Tuesday 19 July 2016

Painting the town green

... and you can take that quite literally!

On Saturday, they were measuring out and marking the pitches for Sunday's flea market, to be held in the village streets, in green spray paint!



By coincidence, I was wearing green that day: a short-sleeved button-down dress in a stripy fabric featuring different shades of green. While the stripes run vertically on the bodice, the ones on the skirt run diagonally, creating chevrons at the back and front.


I combined the dress with various red accessories, mainly so that I could wear, and show you, my new red block-heeled vintage shoes. The heels had a few scuff marks, but these were easily removed. Apart from that, the shoes are in almost perfect condition and are quite comfortable too.


The clear perspex ring, enlosing an air bubble and swirls of green, yellow and blue, was found at a charity shop a couple of months ago. The bangle and bracelet were cheap retail finds.








We went charity shopping on Saturday, but that proved to be rather disappointing, so we stopped at the garden centre for some colourful plants to replace the ones that did not survive our holiday.













We got a pot of lemony yellow Surfinias, reddish pink Cosmos with feathery foliage, cheerful yellow Coreopsis and some Echinacea, which were greatly appreciated by the local population of bees.


As we needed to make space for the pots, we started cutting away some of the ivy which is running rampant in our garden. While we were doing so, we noticed that the arch, which leads to the area next to our kitchen, was sagging. It was a cheap metal one which we bought many years ago, and it had rusted through in a couple of places.

The arch with the Clematis montana in better days

It was carrying the weight of a tangled mess of  Clematis montana which had unfortunately died on us a year or two ago and was now being colonized by the ivy. There was nothing for it but to demolish the whole thing and it is unbelievable how much lighter that part of our garden is with the arch out of the way.









Sunday was the day of the flea market, which was being held in our street as well as the surrounding ones. The people who had the pitch in front of our house had parked their car on the pavement in such a way that we had problems getting out of our front door. We'll make sure to have our own pitch there next year!










I was again wearing  green: a knitted top with slightly puffy short sleeves and embroidered flowers in white and pink, which I combined with a brown flowery maxi skirt I bought for € 1 at Think Twice last week.

My accessories included a bracelet featuring an array of Saints, an orange textured plastic bangle, some amber beads and a vintage rattan handbag with a metal clasp and rattan cross-body strap.


The day started out cloudy but it was very humid, with occasional bursts of sunshine. At one point it was looking like rain, but fortunately the weather gods were lenient this time.

Jos's youngest daughter, who inherited the "thrifting" gene from her dad came all the way from her hometown, 14 kilometers away, on her e-bike, and my friend Princess Inez arrived on her bike as well.

Look at Princess Inez's cute white summer gloves, which she was inspired to wear by Jessica, whose blog she is an avid reader of.


I made my first buys within minutes: two fans for € 0,50 each, one of them a black lacy Spanish beauty.


My next find was a new-to-me red and white polka dot blouse with pussy bow, which you can see me trying on in one of the above collages.


I actually got the dark blue plastic bird brooch for free!

My other finds were:


- A pair of retro-style Clarks shoes, hardly worn, for € 7,-.  In fact, during lunch break today I saw a similar pair of Clarks shoes prices € 110,- which means I've saved a whopping  € 103,- !  Not that I'd ever pay that much for a pair of shoes ...

- A rack for storing pots of herbs, from the 1970s Emsa range we are collecting, complete with original pots

- A cute toffee tin with some cheerful Nasturtiums on the lid

- An orange "apple" ice bucket, which of course I will not be using for ice-cubes, as that would be far too obvious! No, I will use it to store some of my ever-expanding collection of jewellery
.



After a lazy lunch back at ours, we did a final round of the market. The sun had come out in the meantime and it was getting to be quite hot.

Look at us ladies of a certain age, fanning away to keep the hot flushes at bay ...

Since the hot weather has decided to stay with us for a couple more days, I have already made good use of that fan - my personal portable air conditioning - although I must say I've been getting some strange look on the bus.





In my next post, I will be giving you the final installment of our wet Welsh holiday, before it slowly recedes into the mists of time.

27 comments:

  1. A car boot outside your front door, I'm jealous! Too bad the traders were inconsiderate, though.
    Love the spotty blouse and your fabulous red shoes. That free brooch is adorable and good to see the thrifting gene running in the family.
    I've been looking at our half dead pots today and thinking I ought to replace them - festivals and a blooming garden aren't a good combination! xxx

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    1. It was quite an experience, but next year we'll take that pitch, that's for sure. Knowing me, I'll probably buy more than I'll sell, though. xxx

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  2. look at that 2 gorgeous ladies! in light green sweaters! :-)))
    so much memories in this post for me! my mother had a sweater back in the 70s like yours - but in an other color - cream or yellow - i´m not sure. and the red/white dotted fabric looks exactly like the fabric i had a dress of as a 10/11 year old..... (i guess both pieces came from a care package from our west german relatives).
    love both outfits of yours - the green dress because i have a week spot for shirtwaist dresses and the sweater/maxi-combo has some very chic color combination going on!!!!
    wonderful finds - so the blocked door was worth it ;-) the fans are pretty and i can tell you that the clarks pumps are very comfy - have them since years in turquoise - bought on sale of cause!
    hugs! xxxxxx

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    1. It was a very nice market indeed. Thank you for the nice lunch. I did sime more research on my little watercolour find. It is very old and a rare find. Next year I will make the 14km drive again. Again a great blog post. See or hear you soon. Xx An

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    2. It seems my stepdaughter replied to you instead of me ;-) I'm pleased to have given you those memories! In the 1980s I used to work for the Antwerp agent of an East German shipping company, and we sometimes had people visiting us, which was quite an experience for them ... xxx

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  3. I have some fans like that!! They are so nice, aren't they! You look amazing in your green dress with the red accents (niiiiice brooch!) so cool! Pretty too!
    You did really well with those Clarks shoes- my feet are too big to have any real success with 2nd hand shoes!

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    1. Thanks Kezzie! I'm trying to make sure I'm wearing all my brooches at least once. Having a size 4, I find 2nd hand shoes quite often. xxx

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  4. Strange looks on the bus means you're doing it, "Right."
    Your carved plastic bangle reminds me of older carved celluloid pieces. The plastic blue brooch was a nice freebie too.

    How great to have the fair brought to you!

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    1. I guess you're right, Goody, and of course I'm not at all bothered by the strange looks. In fact, I'm getting quite used to them. xxx

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  5. Those red shoes are super - and the other red accessories really make the whole outfit work. It all goes so well with the green.

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    1. Thank you Mim. I'm going through a "green phase", and find that green actually goes well with a lot of colours. xxx

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  6. Your free brooch is such a charmer! What a lovely gift.

    Yay for red and green together. So many folks shy away from this combo when it's not December, but I say that they're really missing out, because it can easily and successfully be sported all year 'round without looking holiday season-ish, as you've so marvelously demonstrated here (the key, I often find, is to let one or the other colour heavily dominate the ensemble).

    Many hugs & happy Wednesday wishes,
    ♥ Jessica

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    1. Thank you Jessica. I didn't even consider they were holiday season colours, but then again I'm not really a Christmas person. I usually wear something wildly inappropriate in December ... Many hugs right back xxxx

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  7. Your personal portable air conditioning is something I really would love to have at the moment!! Don't care the strange looks on the bus ... I am sure that many people were probably ... envious of your fan!! :-)

    Beautiful maxi skirt!

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    1. That's probably it, Dan. Maybe those people are now trawling the shops in search of fans ... xxx

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  8. Hahaha! I know what you mean by 'strange looks'. I get those whenever I wear 'different' clothing to work.

    Whoa Nelly! You got a FAB deal on those Clarks!

    Happy thrifting ;)

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    1. As I'm usually wearing something "different" to work, I'm getting quite used to the strange looks, and I'm not really bothered by them anymore. Wishing you happy thrifting too ;-) xxx

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  9. What can finds! My parents used to have the apple ice bucket - what a blast from the past!
    I adore your rattan clutch bag, they're hard to find, or at least I'm yet to find one on my thrifting travels!

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    1. Thank you for visiting! I couldn't leave the apple behind, especially not at just € 1, and I simply cannot resist a rattan bag. xxx

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  10. Wow, it feels like you have so many flea markets nearby! I'm a bit envious, especially one just outside your front door. Mind you, sounds like it was a bit of a challenge to actually get to it! I love red and green together, so that first outfit is definitely a winner. I love your choice of flowers, they are exactly what I would have chosen too; all bright and pretty. Your friend with the incredibly glamorous name looks lovely, as do you and I'm very impressed with your new garden space xxx

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    1. Open air flea markets are kind of a tradition here in the summer months, and we try to go to as many as possible, weather permitting of course! My friend with the glamorous name will be flattered. I could hardly call her anything else, being a Polyester Princess myself, could I? xxx

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  11. Green and red looks so refreshing together, perfect summer combo of colours. Your garden is growing similar plants that I grow in the warmer months, so for me it is good to see all the colours I love. I love the idea of a flea market in your own street, and you must have a stall next year.

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    1. Thank you Sue! I'm sure you will be showing us those plants during our winter months! It was great to have that flea market here, even if only for people watching from our upstairs window! xxx

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  12. I love everything but most of all the last pic

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  13. Red shoooooes! My love of red shoes is my mothers fault, she always wore her bought new in the 60's, red button up dolly shoes, right into the 80's and I loved them. Of course I could easily find red shoes, but I don't buy leather or suede so am reliant on synthetic materials and the choice comes down to barely anything, boo!

    Anyway, another post full of beautiful colour, and so many bargains! I am in awe!

    xxx

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  14. I've got quite a few pairs of synthetic shoes, red ones too. There's a cheap shop in our village selling them ... xxx

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