Back to the wilderness

As today is a public holiday in Belgium, I've been enjoying a bonus day off, which was very welcome indeed. The weather wasn't up to scratch - it has been blowing a hoolie outside - so that we were forced to stay inside Dove Cottage's cozy confines and rest. Not an easy task to accomplish for a busy bee like me, so instead of spending the day lounging on the sofa all day, I've spent the morning making a tentative start with ticking off the holiday packing list and adding and subtracting to the longlist of my holiday wardrobe. 

I'm feeling a bit brighter, and even if my batteries are still low, at least my cold sores are clearing up. As advised by one of my commenters, I've taking daily doses of Lysine and Vitamin C, and I've stocked up on Bach Rescue cream as recommended by Beate.

But before those early May days get lost into the mists of time, let me retrace my steps and take you back to the start of the month's first full week.

The weather on Monday the 5th of May was almost a carbon copy of Sunday's: grey, windy and with a measly 13°C registered on the thermometer. As usual on a Monday, a large part of the morning was spent catching up with work and dealing with all the sh*t which had come in on Friday and which my colleagues, both in Belgium and across the ocean, had kindly left for me to deal with.

Flush with my success at Sunday's flea market, I walked to the nearest Think Twice shop during my lunch break, where the latest of their famous sales was in full swing. I fell head over heels for this flouncy Diolen dress, which was mine for € 6. I love it so much that I roped in my double act to show it to you twice!

An improvement in the weather meant that it was sunny but still windy on Tuesday, with the mercury climbing to 17°C.

After running a lunch break errand, I had some time to spare before I was due back at the office. So what was I to do? Why not have a quick browse at Think Twice, particularly as sales prices had dropped to € 5 that day?

I was about to leave empty handed when I noticed a fellow shopper hanging back this gorgeous sage green cardigan. If I hadn't already been swayed by its colour and its stunning ajour pattern, it would have been the giant cuffs that insisted I hand over my € 5 without further delay.

The sun did another disappearing act on Wednesday and although the thermometer insisted on it being 17°C, the wind, which came straight from the north, made it feel quite a bit chillier.

On the bright side, we finally got rid of Jos's hospital bed, which was collected that morning. Jos had still been sleeping in it after his surgery while his bladder was recuperating, but now that things were back to normal, we desperately wanted our dining room back.

By the time I came home from work Jos had already reassembled our dining table, which had been stored in our basement. That evening we didn't waste any time collecting our Lloyd Loom style chairs from our neighbour Karin, who had been kind enough to give them a home in her garden room for all these months.

In order to mark the occasion, I decided to treat ourselves to a new set of cushion pads. I'd seen some chunky vanilla yellow ones in a pop-up shop on Antwerp's main shopping thoroughfares a couple of weeks earlier, so I went to pick them up during my lunch break. The only snag being that this particular shop is selling nothing but Christmas stuff from August onwards and that I therefore had to lug them home on the tram in a bag emblazoned with It's All About Christmas! 

But they have been fully approved by Bess, who is clearly delighted to have her four cat beds chairs back and promptly forgot about the hospital bed which had been her playground for so many months.

I'm skipping Thursday to arrive at the start of another 3-day weekend on Friday the 9th, which was mostly sunny with highs of 19°C. 

Although still quite windy, the temperature allowed for short sleeves again. Yet another King Louie which made its way into my wardrobe via a charity shop, the red and white floral top was paired with a vintage C&A skirt, whose faux patchwork pattern charmed me at Think Twice in July 2021.

Both the shoes, which are from the Portuguese Kiarflex brand and the epitome of comfort, and the black floral necklace, were charity shop finds. I picked up the dusky pink stretchy belt from a high street shop a couple of weeks ago.

The brooch was one from my recent flea market haul. Apparently, the lady living behind the brooch's glass dome is wearing traditional Alsatian costume. She's got a sister wearing an as yet unidentified French regional costume, picked up from the indoor flea market many years ago.

In spite of the weather, the day's activities were mainly indoor ones. Now that the hospital bed was no longer blocking its access, I rearranged the big cupboard in the dining room, putting back everything l'd moved into one of the kitchen cabinets back in October.

Then I spent some time on the sofa with my then current read, Mary Webb's atmospheric novel Precious Bane, published in 1924. The story is set in rural Shropshire during the Napoleonic Wars and is narrated by the central character, Prue Sarn, whose life is blighted by having a cleft lip. Just like her earlier novel, Gone to Earth (1917) which I read in December 2023, it was a truly captivating read.

We were blessed with a deliciously Summery day on Saturday, when the mercury made its way to highs of 22°C. 

Casting around for possible walking destinations, we decided to return to the wilderness. And no, we didn't mean Dove Cottage's garden ...

The wilderness in question is a nature reserve established on the former clay pits in Terhagen, a mere 15-minute drive away.  The village of Terhagen is where Jos grew up, living in a tiny hamlet consisting of a row of workman's cottages called De Wildernis. No prizes for guessing its meaning ...

After the brickmaking industry fell into recline during the 1970s and 1980s, the area was reclaimed by nature and is now truly living up to its wilderness moniker.

Funnily enough, I was wearing almost exactly the same outfit I wore on a previous walk here in May 2023: a floaty pairs of floral trousers paired with a thin knit short-sleeved orange jumper and layered with a haori style cover-up. Both the trousers and cover-up were worn to prevent any blood-thirsty insects lying in wait from having a nibble at my bare arms and legs.

My green rhinestone enhanced bird brooch was yet another one I picked up from the flea market on Sunday, while the necklace was a Summer sales bargain in July 2023.

And exactly like we did two years ago, we set out without a map and obstinately refused to follow the numbered markers, so that it was almost inevitable that we got lost.  It all started when we took the path straight ahead instead of turning left as indicated by the marker ...

We eventually arrived at the sandy plain which lies at the heart of the reserve, although we approached it from a different direction than we usually do, which further confused our already wobbly sense of direction. 

After a couple of false starts, we located the path we usually arrive on, instantly recognizable by the arch created by a victim of a storm.

The markers we came across were of little use, as without a map we had no idea where exactly we were or even where we were headed.  If we'd continued on the path we were on, we would end up at a different car park quite a distance from where we'd left our car. So we turned left as soon as we could, following a series of paths snaking between the trees which all virtually looked the same.

But then we came across another natural landmark we remembered from a previous walk. In fact, I sat and paused on this very same sturdy, low-hanging tree branch back in March 2021 (here) after which we were able to make our way back to civilization in the end :-)

Sure enough we arrived back at the path we started our walk on shortly afterwards. Must remember to bring a map next time, although there's no guarantee that it would prevent us from getting lost again.

There's no doubt we have been cultivating getting lost as an art form over the years.

Which reminds me of this snippet from T.S. Eliot's Little Gidding, the fourth and final poem of his Four Quartets, published in 1942:

"We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive at where we started

And know the place for the first time."

May days

Life has been a bit of a rollercoaster these last couple of weeks. Not only does work continue to be hectic, I have been feeling more than just a little bit off lately. It's like I have used up all my reserves while Jos was ill.  I seem to have lost my oomph, I'm feeling drained and exhausted, and the tiniest little thing is making my stress levels go through the roof. I've been suffering from migraine-like headaches which refuse to budge by taking painkillers, and currently my lips are plagued by a series of cold sores, so that I'm looking as if I've had Botox gone wrong.

To say that I'm ready for a break is an understatement, but there's still a couple of week to go through until our holiday so I'm trying to hang on in there.

In order to distract myself, I have cobbled together another post for you, in which I'm taking you back to the first couple of days of that glorious month of May, starting with Thursday the First.  Being a public holiday here in Belgium, this meant that after only 3 days on the hamster wheel, I was able to enjoy another extended 4-day weekend. Yay!

But I'm making a start with what I was wearing on Wednesday, my final office day of that week.

It was a day of full-on sunshine, with highs of 26°C, for which I dug into my stash of Summer skirts for this charity shopped Nathalie Vleeschouwer one. The top, which is by King Louie, was a charity shop find as well. As was the squishy flamingo brooch - found in September 2020 - its colour a close match to the waterlilies floating on my skirt.

The temperature was cranked up even higher on Thursday, when we enjoyed summery heights of 28°C. 

Surveying our little table and chairs set in the passageway, I thought we might have lunch outside, so I set to with soapy water and a cloth to spruce things up, then unearthed a couple of cushion pads from the basement. Et voilà!  I was just adding the finishing touches when Jos returned from the supermarket with some yummy apple turnovers!

The rest of our garden might be an impenetrable jungle where climbers' tendrils lie in wait to trip you up or trap you, the passageway is a haven of tranquility hemmed in between our kitchen and the white painted wall of our neighbour's extension.

Make no mistake: things have been allowed to run wild here too. Ferns, fleabane and foxgloves have made their escape from the main part of the garden, self-seeding in cracks and crevices with wild abandon. They are joined by herb robert (Geranium robertianum) which arrived here from the wild, the herb part of its common name referring to its historical uses as a medicinal herb.

We were determined to make the most of the gloriously sunny day by going for a walk, for which we drove down to Hof ter Linden in the neighbouring village of Edegem.  

I couldn't wait to show Jos the previously unexplored woodland path I'd discovered during my solo walk here a month earlier, which made for a deliciously shady, sun-dappled walk.

The fabulous multi-coloured maxi skirt I snaffled at 50% off from the Green Ice outlet shop near my office got its very first outing. It was an absolute joy to wear and has been longlisted for my holiday wardrobe, its only snag being that it wrinkles quite easily. 

Its companion for the day was a green cotton peasant-style top bought in the New Look Summer sales back in 2018. A straw coloured stretchy belt, purple beaded necklace and enamelled butterfly brooch (sorry, no close-up, but it's this one) completed my outfit.

My hat, which is from the German Mayser brand, was a charity shop find back in the mists of time.

The haughty sphinxes, who evidently rule the domain, were basking in the sun, but we preferred the shade offered by the trees and the gentlest of breezes rippling the castle moat.

We were captivated by these crooked trees, their leafless skeletons indicating that their days are numbered, but who had nevertheless still managed to catch a handful of clouds in their lifeless twigs.

Spot the difference! I've always had a hard time getting Jos to smile when I point the camera at him, but I think I've finally cracked the code!

Friday saw a repeat of Thursday's summery temperatures. 

My outfit of the day was another floaty skirt and top combo. Both were charity shopped, in October 2023 and July 2024 respectively.  The stretchy belt with its hexagonal faux tortoiseshell buckle was a retail buy, picked up from a well known Belgian haberdashery and accessories shop in May 2021. I can safely say that it's one of my most worn belts, which has made it onto the blog countless of times.

The gold-tone and faux amber bee brooch was found on a flea market while the chunky necklace was a € 4 sales bargain from the same shop as the belt. I'd been lusting after it for months but simply couldn't justify its original € 24,99 price tag. If that isn't proof that good things come to those who are prepared to wait!

We shopped for groceries, after which I spent some time pottering around in the garden. Then, after lunch - which we had outside again -  we drove to a pet shop to buy a new drinking fountain for Bess. Nothing new under the sun here, as it's almost an exact copy of her previous one, which had become quite grotty with age.

On our way home, we stopped at a charity shop where I trawled the aisles and pounced on this cotton skirt by the Belgian CKS label, while Jos was enjoying a restorative cup of coffee in the cafeteria.

Saturday was a bit of a letdown, as the mercury took a dive to just 19°C. Initially sunny, the sky had reverted to a uniform grey by mid-afternoon. 

To make up for the lack of poppies in our garden, my vintage poppy patterned dress - made in W. Germany, and found at Think Twice if I remember correctly - came out to play.

There's a tiny bit of green in its print, which I took as a lead for my accessories. The enamelled butterfly brooch was bought from a second hand shop years before I started collecting. My sage green wooden necklace was charity shopped in Poperinge during one of our September holidays, while the glass ring was either a charity shop or a flea market find.

The morning was spent doing the chores we usually do on a Sunday morning as we had exciting plans for that day. 

A visit to the garden centre was on the agenda in the afternoon. I wanted to buy some geraniums to replace the spent Spring bulbs and tired looking double daisies in the cones and half basket hanging from the potting shed wall.  A well-needed new pair of secateurs was on our shopping list too.

Sunday - we were the 4th of May by now - saw the temperature go down even further, halving Thursday's and Friday's 28°C to just 14°C.

I needed long sleeves and layers to combat the drop in temperature, and opted for this vintage blouse and maxi skirt combo. Both are old Think Twice finds which have been in my wardrobe forever.

As pink was their common factor, I added a pink vinyl belt, plastic beaded necklace and one of my trademark chunky plastic rings. For our outing, I added a brown tank top and a pink velvet blazer, for which I'm afraid you'll have to use your imagination!

But what about those exciting plans, you might be asking yourselves?

Well, after an absence of 1 year, we were finally able to visit the indoor flea market again. The market closes down during the Summer months and you all know what happened after it re-opened back in September ...

It wasn't a huge market - it never is this time of year - but we still found plenty of things. Obviously, we also had some explaining to do, as it turned out we had been missed by our favourite traders. I'm mentioning Rita in particular here, as she might very well be reading this post.

The milk glass trinket box was found at her stall, as was the poodle brooch (below).

It had been a while since I added to my collection of brooches and I was happy to find no less than nine of them on various stalls.

My favourite is the vintage 1960s bronze horse brooch from the Finnish Kalevala Koru brand, for which I happily handed over € 35. I've seen one for sale on Etsy for € 85,55.

The jewellery company's history began in 1935 and initially made jewellery based on archaeological finds from the Viking Age kept in the National Museum.  In addition, since the late 1940s, the company has created unique jewellery interpreting the natural, cultural and social phenomena of its time.

Click and swoon!

Our final find of the day was a € 5 shirt by the posh Dutch State of Art label for Jos. And look, I made him smile on camera again!

April golden, April cloudy

It's been a bit of a week, involving chaos at the office, which left me too tired to do much of an evening. As a result, my blogging schedule went down the drain again, so that it has been more than my usual week between posts. If I keep going at such a slow pace, I'll never be able to catch up before our UK holiday in June ...

For the sake of my blog's continuity, however, I'm now taking you one month back in time to the final day of my Easter break. 

Although Middelheim sculpture park normally closes on a Monday, they do make an exception on public holidays, which enabled us to meet up with our friends Inneke and Maurice again on Easter Monday. 

The weather forecast had been indecisive for days, forecasting rain on Monday morning one day and in the afternoon the next, but we'd agreed to go ahead regardless and take refuge in the museum café if necessary. But such is the fickle nature of weather forecasting that in the end we woke up to a bright sunny day without any rain whatsoever on the horizon!

While Inneke and Maurice had grabbed the last parking spot on the grassy verge lining the street, we were obliged to leave our car on the - surprisingly empty - car park around the corner and walk back to the nearest entrance to the park. 

We then passed the stainless steel fountain, originally  designed by Belgian architect and sculptor Jacques Moeschal (1913-2004) for the courtyard of the Belgian pavilion at the 1967 Montreal World Fair, before joining our friends in front of the visitor pavilion and museum shop.

Rhododendrons were out in their masses and we could actually catch the honeysuckle scent of Rhododendron luteum, also known as yellow azalea, before we caught sight of the shrub, which was dripping with yellow bell-shaped flowers. As the colour of the yellow flowers in my skirt's pattern picked up those of the shrub's almost exactly, Inneke insisted I pose in front of it.

Inneke's green denim jacket, in its turn, offered a wonderful contrast to the magenta flowers of the Rhododendron behind her.

Taking advantage of the sunny weather, but still glad of our jackets as the mercury didn't climb higher than 17°C, we went for a walk before making our way to the museum café's terrace for a drink.

I couldn't resist photographing one of my favourite sculptures, Sharon Van Overmeiren's The Voyage of the Mascot (above, top left) now that she's been freed from her protective Winter prison.

After saying our goodbyes, Jos and I returned to the car park by crossing the road into Middelheim-Laag and following the path which meanders along the edge. Here, more Rhododendrons awaited, including some snow white ones (above) and the orange ones I included in the opening collage.

Back at home, it was time to show you my outfit in detail. It was based around the Diolen maxi skirt which has been gracing my wardrobe for absolutely ages.  I matched the blue flowers with the dotty denim shirt by Esprit, charity shopped a couple of weeks ago. My cropped yellow batwing cardigan - which might very well be my most worn garment on the blog - is from H&M by way of a charity shop back in August 2017.

Both the painted wooden brooch and the necklace with its wooden cherry-shaped beads were charity shopped earlier this year.

As my working week only started on Tuesday, another Friday, and thus another three-day weekend, rolled along in no time. The weather gods hadn't been on their best behaviour, though, treating us to a string of grey, windy and rainy days with highs of just 13°C.

My diary doesn't give me a clue as to what I had been wearing on Wednesday, but Tuesday saw me repeating Monday's Middelheim outfit, while on Friday I was wearing a repetition of Thursday's.

My fudge coloured button through cord skirt was bought brand new on the high street in October 2021, while I picked up the shirt, which is by the former Belgian label Wow To Go, from an outlet shop exactly one year later. I forgot to take a detail of my charity shopped plum coloured suede belt, but it matched the stripes in my shirt almost exactly.

Both the deer brooch and the tiger eye pendant are vintage - from a much missed vintage shop and a flea market respectively - but the ring was part of a haul from the closing down sale of a high street shop several years ago.

We'd booked our UK holiday cottage - a different one from previous years - back in January, paying a bit extra for a cancellation fee due to Jos's health issues. Thankfully, having received a clean bill of health just before Easter, we could now start making plans, which involved booking our LeShuttle train journey and digging out maps and brochures. 

We will now be on the Shropshire/Worcestershire border which will offer a plethora of new places to explore. I spent a happy hour or two on Friday afternoon browsing the National Trust handbook we were kindly given by one of the volunteers when we visited the Rock Houses at Kinver Edge in June 2023 and taking note of any properties within easy reach of our new abode.

As the weather forecast for Saturday 26 April had been claiming it would be gloriously sunny with temperatures into the low twenties, we'd originally planned to take a picnic to Blaasveldbroek, one of our favourite nature reserves.

Unfortunately, the fog we woke up to was quite persistent and when it finally lifted it left a layer of grey which the sun had a hard time dealing with. It felt quite chilly as well, so that we decided to postpone our walk to Sunday.

Although reminiscent of Autumn, it appears I hadn't worn the pleated skirt with its wild print of flowers interrupted by rows of berries and paisley at all during the appropriate season. Both the skirt and the almost sheer coral crepe-like blouse delicately sprinkled with flowers were Think Twice finds at one time or another. 

The gods of the charity shops provided my sky blue King Louie cardigan, moss green suede belt, beaded necklace and burgundy ankle boots.

As my seasonal wardrobe switch continued, I'd filled yet another bag of charity shop donations, which we dropped off at the shop in the nearby town of Mortsel after lunch. 

A quick trawl of the rails yielded this blue retro print dress, which I could instantly tell was King Louie. As this chain of shops no longer differentiates between labels, applying the same price for both upmarket labels and the likes of Primark, it was mine for just € 5,90.

Sunday was gloriously sunny, the highs of 21°C only slightly tempered by a cool breeze at the water's edge. 

Champing at the bit to sample the delights of nature on an April's day, we packed a picnic and drove to Blaasveldbroek straight after breakfast. One of our regular haunts, it truly beggars belief that we hadn't walked here since October 2023!

We started our chosen walk along an avenue of trees with one of the big ponds on our left, until we reached the boardwalk leading down to the latter. 

It's easy to believe in the fairies and marsh spirits who allegedly lived in this magical waterlogged wonderland in ancient times. For all it's worth, perhaps they still do. 

Brilliant shafts of sunlight were spotlighting the woodland path until we reached the giant sunlounger at the other side of the pond. Partly taken over by buttercups and stinging nettles, we gingerly sat down at its edge for a spot of sun-worshipping.

The frog chorus erupting from among the reeds and rushes suddenly fell silent as we approached. Although cleverly camouflaged and quiet as a mouse, we still managed to spot one who hadn't been fast enough to hide. 

Dandelions were plentiful and a favourite source of nectar for a flutter of red admirals.

My flower power skirt was part of a skirt suit - or should that be co-ords - charity shopped back in 2015, and last worn together in April 2019.

The skirt's companions were a hot pink short-sleeved jumper, one of my stretchy zig-zag belts and a  chunky beaded necklace by Belgian label Les Cordes bought new with tags from a charity shop back in 2023.

Accompanied by the persistent call of a cuckoo echoing over the domain, we walked until we found a suitable bench to eat our sandwiches, which tasted all the better after breathing in lungfuls of that delicious Spring air.

The next working week would again be a short one, with a 4-day weekend beckoning us at its end.

Would the gorgeous Spring weather still be with us? Find out all about what we have been up to in my next post.

Thank you for reading and hope to see you soon!