Brilliant trees

The weather's been acting particularly strange these days, with unprecedented mild temperatures for October of well over twenty degrees Celsius.

By the end of last week, I was wearing short sleeved Summer frocks again, when only a couple of days before I'd been thinking of breaking out the warm woollies!

Not that I'm complaining, mind you!

While the temperature gradually kept going up, prices at Think Twice kept going down, until finally my favourite moment arrived when everything is going for € 4.

Prices will continue going down to € 1, but for the best choice of fabulous stuff at rock bottom prices, the € 4 days are your best bet, especially as new things are being added until then.

Over two days, two bags of vintage gear came home with me!

I can't wait to wear this funky dress with its orange and green colour scheme when it starts getting cooler again.

Here's yet another maxi dress to add to my growing collection.

There were skirts too, including a black maxi skirt with a fabulous flower print.

I was sure the flower sprinkled cotton skirt on the right was handmade, until I discovered its size label. But someone has clearly been customizing it, adding to its length by cutting a piece off the bottom and joining them together again with a strip of plain black fabric edged by lengths of braided ribbon.

Although I already own quite a few jackets, I didn't yet have a lilac one, so this warm woollen beauty will be a welcome addition to my Winter wardrobe.

The vibrant red one is made from a crepey fabric and has a multicoloured zebra print lining and the most gorgeous buttons.

I couldn't resist picking up yet another Winter coat. Surely you agree that it would have been a crime to leave behind this classic belted houndstooth coat, with its delightful buttons and buckle detail, for only € 4?

On Saturday, we made the most of the warm, late Summer weather, by having our usual picnic outside.

In between charity shops, we stopped at one of our regular places, the Art Deco water tower, which has conveniently placed picnic benches and tables in its grounds.

How striking is the brilliant, crimson red of the foliage against the deep blue of the cloudless sky.

It's days like these that make my spirits soar! In fact, it was making me feel quite giddy, so that soon I was scooping up handfuls of the fiery red leaves and throwing them in the air like some kind of leaf-shaped confetti.

I was even prepared to overcome my vertigo and take the airy flight of stairs up to the viewing platform at the top of the water tower ... only to find it closed off due to ongoing vandalism. Oh well.
Such a shame, as on a clear day like this we would have been able to see the top of the Atomium in Brussels.

I was wearing a short-sleeved, belted navy dress with a joyous print of what looks like little apples, in pink, blue, green and white.

There was actually no need for the turquoise crepe jacket from King Louie, charity shopped back in June at the bargainous price of € 4, which I wore with a spotty navy belt and a brooch - a posy of pink roses - pinned to my lapel.

Further accessories were pink pearls and a blue plastic rose ring.

But I mentioned charity shops, so I should end this post with our quite unexpected bounty.

The small vintage zip-up suitcase came from shop no. 1, where I also found the brooch and the pink belt. The suitcase has been put to good use to store Jos's flat caps and some of my berets.

Shop no. 2 - this is an all or nothing kind of shop - came up trumps with a purple cardie (no, I didn't have one in that colour yet!), a pair of funky Italian suede and leather shoes, a red necklace nicked off one of the shop's dummies and a plaid skirt in autumnal colours.

And then there was this vintage coat, made from pure new wool in an unusual coral colour, which was hiding in a rail full of the usual modern coats.

Look at those buttons and the half-belts accentuating the waist. The label identifies it as made to measure from a posh shop in Brussels, which was established in 1932 and still exists to this day.

Having bought two coats (and let's not forget the two jackets) in as many days, I needed to free up some space, which I did on Sunday by filling a bag for charity with a coat and a couple of jackets I'm never wearing.

I'm sure that will butter up the gods of the charity shops!

Linking to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style!