In the eye of the storm

Like many of you, I've been feeling quite overwhelmed by the devastating news bulletins on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and once again, I'm having to limit my news intake to the bare minimum in order to keep the wolves of anxiety from my door. On top of that, work has been quite hectic lately, which has further drained by already depleted energy levels. The long and short of it is that my head is a mess and while words are jostling for space, stringing them together in an orderly fashion is quite another thing.

At this moment in time, posting outfits and charity shop finds might seem shallow and frivolous but, the odd moan aside, I'm trying to keep my blog a place of refuge away from all the devastating madness.

Starting as I mean to go on, what about some feline cuteness to get this post going?  Doesn't it just beggar belief that yesterday, the 4th of March, it had been one whole year since the sweetest of furry creatures moved into Dove Cottage, enriching our lives in the process? The seldom seen cat for the first few weeks, she has slowly but surely developed into quite a character, making Dove Cottage her own and turning Jos and I into her long-suffering yet adoring servants.

Now, back into the time machine we go, setting the controls for the stormy penultimate weekend of February. 

After the onslaught of storm Eunice, which arrived on Friday afternoon and battered us well into the evening, we opened our curtains to a sunny morning on Saturday. Being a bit wary of the weather, as rain and more high winds had been forecasted later that day, we were somewhat in limbo.

In the end, we decided on a trip to the garden centre to pick up some pansies and primulas, after which we continued to the small - for Belgian standards - charity shop in the neighbouring village of Reet.

I was wearing one of my all-time favourite vintage dresses which, much to my surprise, didn't yet get an outing this Winter. Its print featuring orange, lilac, green and white flowers on a black background never fails to put a spring in my step. It's got a solid black cowl neck and cuffs as well as a wide circle skirt which was just made for twirling. 

I layered it with a chunky green cardigan, which is from Mango by way of a charity shop, ant to which I pinned a vintage brooch featuring a crown of orange flowers with a white one at its heart. At my waist, I added one of my stretchy chevron belts and I wore a charity shopped off-white longline beaded necklace. I'm also offering you a glimpse of my burgundy plastic ring, one of Friday's finds I still owe you.

Back at home, Jos discovered that Eunice had made a casualty, beheading poor Venus by toppling her off our kitchen windowsill. As if it wasn't bad enough that she is armless! At the time of writing, Jos has glued her head back on, but for nearly two weeks it was looking at us balefully from its bed of houseleeks ...

With the weather gods treating us to a rainy all-dayer on Sunday, presenting us with a hailstorm accompanied by thunderbolt and lightning in the early evening, it was a day to remain firmly ensconced inside Dove Cottage. And that was before they sent us storm Franklin overnight!

The good news is that I had all the time in the world to photograph Friday's and Saturday's charity shop finds, although light conditions were understandably poor.

First up is this handmade skirt which bowled me over with its exuberant flower pattern. The eagle-eyed among you might have caught a glimpse of it in my shopping trolley pictured in my previous post.

The ochre knit jumper was another Friday find, albeit from a different shop.  As luck would have it, it turned out to work perfectly with some of my other finds too.

Case in point is the floaty pleated skirt in a chocolate and fudge zebra-esque pattern, originally from high street shop Lola&Liza. I spotted it when I saw someone returning it to the rails. The hessian belt with its massive rectangular wooden buckle was, of course, a no-brainer.

I fell hard for this funky pair of pull-on trousers, although I haven't decided whether they will be for lounging around the house only, or whether they will eventually get an outing.

The jewellery department did deliver again as well, with two scarf clips and two rings found for me by Jos, and two wooden beaded necklaces.

Apart from the jumper, all these were found at the 3-storey charity shop with the cafeteria in Duffel.

Joining the jumper at the 2-storey shop in Mechelen was Friday's star buy. I had just unsuccessfully tried on a Zara jacket with a faux fur collar, when my eye was caught by this fabulous grey, brown, blue and pink tweed coat by my beloved King Louie. And just look at that divine equestrian lining!

I'm guessing its original retail price must have been in the region of € 150, so the shop's € 6 price label must make it bargain of the year so far!

A not unimportant detail is that all its pockets are real ones!

I also found this multi-coloured striped scarf, which I thought looked very jaunty with the coat.

My final find in that particular shop was a fabric covered box which, at € 0,50, I found impossible to resist. Although I didn't have a purpose in mind for it at the time, that was soon remedied when I spotted the tiny runner embroidered with birds and flowers in the charity shop we briefly visited on Saturday. A snip at € 1,50!

They have conspired in totally transforming our hallway cabinet, with the box holding a ready supply of soon to be obsolete face masks. As from Monday, the mask mandate will be lifted in most places here in Belgium, except for on public transport and in healthcare institutions, although I'll still be wearing one in busy places for the time being.

Sunday's outfit was built around the green and pink plaid Betty Barclay dress I found at Think Twice back in November. Although Angelica modelled it for you at the time and I actually already wore it to work, it still had to make its debut on the blog featuring me!

I took my lead from the plaid's pink, opting for a pink-based woven belt to cinch my waist and a hot pink tie-neck cardigan for extra warmth.

My accessories consisted of a wooden beaded necklace with lashings of pink and a pink owl brooch which, apart from my raspberry pink opaques, is the only item in my outfit which was bought retail.

Even my forest green ankle boots were a serendipitous charity shop find back in November 2018. They came into my life after I'd succumbed to a pair in a high street shop while on holiday in Middelburg as my search for green ankle boots had so far been fruitless. 

Due to the inclement weather, we were once again reduced to making outfit photos inside. With the help of a recently required cheap ring light, they didn't turn out too badly this time.

It was a day for catching up on chores, so I dusted while Jos swept the upstairs rooms, then folded away the morning's washing, assembled some outfits for the upcoming week, uploaded photos and caught up with blogland.

The rest of the day was spent curled up on the sofa with my latest read, on which the jury is still out.

I'll be back with some long awaited sunny weather soon. In the meantime, please try not to let anxiety get the better of you!

Oh, and before I forget, it's my blog's sixth anniversary today. How is that even possible?

The light in August

I can barely get my head around the fact that this time next week we'll be on our yearly sojourn to Belgium's west country. There's still quite a few things to wrap up at work, for starters. And then there's my favourite pastime of packing to be done.

I'm starting to feel a bit faint when I'm thinking about the latter, so let's not get into that yet ... now where did I put those smelling salts?

I left you with a bit of a cliffhanger in my last post, so I'm making a brief return to Friday before last and show you those charity shop finds as promised.

In spite of shopping still being a solo activity (this will be changed again as from tomorrow!), we sneaked in together by taking separate trolleys and secretly meeting in the aisles! Naughty, naughty!

Then Jos grabbed a coffee at the cafeteria, while I browsed the well-stocked clothing department. With the heatwave on its last legs, but warmish weather still on the cards for the next week or so, I kept my eyes peeled for easy, breezy Summer tops.

I almost did a double take when I spotted the pink twin of my favourite green peasant style top, bought in the New Look sales two years ago. It goes without saying it couldn't make its way into my trolley fast enough. 

These two stretchy cap-sleeved pussy bow tops are of the wash 'n go variety and will be the perfect companions for a multitude of skirts. They are also very suitcase proof, as they can be rolled up and tucked away without the least bit of creasing. 

As always, I made a beeline for the rail of dresses, but in spite of being spoilt for choice, nothing I fancied was in my size. Until I pulled out this one for closer inspection! 

In 100% silk, it's from Essentiel Antwerp (look, Sheila!), whose flagship store is opposite the spot where Jos is picking me up after work on my office days. Their dresses start at € 195, so I think the € 13,50 I paid for it was money well spent. I'll have you know that this is expensive for this particular chain of charity shops, so somebody has clearly done their homework!

The background colour was very hard to photograph, as it is leaning more towards green in real life.

Our only non-clothing purchase was this reproduction Tala icing set. It was displayed on a shelf of tins and priced similarly as the empty ones (€ 1,30), so I'm guessing that this time somebody hasn't been doing their job properly and never thought of opening it. Admittedly, there was hardly any weight to it, plus the icing syringe and nozzles fit so snuggly into the packing that no movement could be detected at all.

A collection within our collection of kitchenalia, we already own several proper vintage Tala icing sets, including this one, which the reproduction set must have been based upon.

I'm swiftly skipping to Saturday before last now. 

With the temperature hovering around the mid-twenties, it was still more than warm enough to warrant the wearing of more of those lightweight Summer clothes.

The black cotton button-through skirt with its white daisy print and triple layer of rick-rack is vintage 1970s and from the Merry Finn label.  The blue based, multi-coloured pussy bow blouse, on the other hand, is a modern King Louie piece by way of the charity shops. 

As a nod to the skirt, I accessorized with a black and white beaded necklace and black-rimmed flower brooch. Tying in with the turquoise bits in the blouse, I added a turquoise textured belt at my waist.

Everything but the tan espadrille wedges - a sales bargain last Summer - was acquired second hand.

I planted up the pansies we'd brought home from the garden centre, one of which I gave a home in a leaky enamel coffee pot recently vacated by a Lobelia which hadn't survived the heatwave. 

Yellow Rudbeckia mingles happily with purple Verbena, while annuals such as candy striped Petunia, creamy yellow-hearted Lantana and Fuchsia are still blooming their hearts out.

A dome of perfect blue Summer sky watched over it all, dotted with the odd wispy cloud. It's August, that often bittersweet month, undeniably on the cusp of two seasons. 

For some inexplicable reason, this photo is making me both happy and sad in the same breath.

There's nothing like the sky in August and the languidness of her days, yet:

"Whilst August yet wears her golden crown,

    Ripening fields lush-bright with promise;

Summer waxes long, then wanes, quietly passing

    Her fading green glory on to riotous Autumn."

-  Michelle L. Thieme, August's Crown 

Now that it was starting to cool down inside the house, it was time for some long overdue housework.

My journal tells me that on Sunday, while Jos vacuumed and mopped the rooms downstairs, I dusted our bedroom and the landing. Then, before the mood escaped me, I cleaned the bathroom surfaces and part of the kitchen's. 

There was a storm brewing, so before all hell was let loose, we went outside for outfit photos.

You'll immediately recognize the top, which I'd plucked from the ironing pile where it had ended up after washing, so great was my desire to wear it. The skirt was another recent charity shop find, which I wore on the blog not all that long ago. Cool in double 100% cotton!

Both the pink, yellow and white woven belt and the wooden beaded necklace were old charity shop finds. Even the peep-toe slingbacks I'm wearing were charity shopped. They're Clarks and they were waiting for me in Bridgnorth in June 2019.

The storm finally arrived late afternoon with enough rain to forgo my watering duties that evening.

Nothing to report about Monday's moderately busy office day, so I'm skipping that and hopping over to Tuesday.

The vintage Shelton Stroller dress I was wearing never fails to make an appearance each Summer, so I was rather surprised it was still hanging unworn in my wardrobe this year.

With its fit and flare silhouette, wide, drapey tie collar and smooth satiny fabric in an abstract red, blue and black print on a white background, this late 1950s, early 1960s dress is a joy to wear.

I tamed its tie by pinning it with a Miracle brooch and accentuated the waist by adding a red vinyl belt.

I used plenty of red for the rest of my accessories as well, including a red plastic ring and red and white beaded necklace. A white and blue polka dot bangle kept my red one company.

We went on a veritable charity shop sprawl later that week and finds were plentiful, so I'm afraid I'll have to leave you with another cliffhanger.

Until then, do stay safe, sane and as fabulous as possible!

Glaciers melting in the dead of night

Our heatwave has finally upped and left, leaving us with much more bearable but still warm enough temperatures in the mid to high twenties range.

In spite of all our efforts, Dove Cottage's upstairs rooms still feel as if we've left the oven door open, and we know from experience that it will take a couple of days at least for things to get back to normal. Until then, there's nothing for it but to bear those sweaty, glacier melting nights!

We were still in the thick of it on Friday before last. With temperatures set to reach 37°C, Code Red weather warnings were issued, advising people to spend the daytime hours in a cool indoor space and keep doors and windows closed to keep out the heat. As usual, not too much exertion and a regular fluid intake were also on the list for surviving the sweltering heat.

Always contrary and unwilling to face a string of days spent indoors, after breakfast we packed a picnic and drove back to Blaasveldbroek, the nature reserve we only visited on Tuesday.

Those of you who read my previous post might remember that we took a wrong turning somewhere on our way back to the car park, ending up walking along some paths we'd never walked before. It was on one of these paths, not far from a second, smaller car park, that we noticed a boardwalk leading down from the path to a platform at the edge of a pond. We could even make out a bench, but weren't able to go down and investigate as there was someone sitting on it.

Hoping for a stroke of good luck this early on this baking hot day, we parked our car under the trees in the small car park, and with some trepidation, strolled along the path leading to the boardwalk, all the while keeping our fingers firmly crossed. 

There was nobody there, how absolutely divine! We made our way along the boardwalk and sat down on the bench, taking in the view and relishing the fresh and still relatively cool air. The only sounds were the high pitched clucking of a plump of moorhens (had to look up the collective name) and the rhythmic thwoks of an early morning tennis game on one of the courts hidden by the trees somewhere behind us.

All too soon, the sun's rays pierced through the canopy shading our secluded little oasis, dappling the bench with searing sunlight. We decided to walk into the direction of the visitor's centre, where shady picnic benches would be on offer.

But again, our walk turned out to be longer than intended, taking us along a mixture of sun-baked trails and woodland paths, and along various stretches of water, including Hazewinkel, a well-known rowing course at the edge of the domain (bottom left).

The visitor centre and surrounding picnic area were completely deserted, so that we were spoilt for choice, opting for the long communal picnic table situated on the secluded so-called otter and beaver island.

Afterwards, we trudged back to the car park, making a slight detour to the boardwalk and bench, where we watched dragonflies hovering over the lake in search of a meal. Speaking of the latter, we fortified ourselves for the journey home by eating the waffles we'd brought as dessert.

A final view of my outfit, which consisted of the charity shopped Zara trousers I wore on our previous visit, this time accompanied by a printed cotton shirt picked up on a charity shopping trip back in July.

The searing and sultry temperatures continued over the weekend, prompting me to wear clothes I'm only considering on the hottest of days.

Take this jumpsuit, for instance. I'm unashamedly wearing retail here and not even a sales bargain at that. Making a shortcut through Antwerp's walk-through Mango shop, it was love at first sight last Summer.

I can report that it was extremely comfortable to wear and didn't cling anywhere. For the sake of modesty, I did pin a brooch to its decolletage. After some trial and error, I found one that fit the bill perfectly! The wooden beads were the only thing I could bear against my skin

Any gardening is confined to either early morning, when there's still enough shade in the garden to do my deadheading round, or from 9 to 9.30 onwards, for a watering session when the sun has dipped below the horizon.

Hats off to all the annuals who keep going in the face of extreme weather conditions!

I almost forgot to show you the back of my jumpsuit, which is another reason why I was hardly sweating in it at all!

We put up our 1970s parasol - a family heirloom - in our bistro courtyard, even though it's too hot to sit out there. This is mainly for our poor plants' benefit, in order to prevent those residing there burning to a crisp. I even took down the two pots hanging from the brackets of the enamel sign, as keeping them up there would have resulted in their untimely demise.

The King Louie halterneck dress I wore on Sunday was another charity shop find, incidentally picked up in the same shop near Bruges as the Zara trousers.

Too hot for accessories, I kept it simple by pinning a vintage daisy brooch to the dress, and briefly wearing a fused glass ring. Shortly after taking the photos, I took it off to yet again wash my hands, and forgot to put it back on.

The red suede Gabor wedges were last Summer's sales bargain.

Once again, we mostly took shelter inside, at one point dragging ourselves out of our lethargic states to lug a bag of holiday maps and booklets downstairs.

If all goes well, we will be in our usual cottage in Belgium's west country in two weeks' time. Do keep everything crossed for us please!

I'm leaving you now with some more garden loveliness, as in spite of it all, and helped with some of our rather sweaty tender loving care, some plants are still thriving. 

Our hanging strawberry plant is still treating us to regular berries, while pale pink Malva, lavender Salvia and a happy marriage of Verbena and Rudbeckia stubbornly refuse to succumb to the heat!

This will be my first post published through the new Blogger interface, so I do hope everything goes well. Wish me luck!

As always, do stay safe, sane and fabulous! Hope to see you again next time!