Briefly back to August

I was all ready to make a start with the another installment of my latest travelogue. In fact, I'd already been scrolling through my photos and reliving it all in the process. But then it dawned on me that I still owed you a blog post about the last couple of weeks of August. Now, I could easily have skipped them and you'd have been none the wiser. However, as we'd made the effort of taking outfit photos on several occasions, surely it would be a shame to let these go to waste.

So, I'm inviting you to take a seat in the old time machine again, but make sure to fasten your seatbelts, as it's going to be a slightly bumpy ride to the penultimate weekend of August. 

After Summer briefly went AWOL at the beginning of August, the weather gods seemed to have every intention of making up for their bad behaviour half-way through the month.

In continuation of the string of gorgeous Summer days we'd been blessed with that week, Saturday the 19th of August saw the mercury climb to 26°C. However, it was cloudy and quite stifling until the sun decided to make an appearance mid-afternoon.

What with the clouds and the slight headache I'd woken up with, I needed clothing as armour, as Sheila would say. So, how about a mix of green and red? 

My red and white polka dot top is from River Woods and came to me by way of the charity shops back in May 2022. The skirt with its tiny green and white checks and red dots and the wooden beads were charity shopped as well. While the vintage celluloid Scottie dog brooch was a flea market find, both the belt and my sandals were picked up on the high street.

After breakfast, we drove down to optician's in nearby Mortsel to order an extra pair of reading glasses. This would enable me to leave my old pair at the office so that I would no longer have to stress about accidentally leaving them behind either at home or at the office, both of which would be a bit of a disaster.

Back at home, I made a feeble attempt to catch up with blogland and peruse some of our holiday brochures. But sadly my slight headache had turned into a full-blown migraine which refused to budge.

While I was good for nothing, Jos assembled the reading lamps we'd recently bought from IKEA. Both being bedside readers, we desperately needed to replace the inadequate bedside lamps we'd formerly been using. The new lamps have made all the difference, although they haven't prevented me from falling asleep after half a page as I often do!

By Sunday, both Saturday's clouds and my headache had taken leave of absence. With the temperature heading into the high twenties, it would have been foolish not to go for a stroll. Just a stroll, though, as we were in that quintessential lazy Sunday state of mind.

Solhof Park in the neighbouring village of Aartselaar, which is only a 10-minute drive from Dove Cottage, sounded just the ticket. Formerly the pleasure grounds of an old castle whose history goes back to the 15th century, it is deliciously wild and unkempt, with monumental 100 to 150 year old trees, their towering trunks rising skyward, Jack-and-the-beanstalk fashion.

We aimlessly wandered until we found a bench near the moat to sit and stare from. 

The local population of ducks seemed to be somewhat disappointed when it turned out we hadn't brought any tasty bites to feed them.

My lazy Sunday outfit consisted of a button-through chambray skirt, an old Think Twice find customized by yours truly with vintage buttons from my stash, combined with an orange cotton blouse printed with birds and flowers, which was charity shopped two Summers ago.

One of my chevron patterned stretchy belts, a green beaded necklace and ditto butterfly brooch and my super comfy Clarks sandals completed my outfit. 

I was recently asked by Vronni about my walking stick, which I'm in the habit of carrying. I have been using one for years and find it really helpful for climbing hills, dealing with rough terrain and negotiating muddy patches. It also takes the strain off my back and knees. In short, I couldn't imagine going for walks without it and miss it whenever I do.

Another thing I should get into the habit of is applying insect repellent whenever I go out walking in bare arms and legs. I was reminded of this when, near the end of our walk, I was bitten in the arm by a horsefly. Just a tiny mosquito bite-like patch initially, it had swollen to massive proportions by Monday morning and I had been lying awake for half the night as it was itching like crazy. It took countless applications of hydrocortisone cream and, as recommended by the chemist, an antihistamine tablet taken overnight, to finally bring the swelling down after a couple of days. The tablet, however, had the unfortunate side-effect of making me feel groggy for the better part of the next day. Not the best start to the week ...

But then August's final weekend appeared on the horizon, starting with my regular Friday off.

Never mind that, after a week of sunshine, we were now treated to a dark, dismal and rainy day which was quite incongruous with the mild 23°C temperature.

The lime green midi skirt with its stylish black and white flowers was charity shopped last November. It had been hanging outside my wardrobe for weeks, as I desperately wanted to wear it but couldn't think of a top that would work with it. That is, until I was rummaging through my short-sleeved knits and my eye was caught by this King Louie one. The yellow in its tropical leaf pattern turned out to match the skirt almost exactly.

Apart from the black stretchy belt everything I was wearing was either a charity shop or a flea market find. And yes, that includes the King Louie top and the shoes!

Having received a text from the optician's that they were ready, we picked up my new pair of reading glasses. Aren't they gorgeous? They're from the French Anne et Valentin brand and were the first frames I'd tried on the week before. Both Jos and I instantly fell for their two-tone pinks. Three-tone, actually, as the inside of the frames are the palest of pinks. Now I can finally read in style!

Unfortunately, there was little improvement in the weather as the weekend progressed. Yet more rain and a drop in temperature to 20°C was our lot on Saturday the 26th of August. 

The view through our rain-splattered kitchen window wasn't exactly inviting us to go outside but the  plants in the passageway definitely wouldn't need watering that day. 

I spent the morning doing some gentle pottering and packing away a few essentials for our upcoming September holiday. 

Then, after lunch, we answered the siren call of the charity shops, as it had been far too long since we'd gone for a proper rummage.

But first, let me take you through my outfit of the day. 

I'd unearthed one of my Diolen Delights from my wardrobe that morning. If my memory serves me right this flower infused button-through frock was purchased from a shop called Vintage Styling, which sadly stopped trading in the early days of my blog.

I picked up the navy bits in its pattern with my belt, necklace and ring but opted for a pair of red shoes from the Portuguese Kiarflex brand. 

The blue jacket with its orange leaf pattern is from Belgian high street label Liberty Island. By way of a charity shop, obviously.

After stopping at the museum garden down our street for outfit photos, we picked up our car and made our way to the charity shop in Mortsel. This was the very first charity shop we ever ventured into many, many years ago, and it's still a firm favourite.

The clothing rails are always plentiful here, and leaving this shop empty-handed is a rare occurrence.

This lightweight, almost-see through Summer skirt's peacock pattern was simply too good to resist!

I didn't have a King Louie heart-patterned cardigan in this particular shade of green yet, so adding it to my basket was a no-brainer. I must have at least ten of these cardigans, all in different colours, by now, all of them charity shopped at a mere fraction of their original retail price.

The navy, white and pink chevron jumper on the right is by the Danish Only label and will effortlessly slot into my Autumn/Winter wardrobe. I've already got a couple of outfits in mind!

I used to own and love this dress by the Belgian Wow To Go label well over ten years ago. In fact, I was heart-broken when - thank you menopause! - its size S no longer fit me. So, I couldn't be happier when this one, in a size M, leapt at me from the charity shop rails.

Finally, while on our way to the till, a cursory glance at the otherwise very bland jewellery display yielded this vintage gold-tone brooch with its multicoloured faux gemstones.

All in all, not a bad haul!

So, that was it, the month of August all wrapped up.

I'll be back with the final episode of my heatwave holiday travelogue shortly. See you soon!