I found a lump...

Three weeks ago I discovered a lump on my neck and straight away I shall tell you that it's all fine, nothing to worry about. However, I didn't know that at the time and am afraid that my initial reaction (probably a common one, I'd say) was to immediately worry it might be cancer. I was seen by two different doctors locally and they agreed that it needed to be investigated quickly, putting me on the two week cancer pathway. Those two weeks were the longest of my life. One of them I spent in isolation as we had Covid on the island and I needed to provide a negative test in order to see the consultant on the day. I passed a lot of the time researching lumps and swellings of the throat and thyroid, as one would, and became quite informed about goitres, cysts and cancers, of which the survival rates vary from 100% down to 20% depending on the types and aggressive nature of the tumour. 

My appointment finally came round on Thursday last week. Steve flew across to the mainland with me as support, hanging around while I was in the hospital for 3 hours having tests and waiting, waiting, waiting. The lump was diagnosed as a benign cyst on the left lobe of the thyroid and for the moment needs no treatment. Our little family see this as cause for celebration. We had braced ourselves for the worst and of course hoped for the best. The moral of the tale is - please check yourself out for lumps or bumps regularly. I somehow had failed to see this growth despite taking endless photos for my blog and editing them to showcase necklaces and necklines of outfits. I also apply neck cream every night and can feel this lump now whereas it wasn't so prominent until recently. 

Anyway, as you would expect in a small island community, the news travelled fast and on my return from hospital I was greeted with warmth and affection. I've been touched by the kindness and genuine concern of co-workers and islanders in a way that I didn't expect. Life is all the sweeter.

And so, on to yesterday's work outfit. The trouser suit is a gorgeous coral shade of corduroy by Adidas which I bought quite some time ago. I've paired it with a new pale aqua shirt from TK Maxx - it won't come as any surprise that on getting the good news, I insisted on celebrating in the only way I know, to go shopping! I'd found an unused gift card at home with £200 credit on it and this seemed like the perfect time to spend it!

The two colours together are very spring-like and just right for the spell of fine weather we're experiencing at the moment. I do love a trouser suit for work as it's such a sharp business look and yet in this colourway it's so very feminine too. I did get a few compliments along the way.

However, we also encountered a few photo-bombers while Rachel and I were trying to do our photo shoot early in the morning...

Why, you'd think we were actually standing on the main road trying to take photos in the middle of the morning rush hour!

Ah, see that bright shiny orb in the sky...

I brought out this ornate (pre-loved) handbag from River Island to go with my brocade boots just to add another dimension to the look. As ever it's always more is more with me!

My necklace, rings and leather belt are all charity shop finds and my sunglasses are from Radley London.

It's great to be back to work and open to the public again for another year. We're all looking forward to a busy 6 months here on Tresco, welcoming our guests back to the island and functioning more and more as we did in those pre-Covid19 times. Please do pop in to say hi if you're in the vicinity!

                                                                            Anna x

Adidas trouser suit

Hello lovelies! Life rarely goes to plan and yes, I've still not managed to do my autumn/winter clothes changeover, but have mustered up this offering, my workwear from yesterday. The other promise of a round-up post has also fallen by the wayside, but it'll make an appearance at some stage. Disorganised is my middle name at the moment, but I hasten to add that's only on a personal level; work has mushroomed, including the three full days it took for me to pack up all of the art from our local pub, The New Inn, this weekend. The pub is undergoing a total refurb this winter and it fell to me to pack up the art collection and put it into storage for the duration. The back fire exit has a wooden staircase with 15 steps, below which was the container to hold the collection. I can testify that each time I ascended the stairs I ran up them - every single time. What a workout that was!

My salmon pink corduroy trouser suit is a great bit of transitional dressing. It's a heavyweight fabric that's cosy and comfy too, but decidedly smart. The trousers have a touch of stretch and very deep pockets - fab! I decided to jazz things up a bit by adding leopard print shoes (old from Office) and my Paul Costelloe handbag. 

The light was amazing yesterday morning when I took these shots on New Grimsby quay. Huge cloud formations were causing the sun to appear and disappear from shot to shot. 

My 60's vintage shirt is by Mark Roberts and was a find from a couple of years ago and maybe not seen on the blog previously. The white leather and silver belt is another charity shop find.

My gold chain necklace is from Primark (old), rings are pre-loved and jazzy yellow sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

So, the thought has just occurred to me that it's only a week now until the gallery closes and I take a month's sabbatical - sounds so much better than holiday or annual leave eh? Anyway, during that time there'll be no need for fancy work clothes at all. The pressure is off therefore to drag these out this weekend. It might make better sense to have this as one of my projects to do while I'm off. I'd really like to do that whole trying everything on and clearing out what doesn't fit or, more importantly, in the words of Marie Kondo, Spark Joy. As a clothes hoarder I acknowledge the need to delve deep and clear out from time to time.

Aside from the clothes sort out, I plan to read lots, swim every day on the high tide and clean my house! Oh my goodness, isn't that always the first thing to go when you're pushed time-wise? Every day when the postman opens my door to drop the mail onto the mat, I just want to apologise to him for the lack of hoovering once again! As usual, I'll also plan to factor in some down-time, but I seem to be hopeless at that too. Guilt at lying around watching movies during the day haunts me. But I'll be making a stab at chilling some way or another. I'd like to get back into my winter walking again and am sure Fiona will be keen to join in that again. All in all, I'm really looking forward to having a break from work. Work hard, play hard is my motto and it'll be great to have a go at the latter.

                                                                                      Anna x

That cold north wind doth blow!

Hello again!

I've seen on the weather forecast that parts of the UK have been having snow over the past few days, brrrrrrrrr! Well, not here thank goodness, but we're still feeling that brisk north wind. So much so, that I've dug out a scarf to go with my latest outfit. I rarely wear scarves. I'm just not a scarf person. I struggle to make them part of my look; they seem to stick out at funny angles or just sit in a big lump under my chin in the most unflattering of ways. 

Yesterday however, as I was making a dash for the door, I thought I might get away with not wearing a coat if I topped things off with a cosy scarf. And hey-presto, this one seemed to work! After a bit of a jiggle and windy round thing and then a looping through thing it looked like this. Get me, with a scarf, eh? A bit of personal blogging history being made. I'd bought this colour co-ordinated gem in Primark a few years ago and of course, this is the first time I've worn it.

This is only the second time I've worn my Adidas corduroy trouser suit and I'm happy to report that I'm still in love with it. I love the colour - coral or blush or salmon pink - call it what you like. The fabric too is ace; soft and cuddly and best of all the trousers have a touch of stretch meaning that they don't bag at the knees after the first time you sit down.

I opted for black and white as my accent colours by way of this gingham blouse which ties in nicely with my white and black boots. The blouse is very old indeed, but came from Asda and has worn well. The sleeves are very feminine don't you think? My sunglasses are old faithfuls from Quay Australia.

My rings and leather belt are all pre-loved items. The handbag was a Christmas present from my son, as were the pink leather gloves in the first shot.

I love the ribbon go-faster stripes down the outside of the trouser legs. My boots of the moment are here again - white patent leather boots (by Besson) - cos they work well with this look.

And yes, the update on the camera situation is that I bought a replacement last week and here it is in action. Lora is back working with me for a couple of months and she was very happy to take my photos. I feel I may have to look into pricing up a heavy duty expanding tripod for those times when I have to go it alone. I've had an expensive month as my washing machine broke down and I had to buy a new one last week too. Sometimes life's just like that, eh?

Thanks for swinging by again. I'll be back on Monday!

Anna x

My new Adidas trouser suit

Hi there! Yes, it's a rather shocking headline from the woman whose 12 month shopping ban isn't over yet, but hang on, this was hubby's birthday present to me last week. Of course, I did give him lots of guidance. No matter, it's beautiful, don't you think?

Best of all, this two piece by Adidas is still on sale on ASOS now - see here. I have a thing about trouser suits and am always on the look out for another to add to my collection. This salmon pink corduroy number caught my eye when I was searching for Christmas presents and I earmarked it mentally for my birthday. I was delighted to find it had been reduced in the sale when I went back to search for it.

The high waisted trousers are great fit for my figure and best of all the fabric has stretch in it too. I couldn't wait to get out in this lovely weather to showcase it. This is me on the ramparts of Blockhouse Castle, but the view down to the beach below looked pretty inviting too...

The jacket is quite boxy, slightly masculine and for me that needed a bit of softening with either frills or lace. I opted for this lace top from Zara with a vest underneath for warmth. 

That's the problem when you set up your camera and tripod on your own. No-one to zoom in or out ...

Suffice to say I was still having fun!

Silver rings and leather belt are all second hand.

I like the ribbon stripes down the side of the trousers. My leather boots by Besson were from TK Maxx (a Christmas present from Steve).

It was glorious on the beach here. So much so, that I went straight home and put my swimsuit on so that I could swim here in the afternoon sunshine. This was on Monday when I think the snow was falling on mainland UK. 

I swam from Cook's Porth to Cradle Porth and back again. See a wee video from the other beach on my Instagram feed here.

My latest project is some sewing (at last). I'm trying to make new covers for my sofa and armchairs, but it's a challenge to say the least. However, you know me, I do like a challenge! In due course I hope to be able to show you the fruits of my labour. In the meantime, I wish you a super weekend.

                                                                                         Anna x