Rose Red and Snow White

In two days' time, on the 4th of February, Jos and I will have been married for 26 years, and exactly one year ago today we were treating ourselves to a couple of days away to celebrate our Silver Wedding Anniversary. We'd arrived at our B&B on the outskirts of Bruges just after midday and, at the time this post is published, we had just returned from an afternoon roaming the streets of that most romantic of cities and having dinner in a restaurant on the Market Square.

I don't have to tell any of you what a whirlwind of a year separates us from these carefree days, when mingling with the crowds came as naturally as breathing, and social distancing was an alien concept. When there were no limits or restrictions on where to go other than those imposed by the weather and opening times, and we were able to walk in and out of shops unmasked and without fear. 

This hit home more than ever when, against my better judgment, I reread the post I wrote about that day, which put a lump in my throat and caused a tiny sob to escape from my lungs. 

But what's the use of crying over spilt milk, so I'd better continue with the January chronicles instead. Before I do so, however, I'm taking you back even further in time, to the 4th of February 1995. For those who might have missed it last year, here we are on that long ago wedding day!

Now, let's return to the here and now, or to the second week of January, to be more specific.

As usual, Jos was up first on Tuesday morning. When I eventually made it downstairs, he was peering through the kitchen window into the still semi-dark garden. Phoebe had been outside for a while and unusually for her she wouldn’t come back inside in spite of the rain. Not only was she nowhere to be seen, she did not respond to our frantic calling either.  It was when she wasn’t even tempted by rattling a bag of Catisfactions (Dreamies), that we started to get really worried. 

In the end, Jos got dressed and went looking for her. She must have been sheltering under the little table at the back of the garden, as no sooner had Jos made it outside than she came pelting down the garden path at full speed. She never ever leaves the garden but still, you never know what tricks she's got on her sleeve in her old age!

In the meantime, you've already caught a glimpse of what I was wearing that day.

My black floral shift dress had spent quite a few weeks in my ironing pile as its lining - a secretly matching green - was beyond wrinkled. I tend to alternate between purple and green for its companions, this time opting for the latter. All different shades of green, though, and not one of them an exact match to the green flowers. The green suede lace up ankle boots were charity shopped that very day.

On top went my faithful pink long-line cardigan. If any of my clothes will ever reach the mythical #30 wears, it will surely be some of my cardigans!

But I mentioned charity shopping, as that was what we did that day. It had been raining on and off all morning, and although the temperature was quite moderate, it was too damp to do much else. 

This time, it was the turn of the shop in the nearby town of Mortsel, which is another one of our favourites. I'd hardly walked in when I found this wicker and faux leather handbag waiting for me. In perfect condition, it was an absolute no-brainer.

Having more time on my hands has made me reach for separates more often than ever before. Dresses are often the easiest option for my office days, but now that these have dwindled to only two a week, there's no pressure when getting dressed in the morning. Now, instead of the rails of dresses, it's the skirts aisle I am making a beeline for when I go charity shopping.

These two flared skirts caught my eye and came home with me. The moody tartan one is from the French LC Waikiki brand, and has already been worn in the meantime. The black and white one is from New Look and will be perfect for Spring and Summer days.

It was the pattern that made me pull out this dress after a quick browse through the rails. Even though it was on an XL hanger, they so often get the size wrong here that it really pays to look outside of your size range. It's cotton and unlined, so it will go straight into my suitcase of hot weather clothes. Don't you just love that belt buckle?

I found the shoes while I was on my way to the till, so although they were my size (37 or 4) I briefly returned to the fitting rooms to make sure of their fit.  Me and my camera had a real struggle capturing their true colour and after a bit of tweaking this is the closest we got.

Another office day separated us from Thursday. It was a chilly day, the mercury not climbing higher than 3°C and although snow had been forecasted, it never happened.

In anticipation, however, I pulled one of my warmest dresses from my wardrobe. Having a certain percentage of angora in its wool-and-polyester blend, it feels cozy even on the coldest of days.

Its pattern is a full-on botanical one, with flowers and foliage in every imaginable colour vying for attention. From its menu, I picked purples for my belt, necklace and opaques, and added a large teal flower brooch.

I only wore the orange cardigan and the ankle boots (which are green rather than grey as they seem to appear here!) when we briefly went into the garden for outfit photos.

To tame my unruly, out-of-shape hair, I wore one of the hair clips I'd purchased during our first lockdown.

Consulting my journal, I can tell you that my hands weren't idle that day. Apparently, I cleaned the bathroom surfaces and as the Patchouli soap we'd been using had dwindled to a sliver, I replaced it with a spanking new bar of Jasmine soap!

In the afternoon, I started on the kitchen shelves, which had last been done thoroughly back in Spring. Taking into account all the stuff that's crammed onto them, it is quite a daunting task and I gave up for the day when I was about half way through.

It had turned even colder on Friday, when the temperature remained barely above freezing point all day.

This heavy-weight knit polyester dress also resides in the cold weather corner of my wardrobe. In spite of its pinkish overall look, its pattern is definitely red and white stripes and chevrons, with a tiny bit of grey thrown in the weave.

Once again I added greens, starting with the belt and the enamelled butterfly brooch. The brooch was one of my very first second-hand finds way back in the mists of time.

On top went my green Mango cardigan with vintage buttons added by me. I can't remember the colour of my opaques, but they are hidden by my green boots anyway. For once, my camera captured all the green hues correctly!

That morning, we drove to Mortsel again, although this time we didn't visit its charity shop. Instead, after parking our car, we walked the length of its high street to an electronics shop. We were looking to buy a portable DAB Plus radio as well as some PC speakers, as the cheap ones I had been using at the office had given up the ghost.

There was a queue as people were only allowed in accompanied by one of the shop assistants and, as solo shopping is still the rule here, I waited outside when finally it was Jos's turn. By the time our errands were done, my toes were frozen in spite of my boots' woollen lining and the extra pair of socks I was wearing!

The rest of the day was spent pottering, catching up with blogland, reading and fiddling around with our new radio.

I'm squeezing in an extra day in a bid to catch up, so I'm treating you to four instead of my customary three outfits in this post.

We'd reached Saturday by now, with the temperature hovering around freezing point and the sky remaining a solid grey all day. Snow had yet again been forecasted for the afternoon. In anticipation of our garden turning into a Winter wonderland, I continued with the kitchen shelf project I'd abandoned on Thursday. Note the vintage pinny I was wearing for the occasion!

I had barely finished my cleaning when the first of the tiny snowflakes starting swirling down. In order to make the most of this rare occurance, I quickly donned my furry monster vest and woolly turban, to which I'd pinned a pink knitted flower corsage. My snow boots came out to play as well. After all, there are only so many occasions on which they can be worn!

Warm woollens were the overall theme that day, starting with a heavy-weight knitted skirt sporting chevron stripes in browns and off-white.  A chocolate brown mock croc belt separated it from my baby blue jumper. The funky wood and plastic beaded necklace was bought from Accessorize eons ago.

There's nothing wrong with your eyes, nor is there a fault in the photo. The white stripes in front of my face are snowflakes caught in the action of falling.

The snow stopped as suddenly as it had started, but began again in earnest about half an hour later. Soon our garden and its plants were covered with a duvet of snow, although the snowfall was never as heavy as to cover the garden path.

I went outside again, this time adding a coat and scarf, and snapped away using my phone's camera. How gorgeous are those red Cotoneaster berries amid its snow covered branches! And I love the juxtaposition of the red geraniums - still blooming as if at the height of Summer - with the wintry white!

Even Phoebe reluctantly made a foray into the garden, but she was clearly overwhelmed with the white stuff that had descended, so she soon retreated inside.

It started thawing overnight and most of the snow had gone by morning. Quite possibly, this will be the only snow we're seeing all Winter!

So, I seem to have made it halfway through January by now. I'll be back with another catch-up in a couple of days.

Needless to say, I'm expecting you all the remain safe, sane and sensational until then.