Going wild

While most people, and those who had taken a bridge day on Friday in particular, were rudely awoken by their alarm clocks on Monday the 22nd of May, ours remained blissfully silent that morning. 

And no, I wasn't playing hooky: as I needed to go into the office on Friday, I just took Monday off instead.

We took our time getting out of bed and lingered over breakfast, then we got cracking with the tasks we'd planned for the day. These included playing newspaper boy and shopping for groceries (Jos) and washing my hair and tackling a pile of ironing (me). By then, it was time for lunch, after which we joined forces in thoroughly vacuuming and dusting the bedroom. 

I might not have been playing hooky, but the sun definitely was. Either that, or she'd forgotten to set her alarm clock and had overslept! Whatever the case, it remained overcast until mid-afternoon, when we got a handful of sunny spells. It was quite blustery again, which seems to be the constant lately. It certainly didn't feel like the 19°C insisted by the thermometer.

Short-sleeved it may have been, the cotton knit jumper I opted for that day provided the necessary warmth. Charity shopped in the Autumn of 2021, it is from the Flair Feelgood collection, Flair being a weekly women's magazine founded in 1980. 

I don't remember where I got the floral skirt from but the safest bet is Think Twice. Both the orange wooden beads and the green ankle boots - respectively picking up the orange and green bits in the skirt - were charity shop finds. The celluloid Scottie dogs in a sailing boat brooch came from the indoor flea market, while the belt with its hexagonal faux tortoise shell buckle was found on the high street.

Following our morning of slog, we decided we needed a treat, and a rummage at the charity shop sounded just the ticket. After offering a couple of bags of shoes and books to the charity shop goddesses, it probably won't surprise you that finds were plentiful.

I'm always on the lookout for Breton striped tops, which are a holiday staple, and I couldn't resist the mustard owl printed scarf and the orange, navy, white and khaki striped one.

No more jackets, she said, but then she met this forest green cord one with heart shaped patches. No pockets though, but it fits like a dream. I promise to offer one of my other jackets to the thrifting deities instead! The jacket, by the way, is from the German Oui label.

The groovilious, slinky, cobalt blue, orange and white blouse is by Only, which is believe is Danish.

I can never resist a pair of floaty wide-legged trousers either, especially if their length is exactly right for vertically challenged yours truly. I'd already mentally packed it away for our holiday when I realized that its pattern was Autumn leaves. Surely, it would be tempting fate if I wore it in June!

Leaves and foliage feature on the swishy pleated skirt as well, but I've decided pastel blue, pink and green are far enough removed from Autumn, so it is awaiting its turn to be worn shortly.

My final find was this haori style cover-up, something I've been keeping an eye out for for well over a year. I've got one of these cover-ups in my wardrobe, charity shopped a couple of years ago, which proved to be perfect for those slightly chilly mornings preceding warm Summer days.

We were still far removed from those days in the week that followed. The mercury got stuck around 17°C, clouds often got in the way of sunny spells and a lightweight cover-up wouldn't have been up to the bone-chilling Northeast wind which kept taunting us.

But everything is coming up roses in our sheltered little garden. The Alliums 'Purple Sensation" might be on their last legs, but the Foxgloves, especially the 'Dalmatian Purple' variety we planted in the passageway border, are more than making up for this. And then there's  Dicentra formosa, a.k.a. as Fern-Leaf Bleeding Heart, proudly displaying its heart-shaped flowers elsewhere in the garden.

Meanwhile, our exuberantly flowering Geranium phaeum in front of the bench has taken over bee magnet duties from the Cotoneaster bush.

Both our hanging baskets are in their prime, and  yellow Welsh poppies (Meconopsis cambrica) and red Geum chiloense 'Mrs. Bradshaw' are popping up in the garden proper.

One of the resident wood pigeons is posing for its mug shot on the top right in the above collage. We've been diligently filling up the bird feeder on the far left, providing sustenance for the blue tits and robins, and lately had been wondering at the speed at which the thing was emptied. Turned out that the wood pigeons had found a way to get to its contents. Setting off from the slanted roof of our potting shed, they make a lunge for the feeder, which then proceeds to swing wildly, depositing part of its contents on the ground, where it is swiftly gobbled up by the mischievous couple. We had to stop filling it up as it was costing us a fortune. 

We had another long weekend to look forward to courtesy of Whit Monday, which this year fell on the 29th of May. I was able to make the weekend even longer by taking Friday afternoon off as work was rather slow. I took the tram into Mortsel, where Jos picked me up. The extra time was well spent by having our car washed and ordering our National Trust Touring Pass. At £ 84 for two weeks for the two of us, it is well worth investing in. The only snag is that there's a limited number of properties where you can have the pass issued upon presenting the confirmation email. We're lucky enough, though, to have such a much loved property, Powis Castle, near our holiday cottage.

No outfit photos were taken on Friday, but here's what I wore on Saturday instead. 

It was a gorgeously warm and sunny day, its 22°C for once not too much jeopardized by the neverending wind.  

I'd set my heart on wearing this delicious Summer skirt and giving it its first outing. A charity shop find back in November, it's by Gerry Weber, and I fell in love with its vaguely abstract flower pattern in cheerful red and green. And it's got pockets too!

The green mosaic print King Louie blouse, red shoes, and ditto belt, glass beads and butterfly brooch were all charity shopped as well.

With another sunny day forecasted for Sunday, on which the mercury would climb to 23°C, we had made plans for a walk and picnic in Blaasveldbroek. However, we didn't feel like getting our skates on that morning, preferring to take things at a leisurely pace.

Still wanting to go for a walk, but closer to home, we then hit upon the idea of visiting the nature reserve established on the former clay pits in Terhagen, just a 15-minute drive away. This is the area where Jos grew up, in a tiny hamlet called De Wildernis. There's no longer any trace of the row of  workman's cottages he and his family used to call home, its former location now well and truly living up the its wilderness moniker.

We parked our car and started making our way along a wide path leading down to the first of the now water-filled clay pits which is the haunt of a fishing club, but soon veered off on a narrow path leading into the woods. This path meandered leisurely between the trees until we reached a bridge made of wooden planks crossing a rust coloured brook.  The colour is due to the iron content of the soil here.

I was wearing one of my floaty pairs of trousers, its white and yellow Summer flower print on darkest of green much better suited to the season. To accompany it, a thin knit short-sleeved orange jumper found on the high street last year.  The yellow wooden necklace, by the Belgian Les Cordes label, was charity shopped between Lockdowns in 2020. My orange sunhat was purchased in the seaside town of De Panne in September 2021, funnily enough on a day when I was wearing the exact same pair of trousers (see here!).

There were plenty of numbered walking markers, which of course we didn't need as we have walked here many times before. 

The path eventually ends at a sandy plain, a reminder of the fact that once upon a time this was actually the bottom of the sea. Jos remembers looking for sharks' teeth here when he was a boy. We've got a whole box of these stashed away somewhere.

Following the path on the edge of the plain, this equestrian trio suddenly appeared out of nowhere, like a Far West Fata Morgana.

Time to show you the haori style cover-up I was wearing that day. And no, your eyes are not deceiving you, I did find yet another one on Saturday. Charity shop finds really are like buses sometimes!

Oh, and there's the red leather crossbody bag I charity shopped the other week!

Due to the clay based underground, the area is quite challenging after periods of rain. In fact, the uphill path on the top left is virtually impassible at times due to its rutted surface - caused by mountain bikes - harbouring treacherous patches of sticky mud. It was bone dry by now, so we decided to chance it, the first time in many years that we've walked up this path.

The incessant rain had drowned the forest to our left and the path itself was ambushed by the remains of a storm victim. 

On and on we walked, taking a right turn and then a left before finally admitting that we were lost.

Two men walking their dog eventually pointed us into the right direction but further head scratching ensued when we came face to face with a locked gate, so that we had to make a U-turn. 

Then, finally, I spotted a familiar feature: a set of roughly hewn steps climbing higgledy-piggledy upon a hill. Having walked here in the opposite direction in the past, we knew this would virtually take us to our starting point. Phew!

Well, I guess this was good practice for any walks we do attempt during our holiday. And isn't getting a little bit lost just part of the fun?