The clothes show

Last weekend, Dove Cottage's bedroom and spare room, the rather grandly named Blue Room, looked very much like the store rooms of a clothes shop.

It all started on Saturday, when I made a start on packing for our holiday. Since our destination will once again be the UK, a suitcase full of flimsy Summer frocks might be a bit too optimistic, although I will obviously be taking some of those.

But, as regardless of the weather we will be out and about a lot, I will also be taking several pairs of trousers. After investing in some nice pairs of red and green trousers last year, I now went a step further by acquiring two pairs sporting very Polyester Princess-worthy flower prints, so that in the not unlikely event that the weather gods are once again up to no good, I will at least be able to look the part.

I tried out a mountain of blouses and short-sleeved jumpers to wear with them and managed to whittle them down to a manageable shortlist. Even so, travelling light will not be on the cards, but why should I, since we are travelling by car?

Have no fear, I won't be taking that much! No, these bags contain part of my vintage stock, which I'm keeping for selling at our local flea market in July.

There's a total of five boxes and four large bags, so the day won't be very far off when we, like Vix, will need to have a shed built in our garden!

Don't you love Angelica's stylish Summer outfit, by the way?

There's a reason why my vintage stock had to come out of our bedroom's built-in closet: I had invited a friend for a private shopping session on Sunday. I'm glad to report that she went home with no less than six dresses and a blouse!

Now look what happened: the dress I'm wearing here was unearthed from one of the bags. Why on earth I was thinking of selling it, I do not know, but I presume it was its beige-ness that put me off. But isn't that print gorgeous? 

I wore it on Saturday, playing an on/off game with an ancient lilac short-sleeved cardigan from New Look. I do wish I'd picked it up in more colourways back then!

I chose sky blue for my belt and necklace and added a translucent brown, vintage butterfly brooch.

My sandals are my turquoise Miz Mooz misfits: I bought them several years ago at a ridiculously reduced price at the tail end of the sales, as the colour of one of them was rather faded. The difference in colour was soon rectified by putting the other one out in the sun for a while, so that it is now hardly noticeable.

The mountains of clothes were doing my head in by then, so we left the house to go and water the plants at Jos's son and daughter in law, who are currently travelling in Canada.

We stopped briefly at our most local charity shop, and wouldn't you know it: I found more stuff.

These two new-to-me stretchy frocks came home with me.

As I was once more making use of Angelica's services as a model, I took the opportunity to dress her in this funky vintage frock, in a lined cotton fabric, which I found at Think Twice the other day.

I came across this playful play-suit on the same day. I've always had a penchant for play-suits - 1960s Barbie has quite a few of them in her wardrobe - but I haven't had one myself since the late 1990s.

At under € 5, it was futile to resist this one, which will be perfect to wear around the house on hot, sticky days.

Meanwhile, the Sempervivum, or houseleek, on our kitchen windowsill is flowering for the very first time, and at the back of the garden the frothy lime green flowers of Lady's Mantle have joined the plant's soft, downy leaves.

A glut of gooseberries awaits us, but how strange that only one of them has turned red already. Jos reckons there is something wrong with it. 

Nothing wrong with our white currents, apart from the fact that most of them have ended up being eaten by a cunning pair of local wood pigeons!

Jos has cut back some of our garden's jungly growth, so that we can see all the way to the back wall, where a sweetly scented honeysuckle is growing among the profusion of greenery provided by a rampant Virginia creeper.

Here is what I was wearing on Sunday. 

I love this sturdy cotton skirt, with its ruffly hem trimmed by orange rick rack. This, and the orange flowers, prompted my choice of top, a cap sleeved blouse sprinkled with black and white dots. 

My footwear were as a pair of ancient orange ballerinas.

The vintage necklace consisting of intertwined black and white plastic beads were the obvious accompaniment, while I brought out the green of the leaves on my skirt by pinning a green-based micromosaic brooch to my blouse.

I wore the skirt again on Monday, but with a different top: a green, lacy, short-sleeved knit jumper. 

I'd overlooked this one when I was packing, but I think it would be perfect with the first pair of floral trousers, so it went straight into the wash, after which it has joined the others tops in my suitcase.

And so, we have come at the end of my post.

I'm officially on vacation now and, after we have finished packing tomorrow, we will be up bright and early on Saturday, when we're off to the UK.

So, no posting from me for a while, as I will be mostly off-line for two weeks, although I will be reading your blogs when time and WiFi allows.

See you in July with lots of adventures to share!