Hello there! I bet you weren't expecting another post from me so soon! But here I am, though not, as you might have presumed, with the second installment of my September travelogue. In order for my blog not to get too far behind the times, I thought I'd tell you all about the three weeks - from mid-August to the very beginning of September - which separated our UK holiday from our recent trip to Poperinge.
So, here goes!
After our sweaty return from our all too short UK holiday the previous day, we were thankful that the temperature had dropped to below 30°C on Saturday the 15th of August.
With the usual post-holiday chores like washing and stocking up at the supermarket on our to-do list, we had no choice but to come down to earth with a bump. Particularly since, the 15th being a public holiday in Belgium, only a handful of shops were open for business throughout the day and there were more than the usual queues in the ones which were.
I was wearing a birds and leaves patterned cotton skirt by Fever London found on a particularly lucky day at our most local charity shop in June 2025. Its companion was one of my charity shopped King Louie blouses. The belt was a high street buy between Lockdowns in 2020. The rest of my accessories were all second-hand finds, while my good old Clarks sandals were a Shropshire sales bargain in June 2018.
The rest of the day was spent giving some well-needed TLC to the garden - more about that later - and indulging Bess who claimed our laps, making up for lost time.
On Sunday the mercury only climbed to 25°C, which feels like the height of luxury now that we're on the slippery slope of Autumn, but quite the contrast which the heatwave temperatures we'd come down from.
Being due back at the office on Monday, I was feeling more than just a bit maudlin.
My skirt and blouse were another cotton combo, with the vintage, flower-sprinkled C&A skirt picked up from Think Twice just over two years ago, and the orange blouse with its birds and flowers print charity shopped back in 2021. Again, all accessories were second-hand finds, except for the green stretchy belt - a firm favourite - which came from Veritas, a high street haberdashery, hosiery and accessories shop.
On Monday, things turned out not to have been too hectic during my absence, so that I was able to catch up in no time.
Nevertheless, the weather gods must have commiserated with me as it was a grey and rainy day, with the temperature a moderate 23°C.
Me and my assistant had just enough energy left for taking outfit photos after work, so this is what I was wearing.
I found the cotton, grooviliciously patterned skirt at Think Twice in August 2024, and it wasn't the first time I wore it with this red and white flower patterned King Louise blouse, charity shopped back in the mists of time. The belt with its multicoloured plastic buckle is yet another favourite stretchy one.
The week continued to be rainy, particularly on Wednesday, which was a total washout, with the temperature barely reaching 20°C.
No outfit photos were taken until Thursday, when this green and blue combo made it out of my wardrobe. The pleated green and white zig-zaggy maxi skirt - charity shopped back in June 2025 - wasn't the ideal choice for an office day, though, as the wheels of my chair kept trying to eat it.
The blouse, with its pandemonium of parrots (don't you just love that collective name?) is from the Belgian Sweet Soda label via the charity shops. I picked up the yellow in its pattern with my accessories. And look: I was wearing ankle boots, when less than a week before I was in sandals!
My lunch break that day took me to the aforementioned Veritas, where I caught the tail end of the sales, finding these four belts for a total of just under € 15. Not that I needed any more belts, but I guess that I'm a belt-o-holic, to name just one of my many weaknesses ...
Friday 21st of August brought us a mix of clouds and sunny spells, again with highs of 23°C.
It was a day of catching up on chores as well as nipping over the road to feed our neighbours' cats Bobby, Billie and Pip while their servants were away for the weekend.
The red and white striped dress I was wearing was found during one of my rare visits to the local charity shop while Jos was unwell earlier this year; It's from H&M and this was its first outing but definitely not its last as it was such a joy to wear. A black stretchy belt from the high street and charity shopped necklace, ring and shoes, completed my outfit.
I also did some more tidying up in the garden, as some of our patio pots weren't in the best of shapes after having been left to their own devices while we were away. I'd grouped them together in the shady passageway and gave them a good watering before we left, but obviously that wasn't nearly enough to deal with those heatwave temperatures for days on end.
The rest of the garden seemed to have coped well, although our little pond needed topping up with well water.
Apart from the Rudbeckia in its pot, I don't water the plants in the garden proper anyway, and I'm quite chuffed that I seem to have made the right choice when selecting plants after having to start from scratch back in June.
Together with the masses of magenta flowers of Phlox 'Sweet Summer Wine' - one of our rare survivors - it is still providing a splash of colour to this corner of our garden as I type.
When Jos recently showed some photos of our garden to the guys who'd razed it to the ground back in June, they actually did a double-take, hardly able to believe their eyes at what we'd achieved in only a couple of months' time.
With the mercury flitting around 20°C and the odd mizzly rain stirred into the mix of sunshine and clouds, it was starting to feel somewhat autumnal at times.
Not sure if this was why I seemed to be drawn to autumnal colours in my outfits, or if it was just a question of these being my favourite shades and those I think suit me best.
The swirly brown and white skirt was this Summer's sales bargain from Mango, while the charity shopped bird patterned blouse with its frilly collar and cuffs has been gracing my wardrobe for many years. Again, the tiny pops of yellow in the blouse's pattern dictated my choice of accessories.
It's only now that I'm writing this post that it dawns on me how many bird-patterned garments I've worn. And this one wasn't even the last one ...
I'm skipping a week as not only didn't I summon the energy to take photos after work, it seems that I didn't make a single entry in my journal either.
Friday the 28th started with appointment at eye clinic to monitor the low tension glaucoma in my left eye. Thankfully, things seem to be under control or at least haven't got any worse. This was followed by drinks and a catch-up with my friend Inez in the afternoon.
The slightly under par weather remained the same, so, with the temperature still not venturing any higher than the low twenties, this is what I wore. Another pairing of birds and autumn shades for this charity shopped dress by Belgian high street label JBC. There's some greyish green in the print, which I picked up with my accessories. The colour of the dress was echoed with my ankle boots.
While I was rummaging through a drawer of blouses a couple of days later, I came across this one with exactly the same pattern as the dress, which I'd completely forgotten about. It was charity shopped in Poperinge a couple of Septembers ago.
Still the same weather in the month's final weekend, which was spent tackling a mix of chores, doing the supermarket run and making a trip to the garden centre where I succumbed to two more additions for our garden: Penstemon 'White Bedder' and Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant'.
A rich burnt orange was the main ingredient for Saturday's outfit, featuring a flouncy burnt orange skirt sprinkled with navy squiggles. A charity shop find in October 2023, it's from the Danish Soft Rebels label. Another Danish label, Vero Moda, supplied the floral blouse, which was part of a charity shop haul in August 2022.
Originally from Belgian high street chain LolaLiza, I charity shopped the maxi dress I wore on Sunday almost exactly one year ago to the day.
My accessories were all of the blush pink variety and once again, my feet were once again kept happy in my burgundy ankle boots.
I'm ending this post with the outfit I wore on Saturday the 5th of September. It was almost a carbon copy of one I wore back in June, even down to the belt. My necklace and shoes were different, though.
As always before a holiday, things were a whirlwind of preparations at the office, so that my one and only colleague wouldn't be swamped with work while I was away.
I still had time to walk to a charity shop called Kringwinkel and the Oxfam boutique, both situated in a street just a couple of minutes from my office. It's an up and coming trendy street where my hairdresser used to be. It also houses the lovely Katshop, and a recently opened English bookshop.
My mission was to buy a couple of shirts for Jos. Mission accomplished, I had a rummage for myself, finding two King Louie dresses and a skirt by Sugarhill, Brighton.
Friday the 4th of September was spent making a start with my holiday packing, as we would be leaving to Poperinge on Sunday. With the weather gods seemingly being up to no good, it wasn't a question of chucking a handful of heatwave proof things into my suitcase, as I had to make sure to cater for all kinds of weather.
I was wearing a mix of new and new-to me, featuring a fruitalicious skirt by the German Basler label and paired with an orange short-sleeved thin knit jumper and accessories in yellow and green. Oh, and those ankle boots again. They're currently my most comfortable pair.
With the temperature a gentle 23°C, we sat out in the garden between packing. For a while now, we had been getting a visitor at around 9 pm each evening. It was quite uncanny how much he or she looked like Bess's predecessor, Phoebe.
But the biggest difference is that I added this fabulous embroidered felt waistcoat on top. A lucky find for only a couple of € at Think Twice back in December, this was its first proper outing.
So, that was it for now. I promise to be back with that long overdue second installment of my travelogue soon.
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