Sunday 2 May 2021

Well I wonder

How can it possibly be May already? It seems like only yesterday that this year's long awaited Spring took its first hesitant steps back in March. 

So far, the season has been one of extremes. We had a handful of days at the end of March which felt more like the height of Summer than early Spring. Then, as if at the click of the weather gods' fingers, Winter made a come-back with a string of days barely above freezing point and showers bearing flurries of snow, sleet and hail. 

April truly lived up to her reputation for fickleness, alternating sunny days with cloudy ones and the temperature going up and down like a yo-yo. Overall, it was quite a bit colder than average, the media trumpeting that it was in fact the coldest month of April since 1986.  



It's always a couple of degrees warmer in Dove Cottage's tiny walled garden, where the sun gets trapped, creating our very own micro-climate. Still, unlike last year, I was hardly in short sleeves at all, the first batch of Spring and Summer frocks in my wardrobe still waiting in vain for their first airing.

On Thursday the 22nd of April - as yes, my blog is still lagging behind - this is what I wore. Even with the temperature lingering in the low double figures, I'm still finding things to wear which hadn't yet seen the light of day. In fact, I seriously doubt that my vintage dress, with its muted brown and pink Millefleur print was worn at all since January 2019. 



I opted for lilac and pink tones for my cardigan, belt and beaded necklace, which were all charity shop finds at one time or another. The enamelled floral brooch was a flea market find, if I remember correctly.

After uploading these photos, the tights I am wearing here had me stumped, as I didn't recall wearing grey ones. They are in fact, a pair of mid-brown semi-matte 40-denier tights. I guess it must be the contrast with the chocolate ankle boots which makes them look so washed out. 



Thursdays in Spring and Summer are often synonym with a visit to the garden centre, which is exactly what we did that morning. With the extra space we created by clearing the ivy and dead wood waiting to be filled with plants, we once again made use of the garden centre's ongoing buy 5, get 1 free offer on perennials. We also picked up a bag of compost and some Begonias and Pelargoniums or annual Geraniums, the latter to replace the ones which had sadly died on us as a result of February's deep freeze temperatures .

As the weather forecast for the weekend was looking reasonably good, we decided to give my healing index finger some more rest and resume our gardening activities on Saturday.





Meanwhile, I had a bone to pick with non-ribbeting frog! His only task had been keeping an eye on the twin flowers produced by our lone Fritillary bulb. Apart from mute, he seems to be blind as well as both flowers had opened by now with the one on the left having been half-eaten by a naughty garden pest. Grrr!

If you're wondering what an old-fashioned parking meter is doing in our garden, well, we are not sure either. The thing, which was gifted to us by one of Jos's friends back in 2017, had been wasting away in our garage ever since. It dates from the late 1950s, early 1960s, and in its former life it lived on the streets of Antwerp, when 5 Belgian Francs (the equivalent of about € 0,12) paid for 30 minutes' parking.

It had always been our intention to put it in the garden, but for some reason it never happened and we'd actually quite forgotten about it by now. The space where it found its new home used to be completely overgrown with ivy. It still has to be secured properly, though, and then perhaps have some greenery planted around it.




Saturday the 24th of April was exactly as promised by the weathermen: a sunny day with highs of 15°C.

I even daringly wore short-sleeves, although I still opted for the warmth of a jumper. It is vintage C&A, and its content label mentions 30% linen alongside the usual acrylic. I love its textured ginger knit accented with a berry stripe at the sleeves. It has the same stripe at the hip-line, which obviously you cannot see as I wore it tucked into my skirt. 

Both the jumper and the skirt were Think Twice finds and it was their first outing in quite a while. Any attempts to describe the skirt's funky pattern would be futile, so I'm just letting you admire its crazy paving pattern and riot of colour.




In order to curb its collar's floppiness, I secured it with a gold-tone and purple brooch, which I offered the company of one of my mini collection of Bambi brooches, picked up from a long-gone vintage shop.

The yellow, white and orange bubble gum balls necklace came from the same shop, while both the tan belt and orange shoes were charity shop finds.



We had an extensive gardening session that morning, planting out the majority of the perennials we'd brought back from the garden centre. In the freed up border next to the bench we added Paeonia 'Bowl of Beauty', Aconitum carmichaelii 'Cloudy', Phlox 'Sweet Summer Wine' and Trollius 'Orange Princess'.

In the small, slightly sloping border above the rock garden (top left) two more alpines were added, Stachys officinalis 'Ukkie' and Saxifraga 'Purpurteppich', with two Summer flowering cottage favourites, Geum chiloense 'Mrs. Bradshaw' and Scabiosa 'Barocca', behind them.

Three shade-loving plants, a foxglove, a toad lily and a purple flowering dead nettle, were planted elsewhere. Our final task was re-potting last year's butterfly lavender in a bid to revive it (bottom left). On the top right you can see some of the Lily-of-the-valley we inherited with the garden, which keep on popping up in the most unexpected of places.



Our gardening pursuits continued on Sunday, which was still sunny but with a slight drop in temperature.

I planted up the green enamel cones hanging from the potting shed with new dark red double flowering Pelargoniums. The cones themselves are from the same vintage shop I mentioned earlier, and probably started life as lamp shades. On a roll, I also potted up the two Begonias and put them on the old chair in the passageway. The marble adorned pot behind them contains last year's toad lily, thankfully showing signs of life.



Back in long sleeves again, with a pink flower and foliage patterned dress found in a vintage per kilo shop in Antwerp several years ago. I added a cream beaded necklace and a heavy silver-tone rimmed floral brooch which doubles as a pendant. The brooch is marked 'SARAH GB' which should be one of the marks used by Sarah Coventry. Founded in 1949 by Charles Stuart, Sarah Coventry's name was the combination of his granddaughter’s first name and the town of Coventry in England—where the Stuart family had emigrated from to the US. The jewellery was sold via house parties a la Tupperware and Avon.


Further components of Sunday's outfit were one of my stretchy chevron patterned belts and a multi-coloured slubbed cardigan by Only, both of which were charity shopped. The plum coloured Hotter shoes were a € 2 flea market find back in May 2018.



Don't forget to mention me! Of course we won't, Bess, how could we!

She's currently on a voyage of discovery around the house and this morning she woke us up at an ungodly hour by chasing her tail across the bed!



Monday the 26th of April was another glorious Spring day echoing Sunday's temperature. Still quite chilly at 3°C in the early morning. I was wearing a scarf and beret but when I was waiting at the traffic lights near my office I was actually regretting not carrying a pair of gloves!

Office days usually do not get a mention here, but as it was a quiet one and the weather too good to stay indoors, I went for a walk during lunch break, making my way to Antwerp's Botanic Garden.



In spite of this little gem only being a couple of minutes' walk from Antwerp's main shopping street, it wasn't overly busy, with just a handful of people having lunch or sunbathing on its benches and diminutive main lawn. There was even an empty bench with a view to some yellow tulips.



I had a leisurely wander around admiring the Spring blooms, being particularly enamoured by the magnificent orange Fritillaria imperialis rising from a sea of acid yellow Euphorbia captured in the previous collage.

The garden holds a collection of 2000 plants, with a collection of cacti and other exotic plants in the conservatory, part of which is visible on the top left in the above collage. 



Adjacent to the street, although well below street level, is a meandering woodland path lined by bluebells and dog tooth violets (Erythronium), where it's easy to forget this is actually smack dab in the middle of a busy metropolis.

Before leaving, I briefly walked into the courtyard beyond the garden. For two years in the early 1980s, I used to go to school in the white building which backs on to it, its classrooms offering a secret view of the garden. Heady times holding poignant memories.

I'll be back within in couple of days. In the meantime, as always, please do stay safe, sane and sensational!




34 comments:

  1. There’s not a lot I can say about your parking meter as I have gauges, post office scales, a luggage truck, and an nhs baby weighing scale in mine among other things. Oh yes and an old dolly tub washer. Haha.
    Bess is such a cheeky monkey with her look at me pose. It’s so lovely to see her settled,and you my friend are looking wonderful. I like your hair and all your beautiful outfits of course.
    Take care of yourselves you two xxx

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    1. I love the "rusty corner" in your garden! I have scales too, and enamel tea pots, a colander and a 1930s advertising sign. I wish I had room for more! xxx

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  2. Fantastic outfits as always and I LOVE they way you've built your garden.
    Bess has the most wonderful expressions.
    Have a good week!

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    1. Thank you Goody! We've inherited our garden's structure, and only changed a couple of minor things. xxx

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  3. I love that pink floral dress on you! What a beautiful colour on you :) I do like bright pink shades :) I like that orange jumper with the colourful printed skirt as well, another great combo :)

    I think the parking meter in your garden is so fun too :)

    Hope that you had a good weekend :) It's a relaxing long weekend for us!

    Away From The Blue

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    1. Thank you Mica! The parking meter is still working too, which is even more fun! xxx

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  4. Great you have such a nice garden near your office. Thank you for these wonderful pictures. You look fabulous in this pink dress Ann. Pink works great for you. I wish you a good monday, with a very huge hug Tina

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    1. Thank you Tina! I'm sure I'd be spending more of my lunch breaks in that garden if I were still working full time! xxx

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  5. I remember you showing us that parking meter before and loving it! Your garden gets batter and better. I bet you can't wait for all your new acquisitions to start blooming, I know I can't!
    That's a fabulous photo of Bess, she's beautiful.
    The botantical gardens look absolutely magnificent, what a perfect place for a wander.
    Love all your outfits, as ever! xxxx

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    1. Thank you Vix! I'm having regular garden patrols to see if anything is showing signs of blooming yet. I was pleased to note that most of the things we planted last year turn out to be still alive, too. xxx

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  6. safe i try, sensational of cause - but sane is someting else.....
    colourful dresses and gardens - love the colours of the first one and the pink is a sight for sore eyes. but in my garden i do definitely prefer ivy over a parking meter.
    bess is really at home now in dove cottage - extra pet the sweety from me please!
    hugsies! xxxx

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    1. Thank you Beate! I'm often having problems with the "sane" part as well! The ivy was way out of control, but I'm sure it'll start growing again. Plus, we will add plants around the parking metre as well! xxx

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  7. Lovely mixture of skirts, tops,dresses and cardigans and all so colourful and stylish! I absolutely loved your enamel floral brooch - stunning!

    Your garden is filling up nicely with lots of lovely plants. I'm so sorry about your fritillary being eaten; what a shame!

    The Botanical Gardens looked wonderful; how fab you can walk there so quickly from your workplace. I still haven't visited the Botanical Gardens in Cambridge but it's on my list for the next time we go there for a rummage. Your post reminded me - thank you!

    Bess is looking beautiful and very happy.

    Have a great week.
    xxx

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    1. Thank you Veronica, and I'm glad to hear my post reminded you of visiting the Botanical Gardens next time you're in Cambridge! xxx

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  8. Sorry to hear about your chilly April, Ann! But at least you're still able to sneak in some wearings of your late winter dresses!

    Loving your fun outfits here! Standouts for me are that lovely shade of purple cardigan (excellent on you) with the wide dagger collar, the orange shoes (love!) and the long stripey cardigan.

    Seeing that parking meter, I had a total flashback to the meters we have had in my city - they must have been manufactured in the same factory or something, as they look identical.

    Bess looks so happy! I laughed at her scampering across your bed - how many times Vizzini's done that, I can't even count! I'm glad she is doing so well.

    Big hugs to you this week, my dear friend!

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    1. Thank you Sheila! I can't wait to start wearing my Summer wardrobe, though. In the meantime, I'm trying to be creative with what's left of my Winter one. Isn't it amazing we both had identical parking meters? xxx

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  9. Only Dove cottage can have a parking meter in it's garden! Lol. So funny! Your old school looks amazing, so different from where I went to school. Picture boring, terrifying brick building! With a very conservatieve headmaster. Anyway, love the outfits and that gorgeous brooche!

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    1. Haha, yes, and it is still in working order, too! You can sit on our garden bench for half an hour if you put in 5 Belgian francs ;-) xxx

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  10. Our weather is the same.. one day it's hot as summer and the next it's cold and windy.
    I especially loved your first brooch.
    Sorry to hear about your finger as well as your dead geraniums.

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    1. Thank you Hena! My finger is much better, but I still need to be careful. xxx

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  11. Oh the weather here is a bit of yo-yo too, but that's Spring I guess - capricious lady! You look wonderful in your outfits, the pink dress is awesome! A walk in a botanical garden is always such a welcomed part of a day, and your shots are gorgeous! Love this - stay safe, sane and sensational. I'll try to stay sane to begin with. :)))

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    1. Thank you Natalia! I'm looking forward to some warmer Spring days, though. This time last year we'd been able to have breakfast in the garden a couple of times already! I'm trying - but not always succeeding - to stay sane too, by the way! xxx

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  12. Yes, April has been unusually fresh here as well...but May is behaving properly. If anything, it's too hot and humid for me (especially after all the showers we have had recently). I love all of your outfits, but especially the first one. That brown dress is such a beauty. Your second styling makes me think of art deco. It's so fabulous. I love the print on that skirt, the top is lovely and the brooch is the perfect accessory. The pink dress looks wonderful on you.

    So nice to see Bess again. She's a beauty.

    So lovely you had the chance to visit the garden with a collection of 2000 plants!

    P.S. Will do my best to stay safe and sane...and I will try to be sensational:).

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    1. I'm glad May is behaving properly where you are. Unfortunately, here she isn't. It's been cold and today it has rained almost non-stop! xxx

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  13. What an extraordinary garden! 2,000 plant varieties in one spot is incredible and must be quite the inspiring experience to enjoy in person.

    Autumn Zenith 🧡 Witchcrafted Life

    PS: Bess is the cutest thing on four paws!

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    1. Thank you Autumn! I know, both about the garden and Bess :-) xxx

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  14. Here the skies are grey, your clothes provide a welcome dose of colour to the day!
    I always enjoy seeing your garden, it sounds like a magical oasis, especially as it has its own micro climate.
    It sounds like Bess has integrated herself as part of the family now and feels right at home. It's a lovely photo of her. xxx

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    1. Thank you Sally! It would be even more of an oasis if it weren't for the noisy neighbours, but I guess one can't have it all ... Bess is certainly going from strength to strength, exploring every corner of Dove Cottage. xxx

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  15. Spring weather at its fickle best or worst but a lovely time for gardens , both in your own garden and the magnificent botanical garden. Your Bess is such a cutie and so happy to see she has settled in well.
    Your outfits , be it the first of Spring outings or not are up to their usual beautifully co-ordinated colourful standards. Enjoy your week Ann. xx

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    1. Thank you Jill! I guess it is Spring's fickleness we have to thank the garden luxuriousness for later in the year! xxx

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