Monday 7th October - Something sensational to do in a cafe

"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train"


"A        H A N D B A G???????"

Oscar Wilde - from "The Importance of Being Earnest"

I've emerged from a weekend and spent the morning having an enjoyable jaunt around the town. I started in M and S; (as they have nice clean accessible loos!) I was taken a back to find Very Fancy Loo Paper for a semi-public convenience:

but  then, there are only 11 Mondays left before Christmas, and I had been enjoying looking at their display of Christmas Decorations as I made my way through the shop. Seriously - I'm not being ironic, or sarcastic or anti-let's-get-ready-for-Christmas! I'm feeling very up-beat about Christmas at the moment.

Followed by a coffee in their café; if this is their idea of "regular", I will try and remember to choose "small" next time.

I used to time to do what I often do; see what's going on in my handbag. I discovered that I had all this in the section of my wallet that I use for café loyalty cards, library cards and stamps;

and a guitar pick?

Further investigation uncovered the fact that I have another 24 credit cards, entry cards, loyalty cards and business cards inside my wallet. Two dozen?? I managed to chuck out two of them, after careful consideration.

I like going through my wallet and handbag from time to time. It's a bit like opening a Christmas Stocking. You are never quite sure what you will find. It whiles away a pleasant ten minutes or so in a café, and there are always a few surprises along the way. If there is more time to fill, I can always look through the little notebook I keep for jotting down odds and ends; lists, quotations, observations, even the odd little sketch.

I finished off by writing a postcard to a friend; (I keep a few in my handbag for exactly this purpose). As it happened, one of them was a Christmassy sort of picture, which exactly fitted my mood. I hope the recipient enjoys the unseasonal picture as much as I did.

Then a trip to the post office, because although I had First Class Large Letter and First Class Ordinary Stamps, and Second Class Large Letter stamps, and World Wide Postcard Stamps, and European Postcard Stamps, I couldn't find any Ordinary Second Class Stamps. So I bought TWO books to keep me going. Hmm. That's a net weight gain for the contents of my wallet and handbag. Perhaps if I spend some more money that will lighten things up a bit.