Please send me evenings and weekends

Last week was quite a hectic one at the office and the commute home a nightmare due to tram delays (oh, the joys of public transport!) so that I was well and truly exhausted by the time I got home every night. To say that the weekend was very welcome is a bit of an understatement. But as it was an extended one, the 15th of August being a public holiday in Belgium, who am I to complain, really?

We were going to take it easy on Saturday but the lure of the charity shops proved to be too strong.

We opted for our favourite one, in the neighbouring village of Duffel as, being on no less than three floors, it has a wide range of goods on offer. Another bonus is that it is near the small but perfectly formed park that we love.

With the sun filtering though the trees' canopy and its overall lushness, it felt like being in a fairy wonderland. The park has several ponds and a little stream, which is abundantly and imaginatively planted and is a perfect hideaway for toads and frogs, not to mention a duck or two.

Near one of the ponds, the annual duck convention was taking place, which was soon dispersed when it turned out the catering was not up to scratch. As we'd already eaten all of our picnic we had nothing to offer the poor creatures!

For the outing, I wore a short-sleeved summer two piece in a colour and pattern which went well with the greenery of the park.

Suit, handbag, belt, brooch and bangles: all charity shopped
Shoes and ring: retail
Beads: Blender Vintage Shop

The question on everyone's lips, of course, is: did we find anything worth mentioning at the charity shop?

Well, one of the first things that caught our eye was a big brass and luminous plastic Lourdes souvenir which, in spite of our vows to stop buying these things, simply had to come home with us.


We have quite a little collection of these Lourdes memorabilia, which in French are scornfully called "bondieuseries".

We didn't set out to collect these.
No: it happened purely by coincidence.









First, we were given a pewter clock-cum-music box by one of Jos's ex-colleagues. Then we found a small plastic bottle in the form of the Virgin Mary, with some holy water still inside, which we bought as it reminded Jos of his mother.

This is an old photo, we have even more now!

One thing led to another: we started picking up these kitschy items at flea markets for next to nothing and before we knew it we had a whole shelving unit full of them. With the majority of them being glow-in-the-dark, they certainly light up our lives, quite literally!

Other finds included a burgundy and turquoise waterproof bag which I'll use when travelling, a souvenir of Belgian seaside resort Blankenberge and a 1950s fake wood veneer tray.

My final purchase was this dress, perfect for lounging around the house and garden.

On Sunday, we were promised a summer's day, so we thought we'd make the most of it and visit a small flea market on the outskirts of Antwerp.

By the time we had parked our car and walked the few hundred metres to the square where the market was being held, it had started raining. First it was only the odd drop here and there but then umbrellas had to come out and several stall owners were obliged to cover their wares with plastic sheets.

Fortunately, it was only a shower and the sun soon reappeared, so that we were able to make a few small purchases. After doing the rounds, not once, but twice in case we'd missed something, we plonked down at the conveniently placed benches and tables to eat our picnic.

The small tartan zip-up suitcase was a last-minute buy. Our other finds were a bracelet (I'd been looking for a nice green one for ages), and ... more brooches!

I felt very mid-century in my outfit of choice:

Skirt and top:Think Twice
Belt and bag: charity shopped
Shoes and cardigan: retail
Beads: Vintage Styling
Umbrella: National Trust

Oh, and this is what happens when your husband is retired and has been befriending the local elderly ladies. Knowing that we like "old things", they bring him gifts, like this pretty wash set ...

Now, where are we going to put it?

Smile for the camera

I always find the weeks before going on vacation a little nerve-wracking, with so many things still to be arranged, both at work and at home. Cat-sitters need to be briefed as to how her majesty likes to be treated, paperwork needs to be sorted and lists to be ticked off.

This is not in any way helped by the fact that I hate packing, especially clothes packing. We are going to Wales, after all, so we have to be prepared for all kinds of weather. Our holiday will also involve a lot of walking and the Pembrokeshire coast path certainly cannot be tackled in frivolous summer dresses and sandals.

So, it is the time of year when my jeans (which I do not wear throughout the year) have to be dug out of the suitcase on top of the wardrobe. This is followed by a trying-on session, when anything too tight is discarded. Believe me, that suitcase must have magic powers, as some years it has clearly shrunk all the trousers and I have to go last-minute shopping. This year, I'm happy to say, the suitcase was on good behaviour!

Last weekend, I have been choosing vintage tops to combine with the dreaded jeans, and of course I am taking some dresses too. With my clothing case packed and zipped up, I was glad to have this out of the way, although there is no guarantee I will take things out and add others until the very last moment.

What else did we do last weekend? Some time ago, we were asked by my friend's daughter if we wanted to do a surprise family photo session for my friend's birthday. It was on Saturday and it was good fun! Jos was the main photographer, having past experience with this kind of photography, but I tagged along and took my camera as well.

We went to the Middelheim park in Antwerp, which is an open air museum of sculpture and visual arts and a great setting for a photo session.

Ingrid, my friend, was at secondary school with me for four years, after which we lost touch.

















We met again via Facebook after 30 years in 2009 and she turned out to be living in the next village.

We now see each other regularly and our husbands, both being retired, even more so, as they meet every week for a drink.

The weather was great, the atmosphere was relaxed and a great afternoon was enjoyed by both the models and the photographers.

Of course, I took the opportunity to make some blog photos as well.

I love this fun photograph taken of Jos and me by Ingrid's daughter Cynthia.

I still have to finish the last of the packing, as we are leaving very early on Saturday, but I don't want to leave without showing you my finds of last week.

I bought these two dresses at Vintage Styling, which sadly will no longer be there by the time I get back ...

And finally, while waiting for the bank to open, I found this amazing book in a bargain book shop. I'm sure it will keep me occupied for a while ...

Pembrokeshire, here we come!

I won't have Internet access for two weeks, but then again I'll have a catch-up with you all to be looking forward to when I get back.

See you!

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside!

I was about six years old when I first saw the sea.

Before that, the sea lived in the bottom drawer of a chest of drawers in my maternal grandparents’ attic room. More specifically, it lived inside a beautiful shiny conch shell. If you put it to your ear, you could hear the sound of waves crashing on the shore. Or at least, that’s what my grandfather told me. I never doubted his words, as the drawer also contained photographs of my grandparents taken at the seaside.  In them, they wore funny bathing costumes, even my grandfather did. They must date from late 1920s or early 1930s.

My grandmother (far left) and grandfather

The year I turned six, my parents bought their first car, a 2CV (Deux Chevaux), after which we started spending Sundays going on day trips all around the country. In we would pile: my dad and paternal grandfather in the front, and me squashed between my mum and grandmother in the back.

My paternal grandmother in front of our Deux Chevaux

That summer, we went for an overnight stay to the seaside. We arrived around midday and I remember it being warm and sunny and very crowded. I stayed at a hotel for the very first time and I remember being served half a grapefruit as a first course at lunch, which I didn't like. I have only vague memories of playing on the beach but what sticks in my mind was being told to be aware of jellyfish!

Strangely enough, I cannot find any pictures of that seaside holiday except for this one, which must have been taken by my mum, of my grandparents, my dad and me, picnicking in the dunes. I am wearing a striped towelling top, which was all the rage back then.

After that holiday, though, I don't remember any seaside visits until we first took the ferry from Ostend to Dover in 1976. 

Although I love all kinds of landscapes and natural features, I seem to be particularly drawn to the seaside, to which I keep returning again and again.

Here I am in St. Ives, in 1995, during my first summer holiday with Jos.

I love the sound of the crashing waves (which sounds exactly as they did in that conch shell) and seagulls' cries, ...

... and the sight of boats bobbing in harbours and marinas.

I like the salty smell of washed-up seaweed ...

... and walking along the shore when the tide is coming in, trying to keep one step ahead of the ever increasing waves.

I like walking along the beach, collecting shells and pebbles smoothed by centuries of tides ...

... and natural sculptures of driftwood bleached by the sun.

When I saw this amazing vintage seagull printed dress at Vintage Styling last year, it just had to be mine!

Over the years, I have collected quite a few seaside related brooches, like these boats and seagulls.

Last summer, I succumbed to this sailing boat patterned dress, which I saw in shop window in Cardigan while on holiday. It is from Seasalt and although I think it's lovely, it needs lots and lots of ironing, which is why it had been languishing in my ironing basket for months. I actually ironed it especially for this post.

In the bottom left picture you can see Colin the Crab, which we bought from the same shop, called Mundos, on Cardigan High Street.

I am going to finish this post with some photos of the colourful beach huts at De Panne, Belgium's most westerly seaside resort, near the French border. They never fail to cheer me up and I cannot resist taking photographs of them whenever we visit.

What about you? Do you like to be beside the seaside?

What a difference a day makes

It’s been a strange kind of week. Last weekend, we all but got sunstroke when out walking, and the summer weather continued during the week, making me sweat in my polyester summer dresses while slaving away at work!

I found this sleeveless green dress at Think Twice last week, just in time to wear while the glorious weather lasted.

We bought some fiery red Pelargoniums to put into the lovely green enamelware planters we found at Blender Vintage Shop a couple of weeks ago. Aren’t they a cheerful sight against the crackly white paint of our ancient potting shed?

The warm weather has given a boost to our garden’s greenery, giving it its usual lush summer outlook. Several Geraniums have started blooming, including the unusual dark violet Geranium phaeum. The double Aquilegia ‘Nora Barlow’ is also making an appearance, although not in the place where we originally planted her. No, she decided to self-seed in the most awkward of places, right beside the door of our potting shed. The many ferns, which were already in place when we “inherited” our garden, are starting to unfurl their fronds and will soon turn our garden into a true jungle.

Summer ended on Friday night, though, when  temperature started dropping. On Saturday, we were back to about 10 degrees Celsius, making it quite a contrast with the high temperatures we had been getting used to. So, goodbye to summer clothes for now. 

One advantage is that I could finally wear my pink spring coat, as usually it is either too cold, too warm or too wet to wear it.

There's always got to be a silver lining, no?

I bought the coat on my first ever visit to Blender Vintage Shop and it is a true gem.

It is tailor-made in a lightweight candy pink fabric, lined in palest pink. It has a round collar and closes with four buttons, ending with a cute little bow below the bust.

Beneath the coat, I wore a short-sleeved dress in a turquoise, green, grey and white pattern, with a notched collar and fabric covered buttons. The label reads “Courtaulds Lirelle”. 

To combat the cold, I added a green cardigan to which I pinned a blackbirds brooch bought from the “Brooch Lady”.

Black court shoes, a cream vinyl handbag and a colourful Italian-made scarf completed my outfit.

Dress and scarf: Think Twice

Shoes, bag, belt and cardigan: charity shopped

Coat and beads: Blender Vintage Shop

Brooch: flea market

Apart from the green dress shown at the start of this post, I did manage to find a few other nice things on the clothes front:

Skirt from Vintage Styling combined with short sleeved jumper found while charity shopping on Saturday.

Short-sleeved stripy blouse, also from Vintage Styling, in the second photo worn with turquoise blazer from the charity shop.

Finally, these cute red and white beads from Vintage Styling.

But that's not all! We had an extended weekend here in Belgium, and there was a huge flea market on Sunday, so there is more to come. Watch this space, as they say!

Did you do anything nice this weekend?