Greetings from Bruges

If all goes well, by the time you are reading this we are having a little break, enjoying some dolce far niente at a Bed & Breakfast near Bruges.

As I still hadn't finished telling you about the weekend before last, I thought I'd squeeze in one more post and schedule it. After all, it wouldn't do to post about my mid-April adventures well into May!

It was Sunday the 14th of April, and the sun which had saved the day on Saturday had packed her bags and gone elsewhere, leaving us with an impenetrable grey sky and a hint of frost.

Out of my between-the-seasons capsule wardrobe, I pulled another long-sleeved frock which was actually well overdue an outing. 

Black, with a swirly kaleidoscope print, its plain black cuffs trimmed in orange and with orange stitching at the yoke, it has a close fitting bodice and a flared skirt. 

Here, the kaleidoscope print is joined by panels of plain black material, significantly augmenting its swoosh and twirl factor.

I added orange accessories: a plastic flower ring, chunky necklace and wide elasticated belt.

Over the years, the belt, which was an old retail buy and is still a firm favourite, had developed a couple of chips in its buckle. After giving it some thought, my Eureka moment arrived in the cosmetics aisle of the low countries' equivalent of Superdrug. This Rimmel nail polish, called Ora-Ngy Vibe, turned out to be the perfect match!

My outfit was completed with blue opaques and cardigan (not shown), while the icy temperatures dictated that my teal jacket with the grey fur collar had to work for its money again. 

To tie in with the orange in the frock, I pinned an orange based brooch to the jacket's collar and wore my orange beret.

Roses adorn the tapestry handbag which, having featured on the blog before, I'm sure needs no further introduction. 

It is big enough for all my essentials as well as some of the smaller treasures we were hoping to find at our destination for the day: our favourite indoor flea market in Mechelen.

As it happens, we found larger treasures as well. Both of these handbags are vintage and in impeccable condition warranting the slightly higher price tag:  € 10 for the snakeskin clutch and € 15 for the red bag with its unusual closing mechanism. To open it, the tab at the front has to be pulled upwards.

This 1950s tin, depicting scenes from The Three Bears, was picked up at one of our favourite sellers' stall. It is from Belgian chocolate brand Côte d'Or, and usually commands higher prices than the € 10 we paid for it. What's more, the € 10 also included the small wooden trinket box, which you can see in the next collage!

We already own the tin's sibling, displaying The Three Little Pigs. This one is a family heirloom which used to belong to my paternal grandparents, and which has been used to store a set of dominoes for as long as I can remember. In fact, it still has the same domino set inside!

And here's the trinket box I mentioned before. Its roll top cover is intricately painted with a colourful scene.

I couldn't resist the cute round Easter themed tin, its sides decorated to look like a basket. This came from Tanja, another favourite seller, and follower of my blog.

Not too many brooches this time, but still enough to satisfy my collector's hunger. I found the three gold tone brooches at one of the first stalls we looked at. I already have the hedgehog with green eyes instead of red. The flamingo was found in one of the last aisles and no, it isn't Lea Stein!

This hand coloured and signed lithograph caught my eye because of its colours as well as its subject matter, a picturesque corner of Bruges. It was ours for € 3. A bit of googling revealed that the artist, Barday, is French, and was active between ca. 1925 and 1945. I came across several of his (or her) original lithographs, the cheapest of which was for sale at $ 60!

The weather improved steadily during the week that followed, reaching balmy temperatures in the mid twenties by the Easter weekend.

Earlier that week, a package arrived for me from Ghent! It was from the lovely Kezzie, who'd spent a couple of days in Belgium. She sent me a batch of coloured tights she's no longer wearing, knowing I would give them a new lease of life. Also included was a brooch and a lovely greeting card. 

I'm leaving you now with a look at what I was wearing last Saturday to go vintage shopping with my friends Ingrid and Inez.

The maxi skirt was a € 3 Think Twice find from that week. I spent an hour or so on Friday hand stitching the hem which had dropped in several places. The skirt is made from a waxed cotton, marked as Veritable Java Hollandais. I fell head over heels for its crisp and colourful print.

Combined with a red cotton polka dot top, and accessorized with a yellow beaded necklace and wooden flower brooch, it was the perfect outfit for a fun (and successful!) shopping trip.

But that will be for a next post. 

I will be catching up with you this weekend!

Fell in love with a dress

In my previous post, I hinted at the fact that there was something going on at the charity shops on Saturday before last.

Yes, it was time again for that yearly event to promote their shops, the notorious Day of the Charity Shops (Dag van de Kringwinkel in Flemish)!

It's an event which is loved and hated in equal measure by any vintage aficionado, as much of the interesting stuff is being kept behind especially for this day, while on the day itself the shops are full of fabulous, yet often overpriced, goodies.

The diehards take up their posts at the shop's entrance well before opening time, pushing and shoving their way into the shop once the doors are opened, in order to get first dibs at the goods on offer.

Not us! No, obviously we are far too civilized and laid back for such behaviour!
Although I have to admit that, once inside the shop, all manners can be thrown overboard if anyone even dares going near the object(s) of my desire!

So, we walked in at leisure one hour later, past table after table groaning under the weight of vintage crockery, casting a cursory glance, then went down to the textiles department in the basement.

There, we were halted in our tracks by the display on the half landing. That dress! Minutes later, the mannequin wearing it was left bare, and I was on my way to the fitting rooms ...

I could have hit myself for not taking a before photo, but apparently the charity shop people did and posted it on their Facebook page, so this photo is courtesy of them.

The dress is just a tiny bit too wide on me, but there was no way I was leaving it behind. Surely, that's what belts were invented for?

I had the perfect boots to wear with it as well. And no, I am not trying to walk like an Egyptian: I was telling Jos I could feel the first drops of rain ...

From the same shop came these two vintage handbags.

At first, the black bag with the tortoise shell ring got us stumped, as we couldn't seem to open it. Then Jos noticed this hidden lever, which releases the opening mechanism, and hey presto!

It had to come home with me, even if for the unusual catch alone, as this is exactly the kind of quirky thing that I love, justifying why I've just bought another black handbag ...

For good measure, here's a closer look at the small but sturdy and surprisingly roomy tan leather handbag.

Jos bought this revolving device containing a barometer, thermometer and a hygrometer, for his small collection.

After our walk in the park, we drove down to a shop we only visit once or twice a year. By then, afternoon was well on its way, and we expected it to be stripped bare. Not so! Here too, there were endless shelves of vintage china, even more than at the first shop.

We noted there were hardly any gaps in the shelves, so we don't think much of it was sold. Serves them right, they should put  these things out into their shops all year round!

Jos browsed the cartons of vinyl, but didn't find anything he liked.

He then settled for a vintage portable record player. Not that we didn't have one yet ... This one will need some TLC.

After a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie, we made a final round, and I found this vintage St. Michaels melamine tray.

Sunday was all work and no play. Oh, OK, just a little bit of play then: I had the day earmarked for the continuation of my wardrobe switch-over.

Dressed in this stretchy retro frock by Zoë Loveborn, I matched our Emsa kitchenware perfectly!

Here are my Summer frocks ready to be put into vacuum bags. I am only keeping out the ones which are tricky to iron.

Then came the fun bit, as one by one my long-sleeved dresses were taken out of the bags they've been in since late Spring.

As usual, there were the old favourites as well as one or two surprises I'd completely forgotten about!

I also took the opportunity to have a cull and fill a bag full of clothes to sell on.

There, don't they look nice hanging ready to wear in my wardrobe?

Bags and buttons

I wish the weather would make up its mind once and for all, as this neither here nor there weather is getting on my nerves. It's not really cold, but it's humid, which is the worst kind of weather for me as it's making my joints, especially my knee, play up.

There were days when the sun was playing hide and seek with a thick layer of grey clouds. On others, strong gusts of wind were playing a game of their own with those leaves which were already hanging on by their fingernails, as if it was Autumn and not the middle of Summer.

It's been over a month now since we came back from holiday and we're more than half way through summer, which makes me feel a bit deflated.

It was a good thing that the week before last Think Twice was in the last stages of its sales, so that I could spend my lunch breaks rummaging through the € 1 and € 2 bargains.

I grabbed a couple of dresses and skirts without trying them on, knowing that I could always sell them on at next year's flea market if they didn't fit. There was a gorgeous dress which was just a tiny bit too tight, but this one here was a perfect fit.

It's handmade and the material is cotton for a change. I'm not sure if it's real 1950s or rather a later imitation.

The dress needed new buttons as one was missing. As they are purely for decoration (the dress closes with a side zipper and some poppers at the collar), I was spoilt for choice, and came up with these double-layered light blue ones.

There were handbags galore as well, all going for € 1. Isn't that tapestry one a beauty?

That Friday, I took the afternoon off and met my friend Inez for coffee.

Afterwards, we went to look at Think Twice's new collection, picking up yet another handbag. This one would blend in well with one of those Astrakhan coats, don't you think? In the bottom left photo, I have put it next to a hat I own. Not sure if it's fake or the real thing.

The necklaces were a present from Inez.

Saturday came along and lo and behold, she'd brought a little bit of sun with her. Though not for long.

I was wearing classic red, white and blue. This cute short-sleeved red on navy print Diolen dress has white trim at the sleeves and collar, which is V-shaped and decorated with four red buttons at the yoke. It's one of those frocks that never fails to cheer me up.

As it didn't look right with any of my necklaces, I just pinned on two coordinating cat brooches.

I believe the turquoise Karelia jacket was once part of a two-piece, and I'm imagining it combined with a box-pleated skirt or maybe a pair of bell bottoms. I bought it on its own though, its companion if there was one long gone.

I added a white flower corsage, complementing my white hair flower to keep my hair, which was in need of a wash, in check. An off-white bag and my red Clarks sling backs completed my outfit.

Our weekly charity shopping trip brought us to a shop in Mechelen we hadn't visited for a while as we'd left empty handed too many times. They had enlarged their clothing department and there was a whole aisle of dresses to browse through. My heart skipped a beat when I found some vintage gems among the usual high street stuff !

The second dress, also long-sleeved, in black with a very colourful pattern, needed a tiny bit of TLC, as its buttons were beyond their sell-by date and, frankly speaking, didn't do anything for this dress.

I unearthed these turquoise beauties from my stash of vintage buttons, and: Ta-dah!

We then carried on to our favourite charity shop, the one in Duffel near the park, where we sat on a bench eating the sandwiches we'd brought.

Walking around confirmed our suspicion that there's definitely a hint of Autumn in the air already.

The flower borders near the water's edge were quite overgrown, and I'm sure some of the plants were over well before their time.

Nature is definitely acting a bit weird this year ...

On to the charity shop where I found two more handbags. I'm not sure if the rattan basket was actually meant to be used as a handbag, but who cares?

From a supply cart, I grabbed this 1970s canister, which hadn't even made it onto the shelves yet.

These delightful apple decorated canisters could be saved for by buying petrol at Gulf petrol stations and are now very popular with the retro crowd, commanding higher prices than the € 0,50 we paid for this one.

We already have some of these canisters in Dove Cottage's kitchen, all originals obtained by Jos at the time.

This brass photo frame with slightly domed glass won't be empty for long, as we have boxes full of old family photographs to choose from.

Our final buy was this gorgeous 1950s olive wood jug, which set us back € 6.  A snip, according to various Etsy and other web shops.  I am totally in love with its shape and the wood's swirly grain.

If all goes well, I am linking up with Patti's Visible Monday for the very first time ...

Rock pools and seashells

After the outfit post intermezzo of last Saturday, it's time to crack on with my Wales travelogue, especially as I've just realized I was only 3 days in!

By now, it was Wednesday and the weather gods continued to be nice to us. As it was much too warm for anything else, we decided to go to the beach.

Several beaches were rejected, as we wanted a beach with at least one other attraction nearby, but still a bit off the beaten track.

We opted for Manorbier, in the very south of Pembrokeshire about 5 miles from Tenby, which has a picturesque castle overlooking the beach.

We'd been to both the beach and the castle before, but considered them well worth another visit.

Manorbier's beach, reached by a path through the dunes, is a sandy one, has a stream running down the northern end, and is great for rock pooling.

In spite of the glorious weather and the number of cars parked in the National Trust car park, there weren't all that many people about, so that we could explore the beach and rock pools in peace, taking photographs and enjoying the gently caressing sea breeze.

Afterwards, we spread our picnic blanket in a grassy spot beyond the parking area in the castle's shadow.

Then, it was up to the castle, which dates from the early 12th century. It is a rectangular enclosure castle with round and square towers. There was no moat as the castle stands on a natural promontory facing the coast. The main gateway to the inner ward is across a bridge and dry moat.

In 1146 Gerald of Wales, the great twelfth century scholar known as Geraldus Cambrensis was born at the castle.

Our last visit to the castle was on a windy day back in 2013, when there was a rather disappointing Vintage Fair taking place.

Now, it seems to be much more commercially exploited, its facilities for weddings very much in evidence. As it is privately owned, and surely in need of funds to keep the place going, who can blame them really?

There's a well with a secret passage to the beach (bottom right), which was used by smugglers.

I was wearing my tomato red trousers combined with a lightweight short-sleeved pussy bow top, to which I'd clipped a flower to keep the pesky bow in place, as well as some pale pink beads.

My hat made another appearance, although this time with a different band of flowers. The bag is my faithful over the shoulder waterproof travelling bag from Dutch brand Kitsch Kitchen, which is a holiday staple.

Then came Thursday. If we'd had to believe the weather forecast, the apocalypse was near, as heavy thunderstorms and torrential rain were predicted.

Not in North Pembrokeshire though: we woke up to a grey day with some fine but steady drizzle.

The rain didn't worry us much as it meant we could indulge in one of our favourite wet weather options: a trip to Newcastle Emlyn. About half an hour up the road, there are two antique centres vying for attention.

Our favourite one, New Road Antiques, has a decent selection of vintage clothing, including a corner called The Country Squire, where Jos took the plunge and bought a vintage, Scottish made, Tweed flat cap.

My purchases were a book on collecting vintage fashion, a cute wicker and red leather handbag and some vintage plastic beads.

Jos also picked up a Bakelite loudspeaker.

After a car picnic, we called in at the town's one and only charity shop (Animals in Need), tucked away in a back street, where I found another vintage handbag (the light tan one in the photo) as well as several books.

The rain had eased off in the meantime so we decided to visit a little known gem hidden away just outside the village of Boncath: the Cilwendeg Shell House, which is only open on Thursdays between April and August.

The Cilwendeg Shell House is an ornamental grotto, a folly if you like, built in the late 1820s by Morgan Jones the Younger, who inherited the Cilwendeg estate upon the death of his uncle and created the Shell House in his uncle’s honour.

It is on private land, part of an estate farm, and not signposted at all, so we nearly missed the turning.

After parking our car, the folly was approached along an atmospheric woodland walk, where it could be seen shimmering in the distance.

Through the open door, with a barrier keeping you from entering, the fascinating interior can be admired.

Look at those lavishly decorated walls and ceiling, made up entirely of shells and sparkling minerals!

The Shell House, which was created by an unknown architect, was used as a garden retreat for the Jones family, and the fireplace meant that it could also be used in winter.

Wouldn't it be a perfect hideaway for whiling away a rainy afternoon, reading a gothic novel, with a fire gently crackling in the hearth, and all the lanterns lit?