Cold as ice

Although I will probably never be a fully paid up member of the Christmas fanclub, this year the run-up to the festive season isn't making me feel as nauseous as it usually does. Don't worry though, I won't be joining the hordes of Christmas shopping zombies any time soon! However, I have been inside the big pop-up Christmas shop on Antwerp's shopping thoroughfare and (yes, really!) and, after putting up the office "faux fir" weeks ago, we have now put up our own tree as well, which is the earliest we've ever done. 

I've just realized that I have mentioned the C word no less than three times in the first paragraph of my post. Oh dear, there really must be something wrong with me!

To celebrate our long-suffering passageway's return from the dead, we started the first weekend of December by going shopping for some pansies and a couple of Winter-loving plants to add to our display. 

As usual at this time of year, plants and gardening stuff have taken a backseat in the garden centre in favour of the annual Christmas extravaganza. Although we ignored this as much as we could while winding our way to the plant tables at the back, I couldn't resist snapping a photo of the huge tree decorated with all manner of bird houses and wild bird food.

We weren't able to walk past the fake steam train at the entrance without making use of it as a backdrop for a couple of outfit photos, showing you my newly unearthed Winter coat and my beret and scarf of the day.

As it was gloomy and cold, with highs of only 5°C, knits and layers were the order of the day.

My blue and white velvet floral skirt was supplied by Think Twice about three years ago, while its companion, the green Norwegian style jumper, originally from H&M, was charity shopped in January of this year.  

With its busy and colourful pattern, it wasn't easy to find a brooch which would stand out, but then my eye was drawn to this vintage off-white celluloid flower, which certainly did the trick. The pink in the jumper's pattern was picked up with my necklace and belt, the latter being the only item in my outfit which was bought brand new.

The faux fur cropped gilet I layered over my jumper was a charity shop find, while I picked up the snake print ankle boots in a vintage per kilo shop earlier that week.

In spite of the uninviting weather, I donned my old hoodie and gardening apron after lunch and got stuck in the passageway. I planted up the pansies, as well as a cyclamen and a couple of hellebores we'd brought back from the garden centre. Before I'd even finished the first pot, however, my fingers were frozen solid, as in my haste to get going I'd forgotten to put on my gardening gloves.

That said, there's a marked difference between the actual temperature and that in the sheltered passageway. Always having been a degree or two warmer here, it appears that the new, higher wall has increased the difference to no less than three degrees!

This makes it the ideal place to overwinter some of our tender plants, so I moved all the geraniums and a salvia to the passageway. Courtesy of the mild temperatures we had well into November, two of the geraniums are still in flower as I type, while the salvia still bears several purple spikes.

The next day, Saturday 3 December, was bitterly cold with a sharp East wind, the mercury not climbing higher than 3°C. 

To cheer up this dark and dismal day, we started thinking ahead to next Summer by booking our holiday cottage in Shropshire for two weeks in June. Then, after a lunch of omelettes and homemade bread, we drove to the charity shop in Duffel for a rummage.

You can tell it's getting really cold when I keep on my beret when making outfit photos in our garage! This lilac one - a colour that was still missing from my collection - was a high street find a couple of months ago.

I selected this dress - an old Think Twice find - for its wool content, layering a camisole as well as a long-sleeved t-shirt underneath. Don't you love the dress's flower basket pattern?

The blue Zoë Loveborn cardigan, with its fan-like pattern and orange and blue buttons, was charity shopped, as were my blue woven belt and beaded necklace. The pink pearly brooch pinned to my dress came from Think Twice.

I spent a happy hour or so perusing the shop's clothing aisles, finding a handful of treasures. 

Then, walking past the bookshelves on my way to join Jos in the cafetaria, this book caught my eye. Written by Deborah Cadbury, one of the descendants of the Cadbury dynasty, The Chocolate Wars tells the story of the great British chocolatiers and the rivalry between them. I can't wait to read this although I think my chocoholic husband will get his hands on it first!

The treasures from the clothing aisles included a snuggly part mohair green tartan skirt, an orange King Louie cardigan, a label-less funky t-shirt and a cream daisy belt with a bit of sparkle by Belgian label Caroline Biss, with the silly price tag of € 0,50.

And while we're on the subject, let me show you my lunch break finds from earlier that week. On the top right, a better view of those snake print ankle boots I was wearing on Friday. As already mentioned, they're from a vintage per kilo shop, and they cost me just under € 10.

The vintage blouse with its Paisley pattern and the chocolate brown tank top were picked up from the charity shop a couple of houses down from my hairdresser, whom I visited on Wednesday.

Back at home, I retreated to the sofa with the weekend papers, my latest read, and Bess, who is always claiming lap time whenever we dare to sit down. 

Sunday was even colder than Saturday, the temperature now having dropped to 2°C, with the icy East wind still out in full force.

To combat the Baltic weather conditions, my new tartan skirt, a.k.a. the blanket skirt, came to the rescue. Having recently dug out my jumpers, I opted for a burgundy one with a knitted pattern of owls. I found it in a charity shop during the Christmas holidays last year, its origins unknown as it had only retained its care label. Recently I came across a similar one, so that I now know it once graced the rails of Belgian high street shop Lola Liza.

I added my Caroline Biss belt to add a bit of shape and kept its cream colour company by wearing a vintage brooch and ditto necklace in the same shade.

The morning was spent pottering around and assembling some outfits for the working week ahead as usual. That done, and triggered by the orange King Louie cardigan I'd found on Saturday, I did a drastic cull of my cardigans, weeding out all the cheap and plain ones, which I hadn't been wearing for the longest time. I only kept those colours for which I haven't found a better quality alternative yet. 

Although we would have preferred battening down the hatches at Dove Cottage and not leaving the house until Monday morning, a prior engagement meant that we had to go out in the cold.

We returned to the neighbouring village of Duffel, but this time it wasn't the charity shop we were headed for.

Same as last year, a musical concert was being organized and performed by Jos's granddaughter Saar and four of her girlfriends, who go by the name of Knits and Notes. As we were in a prime position in the first row, Jos snapped a couple of photos with his phone. His granddaughter Saar is the girl in the burgundy dress!

So, that was another weekend come and gone. Even three-day ones do not last forever!

I'm leaving you for now with a foggy, yet atmospheric view from my office window, the Christmas lights spiralling up the trees and the lit-up shop window being the only pools of colour in a grey cityscape.