It's a wonderful life (if you can find it)

First of all, I would like to thank you all for your concern about my back issues. Thankfully, touch wood and fingers firmly crossed, there has been no recurrence since I visited my GP. I'm still trying to be careful, though, and have been sporting my most comfortable footwear, particularly when going for a walk.

My blog has reached the week before Easter and, with the long weekend dangling like a carrot in front of me, it wasn't much of a hardship to get through my short, three-day working week. Although my office only closes on Good Friday and Easter Monday, I'd booked Thursday off to accompany Jos to his hospital appointment, so that I had a whole five days away from the grind to look forward to.

Apart from a little stiffness in my lower back when I got out of bed on Tuesday, which soon got better once I was up and moving around, things seemed to be under control.  I didn't even have to take a single painkiller that day.

The day's weather was a mix of clouds, sunny spells and the odd shower, although the latter had the decency to wait until my friend Inez and I were sitting in front of steaming cups of cappuccino at the Think Twice coffee corner during my lunch break.

A quick perusal of the rails before returning to the office yielded this cotton button-through skirt printed with a menagerie of rather weird looking wild animals.

If we were still treated to a reasonable 18°C on Tuesday, the mercury did take a dive to just 13°C on Wednesday. The sun was conspicuous in her absence, leaving behind a sky of uniform grey.

While I was running an errand during lunch break,  I stopped at the Wapper, an elongated square leading off Antwerp's main shopping thoroughfare, to admire my Dad's fountain. I can definitely see raised eyebrows there, so I guess I've got some explaining to do.

The sculpture of an eagle catching a fish was the winning submission for a fountain in Silkeborg, Denmark, in 1931 and is by the Danish sculptor Hugo Liisberg (1898 - 1958). Ours is a second copy and was purchased by the city of Antwerp in 1951. It is part of the Middelheim collection and was erected on its concrete plinth on the Wapper square in 1980. And this is where my Dad comes in, as he designed and made the cast for the plinth as part of his job as a joiner in a concrete factory.  It's been known to us as Dad's fountain ever since! 

Thursday was mostly cloudy with a couple of sunny spells, although the forecasted rain never materialized in spite of the at times brooding sky. As Jos had received the best of news at the hospital, we were both on a high and actually couldn't have cared less about the weather.

My outfit that day was an exercise in pattern mixing, involving a skirt and blouse which both had their origins at Think Twice at one time or another. Both have a brown background - in different hues, but brown nevertheless - and they have blue and hot pink flowers in common.

The blue King Louie cardigan and the tan suede and elastic belt with its massive buckle were both charity shopped, while I found the blue beaded necklace on an outdoor flea market in July 2018. My brooch was part of a haul from a Welsh antiques shop back in 2017.

Meanwhile, bees kept flocking to our little hotel. Here, you can actually see two of them making themselves at home, while at the time of writing they've filled it up almost completely. 

For the first time in many months, we woke up with our heads virtually free of worries on Good Friday. What's more, the weather gods helped us celebrate Thursday's good news by treating us to a sunny day and highs of 17°C.

Although my office closes on Good Friday, it is not an official holiday in Belgium, and shops were open same as they would be on any other Friday. And so did my hairdresser, which was where I was headed that morning. Apart from the joys of having my hair done, I was looking forward to telling Michel our good news! As you can imagine, we could have shouted it from the rooftops. It's a wonderful life indeed!

The cobalt blue dress I was wearing might very well be one of the most colourful items in my wardrobe. Its floral pattern contains about every colour under the sun, and there's the odd pagoda among them as well. I'm pretty sure I picked it up from Think Twice, and it has been in my wardrobe for at least eight years. I thought my vintage Japanese boat brooch would fit the bill perfectly, even if it got a little lost among the floral extravaganza.

Back at home, I was inspired to do a bit of gardening, pruning back some the ivy and other climbers so that at least we are now able to reach the back of the garden without being caught in the tangle.

I was happy to see that one of the saucer-like flowers belonging to Clematis "Guernsey Cream" was unfurling its petals, as well as the first of the white current clusters and bluebells, both of which seem to be thriving in our little jungle. And look, there's some yellow archangel too. These are virtually indestructible, inherited with the garden when we bought Dove Cottage 27 years ago. 

Saturday's weather was a repeat of Friday's, and thus perfect for a long overdue longer walk in the park.

We decided to sample the season's sensory delights in the leafy park in the nearby town of Boom, a leisurely 15-miniute drive from Dove Cottage.

It was such a joy to be walking its paths, feasting our eyes on the cornucopia of lush greens and enjoying the antics of a brood of Egyptian goslings under the watchful eye of their doting parents

I even caught Jos with the biggest of grins on his face!

After having been on the lookout for a (faux) leather skirt for absolutely ages, I might very well have squealed when I spotted this snake patterned faux leather midi one in a charity shop in November 2023. It's by the posh Belgian label Caroline Biss and it's even got pockets!

The groovily patterned blouse, which is by Claude Arielle - yet another Belgian label - was a charity shop find about a month later.

The eagle-eyed among you might have spotted the spotty belt belonging to the oatmeal skirt I charity shopped back in March. My yellow beads were a gift from my friend Inneke and the brooch, which I fastened at the blouse's collar, was picked up from a flea market in Carmarthen about 10 years ago.

Easter Day did have some sunny spells to begin with, but were soon obscured by a layer of grey which made it quite chilly although it was supposed to be 17°C at some point during the day.

Regardless of the holiday, chores were awaiting, and as the weather wasn't very conductive to outdoor activities, the afternoon was spent doing another installment of my seasonal wardrobe exchange.

What with all that has happened in our lives since, I'd quite forgotten about the green and peachy orange Diolen dress I found at Think Twice back in September. But what an utter joy it was to wear!

I kept thing simple by opting for orange accessories: a beaded necklace, plastic ring and pearl-hearted vintage brooch.

The perfect outfit for both playing around with my wardrobe and lounging on the sofa with my latest read. 

Adam O'Riordan's The Falling Thread is one of my favourite reads so far this year, following the drama-filled lives of three siblings in Manchester, in the lead up to the first world war.

And we, we're slowly but surely picking up the thread of our lives once more! I hope you'll join me again for the next installment!

See you soon!