Back to the land of the marsh spirits

Before I go ahead and plunge myself headlong into my first three-day weekend in months, allow me to put your minds at rest. I survived the move to our temporary office on Thursday without going completely mad. What's more, as correctly predicted by Nancy in her comment on my previous post, it did go surprisingly smoothly, and my colleague and I were sitting at our reinstalled desks by mid-afternoon. 

My blog, as always, is lagging behind the times, so I'll regale you with the full story in a future post and perhaps share a photo or two. Now don't get too excited about that!

Right, let's retrace our steps back to that long-awaited three-day weekend, which started with Friday the 28th of October.

In spite of the best of intentions it was almost 8.30 before we were able to drag ourselves out of bed. This wasn't at all helped by the fact that I hadn't slept very well and woke up feeling moody and blue. In the end, it was the promise of sunshine and highs of 22°C which made us get a move on. Not to mention the fact that, as it was a weekday, Jos had to play paper boy for the elderly lady who used to live down our street.

In order to chase away the dregs of the blues, I wore my favourite colour, which long time readers and followers might remember is green. 

My dress was a sales bargain from H&M about five years ago which, apart from its bargainous price, I was seduced into buying due to its grassy green colour and its pattern: a floral extravaganza in blue, purple, white and pink. It was the latter I picked as an accent colour for my belt, necklace and ring, which were a mix of retail and charity shop finds. My brooch with its pale pink pearly heart was supplied by Think Twice.

The suede ankle boots, a favourite pair which matches the dress's colour almost exactly, are from the Dutch Van Dalen brand and were charity shopped in February 2021.

As soon as Jos returned from his walk into town, we packed a picnic and went off on our weekly round of the charity shops. It was nice to be able to do so on a Friday again and thus avoid Saturday's crowds.

Our first stop was at the shop in nearby Mortsel, where a couple of remnants from the Day of the Charity Shops, which took place the week before, were lurking on the rails.

These two vintage Summer dresses ended up in my basket. The one on the left is from a label called Carine, which I remember from childhood, while the one on the right with its fabulous flower print is from C&A.

Then my eyes alighted on this groovy Lurex infused Crimplene peplum top, which obviously I couldn't leave behind.

After joining Jos for a cup of coffee at the cafeteria, we continued to the second shop about a ten-minute drive away. As it was well past noon by then, we enjoyed a car picnic before heading into the shop.

I was in luck here as well, as I soon found an ankle length denim skirt, which was exactly what I was looking for. I've already got a couple of denim skirts in my wardrobe - both charity shopped in Shropshire - but they are more of a Summer weight. I wanted one warm enough for Autumn and Winter, and this one fits the bill perfectly. No pockets though ...

Angelica is modelling it here with the Zara blouse I found in a charity shop in Bridgnorth in June. 

I ummed and ahed about the pink tweed jacket, which is by the Italian "Notizie di Mariella Burani" label, as surely I've got enough coats or jackets already. But I didn't have one in this particular colour yet, and just look at that lining (above, bottom right).

My final finds were a match made in heaven!  And yes, I bought yet another jacket, but I'd actually been on the lookout for a decent red one for ages. This one is by Gigue and with its chain link detail on the pockets, it does look rather posh, don't you think? 

The skirt, which is lined and does have pockets, is by Gerry Weber. I fell in love with its vaguely abstract flower pattern in cheerful red and green.

Rummaging urges satisfied, we drove to our friends Inneke and Maurice's home to empty their mailbox as they were enjoying a holiday at the seaside. Then, after stopping for groceries, we went home where I spent the rest of the afternoon pottering and reading.

We slept late-ish again on Saturday and what with the impending office move on my mind, I was still feeling a bit grumpy. 

The weather forecast had claimed it would be another Indian Summer's day with temperatures reaching the low twenties. However, it was overcast with no sign of the anticipated sunshine so, while debating whether to go on the walk we'd promised ourselves, I washed my hair and selected my outfit for the day.

With no rain whatsoever on the horizon, we decided to go for it, so Jos made a couple of sandwiches for our al fresco lunch, and we were off. Our destination was another one of our favourite nature reserves, Blaasveldbroek, which is about half an hour's drive from where we live.

By the time we arrived the sun had finally made an appearance and had managed to do away with the persistent layer of grey. 

I couldn't believe we hadn't been here since early March, almost eight months ago, but that is what my blog and journal tell me.  At the time, the first stirrings of Spring were manifesting themselves while now the trees, which were still bare back then, were letting go of a Spring and Summer's worth of leaves.

A crunch-worthy layer of them was carpeting the path which took us past the first of the domain's lakes, while fungi were feasting on tree stumps and rotting vegetation.

We made our way down one of the boardwalks leading from the path to the lake. Standing on the small jetty at the boardwalk's end, we were enraptured by the always enchanting panoramic view across the lake. All was quiet except for the screeching of a couple of bickering gulls and the squawking of a single, disgruntled sounding moorhen.

We would eventually end up walking the path on the far side of the lake, where we found a sheltered bench in a sunny spot for our picnic.

The backdrop of sun-dried reeds was just perfect to show you my outfit.

My vintage faux patchwork skirt yet again started its life at C&A, but followed me home from Think Twice in July 2021. The almost sheer coral crepe-like blouse delicately sprinkled with flowers was a Think Twice find as well, but predating the skirt with several years. 

I took advantage of the sparsely used green in the skirt's pattern by adding a green beaded necklace and a transluscent brooch featuring a green flower. Well, at least my eyes detect it as green, but as I'm slightly colourblind, having problems differentiating between certain shades of blue and green, it might as well be blue.

Picking up the plethora of greys in the skirt, I added a grey leather belt with an oval leather covered buckle. 

At a junction of paths, we always ignore the one leading straight ahead, as this would take us to a stretch of water used for water sports and would entail a boring walk along its tarmacked edge before another entry point into the reserve is reached. Nevertheless, I always take a photo of the tall crooked tree towering over its much smaller neighbours, now reaching its golden leafed branches skywards.

Taking the path veering off to the left instead, we eventually reached the domain's visitor centre, which has plenty of picnic benches and a welcome block of toilets. The building the latter are in have been decorated with fabulous otter and beaver murals, referring to the name of this particular area, Otter and Beaver Island.

While the return of the otter, which was virtually extinct in Flanders, is still patiently awaited from a nearby nature reserve, a family of beavers has already settled themselves in my favourite part of the domain, access to which has been closed-off for several years now.

The family of wooden ducks which has been carved out of a fallen tree trunk turned bench has lately received the company of a beaver at work!

It's a marshy place here, with most of the domain being only two to three metres above sea level, and legend has it that many centuries ago it used to be the home of marsh spirits. Although I still have to meet one of these mythological creatures, I've no doubt they still haunt the area, perhaps hanging out with that equally elusive family of beavers. 

Whatever the case may be, this watery wonderland is truly atmospheric, perhaps even more so when nature winds down and lies dormant in preparation for its next regeneration.

Having almost come full circle, we were nearing the domain's main lake which is a gathering place of waterfowl of all plumage. Long before we could see them, the colony of Canada geese who overwinter here were making themselves heard. Loudly honking, they were once more proclaiming themselves lords and masters of the lake for the season. 

Heads sufficiently cleared of cobwebs, we made our way back to our car and drove home. Which was easier said than done as there was a huge queue on the main road. This made us do a U-turn and make our way home via another route. In doing so, we passed the famous blue lift bridge in Willebroek crossing the Brussels-Scheldt canal, aptly described by a much-loved Flemish folk singer as the monster of iron and steel. The bridge has been protected as industrial heritage since 1992.

I'll be back shortly with what we did on October's final Sunday and beyond. Wishing you a great week ahead whatever your plans are.