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!