Some velvet morning

The first of November is a holiday here in Belgium. It's All Saints Day, when people visit their departed loved ones' graves and decorate them with flowers.

We don't have any graves to visit nor do we need a special day to remember our loved ones, as  remembering is a continual process and memories, good or bad, can pop up when least expected.

The day started as it meant to go on, with a blue sky in which marshmallow clouds carelessly floated, the sun shining with a blinding, dazzling brilliancy, shrouding the world in a gauze-like haze.

Not a day to be spent inside, obviously.

What we needed was a good long walk, so we wasted no time in getting dressed and ready.

I dressed in velvet: my dark green velvet jacket, of course, and a printed velvet skirt in autumnal colours, charity shopped last December and last seen here. Needless to stay, I felt quite strokeable in all that velvet softness. Purr!

I combined the skirt with a wide-cuffed and pointy-collared blouse bought at a flea market last Summer, in a heavy moss green polyester with a light green and orange flower print and closing with green buttons, with a smaller version of these at the cuffs.

I added bright orange beads and a gold tone ring with a round orange centre. On top, a pale coral polka dotted cardigan, adorned with one of my Bambi brooches, which has a greenish background.

Another brooch was pinned to the jacket, with an orange and green flamed stone.

My handbag of choice was made from buttersoft dark green leather, with sturdy round handles and a flap closure ending in a fringe.

I wore, and probably ruined, my last pair of burnt orange tights. I've been looking on the High Street but I don't think burnt orange is in fashion. My only remaining hope is the weekly market in our village, which has a stall with a fabulous and inexpensive range of hosiery.

The scuffed brown boots are my footwear of choice when I go out walking from Autumn until early Spring. They are super comfortable and warm to boot (pun not intended) but the culprits of the ruination of my tights ...

I needed a scarf, as the jacket is quite low cut, but there was no need yet to bring out the wool, so I chose this large square one in yellow, orange, purple, pink and blue.

Our walk took us to one of our favourite wild places: the watery nature reserve Het Broek in Blaasveld.

The air was pungent with Autumn smells, a heady mixture of rotting vegetation and mulchy leaves, mingled with some strands of far-off wood smoke.

A patch of crown vetch was basking in a sun trap, attracting the last of the bees. It usually flowers from June to August, so it must have been rejuvenated by the late Summer weather of only a week or two ago.

Vegetation - even in its various stages of decay - was still quite abundant, and partly obscuring the view into half-hidden pools and brooks.

I love this watery world of mystery and imagination.

Flocks of geese arrive from further North to spend Winter in this paradisiacal half drowned landscape.

The meadow where I posed back in August was a squishy cushion of earth and grass. This is, after all, a marshy area, and will revert to water meadow in months to come.

For now, I could still walk across its surface without getting my feet all too wet, rejoicing in the sun's balming rays.

It felt good to be out and about in what could very well be the last of the delicious Autumn days!

Once again linking to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style!