Keep on smiling

Another weekend had come and gone in the blink of an eye. Sunday had tiptoed out on its stocking feet, disappearing into the night and leaving us with just another manic Monday. I might have given you - and myself - a whopper of an earworm here, so perhaps that's why I am smiling. As it was, it turned out not to be just a manic Monday but a manic week ...

Anyway, this is what I was wearing on Monday 17 October. 

Although I hadn't finished my seasonal changeover yet - with the weather still being unseasonably warm, there wasn't any incentive to hurry it along - my rail of short-sleeved Summer dresses was wearing thin, and choice was becoming rather limited. 

With a growing rail of long-sleeved frocks at my disposal, however, I often find myself reaching for those whose lightweight fabrics make them perfect for this transitional time of year. After all, and in spite of the mercury hovering in the high-teens in the daytime, the mornings tend to be quite chilly.

This navy, daisy infused frock was part of my birthday haul from Think Twice in September 2020. I hadn't been to the shops since before you-know-what and I admit to having had a bit of a spree.

It's from the Finnish Karelia label and originally came with a self-fabric tie belt, which of course I ditched in favour of a proper belt. This tan leather one trimmed with cream crochet lace was a charity shop find, as was the mustard cardigan. The Bohemian brooch was found on a flea market and my mustard beaded necklace was a gift from my friend Inneke.

It was cloudy but dry when we left home that morning but when I looked up from my PC minutes after I'd sat myself down at my desk, a sudden burst of golden morning sunlight had penetrated the layer of grey, illuminating the cityscape and the top half of the Art Deco skyscraper my office looks out on. It looked quite magical, so I whipped out my phone to make a couple of photos.

I had hardly finished doing so, when it started getting darker and darker, followed by torrential rain accompanied by a fire and brimstone thunderstorm. 

That's my view on both sides of the skyscraper. On the left, the street leading away from Antwerp's pedestrianized main shopping thoroughfare, bisected by tramlines. On the right, the entrance to a multi-storey car park, with a jumble of old and new buildings and part of Antwerp's cathedral beyond. In the foreground on the bottom left, one of the banes of my office life: the building site belonging to the skyscraper, which is currently being renovated. So yes, building work is truly ruling my life lately.

I was still smiling on Tuesday and although it was sunny and the temperature was rumoured to reach 19°C that day, I was wearing long sleeves again.

The blouse which, same as Monday's dress, sports a Karelia label, is an old Think Twice find. 

Charity shopped about a year ago, its companion, a fruitalicious berry flavoured skirt, couldn't be more Autumnal if it tried, particularly as some crisp brown Autumn leaves are dotted among its pattern. 

I used wine and berry colours for my outfit's accessories which, apart from the half-elasticated belt snapped up from the high street, were either charity shop or flea market treasures.

With the sun out in full force, I went for a stroll during my lunch break. Think Twice was having another edition of their famous sales, with prices down to € 5, so it was almost inevitable that I ended up in one of their shops. What's more, I found another dress, in a heavy textured polyester perfect for the coldest of Winter days, and with an eye-catching lilac and black pattern to brighten up the gloomiest ones.

The huge smile I had on my face soon disappeared when I got back to the office. Here, I was faced with technical hitches as my PC refused to connect to the Cloud server where our documents are stored. The afternoon was spent on the phone with our IT services, who were still working on the problem when I went home. 

Wednesday - we were the 19th by then - was another sunny and unseasonably warm day. Not that I noticed any of this, as it turned out the technical problems had escalated in such a way that I couldn't even start up my PC anymore. The problem was solved by lunchtime, at which time I could finally catch up on work. This meant, of course, that I could kiss goodbye to my lunch break, and that I was too exhausted for outfit photos after work.

The less said about Thursday, the better. Suffice to say that now my colleague's PC had issues and that once again I wasn't in the right frame of mind for showing you my outfit.

Fear not, however, as I wore it all again on Friday 21 October. 

Think Twice once again supplied the dress I was wearing. I'm currently on the fence about this one, as I wasn't feeling it at all. But perhaps this was all due to my state of mind. I picked up both the whites and the blues in its pattern with my charity shopped necklace and the ceramic heart brooch I bought from a crafts shop in Cardigan. My navy belt with its white plastic buckle used to belong to my late Mum.

It had been a quiet day for once, although I couldn't help thinking it might be the calm before the storm. Before anything untoward happened, though, I called it quits and took the afternoon off.

On our way home, we stopped off at the charity shop at the edge of our town, where I found this chunky knit striped C&A cardigan.

We slept late-ish on Saturday, only getting up way past 8.30. Then, after breakfast, I washed my hair and stood myself in front of my wardrobe, taking my time to select the day's outfit.

Meanwhile, Jos made a couple of sandwiches to savour in the park in-between charity shops, as obviously, being a Saturday, we were off for our customary rummage.

It was a a gloriously sunny Indian Summer’s day, a slight breeze somewhat tempering the 20°C shown on the thermometer. Once or twice, the sun played hide and seek with the clouds and October's true  nature briefly got the upper hand. 

Although green still predominated nature's palette, there's no denying that we were on the slippery slope to Autumn. Leaves and foliage had long lost their freshness while some of the trees had made a start with their yearly fireworks of reds, yellows and russets.

But it was clear that nature was confused by the unseasonable weather. While the Pokeberry bushes were in Autumnal mode, proudly displaying their glossy black berries which contrasted handsomely with their magenta stems, the park's Rhododendrons were lulled into thinking it was Spring again. We counted several buds about to burst into flower. The poor things must be in for a shock once the weather turns.

The dress I plucked from my wardrobe is a short-sleeved vintage one, which for some reason I only seem to wear in Autumn. Again, its theme is a mix of fruits and flowers:  I detect apples, pears, cherries and grapes cavorting with Hydrangeas. 

On top, I wore a cropped and three-quarter sleeved blue cardigan, charity shopped but originating from a high street retro label. Both my Bambi brooches - pinned to my cardigan and to my dress's collar - were flea market finds.

And look, my new-to-me Oilily bag from the Oxfam shop had its first outing!

As we'd recently dropped off two huge bags of donations, the rewards we received from the charity shop goddesses were plentiful. I'm leaving you with a sneak peek at my finds, but promise to show and tell in my next post.

See you again soon ... and remember to keep on smiling!