My job is very boring, I'm an office clerk

No, you don't have to thank me for the earworm! 

Actually, I've been wanting to use this snippet from Martha and the Muffins' Echo Beach as a post title ever since I started my blog back in March 2016.  I never got around to it though as, frankly speaking, my job isn't in the least bit boring, even if I often moan about its trials and tribulations. And nor, generally speaking, is my life! It's just that lately not much has been happening in it, with one working week segueing seamlessly into another, so that once again my post will be mainly about the outfits I've been wearing. 

In the meantime, we have been to Bruges and back, which means I've got a couple of travel posts up my sleeve. However, as these trips back and forth in the time machine are doing my head in, I thought I'd save these for later and continue posting about October until I've caught up instead.

We slept late-ish on Friday the 10th of October, waking up to sunny spells which soon made way for a gloomy grey sky which would remain with us for the rest of the day.

With the day's highs of around 17°C, I could still get away with wearing one of my lighter and unlined long-sleeved dresses. It was plucked from the Think Twice rails, where it had been hanging for all of 30 seconds,  back in October 2019. While I was browsing, I'd noticed the shop assistant hanging it up and, having seen a flash of its fabric out of the corner of my eye, I went over to investigate. As it is clearly handmade, it didn't have any labels whatsoever but, as luck would have it, it was exactly my size. 

I picked up the colour of its buttons and green hexagons of its pattern with my belt and opaques and paid tribute to its burnt orange hexagons with my beaded necklace and Autumn leaf brooch.

I pottered upstairs, switching over some skirts, in the morning, then after lunch we drove down to the massive three floor charity shop in nearby Duffel.

A maxi dress from high street shop LolaLiza, green King Louie cardigan, and grey-ish green chunky knit H&M cardigan ended up in my cart. Oh, and two pairs of opaques, in honey and burnt orange, for € 0,50 each!

Back at home I continued with the changeover, putting away the last of the sandals and reacquainting myself with the bulk of my boots! 

Saturday was another gloomy but warm day on which the mercury climbed to 18°C. As it looked set to remain dry, we decided to bite the bullet and go for that long-overdue leaf-kicking walk in the afternoon.

Our destination of choice was Walenhoek, a nature reserve about 10 kilometers from Dove Cottage, in the village of Niel. 

Walenhoek is one of several local nature reserves established on former clay pits, which were reclaimed by the forces of nature after the industry's decline in the late 1970s. There's still the odd relic from the past hidden among the wilderness which seem to have crumbled away a bit more with each visit.

The perfect place for a bracing walk whatever the season, we have been coming here on and off  for many years. The off-times were when the place was inundated with illegal fishermen who'd set up their tents at the edge of the reserve's plethora of ponds. Case in point was the last time we walked here back in March 2024.

Much to our relief, we didn't spot any of them this time around, although back at the car park we came across one who was putting a cart full of professional looking fishing gear into his van. 

My red and grey tartan circle skirt - with pockets! - was charity shopped a couple of years ago.

It was joined by another charity shop find, a vintage blouse with a Jugendstil-influenced pattern, found in November 2022.

In fact, I think that the majority of my outfit - including my super comfy crepe soled Mephisto boots - were charity shop finds, except for perhaps the brooch, which I suspect was picked up at the indoor flea market.

Our wanderings took us to one my favourite parts of the reserve, a fairy tale-like wooded area between two ponds. Here, we delighted in the the crunch of the layers of leaves under our feet, the earthy  fragrance typical of Autumn adding to the sensory delights of the season.

We spotted this graceful pair of swans towards the end of the walk and I surreptitiously stalked them until they'd emerged from among the reeds and were gliding in open water, which was gently rippling their reflections.

We caught up on chores on Sunday, after which I changed into the outfit I would repeat on Monday.

The dress I'd pulled from my wardrobe was a petrol blue retro print King Louie I charity shopped back in April. The cropped cardigan with its elbow length sleeves is by Zoë Loveborn, a label which used to be sold in a Belgian chain of high street shops called LolaLiza. Although it doesn't seem to be in existence any  longer, I keep finding their often quirky, retro style clothes in the charity shops all the time.

My matching opaques were a sales bargain and the burgundy boots yet another charity shop find.

I met up with Inez for our weekly cappuccino-fuelled catch-up on Monday. 

She'd already done the rounds of the rails before I arrived and in passing mentioned that she'd seen a lovely green handbag. 

It completely slipped our minds to go and have a proper look at it, but I suddenly remembered it as I was on my way back to the office during Tuesday's lunch break. As I still had some time to spare I decided to check it out.

There it was, calling me from afar the minute I set foot inside the shop. Walking into its direction, I was just a couple of meters away from the handbag display when someone else beat me to it. The girl in question swiftly unhooked the bag from the display, opened it, sniffed it, and draped it over her arm. Damn! I hung around for a while, mindlessly rummaging through a rail of blouses in case she'd change her mind. But then she walked into the main part of the shop with the green bag still on her arm.

A couple of minutes later, I saw her again in front of one of the fitting room mirrors. She was still studying the bag intently, opening it and sniffing it again. Decision apparently made, she then proceeded to walk into the direction of the till ... but taking a right turn instead of left towards the till.  Feeling like a proper Miss Marple, I surreptitiously followed in her footsteps and, rounding the corner, noticed that she'd hung it back on the rails. Obviously I didn't waste another minute and grabbed it as by that time I needed to have it, no matter what. And yes, I did open and sniff it, and it turned out to be perfectly alright!

On Thursday, I layered yet another charity shopped red Zoë Loveborn cardigan - with full length sleeves this time - over a dress I found at Think Twice before my blog was even a twinkle in my eye. With its pussy-bow and its trellis-like pattern upon which tiny white, red-hearted flowers are growing, it's been a long-time Autumn and Winter favourite.

You can find a close-up of its pattern here. Funnily enough, I was wearing the exact same brooch back then. I'm such a creature of habit!

It had been quite gloomy all week, with the temperature gradually going down from 17 to 15°C. Thankfully, it hadn't been overly busy at work, even if there were a couple of issues which needed my full attention.

My lunch time diversion on Thursday took me to Melting Pot, the vintage per kilo shop, again. And again, I was in luck, finding two vintage dresses.

I'm loving the simplicity of this denim blue poly-blend knit with its chevron-striped neckline and collar.

You'll get to see the second dress I found in a minute.

As my colleague was on holiday, I needed to go in for a couple of hours on Friday the 17th of October.

I was wearing a vintage chevron striped wool skirt in black, brown, white and bluish grey. I fell head over heels with it at Think Twice in October 2020. I almost did a double take when I was reading Sheila's post that day and saw that she was wearing a maxi skirt with a very similar pattern. It's in this post of hers!

My blouse is Zara by way of a charity shop. The squishy stag's head brooch I pinned to it was a charity shop find as well, and so was my belt. The necklace came from the indoor flea market.

My well-worn chocolate brown boots - which were found on the high street a couple of years ago - have been working overtime. They were definitely made for walking as they even came to Bruges with me!

Bess: Aren't you bored yet?  I know I am! What about joining me for a nap? 

Me: In a minute, Bess, I've still got to show them the other dress I found at Melting Pot!

And here it is! This flower-infused Diolen Delight made my heart sing! 

I wore it with a pair of purple opaques and the purple Western-style ankle boots I scored in a pop-up shop near my office last December.

Both my necklace and stretchy belt were high street finds while my brooch, which I picked for its purple background as well as to add some more flowers into the mix, was another one which found its origins on the indoor flea market.

I will be back with a final October catch-up soon as I can't wait to tell you about our Bruges adventures!

See you soon!