Baubles and brooches

It's pretty scary how time is racing by! One minute I'm in my parents' attic, staring in disbelief at my Mum's green coat, and before you know it we're more than one week later, with this year's Christmas a thing of the past. How did that happen?

I've been meaning to tell you about the flea market we went to on the Sunday before last, but I've been procrastinating again. No, that's not strictly true. As I've finally got some time off, I have been enjoying these rare leisurely days, living life at a slower and more spontaneous pace than the manic hamster wheel madness that so determines my working life.

But let's get back to that flea market, which was our last one this year. As I'd already hinted in my last post, I just had to wear my Mum's green coat. 

There, you see, a perfect fit! 

I wonder, was its colour dictated by fashion? Was it my Mum's first choice or did the seamstress lead her gently into its direction? I'll never know. Come to think of it, I don't even remember which was my Mum's favourite colour, but I'm pretty certain that it wasn't green. 

For its first wear by me, I chose mustard and purple as its companions. They seemed to get along rather well. How peculiar that my handbag is in the exact same shade of green. 

And look at those buttons!

I also love its furry collar, which can even be put up and fastened with a hook and eye closure, making it perfect for those colder, windswept days.

Here's a look at the pristine green lining, edged with decorative, braided binding.

Underneath the coat, I was wearing a 1980s shift dress with a mad green, pink, purple and turquoise print, accessorized with a green beaded necklace. The brooch I pinned to my sage green cardigan looks like a little wreath of pearls. A Christmas wreath, perhaps? I do wear it at any time of year, though.

There was quite a turnout of stalls at the flea market, but strangely enough it wasn't very busy. We were told there had been more visitors on Saturday but, with most of the city centre shops being open in the run-up to Christmas this particular Sunday, I guess that would have been where most people preferred to spend their hard-earned money hunting for presents.

Such a shame, as there was certainly something to cater for all tastes and budgets here ...

We were both feeling a bit tired and were quite overwhelmed by all the choice! Consequently, I only bought one brooch. Not a vintage one this time, but I simply couldn't resist this gorgeous large cat brooch.

There was a lady selling boxes full of vintage buttons at very economical prices, which I spend some time poring over. These are the ones I've added to my collection.

Jos pounced on this 1950s robot game, which he'd coveted, but never got, as a child. The game includes a small robot figure holding a pointer. It is placed in the centre of a circular pattern of questions. The robot is rotated to a particular question and then lifted from the question area and placed in the centre of the answer area where it automatically rotates to the correct answer.

We'd only reached the end of the first aisle when we made our biggest purchase: a small, antique chest of wooden, glass-fronted drawers, the kind which was used to display sewing threads in haberdashery shops. This particular one is from a Belgian company called Filature & Filteries Reunies, which were based in the town of Aalst, or Alost in French. They were in business from 1886 until about 1970.

I'd been looking for something similar, but the only ones I'd come across so far were eye-wateringly expensive. As its top is cracked, this one was affordable, and what's more, the seller even gave us a reduction.

What was I going to use it for? I think those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will be able to make an educated guess!

There was still another week of work to get through before my 12-day Christmas holiday and as usual it was hectic as hell. Plus, my commute home got worse every day as hordes of tired shoppers needed to take the tram at the same time as I did.

There was a highlight when one day a luxury bar of soap arrived all the way from Tina in Germany. 

I'd actually won it, and I can tell you it smells absolutely heavenly, a fact which was confirmed by Phoebe, who went a bit crazy with the tissue paper it was wrapped in!

And then, finally, the weekend and ensuing holiday arrived. 

Christmas is a quiet affair here at Dove Cottage, but we do like putting up some decorations. Our faithful old fake Christmas tree comes out of the basement, to be decked with our retro and vintage ornaments, some of which are family heirlooms. The blue 1950s style cloth wrapped around the tree's base is a family heirloom too. It's one of the tablecloths I recently brought home from my parents' house!

Uncharacteristically, Phoebe managed to break one bauble, but fortunately it wasn't a vintage one!

We never used to have a nativity scene, until a few years ago, when Jos came across the very same manger they used to have when he was a boy. We've improved it with a battery operated string of LED lights. 

It rained all day that Sunday and it was dark and dreary outside. We even had to resort to taking outfit photos indoors, but I couldn't very well not show you my outfit. I was wearing a wide teal new-to-me skirt (with pockets!) combined with a black vintage blouse with a teal, beige and brown flower print, which I think came from Think Twice. Both the gold belt and light blue beads were charity shopped.

These dark days actually do suit Dove Cottage, its rooms dotted with a collection of small vintage lamps providing cozy pools of light.

But I didn't have time to sit around all day. In fact, I had a date with a certain chest of drawers!

As I'm sure you might of have guessed, I am using them to store brooches, replacing two charity shopped sets of plastic drawers I'd been using as a temporary measure. 

Needless to say, I had fun sorting through all my treasures, reorganizing them at the same time.

Below are the contents of four of the cabinet's five drawers.

Apart from this set of drawers, I'm also using some shallow polished wooden drawer boxes, a gift from one of Jos's friends. I took the opportunity to reorganize these as well.

These are just four of the six drawers. I had no idea I had so many different butterfly brooches!

Finally, there's this hinged black lacquered box with ten deep compartments. They were a gift from the same friend, but I hadn't used it until now. They are holding some of my most delicate and precious brooches, which are only worn very occasionally.

The last thing I did was try to count the number of brooches I've currently got, but unfortunately my mind went numb and I lost count at some point. However, I can safely say there are more than four hundred ...

* I'll break another bauble if you don't put me down this instant!

I'm leaving you now with a photo taken in our garden on Christmas Eve. I grabbed Phoebe who was about to dash past me. Not sure she enjoyed it very much. As a matter of fact, I know exactly what she is thinking.*

I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas, whatever you've been up to!

* Sorry, Sheila, I just had to do this!

The city sun sets over me

When eventually it stopped raining, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. As we were in the run-up to Winter, this could of course only mean one thing: we were in for a - minor - cold snap. But that's OK, I can live with that as long as blue skies and a bit of sunshine are part of the bargain.

The downside was that all this happened during the week before last, when I was cooped up in the office. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy some spectacular sunsets from my perch on the 5th floor.

I took these photos with my phone and they were not enhanced in any way. The sky really was this amazing fiery mix of tangerines and pinks, with a pinch of darkest indigo thrown in.

The city does look rather lovely, doesn't she? Well, she does, as long as you keep your eyes focused on the skyscape and don't let them wander down to street level, where hordes of frenzied shoppers are hunting for presents beneath the merrily twinkling Christmas lights.

Not for me, no thank you! Working in the city centre at this time of year really is the Nightmare before Christmas!

There, rant over! 

One day, when the weather was really exceptional, I even braved the crowds and walked.

I was almost swept up in a tide of shoppers when I took these photographs of Electra. Standing on top of a building which houses a well-known department store, she seemed to be casting a spell on us, mere mortals. She was being wooed by Anthony Van Dyck, who was making eyes at her from his plinth below. Clearly not impressed, she promptly turned him to stone!

Grey clouds reigned again on Friday. As public transport was seriously disrupted by a general strike, I was obliged to take the day off. Not that I minded very much!

It must have been no later than 2.30 pm and daylight was fading already. However, we made the most of what was remaining by going for a long overdue walk in the park.

Wearing my fake fur coat, which I'd unearthed from its out of season hiding place that morning, I was well prepared for the cold.

Beneath my coat, I wore a crazily patterned, reddish brown handmade vintage dress, its tie secured by a tapestry brooch.The brooch was found at a flea market many months ago. As its fastening was broken, it had been patiently waiting its turn with the other waifs and strays in brooch hospital, for Dr. Jos to mend it.

The sleeveless Welsh wool jacket I've added on top was a present from my lovely friend Vix.

I didn't want my legs to be turned into icy pillars, so I wore a pair of nude tights underneath my burnt orange opaques. My green booties from Middelburg were cozy and comfortable.

I'd quickly grabbed this scarf in my haste to leave the house, but it wasn't nearly warm enough. Same goes for the green knitted hat with its chunky pompom. It does look deceptively warm, but it's a rather loose knit, plus it kept escaping from my ears, leaving them exposed to the icy elements.

The mustard leather gloves did do the trick, even though I had to keep removing them in order to make photographs. Should have worn my fingerless gloves!

In the fading light, the trees are blackish-green silhouettes.

I wonder, are they sleeping, their roots buried deeply in the cold, cold ground? And if they do, are they dreaming of Spring? 

Some of the ponds were covered with a flimsy layer of opalescent frost, while others were flat as squeaky clean mirrors, silently reflecting a motley crew of skeleton trees.

In Flanders parks the poppies blow ...

The bare branches of this lonely little tree were hung with bright red laminated poppies, clearly the result of a primary school project, their messages proclaiming that "war has to stop and peace must come". 

Saturday was another dry, yet bitterly cold day. I briefly braved the cold to show you what I was wearing that morning. This is yet another one of my dresses with a self-tie but, although I like the colour and print, I'm on the fence about it, as I just can't seem to style it right.

It's mainly the unwieldy tie which is the culprit! In a bid to make it behave, I added a floral scarf clip. I also wore moss green opaques, a lilac cardigan and a purple beret.

I only wore the dress in the morning, changing into jeans and a polo neck after lunch. Yes, you've read that right and no, I don't have pictures! 

The reason I was wearing such an uncharacteristic outfit is that for the last month or so, we have been dedicating part of our weekends to clearing my parental home.

We'd made a start two years ago, just after my Dad passed away, but stopped when my brother temporarily moved into the house. This temporary situation turned into two years, but now that he's moved out, we can finally finish what we started.

Oh, the stuff my parents kept!  They hardly threw anything away. Consequently, we filled bin bag after bin bag of rubbish, while many carloads of stuff have gone to the charity shops and the recycling centre.

It was unavoidable that some things ended up at Dove Cottage too, ranging from practical items to those of sentimental value.

My Dad's nearly new food processor and retro style portable radio both found a home in Dove Cottage's kitchen. 

Bags of household linen, some of it yellowed with age, were given the charity, but I just couldn't bear to part with the tablecloths on the top right and bottom left. 

The framed document above, dating from 1930, was presented to my paternal granddad after he finished his military service. I'm sure we will find a bit of wall to hang it up!

Sorting out my Mum's sewing box and the vintage tin, both full of sewing materials, provided hours of fun on a rainy afternoon. 

I suspect that the 1950s fruit bowl and Space Age thermometer were both given to my parents as wedding presents. As long as I can remember, they lived side by side on top of our living room sideboard.

Both were covered with a layer of dust by now, but were given a good clean and a new lease of life at Dove Cottage, where they are getting the love these heirlooms deserve.

Last but not least! While clearing out the attic, we stumbled upon a rickety wardrobe, its contents a big question mark as its key had been lost.

When Jos finally managed to open it, there it was, my Mum's coat!

Not only had I forgotten all about it, I never even suspected that it was still around. Clearly it was waiting for me. I mean, look at that colour! And what's more, it's a perfect fit!

My Mum must have had it custom made back in the 1960s and now that I set eyes on it again, I actually remember her wearing it. 

I did choke up a bit when I first tried it on, and there might have been a few tiny tears ...

I simply had to wear it to the flea market on Sunday. But that'll be for a next post!

Meanwhile, I'm joining the other girls at Nancy's Fancy Friday. I'm also joining Patti and the gang as usual at Patti's Visible Monday!

Shaped by years of memories

Last weekend, my sister and I had another stab at clearing the contents of my dad's house.

My parents moved into the house, me as a toddler in tow, in 1964.

As my dad lived there until just a few days before he passed away, I am sure you can imagine the accumulated stuff after 52 years!

My childhood home's front door in the 1960s

This was our third session at the house, sorting through mountains of paperwork, getting rid of things like out of date medicines and most of my dad's clothes, as well as emptying drawers full of assorted junk.

Odd socks, candle ends, broken Christmas ornaments, boxes full of picture postcards, half-finished crosswords and scribbled notes: what are they but sad reminders of a lifetime of day-to-day living, carelessly abandoned or saved for the rainy day which will now never come.

Being of the sentimental kind, there are some things, valueless at first sight, which I am keeping, even if purely for their vintage appeal.

These booklets of stamps were the loyalty cards of their generation. The stamps were obtained when one bought certain products at the corner shop, and they were kept in a silver and blue Tetley's tea tin, until my mum had saved enough. In my mind's eye I can still see us, my mum and I, sitting at the dining table, diligently sticking the stamps into the booklets. Full booklets were saved up until November, when my mum used them to buy us the presents Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas, who is the primary source of the popular Christmas icon of Santa Claus, and who is celebrated on December 6th) supposedly brought us.

Me with "Sinterklaas" in 1968

These booklets somehow never got filled, but they're part of my childhood memories, so I'm definitely keeping them.

And how could I throw out these unused vintage Christmas cards?

When we were emptying one of the cupboards in my parents' bedroom, we found three boxes of baby shoes, one for each of us. These were mine. How poignant that, scuffed and whitened to within an inch of their lives, and minus their shoe-laces, they have lived, forgotten, at the back of this cupboard all this time.

My paternal grandmother and me in my grandparents' garden

They are probably the very same shoes I am wearing in this photo.

This framed certificate is proof that I was baptized, and the little card was my birth announcement.

My sister was about to throw out these hatpins, when I realized my mum must have worn these on her wedding day, as they are covered in the fabric of her wedding dress and hat.

Although there are only black and white photographs of my parents' wedding, I remember my mum's wedding dress, which for a long time she kept in her wardrobe. I have no idea what happened to it, but I'm sure that it was long gone when, after my mum died, my dad got rid of all her clothes.

I also kept two pairs of my mum's glasses and her rosary beads, which will find a home in this gorgeous vintage tin.

The same cupboard revealed a tattered carton filled with odds and ends, among which these pocket watches were hiding. They aren't in the best of condition, but will get a place in Jos's small collection.

The small gold toned one is in working order, but is missing its glass cover. It's got a gorgeous porcelain dial.

The one at the bottom, although it's missing one of its hands and its glass is a little scratched, is a "Roskopf", and might be worth having repaired.

I'm guessing the bowler hat which Jos is modelling belonged to my paternal grandfather. It could be the one he is wearing in the photo below, but I'm not sure.

As it is quite exquisitely lined, it could have belonged to my great uncle Joseph, who was married to my grandmother's sister Josephine, as they were quite well off.

The thought of them always makes me smile.  Joseph and Josephine: could there ever have been a better match?

My grandfather (left) with his father-in-law, late 1930s

I brought home two tins of assorted haberdashery, some of which must have belonged to my paternal grandmother.

A satisfying Sunday afternoon was spent sorting through it all, wondering at the items' history and their original purpose, and I've now got every conceivable colour of yarn and enough pins, bias binding and assorted trimmings to last me a lifetime!

“Sometimes you have to travel back in time, skirting the obstacles, in order to love someone.”
― Frances Mayes, Under Magnolia: A Southern Memoir