Monday, 10 November 2025

H is for Handbag*

On Sue's blog (Eating Well etc) way back in the summer she wrote something about Handbags, can't remember what or why but it stuck with me as an idea for a post sometime and then it turned into an idea for H.
*Although it really should be S for Shoulder -bag!
Does anyone under 50 carry a handbag nowadays? A phone and a bank card is all younger people seem to need.
Whereas I seem to be lugging about a whole collection of stuff - just in case! 

My bag was a present last Christmas - from my wish list- but it's a bit annoying as it has so many pockets inside that things get stuck, but I was glad to have it as my last shoulder bag had got very tatty. It has a good long and wide strap for wearing cross body, just needs less inside and it would be a bit lighter.

So I unpacked  my bag and I took out....................

Purse, phone, fold up shopping bag, reading glasses, pen, the olive wood cross that I've carried for years, paracetamol, tatty tissues (ugh), old shopping lists (?), a small notebook, Cheque book (can't remember when it was last used), a small lipstick holder thingy that holds lip-salve and a teeny pair of fold-up scissors and, at the bottom of the bag a handy £1 coin....now back in the purse.


The tissues and shopping lists were chucked but the rest is back in and I'll keep carrying everything else - just in case!

Back Tomorrow




23 comments:

  1. My mother carried the 'motherbag' when she was out with us when we were younger. My 'teacher bag' weighed a ton, without any teaching stuff inside.

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    1. Anyone with young children needs a rucksack! I'm glad those days are long gone

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  2. A very typical collection for many of us.

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  3. Essential contents: phone, purse, hankie, pen, keys. 30 years ago there would also have been a diary, and often a camera - but these are on my phone now.

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    1. I'm still way behind having everything on my phone

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  4. I favour a ‘handbag’ nowadays. The gradual metamorphosis into my mother is now complete!
    Anna

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  5. Very neat and organised. I'm trying not to think of what I might find at the bottom of mine. xx

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  6. I think you can safely leave the cheque book at home. My bag is probably similar. When mine gets too heavy I examine the contents of my change purse! I also always have a tick removal tool - doesn't weigh much and OH does seem to be a tick magnet.

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    1. I think you are right about the cheque book - rarely used, apart from paying for the annual boiler service which is still posted

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  7. I carry a tiny bag, so I can't pop too much inside. Daughter carries just her phone, she also has a smart watch, can use either to pay from here bank account.

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  8. I carry so much in my shoulder bag that I think I really ought to get a rucksack! In reality, however, I rarely need to take my bag out with me.

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    1. I always find rucksacks annoying as they bump into things!

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  9. I carry a backpack or cross body bag nowadays and donated lots of lovely handbags during my last clearout. I carry far too much but am the go to person when anyone needs scissors, plaster, paraceatmol, gaviscon etc. Catriona

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    1. Good to be the 'just in case' person with everything to hand I think

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  10. I don't carry so much nowadays: purse, lipstick,asthma inhaler, tissues,pen,fold-up shopping bag. Doesn't seem much really,when I was teaching I had much more.Carole R

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    1. Next time I'm out I'm going to look at people and see how many have hand bags or shoulder bags.

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  11. I’m the go to for medication, plasters, tissues and wipes, safety pin,… I like to be prepared. I had a bit of a cull of items recently as my shoulder was aching after a while with the current handbag. The above items are rarely needed but you never know. Someone asked me for a pen last week and I didn’t have one! Handbag fail.

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  12. The useful torch and map are on the phone too. I have my small Swiss army knife with scissors and other gadgets, and emergency whistle and a tiny glasses screwdriver.
    Face mask and spare handkerchief and pad in a zip lock bags, soluble aspirin, a pack of tissues, lip salve, mini hand gel and liquid soap, mini sewing kit with safety pins, a few hair ties, small notebook, pen and propelling pencil, a bookmark.
    I carry a small pill bottle with a day’s supply of medicine too, and the useful repeat prescription form with all its information. So many patients turned up with nothing, at the weekend when pharmacy was shut.
    I never put my keys in my handbag.

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  13. It's hard to break the habit of a lifetime, carrying things that 'might come in handy.' I bought a cross-body 'phone carrier, hoping to limit what I carry, but found myself stuffing it with 'might needs' anyway. It is lighter, but . . .

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