As far as the eye can see

As we're well past August's half-way point by now, I thought it was high time to wrap up what was left of the month of July after my previous non-travelogue post.

Frankly speaking, I haven't been feeling myself lately, and as I already hinted to problems with my left eye, I wanted to give you the short version of what's been ailing me. After all, I've been sharing my life's ups and - thankfully only few - downs with you for almost 7 and a half years!

So here goes: the ophthalmologist detected some damage to my left eye's optic nerve and, although my eye pressure is low, I failed my field of vision test miserably with my left eye, while it was near perfect with my right. The verdict's that I've got Low-Tension Glaucoma. There's some minor loss of vision  which often - and most significantly when my eyes are tired - makes me feel unbalanced, in both senses of the word. This, in its turn, has been causing anxiety attacks and hyperventilation, for which I've been given medication. I've also been prescribed daily eye drops, for the time being to be administered to my left eye only.

It's not my intention to turn this into a sob story, particularly since I know a lot of people - like Ally - have got it so much worse, so why don't I dust myself off, pick up the pieces and ... show you some of the outfits I've been wearing in the second half of July?

Take this jade green vintage frock sprinkled with white, light green, yellow and pink flowers. I wore it on a rare day during the month's penultimate week when I had enough energy left after work to step into the garden for outfit photos.

I picked both yellow (necklace, belt and ring) and pink (flower brooch) for my accessories. Although not matching any of the colours in my dress, I wore a comfortable pair of red shoes by the Portuguese Kiarflex label. This is one of only a handful of pairs of non-sandal shoes I'm able to wear barefooted without causing rubbing and blisters. Everything but the belt was bought second-hand.

With my colleague being on holiday, I have been working 5-day weeks in July. However,  Friday the 21st of July was Belgium's National Holiday, so that I was able to stay at home and sleep in that day!

My life-saving journal tells me I packed away the unsold items of our flea market stall, filling a couple of bags for the charity shops in the process. The weather was a strange mixture of clouds and sunny spells, with lots of wind, and highs of about 20°C.

We only briefly nipped outside to take photos of my red, green and white outfit. If I'd been a loyal Belgian, it would have had to be black, yellow and red, but that's not a combination I'm particularly partial to!  The dress was another old Think Twice find and once again, the only retail item is the belt. 

Note that I was wearing the same shoes again, which this time do fit in with the colour scheme!

The rest of the day was spent reading Sarah Water's Night Watch, which I loved, but which left me a bit confused at the end, feeling there were quite a few loose ends. 

Sunshine was conspicuous in its absence on Saturday and once again the mercury didn't climb much higher than 20°C. 

My energy levels had somewhat returned after a good night's sleep, so I rid the upstairs rooms of most of the dust bunnies which had gathered there while our backs were turned.

I also ventured outside to water the plants under the awning and those which live in pots in the passageway.

The changeable weather hasn't been kind to our Hydrangeas: the combined forces of alternate harsh sunlight and heavy showers have slowly but surely faded their colour, from brightest blue to lavender to cream with a tinge of pink at the heart of each individual flower. But aren't they gorgeous in every stage of their decline?

In between showers - as yes, we were treated to some of those as well - we took photos of what I was wearing that day.

Charity shopped back in May, it was my pleated skirt's first outing.  At first, I was at a loss what to wear with it, as its pattern of pastel blue, pink and green foliage had me stumped. Then, while halfheartedly rummaging through a pile of lightweight long-sleeved blouses, I came across the Morris & Co x H&M blouse I found at Oxfam at the tail end of 2020. I opted for wine red accessories - all charity shopped - and a black stretchy belt, which incidentally was the only item I bought new.

With the possibility to go for a walk ruled out by the weather, we drove to the charity shop in nearby Mortsel to drop off our bags of donations. And surely it would have been rude not to have a wee rummage while we were there? 

There was nothing whatsoever on the bookshelves nor on the clothing rails which tickled my fancy, but the jewellery display near the tills came up trumps with these four brooches, which set me back at total of € 2. 

It looked as if the weather gods had decided that Summer was on its way out in July's final week. Although the temperature hovered around 20°C and we were treated to the odd sunny spell, it was mostly overcast and showers were rife.  In short, the kind of gloomy weather which makes one's head go foggy. Or, in my current circumstances, foggier!

One day, as I felt an anxiety attack coming on, I grabbed my bag and coat and escaped outside.  It was well before my actual lunch break time when I walked into the direction of the picturesque traffic free Conscienceplein, a square which has the feel of an Italianate piazza, and which is only a couple of minutes' stroll from my office.

The square's undoubted eye-catcher is the Sint-Carolus Borromeus church, which was commissioned and built by the Jesuit order between 1614 and 1621, and considered the most important Baroque church in the Low Countries.

Much to my surprise, I found its doors open as I was under the impression the church could only be visited from 2 pm onwards. Turns out it closes between 12.30 and 2 pm, so that, whenever I pass the church during one of my regular lunch breaks, its doors are closed.

Obviously, I wasted no time in going inside and, while I was taking photos with my phone's camera, my brain fog disappeared completely.

Once inside, the impressive high altar draws your attention.  During services, worshippers can gaze at the gigantic ‘screen’ that hangs behind it: a painted altarpiece over five metres in height. A unique historical system of pulleys and grooves means that you are able to see three different canvases here – it used to be four – in the course of the year. Rubens is believed to have been involved in the design of the high altar, particularly its wide, black marble surround.

The church's interior is stunning, its opulence almost impossible to capture on camera. I just snapped away right, left and centre, concentrating on the two long rows of wooden confessionals decorated with sculptures of angels. The one on the bottom right is guarding the steps leading up to the richly decorated pulpit. 

The Lady Chapel, which is situated on the south side of the church, is a perfect example of baroque interior architecture. There are many decorative elements, such as garlands, masks, flowers, shells and angels on the ceiling. 

I was in the middle of admiring these, when a church attendant came up to me and told me they were about to close. 

No outfit photos were made that week, so let's move swiftly to Saturday, the 28th of July.

It was another day of pottering and not doing very much at all, on which the temperature reached the dizzy heights of 22°C.

I was wearing another skirt which got its very first outing. Originally from Veritas - a well-known Belgian chain selling haberdashery, hosiery and the like - it came home with me from a charity shop at the end of last Summer. 

My King Louie blouse and wooden beads were charity shopped as well, while I picked up the vintage brooch in an antiques shop in Shrewsbury. 

Both my ring and belt were retail buys, the latter one of my recent sales bargains from Veritas. Yes, them again!

Although windy, it looked set to remain dry on Sunday so we wasted no time in going for a long overdue walk. After driving to a local beauty spot, but failing to find parking space, we ended up at Den Brandt, one of the cluster of parks on the edge of Antwerp which also includes Middelheim.

As usual, we entered via the picking garden, where our eyes are always instantly drawn to the little Gautam Buddha on his perch in the left-hand corner. We panicked as we couldn't immediately spot him but, drawing nearer, we saw that he'd escaped his perch and was now sitting on the grass!

We continued our walk past the park's many beauty spots, and stopped for photos on a wooden bridge with a view of the wedding cake castle beyond.

I'd picked an as yet unworn Diolen Delight from my wardrobe, a rare vintage charity shop find over Winter. Its funky pattern of blue dots just begged for a spot of yellow. 

My accessories were a mix of retail and vintage. The brooch, which is hardly visible in the photo is the one on the right here, found in a vintage shop in Bishop's Castle on the very first day of our holiday.

So, that was it for now. Thank you for bearing with me.

It'll be time for the final part of my travelogue in my next post. Until then, take care my friends.