Back to square one

 As from tomorrow, Belgium will be in a sort of semi-lockdown again. In order to tackle the spike in infections, our authorities have initiated a four week "Easter Pause", ordering non-essential shops to operate by appointment only, closing contact professions such as hairdressers and closing down schools a week early in the run-up to the Easter holidays. Outdoor gatherings, which had been allowed in groups of up to 10 for the past two weeks, will now be limited to just four people again.

None of this will affect us very much - we only have to forego our weekly cherry picked charity shop rummages - but it remains to be seen if these half-measures will be sufficient to stop the virus in its tracks. With Belgium's so-called vaccination strategy little more than a farce - my colleague's 84-year old Mum finally received an invitation this week, only to be told there were no vaccines available -  all this will probably just be a drop in the ocean.

Whatever the case, it seems we are yet again back to square one, which feels quite disheartening. 

One bright spark is that although I was supposed to go back to the hairdresser's on April 1, which would now be off the cards, I got a phonecall from him on Wednesday, offering me to reschedule to today! I could have hugged him, but obviously that is off the cards as well. At least, I won't have to worry about #Coronahair this time around!

Returning to my blog's actual timeline, I'm taking you for a wee two-week backwards journey in the time machine, with a gentle landing on Saturday the 13th of March.

A mixture of sunshine and rain, often accompanied by lots of wind, was on the menu that day, the temperature not climbing higher than 10°C. The ideal weather, in fact, to give my recently charity shopped Caroline Biss cowl neck jumper its maiden outing. 

I wore it over a rust coloured slubbed vintage St. Michael skirt, which came with a matching short-sleeved jacket. I don't think I've ever worn the two pieces together, but when I needed an extra layer to go outside into the garden, it turned out to be just perfect. 

The suit has a self-fabric belt as well, which I'd initially wanted to belt my jumper with, but as my search for it was fruitless, I opted for a tan leather one instead.

The jumper was accessorized with a faux Lea Stein cat brooch, while I pinned a yellow felted flower corsage to the jacket. 

My outfit was completed with green opaques and my fake snakeskin ankle boots.

A trawl around the garden revealed a casualty of the storm we had earlier that week. Poor plaster Venus, who had been faithfully guarding the self-seeded Geranium phaeum which had settled in a gap in the paving stones, had toppled over, cleanly breaking the brave lady in two pieces!

Cutting back the dry tangled mass of Mexican flea bane (Erigeron) revealed the two stone rabbits and toadstool head hiding underneath. I found the latter when digging over the soil for planting last Spring.

The little stone dove - mascot of Dove Cottage - is making its yearly appearance as well, before being engulfed by the exuberant hardy Geranium which surrounds it.

And look: last year's Grape Hyacinths (Muscari), which I planted out in the Autumn, are regaling us with a mass of Delft blue spears.

I would have loved to do a spot of gardening, and plant up all the spoils we brought back from the garden centre, but alas, the weather gods were against us. That night, we were even treated to an ominous sounding thunderstorm which came accompanied by drifts of hail.

The latter didn't seem to have caused much havoc, as an inspection on Sunday revealed undamaged purple Crocuses, which thankfully the yellow flower eating pest doesn't seem to have a craving for.

Sunday saw a repeat of Saturday's weather but minus the thunderstorm, and with the temperature nudging but not quite reaching double figures.

We made the most of one of the sunny spells for photos, in order to show you my outfit, which was built around this vintage black floral dress. With its garlands of frothy pink flowers climbing up a fence on a background of tiny white dots, it caught my eye in sorely missed vintage shop many years ago.

While burgundy was its main companion colour, which came in the form of my opaques, floppy vinyl belt and beaded necklace, I opted for green as a contrast colour for the cardigan I was wearing on top. 

The floral brooch I pinned to the cardigan is vintage and was a gift from my friend Inez. 

My footwear once again consisted of my moss green wedge ankle boots, which I seem to be reaching for a lot lately.

The dress's full skirt is lined and perfect for giving it a twirl or two. It has an elasticated waist, which is easily disguised by a belt, and there's elastic at the cuffs as well. Here's a closer look at its pattern and if you squint you will note the little bow at the neckline.

The rest of the day was spent sorting out the broom cupboard, folding away the morning's washing and entertaining Bess. Or so my journal tells me.

As rain clouds gathered yet again in the afternoon, we made ourselves cozy and comfortable, putting on pools of light, including this 1930s green ceramic deer lamp. What were the odds of finding its green companion figurine at a flea market only months later?

I'd just started a new book, which was found on the charity shop shelves with the Victorian era ones.

Based on a real life Edwardian era drama, The Magnificent Spilsbury and the case of the Brides in the Bath, is the gripping story of murder against a backdrop of the Titanic, Suffragettes and the First World War. Newly wedded Bessie, Alice and Margaret all drowned in their baths, apparently without a struggle, and the intriguing case temporarily ousted the 1915 Zeppelin raids from the front pages. The book reads like a thriller and is a true page-turner. In case you might like to read the book yourself, I'm not offering any further spoilers.

I'm quickly skimming over Monday's office day which was as dull as the grey and dismal day outside my window. It wasn't very busy so I was able to catch up with work in no time. 

It rained all day on Tuesday, and with the mercury stuck at a mere 7°C, it was the perfect opportunity to give the last of my Winter frocks a whirl. The dress's Crimplene is joined by 20% wool, which makes it ideal for a colder day.

Surely, the dress's eye-catching print more than makes up for its muted beige and brown colourway, proving that these colours don't have to be staid and boring.

I found the dress at a consignment store but could have sworn it originally came from a vintage shop I used to frequent, which sadly stopped trading back in 2016.

I ditched the dress's self-fabric belt for a mustard one with a rectangular buckle and book-ended it with a burnt orange cardigan and opaques. 

The latter two were the only retail purchases in my outfit, the H&M cardigan having more than earned its keep in my wardrobe over the years. The necklace  with its multi-coloured beads was charity shopped, while the brooch was a flea market find, if I remember correctly. I love the faceted orange glass stone in its golden nest.

The weather being too horrible to leave the confines of Dove Cottage, I set myself some light tasks, which included re-attaching two buttons which had popped off my vintage, charity shopped, fleecy dressing gown.

The spool of pink thread was among the sewing paraphernalia inherited from my Mum. It's from Veritas, a chain of haberdashery shops still in existence today.  Nowadays, they have expanded their range with accessories and hosiery, the latter being my main reason for popping in to the shop near my office building.

With several sewing boxes full of inherited and charity shopped stuff, I'm sure I won't need to buy any threads, press studs or hooks and eyes for many years to come!

That's all I got for you for now, but obviously I can't leave without offering you a glimpse of our newest family member, the gorgeous Bess.

Here she is sprawled out on the platform on top of her dual scratching posts. It's nothing short of a miracle that I caught her in the act, as she usually jumps down whenever we are about to pass through what she clearly thinks of as "her" room. It's as if she isn't sure she's actually allowed to lie on there. Either that, or she's not too keen to be out in the open, preferring the safety of her wicker chair nests when we are around.

Nevertheless, after three weeks she's barely recognizable as that frightened scrap of a cat we brought home from the shelter.

Always take the weather with you

With the weather still playing foul, life has been happening mostly indoors the last couple of weeks and, to be honest, being cooped up inside has been doing my head in.

This time last year, we already had some gorgeous Springlike days behind us, which we made the most of by topping up our Vitamin D levels in our local parks during the weekends. Sadly, what with the never-ending rain and the succession of storms which always, like clockwork, seem to find us on a Sunday, we've hardly ventured outside at all this year.

On February's penultimate Friday, with the unexpected sight of the sun streaming through my office windows, I decided to outsmart the weather by cheekily taking the afternoon off.

Fully used to supplying my own portable sunshine by now, I was wearing sky blue accessorized with sunny yellow. 

The dress was a fairly recent Think Twice find, bought on the same day as the blue houndstooth frock I was wearing in one of my Bruges posts. Sprinkled all over with tiny dots, its botanical print in a twosome of blues gives the impression of a Pointillist painting.

Although I loved the dress's gentle A-line shape and oversized collar, I initially thought it looked a bit plain, but adding the ochre yellow belt and my favourite multicoloured necklace seemed to do the trick.

As did adding ochre opaques (just visible in the first photo) and a bright yellow cardigan, to which I pinned a brooch with a mottled orange and green stone.

As if to taunt me, the sun starting playing hide-and-seek as soon as I was on my way home, and by the time I'd reached my stop and was getting off the tram, she'd packed her bags and left. 

Jos was picking me up in the car, but instead of going straight home, we made a detour via the local charity shop, which we hadn't visited in a while.

I found this worse-for-wear Madonna and Child figurine hiding at the back of a shelf, and as I picked it up for closer inspection, I was intrigued to see that dear Mary seemed to be perched on top of a boat. This lead us to believe that she is Stella Maris, or Star of the Sea, protector of seafarers. The paint was peeling in various places but we as we thought her rather charming, we took pity on her, and after paying a pittance of € 1,20, we took her and her baby home. 

While I was browsing the clothing aisles, not finding anything that even remotely tickled my fancy, Jos found this wooden wall plaque, a souvenir from Holland, complete with little windmill.

As we already have a modest collection of these brightening the wall of our entrance hall, it would have been silly to deny it the pleasure of joining the gang!

Saturday turned out to be yet another one of those dull, damp and dismal days, when even a dash to the garage to pick up our car feels like too much effort.  

But needs must, and as we were sure a rummage would be beneficial for our moods, we dragged ourselves from the sofa, grabbed our coats and umbrellas, and went off.

I was wearing a button through black printed frock with a notched collar, which for some reason had been greatly neglected in previous years. It's printed with what looks like tiny scraps of patterned fabric in various shades of brown mixed with a bit of white.

Lovely though it is, it badly needed a further colour injection and turquoise was the one which immediately sprang to mind.

I used it for my cardigan and opaques, as well as all my accessories, consisting of a belt, necklace, ring and brooch. 

A second brooch, its centre doing its best to emulate a piece of wood, was pinned to my cardigan.

The charity shop of our choice is one we visit regularly, but can be a bit hit or miss. Lately, it has been the former, and this time was no exception, as I soon happened upon this gorgeous red hessian bag embroidered with raffia flowers.

Then there were a couple of skirts, both handmade and - I suspect - having had the same previous owner.

Here's Angelica doing the honours of showing them to you.

The first one, in a textured cotton fabric, is unlined and softly pleated and, with its fresh lilac, green and navy print on white, is the epitome of Spring. 

Angelica was happy to wear it with a green fine knit Crimplene top, a navy woven belt and a navy and white beaded necklace.

The second skirt is fully lined and made from a light viscose fabric, featuring purple and pink florals and the odd splash of orange.  A pale pink polyester blouse and purple accessories completed Angelica's outfit.

Happy with my finds, we made our way home, but not before stopping at the charity shop in our village. Here, I was seduced into buying a funky jacket by posh Belgian label Caroline Biss, which was launched in 1987, when a first dedicated shop was opened in Antwerp. Not one I've ever set food in, mind you, as I certainly wouldn't want to spend over € 200 on a jacket!

The jacket in question, in a boxy shape which normally doesn't suit me, but now miraculously does, looks virtually unworn. Still, I initially dithered as I absolutely hated the shiny gold buttons. But replacing buttons is an easy fix, especially with a stash of vintage buttons at my disposal, so the dithering didn't last all too long! Apart from its fabulous print, the jacket has pockets, so it would have been downright silly not to buy it.

Sunday's diary page was completely empty, and would have been the perfect opportunity to go for a walk, if the devilish weather deities hadn't played spoilsport once again. With torrential rains our lot for the day, it even took until late afternoon before it stopped for long enough to nip into the garden for outfit photos. 

Staying indoors does't mean not dressing up! 

My coral polka dot fit and flare frock is an old favourite from Think Twice, where I picked it up many years ago. Looking back at past blog posts, I always seem to be wearing it with blue, which I repeated by adding bright blue opaques and a beaded necklace in a similar colour.

The navy, white buckled belt used to belong to my Mum, the same colours appearing again in the brooch, one of February's flea market finds, which I pinned to the dress.

The jacket, from the Spanish Kling brand, was charity shopped back in January, and I thought I might as well wear it instead of a cardigan.

Before I sign off for now, I'm returning briefly to that other charity shopped jacket. As you can see, I soon found the perfect set of buttons to replace those shiny monstrosities. So much better, don't you think?

Linking my blue sky and yellow sunshine outfit to Nancy's Fancy Friday. Do go and check her out!

A stitch in time

The dust has settled and life at the office has gone back to normal. Nevertheless, my blog is still a week or two behind real life so that, while the calendar tells me it's January 23, I've still got to tell you about what I've been up to in the week and weekend before last.

Not that I've been up to very much at all, mind you. At this particularly uneventful time of year, the days and weeks seem to hurtle by even faster than usual, in hindsight making it almost impossible to distinguish one from the other.

But there have been a couple of bright sparks throughout, even if they were mainly provided by what I've been wearing.

A promise is a promise, so I'll start with that burnt orange velvety skirt last seen wearing by Angelica. Finally, that week, it was my turn!

There's something quintessentially 1970s about orange and brown, which people are forever associating with that decade. In later times, the colour combination was jokingly referred to in a what-were-they-thinking kind of way, but fashion designers back then definitely must have known what they were doing, as I for one think orange and brown is a great and timeless look!

So, in honour of the decade in which I did most of my growing up, I plucked this brown floral vintage blouse from my wardrobe and introduced it to the skirt which, rather than being vintage, is from a modern-day brand called American Outfitters. Never heard of them? I can't blame you, as in spite of its name, it's a Belgian label founded in the late 1990s.

I'm sure you must have recognized the teal King Louie cardigan, the woven belt and the beads, as they're all regulars on the blog, all of them charity shop or flea market finds. The brooch was a flea market find as well, bought from the famous Brooch Lady in February 2017. 

The week had been a particularly grey and wet one, the days dark and dreary, making my eyelids droop by mid-afternoon and filling my head with cotton wool.

On Fridays my office closes early, so that there was still a smidgen of daylight about when I was on my way home. The sun had finally managed to chase away the eternal rainclouds, only to start setting soon afterwards, back-lighting the clouds with the last of her orange glow.

The latest Think Twice sales had been in full swing that week but pickings had been rather slim until at the end of the week I stumbled upon this exquisite white raffia handbag. I keep telling myself I should stop buying more handbags, but there was no way I could resist taking this beauty home for only € 4.

I paid the same price for a green speckled polyester dress, which unfortunately had lost some of its buttons. No big deal, as I didn't like them much anyway, so I scoured my stash of vintage buttons, hitting upon these perfect, and far nicer, replacements.

I already wore the dress to work last week, but as things were a bit hectic no outfit photos were made, which I'll have to remedy by wearing it again soon.

While I had my sewing basket out on Saturday morning, I decided to strike the iron while it was hot and finally tackle the partially detached side zip of a dress I bought in the Think Twice sales several months ago. 

Upon closely examining the dress, I noticed several split seams had been repaired by its previous owner using what looked like black darning yarn. To make matters worse, some of these so-called repairs had been done on the outside of the dress, so that there was nothing for it but to remove them all and re-do them using the appropriate sewing thread.

I may be far from a natural at sewing but even with my limited skills I managed to do better. Some people!

Here is the dress in question, which admittedly I only wore for these photos. I'd planned to wear it for work in the week ahead but I totally forgot, so it is still patiently waiting its turn.

The starburst brooch and the snakeskin belt were both flea market finds, while the ring came from a market stall in Bruges. 

Now this is what I really wore that Saturday for another rummage at the charity shops.

I love pleated skirts and dresses, and have several of them inhabiting my wardrobe. Among them, this vintage frock with a print of tiny squares in blue, pink, red, lilac and turquoise and a row of squarish red buttons at the bodice.

I added a wide red woven belt and turquoise beads and pinned a red posy brooch to my turquoise cardigan. Again, most of my outfit is vintage or second hand, except for the tights and the ankle boots. The latter is an old but favourite pair, which has been to the cobbler's a couple of times during its lifetime.

Here, and in the above collage, you can see how wide the dress's skirt actually is. Perfect for twirling or doing a little jig, but not so perfect for that day's weather. There was a fierce and chilly wind blowing so that I had to keep clutching my skirt while on our way to our garage and in-between shops. And why, oh why, did I have to wear this gorgeous but inadequately thin fur collared jacket?

I could tell you all about the fluffy pink scarf I was wearing or the pink and white knitted beret, but I'm sure you wouldn't have been listening, having your eyes fixed firmly on my handbag!

Isn't it fabulous? OK, I have been very, very bad, as I bought it new in the sales at Mango. Also, two handbags in one week, in spite of my self-imposed handbag ban! 

Enough said, let's go charity shopping instead.

Back in the 1970s, brown and orange didn't just rule the catwalks. It was omnipresent and I'm sure that every self-respecting home had its fair share of these colours in its furnishings and homewares.

We snapped up this plastic bread basket from the German Emsa brand in our local charity shop for € 1,50 that day. Made to resemble wood and decorated with a rim of orange and yellow flowers, we already have several items from the same range, including a spice rack, a coffee filter holder and an egg-timer. 

Oh, and we've got egg cups and a jam pot as well! The big brown flower decorated melamine tray isn't Emsa, but vintage St. Michaels, found at a retro event back in October 2017.

We went to another shop a bit further afield that day as well. Rummaging their well-stocked clothing department, I initially thought I'd hit the jackpot upon spotting a whole colour range of apparently deadstock berets. Unfortunately they were all the same size and too big for me, although I am now regretting leaving them behind as they were only € 1 each.

As it is, I only bought this red knitted hat - also deadstock, with a still pristine C&A label - as well as a long and super soft multi coloured scarf.

My final find of the day was this rather gorgeous cardigan in a navy honeycomb pattern on pink by Belgian brand Lucy Has A Secret. As it would have originally retailed at a silly price (at a guess, I'd say upwards of € 80), surely € 4 was a bit of a bargain. 

So, that's it for now. I'll be continuing with my catch-up in my next post. 

In the meantime, have a fabulous weekend, my friends!

Linking to Nancy's Fancy Friday linkup this week. Do go and check out this lovely girl!

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!