Wednesday 15 February 2017

Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky

I've no idea how it is that weather forecasters are getting to keep their jobs.

It's one mistake after another with them. Anyone else would get the sack if they made even half of the mistakes these people do.

Yes, I know that even with the latest technology, the weather can still be pretty unpredictable, but then what is the use of pretending that it is and pulling the wool over people's eyes?



We'd been promised a little bit of sunshine all week, but the weekend had come and gone and still we were left high and dry.




Saturday was such a dark and dismal day that we had to resort to taking outfit photos inside the house again.
It was far too cold to take off my coat and show you the dress I was wearing underneath in our usual spot.







I'd chosen a dress I'd forgotten all about until I suddenly remembered it last week.

Only, I couldn't find it anywhere.

Turns out I hadn't hung it up in my wardrobe yet, as I was still deciding whether to keep it or not!











It's made from a rather coarsely woven fabric and just a tad on the big side, but I like its groovy pattern so I'm not going to part with it just yet!







I added my burnt orange tights, a brown cardi to which I'd pinned the orange flower brooch I bought at last weekend's flea market, and a strain of amber beads.















It started snowing lightly when we ventured outside but we wanted to make the most of the available daylight to make the rest of the outfit photos.

Nothing new here: I chose my fake-fur jacket which is light and comfortable to wear while providing me with the necessary warmth at the same time (best buy ever!), my burgundy woolly hat and my purple crocheted scarf.


The buildings with the chimney in the background used to be part of one of our village's breweries - all of them long gone - which were converted to offices and housing many years ago.

Where we were off to should come as no surprise: it was time again for our favourite indoor flea market in nearby Mechelen.

Although there were quite a few treasures to be found, we were very restrained and only made a couple of small purchases.

So, what did we get? Well, several brooches, of course. I bought five in total, four of which, including the celluloid Edelweiss, for € 1 each.



We weren't going to buy any more Lourdes souvenirs, but then I saw this miniature holy water font. With its Art Deco design, and priced at only € 2,50, it would have been quite silly to leave it behind.



These empty metal photographic film canisters, from three different manufacturers, including Gevaert, which was a Belgian company, are interesting little additions to our collection of old cameras and accessories, which I must tell you about some time.


Here's a closer look at the Gevaert one:



Gevaert is a local company, which was renamed Agfa-Gevaert in 1964 after a merger, and I'm passing its factories each day on my way home.

In addition, both my grandfathers spent their entire working lives at Gevaert.

The company has dropped the Gevaert part from its name in the meantime.











How sweet is this vintage Gevaert ad?














Tying in with the photo at the start of this post, this German ad for Gevaert isn't bad either.






I can assure you that the little man living inside our weather house doesn't have a camera, though.

In fact, he is quite a lazy so-and-so, hardly venturing outside his little cottage, and letting his wife do all the work.













Our final purchase was made from a huge pitch full of boxes containing old bottles in all shapes and sizes. While we were admiring the many quirky and colourful inkwells, codd-neck bottles and assorted perfume bottles, the seller told us they had been dug up from landfills, and he filled us in on the the time consuming task of cleaning and sorting them.










I selected this pretty little bottle with a weathered Bakelite stopper, as I liked its flower design.














I'm quite ignorant when it comes to perfumes, especially vintage ones, but as the name Mury was mentioned at the bottom, I soon discovered that it used to contain Narcisse Bleu, which was first introduced in 1925.



In fact, although I found pictures of Narcisse Bleu bottles in various designs, I only came across one or two pictures of mine, and so far I haven't been able to find out its age.

By the time you are reading this, the sun has finally made her long awaited appearance, restoring my belief that Spring is now definitely around the corner, bringing with it the first of the ... daffodils!

22 comments:

  1. That dress is a very groovy pattern. I'd wear it!

    I know nothing about Narcisse Bleu, but I wonder if it was intended to nod to the popularity of Caron's Narcisse Noir, which was released a decade or so earlier? I love NN, but - and this will sound odd - I mainly wear it to funerals nowadays.

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    1. I was half hoping you'd be able to shed some light on Narcisse Bleu ... Oh, well. You might be right in thinking it was a nod to Narcisse Noir, though. xxx

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  2. sorry about that dissapointingly cold weather!, it was some sun forecasted here these days, and we have had cloudy foggy days and sun is still totally absent! Another big fail!
    Love your Brown-and-orange color combo, so warm!, and that dress pattern is beautiful. Glad that you're wearing a cute and comfy jacket in that snowy weather!
    And I'm enjoying all those cute advertisements, they're pretty creative and colorful stuff!, lovely!!!
    besos

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    1. We finally had some sunshine here too, Monica. At least, I hope your forecasters were right ... I love vintage ads, they're so much better than modern ones, I think. xxx

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  3. Pah! These miserable days are of no use to us bloggers. thank goodness I've got my stash of India photos to bore everyone with. I've been wearing the same two dresses for days!
    I love your colourful frock, lovely warm colours to counteract the gloom. I love the perfume bottle and the font brooch! xxx

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    1. Oh, please go on telling us about your Indian adventures, Vix. At least I've got a good supply of winter frocks to bring some sunshine to the gloom ... xxx

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  4. is that snow in the background?
    :-)
    thank goodness you found the dress - its very chic with its structure and the colors suit you so well! we had sun all week but ice cold nights......
    xxxxxx

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    1. Well spotted, Beate :-) I know it's nothing compared with the amount of snow you are having. It might very well be all we get this winter ... xxx

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  5. You and me both with the weather forecasters and their jobs! I grew up with one of those little weather house things on the wall, mum's is very similar. Love those film canisters, I've got a few old ones, just plain Kodak but still nice objects. More gorgeous brooches as well, you are spoiling us! xxx

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    1. Jos always wanted one of those weather houses, but it took a long time to find one second hand. The chazzas here sometimes have them, but often the little people are missing ... Emigrated to warmer climes, I guess ;-) xxx

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  6. That bottle is so cute. I am desperate for spring, I need some sunshine!

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    1. So do I, Gisela. Won't be long now, I hope ... xxx

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  7. Boo hiss to the uncooperative weather! We are just driving home from Yorkshire and have had lovely weather!
    That dress is super!! I love its funky wavy pattern! Keep, keep!!
    The brooches are a super find, can we have a blog post entirely dedicated to your collection please???x

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    1. Glad you had some lovely weather in Yorkshire. We too had a little bit of sunshine last week. Finally! I've taken note of your request, I might very well do that ... xxx

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  8. Apparently warmer temperatures are hitting the UK on Monday, reaching the dizzy heights of 17 degrees C, which to be honest is about the maximum it gets to in summer!!

    I adore these posts where you share your purchases, it makes me feel less bad about the amount I buy ;) I'm still loving your furry coat, surely that's reason enough to feel cheerful about winter? x

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    1. We already had the 17°C last week. Indeed, we had a couple of days in Wales (sorry!) last summer which had temperatures of well below 17°C. I love wearing my winter coats, though, so you are right about that! xxx

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  9. I am familiar with the Gevaert brand as the men in my family are great photographers... I think it has rubbed off on me too! My dad recently found some of my grandad's undeveloped film (he died in 1966) I'd love to know what's on it.
    Lovely perfume bottle and it contained one of the seven best perfumes in the world...what an endorsement! We had sun here today! xx

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    1. Ooh, that must be exciting. Would you be able to have it developed? I'm not so sure about the perfume, though. Mim hadn't heard of it, so I guess the "one of the seven best perfumes" was just a sales pitch ... Oh, and we had sun here too, in the meantime. xxx

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  10. I have the exact same little house weather vane on my hall table!! We have such good taste obviously!! Our weather forecasters are crap here to. I have always said they have the best job ever, as they can consistently stuff up their job and still get to keep it!!

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    1. I seem to remember you showed us the little house on your blog some time, and I commented I had the exact same. Of course, we have good taste! xxx

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  11. What a beautiful perfume bottle! I was just given a bottle of perfume that has a stopper designed by an apparently famous glass designer, makes me feel very fancy!

    Your weather houses remind me of one we had when I was a child, very nostalgic and I'd forgotten about it completely! I wonder where you go to buy these new, now xxx

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    1. I'd like to see your perfume bottle with the fancy stopper some time, Melanie! I'm not sure, but these weather houses might still be available, new, in Germany. I've never seen any in the shops here ... xxx

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