Some Girls Love Handbags

Some girls love handbags. But I am not some girls. Oh no, I am in the beginnings of a brand new love affair with a bag. A bag of such marvellousness I am astounded by its brilliance. A bag I find out more about every day...and love more and more. A bag unlike any other I've had before. A bag of joy. Of yellow linings and waterproof zips. Of velcro and clip fastenings. Of more pockets than even I would have thought of. A bag that is, quite simply, the C bag.

For a while now I've been yearning for an alternative bag for my Brompton – the one I inherited with the bike is great (can't remember what they call it, but it's basically a big boxy type affair you can get shed loads in...but is a nightmare to carry around when not attached to said Brompton) and after being alerted to the fact (in fairness several years ago, but good things come to those who ponder) that there are manufacturers of super cool panniers out there, I thought I'd go on the hunt. Now, the market for designed-for-Bromptons bags is fairly limited but it seems I've managed to be in the right era – because the C bag is a “second generation” bag. And it seems the improvements on the first go round are just plain marvellous. There's even a pocket I've yet to decide how to use! But I'm sure it'll be very useful when I do get round to deciding. Anyways, it's a super marvellous, very carryable, with bonus reflective bits to keep me safe while pedalling around courier-style bag made of super strong stuffs and it looks entirely durable. How it will fare with my kind of (ab)use time will tell, but it's ace all the same.

Even more so because my dearest Papa bought it for me for my birthday. Warm fuzzies all around.

However, somewhat more topical to the rest of the world is this whole affair of the snow. My fingers are very cold just now but that's more due to inadequate glovage than the snow specifically. My biggest concern has been whether or not to bring Billy (my Brompton) down to London for this weekend's jaunt and whether London had gone silly on the snow front but on reflection, London's proven more silly as a pedestrian than a cyclist in the snow previously and I expect it'll be much the same this time around. Plus I love the self-sufficiency of having a bike in London. No having my life determined by night buses and train timetables, or striking tube workers or, well, any of it. Huzzah. I've got a particularly vivid memory from last winter of walking back in the snow from Brixton one evening and the pavement being an absolute (and entirely unfun) ice-rink whereas the road had been well gritted and was a much better option. Give me a bike in the snow in London any day.

That said, give me a job within walking distance of my house with snow the rest of the time. I've really enjoyed living so close to work this past 7 months or so and in “extreme weather” it seems even more marvellous. (Marvellous seems to be the word of the day today. I make no apologies. Marvellous.) Yesterday as the “blizzard” was setting in and the folk I work with were being sent home I was merrily settling in for an afternoon pootling around in the office on my own. Bring out the Bose and with relatively little coming through on the phones I had a brilliant afternoon which ended with a rather unexpected chat which gave me a big ol' hunk of food for thought.

Watering my lavender plant got a lot easier – I could just open the velux, scoop up some snow / icy snow and pop it in the pot to melt in due course. Unlike my usual trick of watering too quickly and it going everywhere but the soil of the plant pot.

Hmm. Curious. Wakefield Westgate northbound platform has a bunch of luggage trolleys in the snow along the snowy bit of the platform. Seven that I can see, in fact. But why? I don't normally see them on platforms and the one closest to me should, apparently, not be taken away from York Station. Mystery.

Anyway, yet again the country has been gripped (or the media leads us to believe has been gripped) by snow panic. I love the snow. It doesn't panic me. Yes, extra precautions should be taken and recklessness is just silly, but overall snow, and particularly this amount of snow, is really magical. It's water. But frozen in a special way so it piles up in white mounds which, at their best, are fluffy and powdery and sparkle in the light. Of course, it does cause real problems for many people, in particular making moving around even more treacherous than usual, but it's also one of those magical things about nature / the planet / the existence we reside in.

My ability to move around in the midst of significant snow-fall in Britain is also an interesting reflection. Factoring in an additional hour or so on my journey, travelling during Snowville periods is often more pleasant than usual – what would usually be a very busy commuter-time train to London is sparsely filled with passengers – I have a table of 4 seats to myself and from what I've seen at stations we've already passed that's not going to change much. There are a number of windows in the train (including the one opposite mine) where the outer pane has shattered through an impact – I heard someone say they thought it was people throwing snow balls at the train. If so, boo. Not good form in the slightest.

So that's me. Snow and bike bags. The essence of marvellousness.