What’s in your bag?
I went through the contents – my youngest daughter calls it ‘editing the bag’ – and was nonplussed to discover two packets of Nigella seeds. Nigella, or Love-in-a-mist, is a cottage garden annual, which attracts bees and other pollinators, and self-seeds readily. It has pretty flowers in shades of blue amidst a froth of finely cut leaves. I have no idea why the seed packets were in my bag. There are no expiry dates on them, so we’ll plant them and see what happens.
There were also a couple of receipts, one for a railway ticket - I haven’t travelled by train for many years – and the other for a family ‘birthday lunch’ ten years ago when we used to do such things.
Ultimately, the editing, though interesting, was unnecessary as something cropped up to prevent me attending the funeral.
Most items in your bag makes sense except the seeds lol Why do you carry them to a funeral?
ReplyDeleteI don't know why they were in there - very odd!
DeleteWhere do you put your essentials when you leave the house? I carry a comb, car keys, spare pen, lipstick, cash, credit cards, driver's license, photos of the family, mobile phone, shopping list, silk scarf in winter, tissues and printed blog notes to edit if I get to the coffee shop too early. When the grandchildren were young and the labrador alive, I also carried special food bits :)
ReplyDeleteYour small sewing kit was a great idea.
When my children were young my bag was full of 'just in case' items, most of which were never required. Most days, I use pockets . . .
DeleteMy bags are all currently empty. I have a couple of backpacks, one large, one small and two handbags and I keep them empty, just putting in whatever essentials I might need at the time. For a funeral I'd say a bag is definitely necessary. Where else can you stash enough tissues to see you through the weeping? Other days, where I'm going and how long I'll be away from home dictate what I put in a bag. Most common items are a notebook and pen, hankies that I can dampen for wiping sticky fingers, sunglasses or reading glasses if I am wearing the sunnies, a small zipbag with comb, bandaids, antihistamine tablets, nail file, nail clippers, tape measure. If I am going to be away more than a couple of hours there will be a bottle of water too. Necessities like cash, house keys and bus pass live in my roomy jacket pockets.
ReplyDeleteI use pockets most of the time, unless I'm going out for the day, an increasing rarity.
DeleteI hope the seeds grow.
ReplyDeleteSo do I!
DeleteAmazing what lurks in the bottom of bags.
ReplyDeleteI wish it could be a Mary Poppins bag - that would be really useful.
DeleteI love Nigella but especially when they go to seed! The seed heads are wonderful and so easy to dry…and then you have next year’s seeds.
ReplyDeleteI’d have been very happy to have found them in my bag!
Enjoy the weekend! 😁
They are such pretty, rewarding flowers.
DeleteI suppose the moist towelettes had dried up. Aside from the seeds, I think the contents of your bag are quite reasonable, especially when I think of my mother's bulging handbag. There wasn't a kitchen sink, but there was everything else.
ReplyDeleteYou're right - the wet wipes were no longer wet.
ReplyDeleteMy bag used to carry everything when my children were young - it was an emergency room in miniature.
Such useful contents! xx
ReplyDeleteThat's the idea!
DeleteYou really made me laugh with "I travel light" ! And why carry a handbag for a funeral ? I put a tissue, my spray and my credit card case in different pockets so I have my hands free. When I go shopping I only take my spray and the credit cards with me and of course my mobile ! When I have to carry a handbag mine are all very small and I only have 4, two in leather and two in fabric. I am not a "lady", light, practical and easy. Today it rains again ! This morning I watched a bit the BBC and our TV both countries are in election fever ! Fortunately we don't have a criminal and an antique as candidates !
ReplyDeleteI am a 'just in case' person, so things get added that will probably not get used.
DeleteBut at least this way you'll be able to plant those beautiful blue flower seeds. Some of the other items sound like they need to go back in the person stay there. Sewing kit and handy wipes for example.
ReplyDeleteMost things go back. I'm not good at decluttering anything, even a bag.
DeleteInteresting contents in your very cute pockabook as we would pronounce pocketbook in Boston. Those flowers look so pretty. I hope the seeds bloom for you. My mother was a fan of Chanel No. 5. So many people, here, balk about scents. I haven't worn perfume in decades. When I did wear perfume I was partial to Yves St. Laurent Rive Gauche and Chanel No. 19. Now I usually just carry my phone and credit cards/cash in a magnetic pouch that attaches to my phone. Talk about minimalist
ReplyDeleteIt's better to be minimalist if you can manage it. Usually, I can't.
DeleteI wondered if you had perhaps been given the seeds at a previously attended funeral - I've known people give them out to plant in memory of the deceased whose particular favourite flower they were......that's a complicated sentence that probably makes no sense at all!
ReplyDeleteChanel number 5 - nice .
Alison in Wales x
Giving packets of seeds at a funeral is a nice idea, but I know that's not how I acquired them. 'Tis a mystery never to be solved.
DeleteIt's fascinating what ends up in our handbags!
ReplyDeletePockets are interesting, too.
DeleteI love pockets and do without a bag as much as possible (though I have one in the car with necessities so I'm not really doing without it, am I?).
ReplyDeleteYou're covering every eventuality. Very sensible!
DeleteInteresting contents, the tickets and the seeds though...that's odd, especially since you don't know where they came from or why you have them. I used to carry a big purse back when I was a mom and when I was working from an office. After Covid and now working remotely I just have a little crossbody bag I wear when I go shopping. I recently went on a trip to Arizona and in every picture I'm wearing the crossbody and it really detracts from my pretty blouses which didn't make me too happy.
ReplyDeleteThat made me smile. It would have been quite a palaver to take the bag off for every photograph.
DeleteAccording to a web search, nigella seeds only last one to two years. But I'd try growing them, anyway! I used to grow them f but didn't have the best luck with them but they were pretty. Your post reminds me of the time when we were helping my late mother in law downsize in preparation for a move. She must have had 30 or more purses. We went through each one. It was interesting.
ReplyDelete30 seems excessive, but then, if you have a different one for different outfits, it's not really surprising.
DeleteWell the seeds surprised me! I hope they grow.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
So do I! :-)
DeleteYo por lo general no llevo muchas cosas. Tu bolso es muy lindo y util.
ReplyDeleteGracias :-)
DeleteLindo bolso, a mi tampoco me gusta llevarlos. Te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteGracias:-)
DeleteThis could have been my bag, altho' with the Love in the Mist seeds could have been some California Poppy seeds as I've lost them!
ReplyDeleteI hope you find your poppy seeds before the season is over.
DeleteEvery once in a while, I edit the contents of my bag but while there might be one or two surprises, they have never included packets of seeds :-) xxx
ReplyDeleteIt's a first for me, too :-)
ReplyDeleteThe seeds are an odd thing to have in the bag lol. I don't often carry a bag. I bet if I looked in mine it would have some odd things in it lol. Probably whatever I shoved in there the last time I used it!
ReplyDeleteIt's almost as good as keeping a diary ;-)
DeleteAll my bags are empty at the moment but I always found that whatever the size of bag it was soon filled with 'stuff'. Now I mostly manage with large coat pockets. Doesn't help in the summer when no coat is needed. Oh well, maybe just a small bag!
ReplyDeleteI mainly manage with pockets, too, but on 'special' occasions I resort to a bag.
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