Remember, remember: August and September

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.

Meet our latest addition, Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips', which we brought back from a trip to the garden centre that Sunday. We used to have this in exactly the same spot but lost it during the Big Neglect.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

Life goes on

 After a week's delay, Jos finally got green light for his second course of chemotherapy on Thursday the 26th of March. During the procedure, which generally takes about three hours in total, I kept him company with my current read and enjoyed a free cup of coffee in the lounge provided for patients and their families.

No chance of sitting outside in the courtyard as the sunny spell was very short-lived, the sky reverting to granite grey mere minutes after I'd taken this photo. The eagle-eyed among you may notice the wet paving stones outside, the result of the rain we'd started the day with.

As we were out of bread, I went to buy a loaf in the tiny supermarket in the lobby and, with Easter virtually on our doorstep, treated us to half a kilo of scrumptious chocolate mini eggs in the on-site Leonidas shop.

With Jos's appetite having made a temporary come-back, it didn't take very long to get to the bottom of this bowl. 

That evening, Jos declared a craving for frietjes van de frituur, meaning Belgian (not French!) fries bought from that most traditional of Belgian institutions, the frituur, as ubiquitous as the British chip shop. With one of these virtually around the corner from Dove Cottage, that was our evening meal sorted.

In the next couple of days Jos was feeling quite energetic and, just like during his first round of chemotherapy, didn't suffer from any side-effects to speak of. Apparently, this is due to the cortisone-like medicine which he is given before and after chemotherapy to prevent nausea and which has the welcome side-effect of giving some lucky people an energy boost.

We knew it wouldn't last, so we decided to make the most of it. If only the weather gods had been better behaved!

We woke up to overnight frost on Saturday and the forecast wasn't looking very promising. Spring was dragging her heels and, with a chilly wind blowing and the mercury refusing to let go of the single digit temperatures, Jos drove me to the local charity shop for a rummage in the afternoon. Meanwhile, he took the car for a spin, finishing with a non-alcoholic beer at his favourite village café.

Contrary to their colleagues of the weather department, the gods of the charity shops were on their best behaviour and finds were plentiful.

For starters, these two skirts ended up in my shopping basket. The red one with its brown and white garland pattern is handmade from a sturdy cotton, lined, and perfect in every way except, alas, for a lack of pockets. I'm actually wearing it as I type.

The red, white and blue leaves and berries patterned A-line skirt is by King Louie.

There were dresses galore, and from the armful I took into the fitting rooms these three have joined my wardrobe. The embroidered chambray knee-length dress is from C&A, the red and white striped maxi from H&M and the black floral with the odd bird maxi from Vero Moda.

Finally, I fell head over heels for these two very different blouses. 

As I am partial to a bird pattern, the green flamingo patterned one was a no brainer. Same as the black floral maxi, it's from the Danish Vera Moda label.

The blue short-sleeved blouse with its sprinkling of red, orange, green and white dots is label-less and has every indication of having been handmade.

As we are no longer in the habit of making outfit photos, we cleanly forgot to do so that day.  However, here you can catch the briefest of glimpses of my rust coloured opaques, orange socks and my stripy vintage skirt (this one!). 

But I'm sure you only have eyes for Queen Bess of Dove Cottage!

We woke up to a repeat of Saturday's weather on Sunday, although the clouds did make way for the odd patch of blue sky.

With the temperature still not having caught up with the season, I pulled this thick knit zipper front King Louie dress from my wardrobe. Charity shopped back in September, this was actually its first outing, for which it was joined by a contrasting mustard cardigan. As the latter is buttonless, I pinned a green-hearted brooch to its collar to keep it closed. Teal opaques, an old pair of tan boots, a mustard beaded necklace and chunky yellow ring completed my outfit.

As it looked set to remain dry, I persuaded Jos to go for a long-overdue walk, for which we drove to the park in one of our neighbouring villages, Duffel. However, he looked quite doubtful when I uttered the words "15-minute walk", protesting that he'd probably only make it to the first available bench.

Much to our mutual surprise, he just kept on going - that's him in the distance in the top left photo of the above collage - and insisted on continuing around the park's biggest pond.

All in all, we walked for over half an hour, sampling the sensory delights of Spring, which seemed to have arrived regardless of us being otherwise occupied. 

Surely, this host of daffodils, tiny as it is, must be Spring personified, the ultimate symbol of new beginnings. 

Additionally it's also the symbol of cancer charities in many countries ...

Thank you for reading. I hope to be back soon!

A little update

 Although I won't be returning to blogland just yet, I thought I'd drop in and give you an update on how Jos is doing.

But first things first. I would like to thank those of you who left such heartwarming comments on my previous post and those of you who kindly checked in with me through private messages.

After having spent 3 weeks in hospital during which he had surgery, Jos was finally allowed to come home last Wednesday. He's still got a way to go before he'll be back on his feet so we're taking it day by day, cherishing every step into the right direction.

Time has been unhurried but relentless, and it's truly mind-boggling that most of January has come and gone while we've been living this half-life which feels light years away from the one we used to live before our world came tumbling down.

Thankfully I had the pleasure of Bess's company while Jos was in hospital. 

She insisted on sleeping with me all night demanding cuddles and purring loudly whenever she thought I was awake. And I definitely lay awake worrying most nights, particularly during those first couple of weeks.

Obviously no outfit photos were taken - unless you count the one of me wearing pyjamas - although I promise you I did manage to dress up on most days, even if I did accessorize only sparingly and my make-up routine went out of the window.

The photos accompanying this post were taken in our back garden during the cold snap we had a couple of weeks ago or while running errands in our village.

Meanwhile, and much to Bess's joy, it's the return of the hospital bed ...

I'm desperately missing my blogging friends so I'm hoping to return soon. After all, there's still that December backlog to catch up on.

And so this was Christmas

It's day 5 of my Christmas break, and what have I done? So far, I admit I've been a total slob. Ok, vanity dictated that I dressed up every day, and we even braved the freezing temperatures we're currently experiencing to go for a couple of walks. But that's it really. 

Obviously, I also made some time to pen this post. After all, the year might nearly be over but I've still got to make a start with telling you about its final month!

However, I might have told a little white lie when I mentioned I was wrapping up the month of November in my previous post. The fact is that I completely forgot to tell you about what we did on Sunday the 30th!

After a raft of rainy days, the weather gods had finally dried their tears, treating us to a gloomy but mostly dry day. My diary mentions that at 7°C it was chilly, which actually makes me laugh now that the temperatures have taken a dive below freezing point!

Wild horses couldn't have kept us inside, though, so we wrapped up warmly and drove to Fort 5 in Edegem, our neighbouring village. 

Once again, this is somewhere I've been taking you to many times before, but here's a little recap for those who are new here.

Fort 5 is part of a ring of eight almost identical forts - given the unimaginative names of Fort 1 up to Fort 8 - surrounding the city of Antwerp and built in the 1860s to protect the city from enemy fire.  Apart from Fort 1, which had to make way for a road and a shopping centre, they are all still in existence but have long ago been converted into nature reserves and recreational spaces. 

Fort 5 is the one nearest to us, with a plethora of paths to choose from, catering for both a short stroll or a longer walk. 

It was the former we were after on that Sunday afternoon, but then we found the gate leading to the inner fort standing invitingly open. Beyond the gate, which is usually closed, are the premises of BLWRK, which offers space for coworking, meetings and events. You wouldn't guess it from the outside, but here's a link to their website to give you an idea of what it looks like on the inside.

There was an exhibition of some sort taking place, which exceptionally allowed us to step through the gate and explore this hugely atmospheric part of the old fort. 

It was still with some trepidation that we proceeded to circuit the inner fort. While Jos walked on fearlessly, I was a bit hesitant, imploring him at regular intervals to turn around, as I was having this weird fear of finding that gate closed, with us locked inside. But then we came full circle which I've got to admit was nothing short of a relief. I guess I haven't got the makings of an urban explorer ...

Let's have a look at the symphony of blue, red and white I was wearing that day. The skirt is vintage and was part of a birthday haul at Think Twice in September 2020.  The spotty blouse is from the former Belgian Wow To Go label and was charity shopped almost exactly two years later. My necklace, another one which is making regular appearances here, was a charity shop find as well, while the elastic belt with its Celtic knot buckle was picked up from the Green Ice outlet shop near my office.

December started with yet another week of gloom, with temperatures ranging between 7 and 9°C.

I was expecting a visit from the bosses who were coming over from Miami and while I was waiting for them to arrive on Monday morning, the sun made a brief appearance, gilding the cathedral tower and the Art Deco skyscraper called the Boerentoren (transl. Farmer's Tower). That might very well have been our only bit of sunshine that week, caught when I was looking out of the office window at exactly the right moment.

Needless to say, the week was a bit of a whirlwind. As their last visit was in January 2024, we hadn't seen each other for nearly two years, and as that particular visit had ended with a bit of an altercation, I was feeling a bit nervous. We'd obviously talked on the phone loads of times since then, but I had no idea how things would be when we would be seeing each other face to face.  All I can say is that I needn't have worried!

There's nothing of note to tell you about that week but that he guys took me to lunch on Tuesday and were gone by mid-afternoon on Thursday. By then, my nerves were quite frazzled as I'm not used to the pressure of having them around physically.

As a diversion, I walked to one of my nearest Think Twice shops during Thursday's lunch break. Another round of their famous sales had started, and I found an Austrian made new wool maxi skirt at 30% off, which I couldn't wait to wear the very next day.

For fear of sounding like a broken record, Friday was mostly grey with the odd sunny spell followed by rain in the evening. The day's highs of around 10°C weren't too bad for the time of year, but the seemingly never-ending gloom kept us inside for most of the day.

I picked up the pops of cinnamon in the vaguely botanical pattern of my new-to-me skirt with an openwork knit jumper from the Danish Nümph label, a charity shop find almost exactly a year ago. Both the lilac belt and the green and turquoise wood and raffia beaded necklace were charity shopped as well. If I remember correctly, the wooden duck brooch was a flea market find.

The day was spent doing my usual Friday faffing around, tackling a couple of chores and going for a food shop. 

Then I settled down on the sofa with my latest read. Set in Kerrville, Kansas, Laura Moriarty's debut novel The Center of Everything is told by Evelyn Bucknow, a young girl living with her single mother and with a wholly refreshing way of looking at the world. Although I loved it, it is not a keeper. Alas, there is only so much - or rather, little - space on my bookshelves. Lately, only the very best make the grade.

And look who joined me on that sofa! She is demanding lap time the minute I'm daring to sit down, promptly falling asleep until I'm getting needles and pins in my legs.

Saturday the 6th of December was a grey and wet day, but still reasonably warm at 11°C.

The Diolen Delight I plucked from my wardrobe was a pre-blog Think Twice bargain and, with its joyous multi-coloured dots, was the perfect mood booster on this gloomiest of days! The green Dralon short-sleeved cardigan I wore on top came from Think Twice as well, snapped up for € 4 in November 2018.

Both my necklace, whose beads are wearing woolly jumpers, and my painted metal flower brooch,  were charity shop finds. 

As there was no improvement in the weather, and we didn't want to be stuck inside all day again, there was nothing for it but to do some shopping. Charity shopping, obviously!

Our shop of choice was the one in Duffel, which boasts no less than three floors of would-be treasures. However, it was extremely busy, with cars queueing for space, so that we continued to the park a hundred metres or so up the road. Here, thankfully, there was ample space to park our car. Grabbing an umbrella, we then proceeded to walk back to the shop. 

By then the rain clouds were taking a breather, so that we briefly considered going for a stroll. But the park was looking utterly wet and forlorn and it wasn't long before those rain clouds were starting up again with renewed vigour.

Much to our delight, the gods of the charity shops had decided to make up for their weather colleagues' bad behaviour, and finds were plentiful.

The clothing aisles delivered with an orange jumper and a pink and orange tank top.

Scanning the racks of shoes, my eyes alighted on a pair of tall brown leather boots and a pair of pewter Italian made ankle boots.

My star find, however, was yet another coat! Yes, I know, coat ban and all that, but surely it would have been downright criminal to leave this King Louie stunner behind?

There was a button missing and another one which had faded, but that didn't faze me at all. It was nothing a needle, some thread and my stash of vintage buttons wouldn't be able to deal with.

So, that was my Sunday occupation! 

It was such an dismal, dark and wet day that we had to put on the kitchen lights when making outfit photos. 

I was wearing my vintage Venetia frock, which has a pattern of tiny white dots and garlands of frothy pink flowers, and was purchased from a long-gone vintage shop about 12 years ago. 

I picked a contrasting pale aqua for its companions and accessories. The belt, beads and King Louie cardigan were all charity shop finds. The pink flower corsage I pinned to my cardigan was bought on the high street. Oh, and I gave the pewter ankle boots I'd charity shopped on Saturday their very first outing. Admittedly, I only wore them for the photos as we didn't leave the house all day.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I am answering the siren call of the sofa. I might do a spot of reading or perhaps watch another episode of Bess's adventures with the Christmas tree. She has nearly dislodged all the ornaments at least once by now and there are several branches which are hanging on for dear life.

I probably won't be posting again until next year, so I'll see you on the other side!

I can't thank you enough for reading and leaving your lovely comments!