Tuesday 16 January 2018

Mellow yellow

After hearing about the extreme weather conditions in other parts of the globe, it seems a bit silly to complain about grey skies and a bit of rain.

Still, there have been more rainy days than we've bargained for and we've hardly seen more than a few hours of sunshine in the last two months.

When the weather forecast promised us a long-awaited sunny weekend, we did a little jig and made some plans.

But Saturday dawned with a persistent fog, against which the feeble January sun hardly stood a chance.

To cheer ourselves up, we decided on some retail therapy, in our case, of course, involving a trip to the charity shops! What an exciting life we are leading ...



A long overdue outing for this mellow yellow dress!

It's made from a heavy polyester fabric, which the label identifies as Crinklé Terylene. The bulk of the dress has got a simple, slightly shiny, yellow flower print on an off-white background, with strips of solid yellow accenting the collar and the fake pocket tabs. The buttons are covered in the same yellow fabric.


To break up the pattern I used a shiny vinyl belt in a caramel brown, echoing the hearts of the flowers in the print. My other accessories were amber coloured beads and a blue framed plastic flower brooch.

Another wear of my burnt orange tights! They seem to go with quite a lot of my outfits, so it's a good thing I was able to find another couple of pairs at the market stall. To balance it out, I added the chunky orange cardigan I charity shopped during the Christmas break.



The embellished brown boots (I love the cutouts at the top) were charity shopped as well, back in December.

In fear of getting bored with the coats and jackets I have on rotation, I pulled out this brown checked swing coat, which I found it at Oxfam about two years ago.

You've probably noticed my yellow beret, which I couldn't take off as my hair was all over the place. I also wore my green furry supermarket scarf (so soft and cosy!) and a pair of teal gloves. I love how my cardigan's orange cuffs are cheekily peeking out from under my coat sleeves ...


On to our shopping trip, which certainly wasn't a wasted one. Minutes after walking into shop number one, we spotted this plaster bust of a pale but blushing Mary and baby Jesus. Even though poor Mary has had an accident, they pair came home with us joining our little collection living on top of a bookcase in our front room.


I also found several items of new-to-me clothing. From top to bottom: a blue and pink cardigan from retro label Zoë Loveborn, a hairy green cardigan from Thelma & Louise (a ridiculously expensive Belgian label), a King Louie dress and a charcoal skirt in a fine charcoal corduroy fabric by River Woods.



If I'd bought these new, they would have cost me around € 300 - gasp! - so the € 19 I paid for all four items can be considered quite a bargain!

The sun was making headway through the clouds when we came out of shop number two so, as we were parked near the small park in Duffel, we wasted no time, threw our gear in the boot, grabbed the camera and went for a walk.



The perfect backdrop to show you my final finds of the day: these two miniature Spanish fans, for € 0,25 each. Even though they are tiny, they seem to be quite effective, so ideal for keeping in my handbag to combat any hot flushes en route.



The park in question is not very large, but always a joy to visit, with its imaginative planting, water garden with stone fountain, pond complete with waterfowl of all plumage, and access to the adjacent river's towpath.



But all is not well. Although the council is doing its utmost to keep it all nice and tidy, their well meant plans keep being thwarted by the resident hoodlums, who leave mountains of empty beer cans as well as a trail of destruction in their wake.

An avenue of newly planted trees had been decimated, several young saplings deliberately snapped off.



At least this tree was allowed to grow old and die gracefully and is now playing host to a colony of fungi.



As the sun was sinking lower, we made our way back to our car, with sore feet in my case, as my boots were definitely not made for any substantial walking.

Before I sign off, let me show you some of the bargains I bagged in the sales last week.


These rings were going at € 1 each in the closing down sale of an accessories shop.


And last but not least, these wonderful teal Miz Mooz shoes, which I managed to grab with 60% off, including a snug orange box for Miz Phoebe!

Linking again to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style!

38 comments:

  1. orange box suits phoebe perfectly! ;-D
    as does the mellow yellow dress you..... love how you accessorized it with orange and caramel - and that fab coat!
    grat deals at the shops - 2.hand or new. sadly i can´t wear most fashion rings - allergy to the some of the metals.
    hate this hooligans who do damage to the parks and forests!
    huge hug! xxxxx

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    1. Thank you Beate! Phoebe just can't resist a box. I took the shoes out to show them to Jos, and she'd claimed the box before I knew it! xxx

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  2. Those shoes! I'm keeping my fingers crossed you get good weather soon to wear them. Your sunshine-y dress is a good substitute for actual sunshine.

    Are you sure the ducks aren't doing the damage and blaming the hoodlums? Ducks can be real jerks ;)

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    1. Thank you Goody. They would have been drunken ducks, surely, with all the empty beer cans they left behind ;-) xxx

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  3. Oh my goodness Ann, that mellow yellow number is definitely one for my pile it’s lovely.
    I’m chuckling about the fan and flushes, my friend has them all over her house and on every bag haha
    LYNN xxx

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    1. Thank you Lynn. I've earmarked the yellow dress for you ;-) I do have quite a few fans lying around as well ... xxx

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  4. The weather there looks positively balmy : )

    I can't complain too much as we do manage to get quite a bit of sun here, even if I don't go outside because it's just too damn cold.

    LOVE that yellow dress! A bit of sunshine for your grey day.

    Every time I see your walks I realize how much I miss my daily walk. Ah well...only another three months! Ha ha!

    Great score on the Miz Mooz shoes. I really like that brand.

    Suzanne

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    1. I'm kind of hoping that Winter forgot all about us, but surely that'll be tempting fate. I could do without the endless rain, though. I do like Miz Mooz shoes, too, but the heels are often too high for me. xxx

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  5. I love the yellow dress, very spring like and those shoes! Fabulous.

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  6. Fabulous finds and bargains! Love those shoes.

    I loved your mellow yellow outfit and your fabulous plaid coat with the yellow beret and green fur scarf looks so elegant.

    Oh, hot flushes; I still get them and I'm 64 in March! I thought they'd stop once post menopause but apparently not!

    Such a shame about the vandals in the lovely park...
    xxx

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    1. Poor you! I've heard that hot flushes can go on for years post menopause. Something to look forward to ... xxx

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  7. A cat in a shoebox! I love that sight. Sounds like a perfectly wonderful day, despite the grey skies. Love the scarf you're wearing, it looks so cozy. Thanks for linking up, xo

    -Patti
    http://notdeadyetstyle.com

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    1. Thanks Patti! I'm loving my supermarket scarf, have been wearing it a lot! xxx

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  8. I absolutely love your yellow dress, Ann! It's such a great colour and I love the style. The embellished brown boots are fab too! I also love those pretty rings: I want all of them! ;) The teal Miz Mooz shoes are so pretty too: not as pretty as Miz Phoebe though, of course! ;) XXX

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    1. Thank you Sasha, and yes, I had a feeling you'd want all the rings ;-) xxx

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  9. You carried the sunshine around with you in that beautiful yellow dress!
    The destruction of trees so wantonly is appalling isn't it.
    Phoebe looks very cosy in her little orange box and those Miz Mooz shoes that came in it are just my style, I love them. xxx

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    1. Thank you Sally! Can't wait for the weather to get better so that I can wear the shoes ... xxx

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  10. Oo those shoes!! Great find.
    How annoying about the beercan litterbugs, we have a path behind our house that is regularly strewn with Strongbow cans and Starbucks cups. My husband and I clean it up, I've even bought one of those litter picking claws! Xx

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    1. How annoying indeed. Maybe we should buy one of those litter picking claws and take it along to the park ... xxx

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  11. Dull days here too, sadly:(. I love your yellow dress, especially with the orange cardi! Love the cuffs peeping out of your coat! I love those Miz Mooz shoes, must look at that brand!

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  12. Oh look at Phoebe! Cats do love a box don't they?
    Some lovely finds here Ann, and I do rather like your chunky orange cardy - that's splendid!

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    1. Thank you Hazel! Phoebe really can't resist a box, even when it's way to small for her! xxx

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  13. Hihi the cat in the box :)
    Yellow is a great therapy against grey rainy days, Ann. I love it 😍
    We have weather like in April here the last few days. Stormy, rainy, sunny, snow... all together :)
    Huge hug Tina

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    1. The weather's been acting strange here too. We haven't had real Winter so far (touch wood!) but stormy and rainy days we've had plenty as well! xxx

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  14. Those shoes are really cute! I'd be tempted to wrap ribbon around the buttons and change the ribbon colour depending on my outfit. Phoebe looks very happy that she got a nice new box out it too! xx

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    1. Thank you Cate! Wrapping ribbons around the buttons is actually a great idea ... xxx

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  15. I love your yellow dress and orange cardi (so warm and cute!) and I think that you look like a ray of sunshine!, perfect to cheer up any Winter day!
    Lovely coat and yellow beret too!, and boots!
    I've laughed watching those fans, they're the kind of stuff that is still being sold in typical touristic shops. Spanish kitsch is a classic!
    Sorry that some stupid people have nothing better to do than throwing rubbish and spoiling everything. Things are not better in my neck of the woods!
    And those rings are really a bargain, lovely, and the shoes look awesome! (glad that somebody took care of the box!!)
    besos

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    1. I love a bit of Spanish kitsch, and those fans actually work, even the small ones. We often find them at flea markets here, people were probably been given them as presents by family members who'd been holidaying in Spain ... xxx

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  16. That yellow dress is ace. The flashes of solid yellow are a really nice touch.

    Phoebe looks good in orange, but I guess when you're a black cat you go with eveything!

    So sorry to hear about the vandalism. It happens here too. Why do some people have to spoil things for everyone else? And then they're the ones who moan loudest about the place they're living being awful, when they made it that way. Augh.

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    1. Thank you Mim! You're right, Phoebe looks great with any colour, but especially orange! Vandalism just makes me blood boil ... xxx

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  17. Miz Mooz? Don't you mean Miz Moggie? Seriously though, those shoes were a great find and I too wouldn't have been able to resist Mary and baby Jesus even though they look slightly 'distressed'.
    Your orange tights and lovely cardi add some much needed vibrancy to a grey day. xxxxx

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    1. Thank you Fiona! We'll call her Miz Moggie from now on. I now have a Mr. Suave and a Miz Moggie ;-) xxx

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  18. You look beautiful in yellow, and I love your coat! Miz Mooz makes stylish shoes, love this gray pair! Warmest hugses!

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    1. Thank you Natalia. That coat was a lucky find. I can't quite believe I didn't wear it at all last Winter. I think it does photograph well. xxx

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  19. Oh and what a perfect little house for the pretty Miz Phoebe! :)

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