Trousseau For Carmel - What To Bring - Suggestions Welcome!

[faithcecelia]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1319248396' post='2324932']
The hard thing for me is that we are heading into summer here and I will be going to the UK in the winter, so finding appropriate clothing might not be too easy! There might be some sales on now but I can't get to a large shopping area until at least Thanksgiving (going to Melbourne to be with family then) and by then we will be really hot here - and I'm sure there will be no winter clothes left. *sigh* And I got rid of most of my cold clothes when I went to Perth because it is really hot there.
[/quote]


Could you ask your friend you will be staying with to get you a few bits? Would save you carrying them over too.

[Aya Sophia]

Or, could you order a few things online from UK companies and have them shipped directly to where you'll be in the UK? I'm considering doing this for a few items, instead of buying them in the US and adding them to my bags to carry over there.

[Aya Sophia]

Just finished a very fruitful shopping trip so have ended up getting everything here (will either pack and ship or take with me)

- black snood/hat (a tube-shaped hat that surrounds your neck and covers your head) for outdoors
- work gloves for outdoors
- boots for tromping around outside
- shoes for indoors - black, sturdy, roomy, good coverage, easy to kneel down in and get up - perfect for postulancy
- knee socks
- sports bras
- wind-up flashlight (not 100% sure I'll keep this as, to turn it off you have to press the button twice - if you press once it starts flashing and engages a couple of orange lights on the side, also flashing! Only thing missing is a siren! So, good for SOS in the woods but perhaps not the best for a cell in Carmel. May look further for this item.)
- metal pencil sharpener

Still would like to get couple of pairs of heavy socks for wearing in the boots while tromping around. Saw the type in Walmart but they were for men, Size 6-12 which I assume would be too big for a woman with size 8ft.

[Aya Sophia]

Re: Faith's note on "flannels"/washcloths, the Sisters at Kirk Edge use linen cloths for washing in the cell that are large enough so that you can dedicate one end for one use and the other for another (!) Still, last year I brought and used a couple of small, lightweight (meant for travel so they dry quickly) washcloths for face only and will do so again, if permitted.

[brandelynmarie]

I like the idea of little light-weight washcloths.

[mme_hardy]

(Thread drift of SHAAAAAME)
[quote name='brandelynmarie' timestamp='1319249574' post='2324941']
Well, I [i]have [/i]heard of fried corn from a friend in Missouri...You take a couple cans of corn & some flour, salt & pepper & throw it into a skillet of butter or bacon fat & fry it up. Apparently, it is a southern thing.
[/quote]
My husband makes a California-cuisine version of this that is fantastic. Take fresh corn, chop kernels off cob, cook sloooowly in butter and onions until the corn caramelizes a bit. Mmmm, corn.

Edited to add something useful: You convert from women's sizes to men's sizes by subtracting two sizes. So a woman's size eight is a man's size six -- those socks just might fit.

Edited October 22, 2011 by mme_hardy

[Aya Sophia]

Thanks for the tip on the socks - v helpful (much less attractive a topic of conversation, I know, than fried peas - or corn and flour and butter and...whatever! So, thanks for your effort and sacrifice! )

Edited October 22, 2011 by Aya Sophia

[brandelynmarie]

[quote name='Aya Sophia' timestamp='1319311036' post='2325245']
Thanks for the tip on the socks - v helpful (much less attractive a topic of conversation, I know, than fried peas - or corn and flour and butter and...whatever! So, thanks for your effort and sacrifice! )
[/quote]


Yes, I didn't think you could do that! Even though I have big feet anyways, . So sorry we keep hijacking your thread Aya!

[Aya Sophia]

Not to worry - I just look at the hijacking as: my buds keeping the thread warm for me will I'm busy doing other things!

[brandelynmarie]

You are so kind.

[Antigonos]

[quote name='mme_hardy' timestamp='1319310480' post='2325242']
(Thread drift of SHAAAAAME)

My husband makes a California-cuisine version of this that is fantastic. Take fresh corn, chop kernels off cob, cook sloooowly in butter and onions until the corn caramelizes a bit. Mmmm, corn.

Edited to add something useful: You convert from women's sizes to men's sizes by subtracting two sizes. So a woman's size eight is a man's size six -- those socks just might fit.
[/quote]

Another tip for sizing socks. Make a fist, and wrap the sock, from heel to toe, around your fist, loosely. If the ends meet, it is your correct size.

[marigold]

[quote name='Aya Sophia' timestamp='1319309262' post='2325238']
Just finished a very fruitful shopping trip so have ended up getting everything here (will either pack and ship or take with me)

- black snood/hat (a tube-shaped hat that surrounds your neck and covers your head) for outdoors
- work gloves for outdoors
- boots for tromping around outside
- shoes for indoors - black, sturdy, roomy, good coverage, easy to kneel down in and get up - perfect for postulancy
- knee socks
- sports bras
- wind-up flashlight (not 100% sure I'll keep this as, to turn it off you have to press the button twice - if you press once it starts flashing and engages a couple of orange lights on the side, also flashing! Only thing missing is a siren! So, good for SOS in the woods but perhaps not the best for a cell in Carmel. May look further for this item.)
- metal pencil sharpener

Still would like to get couple of pairs of heavy socks for wearing in the boots while tromping around. Saw the type in Walmart but they were for men, Size 6-12 which I assume would be too big for a woman with size 8ft.
[/quote]

You know, trying to find good winter knee socks that stay up is the bane of my life at the moment. I've pretty much stopped looking in women's departments (I have a theory they make women's clothes to lower quality) but even in the men's section of hiking/mountaineering shops there only seems to be these flimsy little things that would hardly cover your shins. I would count socks sliding down to your ankles in the Top 5 of Massively Irritating Things In The Convent.

I did buy some excellent granny boots yesterday. They are brown faux leather and wool-lined, good for 6-month winters! I am becoming the babushka I have always been on the inside

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='marigold' timestamp='1319382752' post='2325659']

You know, trying to find good winter knee socks that stay up is the bane of my life at the moment. I've pretty much stopped looking in women's departments (I have a theory they make women's clothes to lower quality) but even in the men's section of hiking/mountaineering shops there only seems to be these flimsy little things that would hardly cover your shins. I would count socks sliding down to your ankles in the Top 5 of Massively Irritating Things In The Convent.

I did buy some excellent granny boots yesterday. They are brown faux leather and wool-lined, good for 6-month winters! I am becoming the babushka I have always been on the inside
[/quote]

If you go on [url="http://www.onehanesplace.com"]www.onehanesplace.com[/url] they sell knee socks called "The Softest Socks in the World." And they are! They are also very thick and they STAY UP! Yes, the knee socks are $6.00 a pair, but that is half their normal price!

[Aya Sophia]

[quote name='marigold' timestamp='1319382752' post='2325659']
I am becoming the babushka I have always been on the inside
[/quote]

Ah, but do you have a little old black wool shawl with ratty fringes to cover your head with? (I'd give you mine but it's on my "Using Until the Very Last Minute" list....sorry. )

[Lisa]

I've decided that, Lord Willing, when I have been accepted, I will ask for you all to help me find my entrance list. Your shopping for nun-appropriate items is bar-nun (get it??? haha, I crack myself up!)