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!