A glut of Summer outfits

I've been completely engrossed in writing my travelogue ever since we came back from our Shropshire holiday. So much so that now I'm finding myself running behind on what else has been happening in my life. And what I've been wearing, obviously! Now that we're finally back on track with making daily outfit photos, it would be an utter shame to let them go to waste, so I'm treating you to a veritable glut of Summer outfits in this post! 

I was in the throes of a serious case of post-holiday blues on Monday the 24th of June and not at all looking forward to my first day back on the grind on Tuesday. 

As is often the case upon our return from the UK the weather gods had a minor heatwave in store for us, easing us in gently with highs of 25°C on my final day of rest. 

The maxi skirt, green short-sleeved top and stretchy belt were part of my travel wardrobe but, although I wore the belt on several occasions, for obvious reasons the skirt and top had remained unworn. They were all retail buys which have more than earned their keep in my wardrobe.

The tiny Irish sheep brooch and the ceramic beaded necklace were gifts from Claire, whom we met up with in the second week of our holiday. Travelogue to follow shortly!

As always, the first couple of days back at the office were a whirlwind of catching up with work and as the temperature was nudging 30°C for once I was glad of the coolness supplied by the office air con.

To add insult to injury, Jos had to take the car to the garage for Belgium's equivalent of the MOT, so that I was obliged to bus into Antwerp on Tuesday. To say it felt a bit weird after four years of being chauffeur-driven into Antwerp is a bit of an understatement, but at least the journey was a straightforward one.

I was too exhausted for outfit photos at the end of the day, but here's what I wore on Wednesday. 

The green sleeveless dress, its pattern a purple and red floral extravaganza, was a charity shop find last September and was just perfect for the continuing heatwave temperatures. The wooden beads came from Accessorize - I've got them in a different colourway as well - while the enamelled butterfly brooch was a flea market find in 2017.

Although it was in no way intentional, I seemed to have a bit of a green theme going on that week.

As usual, it was an utter joy to wear this jumpsuit, which came from a fast fashion shop on the high street. Bought in 2018, an incredible six years ago, it's a true case of fast fashion turned slow! 

Pops of orange from my belt, ring and beaded necklace completed my outfit. The tomato red sandals, which joined my wardrobe in 2020, were what Monica would call my repeat offenders, as it seems I wore them three days in a row. 

The temperature had gone down to around 20°C on Friday, which saw us driving to Antwerp for a hairdresser's appointment. While I was at the salon, Jos went for a coffee and a wander, after which we met up for lunch at the recently opened branch of Le Pain Quotidien, a chain of combined bakeries and breakfast and lunch restaurants. We both opted for cheese and ham croissants which we had with our usual cappuccinos.

Afterwards we took the tram for a couple of stops and then walked through the premises of the posh Botanic Sanctuary hotel located in a former convent and hospital complex whose history goes back to the 12th century. Here, I introduced Jos to Albert Szukalski's ghostly figures, relatives of those in the sculpture park.

We were on our way to buy a new Panama hat for Jos from a hat shop called Harbor of Men.

Mission accomplished, we walked back to the city centre through the Botanic Garden, where Jos wasted no time in exchanging the charity shopped M&S hat he was wearing for his new acquisition.

On our way out, we briefly paused for outfit photos. This zig-zag skirt was another one which fruitlessly accompanied me on my travels. It was a charity shop find in the Summer of 2021. In fact, most of what I'm wearing here was charity shopped, apart from the belt, a flea market find back in April, and the Clarks sandals, a sales bargain dating from 2018.

Saturday was a day of sunny spells and a balmy temperature of 23°C.

The dress I wrestled from my wardrobe's groaning rails that morning is vintage, from a label called Carine, which I remember being around when I was a young girl. It's got a gorgeous floral watercolour print and the sweetest cap sleeves which have a little split at the top allowing for welcome ventilation on a warm Summer's day.

I opted for neutral tones for my accessories, which included a Paris souvenir cameo brooch, a stretchy belt with wooden buckle and a wood and polished stone beaded necklace. The slingbacks I was wearing might very well be my most comfortable pair of Summer shoes. They're from the Spanish Art label and were picked up from an Outlet shop in May 2022.

My mind is a blank as to what we did that day, apart from the fact that we dropped off a bag of donations at the charity shop in the afternoon. It would have been rude not to have a rummage while we were there, and we were amply rewarded for our generosity by the charity shop goddesses.

The spoils which ended up in my trolley were two maxi skirts and several patterned tops. I'm actually wearing the drapey black patterned one (above, top left and centre) as I type.

With a repeat of Saturday's weather on Sunday, we thought it was high time we planted up the hanging baskets and upside-down green enamelled lampshades under the awning outside our backdoor. Embarrassingly, we admit that they still contained the sorry-looking remains of the daffodils, primulas and pansies we planted back in Spring since we'd postponed replacing them with Summer flowers until we were back from our holiday.

Needless to say, the choice at the garden centre was rather limited this late in the day, but we still found some scarlet double Pelargoniums for the cones and a cheerful yellow Sanvitalia for the half-basket against the potting shed wall.

A single white Pelargonium with contrasting burgundy markings was selected to join yet another yellow Sanvitalia in the hanging basket suspended from the awning and I couldn't resist buying a pot of pink and purple Fuchsias for the passageway.  

Sunday's dress was the black floral butterfly-sleeved one in the middle, a Think Twice sales bargain back in May.

We were back to grey skies, showers and temperatures barely touching 20°C in the first week of July. The perfect weather conditions to wear some of my beloved but sorely neglected Diolen Delights! Most of my collection was picked up from Think Twice over the years, although lately finding any of these colourful garments has become a bit of a rarity.

Finding one in a charity shop is even more unlikely, but that's exactly where I stumbled upon this glorious 1970s does 1940s number, albeit many years ago. I wore it on Thursday, my final working day of the week, picking a muted sage green as my main accessorizing colour. The brooch with its posy of tiny embroidered flowers was found in a Shrewsbury antiques centre in June 2019.

Friday the 5th of July was another grey and rainy one, with the additional delight of a blustery wind thrown in. This didn't bother me too unduly, as my friend Inez was coming over to help me put together the contents of our flea market stall in preparation for the event, which would take place on Sunday the 14th.

However, the day didn't got off to a good start. While dragging a seemingly endless number of boxes and bags from the built-in cupboard in our bedroom to the spare room, my ironing board, which is stored behind the bedroom door, toppled over and fell against the door, closing it with a bang in the process. As Bess - having a cat's curiosity and all that - was checking out the remaining boxes at the time disaster struck, she took fright and hid under the bed. She'd just come out of her hiding place when Inez, whom she hadn't met before, arrived. Still on edge from the ironing board episode, she hid under the sofa for the rest of the day, only emerging again by tea time. She remained nervy and apprehensive all through the evening and into Saturday and is still wary of the ironing board to this day.

Then, while Inez and I were selecting garments, pricing them and putting them on hangers, disaster struck again. As Jos was putting the rail together, one of the screws connecting the rail to one of the wheel frames got stuck and then broke off. There was nothing for it but to drill a new hole in the frame, which, although it made the rail a tiny bit wonky, turned out to be just fine in the end.

On the rail is our initial selection, with the rest of the clothes priced and put into boxes until space on the rail would become available on the day itself.

All that was left to do now was hoping the weather would at least be dry, so that our work wouldn't have been for nothing. Obviously, all will be revealed in a future post!

I'll be back with another episode of the travelogue next time. But before I go, here's what I've been reading lately. 

I'd just started Asta's Book by Barbare Vine - who is actually British crime writer Ruth Rendell - a couple of days before we went to Shropshire. It took me a while to finish it, as I kept dropping off on the sofa in the cowshed. Nevertheless, I loved it enough to have added another one of her books to my TBR pile. 

James Runcie's Canvey Island - which I'd bought during a previous Shropshire holiday - was started at the cowshed and finished at home, and didn't disappoint either. I'm still reading the 670-page Lucinda Riley novel I charity shopped while on holiday, so the jury's still out on that one.

Have you read any of these and what is your current read?