Drive to London, Clothing Exchange, Sister Time

Sunday, Apr. 30^th was a busy day from the moment I got up to the time I went to bed at 10. But it was a great busy and I’m glad to have taken part in everything I did. We were up until midnight the previous night so slept in until 7:30 again. I had a tea with Bill and a corn muffin with butter for my breakfast while I posted my blog from Saturday. My pictures today are all about the Clothing Exchange for anyone who has wondered.

This is what a clothing exchange is all about

Brenda and I were so happy to see each other

 We had one smoked ham left in the freezer from our meat purchase at Bentincks last October so I popped it in the crock pot with instructions for Bill to turn it on at a certain time. That was the last thing I needed to do before leaving the Suite today.

Bill loaded the car for me and at 9:30 I was on my way into Durham to pick up my sister, Gayle, at Rockwood where she could leave her car for the day. With her bags in the trunk we drove to Hanover and picked up our other sister, Donna, and her bags. What is in the bags? Purged clothing from our closets!

See why I love this gal? Always a happy smile for me!

The rain was very light when I said goodbye to my boys and left The Ridge and it was a cold 4C windy day. Us girls have learned by now, that when we go to one of these clothing exchanges or 50% off sales at Value Village or Talize, we wear stretch pants and light tops so we can easily try things on without slipping off to a dressing room. But on top of that I wore a long sleeve shirt, boots, winter coat, scarf and ball cap.

By the time we left Hanover at 10:10 the rain had pretty much stopped and lessened within miles. We drove on dry pavement and cloudy skies the whole two and a half hours. Bonus! We arrived at 12:30 about 2 blocks from the hosts home so stopped at a Timmy’s for tea and a muffin. Oh and a nature break.

Kim has a beautiful home, it looks small from the street view but it has a lovely large recreation room downstairs where she had clothes from other purgers spread out. We were going to add a whole trunk full of 8 bags to the mix. There were lots of choices, all sizes, all colours and all styles.

These exchanges are a fabulous idea as it is a way to purge things you don’t like/wear/need and the only stipulation is that they are clean and in like-new condition. It was a great turn out and although Kim, her daughter, Heather and one of my dearest friends, Brenda, were the only ones we knew, it was a great time. We are all sharing the same connection.

With a bag each, the car was much lighter when we left for home at 3:15. In London, the temperature hit 11C which felt nice. The rain started again, naturally, as we approached Stratford (if not sooner) but it was still a nice drive. It was fun sister time, we take turns talking and all have our own stories to share. Because I am at least 4 years younger than my sisters, some things they talk about worry me.

So far, a few things (afflictions) they have dealt with (whether minor or not) I, too, have experienced it at close to the same age. So, when I listen to them I think, “oh no, this is what I’ll have to deal with in a few years”. They laughed at that and said ‘not necessarily’ even though we share the same parents, blood, it doesn’t guarantee that.

When I got between Harriston and Clifford I needed to stop and fill the car up with gas at the Pioneer. My sisters generously donated to the cause, grateful that I did the driving. From our trip down we knew the price was .06 cents cheaper there than in Hanover or Durham so I topped up at $1.06/litre. So, for my American friends, this was approx. $40 for 38 litres which is equal to 10 US gallons.

Without going into the whole dollar exchange, which we all know about, your gas price is what? $1.94/gal in Arizona and Illinois, $2.51/gal in California? Doing the math, for 10 U.S. gallons I would have made the same purchase yesterday for less than $25. The search here for gas and diesel is to save a few cents on the price and I have a feeling it is going to get worse over the summer. Just another “oh well”.

When I arrived home at 6:30 after dropping the girls off, Bill had let Clemson out to greet me at the car door as I opened it. The wind was powerful up on The Ridge so I rushed my purse, camera and clothing bag into the Suite, happy to close the door behind me. Besides a nice kiss from my sweetie, what greeted me was the warmth and the lovely aroma of the ham. Having really only snacked all day I was hungry and ready for this.

The best of friends
NOTE: Check out the sign above my head, says it all between us

Bill suggested something simple like beans on the side and that suited me just fine rather than prepare rice or a salad. The ham was delicious and we have enough leftovers for a couple of meals for sure. I was tired from the drive and had no desire to open my computer. Instead I read through the grocery flyers and watched American Pickers and Madame Secretary before crawling up into bed with Clemson.

The wind had picked up and yet I was happy to have the 40-60 km winds last night that were originally forecast for Monday night. I hope you all had a nicer weather day than Bill did here at The Ridge. Sometimes it is nice to have inside days but too many in a row can make the walls close in. Sorry about the lack of photos today, I was driving so no travel pictures were taken.

Thank you for reading my late post today. All comments are welcome!