August, continued

In spite of my best intentions, it turns out that I seriously failed in wrapping up the month of August before we're off on our September holiday. Life, and in particular, work, has got a bit in the way this week, so that you'll have to do with just the one post instead of the two I kind of promised you. 

It'll be mainly outfits you'll get to see too, which I'm quite sure you won't mind. After all, back in the mist of time - about eight and a half years ago, to be exactly - this blog was started as a vintage and second-hand clothing inspired one!

There will be no less than eight outfits in this post, so do sit back, grab a drink and perhaps a little snack, and enjoy the ride.

We were blessed with some gorgeously sunny days and highs of 25°C in the first week of August, with the exception of Tuesday when the weather gods cranked up the heating to a sweltering 30°C.

I managed to stay relatively cool courtesy of a wildflower meadow and plenty of ice cream.

In a crisp floral cotton adorned with two fuchsia pink crocheted lace strips at the hem, the maxi skirt - a cheeky C&A buy in May 2022, is exactly the right length for me and an absolute joy to wear. It was joined by the green ice cream cone patterned Only t-shirt I charity shopped earlier this year.

A wide fuchsia pink suede belt (last year's Summer sale bargain) and charity shopped necklace and straw flower brooch completed my outfit.

Almost as certain as night follows day, a thunderstorm often follows in the wake of a hot Summer's day.

The rain continued into Wednesday morning before the sun did away with the clouds and warmed things up again to around 24°C.

The dress I was wearing that day is a bit of an oddity. In fact, it is more like a glorified apron than a dress, but just look at those details. I fell in love with its printed cotton fabric edged with red piping and that's before I noticed that it's got real pockets! 

However, its fabric was quite stiff, as it was probably starched within an inch of its life, so that wearing it felt like wearing a dress made of sandpaper. Nothing a spin in the washing machine couldn't rectify though!

Its accessories were mostly of the red variety to tie in with the red piping, although I did add a splash of blue by way of the vintage swallow brooch I found on that flea market in Middelburg at the end of July.

My red and cream slingback shoes had many admirers. They have been in my wardrobe for many years and although I know they were bought in the Summer sales, I actually don't remember where or when, which makes me think that it was pre-blog.

Friday was the start of another one of my three-day weekends, which have been nothing short of a blessing. Whenever I close the office door behind me of a Thursday evening, I'm glad that I finally took the plunge to apply for a so-called landing job, which enables employees to work only 4 days a week from age 60 onwards until they retire, with an additional bonus from the government for the 5th day.

Anyway, back to Friday the 9th of August, when I wore this skirt, which could very well end up being my most worn this Summer. Picked up from the Green Ice outlet shop near my office back in February, it accompanied me to Shropshire where I wore it twice, and it has now been added to next week's travelling wardrobe as well.

I found the brooch at the April edition of the indoor flea market, the necklace was a charity shop find, and the stretchy belt, one of the latest additions to my collection, came from a high street shop's closing down sale.

As our neighbour had received another delivery of building materials and we were expecting yet another round of neighbourly noise over the weekend, we plotted our escape.

Creatures of habit that we are, Saturday saw us driving over the border to Middelburg again. This time, though, we took a picnic as our plans involved going for a walk along the town's former defence bastions known as the bolwerken. But not before sampling a glass of that delicious non-alcoholic Trappist beer on the terrace of our favourite café!

It was while we are sitting there that Jos lamented the fact that he'd omitted to bring his jacket, which was still in the car. 

Rather than making another round trip to pick it up, we went to have a look in the gentlemen's outlet shop across the street, where we were overjoyed to find a fabulous blue, white striped linen-blend jacket from a high end label at a steeply reduced price. Happens to be that, after the demise of his charity shopped linen-blend H&M jacket we had been looking for something similar for absolutely ages!

Armed with the jacket as well as our picnic, we made our way towards the bolwerken, now filled with greenery and an oasis of calm and forming a green star around the town.

These elevated fortifications date from the 16th century and at the time provide a good view over the city in times of trouble. Around 1845, they were converted into a city park in English landscape style. With a total distance of 4 kilometres, it is one of the longest parks in the Netherlands. 

En route, we passed the Seismolen, a corn mill dating from 1728, which was actually working at the time of our visit, possibly in honour of the food truck festival which taking place nearby.

The path also skirted a Jewish cemetery, with a Jugendstil cleansing house dating from 1900. 

We left the bolwerken before reaching the end, preferring to make our way into the town centre via the Koepoort (Cow Gate) dating from 1735, the only surviving one of Middelburg's original eight town gates.

Before ending up at our favourite tearoom for cappuccinos and cakes, we briefly visited the Oostkerk

(East Church). Built in 1648, it is a prime example of Protestant Baroque architecture. The church has a distinctive octagonal shape and a domed tower. Nowadays, it is used for concerts, lectures and exhibitions.

After Saturday's intermezzo, it's back to more outfits. 

Sunday's was a viscose floral maxi skirt and striped frilly-sleeved top combo, both of which were supplied by the charity shops. The top is by high end label Essentiel Antwerp.

With its highs of 35°C, Monday was the hottest day of the year. As only the flimsiest of layers would do, I grabbed the recently charity shopped lightweight cotton Grace & Mila frock from its hanger. The necessary ventilation was provided by its floaty butterfly sleeves while supplying some coverage from the sun while on my way home.

It was still hot on Tuesday, although at 32°C slightly less so than on Monday. By the end of the day, I was feeling quite nauseous and the all-day aircon at the office had left both of my eyes dry and irritated, which no amount of lubricating eye drops was able to soothe. Consequently I wasn't in the mood for outfit photos and I actually haven't got the faintest idea what I was wearing that day.

Courtesy of an overnight thunderstorm it had cooled down to a more bearable 27°C on Wednesday, although I was still not feeling my best. 

I escaped the airconditioned office during lunch break for the usual mid-week cappuccinos with Inez at Think Twice's coffee corner.  Apparently, they'd repainted some of the walls in a moody charcoal grey, which I quite liked, but Inez didn't. The comfy chairs beneath the Billie Holiday lookalike with her vinyl hairdo is where we usually sit.

We had a whirlwind look at the rails and then walked to one of their other shops, which is virtually around the corner. Here I pounced upon a King Louie blouse, which you'll get to see in a minute.

The dress with its squiggly green stripes and solid white collar and cuffs was a Think Twice find in July 2023 and for once I didn't replace the self-fabric belt it came with. 

I'm a big lover of pink and green so the beaded necklace and plastic ring were no-brainers. As was the flower-embroidered brooch (this one) which I found in a Shrewsbury antiques centre in June 2019.

If you are wondering what Bess is looking at, this is where her food bowls usually are. We briefly removed them for the photos, which got her all confused.

Picking up the photo-bombing minx so that Jos could take a photo of the two of us wasn't much to madam's liking ...

Now you see us ...

... now you don't!

I absolutely love our new outfit photo spot in front of our vintage kitchen cupboard and I wonder why we didn't think of this before.

My final outfit dates from Thursday the 15th of August, which is a public holiday in Belgium, meaning that I had an extra day off.

Blue and green is another favourite combo of mine. Both colours come together in the King Louie pussy-bow blouse I found at Think Twice on Wednesday. The cotton Paisley print skirt was charity shopped last year, while the belt was a retail buy between Lockdowns in 2020. Can't get my head around the fact that this was four years ago already!

And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got packing to finish. The eternal dilemma on what to take!

Take care, and I'll see you on the other side!

August, finally

The title of this post might be a little confusing as of course, in reality, the month of August is almost drawing to its close. My blog always running behind the times, however, I am just about ready to put July to rest and take my first steps into August.

It's almost mind-boggling how time flies, whether you're having fun or not, but for some reason it feels as if it accelerates even more in the Summer months. And particularly so when the temperatures soar and one languid day seamlessly segues into the next.

July's final days saw the temperatures soar into the high 20s and peaking at 32°C on Tuesday.

Thankfully, I've got a selection of heat-proof frocks to tide me over, starting with the 1950s navy blue, red and white cap-sleeved cotton frock I wore on Monday the 29th. Looking back at my blog, I always seem to wear the same red vinyl belt with it and it's not the first time I pinned the vintage celluloid Scottie dog brooch to the dress's square neckline either. Unfortunately, it's not very visible in the quick outfit photo we snapped with my phone, but it's the same one I'm wearing here.

Tuesday's outfit was built around one of my all-time favourite hot weather cotton frocks. Just like Monday's it was found at Think Twice and has featured on the blog many a time over the years. 

I tend to accessorize it either with bright pink or orange, opting for the latter this time around by adding a charity shopped orange leather belt, a beaded necklace picked up in an antiques centre during one of our UK holidays and a cat brooch from Katty's delightful Katshop.

For Wednesday's warm and humid day, on which the mercury nevertheless took a tiny dive to 27°C, I wore a burnt orange tiered skirt patterned with off-white foliage. It was bought brand new in the C&A Summer sales back in 2022. Its crispy 100% cotton fabric couldn't have been more perfect to combat the heatwave temperatures, particularly when one has to commute on a tram with free yet unsolicited sauna facilities.

My belt and necklace came from the high street as well, and I see that I'm wearing yet another one of Katty's cat brooches pinned to my floral top, which is King Louie by way of the charity shops.

Back to vintage cottons on Thursday the 1st of August when I wore this Madras check dress trimmed with red at the collar, cuffs and (real) pockets. Adding more red with my accessories would have been far too easy, so I opted for a baby blue beaded necklace, a straw-coloured vintage hat brooch and a tan leather belt trimmed with a strip of crochet lace.

A thunderstorm followed by rain in the morning had managed to cool things down to around 24°C and was also the reason why I skipped the sandals that day.

My final office day of the week was made even better by meeting up with Inez at Think Twice's coffee corner, followed by a quick tour of the rails during which I fell head over heels with the skirt. Don't worry, you'll get to see it in a minute.

The sun had come out of hiding again by Thursday evening, so that we were able to watch the sunset cast a golden glow over the Art Deco lady living on our bedroom's mantelpiece.

We woke up to a slightly foggy morning on Friday, and although it took the sun a while to do away with the clouds, she eventually managed to break through and heat things up to around 26°C.

I was wearing the skirt I'd found at Think Twice the previous day, which found its perfect partner in a red and blue chevron t-shirt by the Belgian Who's That Girl label which I charity shopped ages ago. This, however, was its first wear. And also its last, alas, as by the end of the day the latex printed red chevrons had rubbed off onto the stretchy belt I was wearing, all but ruining it in the process, while one of the blue chevrons was scratched. Not wanting someone else to have the same experience, I refrained from putting it into the donations bag so I'm afraid it went straight into the bin!

Such a pity, though, as surely it was a match made in heaven!

As we needed a cheap and lightweight floor reading lamp to take with us to our September holiday cottage, we drove to IKEA after lunch. But although we did find what we were looking for, it was such a pain getting hold of the damn thing that I don't think we'll be visiting the Swedish superstore again anytime soon. Say no more!

Saturday turned out to be mostly cloudy but warm, at around 25°C.

I was half heartedly doing some housework while Jos was running an errand, when my eyes alighted on the cabinet which lives in the hallway and houses our vintage camera collection, and more to the point, to the layer of dust which had managed to settle upon its glass shelves.

The rest of the morning was spent cleaning the cabinet from top to bottom and giving its contents a good dusting.

The folding cameras on the top shelf are the oldest in our collection, dating from the 1910s to 1920s. In fact, it was one of these, found in an antiques shop in Bradford-on-Avon in 1996, which kick-started our collection.

The couple in the photograph are my maternal grandparents taken on their wedding day in 1934. When we were clearing the parental home, we came across the glass slide of that very same photograph - leaning against the camera second from left - which was meant for projection by magic lantern. 

Although I've forgotten the origin of most of our collection, I do remember that of one of the stars of our collection: a boxed Kodak Brownie Starlet camera, complete with flash unit and flashbulbs, dating from the late 1950s. Would you believe that Jos found it in the waste disposal area in the communal basement of the block of flats we used to live in before we moved to Dove Cottage?

The Brownie "Holiday Flash" camera, produced between 1953 and 1962, was a flea market find in January 2020, while we picked up the "Baby Brownie" from the same market two years earlier.

As a reward for all that cleaning, we were off to the charity shops in the afternoon. But not before showing you what I was wearing.

My navy blue dress with its exotic orange and white flower pattern was yet another old Think Twice find. 

Tan and burnt orange were used for my accessories, which consisted of a necklace and faux-bamboo buckle belt which were sales bargains from high street shop Veritas, and a glass ring and brooch found on various flea markets.

As for that afternoon's rummage, these two dresses came home with me. The chevron-striped one with its deep back and front V-neckline is by Who's That Girl, while the floral lightweight cotton maxi with its butterfly sleeves is from a French label called Grace & Mila. The latter would prove to be its weight in gold on the hottest day of the year a week or so later.

Hot it definitely wasn't on Sunday and nor did we see any blue skies or sunshine, as another mind-numbingly cloudy day was our lot. Nevertheless, with the thermometer insisting it was 23°C, it would have been downright silly to stay indoors, even if we had to force ourselves to go out.

The park in nearby Boom is just the ticket for a head-clearing walk, having the added advantage of not being too far from home.

Walking along the brook which eventually widens into a couple of pools, we were originally stumped by the distinct lack of waterfowl.

But then all of a sudden these youngsters appeared out of the undergrowth and started following us around. They clearly weren't afraid of humans and I bet they would have eaten out of our hands if we'd had any tasty bites to offer them!

My final outfit of the week was a vintage peasant-style C&A dress I found at Think Twice just a couple of days before our Shropshire holiday. I'd originally earmarked it for my holiday wardrobe but decided against it in the end. Whatever the case, it was an absolute joy to wear, so perhaps it'll accompany me to Belgium's west country in just over a week ...

Having finally thrown the youngsters off our scent, we made our way back to our car. The heron who was patiently awaiting his next meal wasn't that keen on humans, though, as he took flight as soon as he noticed he'd been spotted.

I'll be back with at least one round-up of August outfits and outings before we're off. Hope to see you soon!

Have you seen her dressed in blue?

The day after our little trip abroad was the 21st of July, which is Belgium's National Holiday. As this year it fell on a Sunday, this would have entitled me to a day off on Monday. However, our office is in the habit of saving days like these to fill in the gaps between Christmas and New Year, enabling us to enjoy a week off at the very least.

So, back to work it was on Monday, which thankfully wasn't too much of a hardship as it was rather quiet. The day was further enhanced with a lunch-time catch-up with Inez at Think Twice's coffee corner, followed by a quick dash around the shop. Sales prices being down to € 2 by now, I snapped up a flower-infused skirt - with pockets! - which you'll get to see me wearing later in this post.

The day's outfit was built around this cobalt blue dress with its eye-catching pattern of orange and white dots and swirls, found at Think Twice earlier that month. This is my contribution to Nancy's August edition of the Good Buy/Good-Bye book, a monthly series where people are invited to share either a Good Buy or a Good-Bye, or Bad Buy, if you must. There's a different theme every month (August's was the colour blue) and although I have participated a couple of times, it had been a while, as either I forget to send in my entry on time or the theme isn't one I can relate to. September's theme will be wide-legged trousers, which I can do if my memory doesn't fail me. 

Anyway, back to the dress, which I accessorized mainly with orange. The beaded necklace came from a long-gone vintage shop, while the enamelled brooch was part of my haul from this year's Shropshire holiday. There was a plastic orange ring too - charity shopped in Bridgnorth last year - which you can see if you squint at the first photo. The stretchy belt came from the high street.

Speaking of the latter, look what I found in the Summer sales during one of my lunch breaks later that week: a glorious pair of ochre wide-legged trousers with a massive white-ish flower print. They've got generous side splits and are from the Danish Vero Moda brand. Nancy, if you are reading this, I know what you're thinking :-)

It was a week of sunny spells and showers, highs of around 25°C, and lots of neighbourly building noise in the evening. If you thought all that was finished, you've thought wrong. After months of relative peace and quiet, we're now back to evenings and weekends filled with drilling and hammering. Will it ever be finished, we wonder?

Anyway, it's part of the reason I only felt up to making outfit photos again on Thursday, when I wore the vintage cotton C&A skirt I was lucky enough to bump into at Think Twice at the end of April.

Its companion that day was a rainbow-dotted King Louie pussy-bow blouse I charity shopped many years ago. My navy translucent beaded necklace was a charity shop find as well, and so was the € 0,50 lizard brooch I'd picked up on the Saturday. In fact, I think this particular chevron-patterned stretchy belt had its origins in a charity shop too. 

Although Friday was my day off, there was no avoiding going into Antwerp as I had a hairdresser's appointment for a colour and cut. So, Jos drove me all the way there and afterwards I took the tram back to Mortsel - the nearest town to ours which can be reached by tram - where he picked me up again.

My tie-neck Diolen frock with its veritable explosion of red and pink flowers has been in my wardrobe for close to ten years. It came from yet another long-gone vintage shop called Vintage Styling which sadly closed down back in 2016. Although it came with a matching belt, I once again opted to replace it with a chevron patterned stretchy one. So comfy, particularly when one has to sit in a salon chair for nearly two hours.

Back at home, I did a bit of housework, something we've been sorely remiss in lately. After ticking a couple of tasks off my list, I indulged myself by sprawling on the sofa - joined by Bess obviously - with my latest read. And very good it was too. My second Barbara Vine novel but definitely not my last! I am on the lookout for more but so far the charity shops haven't obliged.

The sunny Summer weather continued into the weekend, although the weather gods, possibly taking a breather before the next week's heatwave temperatures, only came up with a moderate 22°C on both days.

As promised, here is the € 2 skirt I found at Think Twice on Monday. The green short-sleeved knit top I wore with it has been in my wardrobe forever. After racking my brain as to its origins, I'm now inclined to think it came from the fabulous Blender Vintage Shop, another one which closed down in 2016. 

As for the stuff, as Sheila would say, it consisted of my stretchy belt with hexagonal faux-tortoiseshell buckle (high street), multi-coloured necklace (charity shop) and yellow perspex ring (flea market). The cat brooch deserves special attention, as it was a gift from Goody, who sent it to me all the way from Omaha back in 2018!

A peek at my life-saving journal tells me I caught up with blogland and - wait for it - did a stint of ironing. Oh, and we went for a rummage in the charity shop in Duffel, where I found this 1950s style fit and flare dress from retro label Voodoo Vixen. If you look closely you can see it's got some stylized black cats among its print.

Neither black nor stylized, our very own furry creature was basking in the sunshine streaming in through the sitting room window. As she'd claimed the sofa and didn't seem intent on leaving it any time soon, we took this as our prompt to go for a walk.

We hadn't been to Middelheim sculpture park since before our Shropshire holiday, so that was our destination sorted. At the time of our previous visit, preparations for the park's Summer exhibition, Come Closer, had been in progress, although a handful of participating artworks were already in place among the half-finished installations.

Case in point is Gilt (below, top left) by London based artist Hew Locke. There are a total of four of these richly decorated golden trophies. Made of gilded resin, they are just beautiful façades and rough at the back, meaning that they are literally imposters or cheats. 

Clockwise from Gilt, you can see one of three sculptures comprising Berlin based Zuzanna Czebatul's Macromolecule Exploiting some Biological Target. They are actually XXL versions of popular party drugs.

The television screen in the middle of nowhere is showing a performance called The Dreamer of the Forest by Paul Kindersley (UK, 1985), in which he brings the ‘characters’ in the Middelheim collection to life. One can see the actual performance on a stage on an island across the moat (above, bottom right) on eight different occasions during the exhibition.

I'm standing in front of Symptomatic Relief by Monika Grabuschnigg (Austria, 1987), which incorporates which looks like a piece of church furniture. According to her website she engages in themes such as longing, grief and melancholy by processing domesticated and commodified objects like clothing, home appliances and plants into sculptures and installations.

The skeleton riding a bike in the canopies of the trees is part of the museum permanent collection, Zwart Schaap (Black Sheep) by Belgian artist Johan Muyle (1956).

We wandered at will, ending up at the Organic Brutalist Braem Pavillion, where some kind of alarm seemed to be going off. Peeking inside, we couldn't see anything untoward going on. One can never be sure what's real and what isn't here, so perhaps it was just part of the exhibition ...

Anyway, our next stop was the Open-air depot where - I'm quoting the museum's website here - works of art that are being restored, or have been removed from the display of statues in the park for other reasons, find their home. Quite a few of my favourites are here, including Colonne, the reflective column by Belgian sculptor Félix Roulin (1931).

In my opinion, it's just a sorry and quite disrespectfully displayed jumble of works of art for which, surely, they could have found a more appropriate spot in the park. The mind boggles, as clearly there is more than enough space elsewhere.

Poor Sibilla (above, bottom right) by Italian artist Pericle Fazzini (1913-1987) clearly shares my opinion. After all, she has been sidelined after residing in the park since 1956!

Feeling more than just a little dejected, we crossed the road into Middelheim-Low, passing the delightful thatched warden's cottage called Aubette, sadly now being used to store some of the iconic gold and silver painted chairs one can find all over the park. 

Then our walk continued past the Pillared Pavillion (above, top right) by Belgian architect Charles Vandehove (1927-2019) and the aluminium monsters of the intriguingly named Silver Fruit, Silver Cakespoons, The Garden by the Antwerp artist Peter Rogiers (1967).

We were now in the Urban Nature zone of the park, where strange encounters are rife.

Take Blue Barrel (above, top left) for instance. It is part of a series of actions in which its creator, Swiss visual artist Roman Signer (1938) launches objects using a ramp. The performance at Middelheim Museum took place in May 2012. From a height of 15 meters and over a distance of about 35 meters, a metal barrel filled with water rolled down a ramp at high speed and exploded against a concrete wall. What you see now is a remnant of that action, a lasting reminder of the moment for those who were present, and a stimulus to the imagination for those who were not.

A clear case of now you see me, now you don't is Setting, dating from 2019 and by Filip Vervaet (1977) and consisting of four glass panels creating as series of garden rooms. In one room is a vase sculpture, while in the other one is a tree, but one the artist made in aluminum. When you walk around the artwork you alternately see the real trees in the park, the vase sculpture, and the bare tree trunk. The windows sometimes offer views of the interior and sometimes of the exterior, but it is never quite clear exactly what you are looking at. 

Can you see me? Answers on a postcard, please!

I will finally be wrapping up July and make a start with August in my next post. And that's a promise!

Summer outfits and an outing

As anticipated, I'm feeling a bit lost now that I've finished telling you all about our adventures in Shropshire and beyond. Writing those final lines was like a second goodbye and it really felt as if our holiday was now well and truly over. 

On the other hand, it most definitely was about time, as in less than three weeks from now another set of adventures awaits.  And obviously, I am running way behind with everything that's been happening chez Dove Cottage since my penultimate post.

It was Tuesday the 16th of July - eek, that's nearly a month ago! - and my first day back at the office after my long weekend which featured both our yearly flea market and my radiology test. After the latter's negative result, I was feeling on top of the world, so that neither the 275 emails which awaited me nor the heavy shower during my lunch break seemed to bother me much.

I was wearing one of my happy dresses too, a deckchair striped button through linen blend one found at Think Twice in August 2022. In spite of being spoilt with choice on which colour to accessorize it with, I always same to go for red, which this time was no exception. 

Even the thrifting goddesses were beaming down on me that day, as not only did I manage to escape the rain while at Think Twice, they were kind enough to send me a red tartan Courtelle blouse and a pair of tan clogs from the Swedish Moheda brand. As the shops had just started another round of their famous sales, they were mine for € 5 each.

After the high I was on on Tuesday, Wednesday was a bit of a letdown as I was having one of my bad eye days. The negative radiology test result obviously doesn't mean that my eye problem no longer exists and I keep on having good days as well as bad ones. 

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly is causing the unbalanced feeling I sometimes get as a result of the slight loss of vision in my left eye. Weather conditions, source of artificial lighting, eye strain due to too much screen time or even just due to reading a book, tiredness: they all have their role to play. More often than not, of course, it's a cocktail of likely triggers and what's worse, they tend to vary from day to day.

Anyway, let's skip Wednesday, and move straight to Thursday, when I was feeling much better and thus up to making outfit photos when I got home. The day's highs of 27°C made me pull this navy, flower-infused cotton frock from my wardrobe. It was a gift from Vix when we met up in 2019. Yet again, I have to admit to being a creature of habit by always using orange for my accessories.

After only a three-day working week, Friday and the start of another three-day weekend soon rolled along. 

It was a day of full-on sunshine and at 30°C actually much too warm for me. Nevertheless I insisted on putting away the rest of the flea market stuff, although I limited myself to just shoving them out of sight into the built-in cupboard in our bedroom.

I kept relatively cool by wafting around in my gloriously patterned green waxed cotton wrap skirt - found at Think Twice, where else, in April 2019 - combined with a black patterned top by Rhétorique, which was a recent charity shop find.

We needed to drop off a bag of donations, which we did at the charity shop in nearby Mortsel. While Jos was having a coffee in the cafeteria, I did my customary round of the rails. This only yielded a skirt, which you'll get to see me wearing later in this post. 

The jewellery display, however, more than made up for this! I'd already added two necklaces, a beaded bangle and a pendant to my basket, when my eye spied the vintage Edelweiss brooch peeking out from a box of tat. On closer inspection, there were more brooches to be found in there. Since they were all priced at € 0,50, these six set me back a total of € 3. 

Another hot day had been forecasted for Saturday, with temperatures up to 31°C. 

Desperately consulting our phone's weather app, we found out that it would be marginally cooler, with highs of about 26°C and with the added bonus of a bit of a breeze, in Middelburg, an hour away across the border in Holland. Which is why Saturday morning saw us going on a day trip abroad!

Having spent a couple of days in this lovely town in the Dutch province of Zeeland, both in 2018 and 2019, we know the town reasonably well. What's more, we know exactly where to park free of charge, in a quiet residential street near the Airbnb cottage we used to stay in.

It's only a leisurely 10-minute walk into town from here, taking us across a canal with a view towards a picturesque windmill on our right and some of the town's landmarks shimmering in the distance in front of us. The slender tower belongs to the  Lange Jan (transl. Long John), the 90,5 meter high tower belonging to the town's abbey complex which was established around 1100 by Flemish monks.

Before crossing a second canal, we passed the building the other tower belongs to. This is the Kloveniersdoelen, an impressive 17th century building now housing a cinema and a restaurant with a garden terrace.

We were now on the final stretch into the town centre. However, Jos, who's even worse with temperatures exceeding 25°C than yours truly, was in need of a sit down. Raring to explore, I left him sitting on a shady bench and walked into the direction of the Market Square.

Imagine my delight when the first thing I saw was row upon row of flea market stalls under deckchair-striped awnings. Having ascertained that they would be there all day, I made my way back to where I'd left Jos sitting on his bench.

But not before admiring the magnificent Gothic town hall which dominates the square! 

Although construction began in 1452, it wasn't completed until 1520, almost 70 years later. The impressive Gothic façade features red and white shutters, turrets and 25 statues of Zeeland's noblemen and women. 

The clock tower of the town hall is popularly known as Malle Betje (transl. Mad Beth) because its clock always chimes a few seconds after the one belonging to Lange Jan!

Reunited with Jos, it was now time for lunch, for which we sat down on the terrace of Reynaert & Co., a cosy café on the traffic free Langeviele shopping street.

The cheese sandwiches, on Italian flat bread and accompanied with oodles of vegetables, were absolutely delicious. They were washed down with non-alcoholic Affligem 0,0 beers from Belgium. We were only 30 minutes from the Belgian border after all. 

Suitably sated and refreshed, we were now ready for an adventure à deux. 

After cursory scanning the flea market stalls on the Market Square, we walked into the direction of the abbey courtyard, our aim being to walk through the atmospheric cloister passageway to the three interconnected churches which are part of the complex.

Much to our disappointment the door giving access to the cloisters was closed, so that there was nothing for it but to traipse all around the complex to the entrance at the south of the abbey. 

It was wonderfully cool inside the 14th century Koorkerk (transl. Choral Church) and the 16th century Nieuwe Kerk (transl. New Church) which are joined by a central choir called the Wandelkerk (transl. Walking Church). 

We briefly strolled through the cloisters, which thankfully could be entered from here, making use of the tranquillity of the courtyard leading off them for outfit photos. 

I was wearing the skirt I'd charity shopped on Friday. It's from an Antwerp based label called Black Rose.  My label-less t-shirt top was a charity shop find too. I thought its funky print worked well with that of the skirt. The stretchy belt with its leopard print buckle was picked up in the Summer sales on the high street.

By the time we'd visited the picturesque cobbled Kuiperspoort (above, top right) built by the coopers guild between 1586 and 1642, walked through the Reigerstraat known for its seasonal decorations (bottom right) and marvelled at the colourful cheeses and typical Dutch clogs which were being  sold on the market, we were tired on our feet. 

In need of a sit-down and some sustenance, we made a bee-line for our favourite tearoom in town, the wonderful Wooncafé. Situated in Segeerstraat, which leads off the town's main shopping street, they've got the most delicious home-made cakes on the menu.

Passing the Market Square on our way back, I left Jos once again sitting in the shade, while I did a final round of the flea market. 

Priced at a reasonable € 3 and € 3,50, I selected these four to come back to Belgium with me. I've already got the swallow in grey and grey and white, while the pink-rimmed floral one is joining its blue rimmed sister in my collection.

I was recently asked by Veronica how large my brooch collection has grown in the meantime. As counting them seems to be verging on the impossible, I can only take a rough guess, but I'm sure I've got at least 900 of them by now. No chance of running out of storage space any time soon, though: I've still got a whole stack of those shallow drawers from Jos's friend.

We had one more drink before setting off for home, enjoying glasses of amber coloured La Trappe Nillis beer, which rightly claims to be the first non-alcoholic Trappist beer in the world. Definitely worth a try if you've got the chance!

I'll be back with a final July catch-up in a couple of days. See you soon!