Leave your worries at the doorstep

Another day, another flea market.

Although the number of outdoor flea markets is dwindling, October is typically the month when all the big indoor ones are starting.

Our favourite is the one being held monthly in nearby Mechelen and this is where we went last Sunday.

As it was a gorgeously sunny autumn day, crowds weren't too big though. This market really comes into its own on true autumn and winter days, when the weather's too foul for any outdoor activities.

I dressed up for the occasion and chose a handmade suit bought at the sorely missed Blender Vintage Shop a couple of years ago. Judging from the belt loops, the jacket originally had a belt, but as it is missing, I added one of my own to give it more shape. At first glance, you might think it's a woollen suit, but no: it's true polyester alright!

The safest option would have been a plain blouse in one of the suit's colours. Instead, I chose one with a brown and pale orange print on a cream background, and added a matching necklace and ring.













After parking our car at the venue's huge car park, we were glad to see that there were no queues at the ticket booth, so that no time was lost in starting our quest for treasure.

Barely inside the hall, Jos spotted this "mosaic" game, which he spent many happy hours playing with as a child.  By the time we got it home, all the little balls were at the bottom of the bag the seller had put it in, so we had to sort out the colours and put them in the assigned slots. Eagerly watched by Phoebe, who I guess would have loved to help.

The blouse on the left was calling me from afar. It's not vintage, but from a retro brand called Zoë Loveborn. I already own a dress in the same print, but with red trim and buttons.

Right next door was a big stall selling a variety of things, old and new. Guess what I spotted? I saw the box, proclaiming it to be a "Souvenir from Lourdes", and at first I didn't even realize that it contained a viewmaster, complete with two sets of reels and the original booklet. It's a Bakelite viewmaster, dating from the 1950s and although they are not uncommon (in fact, we already have several of them), the Lourdes connection surely makes it special.

This particular flea market has so many wonderfully displayed stalls that it is really slow going. Your eyes have to work overtime to take it all in without missing something. Which is where our next find would come in handy.

At a stall selling the weird and the wonderful, and specializing in "medical" antiques, I spotted a box full of eyebaths. I wouldn't have given them a second glance if I hadn't seen a lady with a small collection of eyebaths, which fascinated me, at the Antiques Roadshow the week before.

I chose two green ones, both made in England. The seller told us they came from a museum in Delft, Holland. Will they be the start of another collection, I wonder?

Although there were a multitude of stall selling brooches, I only bought one this time.

Isn't she lovely?













Next up was this Bakelite light switch, which, as a former electrician as well as a lover of all things Bakelite, caught Jos's attention.

A stall consisting of row upon row of cartons containing everything but the kitchen sink (although I can't be sure there wasn't one hidden at the bottom somewhere), yielded a three tiered Emsa herb rack, complete with all the pots, most of them still containing rather dusty looking and colourless herbs.

The rack cost € 4 which is a silly price for any Emsa item, as they are quite collectible.

We already have a smaller Emsa rack, but due to circumstances we didn't put it up yet, so we'll use this one instead.

I won't be sentimental about the herbs, though.










Ever on the lookout for pretty vintage buttons, I happily browsed through a whole carton of them, and settled on these three sets of green ones, although admittedly, with my slight colour blindness, some of you will say the ones on the bottom left are blue.

Our final purchase for the day were these carton envelopes containing scarves. According to the seller, they date from the 1950s. There was a whole selection of them and after much dithering we chose two differently coloured ones in the same design. As they have so much vintage appeal, I'm planning to keep them in their envelopes and somehow display them.

Half way through the final aisle, our eyes were getting tired and our backs started to hurt, so we called it a day.

I am leaving you now with a final impression of the market.

Can't wait to go back next month.