Oh August

 "If you walk along the main street on an August afternoon there is nothing whatsoever to do."

When I first read this line, which is from the opening chapter of Carson McCullers' novella "The Ballad of the Sad Café", as a 15-year old in a school room, it struck a chord with me, as yes, that's exactly what it was like on the main street of the quiet backwater I was living in. 

This rang especially true in August, with half of the shops closed for their Summer holiday: the butchers and the bakers which were still plentiful back then, before they closed down, one by one, for good.

 My mum had sent me off on a treasure hunt for the last loaf of bread in the village, and as I cycled up and down the main street, finding all the shutters closed, drops of sweat trickled down my back and the oppressive heat was just as stifling as the air of boredom which hung over the village. It was, after all, the long hot Summer of 1976 and there really was nothing whatsoever to do.

Fast-forward forty-six years, and I'm still living in the same village. Or rather, I came back here after an 18-year hiatus when I was in my late thirties. The butchers and bakers have been replaced by generic chain stores and a handful of fashionable boutiques. Yet, on a hot August afternoon, the main street is as deserted as it was back then, except for the steady trickle of cars passing through. 

This year, it feels as if August has passed us by, its days a blur of indistinguishable hot and noise-filled ones. But you've put up with my moaning for long enough now, so perhaps it's time to have a look at what I've been wearing to combat the recurrent heatwaves. 

My wardrobe full of Diolen delights has hardly seen the light of day! 

My vintage cotton Madras check dress made an appearance on Tuesday the 9th of August when, after a couple of days when the mercury didn't climb higher than a moderate 25°C, we were back into the high twenties. 

I took advantage of both the white and the red in its check for my accessories. I hadn't worn the white pleated leather belt in a while and in fact, I'd completely forgotten about it until I came across a photo on my blog in which I was wearing it. 

The weather gods, intent on making us melt into puddles of sweat, sent 31°C our way on Wednesday the 10th. 

Enter this mid-century cotton cap-sleeved frock, in darkest blue patterned with red and white, a Think Twice sales bargain back in June 2019. 

I picked up the red with my ring, necklace and belt and added a vintage celluloid Scottie dos brooch to the dress's square neckline.

Tuesday's red Gabor sandals would have been perfect here, but both they and my toes had had a mishap on my way home that day. Having had to jump out of the path of an e-scooter, whose driver clearly thought the red traffic light wasn't meant for him, I cut two of my toes on some random pieces of debris lying in the gutter. Luckily the cuts were only superficial, but they bled nonetheless, resulting in some unsightly stains on my sandals, which I haven't yet had the get-up-and-go to try and remove.

It wasn't the only mishap that would befall me that week, you see. On Friday evening - we were the 12th by now - while suffering a blinding headache as a result of yet more noise from next door, I stumbled and fell while upstairs, leaving me with bruises on my upper left arm and both of my knees. In fact, my left knee was rather swollen and was rapidly turning black and blue. Fortunately, the swelling soon came down after the application of a spray given to us by our other neighbour's son.

The weekend ahead, which was an extended one as Monday the 15th was a bank holiday in Belgium, was set to become another hot one, with temperatures well over 30°C. 

As much as we would have loved to escape, it simply was too hot to do anything much. The only place where it would be reasonably bearable was the seaside, but that was a definite no-no because of the bank holiday weekend. It was later reported to have been one of the busiest weekends ever!

And then there was my poor knee which I didn't want to put too much of a strain on, even if it wasn't as painful as I'd expected it to be the next day.

We had a - fruitless - errand to run on Saturday, after which we battened the hatches at Dove Cottage and tried to keep cool.  On our way back, we stopped off at the Museum of Folklore for some local Lady of the Manor poses.

Both the palazzo trousers and the peasant-style blouse were sales bargains from the high street. I was wooed by the trousers in the Summer of 2020. They're from Mango and are easily the most comfortable trousers I've ever worn. Apart from their Paisley-esque pattern, they have pockets and huge splits at the sides allowing for the necessary ventilation on a hot day.

The blouse is from New Look and has been gracing my wardrobe for several years. It might even be my most worn item of clothing on the blog!

Flat yellow sandals, my enamelled butterfly brooch, and a charity shopped black and white necklace completed my outfit.

Sunday was the hottest day of the week, and if I remember correctly I wore a vintage playsuit all day. No photos were taken, though.

We dug up our holiday brochures for our upcoming yearly trip to Belgium's west country - if there are no further mishaps, we are leaving tomorrow! - and jotted down some ideas. I have a feeling Bess knew what we were up to, as she did her very utmost to thwart our plans!

Hallelujah, it actually rained overnight, and there were puddles! Well, there was one on the towpath next to the park in Duffel where we went for a walk on Monday, relishing the fact that the temperature had dropped to just 23°C. 

However, if the moody sky held the promise of more rain, it never materialized. In fact, by the time we'd completed our circuit of the park, the odd patch of blue was starting to appear.

Adjacent to the towpath and the park are the ruins of castle "Ter Elst", whose origins date back to the 12th century. Over the years, we have watched the decline of the ruin with more than just a hint of sadness.

Long gone are the days when events took place in its courtyard, as due to stability reasons the site had to be closed down in 2012 and the wrought iron gates giving access to the bridge have remained firmly padlocked ever since.

We once went to a flea market here, on yet another hot August day, when a brass band was playing in the castle grounds, the bandleader's well-meant but hilarious comments having us in stitches.

But there is good news at last, as the site is scheduled to receive a grant next year, so that the long-awaited renovation work can finally be tackled. In fact, a start has already been made in stabilizing the building.

The renovations will include reconnecting the walls and adding a glass roof to the Great Hall so that it can be used for events. In the courtyard, the contours of the vanished castle will be made visible with variations in the floor pattern, and it is meant to become a resting place for walkers and cyclists. To this end, a new foot and cycle bridge connecting the castle island with the towpath will be constructed.

It all sounds very promising, although I'm sure the ruin will lose some of its charm in the process as well.

Now, let's have a look at what I was wearing. This vintage cotton frock with its gathered cap sleeves was just the ticket that day. It was also long enough to hide my injured knee, although of course I am happy to oblige and show it to my faithful readers and followers :-)

That isn't real broderie anglaise, by the way, it is part of the pattern. The dress is also sparingly sprinkled with blue daisies, which obviously rules out the use of any other brooches than the one I'm wearing here.

As I am fastly running out of time, I thought I'd whizz you through some of the outfits I wore in August's penultimate week.

Here, my flower-infused cotton 1970s skirt from Think Twice went hand in hand with a charity shopped King Louie blouse, to which I'd pinned a vintage brooch picked up from a flea market. The necklace with its tiny orange tiles was charity shopped as well, but the black stretchy belt with its square buckle was a recent high street buy.

Both the skirt and the blouse in my next outfit are from the Belgian Who's That Girl label, and both were recent charity shop finds. Again, only the stretchy belt was bought brand new on the high street. 

The massive bird on a branch brooch - which neatly ties in with the birds and twigs pattern of the skirt - was a charity shop find, as was the mustard cardigan, while the necklace came from a long-gone vintage shop. 

As I was browsing Facebook one evening, I was horrified to read that there had a been a fire in the tower building in Antwerp which my office looks out on . They are currently renovating the building, which was completed in 1931 and hailed as Europe's firs skyscraper. The project will take many years to finish and has now been the source of noisy goings-on for about a year. There really is hardly any peace and quiet to be found in my life at the moment. 

This is my current view from my 5th floor office window, so why don't we have a look at something a bit more cheerful instead?

This floaty, chiffon-y dress was another Think Twice find, picked up many years ago. The dress's cerulean blue backdrop is patterned with black and white squiggles and a garland of blowsy flowers near its hemline.

More black and white was added with the chevron patterned belt with its round, black wooden buckle, and the rim around the roses in my brooch.

My bright pink cardigan and my favourite necklace from Accessorize were both retail purchases which have by now stood the test of time.

Cool cottons were once again represented in one of my favourite outfits of the last couple of weeks.

Again, both the skirt and the blouse were charity shopped. The striped skirt, which is scattered with rosebuds in various colours, was originally from H&M, and picked up in a charity shop between lockdowns in July 2020. The orange and pink patterned blouse, which is from the Belgian Mer du Nord label, was a more recent find.

Not wanting the hassle of too many accessories on this +30°C, I kept them to the bare minimum, only adding a vintage, navy and white beaded necklace and one of my contemporary cat brooches.

And speaking of cats, how about some photos of our darling little monster to end this post.

I'm sure she'll miss cuddling as much as we will while we're on our break, but we'll make up for it in just over a week!