Another year over ...

... and what a year it has been! A true annus horribilis if ever there was one - although it wasn't ALL bad, I hasten to add. I've got the fondest memories of our Shropshire holiday and meeting up with Vix and Claire, for instance. But 2024 and I got off on the wrong foot only days in, when an unpleasant altercation with my bosses poisoned my days for several weeks to come.

However, all this, plus the generally under par weather and the doom and gloom in the world at large instantly paled into insignificance when Jos started having serious health problems back in September. The subsequent events rather knocked us both for six and turned our world upside down, so let's keep our fingers crossed for an infinitely better 2025. 

For now though, let's cast our minds back to Saturday the 7th of December! If initially this felt like absolutely ages ago and I was thinking I'd been letting standards drop, blog-wise, I was relieved to find that I was in exactly the same position when I published last year's final post.

I totally loved the outfit I wore that day, the combo of super-strokable forest green suedette skirt - bought brand new at Mango many years ago - and charity shopped multi-coloured Caroline Biss cowl neck jumper managing to make me feel both fabulous and comfortable. The stretchy belt was charity shopped as well while the brooch, which I'm inviting you to take a proper look at in a minute, was either bought from H&M or Accessorize about twenty years ago.

Whatever its origins, the fact remains that this is one of the brooches which kick-started my collection, which at the time I obviously had no inkling would take on such proportions :-)

Isn't this tree of life with three birds perching in its branches utterly gorgeous? I've lost count of the number of times that people asked me whether it's vintage. Well, perhaps it is after twenty years ...

But I happened to mention a deluge of vintage and other finds in my previous post, so I suggest I get cracking with what I found in the charity shop that Saturday.

The brocade midi dress on the top left is from EDC by Esprit, which filed for bankruptcy in Belgium and other European countries earlier this year. Funnily enough, I don't remember ever buying anything from their Antwerp shop, which is around the corner from my office, its empty premises currently taken over by a huge pop-up Christmas shop! 

The black mock-croc belt proved to be a perfect companion for the dress.

I fell head over heels for the Missoni-esque skirt on the bottom right. I can't wait to wear this one in the Spring!

The temperature, which had remained stuck at around 10°C for the last couple of days, had taken a dive into the single digits on Sunday. Dark and gloomy, with the odd bout of drizzle, I had a hard time dragging myself from the cozy confines of my bed that morning, particularly as I had another list of those never-ending household chores to tick off. 

No reason not to dress up though! Surely, wearing such a fabulously patterned frock makes even a morning of vacuuming, mopping and dusting, if not enjoyable, then certainly more bearable.

In spite of its long sleeves and high neckline, it's not the warmest of garments, so I was wearing plenty of layers underneath and a snuggly, fluffy orange cardigan on top.

Dress: Think Twice

Cardigan: charity shopped

Opaques, ankle boots, belt and felted flower corsage bought on the high street

I spent the afternoon on the sofa, finishing my latest read, Laurie Graham's Gone with the Windsors,

which was quite hilarious at times. The book is the diary of Mrs Simpson's fictional best friend in pre-war London, a wealthy American widow who arrives in London in 1932 and discovers that her old school friend is also in town: a certain Bessie Wallis Warfield, now Mrs Ernest Simpson.

The working week ahead continued to be gloomy but mostly dry, the temperature steadily going down from 6°C on Monday to 3°C by the end of the week.

As I walked into the shopping centre near my office, where the majority of the regular shops have been replaced by a bevy of pop-up ones, my eyes alighted on this fabulous pair of magenta suede boots in one of the latter. A handwritten card proclaimed that all boots and shoes were € 20. What's more, they all turned out to be sales samples and were all in my size, 37 or UK size 4! Needless to say, I didn't hesitate for one second. 

Then I ummed and ahhed over another pair which in the end I didn't buy ... at least not that day.

Tuesday's lunch break was spent walking down to the Think Twice shop nearest my office, where another one of their famous sales rounds was in full swing, with all garments going for € 5. Not a bad price for two jackets, one of them three-quarter sleeved and probably handmade, the other vintage Harris Tweed!

I also snaffled this burnt orange velvet turban, which was just perfect to combat the chilly weather, keeping my ears warm and toasty. I made this selfie for the benefit of my friend Inez while on the tram home. Clearly I haven't got Bess's talent for making selfies, but never mind that.

As that other pair of boots kept playing on my mind, I decided to have another look at them on Wednesday. I'm still not sure what kept me from buying them on Monday, as clearly they were meant for me. And who doesn't need a pair of purple Western style ankle boots in their wardrobe? I know I do!

And they've already had a lot of wear too, starting with Friday the 13th of December.

Charity shopped back in February, this blue, black and burgundy patterned skirt in a thick blanket-like fabric originally came from & Other Stories. It's such a treat to wear on a cold Winter's day, so I'm thankful for whoever had been foolish enough to get rid of it. 

Its companion this time around was a blue vintage jumper from Think Twice.  My mohair beret, which happened to match my boots, was found at Think Twice as well. It might have been cold but I was primarily wearing it to hide my hair, which was sorely in need of a wash. Such a slob!

My red-eyed deer brooch came out to play among my jumper's flower pattern. I remember finding it in a long gone vintage shop on a Sunday afternoon back in the mists of time. The painted wooden beads were charity shopped earlier this year.

What with the weather gods once again refusing to play nicely, we cancelled plans for a walk and went charity shopping instead. Which wasn't much of a hardship, obviously.

Riffling through the rails of dresses, I found these two vintage Diolen ones in the XL section. They were a 1970s size 42 and 44 respectively, but I'm currently about a size 40 and they both fit me perfectly, which shows how much sizing has shifted over the decades. Sizing being quite haphazard at the best of times, it always pays to look through all sections, from XS to XL and beyond ...

Forever on the lookout for tank tops, I was happy to come across this gorgeous tan cable-knit one, which shows every sign of having been handmade. It's just what I had been looking for and has already been worn in the meantime.

I also fell hard for this maroon atomic patterned vintage jumper!

My final find was a chocolate brown embroidered and rick-racked tiered linen skirt. It's by the French Devernois label and I'm imagining myself floating around in it on a warm Summer's day. 

It's absolutely perfect apart from a couple of minor stains, which I intend to spot clean as its care label says dry cleaning only. 

I'll be wrapping up 2024 in my next post, but for now I'll leave you with these photos of Her Royal Highness, who is wishing you all a Happy New Year!

I'll be in my pyjamas after dinner, and will probably nod off before the clock strikes 12!

And so this is Twixmas ...

In this post, I'm once again taking you on a couple of trips back and forth in the time machine.  Although Christmas was still in the future in my tiny corner of blogland, I couldn't possibly continue where I left off without sharing Bess's adventures with the Christmas tree. 

Being much slimmer than our usual faux fir in order to fit neatly into a corner of our sitting room, we were rather hoping that she wouldn't be able to climb it. Still, knowing Miss Mischief, we didn't risk using our fragile vintage baubles and decorated the tree with our collection of felt icicles, fabric angels, fake apples, wooden bird houses and resin wrens and gingerbread men instead.  There were some new additions too, in the form of the papier mâché stars (centre and bottom right) which wormed their way into our shopping trolley at the garden centre. 

After wearily eyeing our new, as yet undecorated, acquisition, Bess's curiosity soon got the better of her, but as so far the penny hadn't dropped, she soon lost interest and settled herself in her favourite spot on Jos's bed for a catnap. 

Her lightbulb moment arrived when she spotted the fully decorated tree upon waking up and it didn't take long for her to disappear up the tree, her butter-wouldn't-melt face soon peeking out from between its tightly packed branches. In the meantime, ornaments have been dislodged right, left and centre, and we are counting our lucky stars that so far - touch wood - the tree is still in an upright position.

Christmas intermezzo over, I'm now urging you to fasten your seatbelts, as I'm whizzing you back to the first weekend of December and take you on not just one but two short walks.

Hello! May I remind you that technically speaking, Saturday was
the last day of November? Oh, but you're right there, Bess! Nice selfie, by the way!

She definitely makes a better selfie than yours truly, so I'm thankful for the assistance of my faithful photographer Jos for outfit photos. Truthfully, he was also the one who assisted Bess with her selfie while I was touching up my lipstick in the bathroom.

The day's highs of 6°C called for the wearing of this wool and polyester mix vintage dress, a Think Twice sales bargain in November 2023. Big poodle brooch, matching the dress's carved off-white buttons, came out to play again as well. The dress's self-fabric belt with its matching off-white buckle was replaced with a wine red leather one matching the squiggles in the dress's pattern. More wine red was added with my necklace and opaques.

The day's sunny outlook obviously called for a walk to clear our fuzzy heads and top up the vitamin D levels. Having the delights of Middelheim sculpture park practically on our doorsteps, the decision on where to spend the afternoon was a fairly straightforward one.

Entering the park through the so-called Artist's Entrance, which gives access to Zone East, we soon came upon this intriguing contraption. Dating from 2019 and called “Puppetry & Puppets”, it is by  Belgian artist duo Sarah & Charles. Reminiscent of a puppet show, the sculpture is about storytelling and scenography, and is all about interaction with the viewer: it invites you not only to look, but also to tell your own story in it.

The container monument, Orbino (2004) is by Belgian contemporary artist Luc Deleu (°1944), who is an architect, visual artist, and world traveller. Orbino consists of two containers which are horizontally attached to a tower of three containers. The stairs at the back invite you to explore the space at the top, the glass wall in the final container affording a view of the art park. Perhaps it's my vertigo which has prevented me from going up there so far? Half-hidden between the bare branches of the trees, I thought it had the look of a giant alien, with the glass wall being one big eye!

On the bottom left, on the edge of Zone East: Zonnewagen (transl. Chariot of the Sun) by another Belgian artist, Camiel van Breedam (°1936) and dating from 1974. In the words of the artist, it's a  a chariot made to transport the sun to an ideal place. Don't we all need one of those?

In addition to the sunshine we were blessed with that day, I brought some of my very own by wearing a bright yellow woolly beret and crochet scarf, the latter a gift from my blogging friend and ultimate queen of colour, Monica.

We just wandered at will, exercising our weary limbs and enjoying the sensation of the sunshine on our pasty white faces taking precedence over seeking out the works of art.

But there's always one that makes you stop in your tracks! Sheltering from winter's harsh weather conditions was The Voyage of the Mascot (2021) by Sharon Van Overmeiren (°1985). The Belgian contemporary sculptor creates “fictional sculptures"  composed of references to various cultures and times, from pre-Colombian motifs to contemporary cartoons.

The ceramic sculpture represents a bear which, in the artist's words, we associate with the cute, comforting teddy bear or know as an emblem for strength and courage. However, there is also a link between bears and evil powers, and the black worm - which I think is rather cute  - drilling its way through the sculpture symbolizes the digestion of meaning.

But enough of that, let's have a look at what I was wearing on Sunday 1 December!

I found the green button-through cord skirt in the Green Ice outlet shop in the shopping centre near my office during one lunch break. Here I paired it with a diamond patterned blouse from Think Twice and charity shopped brown cable-knit tank top. The burgundy belt was charity shopped as well, while the grey diamond patterned and orange-eared cat brooch was a gift from my lovely blogging friend Kezzie, whom I had the pleasure to meet up with twice already.

After a morning of catching up with household chores, most of which are currently on my to-do list while Jos is recovering, we decided to make the most of the sunshine which according to the weather forecast would be leaving us from late afternoon onwards.

As it was already getting late, we didn't venture too far from Dove Cottage, settling for Fort 5 in the neighbouring village of Edegem.

Nature has slowly but surely been taking over the old fort buildings, built in the 1860s as part of a ring of forts to protect the city of Antwerp from enemy fire.

Part of the path takes you through some of the eerily atmospheric buildings, which seem to have been taken over by aliens.

The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds by the time we arrived back at our car, and would soon disappear completely, giving herself up to the gloom of December and yet more rain for the rest of the week.

One afternoon while I was making my way home she only had time to briefly show us her face before setting and calling it a day. 

The first week of December was another humdrum one, punctuated by a check-up at the hospital for Jos on Wednesday and a hairdresser's appointment for me on my Friday off.

Rain and a blustery wind were on the menu which rather put a damper on the day's highs of 10°C. On top of that I'd woken up with a headache which refused to go away so that, in spite of Michel's best efforts my two-hour colour and cut session at the salon was somewhat of a bit of an ordeal.

At least I was wearing one of my all-time favourite frocks, a vintage one from the Finnish Petri label I found at Think Twice many years ago. And as adding lots of orange always makes things better, that's exactly what I did.

Apart from my old half-elasticated belt and my opaques, the pops of orange were supplied by an enamelled brooch from Memory Lane Antiques in Shrewsbury and a charity shopped beaded necklace.

That weekend would mark the start of veritable deluge of vintage and other finds. But that, my friends, will be revealed in the final post of 2024. See you again soon!

Wrapping up November

By the time this post is published the countdown to Christmas has well and truly begun. There's just one more working day to struggle through as my boss insisted we come to the office on Monday, and that's it: I'm only expected back in January! Not having much affinity with Christmas at the best of times, I might not be feeling particularly festive, but let me tell you that these days of leisure - a seemingly never-ending nine of them - will be very welcome indeed!

In a bid to get ourselves into the mood, we did succumb to putting up the tree last Sunday. As we currently don't have space for our regular "faux fir", we picked up a smaller and significantly slimmer one at the garden centre, one which neatly fits into our sitting room. We were living in hope that Bess would refrain from attempting to climb this one, but I think you can take an educated guess at how that  worked out ... **

In the meantime, my blog hasn't even made it to December yet, which means I'll have to get my skates on and whizz through those final two November weeks.

The weather had definitely taken a turn for the worse in the month's penultimate week, with highs of around 3°C and lashings of rain, hail and sleet. We even had some proper snow one evening, which thankfully didn't stay around for long and was all but gone by morning.

As sunny spells remained the rarest of commodities, I whipped out my phone to take this snapshot of Antwerp's Stock Exchange during one of my lunch breaks. What a treat that lovely blue sky was!

The sky reverted to its customary granite grey for the rest of the week, the weather gods upping the ante with flurries of snow while I was waiting at the dentist for a check-up on Friday.

We left it too late for outfit photos that day, but here is what I was wearing on Saturday 23 November.

It's always a joy to wear this vintage blue and off-white tile-patterned dress on such a wintry day, its textured polyester fabric perfect to combat the low single digit temperatures.

I kept it simple by adding just a handful of accessories in toffee shades: a vintage enamelled butterfly brooch and tiger eye pendant from the indoor flea market and a charity shopped top stitched belt with gold rimmed buckle. The eagle-eyed among you may catch a glimpse of my mustard opaques while my tan boots - my most-worn pair so far this season - are making yet another appearance on the blog.

With the weather once more playing spoilsport there was nothing for it but to go for a rummage, for which we selected the charity shop at the edge of our town. 

Pickings were slim, but I still managed to fall head over heels with a navy and orange Zara skirt, which you'll get to see me wearing the very next day. A chunky buttonless orange cardigan by Belgian designer Nathalie Vleeschouwer also ended up in my trolley. You'll get to see me wearing that too.

My final find was this wounded vintage swallow brooch, which was begging me for mercy. At just € 1,50 I was more than willing to give it a home in my modest collection. When I posted her on Instagram, several people initially thought she was made of chocolate. Well, someone has clearly been nibbling the tip of her wing!

Sunday was a day of sunny spells and a couple of light showers. Incredibly, the mercury had climbed to 17°C, making it the mildest 24 November since records began!

Bess was making the most of a ray of sunshine by basking in it while she was claiming Jos's lap for a cat nap.

No cat nap for yours truly, who had a couple of chores to tick off her list. Then, after lunch, we decided to return to the park in Duffel for a stroll.

In spite of the unseasonably warm temperature, it was all but blowing a hoolie out there. On top of that, it had started to drizzle the minute we'd stepped from our car. Not to be deterred by such details, we walked into the direction of the castle ruins which, much to our amazement, are finally being restored.

What with all the rain, the paths were far too muddy for a closer inspection. 

We returned to the main part of the park via the towpath of the River Nete (below, bottom right) which runs adjacent to it, the menacing sky holding the promise of yet more downpours.

At one point, the sun made a feeble and short-lived attempt to break through the multiple layers of grey, briefly lighting up the few remaining russet leaves hanging on for dear life on the odd tree.

As always, I was in awe of the tenacity of this ancient split and hollow tree, looking brittle and frail, yet refusing to give in to the inevitable. The things it must have witnessed in its lifetime would make for captivating stories, I think. Why don't we pause a while and listen to its whispering conversations with the wind?

I was wearing the Zara skirt I'd scored in the charity shop on Saturday. My vintage burgundy tweed jacket with its knitted sleeves and yoke was supplied by the gods of the charity shops as well, as was the fluffy bubblegum pink scarf, both of which were more than sufficient for the mild temperatures of that day. My red Kangol beret was picked up from Think Twice about a year ago.

Back at Dove Cottage, it was time to show you the Zara skirt - and the rest of my outfit - in detail, although we did struggle a bit with the failing daylight.

I just love the texture of that skirt, which reminds me of bubble wrap. I've got a cardigan with a similar texture lined up for its next outing. 

Incidentally, the thin Norwegian style jumper is charity shopped Zara as well. As an extra layer, I wore the orange Nathalie Vleeschouwer cardigan which had also made its way home with me on Saturday.

Oranges and navy blues were the obvious choices for my accessories, a mix of vintage (brooch), second hand (necklace) and high street finds (ring and belt).

November's final week brought moderate temperatures of around 12°C accompanied with yet more and often quite torrential rain. It was on the news that week that 2024 had so far been the wettest year in Belgium ever. Or at least since records began on 1 January 1833.

 

This was my view from the tram on my way home on Wednesday afternoon ...

Thankfully, some sunshine at last on Thursday which, as it was Thanksgiving and our head office is in Miami, was a bit of a quiet day. 

As the tower crane used for renovating the Art Deco skyscraper opposite our office building has finally been removed, we've got an uninterrupted view towards Antwerp's cathedral once more. The morning sun was painting its tower in liquid gold and made me reach for my phone, inwardly cursing its camera's limitations and regretting that I didn't have my proper camera with me. This, therefore, will have to do!

The sunny spells continued on Friday, clearing up after its initial foggy start with the garden covered in a flimsy layer of hoarfrost.

My journal insists that we went to the supermarket and that I gave the downstairs rooms a quick once over. Oh, what an exciting life I've been leading lately.  

But at least I dressed up, like I always do, picking a previously tried and trusted combo of a vintage polyester and mohair blend skirt and a charity shopped rose-patterned King Louie jumper.

Accessories were a sales bargain green suede belt, a charity shopped green wooden Les Cordes necklace, a vintage brooch from the indoor flea market and a green plastic ring which was a gift from my wonderful blogging friend Claire.

So, that's November all wrapped up. December, I think I am ready for you!

** Don't worry, photos of her exploits will be in my next post!

Humdrum weeks

In spite of being more than just a bit humdrum, the weeks keep hurtling past at a speed I'm unable to keep up with. Their work, eat, sleep, repeat pattern only slightly varies during my three-day weekends, with sleep getting a larger piece of the pie and work being replaced by household chores, even if the latter are being kept to the bare minimum.

But even with the somewhat altered schedule here at Dove Cottage, all work and no play just wouldn't do, and I don't think I could face one single day without dressing up. And so it is that weekend days always start with playing around with the generous contents of my wardrobe.

Friday the 15th of November was yet another one of those grey and gloomy days which were so plentiful that month, although I guess we couldn't really complain about the temperature, which kept hanging around in the low double digits.

My carefully curated outfit that day consisted of a black needlecord skirt with a white, tan, teal and turquoise cloud-like pattern - charity shopped back in March - combined with an embroidered long-sleeved denim blouse picked up in a Bridgnorth charity shop in June. 

The pussycat brooch cavorting among the embroidered flowers was a gift from lovely Goody and was joined by a brown plastic owl ring. Further outfit ingredients were a funky wooden and plastic beaded necklace and a stretchy belt with a leopard patterned buckle, both of which were found on the high street at one time or another.

Saturday saw a repeat of Friday's weather, but with the addition of a blustery wind which made it feel several degrees colder. Although I knew it would need some layering, I was adamant to give the dove grey patterned dress I found during the latest round of Think Twice sales its first whirl.

As I might have mentioned at the time I introduced it on the blog, I had a good chuckle at its label. Madame Chic indeed. That's me, right? No, you don't answer that!

Madame Chic or not, I made use of both the purple and yellow in its pattern for its layering companion - a charity shopped Esprit cardigan - and accessories. Both the yellow elephant and yellow and orange bubble-gum necklace are vintage, while the flower patterned perspex ring and the flower corsage I pinned to my cardigan were charity shop finds.

What with the weather not being inductive to being outdoors, we decided to pay the two-storey charity shop in Mechelen a long overdue visit.

Things can be a bit hit or miss here but this time we definitely didn't leave empty handed. Climbing the stairs to the clothing departement on the second floor, this coat almost literally leapt at me.

Yes, I know that I didn't really need another coat, especially not another brown one. But I couldn't resist lifting its hanger from the rail and before I knew it I was standing in front of the floor's one and only mirror and trying it on. It's by the Italian Stefanel label and would originally have had a price tag between € 200 and € 300. At a mere € 9, who was I to say no? Just look at that gorgeous lining.

I also snaffled another King Louie cardigan in a minty green colour which my collection was still lacking. 

Never mind that the mercury had dropped below 10°C on Sunday, it was a lovely surprise to wake up to blue skies and sunshine for a change.

This would have made us grab our coats and go outside after breakfast if we hadn't had to wait around for the nurse to come and bandage Jos's legs. Lately, she'd been turning up quite late which was making Jos a bit grumpy, so when she declared that his legs were much better and she would only be returning for a check-up in two days' time, he couldn't have been happier. 

While we were waiting, why don't we have a look at my outfit? 

I layered one of my vintage black florals, a shift dress from good old Think Twice, with a plum coloured chunky long-line cardigan from Hampton Bays by way of the charity shops. 

To compete with the dress's busy green, purple, tan and off-white flower pattern, I added a big vintage poodle brooch to cavort among them. You can just catch a glimpse of my off-white chunky plastic ring on the bottom right of the collage.

Too late to make a start after the nurse had left, we brainstormed on possible walking destinations while having lunch. 

What with Jos still not being up to longer walks and requiring the existence of plenty of benches in case he's in need of a sit-down, our choices are somewhat limited. 

But then I had a brainwave and suggested the small-ish but perfectly formed park in Duffel, the one that's just a stone's throw from one of our favourite charity shops and frequently visited in a not all too distant past.

Extensive road works had made it hard to reach for well over a year. Then, after resuming our visits last February, a further spanner was thrown in the works by construction work in the park itself: when we were last here in June some of the paths were closed off while a connecting rill between the various ponds was being dug.

Things had definitely improved since then and the sight which greeted us upon entering the park was truly magical. The trees were blushing in hues of scarlet, gold and brown highlighted by brilliant shafts of Autumn sunlight.

The sky above us was a dome of deep blue which nevertheless had to share its limelight with an encroaching army of clouds, fluffy white and innocent looking at first, but growing grey and just a little sinister as the afternoon progressed.

Wearing my new-to-me coat, I posed for photos among a stand of majestic trees. Looking skyward, they seemed to go on forever until, slightly dizzy from craning my neck, my eyes met their  kaleidoscope canopies.

Continuing our little walk, we passed the Brutalist fountain, which we were happy to see was once again in full working order after having been a sorry case of neglect for many years.

We just couldn't get enough from the park's Autumnal splendour and might have lingered for longer if it it hadn't been for the arrival of a group of boisterous Scout Cubs, their shouts shattering the quietness of the afternoon. 

As we were in for a week of horrendous weather, we were glad we'd made the effort, although we would return to the park sooner than we'd thought ...

But that, my friends, will be for my next post!