A handful of April days

Now that the Easter weekend has come and gone - obviously accompanied by oodles of scrumptious chocolate mini eggs - April has slowly but surely progressed into its second half. Notorious for its fickleness, we have nevertheless been blessed with lots of dry and sunny days so far this month, the mercury on some of them even reaching Summery heights.

With my Bruges travelogue over and done with, it is high time for a catch up of what's been happening here chez Dove Cottage since we came back. Now, don't get too excited about that!

Remember that cold I caught from Jos? Well, by the time we'd made it home on the 1st April, those April Fools had decided to pull a joke on me and present me with the telltale signs of a head full of cotton wool, a slight tickle in my throat and a case of the sniffles.

Deciding to take things easy, I nevertheless spent the afternoon unpacking, uploading my photos and catching up with blogland while Jos was doing a food shop. It was still bitterly cold with highs of only 5°C and an icy wind so, although I was itching to see our garden's progress, I limited myself to a cursory glance through the kitchen window.

I was feeling a lot better on Saturday although obviously not yet 100%. Still, the lure of the garden became too strong, especially when a handful of sunny spells made the 6°C indicated by the thermometer feel warmer than it actually was, particularly in our sheltered little plot.

Apart from our Hydrangea which had suffered some frost damage, everything seemed to be doing well. 

The Bridal Crown daffs I'd brought back from the garden centre a couple of weeks ago had now fully opened their frothy cream and peaches blooms (first collage, top left) and what's more, their heady aroma was greeting us whenever we opened our back door.

I'd dressed warmly in my vintage grey wool skirt criss-crossed by yellow, red, green, black and white diagonals, pairing it with a groovily patterned blouse by the Belgian Wow To Go label, which came my way through a charity shop.

The charity shops also provided the forest green mock croc belt and the green mohair King Louie cardigan, while my floral brooch was a flea market find. The yellow beaded necklace was a gift from my friend Inneke.

Bess was clearly over the moon to have us home and wouldn't leave us out of her sight for days.

However, one of my first tasks was crawling around our sitting room on my hands and knees and retrieving all the toys which had ended up under or behind furniture. To paint you a picture, this involves the use of a flashlight and a child-sized litter picker we'd acquired especially for the purpose of reaching things which have ended up in virtually inaccessible places.

In spite of having reached the heady heights of 8°C, with Saturday’s sunny spells missing it felt a lot colder on Sunday. I felt a bit worse too, which was perhaps exacerbated by the thought of having to go back to work on the Monday.

I still managed to dress up, as this usually makes me feel better, but didn't bother with make-up aside from a quick slick of lipstick before venturing outside for outfit photos.

I hadn't yet worn the green dress with its massive flower print I found at Oxfam last Autumn. It's by the Danish Only label and a mere size 34. This is of course several sizes smaller than my usual size, which just goes to show how random sizes really are. In fact, my wardrobe contains everything from an XS to an XL.

I opted for a rich plum colour for my opaques and long-line cardigan. Charity shopped earlier this year it was the latter's first wearing as well. The pale pink translucent beaded necklace and my favourite moss green ankle boots were also provided by the charity shops. The green glass brooch I used to fasten my cardigan with was picked up in a vintage shop in Middelburg, Holland, during our November 2018 getaway. Both the belt and the faux-leather green flower corsage were bought on the high street.

My return to work on Monday turned out not to be nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but by Tuesday I had as good as lost my voice, leaving me with what I can only describe as a raspy squeak. Even Bess look at me oddly whenever I talked to her, as if wondering who that funny-sounding creature was. I generally tried to limit speaking to the bare minimum, which of course is easier said than done. Speaking on the phone was out of the question and each uttered sentence was exhausting, especially as I had to constantly repeat myself to make myself understood.

By Wednesday, I was feeling worse again, and it was even worse on Thursday when, after missing out on several hours of sleep, I decided to call in sick. I didn't even get properly dressed that day, wearing a pair of slouchy trousers (by Essentiel Antwerp, but still!) and a jumper. I lay on the sofa for most of the day, reading my latest book in between naps. I cannot even begin to tell you what an unusual occurrence that is! But at least I got my voice back by then.

Friday was my usual day off but although I did feel slightly better, I didn't do anything more taxing than reading, catching up with blogland and fiddling with photos for my next blog post.

I did get dressed though, my outfit a repeat of one I wore to work earlier. Strangely enough, I hadn't worn this red-based vintage dress for two years and when I finally found the post in which I was last wearing it, it turned out to be another two years since its penultimate wear. So, apparently it's a biennial dress! Not sure why, though, as with its tie collar, bishop sleeves and and generous pleated skirt always inviting a spot of twirling, it's an absolute joy to wear.

I tamed its tie with a turquoise hearted brooch and wore a King Louie cardigan, opaques and plastic ring in shades of the same colour. The grey leather belt ties in with the bits of grey in the dress's pattern.

The foliage of Dicentra formosa a.k.a. Pacific Bleeding Heart has been joined by clusters of tiny reddish flower buds (top left) while the wild area next to the garden bunch is erupting in Spring blooms provided by the first of the pink-hued Bluebells and nodding egg-yolk-yellow Cowslips (Primula veris).

On Saturday - we were the 9th of April by now - I was finally ready to face the world again. The fog in my brain had gone completely, my throat felt much less constricted and my voice was back to normal. Still, and in spite of the rising temperature - we noted 11°C - and sunny outlook, I had to drag myself out of the house for a walk. But I persevered and I was so glad I did, as it was absolutely heavenly to breathe in the gentle Spring air and smell those divine Spring scents.

We'd chosen the park in the nearby town of Boom (pronounced as [boːm]) for our excursion, where we were immediately faced with the dilemma of which of the two Monet-style little bridges to cross. 

We opted for the right one and then took the path skirting the edge of the park, which we followed until we reached the building and garden belonging to a centre for environmental education. There wasn't much in bloom here (although I did admire the bank of Euphorbia I'm standing in front of) and indeed whole parts of the garden were just bare soil. Perhaps the gardens are being redeveloped? I guess only time will tell. There was, however, a brand-new looking picnic table, apparently made from the wood provided by one of the local storm victims.

The skirt I was wearing was an old Think Twice find, in a crepey fabric with a swishy lining. Its pattern has a Mid-Century ring to it, although I suspect is came straight from the 80s. No label whatsoever so this is clearly somebody's handiwork.

I wore it with an ochre thin knit jumper from the Belgian Vila Joy label and a Norwegian style cardigan from H&M, both of which were charity shop finds. The belt, which is the same one I was wearing on Sunday, and the wooden discs necklace were retail buys, the latter bought many years ago from Accessorize, who briefly used to have a shop in the shopping centre near my office.

We took a left turn into the heart of the park, circumnavigating the park's series of ponds and marvelling at the fact that the water was so much clearer than it was before. For many years, the water in the ponds and the brook leading into them was green with algae and gave off an unpleasant musty smell. We often used to pity the waterfowl who nevertheless insisted on making the park their home.

There were carpets of wood anemones, some of them alas on their last legs. They seem to be exceptionally prolific everywhere this year.

One of the ponds was edged with clumps of cheerful yellow Marsh Marigolds, which contrasted most picturesquely with the patches of brilliant blue sky.

Heads completely cleared of lingering fog, we finished our walk and drove back to Dove Cottage.

Our appetites whetted, we took advantage of the continuing good weather to go for another walk on Sunday. But that, my dears, will be for my next post!