It's time the tale were told

Oh dear, I can't believe it's been almost a month that I last put in an appearance here. I'm sure my continuing absence from blogland has got some of you worried, but in spite of my best intentions I haven't been able to summon up the energy to virtually put pen to paper and post another update.

Things have taken a turn for the worse, you see. When we went to the hospital for a  follow-up appointment on the 4th of February - a rare sunny day, and coincidentally our 31st wedding anniversary - we were given some devastating news which needless to say has knocked us both for six.

When Jos was hospitalized back in January, a routine test revealed some fluid around his lungs in which some atypical cells were discovered. He thereupon got keyhole surgery during which some lung tissue was taken for further testing.

Unfortunately, the biopsy results showed that he's got mesothelioma or asbestos-related cancer. It's still in the very early stages, so that he's eligible for chemotherapy, eventually followed by complex surgery which, if all goes well, is expected to take place somewhere in June.

Hardly a day goes by without another worry to add to our load and it feels as if our lives are no longer our own. But some days are better than others and on the better ones we are determined not to lose hope.

My wise friend Sheila has told me that self-care isn't selfish, which I'm adopting as my motto. As part of my self-care package I am mentally preparing for my return to blogland, although I suspect I won't be able to be around as much as I used to. 

However, with my 10th Blogiversary coming up in March - where did that time go? - it would be a shame to call it a day.

Hope to be joining you again soon!

Goodbye to the West Country

Once again, thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my last post. Jos is doing well and getting better day by day, although I guess it will be some time until everything is back to normal. But although the latter might have received a bit of a battering and changes are still ongoing - which, as an HSP person I'm not finding particularly easy to deal with - our resilience has rather caught me by surprise. 

As I was writing my last post, I was reminded of the fact that in the past blogging has more than once saved my sanity, and in fact my heartbeat instantly slowed down as I sat in front of my PC and shared my thoughts and feelings with you.

For obvious reasons, no outfit photos were taken, nor did we embark on any adventures during the past few weeks, so I think I'll just continue where I left off, and take a couple of trips in the time machine back to before our lives went pear-shaped.

As I still owed you the final episode of my travelogue, why don't I start with that?

Admittedly, I had to rewind and reread my previous travel posts to get back into the moment. What with everything that has happened since, it's a bit like looking through a pair of inverted binoculars, shrinking and slightly distorting my memories of our week away. 

Anyway, here goes ...

We've arrived on Friday the 6th of September and, after treating us to a blustery and granite grey day at the seaside on Thursday, the weather gods had now dropped all pretense at good behaviour. 

According to our weather app, there wouldn't be any let-up in the rain any time soon, which meant that we would have to get our thinking caps on. After all, having spent the first week of September in the area since 2012 we had exhausted most of its wet weather options. 

But fear not, we did find exactly what we were looking for at the Bakery Museum on the outskirts of the town of Veurne, about 30 minutes from our cottage.

The rain clouds were taking a breather as we arrived, so that we managed to make it from our car to the museum's entrance without getting wet. Once inside, I donned apron and baker's hat and briefly joined the line-up of Confiserie Vanbelle's personnel.

The museum is located in the former buildings of the 17th Century Zuidgasthuishoeve, one of the guest houses in Veurne which used to care for the poor, the sick and the elderly.

The museum, which is recognized as a regional museum by the Flemish Community, opened its doors in July1985 and has undergone a major renovation and expansion in 2001. 

The museum's collection comprises a mind-boggling 24,000 pieces relating to the baking trade and baking culture in Flanders from the 19th Century to the present.

The collection was started in the 1970s by Walter Plaetinck (1931-2018), a travelling salesman who collected the materials from the hundreds of bakers who were his customers.

As well as everything to do with making bread, the museum displays ice-cream, speculaas and chocolate moulds, waffle irons and other baking equipment. 

There's a replica of a 1960s bakery shop, where you can listen to the latest gossip, or you can take a look behind the scenes in the baker's pantry, where you can marvel at the array of ingredients and try your hand at a scent guessing game. 

Afterwards we sampled some strawberry tarts accompanied by the ubiquitous cappuccinos in the museum café.

Having finally run out of steam, the rain clouds had decided to call it a day after we arrived back at the cottage, offering the perfect opportunity to show you my outfit.

My favourite denim maxi skirt was joined by a Finnish peasant-style blouse - both picked up from Think Twice - and a charity shopped orange Zoë Loveborn cardigan. My necklace was charity shop find too, while the green stretchy belt with its faux-bamboo buckle was last Summer's sales bargain.

We were happy to see that hop-picking had commenced in the hop field across the road, the proceedings of which we watched from the comfort of our first floor perch for a while. 

Later that evening the sun, who had been conspicuous by her absence for days, finally managed to get a look-in, painting a golden glow on the horizon just before going down.

All that moisture had left a misty morning in its wake, which the sun soon made short shrift of, promising a perfect Summer's day. 

The temperature was on the up from Friday's mediocre 18°C and would climb to a balmy 23°C by the afternoon.

We had plans for that afternoon - the only ones which were set in stone that week - but as we had oodles of time to spare in the morning, we decided to go for a walk in the woods.

I've lost count of the number of times we've been for a walk in the local Helleketelbos, which is about 10 minutes drive from the cottage. However, one way or another, and in spite of the numbered markers and handy map, we always manage to get lost here.

Knowing this, we threw caution to the wind this time and started our walk on a path we'd never taken before. One which wasn't indicated by a marker ...

Although this should have been a recipe for disaster I'm happy to report that we didn't get more lost than usual. We might not have ended up where we thought we would, but we soon came across some of the landmarks we remembered from our previous visits, such as the tiny half-timbered cottage (two collages above, bottom right). And no, I didn't add a photo from one of our UK holidays by mistake (above, top left). 

While walking on one of the main paths, I noticed a flash of bright orange in the undergrowth of the woodland to our right. Thinking it must be some kind of fungus, we decided to investigate and clambered through the thicket of unruly shrubs and thorny bramble stems. Might this be Orange Peel Fungus (Aleuria aurantia), I wonder? 

Later on, we spotted this peach-lookalike specimen on a tree trunk. My search for its name remains fruitless, so I'm hoping one of my knowledgeable readers might be able to help me out. Kezzie, I am looking at you! 

Having arrived home without any further hiccups, we had lunch and then took a little siësta before proceeding to our afternoon destination, which involved a mere couple of minutes's drive from the cottage: the house of local sculptor and ceramist Lucien De Gheus (1927-2013).

The artist was successful in the post-war fifties and sixties, his main oeuvre consisting of sculpture,  ceramic objects and bas-reliefs. The peak of his success was reached at Expo 58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, where he won a gold medal for ceramics.

Right from the start the house, which was built by the artist himself, was meant to be a sculptor’s home, with a large and high hall/exposition area, a heatable winter studio and a summer studio with high windows to the north to let in neutral light.  

Lucien and his wife Suzanne moved into the house in August 1962 and stayed there until their deaths. The “Gheuzenhol” (transl. Gheuze's hole), as the artist called his home, exudes his soul in every corner and keeps fascinating visitors to this day. The house is a  sample of all the artistic disciplines he excelled in: stained glass, paintings, glazed floor tiles, ceramic windowsills, furniture and chandeliers.

By will Lucien De Gheus left his house and possessions to the foundation Private Stichting Lucien De Gheus – Druant, in order to open up his artistic legacy to the public. 

He also stipulated that the foundation promoted contemporary art by organizing Summer exhibitions in the Museum House. This year's exhibition was called Fuga's en Pimpelmezen (transl. Fugues and Blue Tits) and I even recognized the work of one of the artists. It's the sculpture two collages above, bottom right, and it's by Sharon Van Overmeiren (b. 1985), whose work I'd admired at Middelheim.

We absolutely loved the juxtaposition of the various works of art with the paraphernalia of daily life as lived by Lucien and Suzanne, who was his muse.

Also, I could have moved lock, stock and barrel into this wonderfully spacious 1960s house.

It's simply mind-boggling that, in spite of having holidayed in the area for so many years, this was our very first visit to this fascinating museum. But it definitely won't be our last!

So, that was it, our September getaway all wrapped up. Finally!

Before returning to the here and now, I'll be taking another couple of trips in the time machine. I hope you'll join me for the ride.

See you soon!

Nothing ever happens

The odd sunny half-day notwithstanding, we kept being plagued by gloomy January days. Even on those days when it wasn't raining for a change, the sky was a thick blanket of dull washed-out grey. Days like these tend to knit themselves together into a blur of time in which nothing really happens. Or so it seems, anyway.

I've been keeping a journal since April 2020, jotting down my thoughts and the things I've done in order to keep track of time and disentangle the blur. Lately, however, it often slips my mind to make an entry at the end of a day and then find it impossible to recollect how I spent my time.  As I've always prided myself on having the memory of an elephant, this can be quite disconcerting!

One such day was Saturday the 15th of January. Other than that I slept late-ish, followed by a lazy morning of pottering and photographing Friday's charity shop finds, the day is a bit of a blank.

But at least I can show you what I was wearing, which I'm sure you'll agree is the main purpose of my blog. And I still had to show you the rest of Friday's finds as well.

The skirt I'm wearing, and around which my outfit was built, was one of the latter. It was love at first sight and in fact I was so smitten with it that I wasted no time in giving it its first outing the very next day. I mean: plaid and chevrons in browns, oranges and a dash of white! Well worth wrestling it off a shop dummy!

The striped jumper of many colours, including orange to tie in with the skirt, was an old sales bargain from New Look, while the vinyl and elastic orange belt was an even older high street buy, from Forever 21 of all places. Both shops have long ago departed Antwerp's shopping streets.

Further accessories were an orange beaded necklace and a cameo brooch, supplied by a charity shop and a flea market respectively.

Foot- and legwear consisted of my fake snakeskin ankle boots an ancient pair of dark brown opaques.

The cropped furry gilet I layered on top was another one of Friday's charity shop finds. I seem to have accumulated quite a collection of these gilets, which come in handy for throwing over any kind of outfit, especially around the house, or at the office. I have one which lives permanently on the back of my office chair.

The day's other finds included a purple suede belt, a long grey beaded necklace, a blue, articulated owl pendant and a pair of red carved wooden bangles.

Two blouses came home with me as well. There was a sage green pussy-bow one with a black and white geometrical pattern, and a blue one with a tie neck and the cutest of bird patterns.

To conclude the day's bounty, there was a lavender crocheted gilet, a chunky cardigan with attached cameo brooch, the furry gilet I was wearing on Saturday and a purple knit scarf. 

You'll get to see me wearing the cardigan later in this post, although I removed the sewn-on brooch, which has joined my collection. Just as I don't like designers telling me where my waist is, I can't abide it when they tell me which brooch to wear on which particular garment! 

If Saturday had some sunny spells up its sleeve, it was another utterly grey and miserable day on Sunday. On top of that, it did feel much colder than the 4°C indicated by the thermometer on both days.

My erratic journal tells me I looked for and located my (faux) furs in the built-in closet in our bedroom, washed my hair, did a couple of chores and caught up with blogland.

For the day's outfit photos we didn't venture any further than just outside our back door.

I was wearing a vintage dress in a rich chocolate brown with a pattern of circles and clusters of vibrant flowers in pink, orange and turquoise. 

I added a wide turquoise belt and a turquoise chunky plastic ring, while opting for a slightly darker cerulean blue for my tights and cardigan. The latter is by retro label Zoë Loveborn by way of a charity shop. I've got several of their cardigans, which all have delightful details. Here, its fan-like pattern and the orange and blue buttons are its stand-out features.

Cream and brown are the main ingredients of the rest of my accessories: a brooch consisting of leaves and berries picked up on a flea market, and a chunky beaded necklace which was a charity shop find.

On my feet, the ochre yellow Sasha ankle boots from an earlier treasure hunt this month.

We're swiftly skipping my Monday to Thursday working week, in which even less was happening. 

Again, rain was our lot on many a day, resulting in distorted rain-splashed views through my office window. As ever I was glad that Friday was beckoning, as I was longing to sleep just that little bit longer and live life at a slower pace. 

As again I hadn't taken up my full holiday quota at the end of last year, I'll be able to continue taking Fridays off for a while yet. 

That Friday - we were the 21st of January by now - we woke up to sunny spells which made us hope we'd be able to go for another walk in between charity shops.

Typically, clouds soon started gathering, threatening rain at a moment's notice.

Still, we stopped off at the fort domain in the nearby town of Morstel, one of a chain of forts surrounding the city of Antwerp, built between 1859 and 1864. 

Initially, we'd just planned to have a car picnic with a view but, as the rain still seemed to hold off, we decided to walk down to the path surrounding the moat.

It was quite muddy in places and as I was wearing a rather delicate pair of boots, our walk was only a short one, just enough to clear the cobwebs for the day.

You've already seen my outerwear, consisting of some of my much worn favourites, and the Oilily bag which has been part of my weekend accoutrements ever since I happened upon it on a previous charity shopping trip.

What you haven't seen yet is what I was wearing underneath that day. 

Let's start with the dress, which is vintage, from the Finnish Karelia label. It is one of my earliest Think Twice finds, and it made its debut on the blog in one of my very first posts in March 2016.

Its fabric is a sturdy textured polyester and ... it has pockets. Lined pockets, to be exact!

Not surprisingly, I picked up the splashes of teal in its pattern by adding a teal flower brooch, beaded necklace and chunky glass ring. The belt is one of my beloved elasticated ones, with a round faux tortoiseshell buckle.

The waterfall cardigan, with its tie closure, is the one which originally had the cameo brooch attached. It's from C&A, warm and cozy, and surprisingly versatile, as I already wore it twice since it came home with me.

Now, before I bid you goodbye, I've got a confession to make. I am hopelessly behind with replying to all of your lovely comments. I do appreciate each and every one of them, though, and they quite often warm the cockles of my heart and make my day. 

I wanted to give a special thank you to reader Elizabeth, who kindly left a first time comment on my previous post. She finished her comment with the words "please don't stop sharing your world!". 

Well, I have every intention to continue doing exactly that and it quite boggles my mind that I have been doing so for coming up to six years soon. 

Look back in wonder

I've got something to celebrate today and no, it's not my birthday! And as our wedding anniversary was back in February, it's not that either. Now, what can it be? Well, today it has been four years to the day that I published my first blog post!

Now I know that many of you have been blogging for much longer, and that four years might not be all that much in the grand scheme of things, but I already couldn't imagine my life without it.

Blogging has brought me so much pleasure. The pleasure to be able to share my passions, to keep a journal and mark the passage of time and, above all, the pleasure of getting to know so many wonderful people, whom I would otherwise never have met, some of them becoming real-life friends in the process.

In fact, the only regret I have is that I didn't take the plunge earlier, but that's me, forever dithering and thus always late to the party!

Since my blog doubles as a diary, I just love being able to look back and see what I was up to at certain moments in time. Before blogging, the years were all a bit of a blur. Some years, there wasn't even all that much photographic evidence apart from our holiday snaps! Or at least not until I bought my current camera and starting making collages, which initially I posted on Facebook.

As in this part of the world the weather is such a topic of conversation, it can be quite a revelation too, travelling back in time to a particular month last year only to find that the weather was in complete contrast to this year's.

Take the above photo, for instance, which appeared in a blog post last March but was actually taken at the end of February, when the temperatures were so balmy that I could comfortably pose in the park in just my dress without getting all goose-bumpy or rain-drenched!

So, in order to celebrate my Blogiversary, I scrolled through all of last year's posts, choosing some of my favourites from each month. Quite a daunting task, I must add, and my original shortlist was quite a long one, but in the end I managed to keep the photos to a fairly reasonable amount. 

Apart from the photos, there are a few favourite posts as well. How I loved writing (and re-reading) the story of the two coats in the attic which I published in March!

This collage, in which I'm wearing a floral skirt suit and my lilac Tweed jacket for a walk in the park in April, makes me yearn for Spring to finally arrive.

As does this photo, taken in the same month, where I'm twirling the full skirt of a favourite vintage dress. There was no need for a cardigan or coat on this day when we visited a local nature reserve and were captivated by carpets of wood anemones. My heart is making a little leap of joy as I remember exactly how I felt that day.

April also saw us going on our first short holiday of the year, staying at the B&B near Bruges. While we were there, we visited the charming little town of Damme, where I couldn't resist becoming one with a sea of daisies. Pure bliss, and so easily evoked by just looking at this photo.

In May, my blog reminds me of the fact that I got new glasses, my first pair of multifocals.  I took them for a test drive (or, more appropriately, walk) in the park, wearing an old floral skirt and blouse, both vintage, topped by a recently charity shopped orange velvet jacket. I'd almost forgotten about those pale pink booties! 

In June, we said goodbye to the parental home, to which I paid tribute by writing a farewell post full of bittersweet memories, one I simply cannot re-read without getting a little tear in my eye.

Here's me, wistfully descending my childhood home's magnificent stairs for the very last time. Sigh!

In the second half of June, we embarked on our annual UK holiday, which we spent in Shropshire and the Welsh borders. 

Starting as we meant to go on, we met up with Vix and Jon on our very first day. It was almost a given that a spot of charity shopping was involved! Can't wait to do it all again in a couple of months' time!

On one of the hottest days, we hopped over the border to Wales for a visit to Powis Castle. My outfit, consisting of a vintage waxed cotton wrap skirt and a top which was a sales bargain from New Look, might well be my favourite of the past year!

Another hot day saw us seeking shelter in a secret garden, a definite contender for a return visit. The dress I was wearing was a gift from Vix, while the hat was a cheeky buy from a National Trust shop right in the middle of Slow Fashion Season. 

July and August were months of extremes. First there was a heatwave, when we were melting in unheard of temperatures of +40° Celsius.

Even if it wasn't nearly that hot on the day we went to a rather disappointing outdoor flea market, we were still glad to be able to cool down in the park afterwards. I was wearing a blue flower-sprigged 1970s cotton frock accessorized with pops of red, another one that's in the running for favourite of the year.

July was followed by a partially rainy August. On the 15th of that month, a public holiday in Belgium, we briefly ventured outside between showers to photograph my 1980s inspired outfit. If only the skirt is vintage, everything else except for the ring was charity shopped. Don't you just love that crab bag?

Oh how I love the promise of the first day of a holiday! We had our usual sojourn in Belgium's west country in the first week of September, and here I am soaking up the afternoon sun on the steps of Poperinge's town hall, wearing a King Louie dress I'd found at the charity shop only a few days previous.

Our holiday was a mixture of sunshine and showers, but Summer made a brief return when we were back home, prompting a walk in a shady park wearing a € 2 Think Twice find and a pink plastic chain necklace converted into a belt. The first signs of Autumn could no longer be ignored, though.

The second half of September was very wet so we anxiously kept an eye on the weather forecast as we had plans for a day trip to Bruges on Jos's birthday. The weather gods must have been looking out for us, as it remained virtually dry that day, with even a hint or two of sunshine!

Ah, October! The time to indulge in Autumn walks and a bit of leaf-kicking. But not this year, as the rains returned with a vengeance after that one-off day on Jos's birthday.

Then finally one weekend it stopped raining for long enough to go for a stroll - and hug some trees - wearing a dress which had been on Think Twice's rails for only 30 seconds before I grabbed it.

November saw us cat-sitting the delightful Abby, who had no problem stealing  my limelight ...

... and going for another little holiday in Zeeland, where I was finally able to kick some leaves in the abbey courtyard in Middelburg ...

... and go for a bracing walk by the seaside in fashionable Domburg!

Looking back, I seem to have been wearing a lot of red in December, which was purely coincidental and had nothing to do with the approaching silly season. This grey and raspberry red dress, another Think Twice find, got its very first outing.

But it was almost a given that I wore green too, especially when years of being patient finally paid off and a pair of green boots came my way. This dark olive green and pink flapper inspired outfit is another one of my favourites. 

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while will know that I love green, so it will come as no surprise that I picked it as the main colour of my New Year's Eve outfit.  It was based around a wide Scandi print maxi skirt, which had many admirers, both on the blog and on Instagram, which I'd joined in a moment of madness back in June.

We've reached 2020 by now, and the final posts of my 4th blogging year. I'll be brief here, as it wasn't all that long since I posted them. 

It was a cold but reasonably dry January day when I wore this pleated dress, fur collared jacket and pink feathery scarf for a charity shop rummage. The yellow snake print handbag was an irresistible sales bargain. Oh, don't tell me you wouldn't have been tempted too!

Another Saturday in January, and feeling the warmth of the sun on my face was a delight after the endless succession of grey rainy days. 

On this crisp sunny day we walked to the beautiful ruin of Sleeping Beauty's castle amid a juxtaposition of Autumn and Spring.

A final January outfit, again featuring green with a generous dollop of pink, was based around this stripy pussy bow dress, which again had many admirers. 

I'm concluding this round-up of my blogging year with our 25th Wedding Anniversary in February which, as you'll probably remember, we celebrated with a couple of days at our favourite B&B near Bruges.

And while looking back has been a rollercoaster of emotions, I cannot wait to fill the still empty pages of a new blogging year.

A big thank you to all my readers and followers ❤❤❤ 

I hope you will be joining me on my journey through year 5!