Reusable Tote Bag from Japan

I mentioned last week I was still waiting for a [ackage in the mail. It seems I am doing that a lot this year.

While visiting the fabulous Linnie Deluxe, she tuned me into a shop on Etsy that specializies in reusable tote bags. She saw one with a horse pattern on it that she said was totally me. The next day after our visit, I checked it out and decided to buy it.

Etsy is a wonderful place, but terrible for a spender like me! I had held off on buying things on Etsy for a long time, not because I didn't like anything I saw, I just knew I'd go crazy with spending. A lot of the things I want to buy on Etsy are little plushes, but I know I can sadly live without them.

Buy buying something useful? I can totally justify that.

The shop is CraftTokyoMama and she always has really nifty prints!

After I ordered the tote, she wrote to me to tell me she put it in the mail and it should arrive in about a week. After two weeks I decided to just send her a little note asking if there was any tracking number on the package. I also said it may have been customs, but Etsy had been asking me for feedback and I just thought I'd let her know why I hadn't left any yet. She was a little surprised it hadn't come yet, but since I told her we had a holiday here, it may just be a little late. She told me that if it didn't arrive, she could make me the tote with the same fabric and re-send it. I told her I didn't mind waiting, and that I would hate for her to send the tote and the first one arrives! Well, just my luck, it arrived today!

I wrote her back telling her to no longer worry. It was pretty sweet of her to offer to make and send another tote, even though the delay in transcation was not her fault at all. I am pretty sure this is why this gal has 100% feedback.

Anyways, so on to the package! It arrived in a cute little package with decorative Japanese stamps.



















Inside, the bag was wrapped in beautiful plastic tissue.



She wrote me a little handwritten note thanking me for my purchase and wishing many years of enjoying my re-usable tote. And then I unwrapped my tote bag. The fabric is just stunning.

The description of the tote on the shop was:

"This 100% cotton reusable shopping bag features beautifully detailed paintings of horses that are each a work of art unto themselves. Absolutely gorgeous!

Perfect for grocery shopping or wrapping that special gift, this large tote bag folds up into a very compact 4 x 2 inch roll that fits perfectly in a purse or pocket so you can always have a bag with you.

Laid flat, this bag measures 11 x 14.5 inches (28 x 37 cm) and has gussets that lets the base expand to a full 6 inches. Eight one-liter milk cartons fit perfectly inside with plenty of extra room for more groceries.

This bag is unlined with fully enclosed seams and a matching elastic band sewn right on to keep it rolled up tight and tidy.

Machine wash and dry for years of use! "



It's a little smaller in width than I expected, but it doesn't really matter because there is a gusset that makes the bag wider when you put things in it.

I'm still having a little trouble figuring out how to roll it up to fit it in my purse though, haha.


Overall, I'm really happy with this bag. It's a great size for books amd it's not bulky which is always a plus in my books! I love that is can be compacted because I do last minute stops at grocery stores and never think to bring bags with me. I always forget to put my reusable bags back in my car after using them, or I forget to bring them in the store with me! A lot of other stores are adopting this 5 cents for bags policy so maybe I'll have to pick up another one!

Short Break

Since I'm going to a two day show, and we're leaving at noon today, there won;t be any updates feom me until Wednesday. My apologies to the 6 of you that follow me.

Rainy Days

We had an emergency trip today to pick up one of our ponies from the breeders. It's a two hour trip to get there, not including the time to load up the pony so I was out all day.

It was also the second day in a row that I got rained on.

Yesterday it rained all day at the show. I was soaked all the way down to my bra. After the in-hand classes, I switched into my riding clothes, but it started to rain shortly after, and they to got wet. Despite the rain, and Roxie being a holy terror, we did well. Roxie won her class, and was Champion Section B. Candice won the mare class. I rode Candice in the riding classes, but she has two months training on her. She didn't pick up her one canter lead, but considering how long she's been under saddle, she was great. We have another show in a week, and I will also be without internet for three days, sigh.

Real substantial posts coming tomorow.

My Life With Horses : Part 1 - The Early Years

I've decided to write a little series about my 25 years living with horses, since they shape so much of my life.

Usually when the weekend rolls around, my friends asks me to come visit, go out for the night, spend the night and go drinking or to go away for a few days.

About 50% of the time, I have to sigh and reply "I can't. I have to make sure the horses are fed tonight, and someone will have to feed them in the morning" or "No one will be able to take care of the horses while I am gone".

If it's the summer, particularly in August, I grimace as I say "Can't. I have a horse show". Horse shows typically are on the Sunday and take all day Saturday to prepare. It also means an early night, so staying out isn't much of an option.

As I was preparing to get ready for a horse show today, I started to think about how I feel about horses, and the horse shows in general. But none of that would make any sense to anybody unless they knew the full story.

As far back as I can remember, we lived on a farm, and we had horses. My mom owned horses before she was married to my dad, and before she had us. When my brother and I were born, she had one horse, an elderly chestnut Morgan mare named Kelly. When my mom went out to do the chores, she would throw my brother and I on Kelly's back and the old mare would just stand there. We would bounce around, making animal noises to scare her into moving but she never moved. Sometimes she'd walk for a short distance but that was it. Later in life I would try to ride her with a saddle, and ended up having the saddle slip underneather her as she took off towards the barn, and I ended up falling in the mud.

When I entered kindergarten, my mom had made a new horsey friend who raised Arabians. My mom bought a grey Arab named Nytelyte off of her, in hopes of breeding. At first she bred to an Arabian, then to a Conemmera, and then to a welsh pony (which becomes important down the line). The horses sat in the yard and did nothing for the longest part. Our horses were Kelly, Nytelyte, Highlyte, Starlyte, and Budlyte (weren't we clever?).

Eventually my parents decided their house and property were too small. We moved to a nicer, bigger horse and a fabulous farm. It had a horse barn with 9 stalls, with cross ropes in the cemented hallway. It was attached to an ugly cowbarn that we stored our hay and straw in. We had two hayfields, and three paddocks and a riding ring that could also be used as a paddock. The only downfall of this place was its lack of an indoor ring.

Before we moved, my mom enrolled me into riding lessons. Instead of letting me hop up on a horse and wander where ever I wanted, I needed discipline and to learn the real techniques of riding. My mom started taking me to riding lessons at a dressage barn by a very well known dressage rider in the area.

I had two instructors. For one part of the lessons I was with one, then the other took over for the last half. I rode an old chestnut riding pony that went by the name of Babe.

I hated riding lessons. I was put up on the horses, and lead around for the most part. I was told to keep my hands in a 'box' while I rode, and to not move them. To me, this meant they couldn't jiggle at all, which I thought was impossible. I was always riding on the lounge line, with someone holding on. Everytime we troted, I was told to do a sitting trot, which is the hardest thing to do. Most people do rising trots, as it's easier on your ass and the horses' back insteas of you bouncing around like an idiot. It's hard and uncomfortable, but to be able to do it is a sign of a good rider. Or a horse with a very comfortable trotting gait.

Eventually, I was tired of lessons and my mom decided it would just be better to just buy me a pony and let me muck around by myself. She bought Babe and we brought her home. My brother and I would have our friends over and we'd ride her around the yard.

When my parents bought their new farm, the previous owners left behind two old ponies for us. Sugar and Tony were two shetland ponies of undetermined age. My brother and I would put lead chains on their halters and ride them bareback. Sugar was a nasty little pony who used to try and buck me off but she helped me learn the basics of riding.

Me riding Sugar, without a saddle, a bridle and a helmet haha.

I can't really remember what happened to Babe, but Tony and Sugar were sold, despite my brother and I's protest. My mom was moving into another stage of her horsey life. She found another riding school for me, one that I loved and went to for 7 years. My mom signed me up for Pony Club when I was seven, around the same time.

It was also around this time that my mom started getting interested in welsh ponies... which is the next chapter in my horse saga.