When the temperatures plummeted to just above freezing point last week, the contrast with the glorious weather we were treated to earlier this month couldn't have been greater.
Indeed, it almost beggars belief that at some point the mercury effortlessly climbed to 18°C. It seemed that the weather gods, who are usually up to no good when we've got plans, had taken pity on us for once!
Still, we kept a close watch on the weather forecast, as the weekend before our little trip to Bruges was a bit of a wet one.
Take Saturday the 1st of November for starters! Even if the the day's highs of 14°C weren't too bad for the time of year, it was gloomy and wet, which is typical for All Saints Day in Belgium.
I had a lazy morning, getting dressed late-ish. In fact, I'd just finished putting the finishing touches to my outfit when our neighbours Wes and Michèle came around for final cat-sitting instructions.
With everything closed due to the public holiday, a rummage at the charity shops was out of the question, so I spent my time being a domestic goddess dusting and vacuuming, after which I lounged on the sofa with my current read.
I was mindlessly flicking through the mind-numbing programmes on offer on the telly that evening - we are old-fashioned and don't do streaming - when I happened upon the first episode of The One That Got Away on one of our national channels. The six-part series, which is an English-language adaptation of the Welsh-language drama Cleddau, features Richard Harrington, who played the starring role in Hinterland, as DS Rick Sheldon. Having holidayed in Pembrokeshire for many years and been to Cleddau woods, I was instantly hooked.
Although Sunday had a sunny start, an encroaching army of clouds pregnant with rain put a stop to all that from early afternoon onwards.
More household chores were ticked off the never-ending list, but my diary insists that I went on a jolly to blogland as well.
I was working only one and a half days that week, taking Tuesday afternoon off for packing, tying up some loose ends and publishing a blog post. In the meantime, the rainclouds had departed elsewhere to make way for plenty of sunny spells and temperatures of up to 16°C.
The mercury had climbed to summery highs of 18°C on Wednesday. Our car's thermometer even briefly registered 20°C while we were driving towards our destination.
The beauty of spending a short break close to home - our B&B in Beernem being just 100 kilometers or a one-hour drive from Dove Cottage - is that one has all the time in the world to get there. And so it was that we set off after lunch to arrive at B&B Het Soetewater shortly after 2 pm.
This was our ninth visit to this wonderful B&B, our last one dating from April 2024 as we had to cancel our last two bookings due to Jos's health problems. Nevertheless, it felt as if we'd only been there yesterday. We were welcomed with open arms - and coffee! - by our host, Veronique and, after catching up on the latest family and other news, we made our way towards our room in the annex.
We've been staying in this luxury room, equipped with a king-size bed and a bathroom at least twice the size of Dove Cottage's, complete with huge walk-in shower and whirlpool bath, since our visit in August 2021, and haven't looked back since. However lovely the other rooms are, we truly enjoy the peace and quiet offered by this room away from the main B&B, our only neighbours being the horses in the stable at the front and a meadow full of sheep at the back.
The rooms are all named after sweets: Nougat, Caramel, Cuberdon - a typical Belgian delicacy - and ... Chocola(te). The last one was ours and as you can see, I'd brought matching literature!
We still had plenty of time left for an outing, particularly one which is only five minutes up the road.
Provincial domain Bulskampveld is part of a large landscape park with a size of 900 hectares of which 230 hectares of forest. It's even got its own numbered walking map!
We left our car in the main car park, where it soon became evident that we weren't the only ones taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to go for a walk. There were lots of children too, as it was Wednesday and schools were out for the afternoon.
We did our best to avoid the hubbub as much as possible by keeping away from the main paths.
The gateway to the domain and nature reserve is the visitor centre located in a neo-Gothic style castle dating from 1887. The castle park is laid out in the inevitable English landscape style, offering glimpses of the castle across the lake.
Due to the lateness of the hour - it was well past 3 pm by now - we were only here for a short stroll and a taste of those Autumnal delights. There were plenty of opportunities to indulge in my favourite pastime of leaf kicking!
There are several wooden adventure platforms and play huts to entertain and educate youngsters like ourselves. Apart from anything else, they are perfect for hanging up one's coat when taking outfit photos!
I was wearing my rust coloured vintage St. Michael skirt again, this time combined with a charity shopped blouse by the Belgian Who's That Girl label and one of my King Louie cardigans. The latter, as well as my belt, necklace, ring and brooch - which somewhat disappears into the blouse's pattern here - were charity shop finds too.
Established in 1980 on the site of the castle's former kitchen garden is a herb garden which boasts 400 or so species of medicinal and kitchen herbs. In spite of being well past its sell-by date at this time of year, things were still looking relatively green and lush, although obviously nothing compared to the wild exuberance of the garden basking in the heat of an August afternoon on our visit back in 2021.
And then there was a shed full of ghosts, which was very apt indeed just a couple of days after Hallowe'en :-)
By then the sun was playing hide-and-seek with the clouds. At one point it looked as if rain was imminent but thankfully nothing came of it. It just made the gloaming descend on us a bit earlier than expected.
As we were walking back to the car park, we were distracted by the sight of a folly in the woods.
Erected in 1920, this is a Chapel of Thanksgiving to Our Lady in recognition for the protection of the inhabitants of the village in general and the Lippens family - then owners of the castle - in particular during the First World War.
Last time we were here, a tall plaster statue of Mary perched on a pedestal could be glimpsed through its window. The one you can see here isn't the real thing but a picture as the chapel is currently being restored.
Back at the B&B, we made ourselves comfortable and we might even have caught forty winks. That is, until our faintly rumbling stomachs reminded us of the fact that one of Veronique's famous tapas boards was waiting for us in the fridge.
So we left the cozy confines of our room and made our way towards the main B&B.
That's the kitchen behind the window to the left of the photo on the top left, while straight ahead is the breakfast room.
I just love Veronique's attention to detail! Instead of disposable paper napkins, we got these gorgeous embroidered linen ones.
There was more than enough for our second night as well, we just bought some rolls on our way back from Bruges the next day.
Speaking of Bruges, as I guess some of you might be wondering, it's only a stone's throw and a 20-minute drive on secondary roads from here.
We ended our first day with a long soak in the whirlpool bath, after which we soon drifted off to the Land of Nod.
Do stay tuned for the second installment of my travelogue in which I'm finally taking you to the fairy-tale city of Bruges!
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