And so this is Twixmas ...

In this post, I'm once again taking you on a couple of trips back and forth in the time machine.  Although Christmas was still in the future in my tiny corner of blogland, I couldn't possibly continue where I left off without sharing Bess's adventures with the Christmas tree. 

Being much slimmer than our usual faux fir in order to fit neatly into a corner of our sitting room, we were rather hoping that she wouldn't be able to climb it. Still, knowing Miss Mischief, we didn't risk using our fragile vintage baubles and decorated the tree with our collection of felt icicles, fabric angels, fake apples, wooden bird houses and resin wrens and gingerbread men instead.  There were some new additions too, in the form of the papier mâché stars (centre and bottom right) which wormed their way into our shopping trolley at the garden centre. 

After wearily eyeing our new, as yet undecorated, acquisition, Bess's curiosity soon got the better of her, but as so far the penny hadn't dropped, she soon lost interest and settled herself in her favourite spot on Jos's bed for a catnap. 

Her lightbulb moment arrived when she spotted the fully decorated tree upon waking up and it didn't take long for her to disappear up the tree, her butter-wouldn't-melt face soon peeking out from between its tightly packed branches. In the meantime, ornaments have been dislodged right, left and centre, and we are counting our lucky stars that so far - touch wood - the tree is still in an upright position.

Christmas intermezzo over, I'm now urging you to fasten your seatbelts, as I'm whizzing you back to the first weekend of December and take you on not just one but two short walks.

Hello! May I remind you that technically speaking, Saturday was
the last day of November? Oh, but you're right there, Bess! Nice selfie, by the way!

She definitely makes a better selfie than yours truly, so I'm thankful for the assistance of my faithful photographer Jos for outfit photos. Truthfully, he was also the one who assisted Bess with her selfie while I was touching up my lipstick in the bathroom.

The day's highs of 6°C called for the wearing of this wool and polyester mix vintage dress, a Think Twice sales bargain in November 2023. Big poodle brooch, matching the dress's carved off-white buttons, came out to play again as well. The dress's self-fabric belt with its matching off-white buckle was replaced with a wine red leather one matching the squiggles in the dress's pattern. More wine red was added with my necklace and opaques.

The day's sunny outlook obviously called for a walk to clear our fuzzy heads and top up the vitamin D levels. Having the delights of Middelheim sculpture park practically on our doorsteps, the decision on where to spend the afternoon was a fairly straightforward one.

Entering the park through the so-called Artist's Entrance, which gives access to Zone East, we soon came upon this intriguing contraption. Dating from 2019 and called “Puppetry & Puppets”, it is by  Belgian artist duo Sarah & Charles. Reminiscent of a puppet show, the sculpture is about storytelling and scenography, and is all about interaction with the viewer: it invites you not only to look, but also to tell your own story in it.

The container monument, Orbino (2004) is by Belgian contemporary artist Luc Deleu (°1944), who is an architect, visual artist, and world traveller. Orbino consists of two containers which are horizontally attached to a tower of three containers. The stairs at the back invite you to explore the space at the top, the glass wall in the final container affording a view of the art park. Perhaps it's my vertigo which has prevented me from going up there so far? Half-hidden between the bare branches of the trees, I thought it had the look of a giant alien, with the glass wall being one big eye!

On the bottom left, on the edge of Zone East: Zonnewagen (transl. Chariot of the Sun) by another Belgian artist, Camiel van Breedam (°1936) and dating from 1974. In the words of the artist, it's a  a chariot made to transport the sun to an ideal place. Don't we all need one of those?

In addition to the sunshine we were blessed with that day, I brought some of my very own by wearing a bright yellow woolly beret and crochet scarf, the latter a gift from my blogging friend and ultimate queen of colour, Monica.

We just wandered at will, exercising our weary limbs and enjoying the sensation of the sunshine on our pasty white faces taking precedence over seeking out the works of art.

But there's always one that makes you stop in your tracks! Sheltering from winter's harsh weather conditions was The Voyage of the Mascot (2021) by Sharon Van Overmeiren (°1985). The Belgian contemporary sculptor creates “fictional sculptures"  composed of references to various cultures and times, from pre-Colombian motifs to contemporary cartoons.

The ceramic sculpture represents a bear which, in the artist's words, we associate with the cute, comforting teddy bear or know as an emblem for strength and courage. However, there is also a link between bears and evil powers, and the black worm - which I think is rather cute  - drilling its way through the sculpture symbolizes the digestion of meaning.

But enough of that, let's have a look at what I was wearing on Sunday 1 December!

I found the green button-through cord skirt in the Green Ice outlet shop in the shopping centre near my office during one lunch break. Here I paired it with a diamond patterned blouse from Think Twice and charity shopped brown cable-knit tank top. The burgundy belt was charity shopped as well, while the grey diamond patterned and orange-eared cat brooch was a gift from my lovely blogging friend Kezzie, whom I had the pleasure to meet up with twice already.

After a morning of catching up with household chores, most of which are currently on my to-do list while Jos is recovering, we decided to make the most of the sunshine which according to the weather forecast would be leaving us from late afternoon onwards.

As it was already getting late, we didn't venture too far from Dove Cottage, settling for Fort 5 in the neighbouring village of Edegem.

Nature has slowly but surely been taking over the old fort buildings, built in the 1860s as part of a ring of forts to protect the city of Antwerp from enemy fire.

Part of the path takes you through some of the eerily atmospheric buildings, which seem to have been taken over by aliens.

The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds by the time we arrived back at our car, and would soon disappear completely, giving herself up to the gloom of December and yet more rain for the rest of the week.

One afternoon while I was making my way home she only had time to briefly show us her face before setting and calling it a day. 

The first week of December was another humdrum one, punctuated by a check-up at the hospital for Jos on Wednesday and a hairdresser's appointment for me on my Friday off.

Rain and a blustery wind were on the menu which rather put a damper on the day's highs of 10°C. On top of that I'd woken up with a headache which refused to go away so that, in spite of Michel's best efforts my two-hour colour and cut session at the salon was somewhat of a bit of an ordeal.

At least I was wearing one of my all-time favourite frocks, a vintage one from the Finnish Petri label I found at Think Twice many years ago. And as adding lots of orange always makes things better, that's exactly what I did.

Apart from my old half-elasticated belt and my opaques, the pops of orange were supplied by an enamelled brooch from Memory Lane Antiques in Shrewsbury and a charity shopped beaded necklace.

That weekend would mark the start of veritable deluge of vintage and other finds. But that, my friends, will be revealed in the final post of 2024. See you again soon!