It occurred to me yesterday that my old Dockers handbag, which has served me well these past 5-6 years, was not only looking a bit shabby but was also probably not quite big enough to “do London” with…meaning that I’ll have to be carrying a few extra things with me while I am out and about next week. And then I remembered that I saw a nice line of bags in my friend Maria’s shop, so yesterday morning I stopped by to try a couple on. Turned out this bag by Nava Design was a good size and was also quite nicely stylish enough – but goodness knows I’ve never had a “designer type bag” before and was shocked when Maria told me the price! Of course she then said I’d be able to get it at cost, to which I replied, “hey, would you like some linen?” And she laughed and said “oh! un trueque!”

Trueque means barter in Spanish. And although I was initially joking with Maria about swapping some of my linen clothing for this snazzy new bag, she is actually quite keen on coming over and seeing what I have in stock. Cool, eh? So we’ll do that before I leave on Wednesday. I’ve given up on finding a decent pair of walking shoes and have decided to super-glue the soles of my trusty old red Campers in the hope that they won’t leak if it rains.

But this new bag is seriously the shizz.