Sunday to Sunday

By the time this post is published, our bags will be packed and our team of catsitters will have received the necessary instructions on how to wait on our spoiled little madam!  By this time tomorrow we'll be ensconced in our happy place in Poperinge for the second time this year. We're fully determined to enjoy every moment, no matter how many spanners the weather gods decide to throw in the works, 

But a promise is a promise, so before I go, here's a quick catch up of what I've been wearing, buying and doing in the week after our day trip abroad.

When we woke up to a mix of clouds and showers on Sunday the 27th of July, we thanked our lucky stars for the breezy yet sunny weather we'd been treated to in Middelburg. Still, with the day's highs of 22°C, we couldn't really complain about the temperature, which was more or less the same as on Saturday.

I was wearing a thin knit short-sleeved orange jumper - a sales bargain back in the Summer of 2022 - which I combined with my recently charity shopped midi skirt with its Art Deco style pattern. 

While the jumper tied in with the tiny bits of orange in the skirt's pattern, I paid homage to the browns with my accessories. These included a charity shopped beaded necklace, my stretchy belt with hexagonal faux tortoise-shell buckle (a cheeky retail buy) and a butterfly brooch picked up from a flea market.

Monday was a dark, grey and dismal day, its highs of 21°C unable to do away with the cotton wool which seemed to have lodged in my brain.

Thankfully, it wasn't too busy at work, so that catching up with last Friday's emails was a doddle for once. 

My lunch break took me along Antwerp's main shopping thoroughfare, where shop windows were touting the last of the sales bargains. It was almost inevitable that I'd succumb to this pair of steeply reduced green Miz Mooz shoes!

Although initially presenting a sunny outlook, we were treated to a thunderstorm accompanied by torrential rain just as I was about to go on my break on Tuesday. Typically, the rainclouds had decided to depart elsewhere in the afternoon, when sunny spells were again the order of the day.

My outfit of the day - which I would rewear on Wednesday - consisted of some old favourites, starting with a denim maxi skirt I found in the Shropshire Cat Rescue charity shop in Shrewsbury in June 2022.

And yes, it is a skirt, although the wind was doing its best to make it look like a pair of wide-legged trousers!

The crazily patterned top is vintage but my memory fails me as to whether I picked it up from Think Twice or a charity shop, although I'm pretty sure it was the latter which provided the white pleated leather belt, originally from Esprit.

I decided on shades of green for the rest of my accessories, but while the carved plastic heart brooch matches the fern green bits in my top almost exactly, the grassy green of my necklace is a little out of tune. Still, it manages to more or less match the green of the jungle-like foliage in the passageway, so there's that!

More often than not, Wednesdays are synonym with a cappuccino catch-up with my friend Inez during my lunch break. Our place of choice being the coffee bar in the nearest Think Twice shop to my office, it is almost a given that a quick trawl of the rails is part of the deal.

The shop having just opened their doors to the new collection after the sales, the rails were full to bursting with new stuff.  This blue, diagonally striped box-pleated midi skirt wormed its way into my wardrobe.

Drum roll please! My blog has finally reached the month of August!

The month didn't go off to the best of starts, though. The weather gods insisted on presenting us with a day filled with showers, which made it feel quite a bit cooler than the 21°C shown on the thermometer. I mean, I even felt the need to wear long sleeves!

But I just love a Breton top, particularly when it comes in this lovely shade of fern green. Its colour was hard to pin down with my camera, but is closest to its actual colour in the outfit photo.

The flower-sprinkled silk blend skirt was a recent Think Twice sales bargain, as was the belt, which I've been reaching for a lot since I found it back in June. 

My glass ring was bought on the high street, while both the necklace and brooch were vintage finds.

What with the abysmal weather keeping us inside Dove Cottage for most of the day, we decided to go for a rummage after lunch, driving over to the three-floored charity shop in Duffel.

While Jos repaired to the coffee corner with a book he'd selected from the shop's shelves, I descended into the basement, which is completely devoted to clothing and textiles. After trawling the aisles and filling my basket with any items which tickled my fancy, I made my way to the fitting rooms.

It was only when I was about to try things on that I noticed the short-sleeved button-through maxi dress (above) and the pleated maxi skirt (below, top and bottom right) had exactly the same floral pattern! After some dilly-dallying, I declared them both fit to take home. Both the dress and skirt are from a JBC, a Belgian chain of high street shops.

The 100% cotton tiered off-white skirt sprinkled with lavender flowers is by Lollys Laundry, a Copenhagen-based Danish fashion brand founded in 2007. 

Both skirts have been worn in the meantime, but I've as yet to wear the dress.

My final find of the day was this delightful mustard floral patterned blouse with frilly yoke, which I can see myself wearing with the Lollys Laundry skirt. Incidentally, it's by Kaffe, which is yet another Danish label.

Rain continued to play havoc with our plans on Saturday, when the temperature dropped to just 19°C.

After catching up on chores and photographing my latest finds, we had some errands to run. As these took us past our most local charity shop, it would have been downright silly not to stop for a quick browse.

But let's have a look at what I was wearing first. I'm not blaming you if your eye is instantly drawn to the wide violet belt, which I'd picked up from the charity shop in Duffel on Friday. I'd omitted showing it to you since I knew I'd be wearing it straight away.

I hadn't worn this vintage faux-patchwork patterned dress in absolutely ages, so that it was long overdue an outing. It's from a label called Carol Caroline, for which, apart from a couple of 1970s references, I drew a blank online. I've got a wonderful short-sleeved jumper from the same label as well (see here) which, admittedly, has even been more neglected than the dress. I know, too many clothes, too little time ...

My other accessories were a beaded necklace in a similar shade to the belt and a brooch, which is often mistaken for vintage but which I bought from H&M in the early noughties.

So what did I do? Buy even more clothes, obviously :-)

I couldn't resist the yellow cotton blend long-line cardigan with its garlands of embroidered flowers and was seduced by the silver and blue leaf pattern of the top, which is by the Dutch Anna Scott label.

I also found this silky blue floral trousers, which much to my joy was exact the right length for me. It was only when I wore them on Sunday that I noticed it was considerably shortened by its previous owner, which must have been as vertically challenged as me!

I wore them with a green short-sleeved thin knit jumper (an old sales bargain from Sweet Soda), a wooden beaded necklace from Accessorize and a charity shopped flower embroidered denim jacket.

We'd slept late-ish, but as we'd woken up to sunshine and wanted to make the most of the forecasted highs of 23°C, we wasted no time in going for a walk.

Our destination of choice was Den Brandt, part of the cluster of parks which also comprises the sculpture park, and which is in fact directly opposite one of the entrances to Middelheim-Laag.

You've been here with me many times before, so I'll just whizz you through. As usual, we entered the park via the picking garden, where we went straight for the Gautam Buddha. Among the gifts he'd received was a selection of apples, flowers and herbs, as well as the usual array of lost objects. It seems he'd got a letter as well ... I wonder what was in it. We were briefly tempted to find out but didn't want to invade his privacy.

Rusty limbs oiled and stretched and heads duly cleared, we returned home, ready for another week's worth of August days.

But that will be for another time, as our next set of adventures beckons.

See you at the other side!

Out and about

Excuse me for being tardy yet again! Work was rather full-on this week, leaving me with little or no energy and sore eyes so that, but for a couple of quick visits to blogland, I was forced to limit my screen time in the evenings.

However, I'd made a pact with myself to at least be caught up with the month of July before we're off on our next adventure, so I'd better stop beating about the bush and get on with things. This time next week, I'll probably be in a frenzy of packing for our week away, but for now let's return to July's penultimate week.

It was the day after my visit to the dentist and, being completely free of pain and the need for taking painkillers for the first time in many weeks, I was feeling on top of the world.

It was a day of mixed weather, with sunny spells alternating with cloudy ones, and highs into the low twenties. 

Determined to make the most of my vintage Summer frocks, which lately I'd been neglecting in favour of skirts, I was wearing this black floral butterfly-sleeved one. A Think Twice sales bargain in May 2024, with its lightweight crepey fabric it's an absolute joy to wear.

I picked up the sky blue of the forget-me-not-like flowers in its print with my swallows-in-flight brooch and even my necklace - a recent sales bargain from Mango - has a single sky blue one among its multi-coloured beads.

As I strolled into the direction of the nearest Think Twice shop to my office during my lunch break, the wide open doors of the Handelsbeurs (Stock Exchange) at the end of the cul-de-sac were beckoning me. Only open during the school holidays, it had been a while since I'd been inside this architectural gem.

Originally opened in 1531, it has been called the Mother of all Stock Exchanges since it provided the blueprint for many others across Europe. The building, which was designed by the Antwerp architect Domien De Waghemakere (1460-1542), burnt down on two occasions, in 1583 and 1858. After the last fire it was rebuilt in a rather opulent neo-Gothic style. The originally open courtyard was covered with a spectacular iron-and-glass dome, which was added in 1853 by the engineer Charles Marcellis (1798-1864).

After losing its function as a stock exchange in 1997, the building stood vacant for 20 years. However, following a thorough restoration, visitors can now once again enjoy its impressive interior. 

When I was finally able to tear myself away from all that splendour, I retraced my steps and went for a rummage at Think Twice, whose shop is situated a little further along the same street. As this was the final day of one of their famous rounds of sales, everything was going for € 1. I don't think I've ever found anything on a € 1, but apparently I was in luck ... 

Clutching my finds, I joined the long line at the till, when I suddenly noticed a girl who was wearing a dress with a very familiar print. Turned out that she'd bought it from my flea market stall the previous week! We ended up chatting and marvelling at the coincidence! 

Courtesy of Belgium's National Holiday on Monday the 21st, it was only a three-day working week, with Friday rolling along in no time.

Sunshine and showers kept playing a game of tag all day, but with highs of 24°C wearing a breezy Summer outfit was of the essence.  I fell in love with the navy, flower sprinkled vintage C&A skirt at Think Twice in May 2024, while the petrol coloured top - which is by posh label Essentiel Antwerp - was charity shopped a couple of months later. 

The skirt's double zig-zag rows of orange stitching were matched by my necklace - one of my most hardworking ones, picked up from a Welsh antiques centre in 2017 - and my recently found pleated leather belt, whose other colours refer to the ones in the skirt's pattern as well. The enamelled butterfly brooch was a flea market find.

With the weather gods in a foul mood all week, we'd kept a close watch on the forecast, as we had plans for Saturday. With rain forecasted in the morning one day, and in the afternoon the next, those who are supposedly in the know kept us on our toes all week until finally on Friday it looked set to stay dry all day.

Desperate for a change of scenery, we'd decided on a trip abroad, to the wonderful city of Middelburg in the Dutch province of Zeeland. Those who have been following me for a while might remember our previous visits here. We even stayed there for a couple of days in a gorgeous airbnb - which is sadly no longer in business - in November 2018 and November 2019.

After leaving our car in a street near our former airbnb, where parking is free of charge, a leisurely 10-minute walk crossing two canals in succession took us into the heart of the city.

Crossing the first of the canals, we were greeted by the familiar sight of whitewashed windmill De Hoop, which was originally built in 1735. For the very first time, though, we were able to see its sails turning, so that we made a detour in its direction to make this short video.

Just before crossing the bridge over the second canal, we admired the striking 17th-century Kloveniersdoelen building.  Among other things, the building has served as a training space for the kloveniers (archers), a military hospital and the Provincial Music Library. while nowadays it features a cinema and a café.

Across the bridge is Langeviele, a traffic-free shopping street. It was still too early for lunch, so we walked its length until we arrived at the Markt or market square.

Middelburg's magnificent gothic town hall, which was built between 1452 and 1520, is taking pride of place here. We feasted our eyes on its fascinating details, its façade featuring gargoyles, the statues of Zeeland's counts and countesses, the turrets, gothic windows and the distinctive red and white wooden shutters. Its main tower, which boasts a clock and carillon, is mockingly called Malle Betje (Mad Beth), as it used to run behind the town's other clock tower, the Lange Jan (Long John).

Hunger pangs guided us back along Langeviele, where we had lunch at our favourite restaurant, Reynaert & Co.  At 22°C, but with a gentle breeze, we were able to sit outside on its sheltered terrace at the front, where we could people watch while savouring Spanish toasties and glasses of  La Trappe Nillis, a non-alcoholic Dutch trappist beer.

Afterwards, we strolled back into the direction of the Markt, where we were slightly disappointed by the absence of the flea market which was taking place here last Summer. Instead, there were a couple of market stalls lining the square, including a giant one selling all manner of cheese. There was no denying we were in the Netherlands!

Middelburg is a city brimming with historic sites. Second only to Amsterdam, Middelburg once had the largest number of historic buildings. When the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was in its heyday, Middelburg was one of the most important cities in the Netherlands, and there are still many reminders  of this Golden Age here, with over 1100 listed buildings in the old town.

Continuing on one of the shopping streets leading away from the Markt, we soon spotted the aforementioned Lange Jan. The iconic 14th century Lange Jan tower belongs to a large abbey complex. With its 90 metres, the tower is soaring above the town and is visible from far and wide in Zeeland's flat-as-a-pancake landscape.

The Nieuwe Kerk (New Church, above) too is part of the historic Abbey complex, which dates back to the 12th century. During the 14th and 15th centuries, two churches were created from the original singel church. The Koorkerk (Choir Church) was intended for monastics and the Nieuwe Kerk for parishioners.

The Nieuwe Kerk is used by the Protestant Congregation of Middelburg, and it's where Jos took a breather while I photographed the interior, most notably its striking organs. In spite of its ancient looks, the current Van Leeuwen organ (above, top centre and top right) was built in 1954 to replace the original organ which was lost in May 1940 to the ravages of war. The second, modern, organ (above, below centre) dates from 1985.

We then sauntered through the atmospheric cloisters towards the abbey courtyard, where we stopped for outfit photos. Jos was wearing rust-coloured C&A trousers, a St. George by Duffer shirt, which was a gift from Vix & Jon, and a State of Art blazer bought from a gentlemen's outlet shop here in Middelburg last Summer. Oh, and his best Panama, which had thankfully survived the previous week's rain unscathed.

I was wearing the pleated green and white zig-zaggy maxi skirt I charity shopped back in June, combined with a green plaid patterned King Louie-by-way-of- a-charity shop blouse and topped with my beloved denim jacket from Think Twice. 

We kept wandering at will, strolling through the Kuiperspoort (above, top left), a picturesque cobbled courtyard lined with historical gabled houses and warehouses, which was built by the coopers guild between 1586 and 1642.

We emerged from the Kuiperspoort onto the Rouaanse Kaai. Around 1540, a new harbour was constructed in Middelburg, which was accessible via a canal that had been dug shortly before. Along the route to the new harbour, quays were named after the type of trade (e.g. beer or peat) or the origin of the trade – in this case, the French city of Rouen.

There are no less than 26 listed monuments on this stretch of quay, including 23 residential houses from the 18th and 19th centuries.

We watched the world go by for a while, sitting on a bench at the edge of the canal, waving back to the tourists who were enjoying a boat trip around Middelburg. 

Then we walked back to the city centre for an afternoon treat. As always, we ended up in Wooncafé for scrumptious slices of Mon Chou cheesecake and cups of cappuccino. 

Tired, but happy - it had been Jos's first full-day excursion since the start of his health problems last September - we then decided to call it a day and traipse all the way back through the town to where we'd left our car. 

I'm leaving you with a final peephole view of the Lange Jan, taken through the framework of climbers decorated with birdcages in Middelburg's quirky Reigerstraat.

If all goes well, I'll be back with a final July update on Friday. Who know, I might even be able to venture into August. Hope to see you again then!

It's just a question of time

Time keeps on ticking so that we now find ourselves halfway through August and in the middle of yet another heatwave. 

But time and tide wait for no man - or woman in my case - and seeing that my blog keeps running behind the times, having only just made it to July's halfway point, I've given up all hope of catching up by the time our September holiday rolls along. 

Oh dear! I haven't intentionally set out to use the word time(s) so many times, but there you have it. Time to get this thing started, methinks!

Knowing from experience how exhausting running a flea market stall - even one right outside one's front door - can be, I'd taken the day off on Monday the 14th of July.

The day, which brought a mix of clouds and sunny spells, and treated us to highs of 26°C, was fairly humid, so that putting away all our unsold stuff as well as our other flea market stall paraphernalia, turned out to be quite a sweaty affair.

I was wearing a dress I'd picked up from an outdoor flea market many July's ago. It wears like a dream, but while I love its leafy navy and orangey-red pattern, its vintage buttons and the fact that it even has pockets, it hadn't made it out of my wardrobe for years. 

I picked up all of the dress's colours with my accessories, which included a red charity shopped wooden beaded necklace, a white vintage flower brooch and my late Mum's navy belt with white plastic buckle. My navy sandals were bought in the closing down sale of a Belgian chain of shoe shops last Summer.

While we managed to restore order to Dove Cottage, I've got to admit that we still haven't disassembled the new clothing rack, which is still taking up a corner of our dining room as we speak. We even put it to work as extra wardrobe space for Summer jackets ...

After having skipped two working days, I wasn't exactly looking forward to my return to work on Tuesday, and indeed it took me most of the morning to get back on track. 

With the temperature down to a moderate 23°C, I was wearing another dress I've had for absolutely ages but hadn't worn in the longest time. Yet another Think Twice find, it's from a Finnish brand called Muoti-Hovi, and has a floral print featuring coral, brown and green on a background of the palest of yellows.

I echoed the tiny pops of green in its pattern with my accessories: a plastic beaded necklace and a gold-rimmed flower brooch, both of which were charity shop finds. As were my olive green shoes.

After a morning of slog, I was ready for a lunch break rummage at Think Twice, who were once again having one of their famous sales. Prices were down to € 5 (or less for accessories) that day, and I went home with a vintage sleeveless cotton frock in shades of green and orange, a flower-sprinkled silk blend skirt - I've added a close-up the better for you to see its pattern - and a pleated leather belt in orange, blue and yellow.

With my toothache - which had taken a backseat for a couple of days - making a return on Wednesday and clearly getting worse, it wasn't until my Friday off that I was in the mood for posing for outfit photos.

I had been able to make an appointment with my GP on Thursday, who'd given me a new prescription for the pills I've been taking on and off for my anxiety issues. She'd advised me to take half a tablet together with my usual painkillers, which helped getting the pain somewhat at bay but made me feel like a zombie.

The temperature was on the up again, the mercury climbing to 28°C, so it was cotton and more cotton to the rescue. And birds, as both my skirt - from Fever London, charity shopped during my week of leisure - and my blouse were featuring birds in their prints.

My necklace of chunky blue stones, blue plastic ring and green butterfly brooch completed my outfit. Oh, and my beloved tomato red sandals, which I don't think need any further introduction.

Courtesy of Monday the 21st of July, which is Belgium's National Holiday - our country turning 195 old this year, as she was established as an independent nation in 1830 - I had an extra long weekend to look forward to. 

If only I wasn't being plagued by that pesky tooth ...  I'd called the dental surgery on Friday for advice, but it turned out that they were taking an extra day off as well. There was nothing for it but to grin and bear it and make the most of those rare pain-free moments.

Both the skirt and the top I was wearing on Saturday were bought on the high street. I'd fallen in love with the diagonally striped black and white maxi skirt at C&A during one lunch break back in Spring, while the pale blue top with its butterfly sleeves and white crochet trim was a sales bargain from H&M earlier that week. 

I added black and white bling and a delightful brooch featuring a trio of cats I found in a Shrewsbury charity shop last year. My black Clarks sandals - without a doubt my most comfortable pair - came from Shropshire as well, bought in the sales in June 2018.

In spite of the day's highs of 30°C, it was gloomy and overcast all day, with some light rain in the afternoon accompanied by the rumbling of far-away thunder.

We decided on a trip to the charity shop after lunch, adding retail therapy to the mix of medicines for my toothache. 

I'd only just walked into the shop, when I spotted this yellow vinyl suitcase with purple airplane appliqué. It had one or two minor damages and was in need of a good clean and some TLC, but it was mine for € 2. It's not vintage but from a contemporary French label called Bakker Made With Love, and I've seen similar on Etsy Etc. for the likes of € 35.

The clothing rails came up trumps with a sleeveless goldfish patterned dress by Flair goes Retro (Flair being a Flemish women's magazine), a stripy navy and orange label-less sundress and ditto midi skirt with a fabulous Art Deco style pattern.

Oh, and I found this small faux snake cross-body bag as well. 

Sunday was a day of lazing around not doing very much at all. My journal tells me I cleaned up the yellow suitcase and wrote and published a blog post. 

It rained on and off throughout the day, and our only outing was into the passageway to photograph my outfit. At 25°C it was still warm enough for a summery outfit, which featured some old inhabitants of my wardrobe, both of which were long overdue an outing.

I'm not sure about the orange cap-sleeved top with its sprinkling of black and white dots, but if I'm not mistaken I last wore the skirt back in June 2021. 

Again, there's a tiny bit of green in the skirt's pattern, which I made use of for my accessories, choosing a recently charity shopped necklace by the Belgian Les Cordes label, and a modern-day rose brooch bought from a small independent shop near my office.

With its mix of dark clouds and showers, Monday initially didn't invite us to partake in any outdoor activities. Having been slobs for the last couple of weeks, we caught up with some housework in the morning. However, when the sun decided to make an appearance in the afternoon, we wasted no time and drove down to Hof ter Linden in the neighbouring village of Edegem.

We circumnavigated the estate's lake, followed the path around the moat, where the sun was dappling the water with hypnotizing sparkles, then walked into the woods and through an avenue of trees.

We laughed at Jos's weather app, throwing caution to the wind as it kept saying rain was imminent. Then, just as we were taking a breather on a bench, the sky started darkening and it didn't take long until the first drops of rain started to fall. Not carrying umbrellas, and with Jos fearful of ruining his best Panama hat, we tried to walk under the trees as much as we could, at one point taking refuge under a huge old tree while the rain was spitting bubbles into the water of the moat.

Eventually, the rain paused just long enough to make it back to our car. I could tell those sphinxes were none too pleased!

With another 4-day weekend behind us, it was back to the office on Tuesday the 22nd of July. Thankfully, work had been slow during my absence, particularly as, with my colleague on holiday, I was completely on my own.

My first task of the day, however, was calling the dental surgery again. After explaining my ordeal, it was nothing short of a relief to be told they'd just had a cancellation and they could book me in at 4.30 that very same day. 

To cut a long story short, my dentist soon found the root of the problem - which in this case you can take quite literally - and as the tooth was beyond saving, it was swiftly removed.

I'm sure you'll be as relieved as I am that I've been free of pain ever since!

I'll be back with another July catch-up, which includes a trip abroad, in my next post! See you soon!