Wednesday 1 February 2017

Look at the world through your polaroid glasses


"Why, what's the matter,
That you have such a February face,
So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?"
~William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing


In spite of January being considered the longest of months, it seems to have passed in the blink of an eye.


For me, it's the short month of February which brings a certain mid-winter slump.

It's like living in an in-between time, feet still firmly planted in winter, with the faintest glimmer of spring on the horizon.

I can abide the cold as long as it's sunny, but miserably grey and murky days really tend to throw me out of kilter and make me feel as if my head is stuffed with cotton wool.









One day last week, the fog was so dense that the tower of Antwerp's cathedral, which I can see from my office window, almost completely disappeared for the day.













The week kept dragging on a bit so, by Friday, I was gagging for the weekend.
Not that we had much planned. That's to say: nothing at all on Saturday and a get together with friends on Sunday afternoon.

So I will treat you to some random, mix and match snapshots taken over the weekend.



These Instamatic cameras, all of a slightly different design, are just part of our vintage camera collection. I'm toying with the idea of making a wall feature of them. Now, if only I had any wall space to spare ...



Dove Cottage's sitting room really comes into its own this time of year. In fact, it seems to be made for spending winter afternoons in, its coziness clearly appreciated by all.

There are books everywhere! Even under the coffee table ...



As we've been bringing back books from my dad's and we cannot resist picking up the odd one in charity shops, we had no choice but to start double layers in our book cases.







I've been trying to create some order, though!

These are some of my dad's worse-for-wear vintage paperbacks.


But we had to flee the house at some point on Saturday and made a half-hearted attempt at trying our luck at the charity shop.







By then, the temperature had climbed back into the positives, so that we were able to use our garage's white brick wall again as a backdrop for the outfit photos.

And look, isn't that a ray of sunshine I can see up there?





















I'm wearing a cheerful red, grey and blue dress with a pussy-bow, to which I added a blue Camay scarf clip.














There was a sale on at the charity shop, which usually means there's not much to be found, but I was in luck, and came away with these two cute little cardigans.


Then, there was this dress, with a print and colour combination I wouldn't immediately have gone for, if the buttons hadn't won me over.









The sale was buy two, get one free, so at least I got a free cardie out of it.











On Sunday morning, I finished my blog post at my cluttered little work station. Organized clutter, I should add. Look, there's Lynn's photo lurking in the background. My twin in quite a lot of things, I'm sure she'd appreciate the clutter!



After lunch, we set out for a leisurely drive to visit our friends Ingrid and Luc. As we hadn't seen each other for quite a while, we had a lot of catching up to do!









The green patterned dress I bought at the charity shop two weeks ago had its first outing, and it was mild enough for a lighter jacket.














Ingrid and I were best friends in secondary school. Being the only punks in school, we were like sisters-in-arms.



Throughout the years, we've remained friends and kept in touch, even if at times it was only with the occasional email or phonecall. Sometimes, life's events do keep getting in the way, which is a shame really ...

Well-organized blogger that I am, I completely forgot to take photographs, but fortunately Ingrid's husband Luc snapped away with his camera!

Anyway, a lovely afternoon was had, after which I was ready to face another week!

Bring on February, I'd say!


20 comments:

  1. January did fly by, didn't it. I just love all the fog we've been having lately, but it does seem to have replaced with rainy day after rainy day.

    I love your outfit, red and blue look so lovely together. Love your cameras too. I have an achingly 1980's red snapshot camera and an unintentionally matching red personal stereo, it's a cheapy version of a Walkman and I often think they'd look good on a shelf together 😊 xxx

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    1. You should definitely display your red 1980s camera and walkman together! I kept finding different versions of the Instamatic camera, but ran out of space in our display cabinet, so now they are grouped together in one of the book cases ... xxx

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  2. Glad to see you are keeping busy and staying out of mischief.

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    1. I wouldn't exactly say I was staying out of mischief, but thank you ;-) xx

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  3. It's been much the same in Sussex Ann....bloody miserable! Was going to blog some charity shop finds this week but it's just too dark, hopefully next week will be better. I do like your red dress, one needs an injection of colour on these murky days. Lovely photo of you and Ingrid. Give Phoebe a cuddle for me. x

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    1. I tried to give Phoebe that cuddle and almost ended up in A&E ... ;-) Hope you were able to take photos of your finds in the meantime - we had a couple of sunny days here last week, almost felt like spring! xxx

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  4. It's time to look forward to spring!, because we're already in the middle of Winter! (so it's Imbolc/Candle Festival). Sunshine is coming!
    Lovely to see your cute dresses and those cardigans. I like particularly that last dress, such a cool green print!. Glad you keep in touch with your old(punk) friend!, that's hearwarming!
    I've been decluttering my bookshelves, and it was Hard!!
    besos

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    1. You're right Monica. We had a couple of gorgeously sunny days last week, which almost felt like spring. Talking of books, we have just brought another batch home from my dad's. So much for decluttering ... xxx

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  5. There really have been too many cold grey damp days of late, Himself and I are both ill so I really am fed up.
    Catching up with old friends is the best and yes double banking books goes on in this house too!

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    1. Hope you and Himself are feeling better, Gisela. Touch wood, but so far I've escaped the flu epidemic which is going around here. Of course, being an ex-librarian, it's almost inevitable that you are double banking books ...xxx

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  6. although the dull weather - your this&that post is cheery and interesting too!
    especially your colorful outfits and sweet phoebe in your cozy salon lift the mood a lot! :-) wonderful that you are still friends with ingrid! i have zero friends from school - was the only punk there.........
    huge hugs! xxxxx

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    1. Thanks Beate. Ingrid and I have now been friends for 40 years! Gulp! And I've reunited with another school friend, also called Ingrid, in 2009, via Facebook. Have a great week! xxx

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  7. I agree with you about January just flying by, where did it go? Same sort of weather here though, very drab. Your office view is lovely, even in the fog, and that unusual patterned red, grey, blue dress is so pretty!

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    1. Thank you Claire! I never get tired of that view of Antwerp's cathedral, looking different through the seasons and in all kinds of weather! xxx

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  8. Haha I love the desk clutter and your red dress, another one to put on my list please. I like the idea of the Polaroid wall. Like you though Ann I would be struggling to find a blank one to start it on.
    What a pair we are
    Lynn x x x

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    1. Haha, yes, we are definitely a pair ... People keep asking me if we've got elastic walls :-) xxx

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  9. Yes January went in the blink of an eye didn't it? Here's to more charity shop bargains in February!

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    1. Let's hope February goes as quickly, as I'm looking forward to spring. But: yes, to more charity shop bargains! xxx

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  10. I like the idea of 'the only punks in school'.

    Good riddance to January, and February can stuff right off too.

    It's nice seeing your dad's well-loved books. Clearly he got maximum enjoyment out of them.

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    1. Being the only punks in school really meant something in the late 1970s. My English teacher (quite an unpleasant man) wanted to flunk me for being a punk ... and also for knowing English words he didn't! xxx

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