Wall of sound

We started the first week of August with more than just a little trepidation. This, after all, would be the week that the wall between our and our neighbour's properties would be removed. Apart from any other inconveniences, we weren't exactly looking forward to the lack of privacy we'd have to contend with in our kitchen - which has a big window looking out on the passageway - and part of the garden for several days.

Peace and quiet still reigned when we set out on the morning of Monday 1st of August, which would turn out to be another muggy day, with highs of 26°C. 

Cool cottons to the rescue once more! If hot Summers will become our new normal, I guess I'll have to change the name of my blog!

Looking at the photos, I realize that only one item in my whole outfit is vintage (the brooch) and that, apart from the top from the Danish ICHI label, which I charity shopped two Summers ago, everything thing else was bought brand new. 

The necklace, with its colourfully painted wooden disks, came from Accessorize and has been in my collection for many years. The gold tone Gabor sandals were a sales bargain in the Summer of 2019, while I plucked the tiered skirt from a rail of reduced items at C&A while we were shopping for Jos earlier this year. The raffia belt, which has a black twin, was recently found on the high street.

At the office, I tried to bear it as long as I could without having to put on the air-conditioning, but brain melt left me no other option after lunch. It was a bit of a dismal day, particularly as I was on my own,  with only yours truly to moan to, as my colleague had the day off.

Meanwhile, Jos kept me up to date about next door's proceedings. Apparently, our neighbour and his uncle and cousins, who'd come all the way from Austria to help him out, had started clearing the endless piles of rubble from their garden in preparation for the impending building work. So far, so good.

Tuesday dawned sunny, but with quite a bit of wind, which somewhat tempered the 30°C indicated by the thermometer. It was still stiflingly hot, so I needed another one of my cotton frocks to keep me cool.

This bright blue flower and foliage sprinkled one was a gift from Vix back in 2019 which makes it extra special. And how serendipitous that she is wearing the skirt I gave her that same year in her latest post!

Creature of habit that I am, I always seem to pick orange to accessorize it with. I've lost count of the times I've worn this orange belt lately. It's super comfortable as apart from its front panel, it completely consists of a supple elastic. In spite of having its origins in a cheap fast fashion shop, it is still going strong after more than 10 years. The buckle is showing a bit of wear and tear, though, which is easily remedied by regular applications of a dab of orange nail polish!

My necklace and ring were both charity shopped and the brooch is vintage, found on a flea market.

With another Think Twice sales in full swing, I literally hotfooted it to my favourite branch for a browse, and ended up buying two dresses for € 5 each. 

You'll get to see one of the dresses in a minute, but let's have a look at the wall situation first!

As our kitchens were now facing each other unhindered and we were feeling quite exposed, we kept our shutters firmly closed, with only some chinks letting in the tiniest amount of daylight. Initially, our neighbour had promised to screen off the area to make things a bit more comfortable, but it never happened, not even after we'd reminded him a couple of times.

The mess in front and behind our compost bin are the sorry remains of the ivy and climbing Hydrangea which were growing up the wall. When we asked our neighbour to put these on his skip, he initially refused, telling us the skip was meant for building rubble only. However, he later did get rid of it after all. With council collection of garden waste as good as non-existent here, this saved us quite a bit of  hassle! And only rightly so, I think. 

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The temperature rocketed up to 32°C on Wednesday, so one of the dresses I'd found at Think Twice couldn't have been more perfect for keeping it -  relatively - cool.

Lightweight, sleeveless and with a solid white collar, this greyscale dress printed with black squiggles has an extra trick up its ... err ... sleeve in the form of a pair of deep pockets. It's so satisfying to shove one's hands into them when standing around doing nothing but having one's photo taken!

Its only minus point is its elasticated waist, but that was easy enough to hide under one of my belts.

There was no contest for red as an accent colour, which in addition to the belt, I used for my necklace, ring, cat brooch and another pair of sales bargain Gabor sandals.

No outfit photos were taken on Thursday, so I haven't got the slightest idea what I wore that day. 

My diary tells me the temperature dropped to 27°C, and that it rained both in the morning and again at night.

On our way home, we could hear heavy drilling and the high-pitched screeching sound made by a grinder when we were just half-way down our street. I'll give you three guesses where this terrible racket was coming from ... Obviously it was even worse once we were inside. While the concrete for the new wall's foundation was drying, our neighbour and his three stooges were completely stripping the downstairs rooms. This went on until about 8 pm, but only because we complained, as I'm sure it would have gone on for much longer if we hadn't. 

I had the day off on Friday, but at that point I can't say I was looking forward to the long weekend ahead. There was nothing for it but to make plans to flee the house as much as we could.

I watered the garden first thing, then, after our customary fruit & yoghurt breakfast, we slapped together a couple of sandwiches and were off for a day of rummaging, picnicking and sightseeing.

In between charity shops, we stopped off at one of the forts turned nature reserves surrounding the city of Antwerp, where we found a bench for our picnic. 

With the temperature down to 23°C, I could safely be a Polyester Princess again without breaking into a sweat. For some reason, this vintage frock, its pattern a patchwork of dotty squares in greens and yellows, hadn't been out of my wardrobe for a couple of years at the very least.

This one too has an elasticated waist, which I covered with one of my stretchy belts.

I love the dress's square necklace, although in the above photo I can see one of my bra straps wanting to make an escape. Oh well. 

I kept to greens and yellows for my accessories, and was carrying my current favourite weekend bag, a fast fashion find from the high street back in that age of innocence, Spring 2019.

Here's what I found in the charity shops that day: a silky Summer dress, a lightweight cover-up and a pair of mock croc ankle boots by Van Dal.

There was a short-sleeved shirt for Jos too, which you'll be getting to see in my next post, 

as well as a long-sleeved wrap dress, which I just realized I forgot to photograph.

With most of the afternoon still in front of us, we then continued to the charming little town of Lier. 

In spite of it being less than half an hour's drive from Dove Cottage, we do not visit it very often, unless it is for a social call, as Jos's younger daughter An lives in the town. In fact, we'd made arrangements to meet her later for a drink.

From the car park, there is no chance of missing one of the town's landmarks, the imposing St. Gummarus Church, and particularly its tower, which is popularly known as the "pepper pot".

From 1378 onwards, the former parish church was converted into this beautiful example of Brabant Gothic style. Construction took about 200 years, and influences of baroque and rococo are therefore visible. 

After passing the church and admiring its amusing gargoyles, we walked into the direction of the River Nete, which flows through the town. The striking building with its cheerful red and green shutters is called De Fortuin and was built in the 17th century. Over the centuries it has been used as a grain store, a coal depot, a lemonade factory, a cabinetmaker’s workshop, a town warehouse and a restaurant.

We've now arrived at the Zimmer Square, where the Zimmer Tower, with its captivating Jubilee Clock showing 13 different time indications, is taking pride of place. Both the square and the tower were named after the clock's creator, Louis Zimmer (1888-1970), who donated it to the town of Lier in honour of Belgium's 100th anniversary in 1930.

Too early for our rendez-vous with Jos's daughter, we then walked towards the beguinage for a stroll.

On the bottom left is the central part of the façade of  St. Margaret's Church, built in the 17th-18th century, and dedicated to St. Margaret of Antioch, martyr and patron saint of the beguinage.

The beguinage itself has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.

It is a typical 13th century street beguinage with 11 narrow streets and 162 small houses. Most of the houses date from the 17th-18th century. The narrow passageway on the bottom right is called "Hemdsmouwken" (meaning "shirtsleeve") due to its shape, and it is only 98 centimeters wide at one end. It was originally meant as a fire-break to stop fire from spreading from one row of houses to another.

We were gasping for a drink by now and although there was still no sign of Jos's daughter, who had been detained, we made our way back to the square, where we enjoyed one of Belgium's excellent range of non-alcoholic beers. 

Isn't Jos looking splendid in his vintage shirt from Think Twice?

Jos's daughter arrived just in time for another drink and a chat. Then, as our parking ticket was about to expire, she walked us back to the car park where we arrived just in the nick of time.

On our way home, we made plans for next day's escape from the wall of sound - wall of noise would have been more apt here, but doesn't sound as nice -  which you'll read all about in my next post.

My ever changing moods

The problem with my blog lagging a step or two behind life isn't recalling the things I've done with my time or the clothes I've been wearing. With the aide-mémoire of my journal, my photographs generally speak for themselves. No, the real catch is recapturing the exact mood I was in. As I've been feeling a bit maudlin these last couple of days, my current mood tends to bathe the days I am writing about here in a shade of blue, which couldn't have been further from the truth.

Nevertheless, Saturday the 30th of October couldn't have been more dismal if it had tried. Its temperature, a reasonable 15°C, wasn't too bad, but unfortunately came accompanied by non-stop rain. This prevented us from leaving the house except for taking some obligatory outfit photos when the rainclouds were finally catching their breaths.

I'd been eyeing this forest green pleated skirt - last year's cheeky fast fashion buy - for a while, and decided this stay-at-home day would be the perfect occasion for its first wearing of the season. A quick glance at my shelf of blouses instantly picked out this vintage floral one as its companion. 

This turned out not to be very inspired as, scrolling through my Instagram squares later that week, I came across the same combo, worn in October 2020. At least, and much to my relief, I accessorized it completely differently back then!

The red and white marled sleeveless knit vest is vintage too, but hasn't made it to the blog in a long time. To the vest, I pinned a yellow flower corsage, while the brooch worn on my blouse was a pale green Miracle one, picked up at our favourite indoor flea market about three years ago.

My necklace made of linked wooden discs was a recent charity shop find, while both the belt with its wooden buckle and my red perspex ring were bought on the high street over time.

Speaking of the latter, I'm afraid I've got a confession to make. After spotting them in an advertising leaflet which fell through our letter box earlier that week, I couldn't resist checking out these boots in our local branch of the shop in question after our walk on Friday afternoon.

Buoyed up by Friday's ramble in the nature reserve, we took advantage of the energy boost by giving the sitting room and hallway a long overdue thorough clean on Saturday. 

We even rearranged some of the ornaments in the sitting room, so that the so-called "Gossiping Marys" which you can admire on the bottom right now have a shelf all to themselves. 

The plaster Mary on the right was the one who kick-started our modest collection after we came across her in a charity shop eons ago. The glazed plaster Mary with baby Jesus to her left was charity shopped while on holiday in Poperinge. 

Shortly after finding Mary no. 1, we found a pair of matching candlesticks (top right) for € 3 each. We initially left them behind, but retraced our steps after coming across a similar but considerably more damaged pair in a consignment shop for € 18.

The Mary and baby Jesus ornaments on the top left were picked up in April 2016 and January 2018 respectively, while the smaller ornament they are flanking, depicting Our Lady of St. Jan, Poperinge, was a lucky find during last September's holiday.

On the bottom left is St. Rita, to whom one of our local churches is dedicated. Patron saint for impossible causes, getting rid of Covid-19 nevertheless seems to be quite beyond her!

The girl in the above picture might look saintly, but she certainly isn't. Or perhaps she still was at the time? It's me at age 12 going on 13. Such an innocent age, in particular in hindsight. The photo graced the parental living room walls ever since it was taken by a school photographer in the Spring of 1974. 

Fast forward 47 years and here I am, looking considerably less saintly, on Sunday the 31st of October.

In observance to Hallowe'en, I was wearing a pumpkin coloured cardigan. No, scrap that. For fear of offending some aficionados, I am not very much into Hallowe'en at all, particularly since it has never been a tradition here in Belgium.

I picked this outfit for warmth as much as for its looks, as we would be going out in the afternoon. But more about that later. 

My chocolate brown floral maxi skirt is Crimplene and comes with a satisfyingly swishy lining. It was an old Think Twice bargain, as was the Diolen blouse in shades of cream and brown by the Finnish Karelia label.

I added an orange necklace and half-elasticated belt, while again I took the opportunity of wearing two brooches: a Cameo on the blouse and a cream and brown celluloid sprig of leaves and berries on the cardigan.

We were off to Lier, a small but charming town about half an hour's drive from Dove Cottage. Rather than sightseeing, the purpose of our visit was a musical concert organized and performed by Jos's granddaughter Saar and four of her girlfriends.

As usual, we'd set off well on time in case we would have problems finding a parking spot, as people often flock to the town on a Sunday. As luck would have it, there was plenty of space near the venue, leaving us with a bit of time to spare. The town's main church, St. Gummarus, and in particular its tower, which is nicknamed "de peperbus" (transl. the pepper pot) is visible from afar, and was looking suitably picturesque against the granite grey of the sky and the tree clad in Autumnal fiery red.

Although the venue, a chapel dating from 1882, and seating about 50, had already opened its doors, we preferred to postpone the moment we'd have to put on our face masks by going for a walk until it was almost time for the performance to start. After all, our seats - on the first row, no less - had been reserved. 

Being in such a prime position allowed Jos to take a couple of photographs. Jos's granddaughter is the the girl in red! Not only does she have a fantastic singing voice, she plays keyboards as well. Needless to say, we were both duly proud of her talent.

The seeds for this concert had been sown during lockdown last year, when the girls, who were communicating via Skype, had been lamenting the fact that they couldn't pursue their musical hobby and decided to start an - initially online - project instead.  As during their Skyping sessions they were all knitting various garments, the name of the project was soon decided upon: Knits and Notes!

It was raining by the time we left the venue two hours later and, as we'd put back the clocks the night before, what was left of the daylight soon made way for the gloaming on our way home. The abrupt change always leaves me feeling slightly jet-lagged, so that I was glad of the extra day tagged on to the weekend. Monday the 1st of November - All Saints' Day - is a public holiday here in Belgium!

Typically, this is the day people visit the cemetery and commemorate their departed loved ones by decorating their graves with flowers. However, as we neither have any graves to visit nor need a special day to remember our loved ones, we had the day to ourselves.

We'd woken up to a mixture of sunshine and clouds, and with the temperature having dropped to 12°C and made even more unpleasant by quite a bit of wind, we initially settled on a day of pottering. 

My journal tells me I hand washed a batch of face mask and then finished my wardrobe changeover. 

When after lunch the sun graced us with another one of her appearances, we decided on a short stroll to clear our heads. Our destination, Altena park, was reached after a mere 10-minute walk, dawdling and photographing Autumn foliage included.

I posed for photos with the park's kitschy Lourdes grotto as a backdrop. 

My dress with its wide pleated skirt and pattern of tiny red, pink, turquoise, blue and lilac squares is an old favourite. Taking the lead from its red squares and buttons, I added a red belt and beaded necklace, as well as a gold-tone brooch with a mottled red heart. I was wearing red opaques as well, but you'll have to trust me on that one as they're not visible in the photos!

A turquoise cardigan went on top, while the outer layer of my outfit consisted of a brown tweed jacket which is part of a suit I happened upon during that morning's changeover.

More red was added with my scarf and beret.

We crunched through the thick layer of leaves looking for chestnuts. Finding only browned and empty husks, we decided that their season must be well and truly over. 

Then, as the sun had taken absence of leave once more, leaving only patches of wintry blue sky among the darkening clouds, we made our way back home.

I do hope to see you again in a couple of days. In the meantime, with the virus on the loose again, please do stay safe, my friends.

Mr. Blue Sky

Opening our curtains on Sunday morning, we were met by a strange phenomenon: a bright blue sky and pale amber sunlight. After all those grey days, it felt really weird, as if aliens had landed in our back garden.

No time to waste, so after breakfast we dressed warmly (it was a bit chilly) and went outside for a long overdue top up of our Vitamin D levels.

This dress, in a funky rust and brown printed fabric, was a € 4 bargain from Think Twice, bought back in November. I secured its tie with a Cameo brooch with unusual pale green background, and added a belt in forget-me-not blue.

On top went the "hairy" green cardigan I'd charity shopped on Saturday, adding a contrasting rust coloured enameled brooch. The ring is one of my € 1 buys from last week.

My Tweed jacket, which you have seen before and is part of a suit, kept me warm all day, helped by a green knitted scarf and green woolly hat. I wore flat heeled boots this time, a very comfortable pair which was definitely made for walking!

Our destination was a small but charming town less than half an hour's drive from Dove Cottage, which goes by the name of Lier.

Lier is located at the spot where two rivers, Grote Nete (Big Nete) and Kleine Nete (Small Nete) meet, creating a third river which, flowing downstream from Lier, is simply called Nete.

We parked on the outskirts of town, then walked along the river's towpath until St Margaret's Church could be glimpsed rising above the rooftops, shimmering brilliantely against the deep blue of the sky.

The church is reigning over the cobbled streets of the enclosed beguinage, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.

In its quiet streets time seems to stand still, in spite of the constant stream of tourists, their voices echoing in this tranquil place, where once widows and unmarried women led a religiously inspired but independent life, under the leadership of a "grand dame", or "grootjuffrouw" in Flemish.

Surprisingly we almost had the place to ourselves on this sunny Sunday morning. When we passed one of the beguinage's gates on our way back in the afternoon, we could see that it was quite crowded.

They say the early bird catches the worm. Well, here the early bird was rewarded by endless photo opportunities without having to constantly work around the crowds!

This particular type of beguinage is called a 'street beguinage", and the one in Lier has 162 houses spread over eleven narrow streets.

At the centre stands St Margaret's Church, constructed in the 17-18th century. Construction started in 1664 and the church was dedicated in 1671. The top section of the front wall, together with the bell tower, was only completed one hundred years later. This period of time is shown by the architectural styles: while the main part of the church is baroque, the bell tower shows a clear rococo influence.

This narrow passageway is called "Hemdsmouwken" (meaning "shirtsleeve") due to its shape, and it is only 98 centimeters wide at one end. It was originally meant as a fire-break, to stop fire from spreading from one row of wood-and-loam houses to another.

The houses in this street, dating from around 1720, were the beguinage's last extension. With their generous proportions, they were inhabited by rich and aristocratic ladies. They were built on the site formerly used by the beguines for washing and bleaching linen and wool. The street's name, "Grachtkant" (meaning "canal side"), refers to the beguinage canal which used to run here.

By the time we left the beguinage, our stomachs were rumbling, so we ate the sandwiches we'd brought sat on a bench overlooking a bend in the river.

Afterwards, we strolled towards the town centre, along a scenic and much photographed stretch of the river, with classic views of the Hoogbrug (High Bridge), with some old town houses beyond.

Across the river is the picturesque building, "De Fortuyn", its striking, red and green shuttered façade, enhanced by the blue of the sky, meeting its reflection in the gently rippling water.

Can you spot the duck who had the audacity to disrupt the building's mirror image?

As we were in need of a hot beverage by then, we decided to check if the coffee shop we'd often frequented in the past was still in business. It was, so we sat ourselves down and warmed ourselves on cappuccino and hot chocolate, for which I seem to have a craving lately.

We'd ordered some chocolates (pralines) to go with our drinks, and Jos's coffee came with a complementary chocolate with the shop's name printed on it.

We made our way back via the Grote Markt, Lier's main square, and through Lier's main shopping street until we reached the town ramparts.

The statue on top the building on the top right is still sporting a Santa hat. Somebody should tell him Christmas is well and truly over!

Upon reaching the ramparts, which form a green belt around the town centre, we followed these until St Margaret's Church and the beguinage came into view, and we were nearing the end of our walk.

By then, clouds were starting to gather once more, a foreboding of the stormy weather to come.

Linking to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style, as usual.

Begin the beguine

Just a stone's throw from Dove Cottage lies the pretty compact little town called Lier. Although not immune for its many charms, we do not visit nearly often enough.

Last Saturday we had a good reason to pay the town a visit: Mr. S was in need of a summer hat and hadn't been able to find what he was looking for in the charity shops.
As we were recommended an old-fashioned hat shop in Lier, catering for both men and women, this is where we were headed.

It was a bright and almost cloudless Spring day, which was only marred by a sharp north-easterly wind stinging the eyes, and often, when rounding corners, we were treated to strong gusts of wind.


You've already seen what I was wearing at the end of my previous post, but due to said wind, I needed a jacket on top.










The tweed jacket, with its cute buttons, is part of a suit, but I don't feel comfortable in its pencil skirt.

At the last moment, I grabbed this hat off Sybil (no prices for guessing why this demented looking girl is called that), who's been having the privilege of wearing it for a couple of months now.

After securing the last space in a convenient parking lot, we set off to the shop, which was in a street away from Lier's busy shopping area, with just a handful of other shops and some boarded up ones as neighbours.

As usual, I'm always with my head in the air, quite literally, pointing my camera lens well above street level in order to catch the gems which are usually to be found higher up ...

We eventually found the shop and went inside. The door to the owner's living quarters were wide open and we could see him eating his lunch. Painfully slowly, he hobbled into the shop, as if surprised by the tinkling of the shop's bell. He seemed even more surprised to find two behatted people standing inside his shop ...

The shop was well stocked and hats were displayed on what were clearly Sybil's relatives. Nevertheless, Jos didn't immediately find what he had in mind. In the end, he settled for a beautifully crafted Panama hat, which looked like it had been made for him.

Then came the second hurdle: the shop didn't have a pin machine, so that we had to trudge all the way to the nearest cash machine near the the centre of town, and back again.

Purchase concluded, we walked back towards the town centre, passing Lier's main church, St. Gummarus, parts of which are currently hidden by scaffolding, along the way. Its tower, nicknamed the Peperbus (Pepper pot), is visible from afar, and I actually photographed it minutes after leaving the parking lot.

Just before the bridge which would have taken us into the busiest part of town, we turned left along the River Nete, which is flowing through the town.

It is possible to join a boat trip along the river in converted eel-fishing boats, but these only operate from April 1st.

We contented ourselves with taking some photographs, which were enhanced by the blossoming Japanese Cherry trees bordering the pavement.

Across the river, the striking building, De Fortuin, with its cheerful red and green shutters, was calling for attention. It was built in the 17th century and over the centuries it has been used as a grain store, a coal depot, a lemonade factory, a cabinetmaker’s workshop, a town warehouse and a restaurant. After standing empty since 2010, it was restored and reopened as a restaurant last summer but I have read that it closed again after only a couple of months.

Crossing the bridge, we came to the Zimmerplein (Zimmer square), called after the tower of the same name, which used to be part of the town ramparts.

The tower is famous for its Jubilee clock, with 13 different dials, which was built by Louis Zimmer, an amateur astronomer and watch and clock maker, who presented it to the town in 1930 on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of Belgium's independence.














After passing a sculpture group of a shepherd with his sheep, a nod to the nickname of Lier's inhabitants, schapenkoppen (sheep heads) ...

 ... we were nearing our destination: the beguinage!

Beguinages were closed courtyards where widows and unmarried women led a religiously inspired but independent life.

Lier's beguinage, which was created in 1258, became a UNESCO World heritage site in 1998.

It is a typical 13th century street beguinage consisting of 11 alleys and 162 houses. At the centre is St Margaret's Church, dating from the 17-18th century.

The last beguine, Agnes, died in 1994.

Many tourists flock to this usually tranquil place, which is generally almost free of traffic. To our dismay and utter annoyance, a mobile home was parked right in front of the church, its owners nowhere to be seen.

After a while, a couple with a dog appeared and were making their way to the mobile home. I had just started making grumbling noises about people and their audacity, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a couple approaching, who were clearly annoyed by the mobile home's presence too. They turned out to be our friends Ingrid and Luc!

After saying goodbye to our friends, we concluded our visit with a cup of coffee, before returning to our car, just minutes before our ticket expired.

Hope you enjoyed the short visit to this pretty little town.