A well-stocked larder / closet

Ever since we moved to Nairobi and had a huge larder, it's given me great joy to be well-stocked when it comes to food. In France, our kitchen cupboard isn't that big but it is deep. Plus, I love the fact that we leave it semi-full, so that there is a meal ready for anyone who shows up. Here in Saint John, we have a walk-in pantry with shelves up to the ceiling, and while we haven't re-organised it from Michelle & Bojan's set-up, we have continued to stock pile all sorts of yummies.

Well, the desire to have lots of food for the drop-in visitors or whims (and we are ever so fortunate here in Canada) or snowy days (like today) has influenced our approach to clothing our kids ... What with hand-me-downs (including some vintage Wedge & Crawley items); 2nd hand bargain hunting in the blood; birthday and Christmas and plain any old time gift-givers for grandparents; and our adoration of a French vide grenier/communal garage sale (I mean where else can you shop for brand-name clothes that have been barely worn and carry a glass of wine?!), we have oodles of clothes for the kids. I do, however, draw the line at on-line purchases; besides, it's not as much fun, though I guess you could do it with a glass of wine in your hand.

There are always holes in the shopping; it's difficult to get decent pyjamas 2nd hand and trousers are getting harder to find. We never go for 2nd hand shoes either, so that knocks a big hole in the clothing budget every 6 months.

My guilty housewife secret is that I take perverse satisfaction in carefully sorting and labelling the boxes for different ages and stages. I get them out from time to time to make sure I haven't mis-labelled something that a child is going to outgrow before wearing. I even photographed the clothes that we left in France for next summer, so that I wouldn't get carried away here and double/triple buy (see photos). Adage: a bargain's not a bargain if you don't need it.

Why can't there be more colour in our lives? This comes from someone who fell for a guy whose pants are officially described as "drab" in the store catalogue. I kid you not. We nicknamed them "Blah". I am happy to say that he wears a bit more colour now.