Friday 25 March 2022

How does your garden grow?

March has been marching along relentlessly and here we are, on the cusp of its final week. I've got next week off which means that, hurray, I'm actually on holiday now, and in just a matter of days, we'll be off for a short but well-needed break.

Not that my blog has made it this far, obviously, so I'm picking up where I left off, which was at the end of the month's first week.

As if to make up for lost time, the sun has been regaling us with her presence for a while now and it has been a joy to leave the house in the morning and come home again in the daylight. Making outfit photos after work, however, still hasn't been happening. Work continues to be hectic and chaotic, leaving me with little or no energy to spare, so for now, it's still weekend outfits and escapades only.



There wasn't much to show and tell that week anyway, although I did make it to Think Twice and may even have made a purchase. But more about that later! Oh, and plans are afoot for a blogger meet-up in June as - fingers and everything else firmly crossed - it looks like we might finally make it to the UK this year. 

But let's not be too hasty and stick to the matter at hand, which is Friday the 11th of March. 



It was a joy to wake up to another sunny day, yet again with a frosty start but with forecasted highs of 16°C. 

After our customary fruit & yoghurt breakfast, I washed my hair and then I stood myself in front of my wardrobe for the pleasurable pastime of choosing the day's outfit.  Among the dresses airing in the spare room was this plaid Diolen dress I'd recently wore to work, so I decided to give it another outing before chucking in into the laundry basket. An ancient Think Twice find, it originally came with a lining which had seen better days and as it had further deteriorated over the years, I'd recently removed it completely.




I took my lead from the red stripe in the plaid, adding a red vinyl belt and my red tie-neck cardi, taming its tie with the pansy patterned scarf ring I charity shopped the other week. Green was the colour of choice for my jewellery, which consisted of a butterfly brooch, beaded necklace and perspex ring.

My legs were clad in a pair of moss green opaques and my feet were happy in my low-healed fiery red boots, which were a flea market find back in November 2018.



It shouldn't come as a surprise that we were off on our weekly trip to the charity shops, but first let me tell you about my visit to Think Twice earlier that week. 

I spotted this groovily patterned long-sleeved dress with its cowl neck, pleated skirt and self-fabric belt on Wednesday, but after some umming and ahing I decided to leave it behind, telling myself I'd go back for it the next day in case of regret. Imagine my delight when on Thursday morning I scrolled through my Instagram and saw a Think Twice post announcing the start of another one of their sales that very day. Needless to say, I went back during lunch break and snaffled the dress at 30% off!




Arriving at the first of our chosen shops on Friday, we were initially put off by the fact that whole sections of the shop seemed to be cordoned off. Then it dawned on us that on Saturday that infamous yearly charity shop event they call Retro Day would be upon us and that the overpriced vintage and retro stuff behind the barrier was out of bounds until then. Not that we cared, as we weren't going anyway.

After fruitlessly trawling the clothing aisles, I was about to join Jos who was having a coffee at the cafeteria, when my eye spied a pair of delicious red clog shoes in my size. They are by the French Bosabo brand and one of them still had its original € 115 price sticker inside. I paid a mere € 4,50.

However, I absolutely hated its original laces, which I replaced with leather ones in exactly the same shade of red, belonging to a pair of shoes I never wore.



Before taking them to the till, I had a look at the nearby jewellery display, finding three more necklaces for my collection. 

Same Retro Day scenario at the second shop and at first sight the clothing aisles were uninspiring. But then I spotted the funky bell-sleeved blouse by JBC - a Belgian high street label - and the skirt in quick succession. Having a gut feeling, I totally ignored the skirt's size which normally wouldn't fit my generous hips, and took it to the changing rooms. And hey presto: instant outfit. Doesn't it look fab with my red boots?



And look, Sheila: it's by Essentiel Antwerp!



Back at home, the afternoon was spent catching up on some long-overdue chores. I dusted the upstairs rooms, swept the staircase, cleaned the banister and re-glued a piece of torn wallpaper in the stairwell.

No prices for guessing who was responsible for the latter!




In spite of the sunny weather, I was in a bit of a black mood on Saturday, which wasn't in any way helped by the fact that the outfit I'd originally earmarked wasn't working at all.

When I finally got dressed, we booked our yearly sojourn in Belgium's west country in September, and then decided to drive down to the garden centre after lunch. 

I based my outfit around the burnt orange faux suede skirt I bought in the January sales and added a vintage Tweed jacket I hadn't worn in ages and which is part of a skirt suit.




We wanted to check out a fairly new garden centre we'd passed a couple of times on our way to the charity shop in Mechelen. I think it's fair to say that it was a bit of a disappointment, but we still picked up a pot of budding Bridal Crown daffs, a couple of Primulas and a pot of red double daisies (Bellis perennis) with an unusual shaggy haircut.

Then we made a U-turn and drove to our usual garden centre, which is spacious and has lots of choice. Walking among the tables of plants on offer always makes me feel better. Obviously we made a couple of purchases here as well, including some Ranunculus, Anemones, Muscari and the ubiquitous Tête-à-Tête daffs.


 
I couldn't wait to get stuck into the garden, starting with the window box in front of the dining room window. The eagle-eyed among you may even spot some cockle shells!

Bess was supervising my efforts from her perch on top of her scratching post. She was soon bored, though, and took a catnap, leaving the supervising to her stone counterpart who lives on the corner étagère!




I'd managed to contain myself and refrained from enthusiastically loading our trolley with all kinds of perennials. Nevertheless, I couldn't resist bringing home a pot of Fritillaries which I planted next to the only one which had deemed to grow from the bulbs I planted in the Autumn of 2020, just to keep it company.



All these pots of colour provide some welcome cheer when looking out of our kitchen windows!

I continued my gardening chores on Sunday by clearing up some more of last year's perennials, marvelling at the fact that there's so much new growth already. Dove Cottage's garden is very sheltered and we haven't had much of a Winter.




Clockwise from top left, there's our Oriental Poppy, Dicentra formosa a.k.a. Pacific Bleeding Heart, Delphinium and a host of Alliums watched over by our garden angel.



I'm leaving you now with closer look at Saturday's outfit.

The blouse I was wearing is King Louie, picked up in a charity shop in Poperinge during last September's holiday. Pinned to it was one of my Cameo brooches which, same as my pendant, was a a flea market find.



The charity shops provided my turquoise King Louie cardigan and burnt orange beret. Both my opaques, in a slightly darker colour than my skirt, and my moc croc ankle boots were retail buys.

I might try to squeeze in another post before our little trip in order not to get even further behind but if not, I'll see you on the other side!



40 comments:

  1. I've been on the lockout for red shoes for a long while now, of course second hand ... As we live a bit higher up, spring is very reluctant. There are a few flowers ... Have a nice weekend and a nice break! Regula

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    1. Thank you Regula, I do hope you will find the red shoes you are looking for soon! xxx

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  2. Love the groovy dress and red clogs Ann and the bell sleeves on that top are fabulous! It's also really nice to see all of these bursts of colour appearing in gardens across Blogland - your window box is so pretty! Well done for containing yourself at the garden centre. I'm always guilty of that and now try to have a proper plan/list when I go. Enjoy your trip! xxx

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    1. Thank you Claire! I fell head over heels for those bells sleeves! Oh, and my good intentions always go straight out of the window when I'm at the garden centre! xxx

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  3. Great finds as ever, that dress was clearly meant to be yours! and hasn't this weather been lovely? I too have various colourful plants on the table outside so I can stand and enjoy them when I take a break from work.

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    1. Thanks Gisela, I love seeing all that colour when I'm looking out of the window! xxx

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  4. The dress is wonderful, and a sale makes it all the better.
    I'm looking forward to watching your garden take shape again this year.
    Have a good trip!

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  5. Oh holiday! great. You need it. Have a good time. Looking forward your travelogue.
    And I'll keep my fingers crossed you absolutely have to go back to the U.K. in June. 🌺
    With a very huge hug Tina

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    1. Thank you Tina, and thanks for keeping your fingers crossed for us! Yes, we must go back to the UK! xxx

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  6. Enjoy your holiday Ann, hope your Spring weather is kind.
    Lovely to see those early blooms in your garden , Spring really is always such a treat as everything comes back to life.
    Once again you amaze me with your charity shop finds. xx

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    1. Thank you Jill! I love seeing all my favourite plants pop up again! xxx

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  7. Oh you have a holiday too! As I'm typing this, we are in the ferry heading to Dover! I how you will go too this spring! I still can't believe we are really going to be here in half a hour. Those red clogs look amazing! And comfortable too. And the skirt is fabulous. What a beautiful colours. Now enjoy your week off!

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    1. Thanks Nancy! I was actually quite envious that you almost made it to Dover! xxx

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  8. I really like Saturday's outfit, that's such a nice skirt! It's so good you were able to score that pretty printed dress on sale too, and that you had some luck opshopping even if a few aisles were closed. The boots are so cute! :)

    Enjoy your upcoming holiday!

    Hope you're having a good weekend. We had a birthday party for my son yesterday, so much fun!

    Away From The Blue

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    1. Thank you Mica! I couldn't believe my luck that the dress hadn't been snapped up by someone else yet! xxx

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  9. I love how your garden is looking under Bess's watchful eye, it's bursting with colour already!
    The tartan dress is lovely with the red accents (great boots) and I absolutely love the bell sleeved blouse and red skirt, what a fabulous outfit. saturday's outfit is also lovely! I'm amazed you left that blue dress behind in the first place, it couldn't be more Ann if it tried! The clog boots are wonderful, but I expect you kinew I'd say that anyway!
    Have an absolutely brilliant getaway! xxx

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    1. I actually thought of you when I spotted those clog boots! Can't wait to go into the garden after work to see what has popped up. We even have one early Clematis bloom! xxx

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  10. Hm, a torn wallpaper? Who could it be? Well, cats will be cats.
    I love your colourful outfits. The red boots are so fabulous. I do like that first outfit where you paired them with a patterened green dress and a red sweater. Red and green is a nice combo. I also like how you wear orange pieces. The burnt orange beret is fantastic and I love the skirt you paired with the king L. shirt and a turquoise cardi. A stunning combination of colours.

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    1. I'm not sure who it was, Ivana, but I've got strong suspicions :-) xxx

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  11. Love your garden plants. I wonder if Dicentra formosa grows in India.

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    1. Thank you! Not sure if it grows in India, will have to look it up! xxx

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  12. thanks for asking - it will! :-D
    its not like your walled one in mild belgium, stocked up with pre-cultivated flowers - but since 3 nights we had no frost! now we need 48 hours of warm rain.....
    lots of powerful red here! interestingly i´m into bright red too at the moment..... must be the depressing news i guess.
    hugsies! xxxx

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    1. Thanks Beate! Guilty as charged about the pre-cultivated flowers :-) xxx

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  13. You have the loveliest garden.
    And what amazing finds you discovered at the thrift store.
    Love those bootie shoes.

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  14. Those clogs are most definitely a BARGAIN!

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  15. What totally fabulous charity shop finds. I loved the dress and would have snapped it up too and the clog boots are lovely! Loved the skirt and blouse, too. I am in love with your tall red boots. I have never seen a bright red pair like that in our charity shops; only darker and deeper shades of red. I'll keep looking....

    Visiting plant nurseries is as good as a charity shop!
    Hope you have a great break.
    xxx

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    1. Thank you Vronni! I couldn't believe it when I spotted those bright red boots on a flea market stall! And sometimes visiting plant nurseries beats a rummage in a charity shop! xxx

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  16. Ooh, how exciting, a vacation, and a possible meet-up in the works! I'm so envious, Ann!

    Your cheery cherry boots are the cherry on top of that fabulous red and green outfit! Love your new dress and boots (good call on the laces), but my heart belongs to that fabulous bell-sleeved blouse. I laughed at your Essentiel Antwerp link - thank you! I am going to wear my PANK dress, but have been saving it for my last outfit of the season!

    Aw, lovely to see Bess supervising all those gorgeous flowers you've bought and grown. She will love seeing all the insects coming to visit!

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    1. I'm all excited about the meet-up and I'm keeping my fingers crossed about it happening! xxx

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  17. I love all your pots of flowers with all the different colours and shapes of petal!

    I never heard of Retro Day (I am in Australia) and it sounds a bit annoying actually! I am guessing they also bump up prices on those items?

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    1. Thank you Laura. You're absolutely right: they do bump up the prices on Retro Day! xxx

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  18. Love all the flowers and beautiful dresses dear :-)
    Beauty and Fashion/Rampdiary/Glamansion

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  19. You really should tell Jos to stop scratching at that wallpaper Ann ;) Beautiful garden pots, bursting with colour and fun (especially the marbles!). Always nice to be supervised by a moggy when doing such jobs too. Fab red boots! Fab red clogs! :) xXx

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  20. Aww! Cutest garden supervisor ever! I bet - just like you and Jos - darling Bess is delighting in the return of warmer days and longer hours of sunlight.

    Fantastic finds! I may have gasped aloud (repeatedly) over those incredible red clog ankle boots. What a score!!!

    Autumn Zenith 🧡 Witchcrafted Life

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    1. Thank you Autumn! I couldn't believe my luck at finding those clog boots! xxx

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