risking it for a biscuit (or two)...

last night, i risked it for a biscuit...

as i drove Our #4 to soccer practice i was overcome with melancholy thoughts of 'yonks ago' when time appeared to be on my side and a carefree attitude as to how i spent it, was mine.

so i turfed Our #4 out at the soccer sidelines and made a bee line for our local thrift store, hence risking it for a biscuit. for indeed that is just what it was, for in times of late, our local thrift store has been more pants than peachy in its offerings. the truth of the matter is, the shelves of despair on every visit are filled with crappity crap, so much so, it had caused me to stop frequenting it. i was given no choice but to widen the circumference (a mathematical word especially added to this ramble for my dad) of my 'thrifty turf' when it came down to jolly thrifty days out.

as i pulled into the parking lot it felt like old times again. upon opening the door i was greeted by familiar faces behind the tills ~ a smile ~ a nod ~ an acknowledgement of my existence ~ it felt grand to be back on home hunting ground.

i picked up a wheelie basket, thinking a trolly would not be necessary from past experiences and set out upon my usual route, first left, (clippity clop), down the aisle, (clippity clop), labelled knick knacks, (clippity clop)

(best point out here, the sound affects are not of me on a horsey, for a horsey i do not have, nor me on a goat, for a goat i do own but it lives in foreign climes doing good deeds for others, no the clippity clopping was my clogs, for nothing saying 'thrifting with intent' then a pair of peachy clogs on your feet)

i felt my journey down the aisle of forsaken souls one of folly, for it has been the longest days and nights since finding a little lost soul waiting patiently for me. but it would appear, today was a day, my folly ways were not in vain, for sitting there, up high (sensibly for one of such a delicate disposition) slightly apart from the others, (which i took as shyness rather than aloofness), was a mother cat and her kittens. i noted her kittens must have been quite pesky for she had to keep them on a leash, less they wander off, fall over the edge and come to a hideously horrid end on the floor several shelves below. yes they were living a high rise life up there at the top and being a sensible mother she was taking no risks.

my heart skipped a beat, very carefully i checked her bottom, my head had already told me 'japan' but i needed confirmation and there it was in the way of a very nice slightly loved but still very obvious, 'japan' sticker. it was this moment that reminded me of what joy a small little find of ceramic wonder can bring when out and about pottling the shelves and racks of despair. how the rarity of the situation i had found myself in was quite remarkable. years gone by, ceramic friends were two a penny but now those days are gone... chances of finding one or two (truly peachy ones) a year are low in recent times. i marveled at my good fortune as i carefully uploaded my feline friends into my wheelie basket and rattled along with them through the rest of the store, pondering important things such as names, listening to their tale of woe...

oh good grief! this is not the thrilling jolly post i have planned, i fear if i go any further it will head into a deep hole of melancholiness filled with looking back on the past few years and how things have changed, bleargh bleargh and bleargh.

"get a grip Tif!" i hear you cry

"quite right" say i

do not fret nor fear for my grippy ways dearest readers, they are all still intact, just slightly, ever~so~slightly, off track. but all there when i last looked...

although some may think otherwise

Tif