Back in time to August

Apologies to those of you who were looking forward to another installment of this year's September travelogue. Don't worry: as we were only two days in, I've obviously got another couple of travel posts up my sleeve. However, as I'm way (and I mean way!) behind with posting about my month of August, I'm treating you to a veritable barrage of Summer outfits. In fact, there are so many I haven't posted yet that I'll be needing a second post to cover the rest. 

So, without further ado, here's what I've been wearing - and doing - in the first half of the month.

The weather gods were on their best behaviour in the first week of August, starting off with a mixed menu of clouds and sunny spells accompanied with temperatures in the low twenties from Monday to Wednesday.

On Tuesday the 5th this Diolen Delight made it out of my wardrobe. My wardrobe has its fair share of Diolen, a popular 1960s/1970s polyester, its bright colours and prints vying for attention. Most of these frocks were picked up from Think Twice and other vintage shops over the years, but this particular one was a rare charity shop find back in 2023.

For my accessories I picked orange to contrast with its funky pattern of blue dots. All of these were second-hand finds, except for the cat brooch, which came from the delightful Katshop. Right opposite my hairdresser's salon, this wonderful little shop caters for cats as well as for their long-suffering servants.

By Thursday the 7th, the mercury had managed to climb to 26°C. During my lunch break, I took refuge from my hectic office by going for a cappuccino catch-up with my friend Inez. She's more like a sister than a friend, really, and we're actually calling each other big sister (that's me!) and little sister.

Anyway, I was wearing this vintage frock I'd picked up from a Shrewsbury antique centre in June 2024.

The turquoise flowers in its pattern shouted for attention, which I gave them by adding more turquoise by way of my accessories.

Suitably caffeinated, we finished by going for a rummage. Well, that's what you get when you meet up in the coffee corner of one's favourite vintage shop! 

I fell head over heels for this vintage floral maxi skirt, which you've already seen me wearing as it accompanied me on our September travels.

Friday's weather was a repeat of Thursday's. Although it was my day off, sleeping in wasn't on the menu, as I had an appointment with Michel, my hairdresser of 30 years (!), for a colour and cut. Unfortunately, Michel's retirement is on the cards in the near future. I will be devastated, as finding someone to follow in Michel's shoes will be verging on the impossible ...

The vintage dress I was wearing was another lucky charity shop find, which made it entrance into my wardrobe in the Summer of 2021. Trimmed with white bias tape at the collar and cuffs, with an abstract seascape decal and a wave-like pattern on the skirt, it was definitely love at first sight.

I always seem to go for blue as its companion, and as it works so well I didn't see any reason not to this time around. Particularly as it allowed me to wear the matching sandals I charity shopped back in June.

Friday the 8th of August was also International Cat Day, and Bess willingly posed for me for her annual state portrait. But oh dear, being a model is quite exhausting!

Saturday was yet another sunny day, with the temperature slowly but surely creeping towards the high twenties.

I kept cool by wearing a mix of millefiori patterns. My vintage button-through cotton skirt was an old Think Twice find, while the top with it eye-catching collar, which is by Belgian label Lucy Has A Secret, was charity shopped for a fraction of its undoubtedly astronomical retail price in 2019.

Unusually for me, all my accessories (belt, butterfly brooch and perspex ring) were picked up from the high street at various times.

Same weather again on Sunday the 10th when, after our usual Sunday morning chores, we drove down to the municipal park in the nearby town of Boom.

Instead of walking along the brook which runs through the park like we usually do, we took the park's perimeter path until we arrived at 't Kleibrood, a centre for environmental education. There's a herb and flower garden as well as some vegetable beds which seemed to have yielded a good crop of courgettes. We were even offered some by one of the caretakers!

From there, we ventured into the heart of the park where, unsurprisingly, we found the water levels in the brook and ponds to be very low. It had been some time since we'd had a decent amount of rain. As I'd suspected at the time, the weather gods were saving it all up for our holiday ...

We finally came across some of the park's population of waterfowl at the edge of the largest of the ponds, where I instantly took a liking to these youngsters, who were kind - and tame - enough to pose for me.

Much as I loved their black and white outfits, I opted for full-on colour and a mix of patterns. My curtain couture skirt - its moniker was earned by the fact that it was obviously, and rather rudimentary sewn from an old curtain - came out to play. The exotically patterned and frilly butterfly-sleeved top was charity shopped in the Spring of 2023.

It's been a while since I shared my reads, so here's the novel I was engrossed in at the time. Set in the US in 1960, its backdrop ranges from the jazz clubs of Greenwich Village to the smoke-filled rooms of the Kennedy campaign.

We were in for a heatwave in August's second week, with temperatures effortlessly reaching highs of 30°C and more.

My hot weather wardrobe came into its own that week, starting with this combo I wore on Monday. My crisp organic cotton maxi skirt with its flower meadow print and two fuchsia pink crocheted lace strips at the hem was bought brand new from C&A three summers ago. The bright orange cotton top - by the Belgian Gigue label - was charity shopped around the same time.

The cotton shirt dress with its funky floral pattern was a Think Twice sales bargain back in June 2017.  It has been a Summer staple ever since and has featured on the blog many a time over the years. It's definitely in my top 10 of favourite Summer frocks!

The flowers in its print were echoed by my brooch - a pink straw sunflower - and the flowers adorning my ancient Clarks sandals. 

And look who wanted a piece of the action!

I'd missed my usual tram when going home, and as I wasn't keen on waiting for the next one to come around while wilting in full-on sunshine at 33°C, I crossed the street and walked into the airconditioned Veritas shop, where I was seduced by this € 3 sales bargain gecko brooch ... 

... which obviously I had to wear the next day.

Hopefully, the little fellow liked ice cream, as I pinned him to the green ice cream cone patterned Only t-shirt I charity shopped last Summer. 

The Vero Moda red and white tiered faux-patchwork maxi skirt was a recent bargainous outlet shop buy.

With the mercury stuck at 33°C, the day was yet another scorcher, from which I took refuge in the small shopping centre near my office during my lunch break. 

It was in one of the few remaining shops which hadn't yet closed down that my eyes alighted on this dream of a skirt. With a fantastic pattern like that, I'm sure you'll understand that resistance was futile ...

Part 2 of my August outfits to follow shortly. But first things first: part 3 of this year's September travelogue will be coming up next!

Hope to see you soon!

Briefly back to August

I was all ready to make a start with the another installment of my latest travelogue. In fact, I'd already been scrolling through my photos and reliving it all in the process. But then it dawned on me that I still owed you a blog post about the last couple of weeks of August. Now, I could easily have skipped them and you'd have been none the wiser. However, as we'd made the effort of taking outfit photos on several occasions, surely it would be a shame to let these go to waste.

So, I'm inviting you to take a seat in the old time machine again, but make sure to fasten your seatbelts, as it's going to be a slightly bumpy ride to the penultimate weekend of August. 

After Summer briefly went AWOL at the beginning of August, the weather gods seemed to have every intention of making up for their bad behaviour half-way through the month.

In continuation of the string of gorgeous Summer days we'd been blessed with that week, Saturday the 19th of August saw the mercury climb to 26°C. However, it was cloudy and quite stifling until the sun decided to make an appearance mid-afternoon.

What with the clouds and the slight headache I'd woken up with, I needed clothing as armour, as Sheila would say. So, how about a mix of green and red? 

My red and white polka dot top is from River Woods and came to me by way of the charity shops back in May 2022. The skirt with its tiny green and white checks and red dots and the wooden beads were charity shopped as well. While the vintage celluloid Scottie dog brooch was a flea market find, both the belt and my sandals were picked up on the high street.

After breakfast, we drove down to optician's in nearby Mortsel to order an extra pair of reading glasses. This would enable me to leave my old pair at the office so that I would no longer have to stress about accidentally leaving them behind either at home or at the office, both of which would be a bit of a disaster.

Back at home, I made a feeble attempt to catch up with blogland and peruse some of our holiday brochures. But sadly my slight headache had turned into a full-blown migraine which refused to budge.

While I was good for nothing, Jos assembled the reading lamps we'd recently bought from IKEA. Both being bedside readers, we desperately needed to replace the inadequate bedside lamps we'd formerly been using. The new lamps have made all the difference, although they haven't prevented me from falling asleep after half a page as I often do!

By Sunday, both Saturday's clouds and my headache had taken leave of absence. With the temperature heading into the high twenties, it would have been foolish not to go for a stroll. Just a stroll, though, as we were in that quintessential lazy Sunday state of mind.

Solhof Park in the neighbouring village of Aartselaar, which is only a 10-minute drive from Dove Cottage, sounded just the ticket. Formerly the pleasure grounds of an old castle whose history goes back to the 15th century, it is deliciously wild and unkempt, with monumental 100 to 150 year old trees, their towering trunks rising skyward, Jack-and-the-beanstalk fashion.

We aimlessly wandered until we found a bench near the moat to sit and stare from. 

The local population of ducks seemed to be somewhat disappointed when it turned out we hadn't brought any tasty bites to feed them.

My lazy Sunday outfit consisted of a button-through chambray skirt, an old Think Twice find customized by yours truly with vintage buttons from my stash, combined with an orange cotton blouse printed with birds and flowers, which was charity shopped two Summers ago.

One of my chevron patterned stretchy belts, a green beaded necklace and ditto butterfly brooch and my super comfy Clarks sandals completed my outfit. 

I was recently asked by Vronni about my walking stick, which I'm in the habit of carrying. I have been using one for years and find it really helpful for climbing hills, dealing with rough terrain and negotiating muddy patches. It also takes the strain off my back and knees. In short, I couldn't imagine going for walks without it and miss it whenever I do.

Another thing I should get into the habit of is applying insect repellent whenever I go out walking in bare arms and legs. I was reminded of this when, near the end of our walk, I was bitten in the arm by a horsefly. Just a tiny mosquito bite-like patch initially, it had swollen to massive proportions by Monday morning and I had been lying awake for half the night as it was itching like crazy. It took countless applications of hydrocortisone cream and, as recommended by the chemist, an antihistamine tablet taken overnight, to finally bring the swelling down after a couple of days. The tablet, however, had the unfortunate side-effect of making me feel groggy for the better part of the next day. Not the best start to the week ...

But then August's final weekend appeared on the horizon, starting with my regular Friday off.

Never mind that, after a week of sunshine, we were now treated to a dark, dismal and rainy day which was quite incongruous with the mild 23°C temperature.

The lime green midi skirt with its stylish black and white flowers was charity shopped last November. It had been hanging outside my wardrobe for weeks, as I desperately wanted to wear it but couldn't think of a top that would work with it. That is, until I was rummaging through my short-sleeved knits and my eye was caught by this King Louie one. The yellow in its tropical leaf pattern turned out to match the skirt almost exactly.

Apart from the black stretchy belt everything I was wearing was either a charity shop or a flea market find. And yes, that includes the King Louie top and the shoes!

Having received a text from the optician's that they were ready, we picked up my new pair of reading glasses. Aren't they gorgeous? They're from the French Anne et Valentin brand and were the first frames I'd tried on the week before. Both Jos and I instantly fell for their two-tone pinks. Three-tone, actually, as the inside of the frames are the palest of pinks. Now I can finally read in style!

Unfortunately, there was little improvement in the weather as the weekend progressed. Yet more rain and a drop in temperature to 20°C was our lot on Saturday the 26th of August. 

The view through our rain-splattered kitchen window wasn't exactly inviting us to go outside but the  plants in the passageway definitely wouldn't need watering that day. 

I spent the morning doing some gentle pottering and packing away a few essentials for our upcoming September holiday. 

Then, after lunch, we answered the siren call of the charity shops, as it had been far too long since we'd gone for a proper rummage.

But first, let me take you through my outfit of the day. 

I'd unearthed one of my Diolen Delights from my wardrobe that morning. If my memory serves me right this flower infused button-through frock was purchased from a shop called Vintage Styling, which sadly stopped trading in the early days of my blog.

I picked up the navy bits in its pattern with my belt, necklace and ring but opted for a pair of red shoes from the Portuguese Kiarflex brand. 

The blue jacket with its orange leaf pattern is from Belgian high street label Liberty Island. By way of a charity shop, obviously.

After stopping at the museum garden down our street for outfit photos, we picked up our car and made our way to the charity shop in Mortsel. This was the very first charity shop we ever ventured into many, many years ago, and it's still a firm favourite.

The clothing rails are always plentiful here, and leaving this shop empty-handed is a rare occurrence.

This lightweight, almost-see through Summer skirt's peacock pattern was simply too good to resist!

I didn't have a King Louie heart-patterned cardigan in this particular shade of green yet, so adding it to my basket was a no-brainer. I must have at least ten of these cardigans, all in different colours, by now, all of them charity shopped at a mere fraction of their original retail price.

The navy, white and pink chevron jumper on the right is by the Danish Only label and will effortlessly slot into my Autumn/Winter wardrobe. I've already got a couple of outfits in mind!

I used to own and love this dress by the Belgian Wow To Go label well over ten years ago. In fact, I was heart-broken when - thank you menopause! - its size S no longer fit me. So, I couldn't be happier when this one, in a size M, leapt at me from the charity shop rails.

Finally, while on our way to the till, a cursory glance at the otherwise very bland jewellery display yielded this vintage gold-tone brooch with its multicoloured faux gemstones.

All in all, not a bad haul!

So, that was it, the month of August all wrapped up.

I'll be back with the final episode of my heatwave holiday travelogue shortly. See you soon!

Oh August

 "If you walk along the main street on an August afternoon there is nothing whatsoever to do."

When I first read this line, which is from the opening chapter of Carson McCullers' novella "The Ballad of the Sad Café", as a 15-year old in a school room, it struck a chord with me, as yes, that's exactly what it was like on the main street of the quiet backwater I was living in. 

This rang especially true in August, with half of the shops closed for their Summer holiday: the butchers and the bakers which were still plentiful back then, before they closed down, one by one, for good.

 My mum had sent me off on a treasure hunt for the last loaf of bread in the village, and as I cycled up and down the main street, finding all the shutters closed, drops of sweat trickled down my back and the oppressive heat was just as stifling as the air of boredom which hung over the village. It was, after all, the long hot Summer of 1976 and there really was nothing whatsoever to do.

Fast-forward forty-six years, and I'm still living in the same village. Or rather, I came back here after an 18-year hiatus when I was in my late thirties. The butchers and bakers have been replaced by generic chain stores and a handful of fashionable boutiques. Yet, on a hot August afternoon, the main street is as deserted as it was back then, except for the steady trickle of cars passing through. 

This year, it feels as if August has passed us by, its days a blur of indistinguishable hot and noise-filled ones. But you've put up with my moaning for long enough now, so perhaps it's time to have a look at what I've been wearing to combat the recurrent heatwaves. 

My wardrobe full of Diolen delights has hardly seen the light of day! 

My vintage cotton Madras check dress made an appearance on Tuesday the 9th of August when, after a couple of days when the mercury didn't climb higher than a moderate 25°C, we were back into the high twenties. 

I took advantage of both the white and the red in its check for my accessories. I hadn't worn the white pleated leather belt in a while and in fact, I'd completely forgotten about it until I came across a photo on my blog in which I was wearing it. 

The weather gods, intent on making us melt into puddles of sweat, sent 31°C our way on Wednesday the 10th. 

Enter this mid-century cotton cap-sleeved frock, in darkest blue patterned with red and white, a Think Twice sales bargain back in June 2019. 

I picked up the red with my ring, necklace and belt and added a vintage celluloid Scottie dos brooch to the dress's square neckline.

Tuesday's red Gabor sandals would have been perfect here, but both they and my toes had had a mishap on my way home that day. Having had to jump out of the path of an e-scooter, whose driver clearly thought the red traffic light wasn't meant for him, I cut two of my toes on some random pieces of debris lying in the gutter. Luckily the cuts were only superficial, but they bled nonetheless, resulting in some unsightly stains on my sandals, which I haven't yet had the get-up-and-go to try and remove.

It wasn't the only mishap that would befall me that week, you see. On Friday evening - we were the 12th by now - while suffering a blinding headache as a result of yet more noise from next door, I stumbled and fell while upstairs, leaving me with bruises on my upper left arm and both of my knees. In fact, my left knee was rather swollen and was rapidly turning black and blue. Fortunately, the swelling soon came down after the application of a spray given to us by our other neighbour's son.

The weekend ahead, which was an extended one as Monday the 15th was a bank holiday in Belgium, was set to become another hot one, with temperatures well over 30°C. 

As much as we would have loved to escape, it simply was too hot to do anything much. The only place where it would be reasonably bearable was the seaside, but that was a definite no-no because of the bank holiday weekend. It was later reported to have been one of the busiest weekends ever!

And then there was my poor knee which I didn't want to put too much of a strain on, even if it wasn't as painful as I'd expected it to be the next day.

We had a - fruitless - errand to run on Saturday, after which we battened the hatches at Dove Cottage and tried to keep cool.  On our way back, we stopped off at the Museum of Folklore for some local Lady of the Manor poses.

Both the palazzo trousers and the peasant-style blouse were sales bargains from the high street. I was wooed by the trousers in the Summer of 2020. They're from Mango and are easily the most comfortable trousers I've ever worn. Apart from their Paisley-esque pattern, they have pockets and huge splits at the sides allowing for the necessary ventilation on a hot day.

The blouse is from New Look and has been gracing my wardrobe for several years. It might even be my most worn item of clothing on the blog!

Flat yellow sandals, my enamelled butterfly brooch, and a charity shopped black and white necklace completed my outfit.

Sunday was the hottest day of the week, and if I remember correctly I wore a vintage playsuit all day. No photos were taken, though.

We dug up our holiday brochures for our upcoming yearly trip to Belgium's west country - if there are no further mishaps, we are leaving tomorrow! - and jotted down some ideas. I have a feeling Bess knew what we were up to, as she did her very utmost to thwart our plans!

Hallelujah, it actually rained overnight, and there were puddles! Well, there was one on the towpath next to the park in Duffel where we went for a walk on Monday, relishing the fact that the temperature had dropped to just 23°C. 

However, if the moody sky held the promise of more rain, it never materialized. In fact, by the time we'd completed our circuit of the park, the odd patch of blue was starting to appear.

Adjacent to the towpath and the park are the ruins of castle "Ter Elst", whose origins date back to the 12th century. Over the years, we have watched the decline of the ruin with more than just a hint of sadness.

Long gone are the days when events took place in its courtyard, as due to stability reasons the site had to be closed down in 2012 and the wrought iron gates giving access to the bridge have remained firmly padlocked ever since.

We once went to a flea market here, on yet another hot August day, when a brass band was playing in the castle grounds, the bandleader's well-meant but hilarious comments having us in stitches.

But there is good news at last, as the site is scheduled to receive a grant next year, so that the long-awaited renovation work can finally be tackled. In fact, a start has already been made in stabilizing the building.

The renovations will include reconnecting the walls and adding a glass roof to the Great Hall so that it can be used for events. In the courtyard, the contours of the vanished castle will be made visible with variations in the floor pattern, and it is meant to become a resting place for walkers and cyclists. To this end, a new foot and cycle bridge connecting the castle island with the towpath will be constructed.

It all sounds very promising, although I'm sure the ruin will lose some of its charm in the process as well.

Now, let's have a look at what I was wearing. This vintage cotton frock with its gathered cap sleeves was just the ticket that day. It was also long enough to hide my injured knee, although of course I am happy to oblige and show it to my faithful readers and followers :-)

That isn't real broderie anglaise, by the way, it is part of the pattern. The dress is also sparingly sprinkled with blue daisies, which obviously rules out the use of any other brooches than the one I'm wearing here.

As I am fastly running out of time, I thought I'd whizz you through some of the outfits I wore in August's penultimate week.

Here, my flower-infused cotton 1970s skirt from Think Twice went hand in hand with a charity shopped King Louie blouse, to which I'd pinned a vintage brooch picked up from a flea market. The necklace with its tiny orange tiles was charity shopped as well, but the black stretchy belt with its square buckle was a recent high street buy.

Both the skirt and the blouse in my next outfit are from the Belgian Who's That Girl label, and both were recent charity shop finds. Again, only the stretchy belt was bought brand new on the high street. 

The massive bird on a branch brooch - which neatly ties in with the birds and twigs pattern of the skirt - was a charity shop find, as was the mustard cardigan, while the necklace came from a long-gone vintage shop. 

As I was browsing Facebook one evening, I was horrified to read that there had a been a fire in the tower building in Antwerp which my office looks out on . They are currently renovating the building, which was completed in 1931 and hailed as Europe's firs skyscraper. The project will take many years to finish and has now been the source of noisy goings-on for about a year. There really is hardly any peace and quiet to be found in my life at the moment. 

This is my current view from my 5th floor office window, so why don't we have a look at something a bit more cheerful instead?

This floaty, chiffon-y dress was another Think Twice find, picked up many years ago. The dress's cerulean blue backdrop is patterned with black and white squiggles and a garland of blowsy flowers near its hemline.

More black and white was added with the chevron patterned belt with its round, black wooden buckle, and the rim around the roses in my brooch.

My bright pink cardigan and my favourite necklace from Accessorize were both retail purchases which have by now stood the test of time.

Cool cottons were once again represented in one of my favourite outfits of the last couple of weeks.

Again, both the skirt and the blouse were charity shopped. The striped skirt, which is scattered with rosebuds in various colours, was originally from H&M, and picked up in a charity shop between lockdowns in July 2020. The orange and pink patterned blouse, which is from the Belgian Mer du Nord label, was a more recent find.

Not wanting the hassle of too many accessories on this +30°C, I kept them to the bare minimum, only adding a vintage, navy and white beaded necklace and one of my contemporary cat brooches.

And speaking of cats, how about some photos of our darling little monster to end this post.

I'm sure she'll miss cuddling as much as we will while we're on our break, but we'll make up for it in just over a week!