Still the days seem the same

For fear of sounding like a broken record, the rainy weather continued to plague us, marring not only the first weekend of October, but the ensuing week as well.

Taking Friday afternoon off meant that the weekend started early, which made me feel a whole lot better. As did wearing one of my brightest, long-sleeved frocks.

With a flower pattern in about every colour under the sun, the odd pagoda nestling among them, this cobalt blue dress isn't for the faint-hearted.

From its rich colour palette, I picked bright pink for a further pop of colour in the form of my cardi and opaques. My first wearing of opaques this season!

Not wanting my outfit to be too matchy-matchy, I added a green vinyl belt, a necklace of multi-coloured wooden discs bought from Accessorize eons ago, and the peacock brooch I found in a charity shop in Llangollen last Summer.

It was chilly enough to wear one of my all-time favourite coats too: I'm always glad to see this vintage teal wonder again after a six-month absence.

We were off to the optician’s for a second pair of glasses for Jos.  His last purchase back in July came with the offer of one free lens if he bought a second pair within three months. As he obviously wanted to make use of this offer, he'd asked me to help him choose new frames. As it was, we both fell for the first frames he tried on, so that we had enough time to spare for a visit to the local charity shop.

Trawling the clothing aisles and doing my best not to look at the coats, which are a particular weakness of mine, I couldn’t help but notice this burgundy jacket. Its slightly longer length, the multi-coloured specks running through the fabric and the unusual knitted sleeves and yoke all conspired against me. My only hope was that it wouldn’t fit me, but no: it was just perfect in every way. At € 6, there was no way it wasn’t coming home with me! Oh, and it's a wool and polyacryl blend.

On Saturday, we bit the bullet and booked an airbnb cottage for our next little holiday in November.

Then we were off for another charity shop jaunt, with me wearing the jacket, obviously. In fact, I wore it all week, so that its cost per wear has now dropped below € 1.

But first we stopped at the fashionably rusty gates of the museum garden further along in our street for some outfit photos. We had to act fast, as not only had it ceased raining for a couple of minutes, there were some weak and sickly rays of sunshine about.

My ankle boots - one of the oldest pairs I've got, and repaired several times already - as well as my handbag matched the jacket almost exactly.

The dress I'm wearing underneath, in what feels like a wool/polyester blend, is short-sleeved and one of the two items I found at Think Twice in Bruges on our day-trip the week before.

I accessorized it with a tan belt with a round tortoiseshell buckle and amber coloured beads. The brooch, with its posy of violets, came from a stall in Cardigan Market, bought on our last Pembrokeshire holiday in 2017.

If lately the weather gods have been behaving badly, those ruling the charity shops have been more than making up for it.

The first shop we visited has been a bit rubbish lately, but I still came away with a moss green suede belt and a funky scarf, which I'll be wearing to combat the first Autumn chills.

The second shop yielded a good-as-new Kitsch Kitchen bag (bottom left), whilst the third shop provided me with a completely outfit, consisting of a dress by the defunct Belgian label Wow To Go, a yellow Mango cardi and a green wood and gold metal chain belt.

I had been sniffling and sneezing on and off throughout the day, so it was almost inevitable that on  Sunday I woke up to blocked sinuses, watery eyes and a head full of cotton wool, making it clear that I'd caught some kind of bug.

This did not deter me from carrying out my plans for that day, which were to make a start with my seasonal wardrobe change-over. 

Ideally, I'd love to keep all my clothes out all year round, but lack of space dictates that most of my out-of-season frocks and skirts are stored inside this huge antique linen chest which used to belong to Jos's grandparents. 

I am, however, only swapping over those things which need hanging space, which is at a premium. Apart from chunky jumpers and thick woollen skirts, which have their permanent home inside the chest, only coming out during severe cold snaps, and a suitcase full of flimsy heatwave clothes, everything else stays put throughout the year.

I was starting to feel quite miserable by late afternoon, but as the sun came out for literally 5 minutes, I threw on my orange velvet jacket, put on a pair of ankle boots, and went into the garden for some outfit photos. 

The midi dress is from a Belgian high street brand, but found at a a charity shop last Autumn. I needed something stylish yet comfortable to help me with the task at hand.

I paid a bit more than I was initially prepared to for the jacket when it crossed my path in a charity shop back in April, but in the end I was glad I did, as isn't that colour absolutely gorgeous?

 As a further nod to the season, I added a duo of Autumn leaves to its rich pumpkin shade. The final touch was provided by a strand of orange plastic beads.

My cold, which turned out to be a full-blown one, continued to bug me all week and, even though I did my best to not to let it bring me down, the broken nights followed by days of rainy commutes, finally took their toll.  By Thursday - typically the only day that the sun was out - I was feeling so exhausted that - shock! horror! - I left work early, which is practically unheard of for me.

My wardrobe was the best medicine to help me through the week, so here are some of the outfits I wore. I'm so glad I've been keeping a record to distinguish one day from another.

First up was this rust coloured plaid skirt. Originally from H&M, it was a charity shop find several years ago. The pale green floral print blouse was the second item I bought from Think Twice in Bruges. See how my belt matches its colour almost exactly!  Further additions to my outfit were a red beaded necklace, my ochre yellow cardi to which I pinned a green-backed cameo brooch, burnt orange tights and burgundy ankle boots.

I'd sort of gone off this dress, bought from a long-gone vintage shop, but decided to give it another go. Instead of wearing it with pink shades, as I used to do in the past, I now opted for green and, lo and behold, I'm in love with it again!

Here you can see a close-up of the dress's riotous pattern, which has vertical stripes with a squiggly print, tiny dots and patches of roses. And look, it's got a little bow at the neckline as well!

Well, that's it for now. 

Here's to hoping that these rainy days soon come to an end, as I'm in desperate need of some of that glorious, leaf-kicking Autumn weather!

Once again, I am linking to lovely Nancy's Fancy Friday!

Who'll Stop the Rain?

It soon became clear how much luck we’d had with the weather on our day trip to Bruges, as the delicious Autumn day we’d been treated to turned out to be a one-off.

That weekend, the last one of September, was a total washout, as was the week that followed.

There was nothing much on the agenda that weekend, which was a good thing as any plans for doing something out of doors would have been scuppered by the endless and relentless rain.

In the final run-up to my seasonal wardrobe swap-over, I was trying to give some of my unworn short-sleeved frocks the last chance of an outing.

Admittedly, the Autumnal print of this dress prevents me wearing it at any other time of year, but this dull, grey Saturday was just perfect for it, providing some well-needed sunshine.

The dress is an old wardrobe staple and there’s every indication that it was handmade. I thought it would have become too snug by now due to the dreaded menopause playing havoc with my waistline, so I was delighted and greatly relieved, to find it was still a perfect fit.

And aren’t these covered buttons sweet?

I piled on even more sunshine by adding ochre beads, while I opted for a tan belt to define any waist I’ve got left, and tan leather boots. These were a € 2 charity shop steal last year.

The back of my coats cupboard revealed this bright ochre cord jacket I’d almost forgotten about. Any out-of-season jackets are folded and put away in the cupboard’s bottom drawer to save on hanging space, and for some reason this one got wedged at the very back.

For want of something better to do, we did a round of the charity shops and wouldn’t you know: the first thing to catch our eye was this giant vintage tin decorated with Bruges scenes!

Yes, I know, I wasn’t going to buy any more tins, but surely at € 1,50 this serendipitous find needed to come home with us.

The jewellery display yielded no less than seven brand new painted wooden bangles, and I found another King Louie dress as well, which you’ll get to see later in this post.

On Sunday we woke up to rain drumming on our stairwell skylight and trickling in never-ending rivulets down our windows. The outside world was looking soggy and sorry for itself, so staying in and not doing very much at all (not my forte!) was the only option.

While pottering about upstairs and tentatively lifting the lid of the huge antique linen chest my out-of-season clothes are stored in, I noticed this dress lying on top of the vacuum bags containing all my stuff.

Short-sleeved, but in a thick knit polyester fabric, it’s one of those dresses that often fall by the wayside.

I was glad of its Autumn flavour, not to mention its warmth, when I wore it to work later that week.
I added a matching orange belt but wore a contrasting mustard cardigan, to which I pinned one of my recent flea market brooches.

My ring is a medley of all the outfit’s colours. It’s made of fused glass and I bought it – together with four of its friends – from a stall near the busy Dijver canal in Bruges on our recent day trip.

Here’s a look at the others.

Surfacing from the metro on Wednesday morning, my heart skipped a beat upon spying golden sunlight illuminating Antwerp’s Art Deco skyscraper and my office building, which is on the right, with the overhead tramlines intersecting the deep blue sky.

I just had to stop for a photograph, even if I was in the middle of a busy pavement with people milling all around me.

Less than an hour later, this was my view from the office window.

But never mind, as I was wearing my new-to-me King Louie frock!

As it is short-sleeved, my first thought was to add it my pile of soon-to-be packed up things for next Summer, but then I had an aha moment!

Layering a long-sleeved t-shirt underneath meant I didn't have to wait to wear this groovilicious frock. I opted for a matching colour, but will try it with a contrasting one next time, as I've got long-sleeved tops in every colour under the sun.

I did choose a contrasting, burgundy belt, which prompted me to dig out my beloved burgundy vintage boots found at Think Twice last Winter.

A string of graduated, colourful wooden beads, a vintage bracelet and a purple hued plastic ring were my other accessories.

And oh, my huge wooden fish brooch! I'd been sorting my bangles and found it lurking underneath. What with all that rain, it certainly wasn't feeling like a fish out of water, and felt quite at home pinned to my dress.

My final outfit was another attempt to stop the rain and lure the sun out of her hiding place.

I combined a green skirt (which is looking decidedly greener in real life) with one of my all-time favourite blouses. I picked up this vintage beauty with its almost over the top flower print in green, yellow, pink and white, at Think Twice last Spring. 

My accessories were a wide tan belt, green plastic ring, green beads and an Autumn leaf brooch, which I pinned to my bright yellow cardigan.

And although I didn't manage to magic away the rain, wearing my own portable sunshine definitely made me feel happier.

Linking to Nancy's Fancy Friday, do go and check this lovely lady out!

Day Trippers

It's been raining virtually non-stop here for the last two weeks or so, but as luck would have it, the last Friday of September turned out quite nicely.

I'd taken the day off to celebrate Jos's birthday and, as we had plans for a day trip, we'd been anxiously eyeing the weather forecast for days.
We needn't have worried, as the weather gods presented us with a one-off day of sunshine, although it did rain briefly at one point later in the day. What a perfect birthday present!

This time, I planned my outfit with care. The chocolate brown maxi skirt with its sprinkling of flowers was snapped up at Think Twice in June. Fully lined, it made a satisfactory swish-swish sound with every step. The lilac pussy-bow blouse with its abstract purple and orange print, also came from Think Twice, where I sourced it many years ago. I added my orange elasticated belt - so comfy - and my most comfortable booties, as we'd planned to do a lot of walking.

Not wanting to be stuck in traffic, we waited until well after rush hour to make a start, and arrived at our destination about one hour and 15 minutes later.

By then it was late morning and, after having parked our car, we proceeded to walk into the direction of the town centre by way of some less busy side streets, well away from the crowds who are drawn like moths to a flame to this town, which has around 8 million visitors annually.

Has anyone guessed where we are by now?

Ah, the t-shirt in the shop window on the bottom right is giving the game away!

And here's birthday boy himself ...

Having arrived at the huge main square, we sat for a while on a bench on the lower covered gallery of the Historium, a museum housed in a bluestone building with a neo-renaissance appearance completed in 1921, which allows you to revisit medieval Bruges.

From this vantage point, we watched the hustle and bustle on the square with the tall belfry reigning over it, then walked over to the belfry and through the passageway beneath it to reach its inner courtyard. The steps I'm standing on lead to a first floor gallery, from where it is possible to climb the belfry tower, if one is so inclined and able to get one of the limited tickets.

After lunch, for which we returned to a small bistro we'd passed in a quiet side street, we walked wherever our feet would take us, without any itinerary whatsoever.

And although Bruges is a tourist honey-pot all year round, we found it to be much quieter on this sunny Autumn day than on our last visit back in April.

We were even able to make some relatively crowd-less photographs of the Dijver canal and the Rozenhoedkaai, a most popular area which is usually thronged with sightseers, with a constant stream of canal tour boats churning up the water.

There's no doubt that Bruges is beautiful in all seasons, but I found it particularly picturesque surrounded by Autumn splendour and bathing in that low-slanting golden sunlight which is one of the crowning glories of the season.

It's surprisingly easy to get off the beaten track in Bruges if you just wander a street or two away from the so-called golden triangle containing the majority of the city's major tourist attractions.

The delightful tree-lined Groenerei (above) is just minutes away from one of the busiest corners in Bruges, yet it was relatively quiet apart from a handful of people joining us in strolling along its cobbled quayside.

Crossing the busy Langestraat at the end of the quay, we walked alongside a wide canal towards the Hansa Quarter. 

Here, in this now peaceful corner of Bruges, the canals are flanked by the residences and warehouses built by medieval merchants from across Europe in an enchanting medley of architectural styles.

At this point, our plan was to walk back into the direction of the town centre, but we were distracted by the sight of a cozy little terrace, where we grabbed a seat and enjoyed a cup of coffee while resting our feet.

We then wandered around the corner and strolled along the narrow Gouden-Handrei, which must be one of Bruges' loveliest streets, its canal-side lined with a string of delightful summer houses belonging to the houses fronting the street behind. 

The sun, which had been playing hide and seek with the clouds for a while, was now making up for its bad behaviour, and was assisting the tranquil waters of the canal in producing the most picturesque reflections.

We kept on walking and drinking in the views and at one point found ourselves lost in a maze of cobbled streets. At that point, the clouds had won the game they had been playing with the sun, and decided to treat us to a shower.

As luck would have it, we came across the St. Jakobskerk (or St. James's church), providing us a with a sanctuary to escape the rain.

We got talking to a friendly and very knowledgeable guide, rather incongruously dressed in ill-fitting shorts and t-shirt and wearing a rather unsightly bumbag, who was pleased to point out the church's main treasures to us, including some age-old graffiti on the choir stall benches.

Emerging from the church, it was clear that it had rained quite heavily while we were inside. In fact, we were not out of the woods yet, as the odd raindrops were still trying to get us to open our umbrellas. But we didn't, as I suddenly realized where we were, which was around the corner from the town's Think Twice shop!

Inevitably, I had to go for a browse and I even found one or two things, but these will be for a future post. 

We were quite parched by then, so we went into a well-known establishment on the market square for refreshments. 

As it was still too early for dinner, so we strolled towards the imposing Burg square, where several magnificent buildings are vying for attention. It was well after closing time and the square was relatively empty of people, so that we had all that splendour practically to ourselves.

Tarpaulined canal tour boats were lined up along the Dijver canal and the first of the twinkling evening lights appeared in the shop windows.

But even this late in the day, people were still taking pictures on the tiny hump-backed Bonifacius bridge (bottom right), although the usual queue of selfie-stick wielding tourists had thankfully gone.

While having dinner on the heated outside terrace of our favourite restaurant, it started raining again, briefly but quite heavily.

Thankfully, it had stopped by the time we left to make our way back to the car park, with the golden evening sunlight providing a grand finale to our day.

A basketful of bargains

I have to confess that I'm always feeling a tiny bit bereft whenever I finish a series of travelogues. Not only do I love writing these posts, they are the perfect way to relive those short-lived, carefree days and smell those roses one more time.

The best thing to do to combat post-travelogue blues is to book another another trip, methinks!

But for now, I'm reverting to my usual workaday schedule of outfit posts mixed with a dose of charity shopping, walks in the park and the occasional day trip.

And flea markets!

In spite of the fact that Indian Summer still firmly ruled two weeks ago on Sunday, we were more than happy to go to our first indoor flea market of the season. The last one had been in May and, as this Summer's outdoor markets had been rather disappointing, we were starting to get serious withdrawal symptoms.

Unusually for me, there was no forward planning involved in assembling my outfit, which was pulled from my wardrobe at the last moment on Sunday morning.

Funnily enough, this floral maxi skirt, which consists of a gauzy layer with a solid yellow underskirt, hadn't been worn at all during the Summer months, and it had been even longer since the green short-sleeved vintage jumper embroidered with pink and white flowers had seen the light of day.

I only wore my blue and orange charity shopped blazer to walk down to our garage, but henceforth it was left behind in the car.

As expected, the gorgeous weather meant that the venue wasn't booked to its full capacity, with quite a few empty spaces.

If initially it was rather disappointing to have our suspicions confirmed, it soon transpired that quality ruled over quantity as we ended up with quite a decent haul.

Here are all our buys displayed on our garden table and as you can see there is a little bit of everything. Intrigued? Then let's have a closer look!

First up are these two tins. I keep telling myself I should stop buying tins as we've long run out of space for them, but well, it seems that once again I stubbornly refused to listen to my inner voice.

I couldn't resist the gorgeously decorated tin (top and bottom left) which, judging from its colours and motifs, I suspect to date from the 1930s. The famous Belgian chocolate brand Côte d'Or is marked on its bottom, so no prices for guessing its original contents! The small yellow Maggi tin, which used to contain stock cubes, has already found a home among our kitchenalia. 

At one of our favourite stalls, belonging to our friend Tania, I spotted this tiny wooden souvenir windmill from Middelburg in Holland. As we'd spent a couple of days there last November, it obviously needed to join our growing collection. Yes, we actually have a small collection of these kitschy wooden souvenirs in our hallway, quite a few of them featuring tiny windmills. They must have been all the rage at one point, as I clearly remember one adorning the wall of my grandparents' sitting room! Lovely Tania let me have the windmill for free! 

Tania's stall is a treasure trove, and we usually end up buying one or two things. This time, my eye was caught by a colourful basket, which Tania said came from France. There's always room for another basket at Dove Cottage, especially as I'm using the majority of them for storage of some kind.

I found the yellow beads on another stall but I thought they contrasted strikingly with the basket.

This vintage lacquered bamboo basket was a steal at € 2. It opens on top, which makes it ideal for use as a small picnic basket. But then again, it'll make a nice handbag too! Either way, it will need an inner make-over as the lining is beyond redemption.

My heart skipped a beat when I spotted this vintage vinyl lunch box, delightfully decorated with two tiny children hitching a ride on a snail. The style and handle reminded me of vintage vinyl Barbie doll cases. Here in Europe, these cases were often made in France, as was this one. I'd say it dates from the early 1960s.

It was quite filthy but nothing I couldn't handle, so it came home with me.

Any additions to my burgeoning vintage fashion library are always welcome. This one on the 1940s look is an interesting read with plenty of illustrations.

Another collection of ours (I was born with the collecting gene, after all) is Tala ware, which started quite unintentionally when we picked up a Tala icing set in a tin box in an antiques shop in Rye, specializing in kitchenalia, many years ago.  

Tala is a well known British baking and kitchenware brand, and one of its oldest, founded in 1899 in Stourbridge in England's Black Country. 

This set of cookie cutters is complete and still in its box, which unfortunately isn't in the best of conditions. We would have paid more than € 3 if it had been, though, as I found a similar set in my Miller's kitchenware guide, which mentions an average price of  € 40-45 for one in mint condition.

Ah, brooches! 

I don't think I've ever left this flea market without any new treasures in that department. They were all found at different stalls at prices varying between € 2 and € 15.

Can you guess which was the most expensive? (*)

Here's a closer look at two of them. Aren't they exquisite? I particularly love the tiny birds perching on a tree branch in the one on the right, which is celluloid mounted on a metal background and decorated with filigree.

The brooch on the left is painted ceramic in a pearly frame.

The final week of September was a blur of rainy days and a busy work schedule, so I only managed outfit photos on two occasions. 

One of my outfits was based around the Springlike hues of this vintage dress, in a pale blue plaid pattern dotted with pink roses.

My accessories consisted of a pink beaded necklace, a tan leather and cream lace belt, and a vintage early plastic butterfly brooch. I wore a bright pink cardi on top, and look: I'm wearing boots for the first time this season!

This Diolen delight with its busy orange, yellow and green floral pattern on a deep aubergine background, made it the perfect choice for a dull Autumn day.

I stirred things up a bit by accessorizing it with sunshine yellow and fiery orange. I'm not sure the lady on my brooch approves, as she seems to favour blue!

One of the bright spots of my week were the final sales days at my favourite chain of vintage shops, Think Twice, where I snapped up these beauties for € 4 each.

Featuring my beloved flower prints, both the black, three-quarter sleeved one on the left and the high-necked and long-sleeved chocolate brown one on the right, are welcome additions to my Winter wardrobe.

And then there was this blue dress with flowers tumbling towards the hem. As the weather has definitely taken a turn for the worse, I'm not sure I'll be able to wear it before next Spring, but it's definitely one to look forward to.

(*) The most expensive of the brooches, for which I paid € 15, was the celluloid butterfly! Did you guess it right?

Linking my maxi skirt to Mica's Weekday Wear linkup!