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!

Miscellaneous May

Oh dear, it looks as if I'm late for my next date with blogland again! 

Work has been quite relentless these last couple of weeks, which left me with little or no energy to sit in front of my PC of an evening. Add to this the usual pre-holiday prep, so that I won't be returning to utter chaos after my two-week holiday, and I'm sure it's no surprise that cobbling together collages and stringing words into cohesive sentences has been quite beyond me.

And then there's the not unimportant fact that this weekend we were obliged to cancel our longed-for UK getaway ...

Always a bundle of nerves in the weeks leading up to our holiday, Jos was now suffering from full-blown anxiety issues at the thought of having to travel all that way. As a result he once again lost his appetite, which at this moment he is yet to fully regain.

Heart-wrenching though it is to have to cancel - and particularly so this late in the day - we are certain that we've made the right decision. Telling my heart that this is so, however, is another matter altogether. 

In order to soften the blow, we decided to try and find somewhere closer to home, even if only for a couple of days. Enter our beloved September cottage in Poperinge. which by a stroke of luck was still having a six-night vacancy next week. To say that we are looking forward to sitting on its little balcony with a view  in a week's time is a bit of an understatement. 

But let's not be too hasty, as with most of the month of May still having to be written up I've got quite a bit of catching up to do.

The weather gods continued to be on their best behaviour on the day after we got lost in the wilderness. It was Sunday, the 11th of May, and the mercury was on the rise, reaching highs of 25°C. It would have been utter foolishness not to make the most of such glorious weather so, after having dealt with a couple of unavoidable household chores, we drove down to Solhof Park in the neighbouring village of Aartselaar. 

The vintage short-sleeved millefiori dress I'd selected for the occasion was a charity shop find in February 2024. From its multitude of colours I picked blue for my chunky plastic ring, flower embossed leather belt and vintage swallow brooch. There are a couple of blue beads in my necklace as well. Incidentally, the latter came from the charity shop near our west country cottage.

The Clarks Wave Walk shoes, which I'd picked up in a Ludlow charity shop as a replacement for my worn and battered Clarks Cloudsteppers last year, still needed to be broken in, so I decided to give them an outing that day. My feet have given them their thumbs up, but they're currently at the cobbler's as one of the shock-absorbing soles decided to part company with its host. 

Aartselaar's deliciously unkempt municipal park was once part of a castle's pleasure grounds laid out in Capability Brown inspired English landscape style. 

Today, the estate still covers 7.5 hectares and has been protected as a landscape since 1975. 

Its woodland complete with meandering sun-dappled paths and monumental 100 to 150 year old trees is perfect for an impromptu Sunday afternoon stroll. 

One of the park's attractions is the quirky knoll with its gazebo, which is built on top of an abandoned ice house. You can just catch sight of it in the photo on the top left. The ice house, which is claimed to be in excellent condition and one of the rare remaining examples in the area, is now a place of hibernation for a colony of bats.

The knoll can be climbed by way of a narrow, yew-hemmed and increasingly eroded path spiralling up to the top. Not much of a view at this time of year, though, just the merest of glimpses through the tops of the trees of the much modernized 19th Century mansion long ago turned into a hotel, and the last of the Manderley-esque Rhododendrons.

Bess was waiting for us when we got home, impatient for a cuddling session with Jos, who seems to be her current favourite, although I can't for the life of me understand why :-)

And so another weekend had come to an end with the start of a new working week following hot on its heels. And hot it definitely was with the mercury climbing into the high twenties.

My vintage 1970s cotton floral skirt was yet another old Think Twice find, while the green tartan blouse is King Louie by way of a charity shop. My comfortable red Kiarflex shoes were charity shopped too but both the stretchy orange belt and the orange cat brooch (from Katshop!) were retail buys. Not sure where I got the orange beaded necklace from, but it's been in my collection for what feels like an eternity.

Sales prices were down to € 2 at Think Twice on Monday and I couldn't believe my luck when I spotted this vintage watercolour print C&A skirt on the almost depleted rails! Never mind that it had a small tear which I was able to mend almost invisibly.

The gloriously summery weather continued on Tuesday, when I wore a charity shopped lobster print shirt paired with an orange and off-white tiered cotton skirt picked up in the C&A sales in the Summer of 2022. Both the cherry-shaped wooden beads and the lobster brooch were charity shop finds as well while the stretchy belt was found on the high street.

Wednesday's cappuccino catch-up with my friend Inez was followed by quick round of the newly replenished Think Twice rails at the start of their new collection. This dress with its eye-confusing green and pink pattern insisted on coming home with me.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse on Friday, with temperatures down to 18°C, a dismal looking grey sky and lots of wind. 

No sleeping in or leisurely breakfast that day, as I had an appointment with my dentist in the town of Boom, about 10 kilometer away, for a check-up, cleaning and a minor filling. Not fun but needs must.

While I was in the dentist's chair, Jos went for a walk around the block and reported the existence of a brand new charity shop, which obviously we needed to check out before returning home.

Aren't those light fittings fabulous?

The shop, which was immaculately laid out, didn't disappoint, as no less than four items ended up in my basket. I fell in love with a pair of wide legged giant poppy print trousers, a pair of squishy yellow shoes, a grooviliously patterned pleated maxi skirt and a chevron striped V-neck top.

As a result of the dentist's drilling, probing, scraping and polishing (ouch!) I woke up with a full blown headache on Saturday, one which refused to budge all day.

But I felt that I'd definitely earned my stripes, so I dug out a red and white Breton top - an ancient high street find - to wear with my charity shopped vintage floral skirt.

Navy belt: charity shopped

White metal and navy hearted flower brooch: flea market

Red Kiarflex shoes and multi-coloured beaded necklace as before.

After our neighbours Wes and Michèle helped us with applying for our ETA, which we would have needed to travel to the UK (sob!), I walked into town to run a couple of errands.

On my way up, I stopped to admire and photograph the exuberance of the cottage garden in front of the museum of folklore. 

More stripes on Sunday, which was a day of utter indolence as I was still nursing the dregs of Saturday's headache and was feeling quite exhausted.

The stripes in question belonged to the jumper of many colours, originally from Monki, but picked up from a charity shop a couple of years ago. My Diolen skirt was an old Think Twice find back in the pre-blog mists of time.

Gold and silver patterned boots + stretchy chevron patterned belt: charity shopped

Wooden disk necklace: Accessorize

Blue cat brooch: Katshop

I'm leaving you now with some snapshots from the jungle junkyard which in spite of our shameful neglect keeps throwing up surprises. It must be the crumbling guardian cherub who keeps things ticking over!

The white foxglove in the passageway has been joined by a batch of purple campanula which has self-seeded between the cracks in the paving. And what a joy it is to see some double saucer-shaped red Geum flowers peeking out from the wilderness. Not to mention the dusky purple nodding flowers of one of my favourites, Geranium phaeum, particularly since it seems that its sister in the passageway has done a disappearing act!

Oh, and we've got some sweet strawberries too!

I might or might not try and fit in another post before we leave, but if not, I hope to see you on the other side! 

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."