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!