April in Bloom

Slowly but surely life at Dove Cottage is going back to how it was before it was taken hostage by Jos's health problems.

My lovely husband is a changed man ever since he got the all clear from the hospital last week! He is walking at a faster pace, standing taller, has an unmistakable glint in his eye and suddenly seems to possess a boundless amount of energy. In fact, nowadays it's me who's limping behind. As worrying has been my mind's default setting for all those months, it's as if I've got relearn being happy and carefree again. 

On the cusp of turning another page of this year's calendar, I've still got to make a start with posting about the month of April, so, without further ado, let's travel back to the very beginning of this month.

I'm skipping April Fool's Day, making straight for Wednesday the 2nd of April. Now that the days are noticeably longer, it's possible to make outfit photos in the passageway after work once more. 

Sunny but a bit windy, which somewhat tempered the day's highs of 18°C, I opted for a skirt and long-sleeved blouse combo. 

My green and white plaid skirt, its fabric a heavyweight polyester jersey, was a vintage find from Think Twice many moons ago. It was joined by a yellow patterned Wow To Go blouse charity shopped in February 2024. The red pleated belt, fused glass ring and beaded necklace were charity shopped as well, while the vintage celluloid brooch featuring a trio of Scottie dogs was a flea market find. 

Wednesdays generally have a cappuccino catch-up with my friend Inez in store. We were both duly impressed by the lovely barista's latte art! 

As the Think Twice sales were once again in full swing, with prices down to € 4 that day, I snapped up this funky green vintage blouse.

The wind had somewhat died down on Thursday, which was a gloriously sunny day with temperatures gently nudging 20°C.

I thought it was time to give my vintage Venetia frock, with its pattern of tiny white dots and garlands of frothy pink flowers, another outing before its yearly sojourn in the antique linen chest.  Picked up from a long gone and sadly missed vintage shop, it has been gracing my wardrobe's rails for the better part of 15 years.

I picked shades of green for my accessories: a minty green for my belt, necklace and opaques, and a shamrock green for my ring and brooch. The fabulous merhorse brooch with its golden mane and tail is ceramic and was a flea market find in January 2020.

In need of some peace and quiet, as well as a Vitamin D top up, I walked towards Den Botaniek, Antwerp's small but perfectly formed botanical garden, during my lunch break. 

It was a delight to see the first of the tulips putting in their annual appearance. The star-shaped and lightly scented pastel pink and yellow Candia tulips (Tulipa saxatilis) were particularly appealing, while the swathes of buttery yellow ones provided additional sunshine.

It's hard to believe that only the garden's retaining wall separates the woodland path on the bottom left from a traffic rich inner city street (above, top left).

Yellow tulips were mingling with a clump of Spring Snowflakes (Leucojum vernum), while my heart made a jump of joy upon spotting a patch of Dog's Tooth Violets (Erythronium, above, top right).

This particular species is called Pagoda, and it's clear to see why, as the nodding, buttery yellow flowers do resemble the tiniest of pagodas. However, silhouetted against the shiny green leaves, they do look rather alien and menacing, don't you think?

The garden's main attraction this time of year, though, is the magnificent Magnolia tree with its snow-white goblet-shaped blooms. The petal strewn lawn was a giveaway that I was just in time before their inevitable decline.

On my way back to the office, I passed one of Antwerp's plethora of Think Twice shops. With prices now down to € 3, I couldn't resist going in for a quick rummage. 

The embroidered Madeira bag was too gorgeous to be left behind and surely there's always room for more belts in one's wardrobe.

Walking through the small and almost empty shopping centre near my office, I hopped into the Green Ice outlet shop, where everything is going at 50% off. I've already got a couple of pieces from this Belgian label in my wardrobe, which have now been joined by this fabulous multi-coloured maxi skirt.

Another sunny day greeted us upon drawing the curtains on Friday the 4th of April. Highs of up to 22°C had been forecasted by those supposedly in the know, but the morning still had a bit of a nip in the air.

As we would be out and about by around 10.30, I dressed in long sleeves once more. 

Remember the  magenta cotton peasant-style blouse with the security tag issue I bought in the January sales? Ever since I managed to get the tag removed, it had been hanging outside my wardrobe, waiting for its first outing.

Its wish finally came true that day! It found its perfect partner in a vintage cotton skirt I charity shopped back in the heady days of September 2020. Remember lockdowns, obligatory face masks and social distancing? It all seems quite unreal five year down the line ...

But I digress! The pink flowers in the skirt's pattern matches the colour of my blouse almost exactly, so pairing them was a no-brainer. 

I thought the blouse called for a brooch worn at its neck. I'm not sure what made me pick out the brown hearted Coventry one - a flea market find in December 2022 - but I loved how it looked, so I added more brown with the faux tortoiseshell necklace, charity shopped at the tail end of 2021. The stretchy belt with its flower-shaped buckle was found on the high street last month.

When my friend Inneke messaged me earlier that week, suggesting a walk in Middelheim sculpture park on Friday, I jumped at the chance. I even managed to convince Jos to join us, as Maurice (Inneke's husband) would be willing to keep him company on the terrace of the museum café if necessary.

In the end, both he and Maurice accompanied us on our walk, after which we enjoyed glasses of non-alcoholic beer on the sun-drenched terrace. It felt so good to be spending time away from Dove Cottage together!

Back at home, I snapped the first of the double tête-à-tête daffs we brought back from the garden centre the other week. That's non-ribbiting frog right there on the bottom right.  He used to make a ribbit sound when you walked past him, but in spite of cleaning him up and changing his batteries, the poor thing has been mute for years. Nevertheless, he once gave Phoebe a fright when out of the blue he started ribitting continuously! 

I'm not sure what Phoebe's successor's reaction to the annoying creature would have been, but here she is, helping with the washing up. After Nancy's comment on my previous post that she was missing Bess, I just had to include her in this one, hadn't I?

I spent part of Friday afternoon going through my wardrobe with a fine comb, filling a bag for the charity shops and putting aside a bunch of items of no-longer loved vintage to be sold at our next flea market. 

And then, unfortunately, I pulled a muscle in my back ... Don't worry, all is well now, but I was in pain for the better part of a week!

To be continued in my next post ...

Happy days are here again

Notorious for her fickleness, the month of April has been reasonably well-behaved this year, the only gripe I've got with her being that her days are whizzing by at a rate of knots. There really is more than just a kernel of truth in the time-worn adage that time seems to go by faster the older one gets!

Obviously, my blog hasn't made it this far yet! In fact, I haven't even finished writing about the final days of March. However, before I set the time machine's Satnav back to last month, I've got some good news which I couldn't possibly wait to share with you!

Last Thursday, the 17th of April, Jos went for a check-up at the hospital and has been given a clean bill of health. The temporary back-up catheter, which was inserted in his abdomen during surgery, was removed, which means that he is now free of any kind of bladder catheter for the first time in six months. What's more, he will only have to go back for a final check-up in October! After over seven months of a life half-lived, it's as if a weight has been lifted off our shoulders so that we are finally able to allow ourselves to make plans for the future again. Happy days indeed!

Now, let's rewind the tape and whizz back to Sunday the 23rd of March. 

The temperature had dropped somewhat from the low twenties we had been treated to on Friday and Saturday, but at 17°C it was still a warmish day. After a morning of catching up on household chores we walked down to the local park. At about 10 minutes from our front door, it was something we thought Jos would be able to manage, which he did.

It was my pink and green patterned dress's first outing. Picked up from Think Twice at 30% off back in January, it had been waiting in the wings for a day like this. 

Having to compete with all the emerging greens in the park, it was a given that green would be the main colour for my accessories. While my stretchy belt with its bamboo buckle was found on the high street, my sage green necklace, which consists of graduated wooden discs, followed me home from the charity shop in Poperinge during our 2019 September holiday. The painted wooden brooch was a flea market find. 

I've added a close-up of the openwork pattern of my cardigan, which is from the former Belgian label Lucy Has A Secret. By way of a charity shop, obviously, as it would have retailed at a price I wouldn't have been willing to pay.

The wood anemones were now out in full force in the park, their deceptively fragile looking star-shaped flowers carpeting the ground as far as the eye could see.

Trying to add its two pennies' worth was this tiny white and yellow daffodil, which might very well have been an escapee from one of the surrounding gardens.

Elsewhere, the vibrant yellow flowers of a Forsythia shrub were supplying sunshine when the real thing had momentarily taken leave of absence. A substitute for the former blue sky was duly catered for with Jos's cardigan. I know it's been a while since his last appearance here on the blog but, if things keep going the way they do, normal service will soon be resumed.

If you're wondering about the notice he's reading (above, top left), it was actually a missing dog poster. Poor thing, I do hope it's been reunited with its human(s) by now.

The temperature dropped to an average of 13°C in the month's final week. Although still more than reasonable for the time of year, it did feel quite a bit colder courtesy of a nippy wind.

It was your usual run of the mill office week, with the customary cappuccino catch-up with Inez on Wednesday a welcome and diverting break. Afterwards, we went for a quick browse of the rails, which is almost a given when one is meeting up in Think Twice's coffee corner.

While Inez bought a pair of shoes, I pounced upon this tiered raspberry pink maxi skirt and matching vintage handbag.

And then it was Friday and the start of another three-day weekend. 

The mercury seemed to be stuck at 13°C but at least there were plenty of sunny spells. That nippy wind was still there, however, so I dug into my stash of jumpers and unearthed this yellow leaf and flower patterned one I found at Oxfam in October 2021. First wearing of the oatmeal polka dot circle skirt charity shopped a couple of weeks ago. And what a joy to wear it was!

Accessories were a charity shopped moss green suede belt, a string of olive beads from a long-gone vintage shop and a painted flower brooch found at Rosie's, a delightful vintage shop in Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, in June 2023.

I was itching for a rummage, so after lunch Jos drove me to the edge-of-town charity shop, where I spent a happy hour or so going through its full to bursting shelves and rails.

 Although my reading pile is danger of toppling over, I can never resist scanning the book shelves. It was only when I was photographing them for the blog that I noticed the similarities of their covers. They are different as night and day though, which is a reminder that book can never be judged by its cover. Both have been read in the meantime. I absolutely loved The Crimson Rooms - and am on the lookout for further books by this author - while the Maeve Binchy is her usual easy-going feel-good stuff.

I suspect these two dresses were remnants of the infamous Retro Day event which took place at the charity shops earlier that month. Whatever the case, they are now both gracing my wardrobe.

My final purchase was this delightful mushroom patterned bottle green blouse, which I'm definitely not going to wait until Autumn to wear.

Sunny spells were once again plentiful on Saturday. Wistfully looking out of the backdoor window at our junkyard jungle of a garden, I donned my denim gardening apron and grabbed an old pair of flower patterned wellies I'd found lurking in the basement, a pair of ancient gardening gloves and my trusty secateurs. I spent some time doing a pruning and clearing up session, which at least made some inroads into the massive amount of work to be done out there. 

As a reward for my efforts, we drove to the garden centre after lunch. 

I knew trying to compete for the floral extravaganza worn by the mannequin in the shop's entrance was futile, but I still gave it my best shot. I always think this tie-neck dress with its generous pleated skirt - a charity shop find back in the mists of time - personifies the essence of early Spring, and consequently it's always putting in an appearance here this time of year.

I added a felted daffodil brooch - picked up from Chirk Castle NT shop in June 2023 - for good measure. The yellow-hearted brooch was a holiday souvenir as well, bought in a Welsh charity shop back in June 2017, while the belt was once bought brand new at C&A.

We needed some Springtime blooms to brighten up the area right outside our back door, so that we were no longer obliged to look at the wilted remains of last Summer's pots and and hanging baskets. 

We filled our trolley with a selection of pansies, double flowered daisies, primulas, daffodils and grape hyacinths, which I planted up as soon as we got home. What a difference it makes!

We were delighted to see that a number of bees were checking into the bee hotel we hung from the potting shed in the Spring of 2023. 

The guests in question are red mason bees, a solitary bee that nests in hollow plant stems and in the crumbling mortar of old buildings, amongst other things. After mating, each female builds its own nest. She lines each cell with mud and pollen and lays a single egg in each until the cavity is full. The larvae hatch and develop, pupating in autumn and hibernating over winter. The red mason bee is on the wing from late March, and feeds solely on pollen and nectar. 

At the time of typing, the number of hotel rooms which are occupied have greatly increased, but there are still one or two vacancies!

We changed to Summer time in the night from Saturday to Sunday, so I was feeling a bit off all day on Sunday. 

Mostly cloudy with lots of wind and with the mercury not climbing higher than 12°C, I reached for a coral openwork jumper with a bit of sparkle, which unfortunately my camera wasn't able to fully catch.

My skirt was a Think Twice find last August, while the brooch was yet again a wet Welsh holiday souvenir, found in a Carmarthen antiques shop in 2017. 

Both the necklace and belt were high street buys at one time or another.  If I remember correctly, the necklace came from H&M and predates my blog with at least 10 years. My burgundy ankle boots were a recent charity shop find.

And so we have come to the end of March! I will be regaling you with tales of April from my next post onwards. Hope to see you again then!

The bounty of Spring

The gorgeous weather we were treated to in the run-up to the official start of Spring continued on Thursday the 20th of March, with highs of around 20°C.

As I'd planned another lunch time outing to explore the delights the city of Antwerp has to offer, I'd taken my camera into work again. 

The destination I had in mind would involve another tram ride. However, arriving at the tram stop opposite my office building, it turned out it was running late, which meant I wouldn't be able to make it there and back within my 45 minute lunch break.

 

Time for a plan B, which was walking the length of the Meir, Antwerp's main shopping thoroughfare, which is quite literally around the corner from the office. Not for a spot of shopping, mind you! I was intent on keeping my eyes peeled for the splendour which is to be found well above the generally uninspiring and generic shop fronts.

But let's have a look at what I was wearing first. 

My red skirt, with its blowsy indigo and white flower pattern, is vintage, and was picked up for a song at Think Twice in March 2023. 

Its companion for the day was a funky Western style blouse from the defunct Belgian Who's That Girl label. It was part of a haul from an Outlet shop in the Autumn of 2022.

Brooch: vintage, flea market find.

Belt: fast fashion turned slow by having become a wardrobe staple eons ago.

The midday sun was shining brightly in a cloudless sky of the purest azure blue. The canvas of blue offered a striking contrast with the white tower cranes on the building site where the Meir almost seamlessly segues with the Leysstraat with its opulent 19th Century buildings.

The cranes, which look like mighty giants, are marring Sir Anthony van Dyck's view towards the object of his desire. And no, it's not the rather demure lady on the top left!

It is obvious that he only has eyes for the mesmerizing Electra! Gilded, winged and holding aloft a lightning bolt in each hand, she is taking pride of place on top of the neck-shaped gable gracing a monumental department store built in neo-Flemish renaissance style in 1901. 

I can't really blame him as I've got a soft spot for her too! Her creator was the Belgian sculptor Emile Jespers (1862-1918). 

Initially, the shop space was occupied by electricity business Moyson. However, as early as 1910 the property was incorporated into the adjacent Grands Magasins Leonhard Tietz. As Tietz was German, the department store was placed under sequestration after the end of World War I in 1918. In 1920, it was sold by the Belgian state to Les Grands Magasins A l'Innovation, now still going under the name Inno.

Looking at the wealth of eclectic monumental late 19th century architecture which graces both sides of the Leysstraat, it's nothing short of mind-boggling that these were partially threatened with demolition in 1964. Thankfully, in 1971 this unique ensemble of residential and commercial houses was protected  for its architectural value. 

All the photos in the above collage were snapped while I gaped open-mouthed at the variety in construction and decoration, the sumptuous gables in their varying heights, the more austere neoclassical style enlivened by playful neo-Gothic baroque. 

There is, however, an imposter, as the building on the top right is actually on the Meir, and not the Leysstraat. It is the entrance of the famous Stadsfeestzaal, the former City Festival Hall built in 1908. Now an opulent shopping centre, I promise to blog about it some time.

The weather gods amped up the temperature a couple of degrees to a lofty 22°C on Friday the 21st, with the gentlest of breezes carrying the delicate scents of budding Spring in the air.

I was determined not to waste such a beautiful day inside, but again I'm taking you through my outfit first. 

The skirt is another vintage one, wrestled from a shop dummy in our most local charity shop all of six years ago. The King Louie cardigan, which I'm wearing here as a lightweight jumper, was recently found at the same shop. 

My accessories were a mix of new and new-to-me, the butterfly brooch and necklace of wooden disks being the former and the ring and belt being the latter. All have been in my wardrobe forever. The necklace in particular, which was bought from Accessorize when many years ago they had a shop around the corner from my office, has made countless appearances on the blog.

As Jos - or more to the point, his bladder - wasn't up to walking for any length of time, and my friend Inez was babysitting her grandchildren that day, there was nothing for it but to go for a solo walk.

Hof ter Linden, in the neighbouring village of Edegem, being easily reached by bus, presented itself as the obvious choice. Nevertheless, Jos insisted on driving me there. 

Walking up the avenue of lime trees leading up to the estate, I was bracing myself for the current view of the castle ....

... which is now finally under restoration!

Although temporarily disfigured by scaffolding, I couldn't have been happier. Hadn't I been lamenting its increasingly crumbling state (see here and here, for example) for many years? I was aware that work had started back in September, but I hadn't seen it with my own eyes yet. If all goes well, the project is scheduled to be finished by  the end of the Summer of 2026, although knowing how these things go I'm not exactly holding my breath.

As they'd finished clearing the sludge from the clogged-up castle pond and moat, and the often muddy footpaths had been given a facelift, doing a circuit around the pond was on the menu once more.

I strolled at leisure, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and rejoicing in the bounty of Spring. A pair of Egyptian goose and their fluffy offspring, who were taking a breather on the grassy edge of the pond, swiftly took to the water upon my approach. 

The circuit finished, an hitherto unexplored path was tempting me into the woods. Across the moat, which ran to my left, I spotted a boardwalk which I'd hoped to be able to take on my return journey, making my walk circular. 

However, with no opportunity of crossing the moat in sight, I had no choice but to turn right, away from the moat and onto the broad tree-lined avenue you can see on the top left in the below collage. Another right turn at the end of this eventually brought me back to the pond I'd circuited earlier. 

Still, it was worth the diversion as I stumbled upon this magical, otherworldly pond which suddenly appeared like a mirage in the woods.

Birdsong accompanied me back to the castle, although the peace and quiet was soon interrupted by a group of schoolchildren and their teachers who had invaded the grassy field near the castle for an afternoon of games.

While waiting for Jos to pick me up again - he insisted! - I milled around the courtyard in front of the castle. 

Obviously, I couldn't leave without having a chat with those haughty sphinxes and docile lions!

Down memory lane

Friday the 14th of March got off to a frosty start and a bitterly cold northeast wind halted the mercury in its track at barely 6°C.

It was the day of my postponed hairdresser's appointment and by now my hair was sorely in need for its long overdue colour and cut. As I would have needed to take both a bus and a a tram to get to Antwerp, which would have taken forever, Jos took pity on me and drove me to the nearby town of Mortsel which offers the relative luxury of two tram options. I hopped onto tram 7, which was the first to come along and the most straightforward, with a stop just around the corner from the salon. 

This was what I was wearing to combat the day's chill factor. Again the outfit is brought to you by Angelica as by the time my two-hour session at the salon had finished and I'd finally made it home again, I had lost the will to live. Or at least to make the effort of taking outfit photos!

The caramel button-through cord skirt was an irresistible retail buy back in October 2021, while the striped jumper, originally from New Look, followed me home from a charity shop one day.

Black and white was the theme for my accessories, which included one of my stretchy belts found on the high street, a carved ceramic heart brooch from a craft shop in Cardigan, and a charity shopped string of black and white ceramic beads. 

I was early for my 11.30 appointment, so I made a little detour by meandering along a couple of side streets. Once upon a time these were as familiar as the back of my hand, as they lead to the old punk haunts we frequented on Friday and Saturday nights in the late 1970s.

I must have walked past these Neoclassical entrance gates, giving access to Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts, countless of times back in the day, peering through its railings at the garden with its atmospheric 16th and 17th century former monastery buildings.

Founded in 1663 by the painter David Teniers the Younger, the Antwerp Academy was one of the first art schools in the world. Over the centuries the academy with its historic campus has become an established name in the international art world. It is also the home of the world-renowned Antwerp Fashion Academy, which was founded in 1963.

It took until well into the 1980s for me to step through its gates, when first a boyfriend and then my sister were students here for a year, reading photography and architecture respectively.

The intermittent sunny spells accompanied by a wind chill which turned the air frigid continued through the weekend. 

For a day of running an errand followed by a spot of pottering on Saturday, my forest green suedette skirt from Mango came out to play again, making it officially my most-worn Winter skirt. This time around, its main companion was a funky green and tan shirt by the Danish InWear label, charity shopped almost exactly a year ago.

Accessories were a vintage caramel beaded necklace and big green bird on a branch brooch, both supplied by the charity shop goddesses, and a stretchy belt with a leopard print buckle picked up from the high street.

On Sunday, for a day of household chores, catching up with blogland and joining Bess on the sofa with my latest read, I wore a long-sleeved Trevira fit and flare dress found at Think Twice in September 2023.

There's a tiny bit of green in its pattern, which I picked up with my accessories.

Both my brooch and beaded necklace came from the indoor flea market - which for obvious reasons we'e been giving a miss so far this season - while the elasticated belt with its gold-tone lion's head buckle was a charity shop find.

We were treated to some gorgeous Spring weather half-way through the working week that followed, with temperatures nudging 20°C on Wednesday the 19th.

As variety is the spice of life, I decided to seek out pastures new during my lunch break and took the tram to Het Zuid, Antwerp's fashionable south district. After several decades of decline, the area has seen a revival since the mid 1980s and is now one of the most trendy neighbourhoods in the city.

30-odd years ago, in what feels like another lifetime, I used to live around the corner from this impressive Neoclassical building.

This is the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), which showcases seven centuries of top art, ranging from the Flemish Primitives to modern masters, with prominent roles for Peter Paul Rubens and James Ensor. 

In 1877, Antwerp City Council held a competition to design a new museum, but none of the entries was entirely convincing. The city eventually invited the young architects Jean Jacques Winders (1849-1936) and Frans Van Dijk (1853-1939) to combine their respective designs in a single plan. 

They took everything into account, from a sense of grandeur to functionality and security. After six years of construction work, the new museum was opened to the public on 11 August 1890.

In 1905, the pair of chariots designed by sculptor Thomas Vinçotte (1850–1925), with a team of two horses and a charioteer apiece, were hoisted to the roof by a dozen men. They were intended to symbolize the triumph of art and have been the emblem of the museum ever since they were installed.

Behind the museum, and even closer to where I lived, is this stunning Art Nouveau house. Affectionately known as Het Bootje (transl. the little boat) because of its corner balcony shaped like a ship’s prow, it was built in 1901 for an Antwerp ship builder called P. Roeis. It was designed by Frans Smet-Verhas (1851-1925), who was one of the leading Art Nouveau architects in Antwerp. 

My trip down memory lane took on a bittersweet taste when I rounded the corner of the street I used to live on for nearly ten years, from 1985 until 1994. My heart made a little uncomfortable jolt when faced with my former home on the first floor of the white-painted house in the below collage. The windows and the railings of the tiny balcony were painted white back then, and the façade had clearly received an upgrade from its peeling late eighties, early nineties incarnation. 

Alhough I was reasonably contented during the first handful of years I lived here, they were heady times, and it took me a rather wasteful amount of time to admit to my insecurity and that I wasn't really happy in my own skin.

I took my time returning to the office on foot, basking in the glorious early Spring sunshine and slightly sweating in the coat I'd still been in need of when I left home that morning. Thankfully I'd had the presence of mind to remove my cardigan before setting forth from the office.

On the top right, you can see part of the large monument called Schelde Vrij (transl. Free Scheldt) which was inaugurated in 1873 to commemorate the settlement with the Netherlands that allowed for the free passage of ships to Antwerp, which was vital for the city’s maritime commerce. Standing triumphantly at the top is Neptune, god of the sea, holding a trident in his right hand, and popularly known as Jef Ferket, the latter being Antwerp slang for the Flemish word vork (which obviously means fork).

My outfit that day consisted of a vintage skirt, which is one of my oldest in terms of ownership. You can see a close-up of its textured fabric, with its touches of red, green,white and black, in the below collage. 

The white blouse with its profusion of different sized blue and red dots, is from the defunct Belgian Wow To Go label and came to me by way of a charity shop.

The red chunky knit cardigan is King Louie and was bought from an outlet shop in Poperinge in Belgium's west country back in the mists of time. To its lapel I pinned a vintage daisy brooch found on a flea market. If I remember correctly, it came from the Brooch Lady's vast collection.

Finally, both the blue stone necklace and the red plastic butterfly brooch were charity shop finds.

So, that's it for now. Would the gorgeous Spring weather continue in the run-up to the weekend? You'll read all about it in my next post, which I'm hoping to cobble together very soon.