Handbags & Glad Rags

I know that this is supposed to be a blog about writing - and I will get to that at some point, honestly - but I feel compelled to write about something else that is very dear to my heart. Is it a man? NO. Is it a child? NO. Is it a cat? NO. It’s a handbag. And, before you run off with the impression that I’m a shallow, shell of a woman who thinks of little more than handbags and designer labels, let me put your mind at rest. ish. Well OK - I might just have a bit of an addiction to handbags - but never of the designer label variety. I prefer mine to be a bit more organic - always leather, always dark brown, always big enough to house at least half a mobile library and/or a great dane. I go to work, I live alone, I have no responsibilities other than than the need to provide cat food from small round tins, not larger square trays or (heaven forbid) plastic pouches. So, if I want to pay a fair whack for a lovely new bag, then I will.

However, even I have limits. I have, I feel, found the ultimate bag and it is the first time (I think in my whole life) that I have coverted a so-called designer label. It’s a Mulberry bag. Normally, I scoff at Mulberry - over priced and over fussy (in my humble opinion), but this one is different. This one is, I believe, perfection. And apparently, perfection comes at a cost of £350.

Three-hundred-and-fifty whole English pounds. Alas, I do not have the kind of girly girlfriends who support me in such a purchase. When I emailed one and tentatively raised the subject, her response was: “I could buy TWO of the new top of the range twirly Samsonite suitcases for that!”. Hmmm. Not what I wanted to hear - though I should probably point out that she was a Girl Guide until she was twenty and is now a travel journalist, hence her rather unnatural enthusiasm for suitcases, albeit twirly ones.

Anyhow, I cannot bring myself to stump up that amount of money - even if it is big enough to carry the whole ten pages of my novel-in-progress and “would probably help me write” - so I have a plan. I am going to raise the money by selling some of my worldly goods on Ebay. Oh yes. I am heading for the great car boot sale on the Information Super Highway. So, this weekend, I gathered no less than nine, highly sellable items (including three lovely, large, brown leather handbags, *coughs*) and spent far too long putting them up for sale. They are there now, like my little babies - I feel terribly proud and have to keep going back to peek at progress. Actually, that’s a bit of an under statement; I am currently refreshing the page at a rate of 120 times an hour, and I am extremely offended that there isn’t so much as a sniff for my Without a Trace, Season 1 DVD box set. Do people have no taste?!

That said, I am pleased to report that there are a number of people watching my bags and if they sell, I can probably afford two-thirds of PERFECT BAG and everything will be lovely.

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