all the clothes we are storing in those giant bins in Delta it makes me wonder what we needed them for. So think simple, think flexible and tune in for more of the adventures of the Accidental Housesitters.