At the gates of Spring

 Hello dear friends and readers! Thank you for joining me again for this month's final post!

Long-time readers might have noticed that my blogging frequency has taken a bit of a dive in the last six months or so, and lately I only seem to manage to virtually put pen to paper once a week. It truly beggars belief that in a not all too distant past I was churning out a new blog post every 4 days, but then again I was never short of blog-worthy subject matter. 

Lately, however, our weekend walks have been become a rarity, as have any trips to the charity shops and, believe it or not, even my lunch break rummages at Think Twice have lost some of their appeal.

Four weeks after Jos's surgery, however, a pinprick of light is appearing at the end of the tunnel as he is feeling better and stronger every day. Now we're just waiting for his bladder to receive its final wake-up call. The latter having become a bit of a lazybones after more than four months of being ruled by a catheter, any outings have to be planned meticulously and need to be kept as short as possible for the time being. But we're making progress, so hopefully it won't be all that long until some kind of normal service is resumed.

In the meantime, I'm glad to have my photographer back, so that I can at least show you some of my outfits without having to rely on Angelica or having to cobble together a flatlay.

The episode of so-called False Spring continued in the days after Jos was discharged from hospital. Nevertheless, apart from a couple of walks into town to run errands, it seemed to have completely passed me by. I was running on empty by now and any time not spent catching up on chores was spent lolling around on the sofa, trying to read but more often than not falling asleep mid-sentence and in the middle of the day.

I was feeling more energetic on Sunday, when we stepped outside into the passageway for outfit photos.

The skirt is vintage Diolen and an ancient Think Twice find. Not for the first time did I combine it with my funky Zoë Loveborn blouse, found on a flea market in October 2016. 

Both the red and white marled gilet and the burgundy ankle boots were charity shopped, albeit with many a year between them. The yellow cat brooch came from Katshop - a local Antwerp shop catering for both cats and their servants - while the stretchy belt with its flower-shaped buckle was recently picked up from a bargain shop during one of my lunch breaks.

We were running out of provisions, so I walked to the nearest supermarkt, which is just under a kilometer from Dove Cottage.  Jos was more than willing to drive me there - I haven't got a licence - but I was in need of some fresh air and a Vitamin D top-up so I declined his offer.

Although not quite a Wordsworth-worthy host, the cheerful faces of some orange-trumpeted daffodils in a neighbour's front garden made my heart sing.

As did the sight of the first of the wood anemones, those starry harbingers of Spring, in the park I passed along the way. Not quite a galaxy of them, but it was early days yet. They had multiplied considerably when we returned a couple of weeks later.

I was intrigued by the pink painted words Piep Show, which I'm sure doesn't need translating, on the paving in front of the little pavilion. Indeed, I spotted three tiny peepholes in the pavilion's frosted glass door, which I wasted no time in peering through. I even tried to photograph what was inside, which was easier said than done using my mobile phone's camera. 

What is it all about, you might wonder. Well, these are works of art created by the students of our local art academy, and they are changed on a weekly basis.  The students were inspired by the themes of lust, seduction and desire after their visit to the "Les Liaisons Désireuses" exposition in Ursel castle back in October. 

It was back to the office on Monday 10 March: another sunny and almost summery day on which we noted highs of nearly 20°C. I hadn't slept well and was feeling tired and suffering from brain fog and sore eyes all day, which wasn't helped by the fact that work was hectic. By mid-afternoon I could barely keep my eyes open, so that I left and took an early bus home.

Work continued to be hectic on Tuesday, but at least I'd slept well and felt much better. The weather gods, however, were in one of their moods and gleefully turned down the thermostat to a mere 8°C. What a letdown for the books!

Here's Angelica showing you what I wore that day. In order to accommodate the drop in temperature, this catching brown and beige dress came out to play. Bought from a long-gone vintage shop in Antwerp, its label proclaims its fabric is Crimplene, although there's 20% wool into the mix as well. Instead of green, which seems to be my go-to colour whenever I'm wearing this dress, I opted for shades of purple, with some pink and orange thrown in.

Due to a public transport strike, I was obliged to take the day off on Wednesday. Not that I was complaining, mind you. 

The green button through cord skirt, whose colour doesn't photograph well, was bought from an outlet shop near my office back in Autumn. Just like I was on its first outing in December, I wasn't entirely happy with how it looked on me, so it's off to Limbo as Sheila would say. 

The cobalt blue vintage blouse with its naive flower print isn't going anywhere, though, as it's one of my favourites. I picked up the orange from its print with my necklace and belt while as a nod to the skirt I added a green-backed cameo brooch.

With a sky full of angry-looking black clouds threatening rain at a moment's notice, the weather wasn't conductive to being outdoors. But I was feeling jittery and in need of a rummage so Jos drove me to the edge of town charity shop and picked me up again after I was done.

The oatmeal polka dot circle skirt - with pockets! - and the red, blue and white checked blouse provided an instant outfit for Angelica to wear. The belt is one of the stretchy zig-zag patterned ones from my collection.

My jewellery display was groaning at the sight of two more necklaces to contend with, but I didn't show it any mercy.

The bookshelves were a tad disappointing, but still yielded a Maeve Binchy one I hadn't yet read. In need of an easy read, I've just finished it and it definitely lived up to expectations.

I've left my star buy for last! I almost passed out when I laid eyes upon this pair of orange and yellow patchwork boots by one of my favourite brands, Tamaris, and I squealed in delight when they turned out to be my size!

The rest of the day was spent with some gentle pottering and watching some daytime television. 

Tipped off by my friend Inneke, I'd recorded Zaman, a 1983 Belgian crime movie, which had been on one of the Flemish commercial channels in the week Jos was hospitalized. 

If you're wondering what's so special about it, well, yours truly appears in it for one second at around 0.14 in the clip. Blink and you've missed me! Tip: I was 42 years younger and a punk with big black hair!

 

I hope you've all recovered from the shock that yours truly is actually a film star :-)

Before I bid you goodbye for now, here's that week's final outfit, again brought to you by Angelica.

Another vintage dress found at Think Twice, it's been a regular on my blog for years. I ignored all the colours in its mix of abstract stripes on an burgundy background, and rebelliously opted for turquoise for my belt, necklace and brooch, the latter containing a bouquet of roses.

I'll be back with more outfits, and perhaps even an outing, in my next post. Hope to see you soon!