This weekend I purchased $200 of items from a farmhouse estate sale, a low amount of money for the sheer volume of fabric, notions, various trinkets and cleanable/repairable things (about 5 full ikea bags of fabric and notions alone). This is always overwhelming once I get everything home, but I can't stop thinking of where these would have gone (especially the fabrics, and probably the trash). Grandmas sewing room didn't have very many visitors at the sale. I think of how much money grandma spent on these textiles made of linen, cotton, and silk. I think of how much I paid for a thin roll of elastic at Joanns. I think of how rare quality natural fabrics are in our world of polyester and throwaway capitalist culture. If I can change that I will. I am happy to make the effort to clean, sort, and reuse or sell these items for buyers who can't really find these anymore. It is a mixture of sadness and gratefulness that my brain is ok with being a racoon digging through grandmas messy storage and ferrying scraps and bits home.
