About time

Time has been a bit of a distorted concept these days. At least, it has been in my book. The days are passing by at the speed of light, yet the weeks do tend to creep along at a snail's pace, seemingly taking forever to reach the weekend. Then, without fail, Saturday and Sunday whizz by and before I can catch my breath it's Sunday evening with another working week just a short night's sleep away. 

Having been utterly spoiled in the last two years, when first my working week was reduced to two and then three days during the pandemic, followed by four-day weeks courtesy of heaps of leftover holiday allowance, my current five-day weeks are nothing but a pain. I've been able to take Friday afternoons off once or twice, but I'm missing my Friday sleep-ins and leisurely breakfasts, followed by the luxury of a whole extra day to do as I please. I'll be going back to four days as soon as my colleague is back and then, hopefully, I'll be able to make it a permanent fixture.

With just Saturday and Sunday to cram in everything I love doing - not to mention the inevitable chores, which I fully admit often fall by the wayside - is virtually impossible. One thing, however, which come rain or shine is always top of my list is taking the time to get dressed and play around with my wardrobe.

Saturday the 8th of October was no exception, although this time I already had an inkling of what I would be wearing. The grey, black and rust plaid skirt I'd found at Think Twice back in September had been hanging outside my wardrobe ever since, patiently awaiting its first outing. Taking the lead from the rust stripes in its plaid, I had this funky bell-sleeved blouse in mind to pair it with. Charity shopped in Spring, it's by JBC - a Belgian high street label - and has a pattern of rust coloured white stemmed flowers on midnight blue.

The only gripe I've got with the blouse is its high fold-over collar which simply refuses to stay flat. In a bid to save the problem, I tried out a couple of brooches to tame it, but none of them looked right until I stumbled upon this white vintage flower brooch. Surely, it couldn't have been a better match!

At 15°C and with only a modicum of sunshine, it needed another layer which, what with the bell sleeves, was easier said than done. Although not matching any of the colours in the rest of my outfit, I thought my mustard batwing cardigan, from H&M by way of a charity shop, solved the problem perfectly.

Finally, my outerwear consisted of a grey tweed blazer with elaborate embroidery on one side only. This too was an old charity shop find.

Saturday's main activity was a rummage at the charity shops with a picnic in-between, but as I already showed you my finds in my previous post, let's move swiftly to Sunday.

The mercury got stuck at 15°C, but with the sun out in full force, it was the perfect weather to go for a slightly longer walk. Something we hadn't been able to do since we came back from our September getaway as the weather had been playing spoilsport. 

I ticked off a couple of tasks in the morning, including putting together some likely outfits for the week ahead. Then, after an early lunch, we picked up our car and were off. 

Our destination of choice was one of the ex-clay pit based nature reserves in the area, Walenhoek. By now, I've lost count of all the times I have taken you there, but my blog tells me that we last walked here back in May. About time we paid it another visit, surely.

At just a 20 minute drive from Dove Cottage, and covering 60 hectares of woodland and reed-bordered lakes and ponds, it is the perfect place to unwind in all seasons, although admittedly Autumn is a firm favourite.

On this early October Sunday, the leaves were just starting to turn and there was the odd toadstool poking its head through the leaf-mulched soil. The crunch of the layers of leaves under our feet and the unmistakable earthy fragrance typical of Autumn were adding to the sensory delights of the season.

I love it all: the hazy light, the works of art supplied by Mother Nature, the nostril tickling aromas and the pervading air of melancholy. And although it awakens a tendency to wax lyrical in me, I couldn't have put it any better than this:

"The first breath of autumn was in the air, a prodigal feeling, a feeling of wanting, taking, and keeping before it is too late." ~ J. L. Carr

My outfit was another one combining things old, new-to-me and the odd item bought brand new on the high street, in this case my black stretchy belt with its square buckle.

The skirt came from Think Twice and is another purchase I made back in Spring, when I fell in love with its folksy black, green and orange floral pattern.

If I remember correctly, the orange blouse with its slightly abstract flower print was picked up from Think Twice as well. Same as the leaf brooch, it is vintage, although the latter was a flea market find.

The charity shops, in their turn, supplied the faux-tortoise shell necklace, green cardigan and the sage green wool blazer which I'd selected as my outerwear.

Creatures of habit that we are, we always seem to end up taking the same route through the domain, the meandering paths tiptoeing between ponds and through patches of impenetrable woodland where nature has been allowed to take its course.

The forces of nature soon reclaimed the area after the brick making industry declined in the late 1970, but there's still the odd relic from the past hidden among the wilderness, such as the old electricity cabin with its picturesquely peeling and rusty red door.

And so another weekend had come to its inevitable end and I'm looking suitably melancholy here. Try as I might, it proved to be impossible to keep the Sunday blues at bay. 

It has been a bit quiet at the office lately, which makes the weeks seem even longer. To say I wasn't looking forward to another one of those slow weeks is quite an understatement. On top of that, Monday, which had had a sunny start, soon became overcast with rain threatening at a moment's notice. Typically, it held off until it was time to go home, which scuppered all plans to take any photos of my outfit.

This was what I wore on Tuesday, which was a sun-drenched day with highs of 17°C. Nevertheless, I definitely needed all the layers, as we were into the single figures that morning. By lunchtime I no longer had any need for the hot pink cardigan I'd thrown over my dress.

My dress, of course, was another Think Twice find. With its full-on pattern of multi-coloured flowers - not to mention the odd pagoda - on a vivid cobalt blue background, it must be one of the most eye-catching frocks in my wardrobe.

There's no lack of colours to choose from to accessorize it with, although with its green buttons this is often the one I go for.  Not this time, though: I let hot pink play the starring role.

My necklace of painted wooden beads, which also contains a nod to some of the other colours, as well as my pink leather Tommy Hilfiger belt, were both charity shopped at one time or another, while the metal dragonfly brooch was a flea market find. Only the pink plastic ring was a high street buy.

Making the most of the day's sunshine, I strolled over to one of the Think Twice shops in my lunch break. In stark contrast to my regular pre-Covid shopping sprees, pickings have been meagre lately and more often than not I'm leaving the shops empty handed. I wasn't expecting to find much that day either, but old habits die hard, so I keep going for regular rummages, hoping to find treasure among the prevailing 1990s trash. 

It had been a while since I found some decent vintage dresses, so when I spotted this polyester frock from the Finnish Marketta label, I couldn't pounce fast enough. I fell hard for its pink and green abstract print, its flower shaped buttons and its tie neck.

I'm a sucker for anything plaid, so this black, grey and red wool-polyester blend dress definitely tickled my fancy. It's got a flattering fit and flare shape and although it is short-sleeved, it's going to be a welcome addition to my Winter wardrobe, worn with a long-sleeved T-shirt or polo-neck layered underneath. I've already found it the perfect belt in my stash!

I'll keep you in suspense about the rest of the week and the weekend ahead until my next post. Hope to see you again soon!