Spring will be a little late this year

Although Spring has officially sprung a couple of weeks ago, true Spring days have been few and far between. But finally the sun is shining brightly in a brilliant blue sky as I'm starting to type this post, the former effortlessly elevating the mercury from the morning's frosty start into double figures by midday. No chance of peeling off the layers just yet, but at least it's infinitely better than the endless rain we've had to contend with lately. Beneficial for nature and our gardens it may be, it most certainly isn't any good for our Winter-battered souls, which are craving balmy temperatures and sunshine. Lots and lots of it, to make up for all the mind-numbing grey.

Before we plunge ourselves headlong into whimsical April, let's cast our minds back to March's final Sunday.

As due to the bothersome Daylight Saving Time we'd had to put the clocks forward and thus lost an hour of sleep, my biological clock screamed "No way!" to our usual Sunday morning wake up time. It wasn't really helpful that the day dawned dismal, grey, and wet so, with no enticement to get up, we dozed for another half an hour or so. If there was any upside to all the upheaval, it was that Bess didn't wake Jos up at the crack of dawn for her breakfast! Every cloud has a silver lining, they say ...

I know for a fact that that's an out-an-out lie, though, as there wasn't any sign of a silver lining among the dense blanket of grey which made up the sky that day.

The day's highs of 9°C prompted the first outing of the green textured jumper I'd charity shopped on Friday. Its companion was one of my favourite skirts, box pleated and patterned with an abundance of flowers interspersed by rows of berries and Paisley. It joined my wardrobe in October 2019, when it was part of a € 4 a piece Think Twice haul.

I picked up the splashes of burgundy in the skirt with the semi-elasticated, massive-buckled belt, also charity shopped on Friday. Further accessories were a burgundy beaded necklace and pink butterfly brooch. My feet and legs were clad in my beloved green boots which were a charity shop find in December 2019.

With no chance of any outdoor adventures and my brain still running behind the time shown on the clock, it was a day of aimless pottering. This included yet another repair on my one and only black underskirt. Charity shopped many years ago, it is almost falling apart, but will have to do until I find a suitable replacement.

Speaking of charity shopping, let's have a look at my latest finds, picked up on the Saturday. The indigo, pink and white wrap skirt is 100% cotton and bears a made in Malaysia label. The red short-sleeved jumper with its frilly and ribboned yoke is from the Belgian Xandres label. With simple t-shirts on their website retailing at well over € 100, I'm sure you'll agree that this knitted top's € 5 price tag makes it quite the bargain.

Later that day, we both followed Bess's excellent example by having a nap! Aww, isn't she cute, particularly when she's sleeping. She can be quite full-on when she's awake, following us, and especially Jos, around and insisting on helping with any household chores. Except vacuuming!

The month's final working week was a bit of a drag. Not only were my brain and body still struggling to adapt to the time shift, it wasn't much fun not having my usual Friday off to look forward to. As my one and only colleague had to have more surgery on her wrist, and is expected to be out of action for a month, I am once again on my own in the office. I'd quite forgotten what it feels like to work 5-day weeks with only a measly 2-day weekend as a reward.

The weather gods were still up their old tricks as well and kept taunting us with plenty of showers, culminating in 24 hours of non-stop rain on Friday. 

This was what our commute on Friday morning looked like. 

There was nothing for it but to make my own sunshine, for which my wardrobe proved to be very obliging. 

Long-time readers might recognize my grey wool skirt criss-crossed with textured multi-coloured diagonals, which has been a wardrobe stalwart for many years. 

It wasn't the first time I paired it with this glorious flower-infused vintage 1970s blouse, which I charity shopped in March 2019.  In fact, here I am wearing it that very same month for a nature walk on an infinitely better behaved Spring day. 

The butterscotch cardigan with its maroon edging and buttons is by Zoë Loveborn, and was a charity shop find in November 2021. It's one of my numerous pre-loved cardigans from that label, which for some unfathomable reason keep popping up in the charity shops quite regularly. It really puzzles me why people are getting rid of these at all as not only have they got quirky details that make them stand out from the ordinary, their quality is excellent too.

If I remember correctly the flower brooch, which always makes me think of white chocolate, was picked up from a flea market. The necklace was a gift from my friend Inneke, while both the belt and the flower corsage pinned to the cardigan were retail buys.

The month of April didn't get off to the best of starts, as it continued raining with hardly any let-up all day on Saturday. It wasn't very warm either, with highs not even reaching the double digits.

At this crossroad of seasons, just before the big changeover takes place, I'm trying to reach for those frocks which are still languishing unworn in my wardrobe. I was quite perplexed that I hadn't worn this 1970s does 1940s dress at all this season, its last outing dating from our trip to Bruges in March 2022.

I paid tribute to both the blue and the orange in its blowsy flower pattern, choosing an orange beaded necklace (Welsh antique centre), blue backed cameo brooch (flea market), blue ring (retail) and chunky blue belt (last year's Summer sales bargain from Mango).

Sage green opaques and my Snoots (snake print boots) completed my outfit, although I did exchange the latter for my almost worn to death tall mock croc boots when we left the house to brave the rain for the day's adventure. Oh, and I also added my chunky orange long line cardigan because I was freezing.

We were in need of some bread mix, so we decided to pay a long overdue visit to our favourite garden centre, which also happens to have an excellent baking department. 

In fact, it's not just our favourite garden centre, as it was recently voted best in Flanders!

Of course, it would have been virtually impossible not to have a peek at the plants too so that, inevitably, apart from said bread mix, a couple of pots of Spring flowers ended up in our trolley.

Our purchases included Primulas and Pansies, Tête-à-Tête and Bridal Crown Daffs and a cream and yellow Ranunculus. We were actually quite restrained, but I'm sure we will be back soon to have a mooch around their outside perennials department. Preferably on a dry and if possible sunny day!

For now, our purchases are patiently waiting to be planted up and join the passageway gang.

Fingers crossed for a reasonably dry Easter weekend, but knowing our luck it will probably be chucking it down again by then.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with another instalment of my seasonal wardrobe changeover. With a limited amount of time at my disposal until my colleague is back, I'll have to do it all in bite-sized chunks in order to get it all sorted before Summer makes her entrance.

Saturday's instalment was putting away most of my woollen skirts and replacing them with my Spring and early Summer ones. 

So glad to reacquaint myself with these lovelies.

Just one more day of work until my 4-day Easter break, and I'm more than ready for it. 

Happy Easter, everyone!