Rainy days are here again

I keep having to check the calendar to make sure that my brain is not playing tricks on me. I mean, how can it be that yet another month is drawing to its close and that Spring, in its meteorological sense at least, will soon be well and truly over. 

The arrival of June traditionally means it's almost time for our annual holiday, but as something starting with C did put a spanner in the works for two years running, this year our nerve ends are well beyond frazzled. We hardly dare to believe that it's finally happening and that, in fact, in only three week's time, fingers, toes and everything else crossed, we will be back in the UK!

Obviously, my blog hasn't quite caught up with the times as usual, the month of May having only just passed its halfway point here.

 

With the mercury having climbed well beyond 25°C, there was talk of imminent rain and the threat of a thunderstorm, but apart from a sky darkening with a gang of angry black clouds and a couple of scattered raindrops which seemed to have lost their way, nothing had happened by Wednesday the 18th of May.

As I had a hairdresser's appointment during lunch break, I breathed a sigh of relief that my coiffure was spared from being spoiled by the untimely arrival of a shower!

The muggy temperatures dictated that I wore one of my favourite Summer dresses, a swishy 1980s does 1950s one with a wavy red on white print and crisp white cuffs and collar. And no, I haven't got the faintest idea why I'm holding out my hand as if for a handout. Did I detect one of those lost raindrops, perhaps?

In lieu of the dress's original boring white belt, I used a stretchy cream one with a round buckle. As an aside, these kind of belts are perfect for sitting at my desk all day without it digging into my midriff.

I'd been wearing a light blue cardigan on top when I set out that morning, so the light blue beaded necklace was worn in its honour. The brooch with its tiny embroidered flowers was found in an antiques emporium in Shrewsbury during our last UK holiday.

We'd been watching with growing excitement as the first of the flower buds appeared in our Oriental Poppy a couple of weeks earlier, and thus we were more than thrilled to be counting no less than 10 of them by now. 

Meanwhile, delicate orange Welsh Poppies (Meconopsis cambrica) were turning up left, right and centre. Their ancestors originally came from a plant sale at an arboretum many years ago - they are quite a rarity here in these parts - and they really seem to have a mind of their own, self-seeding liberally wherever they fancy.  

We finally got that thunderstorm accompanied by heavy rains in the early hours of Thursday, with Jos having to jump out of bed to close our bedroom window in order to avoid a minor flood.

Thankfully, it had stopped raining by the time I had to go to work, even though the sky was still oppressively overcast and the temperature had dropped to 22°C. Upon leaving the house, we both happened to look up and spot the heron standing majestically on top of the chimney belonging to the museum of folklore. I just had the time to snap it with my phone's camera when, having made its selection from the breakfast menu, it flew off.

In spite of the sun doing her very best to join us, she never got a look in and in fact, by lunchtime it had been gradually becoming darker until it looked as if time had suddenly accelerated and midnight was upon us. Then the heavens opened with a surge of pent-up water, the curtain of rain driven by an apocalyptic wind lashing against the office windows. Needless to say, I decided against going for a walk during my lunch break!

Although it was over in less than an hour, the onslaught had created quite a bit of havoc in the garden, flattening most of the poor Lupines, some of which had broken off as they were unable to bear the weight of their waterlogged flowers. Fortunately, most of them were on their last legs anyway, with a new flush of baby spikes already waiting in the wings. Still, I cut off the still pristine tops of one or two of the battered spikes and gave them another couple of days of life on our kitchen shelves.

Thankfully, we'd already staked the Delphiniums, sparing them the same fate as the Lupines.

The dress I was wearing is another vintage Summer favourite, dating from and impersonating the same decades as Wednesday's. It's got an abstract Mid-Century pattern in black, blue and red, an invisible zip at the front and a most delightful tie collar. Oh, and pockets! Let's not forget about them!

I picked up the red bits in its pattern with my accessories which included a vinyl belt with a rectangular buckle, a glass beaded necklace, glass ring and cat brooch. 

It was only when we were taking the outfit photos that I suddenly noticed my ring was missing. I was fairly certain I was still wearing it when I got home, but couldn't find it anywhere. Turned out it had slipped from my finger when I was trying to save the Lupines, as I found it winking at me in the border.

While Jos was out on his usual newspaper round on Friday morning, I made close-ups of the ring and cat brooch. Or at least, I tried to do so, as a certain someone was adamant on giving me a paw! Funny that she only went for the cat brooch an couldn't care less about the ring.

The charity shops provided the bulk of my outfit that day as everything but my shoes and pink plastic ring was charity shopped at one time or another. 

The floaty floral pleated skirt was bought at Oxfam in October 2020, while the King Louie blouse, if I remember correctly, was a lucky find in our most local charity shop. It's got a deep purple stripe in its plaid, which prompted me to wear the purple woven belt.

Further accessories were a pink beaded necklace and metal pink-hearted flower brooch. The latter has a blue, yellow-hearted twin, which you can see here.

Another thunderstorm accompanied by gale force winds had been forecasted for the afternoon so, after Jos's return, we wasted no time in making a start with our weekly charity shop trawl so that we'd be back at home before all hell broke loose.

Our first shop, usually one of the better ones, was a disappointment as there were lots of empty rails and shelves due to a refurbishment. The second shop, however, more than delivered, with  no less than two skirts and three tops ending up in my trolley.

The black and white cotton polka dot skirt is button-through and has pockets, while the ochre and brown tartan one is a wool blend, both its material and colour making it perfect for Autumn.

The aqua top with its blowsy flower pattern is by King Louie, while the loose fitting green, blue and cream one's label had been removed. Always on the lookout for yellow based blouses, the cheerful sunshiny yellow cap sleeved one sprigged with blue and white flowers was a no brainer!

It was well past midday by now and dark clouds were scudding across a granite grey sky. We hurriedly scoffed the sandwiches we'd brought before driving home. Soon, big fat raindrops splattered our windscreen, but it was only after Jos had dropped me off at Dove Cottage that it started raining in earnest. Taking the car back to the garage, he had to wait out the worst before being able to walk home.

That, however, was the long and short of the forecasted storm, which much to our relief turned out to be one in a tea cup!

The garden breathed huge sighs of relief as its thirst was finally quenched and, opening our kitchen window, I breathed in that heavenly earthy scent which follows the first rain after a prolonged dry spell.

If late frosts had somewhat stunted the growth of our Hydrangea, it had now been making up for lost time with a plethora of acid green flower heads, some of them hinting at the blue hue they will eventually develop into. 

There will be a plethora of strawberries in our hanging bucket too, now going into their third season. 

The Salvia on the bottom left has survived the Winter in its pot and its visitor, Ms. Ladybird, and her future offspring will hopefully make a meal of its black aphids infestation. 

Sunny spells alternated with patches of cloud on Saturday, but for once it remained dry all day. The temperature in the meantime had dropped another couple of degrees to a modest 19°C.

We slept late-ish and, after our usual fruit & yoghurt breakfast, I spent the morning doing household chores while Jos treated the garden to some well needed TLC, pruning back the Ivy and giving the Spirea a haircut.

I decided to give my recently charity shopped chevron wrap skirt its first outing. The verdict is that it's a joy to wear although I needed a black half-slip worn underneath for modesty's sake.

The short-sleeved salmon pink ajour knit jumper is an old Think Twice find, while the crocheted belt with its huge round wooden buckle was picked up in the Mango sales in the Summer of 2020.

I picked up the wooden brooch encrusted with tiny shells from our favourite indoor flea market in April 2018, while the ring was bought in the closing down sale of a high street accessories shop.

The afternoon saw us driving to an out of town toy shop to pick up a present for grandson Cas, who will be celebrating his first birthday next Sunday. After weeks of trawling the charity shops, we'd had to admit defeat as we couldn't find anything that fit the bill. Anyway, the toy we eventually decided on has been thoroughly tried and tested by Jos in the meantime :-)

On our way back, we nipped into the small charity shop in a neighbouring village. Not expecting to find anything, I was thrilled to happen upon this groovilicious handmade dress.

That's all I've got time for now, so I'll be back with Sunday's adventures and what happened the next week in a couple of days. See you!

 

Day in, day out

It never ceases to amaze me how time flies, even in these precarious times, when everything's out of kilter, and nothing is as it was. This would be the time for the first of the outdoor flea markets but I don't miss them as much as I thought I would. Also, at this time of year, the countdown to our UK holiday would have started and I would already have been stressing about packing. This is a much harder nut to crack, but I'm not allowing my mind to dwell on it too much, saving my energy for the ongoing home and garden projects here at Dove Cottage.

As I already mentioned in my previous post, Thursday before last was a bit of a meh day. It took until the early afternoon before I could even bring myself to do anything useful and, as I'd had more than enough of attacking the kitchen with my cleaning cloth, I decided to make a final effort and finish it there and then.

Opposite the big kitchen cupboard is an equally big window and wedged in between the latter and the doorway to our dining room is a tiny cupboard with sliding doors. To my slightly colourblind eyes - I have problems differentiating between certain shades of blue and green - it is blue and always has been, but I'm being told that to some eyes, it might very well be veering towards green. 

Whatever its colour, it started life as a doll wardrobe made by my Dad as a Sinterklaas present for a 3-year-old me. There was a little bed as well but that's no longer with us. The wardrobe was passed on to my sister, who then passed it on to her daughter, and it was only by pure coincidence that we were able to save it from ending its life at the dump.

It now holds a myriad of smaller kitchen necessities, while providing yet another surface for displaying kitchenalia, such as a 1970s melamine tray, antique kitchen scales and weights and a well-used bread bin.

Hanging above the cupboard are two vintage enamel household wants indicators. 

The larger one on the right was found in an antiques shop in Lewes, East Sussex in 2005, and dates from the 1920s to 1930s, while the smaller one is a 1930s Lucie Mabel Attwell designed wipe clean one complete with its original pencil. This was picked up in Bridgnorth during our penultimate Shropshire holiday in 2018.

Here's a closer look at the larger one, which basically consists of a shopping list with metal tabs in front of each item. These tabs can be turned to indicate the required items. I've turned the one for the all-important toilet paper as an example! 

It seems that in the last couple of years, this particular one has become even more desirable as apparently it features in Downton Abbey's kitchen!

On the other side of our kitchen window, some vintage orange and white enamelware is on display. There's a utensils rack with an assortment of ladles and strainers, and a colander hanging above it.

Phew, I'm glad that's all done now!

On to Friday, with sunnier and slightly warmer weather making a return. 

Dipping into my wardrobe, I found this dress winking at me. In a deep chocolate brown with an orange, yellow, green and light brown floral print, it hadn't seen the light of day at all last Summer, as it was a just a tad too snug on the hips. A more healthy lifestyle - and less snacking - has certainly been a positive side to all this, inadvertently nipping inches off my hips and waistline without the need of a diet.

Green was my colour of choice for my accessories, a vinyl round-buckled belt, beaded necklace and  a green floral brooch. I even added a green hair clip to my #Coronahair solution hair band.

Oh, and did I mention my green fingers? I'm so glad I took up gardening again and rediscovered that I actually had them. Especially as green is my favourite colour :-)

Fridays usually mean a trip to the calm oasis provided by our favourite garden centre. Now that all other shops had re-opened, it was even quieter than usual. Look at all that space, with nobody else in sight, enabling us to browse the well-stocked aisles at ease.

Apart from a few more plants, we bought a bag of garden compost and some solar garden lights to replace our decrepit ancient ones which had long ago run out of steam.

We discovered there is a home-baking department as well, so that we were able to grab some bags of bread mix, which aren't available at our smaller supermarket.

Back at home, Jos took the secateurs to the giant currant bush, giving it a bit of a haircut, so that we can now walk to the bottom of the garden without getting tangled in its branches. He had to sacrifice some of the currants for this, but these would probably have either been damaged by us trying to squeeze past, or been eaten by the local population of wood pigeons.

The upside is that our Fuchsia magellanica now has more room at the top!

Meanwhile I got busy in the passageway next to our kitchen, replacing the tired looking Primulas and pansies in the window box with Lobelias, Busy Lizzies and Begonias.

I replanted the yellow Primula, which was still in reasonable nick, as well as the leggy pansies, into pots, allowing them to live out the rest of their lives on an old garden chair turned plant table in the passageway.

The rusty enamelled coffee pot in the garden bathroom was planted with a spare Lobelia.

Jos's final job of the day was dotting the garden with the solar lights we'd bought. One of these is a spotlight, which he used to illuminate the enamel sign in the courtyard.

That night, we waited anxiously for darkness to fall, so that we could see the full effect, which was definitely worth waiting for! Can't wait for a balmy evening to sit out there and enjoy our little secret garden.

More of the same weather on Saturday before last, sunny but not quite warm enough to go without a cardigan. 

My outfit that day was based around one of my Diolen delights, a green dress with a print combining flowers and stripes in a multitude of colours. It was made in France, proudly bearing a Françoise de France label. It's not in the best of conditions, but it was a Think Twice sales bargain and I found its print utterly irresistible. 

I added a blue cropped cardigan, its three-quarter sleeves trimmed in green, as well as blue beads and a blue moulded flower ring. A bevy of bracelets and a yellow felted flower pinned to my cardi completed my outfit.

While having a good old rummage upstairs, I made a discovery - or should that be re-discovery - which put a huge smile on my face. 

A week or two ago, I got up one morning, determined to wear a particular dress - the top one in the below photo - but I couldn't find it anywhere. I'd already resigned myself to the fact that I'd probably sold it, although I couldn't for the life of me understand why, when I suddenly thought of another dress I was missing: the green and white one in the photo, to be exactly.

After racking my brains as to where it could be hiding, I had the brainwave to open the bottom suitcase in the above photo, which I initially thought only held some coats. Well, what can I say? Not only did I find both dresses, but many more to boot! 

Other things I did that day was clipping Jos's hair again, and make an appointment with my hairdresser for a colour and cut on the 3rd of June. Huzzah!

I did some more work in the garden too, potting up a couple of annuals and adding more perennials to our new border: another Scabious, in a dusky purple, and Erigeron, or Mexican fleabane, which has white daisy flowers blushing with pink while they age.

When we were clearing some of the rampant groundcover, we unearthed two tiny stone rabbits I'd forgotten all about. One of them needed a good wash as he had been half buried under some soil and was absolutely filthy, poor thing. I bet they're happy to be reunited.

Look at all those cheerful blooms! Clockwise from top left are a candy pink Dahlia, some purplish blue Lobelias, pink cheeked double Million Bells and a symphony of pink Cosmos and yellow Nemesias. 

I'd just finished my planting when our neighbour popped his head above the garden wall for a chat, telling us he and his wife were separating - #Coronadivorce - and they were selling the house, which means we'll be getting new neighbours in the near future. Fingers crossed they'll be nice people!

We would be in for warm Summer weather in the week to come - gone again at the time of writing - but that will be for my next post. 

Until then, keep on keeping safe, my friends!

As time goes by

Can you believe it's September already? Well, neither can I!

I wonder if time is playing tricks with my mind, as it seems as if only yesterday we were welcoming Summer, and then, after a blink or two of the eye, the season's time is slowly but surely running out.

So, where did the time go? Did I let it slip through my fingers, allowing it to vanish into thin air?

Typically, though, the past week time seemed to go just that little bit slower, as if it was taunting me, and keeping the weekend, and my subsequent holiday, tantalizingly out of reach.

But we've finally made it to the weekend and we're all set to go away for a week tomorrow. We'll be storing a whole new set of memories to get us through Winter, and gathering stories to tell.

Before I leave, however, there are some things left to share with you, starting with the promised charity shop finds.

True vintage finds are a rare commodity at the charity shops these days. Nevertheless, I was able to pluck this amazing mint green floral frock from the rails.

It was only in the fitting room that I noticed that one of the ribbons gathering the sleeves was missing.  The one that was still in place was tied with a bow, which wasn't much to my liking so, when I got home I untied the bow, removed the ribbon and cut it in half. I then re-threaded and gathered each sleeve until it was a perfect fit, then sewed the ribbons in place and snipped off the excess. Et voilà! I keep surprising myself with my sewing skills!

The floral print offers a range of colour to choose from, but I took my lead from the one shining the brightest, adding accessories in shades of magenta to give it more pizzazz. 

My bamboo handbag is another one which hardly sees the light of day, as it is rather delicate, but isn't it a beauty? It was a flea market find back in November 2016.

The summer stuff has all but gone from the charity shop rails and the first of the long sleeved dresses, jumpers and heavy wool skirts are making an appearance, with the overall colour palette getting darker.

Now, I don't wear black as often as I used to, preferring bright colours whatever the season, but I'm always prepared to make an exception for a great print.

The ankle-length dress on the left, with its Paisley-esque print, originally came from a high street shop. The fabric is light enough for those late Summer days merging into Autumn, and I can see myself wearing it for a stroll in the park, with a sturdy pair of boots.

The other dress is King Louie, and its original retail price must have been around the € 80 mark. It looks brand new and, although I'm obviously not complaining, it always boggles my mind that someone would pay good money for a dress and then donate it to charity after only a couple of wears. Oh, I know fashion is fickle and all that, but still!

This cap-sleeved cowl neck frock is King Louie as well, again in pristine condition. I succumbed to its funky pop-art print!

Not a charity shop find, but I've just realized I haven't shown you this citrusy sleeveless Trevira frock yet. It's from Think Twice and the fabric reminds me of terry cloth. No chance of Jos losing me in a crowd when I'm wearing this!

This dress might look familiar as it's the one I bought at Ashmans Antiques and Old Lace in Welshpool on the last day of our holiday. Prompted by the turquoise bits in the print, but not wanting it to be too matchy-matchy, I accessorized it with a bright blue belt, necklace and bracelet.

The ivory coloured Bakelite bangle carved with Edelweiss finds its companion in the celluloid Edelweiss brooch I'm wearing.

Although you've seen some of my holiday finds in my travelogue, there are still quite a few things which escaped my attention, so now is as good a time as any for a round-up.

The charity shops in Welshpool came up trumps with a new-to-me frock printed with birds, which I already wore for our return journey, and a vintage long-sleeved crimplene dress in a hard to photograph shade of blue.

Not as many brooches as last year, but still a good haul. They were picked up from charity shops in various locations, including Welshpool, where I found no less than four of them!

The shell necklace was waiting for me in a charity shop in Ludlow and it proved to be a good year for bangles and bracelets.

Let's make a little jump to last weekend now.

Saturday's weather forecast was pretty dire which, as Jos's eldest daughter and her husband were having a garden party for their 20th wedding anniversary, had me rack my brain on what to wear.

There turned out to be no sign of the forecasted rain, but it was still quite chilly, so I opted for a floral maxi skirt, conveniently hiding the pair of tights I felt the need to wear. I was also wearing booties, although you cannot see much of them either. 

My lightweight, long-sleeved blouse was layered over a short-sleeved tee, which was cozy enough with my turquoise lined jacket on top.

The fact that I wasn't wearing any bracelets or bangles (forgot!) was soon remedied when upon arrival at the party we were supplied with a festival-worthy wrist tag mentioning the happy couple's names and the occasion.

The blouse actually started life as a mini dress, which I used to wear over leggings many years ago. Although it hadn't been worn in ages, I was reluctant to let it go as I loved the print, so I shortened it into a blouse. Yes, you have read that right: no-sewing-skills-whatsoever-Ann actually did this herself! Maybe I did inherit some of my great-grandmother Angelica's seamstress genes after all ...

I'm ending this post with Sunday's flea market finds. We only found out at a very late hour that there was a flea market in our village, but obviously we couldn't let it pass without having a look.

My first find was a snakeskin Jane Shilton clutch, which was hiding under a pile of gloves.

I am not sure how politically correct the brooch on the top left is, but isn't she gorgeous? She is 1950s, and both she and the marvellous celluloid dragonfly brooch were only € 2 each.

Finally, I was in need of a new case for my reading glasses and thought this one with its be-hatted lady and tortoiseshell clasp fit the bill nicely.

That's it, our bags our packed for tomorrow. No stress, as it's only a two hour drive to our destination. Here's to hoping the weather gods are with us again.

See you next week!

Linking to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style before I go!