Shopping: from baskets to bags

I have a nice basket in my basement. It is not too much used now. My grandmother on my mom’s side used to use it all the time.

Paper bags at the grocery store - I have not seen them in a long time.

In the past you were asked - paper or plastic.

Plastic bags were the in thing for many years.

Now you have to pay for plastic bags - at least in some stores.

The alternative is to bring your own bags - cloth ones are quite acceptable. They do have to be washed once in a while.

I have two very nice ones that have been much admired. One has bears on it - it was a present from my sister. I think it was for the American tourists. The other one is dark blue with coloured rickrack. My mom made it and I use it as often as possible.

(Rickrack is a "flat narrow braid woven in zigzag form, used as a trimming for clothing or curtains." - from Wikipedia. This is for the not so crafty folks.)
　
I have a large plastic box from Loblaws - my grocery store. I do not use it there. I take it to Costco where it can fit lots of goodies. I have started to use it for transporting flowers to the church.

I have a couple of plastic bags from Lachute. They are quite sturdy and still useful. One was from the SAQ - the Quebec equivalent of LCBO. I use it for carrying altar linens back and forth from the church. The other one is from the bibliothèque publique. I keep my winter knitted slippers in it. I will be needing it before you know it.