The sun still rises

We were treated to a string of deliciously sunny days in the first week of November which it would have been downright silly not to have made the most of.

All too soon, we will yet again be confined inside our homes, held hostage by the rhythm of the rain against our windows, with premature darkness lulling us to sleep mid-afternoon.

Tinged with an unmistakable nostalgia, golden Autumn days are to be treasured. Held up against the light to all the better savour their timeless beauty. Breathe in whole lungfuls of their sweet musky scent.

It feels as if we are living on borrowed time on such days, so on the Friday of that week - we were the 6th of November by now - we decided to top up our vitamin D levels for the barren times ahead.

Packing a couple of sandwiches and a flask of coffee, we journeyed towards the wondrous wetlands of our favourite nature reserve, the enchanting and never disappointing Blaasveldbroek.

I'd quite forgotten about the flouncy hemmed Tweed skirt I was wearing, which I must have picked up in a charity shop last Winter but which had remained unworn until now. It was just perfect for the job  and combined excellently with the multi-hued tartan Gigue jacket I charity shopped back in October.

The morning was already nudging noon when we parked our car in our usual spot facing a shady, tree-hemmed pond which once upon a time provided private fishing. 

I always think it looks like the reserve's plentiful other ponds and lakes' poor cousin, its dark mirrored surface making it appear gloomy whatever the season. 

From here, we set off upon a path we only recently discovered this Summer. Typically, as it happens, by taking a wrong turn on our way back. At that time, if offered a green and shady reprieve from the day's oppressing heat. Now, it was awash with the multi-coloured offerings of the trees.

The last time I stood on this jetty, the mercury had climbed well into the 30s, and I would have had a hard time imagining standing here again just a matter of months later, wearing Tweeds and woollens, a scarf and a beret.

Nevertheless, I could well have done without the latter two, as the temperature was still quite balmy on this November day, reaching highs of about 15°C. 

Soon plagued by hunger pangs due to our late start, we searched out a sunny bench in a quiet spot for our picnic.

We'd only met a handful of people by then, most of them lone dog-walkers or small family units, but it would get significantly more crowded as the day progressed. 

Sat on our bench soaking up the sun's rays, we got talking to some passers-by, a friendly couple with whom we marvelled at the fact that everything still looked quite green, all things considered, and that some of the trees had hardly begun to change colour.

Afterwards we continued our walk, making a slight detour to the little whitewashed chapel at the other end of the reserve. 

On the fisherman's jetty opposite we found the perfect spot for more outfit photos, this time minus jacket and scarf.

The zig-zag patterned pink, brown and pale grey V-neck jumper was another old charity shop find and just long enough to wear over my skirt rather than tucked in. I accented my waist with my zebra print belt, a much worn retail buy from exactly a year ago. I can't believe I wasn't wearing a brooch, so that my only piece of jewellery is my necklace with its different textures, materials and colour. This too was a pre-Covid retail buy.

The balmy weather continued into the weekend. Having free weekdays at our disposal, the weekends are usually spent at home, as we are intent on avoiding even the most minor of crowds.

On Saturday morning, I donned my gardening gear again, planting up a recently vacated hanging basket with a white cyclamen, a cheeky-faced pansy and an ornamental cabbage.

We'd also bought a magenta cyclamen, which I gave a home in the square pot which recently housed some wilted cream Chrysanthemums, planting up a small terracotta pot and an old enamel coffee pot with more pansies.

My final gardening feat that morning was planting just over half of these drumstick Alliums in different spots in the garden. They too were picked up at the garden centre two days previously.

After a lunch of Jos's homemade soup, we still had the whole of a sun-drenched afternoon in front of us, which obviously we couldn't allow to go to waste.

Thus we hopped in the car for a short ride to one of our neighbouring village's leafy park.

The park is part of the former pleasure grounds of a castle called Solhof and was designed in an English landscape style said to be inspired by Capability Brown. 

Nowadays, it is a semi-neglected warren of meandering paths skirting a lawn which offers vistas of the moated former castle, now much modernized and turned into a luxury hotel.

There's an ice-house built into a mound, which can be climbed by way of a spiralling path to reach the gazebo on top, to which I've taken you a couple of times before.

As we could hear voices up there, we decided to give it a miss this time. 

There were quite a few people about - it was a Saturday after all - but there was more than enough space for keeping one's distance.

It looks like we were in luck, as later that day, we would read tales of nature reserves and other green spaces being jam-packed with people.

My raspberry red dress with its print of white and yellow dots and dashes came from Episode, a Dutch chain of vintage shops, where it begged me to take it home in January 2019.

Matching the yellow dots, I added a yellow cardigan and opaques, while even my snake print handbag - just big enough for essentials - joined in the matchy-matchy game.

Further accessories were my vintage Bohemian seed-beaded brooch, a multi-coloured and textured beaded necklace and one of my stretchy, chevron patterned, belts.

As usual, walking through the crunchy carpets of scarlets, browns and golds, with brilliant shafts of sunlight piercing the canopies of the majestic old trees, got our spirits soaring, and it was with much lighter hearts that we made our way back home.

Or tried to, anyway, as a road diversion initially thwarted our plans and made us drive around in circles, with the radio playing 1970s chart music, to which we happily sang along.

And that brings us to the end of this post, but not before I show you what I was wearing on Sunday.

In spite of the initial forecast, it turned out to be another sunny day, although there were some minor clouds to be spied here and there.

My journal tells me I did a bit of mending on a jumper and a granny square blanket and ironed some of the skirts which had recently come out of hibernation. The latter is a major event, as I had been shirking my ironing duties for months!

But back to that outfit I promised to show you. 

My cobalt blue dress with its full-on print of flowers and pagodas, doesn't need further introduction as it has made it to the blog more than once before. I picked up the pink in its print by wearing pink opaques and a pink ajour cardigan. This originally had a drawstring at the waist, which I removed, as it was the reason I was hardly wearing it.

I added another one of my stretchy, woven belts, combining pink with yellow and off-white. 

A pale green Miracle brooch was pinned to my cardigan. The string of wooden beads was an old charity shop find. 

Still breaking in the charity shopped Fly London ankle boots which have yet to be taken on a trip.

I will be back - with a less sunny aspect, unfortunately - in a couple of days. In the meantime, as usual, I am hoping that all of your are staying safe, sane and fabulous!