Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

So. D'ya miss me?

Long time, no post - I know. I have two iron-clad excuses - a serious medical event in the family, and a new job which has about doubled my working hours. Between the two, my free time is minimal and my emotional/creative energy almost non-existent. I've only just picked up some sewing again.

But now I'm back, and I'm back with a rant.

Week 8: The charity shop pile

The last two weeks have been a bit insane here - my mother has been in hospital and I've spent a week in the UK to be near her, which has also meant a lot of work piling up here. So in this context, I think i'ts probably okay that I have missed a week, and that this week's step in the Simples challenge is a bit of a cheat.

Charity shop haul

One of the things I miss most about England is the vast array and variety of charity shops. I grew up in a small Bucks town, and the high street had more charity shops than newsagents, grocers, supermarkets and cafes combined.

In Brussels, there is much less of a culture of this kind of shop. In fact, I have only been able to identify two such shops in the whole of Brussels, and one of them is on my street. Yippee!

They are staffed by volunteers and so have opening hours which mean I very rarely get inside. However, on Saturday, I walked past and saw a coat in the window that I fell in love with, so I worked through lunch on Monday to be able to leave work early and I dashed to the Oxfam.