Escape into the shade

Languishing at the bottom of my mending basket was this gorgeous cotton piqué Summer dress.

It had been there for many months and, all but forgotten, it was starting to feel quite sorry for itself.

I'd found it on a rail at a flea market back in April: when I spied its blowsy green flowers and bottle green flower buttons, I couldn't hand over my € 2 fast enough. Needless to say that I was somewhat put out when I tried it on at home and found it to be a bit wide on top.

I pinned it this way and that but, without any proper sewing skills I was at a loss as how to make it fit. I wasn't ready to admit defeat, though, as it was really a rather lovely frock!

Enter the heatwave. In my struggle to find things to wear, I was suddenly reminded of the poor frock, which must have felt like a voodoo doll by now, what with all the pins. As I thought it would be perfect for the kind of weather we were having, I dug it out and put my thinking cap on. No mean feat, as I was feeling as if I was having one giant hot flush, which was rather counterproductive for my already muddled brain.

But, Eureka! What if I just moved the buttons a bit more to the left? As it's already closing asymmetrically, nobody would be any the wiser, surely!

After putting my plan into action, I am happy to say that my efforts have paid off.

By now it was Saturday (I'm lagging behind, so I'm talking about two and a half weeks ago here), and we had a brief respite from the heat. It was still warm enough to wear the dress but thankfully the temperature had dropped to below 30 degrees. Time to go for a little walk!

The park was looking decidedly past its best by now, its lawns all dried up, with hardly a blade of green to be found, and with most of the summer flowers in the herbaceous borders already on their last legs.

A gusty wind had brought some much needed oxygen in its wake, so I was feeling a bit giddy.

Walking into the direction of the little wooden bridge, the resident geese starting honking for a handout, so Jos went back to our car to get the leftovers from our picnic. They're quite greedy buggers!

Any excuse for a spot of charity shopping, especially as one of our favourite shops is only a two minute walk up the road from the park.

I pounced upon these navy and white shoes, as I used to own a pair of these before, found at a flea market back in May 2016 and worn until they fell apart.

Then there was a whole armful of bangles, and a huge wooden fish brooch.

Finally, these two new-to-me skirts, both already worn in the hot days which were still to come.

The green and blue one on the left looks like it was handmade, while the wide skirt in browns with a hint of orange on the right is by Roberto Collina and made in Italy. I'd never heard of the brand before, but some quick googling revealed that it must have retailed at well over € 100,-  Somebody must have had money to burn!

Here are some of the other outfits I wore to combat the heat.

Would you believe it was the first time I wore this gorgeous sleeveless blue and white maxi, which I picked up for a song at Think Twice about a year ago?  I'm wearing two of the bangles from our charity shopping trip on Saturday, while the belt was previously found at the same shop. Orange was my colour of choice for the rest of my accessories: a necklace which came from a defunct vintage shop, and a brooch and ring from various flea markets.

This 1980s does 1950s frock is a long time favourite and with its wide, swishy skirt, such a joy to wear, particularly on a hot Summer day. I'm wearing the same belt as above, and opted for turquoise and red accessories. You can catch a glimpse of my new red Gabor sandals, a recent sales bargain and super comfortable.

I've got some catching up to do, so fast forward to the next weekend. With the temperature cruising towards the low thirties again, we went in search of some shade.

I dressed in this sky blue cotton Seasalt frock, bought in Wales several years ago. Its sailing boat print never fails so cheer me up. Lovely as it is, it does have a downside, which prevents me from wearing it more often: it is an absolute nightmare to iron.

The celluloid seagull was one of the first brooches I bought from the Brooch Lady. It's quite delicate, so it only comes out to play once in a blue moon.

The straw bag, with its blue flower appliqué, came from Think Twice and was all mine for € 2.

The shade we were after was found in the municipal park of a nearby town. Landscaped between the wars, it's got several so-called French pools, which are connected by rills. It was quite disconcerting to see that the majority of them were completely dried up.

The resident waterfowl had congregated in the heart of the park, where some water was still to be found, even though here too it wasn't exactly plentiful.

We'd brought a picnic, which we ate sitting on a pyramid of tree stumps in the play area.

Sufficiently cooled down, we visited one or two charity shops on our way home.

We didn't expect much, but still came away with another head plaque for our wall of heads, two gravy boats from one of the Boch series we are collecting (priced at € 0,25 each!) and some more new-to-me tops, all costing € 3 or € 4.

Oh, and I might have bought this vintage dress as well!

My next post will be the last one in my series of travelogues. I hope you'll join me again then.

Four go to Attingham Park

We're well into August now, and it is beginning to feel a bit strange blogging about our holiday back in June. With the passing of time, those early Summer days have taken on that dreamlike quality, and looking back at these halcyon days feels like looking through a pair of inverted binoculars, shrinking them into rose-tinted, feel-good memories.

But I haven't finished my story yet, so once more I'm climbing into my Time Machine, this time setting the controls for the Wednesday of our second week.

The date had been pencilled into our diaries for over a week: a visit to another National Trust property, called Attingham Park, an 18th-century mansion and estate.

But I said date because that's exactly what it was! It wasn't just the two of us visiting Attingham Park, you know! Well, some of you know already, having read all about it in Vix's blog post back in June.

Indeed, our partners in crime for the day were these two lovely people: Vix and her partner, Jon!

But back to Attingham Park. It was just over half an hour's drive from where we were staying, but typically our journey got just that little bit longer as, in spite of our satnav's excellent instructions, we managed to drive past the entrance. This meant we had to keep on driving along the retaining wall of the estate until we finally arrived at a road leading off to the right, where we were able to turn around.

Then, there were some stubborn cows blocking our way in the middle of the driveway. These are part of the herd of heritage and rare breed cattle who graze the lawns of Attingham Park, and who belong to the tenant farmer of the estate's home farm.

Having finally made it to the car park, we waited at its entrance until a couple of minutes later Vix and Jon's van came trundling along.

As Vix had already blogged about the estate, which she visited on her birthday last year, we were kind of expecting to get a guided tour, but they both kept insisting that this was their first visit until they saw the gorgeous Grade II listed Regency bee house (top right).

That settled, we set off for a walk through the grounds, starting with the beautiful Georgian walled gardens which, apart from extensive kitchen gardens with original glasshouses, contain colourfully planted borders, the ones lining the main path hedged with the purplest of lavenders.

The walled gardens were established in 1780 to provide food for the estate and, in fact, the gardens as well as the apple orchard containing 160 trees and over 37 varieties of apple, still produce flowers for the mansion, as well as the fruit and vegetables used in the café and tearoom. You can even buy some of the freshly harvested produce in the Stables Shop.

Now, you are probably wondering what we're all staring at here? It's something that's making us smile, that's for sure!

Well, no longer keeping you in suspense, it's a tree sculpture in the orchard, carved from a tree stump and possibly representing James and the Giant Peach.

Surrounded by acres of parkland, there’s plenty of space to stretch your legs, as there are miles of walks around the estate.

The landscape you see at Attingham today was designed by Humphry Repton, the great landscape designer of the late 1700s and early 1800s, who was commissioned by Thomas, 2nd Lord Berwick, in 1797 to work on proposals for his land at Attingham.

We decided on a leisurely walk around the estate, which at first took us along a path through the woodland, the quiet only pierced by the non-stop chattering of us girls, the boys following quite a few paces behind us!

Coming out of the woodland, an unusual rope bridge awaited us. This took us over the river Tern and to the entrance of the Deer Park.

Fallow deer roam the deer park and have been doing so for over 200 years, but we didn't spot any.

But wait: both Jon and Jos thought they detected some movement in the far distance among the ferns and bracken on our left: one of the deer raising its head, perhaps. Having no binoculars on us, it was hard to be sure.

Now and then, we were treated with a tantalizing glimpse of the house on our right.

The many ponds are a haven for wildlife of all sorts, from ducks, swans and otters to dragonflies, at the same time serving as watering holes for the freely roaming herd of cows.

Eventually we ended up crossing a lovely stone bridge with a weir while we were heading back towards the mansion for a spot of lunch.

Afterwards, we made our way to the mansion to explore its three floors at our own pace.

Only five generations of the Berwick family lived at Attingham, but they left an impressive and enduring legacy of love and neglect, as their fortunes rose and fell.

The mansion was built in 1782–85 by Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick, and designed by architect George Steuart. Inside, the mansion is divided into ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ sides, with rooms decorated accordingly in different styles.

The elegant Georgian drawing room is furnished with 18th century Italian furniture, some of which is said to have belonged to Napoleon's sister (above, bottom right).

The Boudoir, decorated with gilded cupids and other symbols of love, was created for the 1st Lady Berwick, as her own intimate space in the feminine wing of Attingham (above, top left and below, bottom left).

In some of the rooms, several items of vintage clothing were on display; These were of course greatly admired by the girls! I could definitely see myself in the blue 1960s number on the bottom right.

The 2nd Lord Berwick and his wife were big spenders, so much so that two bankruptcy auctions had to be held to clear their debt. Part of their extravagance was the picture gallery, a flamboyant room designed by John Nash, with its glass roof, which apparently is always leaking.

A magnificent circular staircase off the picture gallery, also designed by John Nash, leads to the upper floors of the mansion, the huge mirror on the landing inviting some creative photography on Jos's part. Such a pity Vix had just stepped out of the frame, as we would all have been in the photo on the top left. 

The rooms on the first floor are left unfurnished. In fact, they are still being renovated: a slow and painstaking process which, as part of the Attingham Re-discovered project began in 2006, focuses on carrying out conservation-in-action, in full view of the public, rather than behind closed doors. Some of the rooms have exhibits about the history of the family or offer glimpses into the archives.

Our tour of the house completed, we were in need of some refreshments, after which, alas, it was time to say goodbye.

But not before Jon had persuaded one of the National Trust staff to take a photo of all four of us together. I'm sure Vix won't mind me pinching that photo from her blog ...

But the day wasn't over for us yet! We were all set for the drive back to our cottage and started following our satnav's instructions, even though we were a bit mystified that it made us drive in the opposite direction. It was only when we had literally driven around the block that we realized we'd forgotten to enter our destination, so it was trying to take us back to Attingham Park!

We stopped in a lay-by, rectified our mistake, and drove on, when suddenly we passed Wroxeter Roman City on our right.  It would have been silly not to stop for a visit, so we did.

Once the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, today the most impressive features of its fascinating ruins are the 2nd century municipal baths and the remains of the huge wall dividing them from the exercise hall in the heart of the city. 

Over the road, which is the final stretch of Watling Street Roman road, is the new Roman Town House, constructed as part of Channel 4’s "Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day".

What better place for a close-up of my frock? This was the maxi I'd picked up in a charity shop two days before. I was happy to find it, as I hadn't packed nearly enough summer frocks, and was running out of things to wear. Who'd have thought we would have such marvellous weather, anyway?

I'm taking my maxi dress to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style!

Spending warm summer days indoors

Ready for today's flea market!

When I posted this on Facebook two weeks ago on Saturday, a friend remarked: again? Well yes, but this time we were browsing, not selling!

With the temperature into the high twenties, it was, in all fairness, a bit too hot to browse, but we were not to be deterred: not counting the one outside our front door, it had been far too long since our last flea market!

Dressed in a vintage maxi skirt in citrus colours, topped by a green embroidered peasant-style blouse - a sales bargain from New Look - with short, scalloped trumpet sleeves protecting my shoulders from the sun and, of course, my arms, neck and face slathered in sun screen, I was definitely ready for a good old browse, regardless of the weather.

The comfy sandals are Clarks - bought in the sales while on holiday - and doesn't that colourful raffia bag remind you of those 1970s raffia trivets?

Further accessories, or rather, necessities, were a hat, to which I added a floral hair band to make it more interesting, my trusty pair of sunglasses and a bottle of water.

The multicoloured wooden triangle bracelet was one of my first buys, and adding it to the others I was already wearing seemed the obvious thing to do. Incidentally, the ivory coloured elephant bangle was found at the same flea market last year, while the green bracelet was brought back from Shropshire.

We'd hardly made a start when who did we run into but Jos's daughter! I think she loves flea markets even more than we do!

It wasn't a huge market, but with just the right amount of stalls not to be overwhelming, and enough variation to keep our interest piqued.

By the time we'd found a spot under some trees, well away from the crowds, to eat our picnic, our finds included a necklace, a short-sleeved top and ... space man! This demented looking little robot, its original box a tiny bit faded, still manages a couple of jerky steps when its rusty key is turned.

At a stall selling all manner of vintage picture postcards, I bought a few of these 1970s cuties. I would have loved to browse this stall some more, but as it was in full sun, without any protective awning, it was far too hot to stand still for longer than a couple of minutes.

After lunch, in the final row of stalls, I found two more necklaces, both of which have been worn already, as well as a vintage frock, which only cost € 2 but needed its buttons replaced. Nothing me and my stash of vintage buttons could not handle!

In the week after the flea market, the temperature climbed steadily towards the mid thirties.

I'd bought Maggie O'Farrell's Instructions for a Heatwave, which is set in the summer of 1976, on a rainy day in Wales last year. She is one of my favourite authors, and I've been keeping this novel in my reading pile ever since, waiting for the right moment.

Well, what better moment can there be but now, being faced with a heatwave of similar proportions, 42 years later?

"The heat, the heat. It inhabits the house like a guest who has outstayed its welcome: it lies along corridors, it circles around curtains, it lolls heavily on sofas and chairs."

What a delicious and apt description. It could have been written with Dove Cottage in mind!

The blinds here are permanently drawn, only letting in a minimum amount of light through its dotted chinks, and the curtains in our bedroom remain closed until the evening brings some relative coolness. We are actually living in semi-darkness!

Standing in front of my wardrobe, I am faced with a problem: a serious lack of cotton frocks! It's not that I don't have any, but the choice is pretty limited. After all, there has been many a Summer when they do not even make a single appearance!

The rail of colourful Diolen frocks is looking at me reproachfully, but obviously they are out of bounds in this kind of weather.

Handmade from a sturdy cotton, the floral frock I bought at The Looking Glass in Bridgnorth seemed the perfect choice. I added a shell necklace - also bought while on holiday - and a brooch featuring seashells and flowers. Unfortunately, I wasn't very comfortable wearing this: it was surprisingly clingy, and I kept having to adjust the bodice to keep my bra straps from showing, a common occurrence when I'm wearing shift dresses . I'll give it another try when it's less warm, so the jury is still out.

I fared slightly better with this cotton frock, even though it is lined, adding a layer I could have done without by the end of the day. Still, I felt quite cool and collected for most of the day.

Several 1970s floral cotton midi length skirts are gracing my wardrobe, but he problem is what to wear with them in these unusually sweltering temperatures. I hardly have a shortage of blouses and tops, but even those which were the epitome of coolness during past Summers are now sticking to my back by early afternoon.

As luck would have it, the last days of the sales yielded a couple of floaty, butterfly sleeved tops of the wash-and-wear-again variety. This sage green one is from H&M and I love the lacy details at the yoke. The purple necklace was slightly too long, which was easily remedied by knotting it.

But even though I loved wearing this outfit, and it was absolutely fine for a day at my air-conditioned office and a quick dash outside to have coffee with a friend, it wasn't up to my commute home on a tram which should have been put on the scrap heap years ago. At regular intervals, we were only doing 15 kilometers an hour, as the vehicle kept getting overheated. Hot and sweaty, I changed into the play suit I'd bought at Think Twice back in June when I eventually got home.

My next outfit featured the New Look peasant blouse again. This time, I wore it with another one of my cotton 1970s skirts, which has pink, orange, yellow and green florals on a black background.

I added a variety of accessories: a wide black and white woven belt, one of the necklaces from the flea market, orange and floral bangles and an orange plastic flower ring. Oh, and doesn't the vintage Bohemian brooch looks perfect with the blouse?

The skirt came out again the next day, with a different top. When I laid eyes on it on a charity shop rail, I was immediately drawn to its funky print, so even though I wasn't too sure about the elasticated puff sleeves, which usually pinch like hell, it just had to come home with me.

I needn't have worried, as the sleeves were absolutely fine all day.  I did have to remove the label, which was uncomfortably scratchy.

The orchid brooch, which doubles as a necklace, was bought at a flea market back in May, while both the ring and the necklace were charity shopped. 

The half-elasticated orange belt is one of my favourites and has consequently made quite a few appearances on the blog. I have it in navy as well, and both are starting to show some wear and tear. It'll be a sad day when they finally give up the ghost.

There, I'm sure you've had enough of my hot weather outfits for now. I'm sure I have!

I'm linking the groovy top to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style.