Senses working overtime

Life has been quite a rollercoaster of emotions of late. With nerve-ends still raw from the impact of my father's death, which I had somehow underestimated, I've been feeling on edge and slightly overwhelmed by things.

Back at the office, it's been an effort to concentrate, as I'm constantly diverted by my racing thoughts. This is not my usual state of mind: I may be a natural worrywart, but a scatterbrain I'm not.

Meanwhile, a start has been made with sorting out my dad's estate, which promises to become a long and winding road.

In order to distract myself from too many negative thoughts, I try to carry on as normal as possible, which means that my charity shopping adventures continue regardless. And so does this blog, in which I find so much solace. 

Last week, I cashed in my friend's gift voucher.

Vintage, velvet, versatile, not to mention very colourful: this suit has got it all!

Vaguely reminiscent of a vintage Barbie outfit I own, I dressed up one of my dolls in it. The outfit, consisting of a sleeveless vest and culottes, rather than a jacket and skirt, dates from 1971 and is called "Groovin' Gauchos".

Not owning a fuchsia top, I combined my suit with a pink charity shopped Karen Millen jumper. I think I came up trumps on the boots, though!

The weather was mainly sunny for Saturday's charity shopping trip, but an autumn chill was definitely in the air.

I wore a short sleeved textured polyester mod dress in olive green, accented with two buttons at the dropped waist.

It has a rather tattered "Joan Curtis" label.














Racking my brains for a suitable colour to combine it with, I came up with pink accessories and a mustard three-quarter sleeve cardigan, to which I clipped a fuchsia fabric hair flower.

The coat, which is perfect for this time of year, is Finnish, and I love its label which proclaims that it's "for ladies of fashion"!

Outfit details:
Dress, coat and scarf: Think Twice
Shoes: Vintage Styling
Cardigan, ring and hair flower: retail
Handbag and brooch: flea market
Pearls: my great-aunt Josephine

Between shops, we stopped for a picnic at the art deco water tower in the neighbouring village of Reet.

Climb it and you have a bird's eye view of the surrounding countryside as well as of one of the few remaining working clay pits in the area.

The heels of my vintage shoes did not allow for a climb this time, as the outside stairs are made of perforated metal. It's just manageable, what with my vertigo, but dainty shoes are a no-no!

As for the charity shopping itself, expectations weren't high, but we still managed to find a couple of things, spending a total of € 11,50, which proves that retail therapy doesn't have to be expensive.

The first thing that caught my eye was this cheeky ceramic poodle decanter, with six hooks on his back for hanging cups.

I almost left him behind as the cups were missing, when Jos found four of them on another shelf.

A quick trawl on the Internet dates him from the 1950s or early 1960s.

This Lourdes thermometer was next.

Surely, miracles must start happening soon with all the Lourdes memorabilia we have accumulated!

I will keep you informed on that one ...














The red wicker basket with polka dot lining will come in handy for storing little bits and bobs.

We were succesful at the next shop as well, where this pretty flowery coffee pot was waiting for us.

A good rummage unearthed a 1920s style cloche hat and a slim scarf, which are shown here on the as yet nameless new addition to our collection of "heads".

She is currently keeping Twiggy company on the mantelpiece in our spare room.

Let's end this post with a fitting quote for this time of year:

"Then summer fades and passes, and October comes. Will smell smoke then, and feel an unsuspected sharpness, a thrill of nervous, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure."
~Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again

Trying to blend in with nature's autumn colours