September Selection

Although my favourite times of the year are certainly spring and summer, somehow September has managed to establish itself as a secret favourite in recent years. Maybe it has to do with our weather, maybe it is the general atmosphere of getting back to familiar (and not unloved) routines, maybe it is the combination of often still warm and sunny days and the first cosy nights in, or the abundance of flowers and fruits in gardens and on fields, and the transition of summer wardrobe to more substantial clothes, the change of light and colours outside, or... Whatever it is, I like September very much.

For months now, I haven't shown you the view from my kitchen window. Not that it has changed much since you last saw it; there are still the same gardens and houses. But the ever-changing flowers and trees are something I always love looking at when I am in my kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil or doing any of the other things people genereally do in kitchens. This was what it looked like on the 6th of this month:

After the general view, I zoomed in on the yellow flowers. The green is still very much the green of summer, but everything else is strongly pointing towards autumn:

Speaking of autumn - the weather was finally right for me to wear this vintage dress I brought back from Ripon this year:

I am not sure what day I bought it; my best guess is that it was on the day described here. The shop is on Ripon's Westgate (that is the road leading westwards off the market square). It is called "Fabulous" and sells vintage clothing. The first dress I tried on was very, very pretty; a Fifties' ensemble with narrow waist and wide skirt with matching short-sleeved jacket in a caramel-brown cotton with tiny roses on it. However, it was made for someone much smaller than I am. The next one was a "Bond Girl" type of shift dress from the 1960s in a black-and-white dogtooth pattern. Again, it didn't fit. But by now I was in full clothes-shopping mode and my eyes fell on the dress the dummy in the corner was wearing. I asked the friendly lady whether she'd let me try this one. She did, and for the third time I went back to the tiny broom cupboard that doubles as a fitting room. Third time lucky - this one fitted so well as if it had been made for me! It wasn't exactly cheap, but the wool fabric was in top condition, it was clean and the zip ran smoothly (not something to be taken for granted - this dress is, after all, probably a few years older than myself!), and all of last year I had been thinking about getting something green to wear without finding anything I really liked.

The lady in the shop was very kind and friendly; she even said something like "I am so jealous because this looks so nice on you", and my sister (who had been very patiently waitng for me while I was trying on the dresses) and I left the shop in the best of moods. The shop has its own page on facebook, by the way.

I am not entirely happy with this picture; I look as if I don't have a waist (I do - believe me!), but it's the best I could come up with in the few minutes I had left before leaving the house to catch my train to work.

Have a good second half of September, everyone! 

PS: I have emailed the shop owner and she tells me she now has a proper changing room :-) That is one more reason (as if I needed one...) for me to go back next year!