Duct Tape, Eyebrow Pencil and Tinted Lip Salve

My best friend gave me a Kath Kidston bag for my 50th, well over 7 years ago. I drag it around with me everyday and it is my life in miniature. When I arrive at a clients house to clean, they often apologise for the mess and have usually spent a frantic time tidying up because the cleaner is coming. I show them my bag and say - this is a very small version of my house. But as most of them didn’t interview me in my house, they have no idea how accurate this is. Which is just as well or I might not have clients. Well - I could probably hold on to the Auction Mart!

As my bag was getting heavier and heavier and like the rest of my house, was out of control, I decided to clear it out in the hope that this would be a springboard to my cupboards which spill out in a tangle of useless items which I regularly push back in and have to lean against the doors in order to get them to shut.
I made a list of the contents contained within the red and white spotted bag - I tend to operate out of the top layer, so really had little idea of what lay in its depth.
9 masks (loose) plus 3 homemade and 2 half empty packs.
loose and crumpled dog poop bags - all empty, thankfully.
Postage price list. (Clearly ignored as I sold a book for £10 + postage of £5. It cost £30 to send to America.)
many many crumpled receipts.).
Solio rivet links (en route to Papa Munro)
note pads x 5 small and one large.
train ticket to Mallaig on 6th October. (To meet The Goat Lady and my best friend (and bag purchaser) for coffee.).
Almost empty tube of toothpaste.
Small pack hankies.
tinted lip salve.
disposable gloves.
lightbulb. (Removed from a premise so that I could buy the correct size to replace - there are a LOT of different bloody sizes out there.). Unfortunately I can no longer remember which premise I removed it from.
USB plug.
11 old batteries (waiting for me to decide where they should be disposed of and ultimately had become disposed of in my bag.).
Dog comb (you never know when he’ll need a quick groom.).
many sets of keys, one set of which is for a house sold at the start of 2020 - I wonder if they changed the lock?)
Loose dog snacks.
Pen that doesn’t work.
Clean pants (really have no recollection of putting them there. They are mine but must have fallen off the clothes horse into the chasm.).
eyebrow pencil.
Prescription dog tablets (no idea what for as the writing is worn.).
cheque book (some people do have those.).
purse.
diary.
opera rose acrylic paint tube.

I removed everything deemed unnecessary, applied the eyebrow pencil and tinted lip salve and dressed in my favourite ex Danish Naval issue dungarees, my mums old pink jumper which is unravelling on one arm and my lovely cashmere scarf, also purchased by my best friend who should know better than to buy me cashmere. She was tut-tutting at the woolly, washed state of it (at least I wash it) but thankfully never noticed the burn holes - I must have worn it whilst burning scrub at the back of the yard, and I went off to town to do my Christmas shopping.

Merry Christmas and may your own bags be full of surprises. Xx

Refreshed and ready for another year.

Duct tape will be applied over the years, as required.