Village Life

Two quotes to warm the cockles of your hearts and make you long for the good old days:

All the children's knitting supplies have been made for them by adults of the community: wool sheared from sheep on the farm and spun into yarn at the mill or by hand, double-pointed needles in sets of five made by the cooper, and baskets handwoven by the village basket maker...

-Susan Strawn Bailey, "Knitting in the Amanas," Piecework, Sept/Oct 2997, p. 18.

and

On the main street of most small country towns, you can start with a list that includes mouse-traps, odd bits of hardware, a nut to fit this bolt, knitting wool, the groceries, a pair of jeans, a call at the bank, a note to see the lawyer, and at the end of two blocks it's done.  Then, well satisfied, you can pop into a tearoom and have a coffee with a home-baked biscuit and strawberry jam.

-Midge Ellis Keeble, Tottering in My Garden: A Gardener's Memoir (Camden East, ON: Camden House, 1989), p. 65.  

On the other hand, leaving the village and sourcing from anywhere and everywhere certainly gets you a wider selection of goods and services.