Reluctant Spring

The weather forecast for the Easter weekend had been nothing short of atrocious, so it was with some degree of suspicion that we eyed the sunshine and blue sky we woke up to on Good Friday. At 15°C it felt positively Spring-like, so that I daringly plucked this long-sleeved yet lightweight dress from my wardrobe.

The dress in question was scored for the princely sum of € 2 from Think Twice back in 2019. I remember stalking it in the shop until the girl whose basket it had landed in was discouraged from buying it by her friend, who declared it too granny-ish. Needless to say, I snapped it up the minute she'd put it back on the rails.

Taking my lead from the pink diamonds in its pattern, I added oodles of pink in various shades of the colour, starting with my opaques in a fiery hot pink. My bubblegum pink textured belt with its white metal and pink gemstone buckle has the 1980s written all over it. Unusually for me, I can't remember whether it was a charity shop or Think Twice find and, also unusually, my blog hasn't been helpful in that direction either.

I do remember, however, that my brooch with its pale pink pearls was picked up from Think Twice, while my fuchsia chunky plastic ring was found on the high street. 

First outing for the fabulous lilac cowgirl boots I charity shopped back in October.  Lacking zippers, they are notoriously difficult to pull on, which might be the reason why their previous owner donated this pristine pair of boots in a hard to find colour to charity!

According to our weather app, it was fairly certain that it would rain at some point in the afternoon, so I wasted no time in donning my gardening gear and planting up all the Spring flowers we'd brought back from the garden centre on Sunday.

Same as I did last year, I filled the green enamel cones - which quite possibly started life as lampshades - hanging from the potting shed with cheerful tête-à-tête daffs, while the half-basket they are flanking were planted up with purple yellow-hearted Primulas and red double-flowered daisies or Bellis perennis.

A pink variety of the aforementioned double daisies joined a selection of pansies in the hanging basket suspended from the awning, while more cheeky-faced pansies got the company of some blue grape hyacinths (Muscari) on the little table in the passageway. 

Next to it is the tiny mosaic glass pot I'm holding in the outfit photos. Originally the home of a solar light which has stopped working long ago, I treated it to some leftover pansies.

Although there was still no sign of the forecasted rain after lunch - but thinking a shower could only be imminent - we opted for a wee rummage at the local charity shop.

Before I show you the day's spoils, however, here's what I found at Think Twice during one of my lunch breaks that week. Isn't this vintage madras plaid and denim dress just fabulous?

Unlike the weather gods, their female counterparts in charge of the charity shops have been on their best behaviour lately. For some reason, they keep offering me skirts, which I'm gratefully accepting.

First up is this colourfully striped viscose knit skirt from EDC by Esprit. Angelica is modelling it for you with both tops I found on the same day. The moss green short-sleeved jumper is by Hema, a Dutch chain store which can nowadays be found on most Belgian high streets, while the funky green and tan shirt is by the Danish InWear label.

That day's two other skirt finds are both vintage and are probably leftovers from the infamous Retro Day which took place earlier that month. The white, blue and yellow floral one shows all the signs of being handmade. They will both be joining my Spring and Summer wardrobe.

Speaking of which, with the rain eventually making an appearance on Saturday, I decided to make a start with my biannual wardrobe changeover. Unlike Sheila, however, I haven't finished it all in one go, nor did I take any photos of the process. 

So, how about a look at my outfit instead?

Both the grey, black and rust plaid circle skirt and the black floral blouse were found at Think Twice, in September 2022 and November 2017 respectively. 

I picked up the pops of rust and orange with my Jackpot cardigan and beaded necklace, both of which were charity shopped. My brooch is a vintage flea market find while the belt, which after many years is now sadly on its last legs, was purchased from Forever 21. Their shop in Antwerp has long gone and has now been replaced by ... Primark!

After putting a pile of my warmest Winter frocks to bed and replacing them with the first batch of short-sleeved Summer frocks, surely I deserved a treat? Honestly, these indulgent mini eggs from Leonidas are our only nod to the Easter Chocolate Extravaganza!

We were hoping for an improvement on the weather front on Easter Sunday, but sadly another gloomy day turned out to be our lot. Never mind that the mercury once more climbed to a reasonable 15°C, we had a hard time dragging ourselves away from Dove Cottage's cozy confines.  So, wasn't it just our luck that it started drizzling the minute we'd decided to make the effort!

Still hoping for the best, we drove to the park near the charity shop in Duffel where, in spite of the ubiquitous road diversions, we managed to reach the recently re-established car park without any hiccups.

We frequently used to go for a stroll here before or after our rummages at the nearby shop, often bringing a picnic in season. However, due to extensive roadworks this was only the second time we'd been here in well over a year. The last time was in January, when we walked through a crunchy layer of snow and watched the ice-skating antics of the resident waterfowl.

Same as we did back then, we took the winding footpath around the park's largest ponds, only to stopped in our tracks when the footpath turned out to be completely submerged by floodwater. If you squint, you can spot the bench and litter bin lining the flooded path in the middle of the photo on the bottom right.

There was nothing for it but to return the way we'd come, or trudge through the grass (above, top right) and walk to the point where we were able to rejoin the path. We hadn't been in this part of the park for years and had almost forgotten about the baby stone circle. Nothing prehistoric about it whatsoever, it's fairly recent and commemorates some kind of village milestone.

I loved how lush and green everything was, with pools of colour provided by pink and white blossomed shrubs and trees, the first of the bluebells and the last of the daffodils which were leading a handful of wayward tulips a merry dance.

I thought I'd just throw in my two cents' worth with my Desigual coat, fluffy pink scarf and red satchel. All charity shopped obviously!

One of the Egyptian geese who rule the roost here was watching us from the railing of the humpbacked bridge, daring us to cross it. 

Then he or she thought it was better to be safe than sorry and with an almighty splash took a dive into the water and paddled to its home on the island in the middle of the pond.

By then, it had started drizzling again and we had only just made it back to the car when it started pelting down in earnest. Another lucky escape!

Would Spring finally have sprung on Easter Monday? You'll read all about it in my next post. Oh, the suspension ...