Time for a catch up!

Hello and thanks for dropping by! It's been a busy few weeks so today I'm going to share some of that with you. As you'll have seen on my previous post I've been heavily involved in the Island Haven fundraiser - see here. That took place a week ago, but it was a fairly demanding event which seems to have taken its toll on my energy levels. But, on to the photo of Steve and I above. We don't often go out socialising but on Saturday there was a farewell party for Steve's line Manager Diana and we joined the throng to wish her well in her new role. After the gathering Steve dashed off to collect Sasha from St Mary's in our boat and I decided to take some shots of not only my outfit but mainly of the lovely show of flowers on our garden wall.

I was so keen to capture these before they started to wither which is exactly what's happened in the past few days, so it was a lucky move. The agapanthus are just starting to come into to flower so it was great to get them both in bloom.

And so, to the outfit. It's actually my favourite outfit of the moment. The trousers (River Island) and jacket (no label) were both recent purchases from Vinted. I love the clash of patterns that don't really clash but compliment each other well. I've had lovely feedback about the outfit when I've worn it both out that evening and previously to work - "very Pucci" was one lovely compliment. The vest top is old and my boots were from Vinted earlier in the year.

The evening sun was dropping in the sky creating a lovely golden light so I carried on for a few more shots until the rabble arrived...

The drinks had run freely at the leaving party and these locals were delighted to photobomb my session. It was all great lark for them as you can see - they were heading to the pub to continue the celebrations as the local Steam Band were playing, but I gently declined the offer to join them. Blimey, I must be getting old!

My necklace was a purchase from New Look last month when I was in Truro, the belt and rings are old as are my sunglasses. Talking of my trip to Truro...

My trip away was, to all intents and purposes, to fit in three minor health checks but I built that into a four night mini break in a lovely little apartment in the heart of the city. The accommodation had been newly refurbed and was all greys, black and white - very cool and modern indeed. I mooched about the shops during the day and watched movies on Netflix in the evenings with a TV dinner on my lap - what a fab treat it was!

Funnily enough, I pretty much wore the same outfit during my visit. The linen trousers were uber comfy in that easy slouchy way that I didn't wear anything else, but I did change my tops over. The clothes shown above were laid out once I got home, but I took some while in the flat to show you too. 

Brand new leather boots from Zara, found in the British Red Cross shop where they receive end of line goods from Zara all year round. These still had the labels on and were greatly reduced. 

I went into Poundland to buy a brolly when it started to rain one day, had a little browse in the clothes department and found this fab summer hat. It's the perfect colourway for my summer wardrobe. My question is this though - how come I paid £6 when it's called Poundland?

My fave top and the one that I paired up with my linen trousers the same day I bought it. Anyway, I've had a lovely time at the shops as clearly I'm lacking in shopping opportunities in my life generally, hahaha! 

Last, but by no means least, this was my proud mum moment as Jamie, captain of the Tresco Cricket Team, shared his joy at winning the Triangle inter-island tournament on Sunday. I could boast about how great his organising skills are in both planning and on the day arrangements to make the tournament run smoothly, but honestly he'd rather I didn't. Suffice to say that he's in his fifth year of leading the team and is hugely popular amongst them and all the visiting teams. Well done Jamie for doing a stalwart job!

                                                                    Anna x

My new watch from Storm

Hello and how are you? I had a mini break on the mainland last week which has taken me a bit of time to recover from, but here I am resplendant in my peapod trouser suit to wow you with my latest accessory, gifted from Storm Watches. The Elexi gold watch in Lazer Green is an absolute beauty of a watch - see more about it here - Storm Elexi Lazer Green Watch

When the watch arrived on my doorstep the first thought for me was about the outfit of course and what would showcase it the best. Some of you might say I would be spoilt for choice, but it soon became obvious that something as stylish as the Elexi watch deserved to be paired with my most stylish of outfits - my aqua trouser suit from the H&M collaboration with Iris Apfel.

It's months since I strutted my stuff in these threads and oh, how I'd forgotten how great this co-ord makes me feel! It wasn't by chance that the colour of the satin lining of the suit is the same as the watch face - that was the main reason I opted for this ensemble.

I first wore my beautiful suit back in 2022 with shots from this very same spot and styled not so differently either - see here. Today I've added a simple white vest top from Primark, my Besson white leather boots (recently purchased from Vinted), white pearl belt from Amazon, lemon Dune handbag and pre-loved rings. The mixture of old and new is so very me.

And so, on to the watch. The STORM Elexi is a statement watch with a 21 karat gold plated strap and unique cut glass dial. This sophisticated watch has a deep green jewel face and a two-tone brushed/polished stainless steel strap. The perfect fashion watch for day or evening wear.

STORM watches are made from high quality sustainable materials which are responsibly sourced and recyclable.

My friend Jodie did he honours with the photography for this shoot, helping to set the right tone for this feature. Thanks Jodie, for doing such a great job!

The Elexi comes in four other colourways, even aqau which was quite tempting, but I love the bold rich green of mine and will wear it often. 

Thank you as ever for dropping by to catch up on my news. Next time I'll give you all the latest from my trip off-island, including the big reveal of my shopping spree!

                                                                    Anna x

Dreamy dresses our SNA challenge for June

Hello and welcome to June's Style Not Age Challenge where five friends throw down the style gauntlet month after month in rotation resulting sometimes in angst other times in joy. Jacqui came up with Dreamy Dresses which seems to have been a happy choice this month. Mine is yet another second-hand find from Vinted and I'm delighted with what's surely going to be a very useful summer frock. But let's look at my fashionable friends first shall we?

A very dreamy setting for Jacqui's summer dress, a new purchase from Matalan worn with old sandals and handbag from New Look. Catch up with all of her news on Mummabstylish

Emma's Dreamy Dress comes from TK Maxx worn with sandals from Coast and bag by Fenella Smith. Read her back story on the Style Splash

Gail wore her Dreamy Dress to the Vivienne Westwood exhibition at Christies recently and didn't look at all out of place. See more from her on Is This Mutton. 

Hilda's Dreamy Dress is from Whistles (not new) but worn when she was taken out to dinner recently in Derry. Find out more on her blog Over The Hilda.

This lightweight dress is made from polyester making it easy to wear and cool on this bright sunny day at work. I'm sure this will earn its place in my wardrobe this summer.

This pretty frock has a myriad of colours making styling so very easy. I've added these fuchsia flatforms from last summer which are super comfy. Then I took orange as my next lead colour adding this stretch belt from Amazon, again purchased last year.

What's not to love about a dress that says Love on it?

The lemon mini bag with beaded handle by Dune was a TK Maxx find last summer - it's uber cute don't you think? My rings are old, pre-loved too.

My sister Dianne recently sent me this pearl and heart necklace, in fact two of these, one in white pearl and the other with grey pearls. This is perfect for today's look.

Another splash of colour comes by way of these old sunnies by Zara. It was great fun putting this outfit together, where it was all about colours and as many as possible. Thanks for joining us this month - I hope you've enjoyed our challenge!

                                                                Anna x

Thank you for coming!

Hello and thank you so much for coming. Today's post has been delayed for no other reason than that I'm struggling with too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Frankly, I'm exhausted. BUT, I owe it to you, my lovely reader, to say thank you for keeping coming back to check if I'm around. I'm writing this during my lunchtime as by the evening I seem to be too tired to think. The run-up to the new season on the island seems to have drained all my reserves. I'm too tired to swim despite the fact that it generates energy in me. Mentally I can't face anything beyond the essentials in life. I'm so sorry to start in such a downbeat tone, but I want to be honest with you. 

The photos are from Sunday, Mother's Day, which was an absolute joy! I spent some time in the morning sewing the hems of these new jeans. They're by Next, via Vinted, and had those ragged unfinished hems, so I decided to add some bias binding tape to finish them off. You'll see that in the photo below.

I'm pretty sure a professional seamstress would have chosen a yellow tape to blend in but my stock is very sparse, hence it had to be orange. I'm not unhappy with the result to be fair. It's probably what you'd expect from me given that it's my favourite colour.

We went for pre-lunch drinks (with complimentary bunch of daffs for the mums) with the extended family at the New Inn and then went on, the four of us, to have lunch at the Ruin Beach Cafe. The outfit comprises of a jacket that Steve gave me for my birthday, an orange vest top (old) and these jeans with Amazon sparkly belt, plus fab new leather boots from Vinted.

The cute yellow handbag is by Dune, purchased from TK Maxx quite a while ago, but this is its first outing. I love the pretty beaded handle and the size is very cute too. I must love you and leave you now as it's time to go back to work. Thank you so much for coming - it means a lot to me!

                                                                               Anna x