I don't care if Monday's blue

From blue skies to Blue Monday: what a difference a day makes! The sunny spell on Sunday before last turned out to be a one-off, as on Monday we were back to the watershed which seems to be our lot this Winter.

In fact, Blue Monday quite lived up to its name this year.

Through the rain beating against the office windows, I could just make out the huge canvas covering the building opposite, advertising Côte d'Or chocolate. But even a serotonin boosting bar of dark chocolate wouldn't have been enough to trick my brain into thinking happy thoughts.

By the end of the week, I was feeling worn out and more than just a little dejected, especially as I'm still on my own in the office for most of the time. Believe me, having only yourself to talk to can be quite exhausting, especially as my imaginary speaking partner seems to know all the answers and can be quite rude at times ...

The weather kept me from venturing too far in my lunch breaks, often just nipping over to the indoor shopping centre across the road, where I managed to find two pairs of gloves, with 70% off: a pair of leather gloves in gold and a pair of hot pink ones, in brushed wool and with a little velvet bow.

There was a tiny light at the end of the tunnel as not only was I taking Friday afternoon off, the sun decided to make an brief appearance that very day.

I was wearing the charcoal grey River Woods skirt I'd scored for € 5 on Saturday, combined with a black pussy-bow blouse from Think Twice, abundantly printed with multicoloured blooms.

On top, a bright blue cardigan, with one of my oldest brooches - in terms of ownership - pinned to it.
I love this white metal scroll with its dangly little chains ending in tiny pearls.

I added bright blue tights (just visible in the first collage) and a wide bright blue belt.

The boots aren't my most exciting pair, but they are ultra comfortable and waterproof, as well as being made of the softest faux leather.

Talking of boots, I am once again looking for a pair of burgundy ones. I though my search had ended last year, when I stumbled upon a fabulous pair of Finnish made boots at Think Twice. Alas, they are the pull-on kind, without a zip, and therefore the kind of boots you need to get up earlier for if you want to wear them. All the pulling and pushing has wreaked havoc with the inner heel of one of the boots, creating an uncomfortable bulge which makes walking in them an ordeal.

So, after work, Jos picked me up and we stopped at several shoe shops on our way home.

Not surprisingly, I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did pick up this divine pair of booties covered in a holographic floral velvet.

It started raining again on Friday night, and it kept raining heavily well into Saturday, its constant murmuring lodging itself into my brain.

We tossed around a couple of plans for the weekend, but on Saturday I was happy to sleep late (ish!) and potter around the house, showing you some of Dove Cottage's nooks and crannies in the process.

But there was nothing for it, we did have to brave the rain on Saturday afternoon!

We were visiting Jos's son and daughter in law, meeting their adorable British Shorthair kitten, Abby, for the first time.

Warning: cuteness alert!

Incidentally, I was wearing a very similar grey!

The grey cardigan has been living in my wardrobe for many years. It's from C&A and dates from before my second hand/vintage days. I can't remember when I last wore it but, casting around for a suitable cardigan, and taking my cue from the grey belt, I suddenly remembered this one.

My pleated, red checked skirt has been hanging ready for wear ever since I picked it up at Think Twice a couple of months ago. Although it's got a certain kind of frumpiness to it, it is also deliciously swooshy, and I loved wearing it!

Long time no wear for this black blouse, found at Think Twice, with its little shawl collar, slightly gathered sleeves and sprinkling of red, pink and orange flowers. I love how the sleeves are absolutely covered with them, while they are sparser on the bodice and collar.

In keeping with the grey theme, I added a plastic grey swallow brooch, prompting Jos to say that one swallow does not make a Spring, although I believe in English it should be Summer, not Spring.

Back to our visit, where we were treated with coffee and some very indulgent chocolate tart. Yummy! We even got leftovers to take home with us.

We spent the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday relaxing inside Dove Cottage, doing some reading, eating more tart, and watching the final episode of Endeavour, Season Four.

The episode had Morse talking to an American lady, who disclosed she was from Omaha, Nebraska. Thinking of Goody, we said "Omahahahaha" in chorus!

A few hours of unexpected sunshine on Sunday made us grab our coats and go for a walk. But that will be for my next post!

Got my feet on the ground

Going back to work after the Christmas break was hard enough as it is and to be faced with the crowds going mad at the first day of the sales didn't exactly improve things.

But, as they say, if you can't beat them, join them, so that's what I did, although it was totally unintentional.

As I was battling through the crowds in the small shopping centre near my office - I needed to pick up something at the chemist - I passed the shop where, a couple of months ago, I'd spotted a gorgeous burgundy fake fur wrap.

Being used to second hand shopping, I baulked at seeing its price, possibly exclaiming "How much?" in the process. As the shop wasn't too crowded, I took a chance and popped inside. And there it was, reduced by 50%. Result!

Obviously, I had to wear it on Saturday to show if off, although it wasn't nearly cold enough for wearing fur, fake or otherwise.

I wore it with my belted Tweed jacket and my fluffy purple beret.

Underneath, I was wearing a vintage dress picked up at one of Think Twice's sales.

It's a fit and flare model with a cowl neck and the fabric has a busy Paisley print in muted colours. There's a variety of greens in it, as well as sky blue and peachy pink.

I added a lilac belt and a long, chunky, green necklace.

On top, a royal blue cardigan, on which I pinned a brooch with different coloured stones in earthy tones, which was charity shopped in Wales back in 2016.

On Saturday morning, we took down our decorations and dismantled our Christmas tree, putting them away in our basement for another year.

Then, after lunch, we did some leisurely charity shopping, and ended the afternoon with coffee and cake at our final shop, which has a rather nice cafeteria.

I have dozens of belts, the majority of them charity shopped for € 1,50 or less. At prices like this, you can afford lots of variety, so I always look out for belts in different colours and styles.

I always look out for cardigans too, this time picking up this pink one with black collar detail and black buttons.

The row of photos on the right show a vintage pink Paisley print skirt. It's handmade, and I love how they used a contrasting bright green zip!

Jos was in luck too, as he found a brand new shirt from Massimo Dutti for next to nothing.

On Sunday, we had another date with our favourite indoor flea market.

I'm taking you through what I was wearing first.

The long orange cardigan on the left was another charity shop find from Saturday. Although it worked really well with my outfit and I wore it in its entirety on Monday, I changed into a short bottle green cardigan for our outing, as I was planning to wear a short jacket.

Jos actually thought I was wearing a dress, and indeed, the skirt and blouse went unexpectedly well together, with similar geometrics going on in their prints.

I matched my brooch to the ladies on the blouse and after trying on and discarding several necklaces, I finally settled on this ochre yellow and gold one.

Have you noticed that the green stone of my ring matches the brooch lady's cloche hat in shape as well as colour? I only did when I was looking at the photographs.

It had turned bitterly cold overnight, so we did most of the outfit photos at home. I am looking quite pale and ghostly in them, which isn't helped by the fact that I wasn't wearing lipstick.

All ready to go with my green jacket, favourite scarf, orange beret and tights and dark brown vintage gloves. The burgundy handbag has a cross body strap as well, perfect for some hands free browsing!

On to the flea market, which wasn't as big as last month's, and not overly crowded. My guess is that most people were out sales hunting as most city centre shops were open.

It did mean we were able to see it all - we are usually quite cross-eyed by the time we reach the last two aisles - and we found quite a few treasures too!

Zooming in on the strangest oddity first, we picked up these feet with their varnished toenails, advertising a shoe brand, from a favourite stall. They are made of some kind of moulded plastic. The stall's owner (a follower of my blog!) bought them at a flea market back in the day when she used to work as a window dresser. Neither she nor I had any luck finding anything about them on the Internet.

Another favourite stall yielded this plaster head on a heavy stone plinth. She has joined the others on our spare room's mantelpiece.

More oddities! I was drawn to this sad looking wooden Scottie and was wondering about the indentation on his back, when the stallholder told me it was a pipe holder. I couldn't very well leave the poor thing behind, and was given a beautifully crafted and marked pipe to go with him.

The tin on the top right was a gift from the lady who sold us the feet, while the tin with the 1930s lady was issued by chocolate brand Côte d'Or to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 1933.

These vintage deadstock woolly hats were just € 2,50 each, so I bought three of them as I couldn't make up my mind. I already wore the green one to work this week.

There were some brooches too, of course, picked up at various stalls. With prices ranging from € 1 to € 7,50, my purchases didn't exactly break the bank.

Although I obviously love them all, my favourite is the wicker brooch embroidered with straw poppies. As it is also the most fragile one, it might only get the odd outing.

Which one is your favourite?

Is there honey still for tea?

No chocolate eggs or bunnies for us last Sunday. Nor did we join in an Easter egg hunt. No, we were going on a different hunt altogether. And yes, you have got it quite right: we went on another flea market treasure hunt!

It was quite chilly, so I was glad I didn't put away all the long-sleeved stuff.

I've had this burgundy Merry Finn dress, sprinkled with tiny pink diamonds, for a while now, but it was waiting for the perfect occasion to wear it. It's got a flower border pattern, which is repeated on the breast pocket and collar. Its slippery polyester fabric has an equally slippery lining, so that I was making swish-swish sounds with every move. And look: it's got pockets too! I actually only discovered them during our photo shoot!

For contrast, I added a light blue cardigan (with red and mid blue accents at the cuffs) and light blue plastic beads and ring.

The jacket I chose for the occasion is a 1980s does 1930s Sears number, to which I pinned a gold tone brooch set with a turquoise stone.
The blue scarf striped with a multitude of colours came from a cheap High Street shop (Zeeman, for my Belgian and Dutch readers) and I have it in pink as well.

The flea market is a firm favourite, the quality of the stalls much better than those in Antwerp.
Still, it didn't have its usual capacity, which was probably due to the Easter break.

Upon entering, we almost walked into this flamingo, which instantly made me think of Melanie!
It was too big to take home with us, though, not to mention far too expensive, as was the majority of the objects displayed on this stall. Most of it was still there when we walked past on our way out ...

It didn't take us long to make our first purchases, all from the same delightful stall: a brooch with an intriguing stone, a vintage string of beads and a pocket watch chain. The enamel goose brooch came from a different stall.

We also found this cute trio of poodles - mum with her two puppies attached by little chains - on the first stall.

We have a glass Bambi ornament in the same vein.

I'm guessing both ornaments date from the 1950s.












We halted in front of this contraption (bottom left), which I recognized to be a Teasmade. Having come across similar ones in several books on vintage, it was the first time I saw one "in the wild".

Belgium isn't a nation of tea drinkers, and I was raised on coffee from a tender age.

In fact, I only had my first taste of tea when on a school holiday in Austria, aged 11, and I thought it tasted disgusting.

Later, I learned to appreciate tea, especially upon discovering there was more than one variety!
After all, you cannot call yourself an Anglophile and not like tea!

Among the usual jumble of stalls selling heaps of clothing, crates of books and records, not to mention those stalls consisiting of nothing but cartons containing a lifetime of accumulated junk, there are those whose display halts you in your tracks.

We were tempted by a cheerful stall full of vintage crockery, part of which you can see in the above collage on the bottom right.

We bought this French coffee pot complete with a removable filter for brewing coffee. Not only does it look great against the blue walls of our kitchen, it produces seriously strong coffee, as we were about to find out the next morning.

From the same stall came this French, green enamel salt container which, knowing us, we will use for something else entirely. It is joining the other green enamel kitchenware we already have.













Then it was time for lunch, which for once didn't consist of a picnic. We splashed out and had coffee and a roll in the cafeteria, which is situated smack dab in the middle of the flea market, so that you can watch proceedings while you eat.

It was also in view of the aforementioned Teasmade. As I've finally succumbed to a smartphone, I started Googling the damn thing and found out that it was a 1950s one, produced by Goblin. I also almost choked on my roll when I saw the prices it was going for.

After lunch, we casually sauntered by the Teasmade stall, acted as if we had no idea what it was, patiently listened to the seller's explanation and eventually asked for the price. It turned out to be so much less than what I'd seen online, that we said we'd take it there and then. This is quite unusual for us, as we have an agreement not to buy anything unless we know the perfect place to put it. Oh, well, you only live once, I suppose.

 As it was, it didn't take long to find the perfect place.

Back at home, we proceeded to clean it up, as it - especially the kettle - was quite dirty. It came up a treat, though. Not only that, it is in full working order.

And we found it mentioned in our Collecting the 1950s book!

Although they are meant to be kept by the bedside, to wake you up in the morning with a cup of tea, the thing makes quite a racket, which goes on for about 10 minutes until it comes to the boil. The pressure of the steam then forces the boiling water along the chrome tube at the top and into the tea pot. After the kettle has emptied the platform it stands on rises and cuts off the current, at the same time switching on the alarm and the lights.

I can foresee this becoming quite the party trick!

Goblin manufactured their first Teasmade in 1937. It was made of plywood and had an actual lampshade. Due to the outbreak of war, however, production was halted and only resumed in 1947.

From 1949 until 1955, they produced the D21 model, which in design was the predecessor of our Teasmade. This one, however, had a plywood body and an accompanying wooden tray.

From 1955 until 1960, it was replaced by the D25 model, which was made from cream urea plastic (a kind of Bakelite), with an orange Goblin figure on the front. Sounds like ours, then. But some more Googling revealed it to be the D25b model, which was produced in 1960, the only differences being purely cosmetic, like the colour of the clock's face and hands.

If you are interested, you should check this fabulous website run by two Teasmade collectors, from which I gleaned my information as well as the fabulous ads.

Now, all this writing about coffee and tea has made me quite thirsty. Shall I put the kettle on?

White magic

After a couple of delightful, soothing-for-the-soul Spring days, by end of last week we were back to the same old can't-decide-what-season-it-is weather.

It's not exactly been cold, but it was grey and overcast with little or no sunny spells, as well as never-ending rain, especially on Saturday.

Nevertheless, our garden is starting to look quite green again, with many shrubs coming into bud. There is one plant which has especially been relishing the rainfall which came after last week's Spring weather.

Our Clematis armandii, planted many years ago to grow through our large Lilac bush, is positively groaning under the weight of hundreds of starry, creamy white flowers.

The plant has obviously benefited from the drastic haircut Jos gave it last summer.













All we need now is lots of sunshine to release its delicate almond scent, which will make sitting on the bench in the Lilac's shade a true delight.

Saturday we called in at some of the charity shops we didn't have time for on the day of the retro event, to see if they had any goodies left.

I wore this made in Sweden "Aspens" dress, made from a polyester material called "asplene-jersey".

It has alternating bands of light and dark burgundy sprinkled with a squiggly print, which is denser on the darker bands.












There's a touch of lilac in the squiggles, which prompted me to add a lilac belt and lilac/blue cardigan. I chose opaques with a pattern of burgundy rose buds.

Looking for the perfect necklace, I came across this long forgotten silver tone pendant.

The brooch, one of my favourites, is a silver tone knot fringed with little chains ending in tiny pearls.

The first shop we went to still had tables full of stuff, which they had sorted by colour: quite a lot of orange and avocado! However, nothing really caught our eye. I did find some more frocks though, one of which you'll get to see later in this post, as well as a fabulous full-length dressing gown.

There was hardly anything left at the other shop we visited, but their bookshelves are always worth a browse, and I came away with these two, for € 0,70 each.

Obviously, I couldn't leave behind Vita's biography.

The other book, a "noir" set in 1930s Bayswater, made me think of Mim. By pure coincidence, just two days later Mim posted a review of a non-fiction book by the same author, D.J. Taylor, called Bright Young Things!

The flower print background, by the way, is my new-found dressing gown!

Before returning to Dove Cottage, we had coffee and cake at the shop's recently opened café.

On Sunday, we had my niece's 15th birthday party to go to in the afternoon, and I spent the morning pottering around the house, finally getting to grips with some long overdue filing of paperwork. I had been procrastinating and kept shoving the pile of paper to the back of the cupboard, always finding something more interesting to do instead.

Call me rash, but I've already made a start on my Spring/Summer wardrobe switch by putting away the very warmest of my dresses, assessing what I wore and what I didn't, and why.

The dress on the left is a wardrobe staple which has seen me through many a winter. With its multi colour Paisley pattern, it can be combined with lots of my cardigans. I wore it here.

I almost got rid the one on the right, which I wore here, and I'm so glad I didn't. It's not going anywhere now.

These two plain dresses didn't see the light of day this winter. They are 100% new wool and lined, making them quite thick and heavy.

In fact, I didn't wear the brown one last winter either, so maybe it's time to say goodbye.

I'm going to hang on to the purple vintage C&A one as I love its colour, shape and detail.









This leaves Monday, for which I booked a day off.  Mr. S. urgently needed some new stuff, and since the chazzas here haven't been coming up trumps on menswear which isn't miles too big for him, there was nothing for it but to do some retail shopping.

The day was as dull and uninspiring as the - shock horror! - shopping centre we went to.

I wore one of the dresses I bought on Saturday's charity shopping trip.













Nothing dull and uninspiring about that one!

The absence of a label makes me think that it was handmade and the Crimplene-like fabric's print is bright enough to cheer up the greyest of days, not to mention the blandest of shopping centres!

I love the narrow V-shaped slit running down from the collar, ventilation which makes all the difference for a menopausal girl like me!

The plastic ring was a flea market find, and echoes the dress's print.

Thankfully, the shopping centre was rather quiet on Monday morning. Quite a difference with a Saturday afternoon, when wild horses couldn't drag me there!













Mr. S, who easily gets bored with clothes shopping for himself, bought two pairs of well needed jeans, three shirts and a jacket.

Oh, alright, here's a sneak preview of the jacket and two of the shirts.

The rest of the week whizzed by uneventfully, so that by the time you are reading this another weekend has rolled by.

The weather forecasters have predicted a continuation of this week's Spring weather, so let's hope they are right for once!

Have a great one!