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I'm having a love affair with the local GoodWill stores. It began quietly and has quickly sunk... errr.... blossomed into so much more. GoodWill just has so much to offer out here. Not all GoodWill stores are created equal. The stores in Newmarket are often kind of grungy and I tend to leave there feeling I've made an escape from something kind of sad and tawdry. But, the GoodWill in Barrie, that's an experience. Light on the ageing computer accessories true, but full of amazing bargains in kids clothes, second hand books, knock about furniture and odds and ends you wouldn't likely see anywhere else. First, I was looking for baby clothes to fit a Raggedy Ann doll. I wanted a quick cheat, something ready-made, off the rack rather than hand sewing designer outfits for the rag doll myself. Raggedy Ann just isn't the haute couture type. She needs your outgrown, second hand, cleaning rag type wear. Of course, among the racks at GoodWill you can find designer labels along with hand knit sweaters. But, I choose carefully, looking for things which have had some wear and are less likely to be bought again. I get the slightly pilling sweaters, the dresses with nearly invisible stains and the frilly outfits with teensy rips. It was easy to fill a shopping cart with second hand Raggedy suitable clothes. I moved onto the section for fancy things like vases, book ends and dish ware. Not much really perked my interest there. Some things I was unable to identify, some I guessed at, those were the most interesting but I didn't want to give them a new home. I admit, the Olympic glassware from a generation back was tempting but how many of those does one Canadian really need to own? I did buy a neat thing for my nephew, one of those metal balancing puzzles which had a moment of popularity at least 15 years ago. I wound up looking at the geekery, feeling superior to the electric typewriters, even though it wasn't all that long ago I was doing data entry on one of those very dinosaurs. Old computer parts lined the bottom shelf. Poking around them made me feel like an archaeologist on a grand dig for ancient goodies and treasured fossils. However, the real obsession began in the book aisle. Do you know how many uses there are for old books? Do you really? I've been making a list and adding more ideas as they occur to me. Beyond the tradition reading venture, old books have so much extra potential. They truly are an untapped resource. For instance, you don't have to feel too bad about cutting pictures out of an old book. You can scan them into a new art form, like a collage. You can chop them and repaste them into something completely unrecognizable to the original artist, assuming they have outlived the book itself. Old books can be used to raise your computer monitor to just the right height, preventing that terrible numbness and ache. Old books are ergonomical delights. I won't give away any of my other ideas and discoveries, a designing woman has to have a few secrets. Just know, should you see me attaching myself to the racks of recyclable unknowns, dusty books, raggedy clothes, tinkly glass items or geekware at your local Goodwill, give me some space. I do bite.
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