Two weeks in May

Although there is still in tiny little knot in the pit of my stomach, it is with a much lighter heart that I am wrapping up the month of May in this post.

After a hectic final three days at the office this week, I am now officially on vacation, and even if it won't contain the holiday I'd dreamed of, at least I will be released from the shackles of time for the next two weeks. 

Our bags are packed and we'll be on our way to spend some time at one of our happy places tomorrow after lunch. 

We won't have to scrimp and save either, as cancelling our UK holiday won't leave us poor as church mice! Having had the foresight to pay for a cancellation fee when we booked our cottage back in January, we will at least be getting our money back. Not that we are going to spend it with wild abandon, but still ... 

For fear of the last two weeks of May disappearing forever into the mists of time, I thought I'd treat you to a little recap. It will be mostly outfits, though, plus some cat pictures to break the monotony ...

It was at the end of May's penultimate week that my Friday off once again started with a medical appointment. It was time for my biannual check-up with the Ice Queen my ophthalmologist and I can't say I was exactly looking forward to it. But fear not: all was well, or at least as well as could be, with the glaucoma in my left eye thankfully on a status quo. What's more, I've only got to go back end of January!

The weather gods, which had been up to no good all week, had a mixture of clouds, sunny spells, and a bit of rain in store for us that day, the mercury refusing to rise higher than 14°C. It was one of those rare occasions when one of my Diolen delights made it out of my wardrobe. This short-sleeved navy one liberally sprinkled with white, yellow, sky blue and pink naive flowers, never fails to cheer me up. I picked pink for my accessories, including a pink metal dragonfly brooch, which I invited to flit among the flowers.

Saturday was another miserable day, with lots of rain and just 12°C shown on the thermometer. 

Both my floral skirt and striped jumper were charity shopped vintage and were united by the shades of orange and oatmeal in their patterns. At my waist, I added the belt belonging to the spotty oatmeal skirt I found on two separate occasions in two different charity shops back in April.

It was that chilly that I needed to layer up with a thin flowy orange cardigan!

As for the rest of my accessories, they were mostly of the green variety, although there was also a touch of orange in my flower basket brooch (charity shopped in Church Stretton last June) and fused glass ring (artisan market in Bruges several years ago).

Yes, Bess, I know talking about clothes and stuff is boring!

After lunch that day, we abandoned our original plan to go on a charity shopping spree and drove down to our optician's in the nearby town of Mortsel. I wanted to have my previous specs (these ones) reglazed with my latest prescription, so that I've got a spare pair of varifocals.

Back at home, I sorted out my collection of glass rings, as they had been rather neglected. After rediscovering some of my treasures lately, I thought it was a shame they were stored somewhat out of sight. I needed them to be together in one visible place, so that I would be more inclined to reach for them.

They are a mix of charity shop, flea market and high street finds, with a handful picked up from that artisan market in Bruges over the years. 

Initially, there wasn't much of an improvement in the weather on Sunday the 25th of May, with more rain falling from an ominously grey sky. Thankfully, we were treated to sunny spells from mid-afternoon onwards, which warmed things up to 17°C. This was nothing short of a blessing as we were off to a barbecue for grandson Cas's 4th birthday that afternoon! 

By that time, I was able to shed the teal cable-knit cardigan I added on top of my navy and green patterned Diolen dress. Being one of my all-time favourites, it was time it had another outing.

A bottle green mock croc belt was added at my waist, while I pinned a green and gold-tone flower brooch to the dress's bodice. And yes, I picked one of my glass rings for the occasion. Isn't it a perfect match to the dress?

There's nothing much to tell you about the month's final week, the first half of it keeping to get marred by dismal and wet weather.

For Wednesday's cappuccino catch-up with Inez, I was even forced to wear a jumper again, although this one is cotton rather than wool. 

The jumper in question is charity shopped Nathalie Vleeschouwer - a Belgian designer with Antwerp roots - and was mine for € 5,90 in October 2023. It would have retailed at around € 150!

The red and grey tartan circle skirt (with pockets!) was a charity shop find as well. Both the red and white necklace and the white flower brooch are vintage stalwarts from my collection.

Thursday the 29th of May was Ascension Day and a public holiday in Belgium. I was feeling too exhausted to do much else than some gentle pottering that day. 

Thankfully, I was feeling much brighter on Friday, which was a day filled with sunny spells and highs of 25°C. Before I was due at Michel's for a colour and cut at 11 am, I nipped into the office to catch up with a couple of things so that I wouldn't be too overwhelmed with work on Monday.

I found the King Louie pussy-bow blouse at Think Twice in August 2024, while the cotton Paisley print skirt was charity shopped in the Summer of 2023. They were united with a squishy blue belt with green stitching which was a sales bargain from Mango a couple of Summers ago.

I'd removed the necklace at the salon and forgot to put it back on for the outfit photos. No close-up either as I can't remember which one it was :-) My ring - which is neither glass or plastic but metal - matches the belt almost exactly. The brooch with its multi-coloured stones is from my latest indoor flea market haul. 

Back at home, I was still full of energy, which I decided to make the most of by dragging out my iron and ironing board. This is such a rare occasion here at Dove Cottage that it needed a photo!

Meanwhile, Dove Cottage's garden continues to flourish in the face of neglect. We've got two different varieties of red hot poker (Kniphofia). The double red Geum flowers just keep on coming, as does the Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber). And what a delight to discover several flower spikes in the bear's breeches (Acanthus mollis, above, below centre). I must have planted it about three years ago and I'd almost given up hope, but there you are!

But I mentioned cat pictures - plural - so here's one of Bess sleeping the sleep of the innocent. Little does she know that tomorrow we will be leaving her for a week ...

See you on the other side!