Stopping by the park on a snowy day

Saturday the 13th of January was a dull and grey day, on which the mercury climbed to about 3°C: a small but noticeable improvement on the negative temperatures we had been faced with during the week.

After our usual fruit & yoghurt breakfast, I caught up with Blogland, and fiddled around with collages for my next post.

Then it was time to step outside for outfit photos!

The dress I was wearing is an old favourite, which made its debut on the blog when I first started out in March 2016 (see here for a trip down memory lane).

It's one of my dresses from the Finnish "Karelia" label and its heavyweight textured polyester fabric makes it perfect for days like these.

I picked up the green(ish) bits in its pattern with my accessories, all of which were either flea market or charity shop finds. The chunky caramel cardigan is by Esprit and was charity shopped last Spring.

The afternoon saw us driving down to the two-floored charity shop in Mechelen, where we'd last been back in November. 

Among the rails of mediocre offerings, I spotted the red Norwegian style jumper, which is by H&M, and a close cousin of my green one, which by pure coincidence was also found here. The multicoloured striped faux-wrap jumper is by C&A's Clockhouse label.

By then my lurgy, which had reared its head a couple of days earlier but until now had been reasonably well behaved, had decided to up the ante. I felt bone tired all of a sudden and was glad to be able to crash on the sofa once we got home.

Sunday treated us to temperatures barely above freezing point, grey skies and some snow – which thankfully didn’t stick – in the late morning and early afternoon.

My wool knit skirt with its gorgeous jacquard pattern was picked up for a pittance from Think Twice in November 2019. It's by Hess Natur, a German label which has been promoting sustainable fashion since 1976.

I combined it with a blue polo neck jumper I've had for absolutely ages, with a charity shopped cropped faux fur gilet layered on top. The hot pink belt was recently found on the high street. 

It was that cold that even the beads on my necklace were wearing crochet jackets! However, by the time we were ready for outfit photos, it had stopped snowing.

As more of the same had been forecasted for later that week, I dug out my stash of warm woollens and,  after searching high and low for them, was finally able to locate my snow boots, which are vintage and were a pre-blog Think Twice find.

As it turned out I'd already spent the day's energy quota by then, the rest of it was spent on the sofa, riding out the waves of my cold. 

Lack of remaining daylight after work still prevents us from taking outfit photos during the week, but here are some flat lays I did later.

The plaid skirt is Gor-Ray and was charity shopped in December 2018. I wore it with a striped jumper of many colours - an old sales bargain from New Look - one day, and with my new H&M jumper the next. To the latter I'd pinned a vintage poodle brooch found at the indoor flea market.

I didn't venture outside much during my lunch breaks that week, but still managed to snaffle a wide orange suede belt at half price from haberdashery and accessories shop Veritas.

The sky on Wednesday - we were the 17th by now - was granite grey with the promise of snow, but it turned out we were spared the worst. Unlike in other parts of Belgium, there was only a dusting of snow at home and none at all in Antwerp. 

Thursday wasn't a good day, health-wise, as it was filled with lots of coughing and generally feeling unwell. The weather was a mixture of grey skies and sunny spells, with some flurries of snow, and temperatures still flirting with the freezing point.

The sun was out in full force while I was waiting for the tram to take me home. As you can see, I was in luck, there'd be one in just 4 minutes!

Friday dawned sunny and blue-skied with the temperature still stuck around zero degrees.

I'd taken the day off which allowed me to take my time standing in front of my wardrobe(s) and selecting my outfit.

I picked another dress which has been with me forever. Yet another old Think Twice find, I fell head over heels for its colourful Paisley-esque pattern. With its fabric's generous wool content, it's a firm Winter favourite.

The shaggy orange cardigan I wore on top was charity shopped in the Autumn, and the eagle-eyed among you might spot that I'm wearing the orange suede belt which joined my collection only a couple of days earlier. My necklace and brooch were found in a charity shop and on the indoor flea market respectively.

The weather was simply too glorious to hunker inside nursing my cold. In fact, it was the perfect weather to clear those clogged up sinuses and my congested chest.

Casting around for a walking destination, we decided to drive down to the charity shop in Duffel, leave our car behind on its car park and try and cross the road to the park. I said try as due to extensive road works we hadn't been able to get there for nearly a year. Last time we looked, we were faced with a muddy mire and turned heel. That day, however, we were not only able to cross the road, we could even park our car in a side street leading up to one of the park's entrances.

The sight that met us when we entered the park was truly enchanting. Apparently, even if it is only a mere 8 kilometers from where we live, it had snowed here much more intensively than it had back at home. And although some of the snow had already melted by now, there was still enough of the white stuff left to satisfyingly crunch through with my snow boots! 

Layered up against the cold, I was wearing my beloved Princess coat, a chunky knit and fringed sage green scarf and a turban-style knitted hat to which I'd pinned one of my flower corsages.

Happy to be back there after such a long absence, we walked to our heart's content, circumnavigating the various ponds, which were still frozen solid.

A pair of Egyptian geese was ice skating on one of them, while a heron sat scratching its head wondering where all the fish had gone. No happy meal for him or her that day!

Powdery snow had come to rest on one of the park's benches, daring us to sit down and stare at the wintry scene, the cloudless sky dyeing the snow with a blue rinse and the sun making the ice crystals sparkle.

There was a small stretch of open water near the bridge, where all the park's waterfowl seemed to have gathered for a swim, bickering among themselves for the best spots.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian geese were still stoically practising their ice skating routine. Joining the hoi polloi ducks and lesser geese was obviously beneath them.

We passed the Brutalist fountain, only recently relieved of its crippling layer of moss and weeds.

Hibernating in the middle of its frozen pond, it was looking deceptively insignificant now that it had been temporarily silenced.

Just gone mid-afternoon, and the sun was already sinking towards the horizon, a  blinding orb caught in the branches of the trees, when we made our way back to where we'd parked our car. 

Time to call it a day and answer the call of the sofa.

So, it's goodbye from me, and goodbye from Her Royal Highness. 

I'll be back with more Winter walks and rummaging adventures soon!