Life goes on

 After a week's delay, Jos finally got green light for his second course of chemotherapy on Thursday the 26th of March. During the procedure, which generally takes about three hours in total, I kept him company with my current read and enjoyed a free cup of coffee in the lounge provided for patients and their families.

No chance of sitting outside in the courtyard as the sunny spell was very short-lived, the sky reverting to granite grey mere minutes after I'd taken this photo. The eagle-eyed among you may notice the wet paving stones outside, the result of the rain we'd started the day with.

As we were out of bread, I went to buy a loaf in the tiny supermarket in the lobby and, with Easter virtually on our doorstep, treated us to half a kilo of scrumptious chocolate mini eggs in the on-site Leonidas shop.

With Jos's appetite having made a temporary come-back, it didn't take very long to get to the bottom of this bowl. 

That evening, Jos declared a craving for frietjes van de frituur, meaning Belgian (not French!) fries bought from that most traditional of Belgian institutions, the frituur, as ubiquitous as the British chip shop. With one of these virtually around the corner from Dove Cottage, that was our evening meal sorted.

In the next couple of days Jos was feeling quite energetic and, just like during his first round of chemotherapy, didn't suffer from any side-effects to speak of. Apparently, this is due to the cortisone-like medicine which he is given before and after chemotherapy to prevent nausea and which has the welcome side-effect of giving some lucky people an energy boost.

We knew it wouldn't last, so we decided to make the most of it. If only the weather gods had been better behaved!

We woke up to overnight frost on Saturday and the forecast wasn't looking very promising. Spring was dragging her heels and, with a chilly wind blowing and the mercury refusing to let go of the single digit temperatures, Jos drove me to the local charity shop for a rummage in the afternoon. Meanwhile, he took the car for a spin, finishing with a non-alcoholic beer at his favourite village café.

Contrary to their colleagues of the weather department, the gods of the charity shops were on their best behaviour and finds were plentiful.

For starters, these two skirts ended up in my shopping basket. The red one with its brown and white garland pattern is handmade from a sturdy cotton, lined, and perfect in every way except, alas, for a lack of pockets. I'm actually wearing it as I type.

The red, white and blue leaves and berries patterned A-line skirt is by King Louie.

There were dresses galore, and from the armful I took into the fitting rooms these three have joined my wardrobe. The embroidered chambray knee-length dress is from C&A, the red and white striped maxi from H&M and the black floral with the odd bird maxi from Vero Moda.

Finally, I fell head over heels for these two very different blouses. 

As I am partial to a bird pattern, the green flamingo patterned one was a no brainer. Same as the black floral maxi, it's from the Danish Vera Moda label.

The blue short-sleeved blouse with its sprinkling of red, orange, green and white dots is label-less and has every indication of having been handmade.

As we are no longer in the habit of making outfit photos, we cleanly forgot to do so that day.  However, here you can catch the briefest of glimpses of my rust coloured opaques, orange socks and my stripy vintage skirt (this one!). 

But I'm sure you only have eyes for Queen Bess of Dove Cottage!

We woke up to a repeat of Saturday's weather on Sunday, although the clouds did make way for the odd patch of blue sky.

With the temperature still not having caught up with the season, I pulled this thick knit zipper front King Louie dress from my wardrobe. Charity shopped back in September, this was actually its first outing, for which it was joined by a contrasting mustard cardigan. As the latter is buttonless, I pinned a green-hearted brooch to its collar to keep it closed. Teal opaques, an old pair of tan boots, a mustard beaded necklace and chunky yellow ring completed my outfit.

As it looked set to remain dry, I persuaded Jos to go for a long-overdue walk, for which we drove to the park in one of our neighbouring villages, Duffel. However, he looked quite doubtful when I uttered the words "15-minute walk", protesting that he'd probably only make it to the first available bench.

Much to our mutual surprise, he just kept on going - that's him in the distance in the top left photo of the above collage - and insisted on continuing around the park's biggest pond.

All in all, we walked for over half an hour, sampling the sensory delights of Spring, which seemed to have arrived regardless of us being otherwise occupied. 

Surely, this host of daffodils, tiny as it is, must be Spring personified, the ultimate symbol of new beginnings. 

Additionally it's also the symbol of cancer charities in many countries ...

Thank you for reading. I hope to be back soon!

Happy days are here again

Notorious for her fickleness, the month of April has been reasonably well-behaved this year, the only gripe I've got with her being that her days are whizzing by at a rate of knots. There really is more than just a kernel of truth in the time-worn adage that time seems to go by faster the older one gets!

Obviously, my blog hasn't made it this far yet! In fact, I haven't even finished writing about the final days of March. However, before I set the time machine's Satnav back to last month, I've got some good news which I couldn't possibly wait to share with you!

Last Thursday, the 17th of April, Jos went for a check-up at the hospital and has been given a clean bill of health. The temporary back-up catheter, which was inserted in his abdomen during surgery, was removed, which means that he is now free of any kind of bladder catheter for the first time in six months. What's more, he will only have to go back for a final check-up in October! After over seven months of a life half-lived, it's as if a weight has been lifted off our shoulders so that we are finally able to allow ourselves to make plans for the future again. Happy days indeed!

Now, let's rewind the tape and whizz back to Sunday the 23rd of March. 

The temperature had dropped somewhat from the low twenties we had been treated to on Friday and Saturday, but at 17°C it was still a warmish day. After a morning of catching up on household chores we walked down to the local park. At about 10 minutes from our front door, it was something we thought Jos would be able to manage, which he did.

It was my pink and green patterned dress's first outing. Picked up from Think Twice at 30% off back in January, it had been waiting in the wings for a day like this. 

Having to compete with all the emerging greens in the park, it was a given that green would be the main colour for my accessories. While my stretchy belt with its bamboo buckle was found on the high street, my sage green necklace, which consists of graduated wooden discs, followed me home from the charity shop in Poperinge during our 2019 September holiday. The painted wooden brooch was a flea market find. 

I've added a close-up of the openwork pattern of my cardigan, which is from the former Belgian label Lucy Has A Secret. By way of a charity shop, obviously, as it would have retailed at a price I wouldn't have been willing to pay.

The wood anemones were now out in full force in the park, their deceptively fragile looking star-shaped flowers carpeting the ground as far as the eye could see.

Trying to add its two pennies' worth was this tiny white and yellow daffodil, which might very well have been an escapee from one of the surrounding gardens.

Elsewhere, the vibrant yellow flowers of a Forsythia shrub were supplying sunshine when the real thing had momentarily taken leave of absence. A substitute for the former blue sky was duly catered for with Jos's cardigan. I know it's been a while since his last appearance here on the blog but, if things keep going the way they do, normal service will soon be resumed.

If you're wondering about the notice he's reading (above, top left), it was actually a missing dog poster. Poor thing, I do hope it's been reunited with its human(s) by now.

The temperature dropped to an average of 13°C in the month's final week. Although still more than reasonable for the time of year, it did feel quite a bit colder courtesy of a nippy wind.

It was your usual run of the mill office week, with the customary cappuccino catch-up with Inez on Wednesday a welcome and diverting break. Afterwards, we went for a quick browse of the rails, which is almost a given when one is meeting up in Think Twice's coffee corner.

While Inez bought a pair of shoes, I pounced upon this tiered raspberry pink maxi skirt and matching vintage handbag.

And then it was Friday and the start of another three-day weekend. 

The mercury seemed to be stuck at 13°C but at least there were plenty of sunny spells. That nippy wind was still there, however, so I dug into my stash of jumpers and unearthed this yellow leaf and flower patterned one I found at Oxfam in October 2021. First wearing of the oatmeal polka dot circle skirt charity shopped a couple of weeks ago. And what a joy to wear it was!

Accessories were a charity shopped moss green suede belt, a string of olive beads from a long-gone vintage shop and a painted flower brooch found at Rosie's, a delightful vintage shop in Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, in June 2023.

I was itching for a rummage, so after lunch Jos drove me to the edge-of-town charity shop, where I spent a happy hour or so going through its full to bursting shelves and rails.

 Although my reading pile is danger of toppling over, I can never resist scanning the book shelves. It was only when I was photographing them for the blog that I noticed the similarities of their covers. They are different as night and day though, which is a reminder that book can never be judged by its cover. Both have been read in the meantime. I absolutely loved The Crimson Rooms - and am on the lookout for further books by this author - while the Maeve Binchy is her usual easy-going feel-good stuff.

I suspect these two dresses were remnants of the infamous Retro Day event which took place at the charity shops earlier that month. Whatever the case, they are now both gracing my wardrobe.

My final purchase was this delightful mushroom patterned bottle green blouse, which I'm definitely not going to wait until Autumn to wear.

Sunny spells were once again plentiful on Saturday. Wistfully looking out of the backdoor window at our junkyard jungle of a garden, I donned my denim gardening apron and grabbed an old pair of flower patterned wellies I'd found lurking in the basement, a pair of ancient gardening gloves and my trusty secateurs. I spent some time doing a pruning and clearing up session, which at least made some inroads into the massive amount of work to be done out there. 

As a reward for my efforts, we drove to the garden centre after lunch. 

I knew trying to compete for the floral extravaganza worn by the mannequin in the shop's entrance was futile, but I still gave it my best shot. I always think this tie-neck dress with its generous pleated skirt - a charity shop find back in the mists of time - personifies the essence of early Spring, and consequently it's always putting in an appearance here this time of year.

I added a felted daffodil brooch - picked up from Chirk Castle NT shop in June 2023 - for good measure. The yellow-hearted brooch was a holiday souvenir as well, bought in a Welsh charity shop back in June 2017, while the belt was once bought brand new at C&A.

We needed some Springtime blooms to brighten up the area right outside our back door, so that we were no longer obliged to look at the wilted remains of last Summer's pots and and hanging baskets. 

We filled our trolley with a selection of pansies, double flowered daisies, primulas, daffodils and grape hyacinths, which I planted up as soon as we got home. What a difference it makes!

We were delighted to see that a number of bees were checking into the bee hotel we hung from the potting shed in the Spring of 2023. 

The guests in question are red mason bees, a solitary bee that nests in hollow plant stems and in the crumbling mortar of old buildings, amongst other things. After mating, each female builds its own nest. She lines each cell with mud and pollen and lays a single egg in each until the cavity is full. The larvae hatch and develop, pupating in autumn and hibernating over winter. The red mason bee is on the wing from late March, and feeds solely on pollen and nectar. 

At the time of typing, the number of hotel rooms which are occupied have greatly increased, but there are still one or two vacancies!

We changed to Summer time in the night from Saturday to Sunday, so I was feeling a bit off all day on Sunday. 

Mostly cloudy with lots of wind and with the mercury not climbing higher than 12°C, I reached for a coral openwork jumper with a bit of sparkle, which unfortunately my camera wasn't able to fully catch.

My skirt was a Think Twice find last August, while the brooch was yet again a wet Welsh holiday souvenir, found in a Carmarthen antiques shop in 2017. 

Both the necklace and belt were high street buys at one time or another.  If I remember correctly, the necklace came from H&M and predates my blog with at least 10 years. My burgundy ankle boots were a recent charity shop find.

And so we have come to the end of March! I will be regaling you with tales of April from my next post onwards. Hope to see you again then!

Life in Limbo

What with life keeping throwing us curveballs lately, it nearly escaped my attention that the month of March held a thing or two worth celebrating. And no, I'm not talking about the fact that Spring has finally sprung!

For the first one, we have to go back to the 4th of March 2021, which was the day that Bess entered our lives. She would soon prove herself to be a more than worthy successor to Phoebe, who'd unexpectedly passed away one month earlier, but how tiny and timid she was when she first came to Dove Cottage! She's definitely come along in leaps and bounds in those four years she's been ruling the roost here!

We have to go back even further, to the 5th of March 2016, for the month's second anniversary. It was on this day that I published my very first blog post, all of nine year ago. Aptly named To begin at the beginning - the title borrowed from Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood - it was a brief introduction and contained the explanation of my blog's name. There were no photos of yours truly;  these swiftly followed in my second post a couple of days later. I've still got that first dress although I haven't worn it in a long time. 

I'm pretty sure that the dress I'm wearing today - or rather, one month ago, on the 23rd of February - wasn't part of my wardrobe back then, but it's definitely not its first appearance on my blog.

Found at Think Twice eons ago, I was swayed by its grey and white wallpaper print brightened with splashes of fuchsia and turquoise at its collar, cuffs and hem. 

I chose a pair of dove grey opaques and picked up the pops of turquoise with my accessories - the brooch was part of a haul from an antiques shop in Carmarthen in June 2017 - and cardigan. To the latter, I added a two-tone grey swallow brooch, a vintage find from the indoor flea market back in the mists of time.

With the dark cloud of Jos's surgery looming on the horizon, adequate distractions were few and far between. But nature is a great soother and healer of troubled minds and, with oodles of sunshine and temperatures easily reaching the low double digits, it would have been foolish to mope around inside.

The small but perfectly formed park near the charity shop in Duffel, a mere 15 minutes from Dove Cottage by car, was our destination of choice.

There's a number of paths to choose from but our initial choice, which was the one circumnavigating the biggest of the ponds, turned out to be too squelchy and muddy so that we soon had to head back.

It might have been only February, its feet still firmly planted in Winter, but there was a definite hint of Spring in the air. At first sight, most of the trees were still stark and bare with only the faintest whisper of green, but there were a handful of shrubs which were gleefully showing off their  yellow blossoms against the bright blue of the sky.

The brutalist fountain, devoid of the mossy green hairdo it had sported for years, was still hibernating and dreaming of the day when its gurgling jets of water will once again ripple the pond.

Optimistically, I'd left the house bareheaded and I'd exchanged my heavy Winter coat for my ancient cream, pale blue and brown plaid one. Charity shopped years before my blog was even a glimmer of thought, it has by now seen better days, but I'll be wearing it until it actually falls apart at the seams. My frilly turquoise scarf - also charity shopped - was worn in lieu of the chunky woollen ones I've been wearing these last couple of months. 

The two weeks that followed - February's last and March's first - aren't ones we will forget in a hurry, although I'm sure their rough edges will be smoothed out over time.

Strangely enough, work was a distraction for me, although there was no such thing for Jos, whose upcoming surgery was completely occupying his mind. It took all our combined willpower to get through the days until that fateful Friday arrived.

That day was a waiting game for me and I was thankful for the company of my friend Inez and my latest read, which I kept dipping into to read a chapter until my nerves once again got the better of me.

Wasn't it just our luck that Jos's week in hospital coincided with a week's worth of False Spring? After a frosty start the sun soon managed to warm things up to temperatures ranging between 14 and 18°C.

Waiting for Jos to get the doctor's green light for his discharge, which kept getting postponed on a daily basis, this mural was the view from his hospital room window: a welcome splash of colour among the grey concrete. 

Although I'd initially taken Monday off work as we'd expected Jos would be home by then, I opted to go into the office and postpone my booked time off to the day he would eventually be released, whenever that would be.

While poor Jos was mostly on his own - but don't worry, we called and messaged all the time - at least I got the company of a certain furry someone, who hardly left my side when I was at home.

I hadn't slept well in the night from Sunday to Monday, so it was with a head full of cotton wool that I stumbled through my day. 

In a bid to clear the cobwebs from my head, I made the most of the sunshine and balmy temperature by going for a lunch break walk. Aimless it might have been, I couldn't resist having a quick look at what was on offer at Melting Pot, the vintage per kilo shop. I was in luck as I found this fabulous skirt, 100% cotton and lined and equipped with two generous pockets!

I was amazed to read that, back in November, the shop was mentioned in an article by the Guardian called Amazing Antwerp (see here). It truly boggles my mind that there was no sign of any of Antwerp's five (!) Think Twice shops though.

Tuesday's lunch break saw me walking to Den Botaniek again, where I was happy to see that a sea of Crocuses had popped up since my last visit. I even caught a bumblebee going crazy in one of the lilac and white striped blooms on the bottom left.

I also admired the creamy white Camellias flowering to their heart's content in front of the former gardener's cottage - now a posh lunch restaurant.

I exited the Botanic Garden via the premises belonging to its next door neighbour, the Botanic Sanctuary hotel. Opened in 2022, the 5-star hotel is housed in a former convent and hospital complex whose history goes back to the 12th century. I always have the feeling I'm getting the side-eye when I venture onto the luxury hotel's hallowed ground.

Jos was finally able to come home on Thursday, so we roped in his son Kris, who would be picking us up at around 6 pm. I left work early and took the bus to the hospital to help Jos to get ready and tie up the last of the practical loose ends. 

Finally back at Dove Cottage, he was getting a gazillion headbutts from Bess, who was obviously over the moon to have her second employee back at her beck and call! 

Obviously, I wasn't about to call on Jos for outfit photos yet, so I did a quick flatlay to show you what I was wearing the day he came home.

Strangely enough, it was almost identical to the outfit I wore just days after his previous sojourn at the hospital back in October.  Apparently, the green zig-zag patterned vintage St. Michael skirt - a much loved gift from Vix - found its perfect partner in the fuchsia pink patterned blouse by the defunct Who's That Girl label, picked up from an outlet shop in November 2022. 

I was even wearing the same charity shopped wooden beaded necklace as I did back then. This time, however, I added a contemporary green squirrel brooch to the blouse and picked one of my beloved stretchy belts, the one with the octagonal faux tortoiseshell buckle, to accent my waist.

And so, life at Dove Cottage continues, even if things are still a bit in limbo at the time of writing.

But let me end this post on a positive note. As I was putting a bag of rubbish into the bin in the potting shed, I happened to notice some early-flowering Honesty which had nestled itself in a crack in the paving. Not wanting it to go to waste in this out of the way place, I picked a stem or two and put them in a small vintage vase - a gift from my friend Inneke - together with some late-flowering Winter Jasmine. 

A true sight for sore eyes, don't you agree?

In a rut

What with the work, eat, sleep, repeat pattern of my office days, it feels like I've been stuck in a rut a bit lately.

The same goes for my Winter wardrobe which, as much as l love all my clothes, I'm starting to get thoroughly bored with. A change is on the horizon though, as yesterday I've worked my final Friday ever - we're having the day off on Good Friday - and on top of that, Spring has now officially sprung. Never mind that, apart from the odd deliciously warm and sunny day, the season is still dragging its heels, Mother Earth has definitely had her wake-up call, and surely it can't be all that long now until we can ditch the woollens and warm Winter frocks in favour of some lighter fabrics.

There might have already been some Spring vibes going on in this outfit, which I wore to the indoor flea market on Sunday the 10th of March. 

Make no mistake, though, as I was wearing both a cardigan and a fur-collared jacket to combat the chill inside the flea market venue. I never even took off my scarf and beret either, as someone must have thought it wise to turn the heating down that day. Never mind us punters, who were constantly on the move between stalls, what about those poor stall-holders who were mostly glued to their pitches all day? At 12°C, it actually felt much warmer outside than it did inside that cavernous hall!

The teal blouse with its funky orange, yellow, turquoise and white pattern was found for the silly price of € 2 on this very flea market in October 2016, and has been a regular on the blog ever since.

My skirt is an old Think Twice find. It is vintage St. Michael, and is part of a suit - what would nowadays be called co-ords - with a short-sleeved belted jacket. 

I picked turquoise and aqua for my accessories, which consisted of a charity shopped belt and beaded necklace - the latter originally from H&M - a chunky ring from the high street and a cat brooch from the wonderful Katshop in Antwerp.

To cope with the strain of walking the flea market's endless aisles, I was wearing my charity shopped No Stress lace-up boots.

I'm sure you won't be surprised that I picked up another batch of brooches! They are my main subject of interest on flea markets in general, although obviously I'm keeping an open mind for other treasures as well. And with Jos's friend's generous gesture of supplying me with yet more of these shallow dark wooden drawers - in addition to the two I got earlier this month I've now got six more! - there's no reason to curb my enthusiasm! 

The day's finds were picked up from a variety of stalls and came in all shapes and sizes. 

Although the majority of my brooches are vintage, I'm not averse to modern ones and I don't mind cheap 'n cheerful either. I basically buy those that tickle my fancy - if the price is right. 

I tend to spend a bit more on pristine Italian micromosaic brooches, so I was pleasantly surprised that the stunner on the bottom left only had a price tag of € 15. It was my most expensive buy of that day.

The cameo brooch on the top right is actually an early plastic Paris souvenir brooch.

I've grouped the birds together here. I seem to have a bit of a penchant for them, as I've had to resort to a second drawer for my bird-themed brooches!

In the meantime, I've already worn the - vintage - peacock brooch and the - modern - woodpecker one, which you'll get to see in my next post(s). The peacock turned out to be a real dazzler, particularly when sunlight is playing with the plethora of rhinestones in its plumage!

Continuing our rummage, I picked up this 1970s oilcloth tablecloth from our friend Tania's stall. It's by the French company Nydel who are still going strong to this day, and will soon be gracing our kitchen table. We just need some placemats in a matching colour.

Shortly after we'd entered the venue, I pounced upon this revolving necklace display, for which I gladly paid the € 5 asking price. As it was a bit cumbersome to carry around, the sellers kept it behind for us until we were ready to go. It has already been put to work displaying my current most worn necklaces.

With only two more aisles to go, my friend Inez, who was with us, told me she was looking for a vintage powder box, preferably made of carton, for her vanity. What are the odds of coming across a huge box full of them only a couple of minutes after she'd uttered those words? While she was engaged in the difficult task of making a choice, I spotted two more, equally huge boxes around the corner of the stall. The owner told us that she'd found about 800 of them when on a house clearance job. 

There was nothing for it but to buy a couple of them myself, and these are the four which, after much deliberation,  were eventually selected.

And so, the weekend had come and gone, the week ahead another 5-day one, with the weather yet again a mixed bag of mostly grey and rainy days and temperatures barely into the double digits.

The monotony of my office days was broken on Wednesday by a hairdresser's appointment for a colour and cut during an extended lunch break. On my way back from the salon, I nipped into the charity shop a couple of houses down the street. This was purely out of habit, as I've hardly found anything here over the years. This time, however, my effort was rewarded by two midi skirts, a blue and tan plaid wool-blend one and a red cotton dream of a skirt with a pattern of sky blue, white and tan flowers and the odd butterfly. Both will be making their debut on the blog soon.

This Italian-made vintage dress, probably dating from the 80s, also ended up in my basket. On top of its eye-searing neon colours, it's also got a bit of sparkle, which my camera wasn't able to catch.

The odd one out that week was Thursday, with its gorgeous Springlike weather and highs of 18°C.

It goes without saying that I went for a walk during my lunch break, and I'm sure regular readers won't be surprised to read that this took me into the direction of the Botanic Garden.

This time, I went around the back, so to speak, making my way to the garden through the entrance to the white building on the top left, which used to belong to the college I attended for two years in the early 80s. I believe it's currently some kind of co-working space.

To the right, when entering the garden from this direction, is a 17th Century arcade. This was originally a baroque shooting range, which was taken from the grounds of former archery society "Cercle Willem Tell" located in the Arenbergstraat around the corner, and rebuilt here in 1911-1912. 

The greenhouses, which contain cacti and other exotic plants, are on the left. They were built as recent as 1976, but retain the form of the old 1880s conservatory. 

At this time of year, I'm sure it's possible to watch the garden grow while sitting on one of the garden's benches. Although I'd only been here a mere week ago, the changes were remarkable.

Shrubs were starting to blossom and there were fiery orange Pyracantha bushes and a yellow haze provided by Forsythia and a variety of daffodils.

Two ducks seemed to have taken up residence in the tiny ornamental pond, while a firebug was visiting a patch of forget-me-nots. There were some showy pink Camellias and Peter van Coudenberghe, the garden's founder, was keeping watch over the magnificent Magnolia tree.

And it's with a close-up of its lush goblet-shaped blooms that I'm bidding you goodbye for now.

See you next time, and let's hope that Spring has arrived in earnest by then!