If you go down to the woods in Spring

By the time this post is published, by way of the magical invention they call scheduled posting, we'll be comfortably ensconced in our B&B in Beernem; By then, we hope to have been for a wander around Bruges, sampled some of Veronique's delicious tapas and enjoyed a relaxing half-hour or so in our en-suite's Jacuzzi.

Never mind that the weather forecast dictated us to pack warm Winter clothes rather than Spring attire,  we won't let a minor detail like that spoil all the fun!

Although we have barely made a start with our trip, I can't wait to write its travelogue, but for now let's make a quick return to the weekend before last.

On the 18th of March, our usual Friday charity shopping schedule was slightly disrupted, as we had an appointment at the village hall to apply for our travel passports. Post-Brexit, we will need these if we are to travel to the UK, where before our Belgian id cards sufficed. 

After a struggle with an uncooperative photo booth resulting in my worst photo ever (oh my do I look a fright without glasses and with my hair out of my face!) the deed was done within minutes and the passports were ready for pick-up in a mere four working days.

It was a gorgeously sunny day on which a brilliant blue sky reigned, and by the time we'd had lunch the temperature had reached the heady heights of 14°C. 

We both ditched our cumbersome heavy Winter coats in favour of some lighter weight ones. Then we drove to the charity shops in Mechelen and Duffel, expecting them to be a lot busier in the afternoon than during our usual morning visits. Much to our surprise, however, they were both oases of quiet. Sadly enough, they were also quite devoid of interesting finds! 

Rather than return home immediately after leaving our final shop, we decided to go for our usual stroll in the park. Surely, it would have been downright silly not to make the most of the favourable weather conditions. 

The sweet scents of Spring were carried by a gentle breeze and made me feel all giddy!

The first of the trees were veiled in a haze of green and Spring flowering shrubs were proudly presenting us with their blooms. The clumps of yellow daffodils we'd spotted on our last visit had been joined by a handful of paper white ones wearing frilly pale yellow petticoats.

I was wearing a favourite colour combo of cobalt blue and green, the exuberant floral pattern of my vintage dress effortlessly upstaging the park's offerings.

The cardigan, belt and necklace, all in matching shade of green, were charity shopped, while the butterfly brooch was a flea market find. My ring of many colours was a high street buy, as were my opaques and moc-croc ankle boots.

I needed my sunglasses to combat the sun's low-slanting glare. They are € 0,50 charity shopped Rodenstock frames with eye-wateringly expensive prescription lenses.

We might have returned empty-handed from Friday's shopping trip, but my visit to Think Twice earlier that week more than made up for it. I went for a rummage in my lunch break on their € 4 day, ending up with the grey, white and green vintage dress on the left, as well as two Summer skirts.

The dress with its cheerful sailing boat print on the right was a gift from my friend Inneke, who had been having a wardrobe clear out. It's modern, from the Flair goes Retro label. Flair, by the way, is a weekly women's magazine founded in 1980. I already have a lobster patterned top from the same label, charity shopped with tags in May 2019.

On our way home, we passed Hessepoelbos, the woods we walked in back in January. I squealed in delight when I saw the woods were now carpeted by those harbingers of Spring, wood anemones (Anemone nemerosa). So, that was our destination for Saturday's outing settled.

The wood anemone grows in dappled shade and they are one of the first Spring blooms. Don't be fooled by their innocent and fragile appearance, though, they are quite poisonous. 

That aside, it is magical to see them spread out like a veritable galaxy across the woodland floor.

The presence of wood anemones usually indicates ancient woodland as it is a slow-growing species which spreads via rhizomes – horizontal underground stems.

Another sun-drenched Spring day, its 14°C was somewhat tempered by a blustery wind. 

Tired of my long Winter coats, I browsed my collection of short woollen jackets and stumbled across this yellow one I charity shopped in February 2021. It's from the Spanish Cortefiel brand and apart from its colour I was drawn by its double collar and cuffs. I redeemed its boxy shape by adding a burgundy leather belt.

Leaving the sheltered woods behind for the open fields, I was glad of its warmth and the fact that I was wearing my frilly turquoise scarf and sage green beret.

Here, the wood anemones made way for the cheerful yellow flowers of the lesser Celandine growing in the shade of a row of pollarded willows.

Where the fields end, the path veered off and narrowed, finding shelter between the pollarded willows and a wind-breaking thicket of shrubs.  The perfect place for outfit photos, showing you what was going on beneath my yellow jacket.

I'm sure you've already spotted my green and white plaid skirt, which was a vintage find from Think Twice many years ago, its fabric a thick polyester jersey. My midnight blue Diolen blouse with its flower and circle pattern of many colours was picked up at Think Twice as well. At my waist, one of my stretchy belts, with a round, multi-coloured plastic buckle.

My turquoise cardigan, green beaded necklace and cat brooch were all charity shop finds.

Arriving at the elongated nature reserved, the Old Railway Embankment, we instantly noticed the difference with our last visit: a distinct lack of mud!  Indeed, the dry weather of the last month or so made the soil look more than just a bit parched!

There may not have been muddy patches to tackle, other obstacles in the form of fallen trees courtesy of the storms had taken their place.

The rickety wooden bridge now crossed only a trickle of water, but even in the glorious Spring sunshine the abandoned greenhouses looked as spooky as before.

Before emerging from the low-lying path, we passed a picturesque, yellow pond-lily strewn stretch of water which reminded me of the river Ophelia is floating towards her death in captured by Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. And I wasn't even in a morbid mood that day ...

Sunday was a bit of a weird day, weather-wise. The temperature had dropped to 8°C, and much to our dismay it started snowing for all of 10 minutes while we were having breakfast. We had a mixture of sunny spells and cloudy ones throughout the day, which we spent pottering, reading and - in my case - catching up with blogland.

In fact, we only ventured outside to take outfit photos!

I was wearing the groovily patterned dress I went back to Think Twice for the other week, picking up the bits of yellow in its pattern with my necklace, cardigan, opaques and ankle boots. All items bought second-hand apart from the tights.

Meanwhile, the Snakeshead Fritillary (bottom left) I planted the week before seems to be thriving and look what's popped up quite unexpectedly: it's the Primula acaulis (top right) I planted out after it had finished flowering in its pot last year!

I'm leaving you now with a photo of our lovely Bess soaking up some sunshine. I do hope she isn't missing us too much ...