In a rut

What with the work, eat, sleep, repeat pattern of my office days, it feels like I've been stuck in a rut a bit lately.

The same goes for my Winter wardrobe which, as much as l love all my clothes, I'm starting to get thoroughly bored with. A change is on the horizon though, as yesterday I've worked my final Friday ever - we're having the day off on Good Friday - and on top of that, Spring has now officially sprung. Never mind that, apart from the odd deliciously warm and sunny day, the season is still dragging its heels, Mother Earth has definitely had her wake-up call, and surely it can't be all that long now until we can ditch the woollens and warm Winter frocks in favour of some lighter fabrics.

There might have already been some Spring vibes going on in this outfit, which I wore to the indoor flea market on Sunday the 10th of March. 

Make no mistake, though, as I was wearing both a cardigan and a fur-collared jacket to combat the chill inside the flea market venue. I never even took off my scarf and beret either, as someone must have thought it wise to turn the heating down that day. Never mind us punters, who were constantly on the move between stalls, what about those poor stall-holders who were mostly glued to their pitches all day? At 12°C, it actually felt much warmer outside than it did inside that cavernous hall!

The teal blouse with its funky orange, yellow, turquoise and white pattern was found for the silly price of € 2 on this very flea market in October 2016, and has been a regular on the blog ever since.

My skirt is an old Think Twice find. It is vintage St. Michael, and is part of a suit - what would nowadays be called co-ords - with a short-sleeved belted jacket. 

I picked turquoise and aqua for my accessories, which consisted of a charity shopped belt and beaded necklace - the latter originally from H&M - a chunky ring from the high street and a cat brooch from the wonderful Katshop in Antwerp.

To cope with the strain of walking the flea market's endless aisles, I was wearing my charity shopped No Stress lace-up boots.

I'm sure you won't be surprised that I picked up another batch of brooches! They are my main subject of interest on flea markets in general, although obviously I'm keeping an open mind for other treasures as well. And with Jos's friend's generous gesture of supplying me with yet more of these shallow dark wooden drawers - in addition to the two I got earlier this month I've now got six more! - there's no reason to curb my enthusiasm! 

The day's finds were picked up from a variety of stalls and came in all shapes and sizes. 

Although the majority of my brooches are vintage, I'm not averse to modern ones and I don't mind cheap 'n cheerful either. I basically buy those that tickle my fancy - if the price is right. 

I tend to spend a bit more on pristine Italian micromosaic brooches, so I was pleasantly surprised that the stunner on the bottom left only had a price tag of € 15. It was my most expensive buy of that day.

The cameo brooch on the top right is actually an early plastic Paris souvenir brooch.

I've grouped the birds together here. I seem to have a bit of a penchant for them, as I've had to resort to a second drawer for my bird-themed brooches!

In the meantime, I've already worn the - vintage - peacock brooch and the - modern - woodpecker one, which you'll get to see in my next post(s). The peacock turned out to be a real dazzler, particularly when sunlight is playing with the plethora of rhinestones in its plumage!

Continuing our rummage, I picked up this 1970s oilcloth tablecloth from our friend Tania's stall. It's by the French company Nydel who are still going strong to this day, and will soon be gracing our kitchen table. We just need some placemats in a matching colour.

Shortly after we'd entered the venue, I pounced upon this revolving necklace display, for which I gladly paid the € 5 asking price. As it was a bit cumbersome to carry around, the sellers kept it behind for us until we were ready to go. It has already been put to work displaying my current most worn necklaces.

With only two more aisles to go, my friend Inez, who was with us, told me she was looking for a vintage powder box, preferably made of carton, for her vanity. What are the odds of coming across a huge box full of them only a couple of minutes after she'd uttered those words? While she was engaged in the difficult task of making a choice, I spotted two more, equally huge boxes around the corner of the stall. The owner told us that she'd found about 800 of them when on a house clearance job. 

There was nothing for it but to buy a couple of them myself, and these are the four which, after much deliberation,  were eventually selected.

And so, the weekend had come and gone, the week ahead another 5-day one, with the weather yet again a mixed bag of mostly grey and rainy days and temperatures barely into the double digits.

The monotony of my office days was broken on Wednesday by a hairdresser's appointment for a colour and cut during an extended lunch break. On my way back from the salon, I nipped into the charity shop a couple of houses down the street. This was purely out of habit, as I've hardly found anything here over the years. This time, however, my effort was rewarded by two midi skirts, a blue and tan plaid wool-blend one and a red cotton dream of a skirt with a pattern of sky blue, white and tan flowers and the odd butterfly. Both will be making their debut on the blog soon.

This Italian-made vintage dress, probably dating from the 80s, also ended up in my basket. On top of its eye-searing neon colours, it's also got a bit of sparkle, which my camera wasn't able to catch.

The odd one out that week was Thursday, with its gorgeous Springlike weather and highs of 18°C.

It goes without saying that I went for a walk during my lunch break, and I'm sure regular readers won't be surprised to read that this took me into the direction of the Botanic Garden.

This time, I went around the back, so to speak, making my way to the garden through the entrance to the white building on the top left, which used to belong to the college I attended for two years in the early 80s. I believe it's currently some kind of co-working space.

To the right, when entering the garden from this direction, is a 17th Century arcade. This was originally a baroque shooting range, which was taken from the grounds of former archery society "Cercle Willem Tell" located in the Arenbergstraat around the corner, and rebuilt here in 1911-1912. 

The greenhouses, which contain cacti and other exotic plants, are on the left. They were built as recent as 1976, but retain the form of the old 1880s conservatory. 

At this time of year, I'm sure it's possible to watch the garden grow while sitting on one of the garden's benches. Although I'd only been here a mere week ago, the changes were remarkable.

Shrubs were starting to blossom and there were fiery orange Pyracantha bushes and a yellow haze provided by Forsythia and a variety of daffodils.

Two ducks seemed to have taken up residence in the tiny ornamental pond, while a firebug was visiting a patch of forget-me-nots. There were some showy pink Camellias and Peter van Coudenberghe, the garden's founder, was keeping watch over the magnificent Magnolia tree.

And it's with a close-up of its lush goblet-shaped blooms that I'm bidding you goodbye for now.

See you next time, and let's hope that Spring has arrived in earnest by then!