In sickness and in health

In spite of my best efforts, I can't seem to be able to get into my erstwhile blogging rhythm of churning out a blog post every four days. I knew I'd been letting standards slip with the odd gap of five days instead of four, but the alarm bells really started ringing at six days and - gasp! - a whole week between posts! It's not exactly my blogging mojo which has gone missing, nor can I blame it entirely on the problem with my eyesight. If I have to name a culprit, it must be the clock, whose hands seem to have been accelerating the passing of time, of which whole chunks have been disappearing into thin air lately.

It didn't exactly help that I was struck down with a virus shortly after the events of my previous post.

On the evening of Wednesday 4 October, I started feeling shivery and somewhat nauseous. Although I didn't have a temperature - which I rarely do anyway - I took some paracetamol and thought a good night's sleep would settle things. It didn't, as unfortunately I'd slept quite fitfully. Still, I decided I was well enough to go to work on Thursday.

By midday, however, I was feeling exhausted, so I called it a day and went home. In a sort of light bulb moment, I'd connected my symptoms to the previous week's Covid booster jab, but this was ruled out by a phone consultation with my GP. Apparently, I'd caught a virus which was doing the rounds, its main symptom being tiredness. In short, a couple of days of rest would see me right.

I slept well and deeply that night, and indeed felt a whole lot better, if still somewhat tired, on Friday morning. I did wake up with a blocked and buzzing left ear, though.

I spent most of the day reading and dozing on and off on the sofa but although I did get dressed, making outfit photos would have been too much of an effort.

This, therefore, was what I was wearing on Saturday. We were still enjoying Indian Summer temperatures nudging the mid twenties. This offered another chance for wearing one of those as yet unworn Summer dresses. This lightweight floral Diolen one in shades of blue and aqua with a generous dollop of white made it out of my wardrobe that day.

The sparkly teal cardigan I layered on top was charity shopped in 2019, while the aqua carved heart brooch was a holiday souvenir, picked up in Cardigan in 2017. The pale blue beads came from a long-gone vintage shop many years ago. 

On my feet, my green suede Van Dalen ankle boots. They too were a charity shop find, in February 2021 to be exactly. Still one of my best finds ever!

My throbbing left ear had much improved by now, and would continue to do so as the day progressed.

Still, I persisted in taking it easy and spending my time reading on the sofa until my eyes hurt and my head was dizzy.

My latest read, Wideacre by Philippa Gregory, was definitely engrossing, although it did take me a while to finish its 600+ pages as I kept falling asleep.

The book had been languishing in my reading pile ever since I picked it up in a Shrewsbury charity shop back in June. It made it to the top of my pile when I found out it had been mentioned by Sarah Waters as one of her favourite books.

By late morning, I declared myself well enough to do some light pottering. As part of the never-ending wardrobe changeover, I swapped sandals for ankle boots and put some of my knee-high boots within easy reach. 

I also unearthed a tub full of opaques in a rainbow of colours in readiness for the chillier days ahead.

Still on a roll, I strolled into the village to run an errand in the afternoon. However, I felt quite sweaty and exhausted by the time I was back. Clearly, I'd been too optimistic about feeling better!

Therefore, on Sunday - we were the 8th of October by now - I didn't venture from Dove Cottage's confines at all in spite of the gorgeously sunny 23°C weather.

In fact, I didn’t do much at all except for resting and reading, plus working on a new blog post, which I finished ready for publication on Monday. I always work on my posts over several days, starting with photos and collages, and then adding text whenever I've got time or inspiration strikes me.

I snapped up the vintage folksy cotton circle skirt in a charity shop in the Summer of 2020. 

Looking back at my blog, I always seem to match my top to the roses in its pattern, and this time was no exception. My short-sleeved knit jumper was a sales bargain from the Belgian Sweet Soda label earlier this year, while the posy of pale pink flowers brooch came from a quirky independent shop near my office.

The rest of my outfit - the matching pale pink beads, chevron patterned stretchy belt and dusky pink retro-style shoes - were all charity shop finds.

While the garden is an absolute mess and not worthy of being blog material, there are still quite a few things to be spied to delight the eye. 

Initially, it looked as if our lovely Toad Lily (Tricyrtis hirta), which used to live in the passageway, had become a victim of next door's renovation works. But then I discovered the plant in a broken terracotta pot among the bags of compost from our bin back in Spring.

The poor plant was barely alive but swiftly recovered after repotting and giving it some well-needed TLC. And look: my efforts were paid off when it finally started flowering its head off in October. Just how gorgeous are those orchid-like flowers, its white petals sprinkled with purple freckles?

The leaves of the Virginia Creeper covering the shed at the bottom of the garden are getting redder (and sparser) by the day, and the Hydrangea flower heads are blushing a delicious deep rose-pink. Our Fuchsia magellanica shrub is full of pink and purple prima ballerinas. And speaking of purple, the Salvia which survived last Winter in the rejuvenated passageway isn't showing any sign of giving up just yet!

The weather gods kept treating us to temperatures well over 20°C for the best part of the second week of October, which often felt at odds with the unmistakable signs of Autumn.

Health-wise, it was a week of ups and downs which I muddled through as best as I could.

Consequentially, there isn't much to tell, apart from the fact that I once more added to my collection of boots during one of my lunch breaks. After I fell head over heels with a pair of mock croc knee-high boots in November 2021, they soon became my most worn pair. They'd become a bit worse for wear so imagine my delight when I spotted the exact same boots for just € 20. 

Still eking out my swiftly dwindling holiday quota, I once again took Friday off that week. If the weather forecast was to be believed, it would be the last of the Summer days!

Browsing my wardrobe for the perfect partner for the sage green blouse I found at Think Twice the other week, I stumbled upon this rather neglected Basler skirt. Smitten by its lined cotton fabric and exotic fruit print, it followed me home from a charity shop in July 2018.

Apart from the enamelled orchid brooch, which was a flea market find, everything else here had its origins in a charity shop as well. And yes, that includes the burgundy Fly London ankle boots with their turquoise trim.

Speaking of charity shopping, we did indulge in one of our favourite pastimes both on Friday and Saturday. So, before I bid you goodbye, here's what I found.

First up, a floaty orange skirt sprinkled with navy squiggles by the Danish Soft Rebels label, which landed in my basket on Friday. It was joined by a retro-style hand knitted brown and white jumper with square neckline, and a hot pink vinyl belt.

Saturday's finds were a navy, white and red chevron patterned cardigan by Only, which is another Danish label, and a gorgeous green half elasticated belt with lion's head closure.

That's it for now. I hope you'll join me again for my next effort to catch up!