Reds are sweet and greens are sour

Although it was in no way deliberate, there seemed to be a red theme going on this weekend.

On Saturday, I wore a red Diolen dress bought from Think Twice two years ago.

I only realized afterwards that it was the dress I wore when travelling to Wales last year.

The dress has a green and white flower print, which was the inspiration for my accessories: a green vinyl belt with round buckle (Think Twice), a string of green beads (Veritas, a haberdashery and accessories chain), a white vintage bangle (charity shop) and a red bracelet bought on the high street.

The bracelet is one of my favourites, reminding me of those gorgeous Venetian Millefiori paperweights.

The ring I wore is a white metal, one size fits all one, and has a green oval shaped stone mottled with pink. If I remember correctly, I found it at a flea market.

I wore a pair of new-to-me red shoes, from Spanish label Brako Anatomics. They came from Oxfam, which I visited after I'd been to the hairdresser's for a cut and colour on Wednesday afternoon. They still had their original price tag of € 105,- but they were mine for € 10.

They looked like candidates for Wales, so I tried them out to go charity shopping on Saturday. The jury's still out on them though, as I ended up with red toes and heels after wearing them.

As an aside, I was rather chuffed when Kristel, one of the volunteers at Oxfam, who is following my blog, greeted me with "Hello, Princess!".

You have probably noticed my hat, and might have wondered if it was new. But no, it's the hat I found at the antiques market at the castle back in April.

While popping into town, I came across some cheap elastic hairbands with flowers, and thought they might make great hat bands. And they do. And I can change them according to my mood, too!

On Saturday afternoon, we visited a charity shop near Antwerp's airport, one we only visit about once a year.

I was in luck, as I found a belt and some jewellery.

The mottled yellow bangle is probably Bakelite!

I also found a gorgeous crepe jacket, which I will be showing you later in this post.

The red theme continued on Sunday. The forecast was for humid weather, so I pulled a cotton button through vintage skirt out of my wardrobe. It's midi length and printed with white daisies on a black background, with three rows of white rick rack near the hem. And pockets!

I combined it with a red top (bought in the sales a couple of years ago), a wide red belt, a string of black and white vintage beads (both Think Twice, as is the skirt), and black Clarks wedge sandals (Oxfam).

This chap and his friends, together with a cheeky pair of blackbirds, have been plundering our white currant bush for the last couple of weeks. They didn't seem to mind that the currants were still a bit greenish, but we did, so until now, we were unable to pick our fair share.

Since they are slowly beginning to ripen, becoming almost transluscent, with a faint blush, they are finally ready to eat. Or at least, some of them are. We managed to pick enough to add to our breakfast fruit salad for a couple of days.

Another one of our garden heroes, a red Pelargonium, has survived winter in its pot which is hanging from our little potting shed. It has finally developed lots of flower buds, some of which are already showing a hint of red. Maybe we get to see the first of its flowers before we leave?

While our little garden table was still firmly in the shade, I took a sewing project outside.

I am going to take this peignoir, which I dug out from the bottom of our linen chest (I had forgotten all about it), to Wales, but the buttons needed replacing, as they were far too small and slippery and refused to stay closed (you can see one of the original buttons next to card with the "new" ones).

These slightly faded rose coloured vintage buttons from my stash are bigger and a perfect match for the peignoir's blowsy flowers and the ribbon decorating its cute heart-shaped pocket.

While our winter pansies refuse to give up flowering, the showy flower heads in our hydrangea are slowly taking on a bluish hue, almost as if shouting: never mind those silly little flowers, look at us!

In a shady corner, lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) is feeling quite at home, with its soft green scalloped leaves framing frothy yellow-green flowers.

Finally, here is the crepe jacket I found on our charity shopping trip.

It is from King Louie, and still for sale on their webshop for € 99,95.

Guess what I paid? € 4!

With its great cut and flattering shape (I especially love its slightly flouncy back), I'm sure it's going to be a wardrobe staple this summer!