Anniversaries

Once again, the weather was nothing  much to write home about in the first weekend of March. If we'd been treated to a handful of cold yet gorgeously sunny days earlier that week, any hints of imminent Springtime had dwindled away by Friday.

Without the sun to warm both our bodies and the cockles of our hearts the days were dismal and depressing and, although the temperatures were well above freezing point, it required a bit of an effort  to step outside for outfit photos. Perhaps Vix's idea of making flatlays isn't such a bad one!

However, I decided to be a diligent blogger, so here is what I was wearing on Friday.

I based my outfit around the purple and tan tartan skirt I'd charity shopped the other week, combining it with two of my wardrobe stalwarts. The purple polo neck is an old retail buy which, at a rough guess, I've had for close to fifteen years. After hot flushes prevented me from wearing my polo necks for years, they have recently made a comeback. In fact, this one's previous outing only dates from January.

The dusty pink blouse with its wide wing collar is vintage, found at a sorely missed vintage shop back in 2015.  It is patterned with a sprinkling of plum and orange flowers and diamonds and closes with a row of bright orange buttons.  

I picked green for an extra pop of colour, adding a stretchy belt with round faux-tortoiseshell buckle bought retail a couple of years ago and a necklace found on a flea market just before the first Lockdown. The flapper girl in my brooch, which was another flea market find, is wearing a green turban for good measure. 

In fact, I was wearing forest green suede boots as well, but the darkness of the day didn't allow them to photograph well. 

The day's charity shop trawl - well, that's what Fridays are for, aren't they - took us to the shops in Mortsel and Lier, and once again I was in luck.

Both the blue, yellow and white zig-zag top with a bit of sparkle, and the one with its feathery grey, yellow and aqua pattern, have been put away for Summer. The former is from an unknown to me Belgian label called She Goes Lala, while the latter is from Mayerline, which is Belgian too.

For the skirts we are travelling to the UK and the Netherlands respectively. The navy pleated skirt with its baroque pattern is Marks and Spencer's St. Michael, and the teal one with its ditsy print is King Louie, Another one which slipped through the cracks and didn't end up on the posh label rails, I am pleased to add.

Back to Belgium with the eye-confusingly patterned polo neck from Terre Bleue, then straight on to the US, where the label was founded in 1968, for the chunky knit tan Esprit cardigan.

The bookshelves didn't disappoint either, making my reading pile,which is in danger of toppling over, even higher.

Flanking the Taschen book on 15th Century paintings are a novel by Julia Glass, whose Three Junes I enjoyed reading in August 2021, and Sweet Caress by William Boyd, a book I admit to initially choosing for its cover, but which promises to be a great read.

There was no improvement on the weather front on Saturday, but we didn't let the minor issue of the day's grey skies spoil the first of the anniversaries my post title is referring to. Indeed, on the 4th of March we celebrated the fact that our fabulously fluffy, fierce and funny Bess came into our lives exactly two years ago! And how she's changed from that scaredy scrap of a thing that hid under the cupboard for two whole days and remained the seldom seen cat for weeks!

The day didn't prompt us to engage in any outdoor activities so, as an anniversary present to Bess, we stayed with her all day, most of which she spent lying sprawled out on our laps.

But that didn't mean I was completely idle! According to my journal, I washed my hair, did a wardrobe purge resulting in a huge bag for charity, uploaded some photos, caught up with blogland and cleaned and rearranged the items living on top of our bathroom cabinet. Hello vintage loo rolls (bottom left) and oh, I'd completely forgotten about those Avon flower soaps!

Saturday's outfit consisted of a diamond patterned blouse picked up in the newly opened Think Twice shop in Antwerp back in February, paired with an Essentiel Antwerp skirt charity shopped in March 2022. I ditched the latter's self-fabric belt in favour of a multicoloured pleated leather one. As most of my belts were charity shop finds I presume this one was too, but I can't remember buying it al all. 

The orange wooden beads were charity shopped as well, while the brooch was a flea market find last month. My tall red boots also followed me home from a flea market. In fact, the only retail buy in my outfit - apart from my tights and underwear - was the ring!

As I was making my way back inside after our photo session, I noticed some big fat buds (bottom right) in our Hydrangea. We initially thought that the poor shrub hadn't survived the "wall massacre", so we were delighted to find that it was alive after all. Still wearing my non-garden proof outfit, I threw my orange knitted poncho on top, and gave the shrub its annual haircut, pruning each stem back to the lowest healthy looking bud. I also removed at least four empty bags which were hidden in its heart, abandoned by our heartless neighbour.

The Sarcococca (Winter Box, top right) outside our back door has finally opened its non-descript yet strongly scented flowers, the last of the Snowdrops at the back of the garden are delighting us with their shy, dainty flowers, and there's new growth in the potted Euphorbia in the passageway. It's not all bad news in our sorry excuse for a garden.

And then it was Sunday and time for this month's edition of the indoor flea market.

Another grey and sunless day, with temperatures in the mid single digits, it was imperative that we dressed warmly, particularly in view of the erratic nature of the flea market venue's heating.

I don't think I wore my chevron patterned brown and tan knit skirt at all last Winter, so it was definitely due another outing. If my memory serves me right, it was a Think Twice find. This time, it found its perfect companion in the orange polo neck, which I charity shopped in November 2021.

The cropped faux fur gilet I layered on top was a charity shop find too, as was the green mock croc belt, while the Lucite bird brooch was picked up from a flea market. 

Both the necklace, which came from Accessorize who once upon a time used to have a shop in Antwerp, and the ring, were retail buys.

At the flea market, we spent a happy few hours trawling the aisles and perusing the multitude of stalls.

Purchases were made, obviously, although it turns out that we are a lot more fussy than we used to be.

The box of Agfa glass plates (top right) was a no-brainer, however, bought to display with the wooden stereo camera we purchased from a charity shop in November. The plates are all exposed and I managed to photograph one of the negatives by displaying it against our spare room window. I'm left wondering, of course, who these people were and when and where the photographs were taken.

Having been to the factory's visitor centre back in September, the book on the history of Jules Destrooper (top left) was a no-brainer as well. The seller threw in the booklet on the history or Prince biscuits, designed and first sold in Antwerp in 1894 in honour of the Belgian King Leopold II after he visited the pavilion of biscuit manufacturer Edward De Beukelaer at the Exposition Internationale d'Anvers. 

It almost goes without saying that I added to my collection of brooches.

The oval enamelled rose brooch came from a French speaking lady I've bought from many times before and who always gives me a good price, while the flower laden metal wheelbarrow was picked up from a random stall. 

The wooden flower brooch and the smaller, round enamelled roses and rose hips brooch were found at our friend Rita's stall.

The gold-rimmed ceramic flower brooch was my star find, while yet another random stall yielded the jade green celluloid bird brooch and the slightly damaged enamelled feather, both of which went for the silly price of € 3.

The day's final find came from our friend Tania's stall. Can you guess what it is? Well, obviously it isn't the demented looking doll, but the wicker basket! Although I could very well have been sharing the doll's horrified look when I was faced with the lack of space to properly display my ever-growing collection of straw, wicker and rattan baskets ... 

Anyway, that's it for now. Before I leave you, however, I've still got to tell you about the other anniversary, as my post title clearly mentions anniversaries, plural!

Well, Monday the 6th was my blog's 7th anniversary or blogiversary! I can't believe it has been 7 years that I have been sharing my life with you. Blogging has become one of the joys of my life, and I cannot thank each and everyone of you enough for not only putting up with me, but leaving the loveliest of comments on my posts!