Wrapping up November

By the time this post is published the countdown to Christmas has well and truly begun. There's just one more working day to struggle through as my boss insisted we come to the office on Monday, and that's it: I'm only expected back in January! Not having much affinity with Christmas at the best of times, I might not be feeling particularly festive, but let me tell you that these days of leisure - a seemingly never-ending nine of them - will be very welcome indeed!

In a bid to get ourselves into the mood, we did succumb to putting up the tree last Sunday. As we currently don't have space for our regular "faux fir", we picked up a smaller and significantly slimmer one at the garden centre, one which neatly fits into our sitting room. We were living in hope that Bess would refrain from attempting to climb this one, but I think you can take an educated guess at how that  worked out ... **

In the meantime, my blog hasn't even made it to December yet, which means I'll have to get my skates on and whizz through those final two November weeks.

The weather had definitely taken a turn for the worse in the month's penultimate week, with highs of around 3°C and lashings of rain, hail and sleet. We even had some proper snow one evening, which thankfully didn't stay around for long and was all but gone by morning.

As sunny spells remained the rarest of commodities, I whipped out my phone to take this snapshot of Antwerp's Stock Exchange during one of my lunch breaks. What a treat that lovely blue sky was!

The sky reverted to its customary granite grey for the rest of the week, the weather gods upping the ante with flurries of snow while I was waiting at the dentist for a check-up on Friday.

We left it too late for outfit photos that day, but here is what I was wearing on Saturday 23 November.

It's always a joy to wear this vintage blue and off-white tile-patterned dress on such a wintry day, its textured polyester fabric perfect to combat the low single digit temperatures.

I kept it simple by adding just a handful of accessories in toffee shades: a vintage enamelled butterfly brooch and tiger eye pendant from the indoor flea market and a charity shopped top stitched belt with gold rimmed buckle. The eagle-eyed among you may catch a glimpse of my mustard opaques while my tan boots - my most-worn pair so far this season - are making yet another appearance on the blog.

With the weather once more playing spoilsport there was nothing for it but to go for a rummage, for which we selected the charity shop at the edge of our town. 

Pickings were slim, but I still managed to fall head over heels with a navy and orange Zara skirt, which you'll get to see me wearing the very next day. A chunky buttonless orange cardigan by Belgian designer Nathalie Vleeschouwer also ended up in my trolley. You'll get to see me wearing that too.

My final find was this wounded vintage swallow brooch, which was begging me for mercy. At just € 1,50 I was more than willing to give it a home in my modest collection. When I posted her on Instagram, several people initially thought she was made of chocolate. Well, someone has clearly been nibbling the tip of her wing!

Sunday was a day of sunny spells and a couple of light showers. Incredibly, the mercury had climbed to 17°C, making it the mildest 24 November since records began!

Bess was making the most of a ray of sunshine by basking in it while she was claiming Jos's lap for a cat nap.

No cat nap for yours truly, who had a couple of chores to tick off her list. Then, after lunch, we decided to return to the park in Duffel for a stroll.

In spite of the unseasonably warm temperature, it was all but blowing a hoolie out there. On top of that, it had started to drizzle the minute we'd stepped from our car. Not to be deterred by such details, we walked into the direction of the castle ruins which, much to our amazement, are finally being restored.

What with all the rain, the paths were far too muddy for a closer inspection. 

We returned to the main part of the park via the towpath of the River Nete (below, bottom right) which runs adjacent to it, the menacing sky holding the promise of yet more downpours.

At one point, the sun made a feeble and short-lived attempt to break through the multiple layers of grey, briefly lighting up the few remaining russet leaves hanging on for dear life on the odd tree.

As always, I was in awe of the tenacity of this ancient split and hollow tree, looking brittle and frail, yet refusing to give in to the inevitable. The things it must have witnessed in its lifetime would make for captivating stories, I think. Why don't we pause a while and listen to its whispering conversations with the wind?

I was wearing the Zara skirt I'd scored in the charity shop on Saturday. My vintage burgundy tweed jacket with its knitted sleeves and yoke was supplied by the gods of the charity shops as well, as was the fluffy bubblegum pink scarf, both of which were more than sufficient for the mild temperatures of that day. My red Kangol beret was picked up from Think Twice about a year ago.

Back at Dove Cottage, it was time to show you the Zara skirt - and the rest of my outfit - in detail, although we did struggle a bit with the failing daylight.

I just love the texture of that skirt, which reminds me of bubble wrap. I've got a cardigan with a similar texture lined up for its next outing. 

Incidentally, the thin Norwegian style jumper is charity shopped Zara as well. As an extra layer, I wore the orange Nathalie Vleeschouwer cardigan which had also made its way home with me on Saturday.

Oranges and navy blues were the obvious choices for my accessories, a mix of vintage (brooch), second hand (necklace) and high street finds (ring and belt).

November's final week brought moderate temperatures of around 12°C accompanied with yet more and often quite torrential rain. It was on the news that week that 2024 had so far been the wettest year in Belgium ever. Or at least since records began on 1 January 1833.

 

This was my view from the tram on my way home on Wednesday afternoon ...

Thankfully, some sunshine at last on Thursday which, as it was Thanksgiving and our head office is in Miami, was a bit of a quiet day. 

As the tower crane used for renovating the Art Deco skyscraper opposite our office building has finally been removed, we've got an uninterrupted view towards Antwerp's cathedral once more. The morning sun was painting its tower in liquid gold and made me reach for my phone, inwardly cursing its camera's limitations and regretting that I didn't have my proper camera with me. This, therefore, will have to do!

The sunny spells continued on Friday, clearing up after its initial foggy start with the garden covered in a flimsy layer of hoarfrost.

My journal insists that we went to the supermarket and that I gave the downstairs rooms a quick once over. Oh, what an exciting life I've been leading lately.  

But at least I dressed up, like I always do, picking a previously tried and trusted combo of a vintage polyester and mohair blend skirt and a charity shopped rose-patterned King Louie jumper.

Accessories were a sales bargain green suede belt, a charity shopped green wooden Les Cordes necklace, a vintage brooch from the indoor flea market and a green plastic ring which was a gift from my wonderful blogging friend Claire.

So, that's November all wrapped up. December, I think I am ready for you!

** Don't worry, photos of her exploits will be in my next post!

Humdrum weeks

In spite of being more than just a bit humdrum, the weeks keep hurtling past at a speed I'm unable to keep up with. Their work, eat, sleep, repeat pattern only slightly varies during my three-day weekends, with sleep getting a larger piece of the pie and work being replaced by household chores, even if the latter are being kept to the bare minimum.

But even with the somewhat altered schedule here at Dove Cottage, all work and no play just wouldn't do, and I don't think I could face one single day without dressing up. And so it is that weekend days always start with playing around with the generous contents of my wardrobe.

Friday the 15th of November was yet another one of those grey and gloomy days which were so plentiful that month, although I guess we couldn't really complain about the temperature, which kept hanging around in the low double digits.

My carefully curated outfit that day consisted of a black needlecord skirt with a white, tan, teal and turquoise cloud-like pattern - charity shopped back in March - combined with an embroidered long-sleeved denim blouse picked up in a Bridgnorth charity shop in June. 

The pussycat brooch cavorting among the embroidered flowers was a gift from lovely Goody and was joined by a brown plastic owl ring. Further outfit ingredients were a funky wooden and plastic beaded necklace and a stretchy belt with a leopard patterned buckle, both of which were found on the high street at one time or another.

Saturday saw a repeat of Friday's weather, but with the addition of a blustery wind which made it feel several degrees colder. Although I knew it would need some layering, I was adamant to give the dove grey patterned dress I found during the latest round of Think Twice sales its first whirl.

As I might have mentioned at the time I introduced it on the blog, I had a good chuckle at its label. Madame Chic indeed. That's me, right? No, you don't answer that!

Madame Chic or not, I made use of both the purple and yellow in its pattern for its layering companion - a charity shopped Esprit cardigan - and accessories. Both the yellow elephant and yellow and orange bubble-gum necklace are vintage, while the flower patterned perspex ring and the flower corsage I pinned to my cardigan were charity shop finds.

What with the weather not being inductive to being outdoors, we decided to pay the two-storey charity shop in Mechelen a long overdue visit.

Things can be a bit hit or miss here but this time we definitely didn't leave empty handed. Climbing the stairs to the clothing departement on the second floor, this coat almost literally leapt at me.

Yes, I know that I didn't really need another coat, especially not another brown one. But I couldn't resist lifting its hanger from the rail and before I knew it I was standing in front of the floor's one and only mirror and trying it on. It's by the Italian Stefanel label and would originally have had a price tag between € 200 and € 300. At a mere € 9, who was I to say no? Just look at that gorgeous lining.

I also snaffled another King Louie cardigan in a minty green colour which my collection was still lacking. 

Never mind that the mercury had dropped below 10°C on Sunday, it was a lovely surprise to wake up to blue skies and sunshine for a change.

This would have made us grab our coats and go outside after breakfast if we hadn't had to wait around for the nurse to come and bandage Jos's legs. Lately, she'd been turning up quite late which was making Jos a bit grumpy, so when she declared that his legs were much better and she would only be returning for a check-up in two days' time, he couldn't have been happier. 

While we were waiting, why don't we have a look at my outfit? 

I layered one of my vintage black florals, a shift dress from good old Think Twice, with a plum coloured chunky long-line cardigan from Hampton Bays by way of the charity shops. 

To compete with the dress's busy green, purple, tan and off-white flower pattern, I added a big vintage poodle brooch to cavort among them. You can just catch a glimpse of my off-white chunky plastic ring on the bottom right of the collage.

Too late to make a start after the nurse had left, we brainstormed on possible walking destinations while having lunch. 

What with Jos still not being up to longer walks and requiring the existence of plenty of benches in case he's in need of a sit-down, our choices are somewhat limited. 

But then I had a brainwave and suggested the small-ish but perfectly formed park in Duffel, the one that's just a stone's throw from one of our favourite charity shops and frequently visited in a not all too distant past.

Extensive road works had made it hard to reach for well over a year. Then, after resuming our visits last February, a further spanner was thrown in the works by construction work in the park itself: when we were last here in June some of the paths were closed off while a connecting rill between the various ponds was being dug.

Things had definitely improved since then and the sight which greeted us upon entering the park was truly magical. The trees were blushing in hues of scarlet, gold and brown highlighted by brilliant shafts of Autumn sunlight.

The sky above us was a dome of deep blue which nevertheless had to share its limelight with an encroaching army of clouds, fluffy white and innocent looking at first, but growing grey and just a little sinister as the afternoon progressed.

Wearing my new-to-me coat, I posed for photos among a stand of majestic trees. Looking skyward, they seemed to go on forever until, slightly dizzy from craning my neck, my eyes met their  kaleidoscope canopies.

Continuing our little walk, we passed the Brutalist fountain, which we were happy to see was once again in full working order after having been a sorry case of neglect for many years.

We just couldn't get enough from the park's Autumnal splendour and might have lingered for longer if it it hadn't been for the arrival of a group of boisterous Scout Cubs, their shouts shattering the quietness of the afternoon. 

As we were in for a week of horrendous weather, we were glad we'd made the effort, although we would return to the park sooner than we'd thought ...

But that, my friends, will be for my next post! 

In the grey of November

Even more so than in years past, it truly boggles my mind that it's December already, and that yet another year will soon be coming to its close. Honestly, where did all that time go?  In my particular case a huge chunk of the last couple of months seem to have disappeared down a sink hole, which makes it feel even more unreal that we have turned this year's calendar to its final page.

In doing so, we are faced with the usual trappings of the festive season. Christmas lights are twinkling in the streets and any shop worth its salt has long ago dusted off the Christmas decorations, with their background music insisting that it's the most wonderful time of the year. I fully admit to being a bit of a Grinch at the best of times, but this year it's doubtful I'll get in any kind of festive mood any time soon.

But what am I blathering on about December and its inevitable jolliness, my blog hasn't even made it halfway through November yet!

Thankfully, the first week of November was followed by an extra long weekend. In addition to my usual Friday off, Monday the 11th being Armistice Day was a public holiday here in Belgium.

Friday's weather was a repeat of what we'd been served that week, dismal and gloomy and with a drop in temperature to a bone-chilling 5°C. The day started with a check-up at my ophthalmologist a.k.a. the Ice Queen, who seemed to have thawed a little since I last saw her. What's more, she declared that the low-tension glaucoma in my left eye seems to have stabilized. Phew!

The rest of the day was spent catching up on chores and doing the weekly food shop. As we'd left it too late to make outfit photos, this is what I was wearing on Saturday.

The diagonally striped polo neck was the missing € 5 Think Twice bargain I hinted at in my previous post. It found its perfect companion in a charity shopped grey and red tartan skirt - with pockets! 

If I remember correctly, the red beaded necklace was a charity shop find as well, but I am positive I found the red-berried brooch on a flea market! 

The mock-croc textured belt was a sales bargain a couple of Summers ago and I found the navy boots - which I'd completely forgotten about - while I was doing my seasonal shoe exchange. Although I was happy to see them, it would be their final outing as its upper layer had started peeling off by the end of the day. Serves me right for buying them in a cheap and long-gone village shop all those years ago!

What with some light drizzle being added to the usual weather menu, our activities that day were limited to a rummage at the charity shops. Or rather, shop, as we only visited the one. 

While Jos was taking a breather and a enjoying a coffee at the cafetaria, I trawled the aisles where I soon pounced upon this teal cross-body bag by the Parisian Inès Delaure label.

This handmade dove grey and red chevron striped poncho instantly leapt at me from the otherwise uninspiring clothing rails. Angelica was happy to show off its 1970s vibes and insisted on adding the red felt hat and bamboo cross-body bag, both of which have been in my collection for many years.

A quick perusal of the bookshelves resulted in finding another Emma Donoghue novel to add to my reading pile.

The mercury had climbed to the dizzying heights of 13°C on Sunday and what's more, it looked set to remain dry-ish in the afternoon. This very welcome turn-up for the books obviously called for a short walk, but before I invite you to join us, let's have a look at my outfit.

Yet another old Think Twice find, this faux-patchwork patterned brown on black button through dress seems to have been in my wardrobe forever. I deviated from wearing it with shades of blue as I usually do and added yellows and tans instead. The enamelled leaf brooch perfectly tied in for what we had in mind that afternoon.

What we had in mind was getting Jos a bit of exercise and clearing our cob-webbed heads among the Autumnal splendour of the part of the sculpture park called Middelheim-Laag. And we certainly weren't disappointed, as the trees and shrubs were playing a symphony of reds, russets and golds, while a satisfyingly deep carpet of leaves lay invitingly at our feet.

November

It only believes

In a pile of dead leaves

~Tom Waits, November, from the album The Black Rider (1993)

Much as a I love a spot of leaf-kicking and the other sensory delights Autumn brings forth on a good day, the seemingly neverending string of grey November days puts me in mind of another part of the same Tom Waits song:

November has tied me

To an old dead tree

Get word to April

To rescue me

But April somehow feels very far away right now.

There definitely wasn't a single ray of sunshine to be spied that day, which some of the sculptures seemed to mind more than others. Looking quite despondent and shivering in his dressing gown, Balzac (1892-1897) by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was offering a striking contrast to the carefree Het Zotte Geweld (The Mad Maiden, 1912) by the Belgian painter and sculptor Rik Wouters (1882-1916).

There's a light that never goes out ... although it does only light up when you approach Diamond Shaped Room with Yellow Light (1986-1990) by the American artist Bruce Nauman (°1941).

Blending in perfectly with their surroundings are the topsy-turvy houses (above, top left, in the far distance) by Berlin artist Timm Ullrichs (Modelhäuser Typ Bomarzo, 2001) and the maces (above, bottom right) by Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere (Innocence can be Hell, 1993)

On Armistice Day, we both slept late-ish. When a peek through our window confirmed that it was yet another grey and dismal day, we unearthed our daylight lamp, whose light we basked in during breakfast. But then the sun made her entrée after all, bringing with her her friend the wind, who tossed around the Autumn leaves and tugged at those still hanging on for dear life on shrubs and trees.

But we never left the house that day, except to make outfit photos in the sorely neglected passageway.

The pinkish-red and grey dress with its folksy print was a Think Twice find back in 2019, while both the belt and necklace were charity shopped. My ceramic leaping deer brooch is vintage and a flea market find. 

I'll be back with more (non) adventures and a couple of outfits soon. For now, it's goodbye from me. And goodbye from Queen Bess of Dove Cottage. There's not a shred of doubt who's in command here!

New routines

When Jos was discharged from hospital on Saturday the 26th of October, the first couple of days were all about adapting to changes and establishing new routines.

If sleeping apart, in different rooms and on different floors, was a bit unsettling for us at first, Bess seemed to take it all in her stride, dividing her time neatly between the two of us, curling up at Jos's feet for a couple of hours and snuggling up against me for the next.

That was the easy part! Then there was the fact that Jos needed the assistance of a nurse twice a day. As a result of his UTI having gone haywire, he's currently living with a temporary urinary catheter, the drainage bags involved needing to be changed from day to night ones and vice versa. Thankfully, Jos soon got the hang of doing this himself. 

On Sunday night, however, the nurse - a lovely girl called Thaissa - noticed that Jos's feet and ankles were quite swollen, as a result of which they needed wrapping with compression bandages on a daily basis to help reduce the swelling. This meant that we couldn't wave goodbye to Thaissa just yet and every morning involved a waiting game until she had come around.

Medical issues aside, Jos was getting stronger every day and was soon walking to our garage - we're renting a box about 300 meters from Dove Cottage - to start our car which had been idle for weeks and go for short drives to top up its battery. 

As for yours truly, the weeks of 24/7 worrying, sleepless nights and keeping far too many balls in the air were beginning to take their toll and I was feeling utterly exhausted.

Needless to say, I was glad when Friday rolled along so that I could answer the siren call of the sofa. Although I was thoroughly enjoying my current read, Barbara Trapido's Brother of the More Famous Jack, I kept nodding off, regularly joining Bess for a short nap. At this rate, it'll be a while until I get to the bottom of my reading pile!

Friday the 1st of November was a murky and miserable day but, as we needed to get our heads cleared and Jos needed the exercise, we went for a short drive, making outfit photos outside our garage box upon our return. 

The day's outfit, the one in the first collage, was based around a green zig-zag patterned vintage St. Michael skirt - a much loved gift from Vix - and a fuchsia pink patterned blouse by the defunct Who's That Girl label, which I picked up from an outlet shop in November 2022. 

If all had been well, we would have spent the previous weekend at our favourite B&B, Het Soetewater, in Beernem near Bruges. What's more, we would have had the most glorious weather, which made it even more painful that we'd had to cancel. Nevertheless, we vicariously joined Kezzie and her husband CBC who were enjoying Veronique's hospitality that week, Kezzie keeping me in the loop of their Belgian adventures with regular and much appreciated WhatsApp messages!

Sadly enough Saturday's weather was a repeat of Friday's. Still feeling tired and somewhat under the weather, the day's activities were limited to the bare necessities, which including going for a big shop at the supermarket. The rest of the day was filled with some aimless pottering, a couple of household chores and another date with the sofa.

That morning I plucked this navy fit-and-flare Diolen dress scattered with green and sky blue motifs from my full-to-bursting wardrobe of dresses. Yes, they've been assigned a wardrobe all of their own, but I've been neglecting them somewhat lately in favour of skirts and blouses. I'm trying to be ruthless and weed out the ones which no longer make my heart sing and I'm still on the fence about this one.

The temperature kept hovering in the low double digits on Sunday, but this time the sun finally managed to get a look in. The perfect weather, in fact, to go for a walk and top up those sorely depleted vitamin D levels. So, after lunch, off to Middelheim we went. 

Unsurprisingly, we weren't the only ones who'd had the same idea, as we once again had problems finding a parking space. In the end, we parked at the side of the road near the so-called Artist's Entrance, which wasn't ideal as it would mean a bit of a trek to the main part of the sculpture park. The idea was that we would find Jos a sunny bench and that I would then go for a slightly longer solo walk.

After weeks of being either at work, at home, or at the hospital, it felt like utter joy to be here. So much so that I didn't even inwardly curse the people who inadvertently walked into my carefully framed photographs :-) 

I loved how the rays of the low-slung November sun was caught by Telling No Lies (1996), created by the Dutch contemporary draughtsman, sculptor, and graphic artist Henk Visch (°1950).

During my wanderings I came across a haphazard meeting of chairs. It was only when I uploaded the photos at home that I noticed a sixth hiding beyond the golden-hued shrubs. The eagle-eyed among you may spot it somewhere between the two chairs on the left.

To my outfit, which you'll get to see in a minute, I added a vintage red tartan coat, a gift from the gods of the charity shops in February 2023. My green beret and multi-coloured scarf were both bought on the high street and have been in my wardrobe forever. Once again, my charity shopped Mephisto ankle boots came out to frolic among the crunchy layer of Autumn leaves.

They took me firmly into the direction of the stunning Braem Pavillion, designed in Organic Brutalist style by architect Renaat Braem (1910-2001) and completed in 1971.

The concrete and brick building, its flowing horizontal lines nestling between the trees, remains a joy to behold, no matter how many times I've seen it. The white colour neutralizes the textural differences of the materials used, which are only apparent up close.

All too soon, it was time to return to the spot where I'd left Jos behind. In the absence of a free sunny bench, he'd settled for one of the park's silver painted chairs. 

But not before spending the time of day with Phoenix (1944) by Ossip Zadkine (1888-1967). a French artist with White Russian roots.

And here's my outfit! The skirt is another vintage St. Michael one. Part of a suit, I picked it up from Think Twice many years ago. The grey plaid pussy-bow blouse was charity shopped, while the vintage leopard brooch was a flea market find. More leopard appears in the buckle of my stretchy belt, which was last Summer's sales bargain. The sage green suede boots were bought while on a city trip to Middelburg in November 2018.

Apparently Sunday had been a one-off, as we were back to murky, foggy and utterly gloomy weather in the first week of November. 

If it hadn't be for the Think Twice sales, I wouldn't have had any incentive to leave the office during my lunch breaks. But prices were down to € 5 on Wednesday and € 4 on Thursday, so I thought I'd make the effort. After all, I hadn't even been in any of their shops for weeks.

Here's what I found. First up, on Wednesday, a Swedish made black floral velvet skirt. I found another item as well, but wore it almost straight away, so you'll get to see it in my next post.

This funky blouse - by a label called New Lady - cost me all of € 4 on Thursday. It's very lightweight so might have to wait for slightly warmer days.

Finally, there was this dove grey patterned dress. Its label says Madame Chic - which made me laugh - and seems to be by the Finnish Petri label. I've already worn this one too.

So, that's it for our first week(s) back to semi-normality. I hope to be back soon with more mini-outings - and outfits, obviously - very soon.

Thank you for reading!