Bags and buttons

I wish the weather would make up its mind once and for all, as this neither here nor there weather is getting on my nerves. It's not really cold, but it's humid, which is the worst kind of weather for me as it's making my joints, especially my knee, play up.

There were days when the sun was playing hide and seek with a thick layer of grey clouds. On others, strong gusts of wind were playing a game of their own with those leaves which were already hanging on by their fingernails, as if it was Autumn and not the middle of Summer.

It's been over a month now since we came back from holiday and we're more than half way through summer, which makes me feel a bit deflated.

It was a good thing that the week before last Think Twice was in the last stages of its sales, so that I could spend my lunch breaks rummaging through the € 1 and € 2 bargains.

I grabbed a couple of dresses and skirts without trying them on, knowing that I could always sell them on at next year's flea market if they didn't fit. There was a gorgeous dress which was just a tiny bit too tight, but this one here was a perfect fit.

It's handmade and the material is cotton for a change. I'm not sure if it's real 1950s or rather a later imitation.

The dress needed new buttons as one was missing. As they are purely for decoration (the dress closes with a side zipper and some poppers at the collar), I was spoilt for choice, and came up with these double-layered light blue ones.

There were handbags galore as well, all going for € 1. Isn't that tapestry one a beauty?

That Friday, I took the afternoon off and met my friend Inez for coffee.

Afterwards, we went to look at Think Twice's new collection, picking up yet another handbag. This one would blend in well with one of those Astrakhan coats, don't you think? In the bottom left photo, I have put it next to a hat I own. Not sure if it's fake or the real thing.

The necklaces were a present from Inez.

Saturday came along and lo and behold, she'd brought a little bit of sun with her. Though not for long.

I was wearing classic red, white and blue. This cute short-sleeved red on navy print Diolen dress has white trim at the sleeves and collar, which is V-shaped and decorated with four red buttons at the yoke. It's one of those frocks that never fails to cheer me up.

As it didn't look right with any of my necklaces, I just pinned on two coordinating cat brooches.

I believe the turquoise Karelia jacket was once part of a two-piece, and I'm imagining it combined with a box-pleated skirt or maybe a pair of bell bottoms. I bought it on its own though, its companion if there was one long gone.

I added a white flower corsage, complementing my white hair flower to keep my hair, which was in need of a wash, in check. An off-white bag and my red Clarks sling backs completed my outfit.

Our weekly charity shopping trip brought us to a shop in Mechelen we hadn't visited for a while as we'd left empty handed too many times. They had enlarged their clothing department and there was a whole aisle of dresses to browse through. My heart skipped a beat when I found some vintage gems among the usual high street stuff !

The second dress, also long-sleeved, in black with a very colourful pattern, needed a tiny bit of TLC, as its buttons were beyond their sell-by date and, frankly speaking, didn't do anything for this dress.

I unearthed these turquoise beauties from my stash of vintage buttons, and: Ta-dah!

We then carried on to our favourite charity shop, the one in Duffel near the park, where we sat on a bench eating the sandwiches we'd brought.

Walking around confirmed our suspicion that there's definitely a hint of Autumn in the air already.

The flower borders near the water's edge were quite overgrown, and I'm sure some of the plants were over well before their time.

Nature is definitely acting a bit weird this year ...

On to the charity shop where I found two more handbags. I'm not sure if the rattan basket was actually meant to be used as a handbag, but who cares?

From a supply cart, I grabbed this 1970s canister, which hadn't even made it onto the shelves yet.

These delightful apple decorated canisters could be saved for by buying petrol at Gulf petrol stations and are now very popular with the retro crowd, commanding higher prices than the € 0,50 we paid for this one.

We already have some of these canisters in Dove Cottage's kitchen, all originals obtained by Jos at the time.

This brass photo frame with slightly domed glass won't be empty for long, as we have boxes full of old family photographs to choose from.

Our final buy was this gorgeous 1950s olive wood jug, which set us back € 6.  A snip, according to various Etsy and other web shops.  I am totally in love with its shape and the wood's swirly grain.

If all goes well, I am linking up with Patti's Visible Monday for the very first time ...