Nothing ever happens

The odd sunny half-day notwithstanding, we kept being plagued by gloomy January days. Even on those days when it wasn't raining for a change, the sky was a thick blanket of dull washed-out grey. Days like these tend to knit themselves together into a blur of time in which nothing really happens. Or so it seems, anyway.

I've been keeping a journal since April 2020, jotting down my thoughts and the things I've done in order to keep track of time and disentangle the blur. Lately, however, it often slips my mind to make an entry at the end of a day and then find it impossible to recollect how I spent my time.  As I've always prided myself on having the memory of an elephant, this can be quite disconcerting!

One such day was Saturday the 15th of January. Other than that I slept late-ish, followed by a lazy morning of pottering and photographing Friday's charity shop finds, the day is a bit of a blank.

But at least I can show you what I was wearing, which I'm sure you'll agree is the main purpose of my blog. And I still had to show you the rest of Friday's finds as well.

The skirt I'm wearing, and around which my outfit was built, was one of the latter. It was love at first sight and in fact I was so smitten with it that I wasted no time in giving it its first outing the very next day. I mean: plaid and chevrons in browns, oranges and a dash of white! Well worth wrestling it off a shop dummy!

The striped jumper of many colours, including orange to tie in with the skirt, was an old sales bargain from New Look, while the vinyl and elastic orange belt was an even older high street buy, from Forever 21 of all places. Both shops have long ago departed Antwerp's shopping streets.

Further accessories were an orange beaded necklace and a cameo brooch, supplied by a charity shop and a flea market respectively.

Foot- and legwear consisted of my fake snakeskin ankle boots an ancient pair of dark brown opaques.

The cropped furry gilet I layered on top was another one of Friday's charity shop finds. I seem to have accumulated quite a collection of these gilets, which come in handy for throwing over any kind of outfit, especially around the house, or at the office. I have one which lives permanently on the back of my office chair.

The day's other finds included a purple suede belt, a long grey beaded necklace, a blue, articulated owl pendant and a pair of red carved wooden bangles.

Two blouses came home with me as well. There was a sage green pussy-bow one with a black and white geometrical pattern, and a blue one with a tie neck and the cutest of bird patterns.

To conclude the day's bounty, there was a lavender crocheted gilet, a chunky cardigan with attached cameo brooch, the furry gilet I was wearing on Saturday and a purple knit scarf. 

You'll get to see me wearing the cardigan later in this post, although I removed the sewn-on brooch, which has joined my collection. Just as I don't like designers telling me where my waist is, I can't abide it when they tell me which brooch to wear on which particular garment! 

If Saturday had some sunny spells up its sleeve, it was another utterly grey and miserable day on Sunday. On top of that, it did feel much colder than the 4°C indicated by the thermometer on both days.

My erratic journal tells me I looked for and located my (faux) furs in the built-in closet in our bedroom, washed my hair, did a couple of chores and caught up with blogland.

For the day's outfit photos we didn't venture any further than just outside our back door.

I was wearing a vintage dress in a rich chocolate brown with a pattern of circles and clusters of vibrant flowers in pink, orange and turquoise. 

I added a wide turquoise belt and a turquoise chunky plastic ring, while opting for a slightly darker cerulean blue for my tights and cardigan. The latter is by retro label Zoë Loveborn by way of a charity shop. I've got several of their cardigans, which all have delightful details. Here, its fan-like pattern and the orange and blue buttons are its stand-out features.

Cream and brown are the main ingredients of the rest of my accessories: a brooch consisting of leaves and berries picked up on a flea market, and a chunky beaded necklace which was a charity shop find.

On my feet, the ochre yellow Sasha ankle boots from an earlier treasure hunt this month.

We're swiftly skipping my Monday to Thursday working week, in which even less was happening. 

Again, rain was our lot on many a day, resulting in distorted rain-splashed views through my office window. As ever I was glad that Friday was beckoning, as I was longing to sleep just that little bit longer and live life at a slower pace. 

As again I hadn't taken up my full holiday quota at the end of last year, I'll be able to continue taking Fridays off for a while yet. 

That Friday - we were the 21st of January by now - we woke up to sunny spells which made us hope we'd be able to go for another walk in between charity shops.

Typically, clouds soon started gathering, threatening rain at a moment's notice.

Still, we stopped off at the fort domain in the nearby town of Morstel, one of a chain of forts surrounding the city of Antwerp, built between 1859 and 1864. 

Initially, we'd just planned to have a car picnic with a view but, as the rain still seemed to hold off, we decided to walk down to the path surrounding the moat.

It was quite muddy in places and as I was wearing a rather delicate pair of boots, our walk was only a short one, just enough to clear the cobwebs for the day.

You've already seen my outerwear, consisting of some of my much worn favourites, and the Oilily bag which has been part of my weekend accoutrements ever since I happened upon it on a previous charity shopping trip.

What you haven't seen yet is what I was wearing underneath that day. 

Let's start with the dress, which is vintage, from the Finnish Karelia label. It is one of my earliest Think Twice finds, and it made its debut on the blog in one of my very first posts in March 2016.

Its fabric is a sturdy textured polyester and ... it has pockets. Lined pockets, to be exact!

Not surprisingly, I picked up the splashes of teal in its pattern by adding a teal flower brooch, beaded necklace and chunky glass ring. The belt is one of my beloved elasticated ones, with a round faux tortoiseshell buckle.

The waterfall cardigan, with its tie closure, is the one which originally had the cameo brooch attached. It's from C&A, warm and cozy, and surprisingly versatile, as I already wore it twice since it came home with me.

Now, before I bid you goodbye, I've got a confession to make. I am hopelessly behind with replying to all of your lovely comments. I do appreciate each and every one of them, though, and they quite often warm the cockles of my heart and make my day. 

I wanted to give a special thank you to reader Elizabeth, who kindly left a first time comment on my previous post. She finished her comment with the words "please don't stop sharing your world!". 

Well, I have every intention to continue doing exactly that and it quite boggles my mind that I have been doing so for coming up to six years soon.