Dreary February

In spite of its above average highs in the low double digits, the grey, rainy and often windy weather in the first week of February was nothing short of dreary. 

In the wake of our whirlwind Sunday afternoon abroad, I'd had the foresight of taking Monday off.  However, I was instantly punished for my sins when I returned to the office on Tuesday. It  took me the better part of the morning just to go through my emails, and that's before I could make a start with all the issues which had popped up during my absence, so that my extra day off was soon forgotten. 

The only rays of - virtual - sunshine were a quick cappuccino-fuelled catch-up with Inez on Wednesday and some bargainous retail therapy on Thursday, the results of which you'll get to see later in this post.

After such a hectic week, you won't be surprised to read I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the weekend finally rolled along. What's more, Saturday the 10th of  February was mainly dry for once, with the odd sunny spell and springlike temperatures of up to 15°C.

Although I hadn't slept well, I felt better and more energized after breakfast. Striking the iron while it was hot, I ticked a couple of long-overdue chores off my list until it was time for our lunch of homemade tomato and paprika soup and crusty baguettes.

The burgundy button-through dress with its sprinkling of tiny teal and white flowers is one of my charity shopped King Louie's. Instead of the matching tie-belt it came with, I opted for the minty-green unstructured leather belt I found at the end of January. This, in its turn, inspired my choice of necklace, which alternates pale grey and minty-green beads.

My brooch matches the teal bits in the dress's pattern almost exactly, as do the boots, which were a holy grail charity shop find in December 2019.

A delicious aroma was wafting towards us as we opened the back door. Indeed, it was that time of year again when the tiny flowers of our Sarcococca (a.k.a. winter box, above, top left) were wooing us with their heavenly scent. Although the shrub isn't much to look at, for a handful of weeks in late January or early February its perfume, which gets trapped under the glass awning outside our back door, is taking centre stage.

Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is another one of our garden stalwarts, producing its twinkling yellow stars between November and March.

The Euphorbia I planted in the passageway last year is coming along nicely, and lo and behold, we even spied a handful of Snowdrops brave enough to show their pretty little faces at the back of the junkyard jungle!

We were all set to go on a wee charity shopping trip but were initially defeated by the fact that we couldn't find a single parking spot at either of our chosen shops. As a last-ditch attempt to satisfy our rummaging urges, we decided to stop at our most local shop on the way home, where it turned out to be a lot less busy.

Finds were plentiful here, but I'll start by showing you the results of Thursday's retail therapy. 

I picked up the green floral maxi dress (above) as well as the groovilicious green and blue maxi skirt (below, top and bottom left) at an outlet shop for the Belgian Green Ice label in the small shopping centre near my place of work. Already selling their stock at 50 to 70% off, prices had been reduced even further, so that it would have been downright silly not to make use of them.

The pale green diamond patterned swing cardigan - the first of my charity shop finds - makes a wonderful companion for the skirt. It's another one by retro label Zoë Loveborn to join my collection.

I swear, hand on heart, that I didn't set out to colour coordinate my finds, but surely there was no way I could have left these bottle green ankle boots behind? Made in Italy for a Belgian label called Ciao Ragazzi, they were a no-brainer at just € 5,90.

Although I've got more than plenty straw an wicker bags and the IKEA coat stand we bought last Spring is already groaning under their weight, I didn't think twice to make this one mine.

It wasn't my intention to buy colour-coordinated books either, but there you have it. I'm reading the Maeve Binchy at the moment. She's one of my guilty pleasures when in need of a comfort read.

I dithered over my final find, particularly since we've only visited two of the castles pictured on this tray. At € 0,10 it simply begged to be taken home though.

We woke up to a grey and mizzly day on Sunday which, in spite of the moderate 10°C claimed by the thermometer, initially made us ditch any plans of going for a walk.

Instead, I spent a lazy morning washing my hair and photographing my latest finds, as well as making a half-hearted attempt at writing a new blog post.

My outfit that day was a mix of vintage, new-to-me and the odd item bought on the high street. 

The pinkish-red skirt, a blend of polyester and mohair, is vintage and an old Think Twice find, while the floral blouse from the defunct Belgian Wow To Go label was picked up at Oxfam in December 2021.

As for my accessories, the pink beaded necklace was charity shopped and the enamelled brooch displaying a posy of white Daffs was a flea market find. The belt with its Celtic knot buckle is the odd one out, being a retail buy from the aforementioned Green Ice outlet shop. Having joined my wardrobe in the Autumn, it has already more than proved its worth. 

Our weather app insisted it would stay dry for a couple of hours in the afternoon, so we decided to risk it and go for a much-needed walk to clear away the cobwebs.

A 10-minute drive is all it takes to the nearest entrance of Fort 5 - which I most recently blogged about here - and after having parked our car and taken our walking poles from the boot, we proceeded along the main tarmacked path which skirts the domain.

The offerings of the book sharing box (above, top left) were decidedly meagre, but we have made a mental note to bring our bag of non-keepers next time instead of taking them to the charity shop.

Continuing on the tarmacked path would have taken us on quite a detour around the moat, so we veered off onto a muddy path which would take us into known territory. We were wondering about the length of red and white plastic tape tangled up in the undergrowth near the path's entrance, until we came across a fallen tree blocking the path and halting us in our tracks. Some nitwit must have found it necessary to fool people by removing it.

There was nothing for it but to retrace our steps and make our way towards the eerie passage (below, bottom left) which takes you into the fort's heavily graffitied inner sanctum. This would eventually bring us back to the narrow winding path along the moat.

En route, we once again passed the long row of low brick and sandstone buildings of which make up the old fort. Almost swallowed up by the undergrowth, with its peeling woodwork and chained and padlocked doors and gates, this would undoubtedly be an urbex explorer's dream location.

As the next batch of rain announced its imminent arrival with a darkening of the sky and the first and the lightest of drizzles, we hurried back to our car.

The cobwebs were suitably cleared, so mission accomplished!