Say sneeze!

I came back from our little sojourn in Bruges bearing the gift of a common cold. We'd barely made it through our front door when I felt a telltale tickle in my throat, soon followed by sneezing, an alternately blocked and leaking nose and an annoying and persistent little cough. It didn't exactly help that that weather had reverted to its default gloom and that - no rest for the wicked - I was expected back at the office on Monday (the 10th of November, that is).

What's more, my cold turned out to be the unwanted gift which keeps on giving, as it's only just on its way out as I type, having rapidly depleted the solar-powered energy I'd built up while we were away. 

So forgive me if I'm little behind with commenting on your posts and if I'm rushing somewhat through my final October catch-up!

Looking into the time machine's rearview mirror, it dawns on me that I hadn't even finished telling you about October's penultimate weekend.

Sunday the 19th of October turned out to be mostly cloudy, with some short-lived but very welcome sunny spells in the afternoon, and highs of round 15°C.

My rust coloured slubbed skirt is vintage St. Michael and part of a suit, its short-sleeved belted jacket remaining largely unworn. I found it at Think Twice back in 2018, and here's a rare sighting of the two pieces together. Its companion that Sunday was a groovily patterned blouse by Belgian label Claude Arielle, charity shopped in December 2023.

Accessories:

Suede mustard yellow belt: CKS outlet shop, October 2022

Mustard yellow beads: charity find a couple of months ago

Spider brooch: indoor flea market, May 2025

As random patches of blue had appeared in the sky, we donned our coats - mine a vintage wool and polyester blend burgundy jacket - and drove down to Middelheim sculpture park for a stroll.

We parked near the so-called Artist's Entrance (above, top left), created by Dutch artist John Körmeling in 2012. Walking across the open terrain towards the main part of the park, I couldn't resist a turn on the swings. I'm sure it won't surprise you that this too is a work of art, called One Two Three Swing!, a creation of the Danish collective SUPERFLEX, founded in Copenhagen in 1993.

 

The wobbly tower of chairs (above, top left) is part of the Prank series by British visual artist Phyllida Barlow (1944-2023). The series was completed just before her death in 2023 and consists of seven sculptures of precariously stacked furniture and studio objects, all having funny white rabbit ears as a recurring motif. 

Pull up a chair to watch Paul Kindersley's The Dreamer of the Forest (2024), in which images from the Middelheim collection come to life (above, bottom left).

We didn't linger, but walked into the direction of the Braem Pavillion (above, top left), the Organic Brutalist marvel designed by architect Renaat Braem (1910-2001) and completed in 1971. 

After having been absent during the park's reshuffle, we were happy to meet up with Yayoi (above, bottom right) by New York based artist Corey McCorkle (°1969) again. The large reflective sphere is based on the stone spheres used as ornaments along paths in 17th Century French gardens. But this behemoth does not blend into its setting. Corey McCorkle likes to present objects in unexpected ways, changing our experience of space.

Cosmic Eye, dating from 1973, was originally designed by Belgian artist Jan Dries (1925-2014) for Antwerp's metro station Groenplaats, where it took pride of place for 35 years. I must walked past it  countless of times over the years.

At Middelheim, it turned out to be the perfect photo frame. I was in awe of the tiny chestnut somebody had balance on one of the inside ridges.

We're skipping Monday to arrive at Tuesday the 21st of October, which brought a mix of clouds and showers. I'd taken the day off to accompany Jos to his hospital check-up which, as I'd already hinted a couple of posts ago, couldn't have gone better. Onwards and upwards from now on!

The off-white and bottle green checked wool-blend skirt, which is by River Woods, was charity shopped in October 2022 and is an absolute joy to wear. I mean, it even has pockets!

Everything else I was wearing - including my burgundy ankle boots and the bottle green mock croc belt - was provided by the gods of the charity shops as well.

Afterwards, we celebrated Jos's clean bill of health with mugs of cappuccino and some very indulgent cakes at the excellent hospital cafeteria.

 For once, I didn't have to remind Jos to look happy when I was taking his photo ...

It was back to the office to catch up on work on Wednesday, but I managed to escape during my lunch break, walking to a Think Twice shop - there are no less than five of them in Antwerp - a bit further away for a browse. 

Tell me, how could I have said no to this pink floral cord maxi skirt?

The weather had turned quite stormy on Thursday, with the temperature steadily going down from 16°C until we were barely into double digits.

By Friday, the mercury had taken up residence around 10°C, which felt even chillier courtesy of a blustery wind. To counterbalance the chill, there were lots of sunny spells to accompany me on my way to my hairdresser's for a cut and colour.

Sad news, though, as Michel told me the salon will close for good at the end of year ... 

My vintage Diolen dress - found at T2 in January 2023 - was dubbed the Tardis dress by Kezzie when we met up in Bruges a couple of weeks later. Nearly three years ago already! Where does the time go?

Incidentally, the orange painted metal flower brooch I pinned to the dress was a gift from Kezzie back then. My necklace came from a Welsh antiques shop and the orange fabric belt belongs to one of my short-sleeved vintage frocks.

More orange featured in the accessories of Saturday's outfit, tying in with the orange flowers in my black floral velvet skirt, which I picked up from Think Twice last year. It was paired with a charity shopped InWear blouse. The suede belt which separates them is the only item which I bought brand new on the high street.

It was a grey day with lots of rain and, again, highs of around 10°C.

The inclement weather kept us inside Dove Cottage, where I continued with my wardrobe changeover and cleaned the bathroom, while Jos made a batch of delicious tomato-paprika soup. Then we changed the light bulbs in the bedroom chandelier, as half of them had given up the ghost. Finally, we made pasta in the oven for dinner, after which I caught up with blogland. That was my day in a nutshell!

As we'd put the clocks back that night, we had an extra hour of lying in on Sunday. The sun was shining brightly as we were having croissants for breakfast, but at just 7°C we needed to dress warmly for our outing to Middelheim for a walk followed by a drink with Inneke and Maurice.

We were too busy chatting so the above is the one and only photo I took.

I'd decided to give my new-to-me pink floral cord maxi skirt its first outing, combining it with a green patterned jumper. The latter, as well as all my accessories were charity shop or flea market finds. 

We're skipping a couple of days again, to Tuesday the 28th of October. The weather was another mix of grey skies, heavy showers and the odd sunny spell, with the mercury only managing to climb to 11°C.

I had errand to run during lunch break and popped into the nearest Think Twice shop to my office on my way back. The shops were having another one of their famous sales, with prices down to € 6 that day. This funky floral velvet top came home with me.

Thursday's lunch break walk took me into the direction of Melting Pot - the vintage-per-kilo shop - where a rummage of the rails yielded this olive green polyester knit vintage dress.

I know it looks more grey than green here, as my camera refused to catch its true colour.

I'm leaving you now with the outfit I wore on Friday the 31st of October.

My navy-based tartan maxi skirt came from an outlet shop for the Belgian Green Ice label near my office, where I bought it in September 2023.

The blouse, which is by yet another Belgian label, Who's That Girl, was a charity shop find earlier this year. The green Dralon cardigan was a € 4 Think Twice sales bargain back in the mist of time.

As for my accessories, they are a mix of high street and second-hand finds.

With October now finally over and done with, I'm champing at the bit to make a start with my Bruges travelogue. 

Hope to see you again soon!