Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag

The daily commute rested for a while – thanks mainly to the Easter holidays. In UK we get Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday off, official. 

As I mentioned in previous blogs, it has been our usual practice to attend Spring Harvest. However, this year – for a number of reasons (which will be discussed in future blogs) – we decided to give it a miss and stay at home. There were other opportunities open to us, and there were other churches that we could have gone to on Easter morning (for me Easter is still the better event in the Christian calendar), but we elected to go to our local Anglican church.

There was a time when we were regular members/attenders of this church; and simultaneously another church. This eventually got a little too much - trying to attend the CofE church and then tank down the Bristol Road, ready to set up for playing bass in the worship band in the morning, was too much of a rush. Sadly, the CofE church lost out (or gained, depending on your POV). But this Easter we were good to go, participate in the service and catch up with old friends.

The other advantage of not going to SH this year was that I had chance to make the most of the bank holidays, by finishing off the raised beds in the garden… 

‘The Boy’ is usually pre-occupied with badminton (he plays five-to-six days per week, and has won a number of medals), but on BHM he was not playing. It rained in the morning – which was a chance for Wifelette and my-good-self to have a project meeting (we have an extension project looming), and for The Boy to have a standard-teenager-activity-lie-in-until-lunchtime. However, in the afternoon, he worked like a trooper and we got the job finished.

One of the other events that happened during Easter weekend was the arrival (eventually) of my birthday present – as ordered by Wifelette - note: the delay was because of the online shop, rather than Wifelette's procrastination. She really is a good'un. A Carradice Super C rack bag. I did my research and this was the one to go for: it would be secure on the rack, it would be big enough to carry my small laptop, it would be durable and long-lasting (it’s a bit more pricey than other bags, but does the job well).

When loaded, it would also make the back-end of the bike heavier than usual (something that didn’t occur to me until trying to get onto the train - duh), which, of course, upsets the balance of the bike when folded. So true to form, Betty fell over when the train braked.

This time, however, I had a cunning plan. I picked her up (which was more difficult than usual) and used a bungee to secure her to the hand rail. It worked a dream. Me and Betty back together on the daily commute – with a brand new bag…