Weekend in Truro

I had a legitimate reason for hopping off the island over the weekend as it was time for my annual eye check (2 hours well spent here). Sasha and I made up for lost time however with a sprint to the finish line in what was another marathon shopping spree for me. The ladies in the Truro charity shops welcome me like a local celeb as they know I'll be spending more than 30p on a tea towel which does make Sasha laugh. She has been known to stand behind me at the desk explaining to waiting customers about island living, limited retail opportunities, and my infrequent visits culminating in these bulk shopping buys. So you know the drill. Here's the luggage before and after shots, and the rest will follow.

The large holdall belongs to my son, but it's great for taking on the ship where it will travel squashed into a container therefore needs to be sturdy. Notice that it's not quite full yet, and it does hide a Russian doll effect - a bag, within a bag, within a bag - ready for the spoils. 

And here they are on my return at Truro railway station where three bags have turned into five. Said holdall and spare bag (note only one, I still had another in reserve) are now both busting to the point that I can't actually lift the large bag, but it does have wheels for such eventualities. Only one more manoeuvre to make on and off the train and then it's helpful taxi driver round to the docks to get this home.

I travelled by Scillonian this time which takes about 2.5 hours and wasn't too rough on either journey. The ship sails in all weathers apart from the most severe gales and I do take precautions against sea-sickness as I'm not the best of sailors. Stugeron tablets and Seabands on my wrists work as a good combination in my case, along with staying up on deck and keeping my steely gaze on the horizon. While those around me may flounder and flail, I have to focus on my own well-being.

Leaving the islands behind as we head across the Atlantic to mainland Cornwall.

Land ahoy, and the very welcome sight of St Michael's Mount. A 40 minute train journey takes me up country to Truro where Sash and the shops await. Next morning, armed with empty bags, I was out at nine to see what I could find. Sasha joined me about lunchtime and we headed off to our favourite shoe shop, TK Maxx.

I love the jamboree that is TK Maxx's shoe department. All sorts of colourful footwear lie abandoned as if there had been a sudden call to arms and everyone had flee'd. We had a great time trying on, discarding, discovering and finally deliberating. I can reveal that Sasha is now the proud owner of the turquoise sandals and the (high heeled) beige suede boots in the centre. My shoe shaming comes later. 

We had lunch at the Lounge in Truro which had a fab atmosphere as well as a great range of delicious food. We ate in the restaurant downstairs but the seating area upstairs was quite funky too.

We hit the shops big time after refuelling and I think the term shop 'til you drop probably comes into play here. Eventually we admitted defeat when we couldn't carry any more. Our evening was spent comparing our finds, trying on and for me, a great deal of packing. On Sunday after my eye appointment we went out to Hubbox for lunch then mainly chilled for the rest of the day as I made ready for the journey home. 

All too soon it was time to head back home. The trip was on a full ship when I travelled back but I was happy to find my favourite spot on deck to hunker down. We passed the Minack theatre at Porthcurno (see it clinging to the rocks above the left of the cove) before leaving the mainland and all its retail temptations behind.

A bank of cloud sits heavily across the Cornish peninsula.

And finally the Isles of Scilly can be seen in the distance. St Martin's is the first to show.

The Firethorn is motoring towards St Mary's to collect the passengers from the Scillonian to take them to the off islands.

Home again and it's time to spread out the loot and take stock of everything. I have some repairs to do on the yellow maxi dress, the black lace dress and the olive and brown maxi skirt in the centre of the pic. The clothes tally reads like this - 1 wet gear coat, 1 sports top, 1 swimsuit, 2 handbags, 1 maxi skirt, 2 maxi dresses, 4 dresses, 2 pairs of culottes, 1 shirt, 4 pairs of trousers, 3 skirts, 2 pairs of shorts, 6 tops and the shoes...

My final count up of shoes was 20 pairs. Gasp if you will, but four were for Sasha, two for Polly and one wasn't quite glamorous enough to warrant inclusion in the photo (chunky plain brown sandals for wearing to the beach). Of these only two were full price from TK and 11 pairs were bargain basement prices from charity shops with the most expensive being £9. Who needs 14 pairs of shoes in one fell swoop, you may ask? Well clearly I do! Many of these were brand new and must have been a bad fit/gift/wrong choice for the owner, but are a great addition to my summer wardrobe. 

I've just remembered that I bought a fuchsia coloured silk jacket in a charity shop that's by Jaeger. It's currently at the dry cleaners, and I can't wait to feature it with my black hat. Seems I forgot to photograph my two new hats, one in black and the other white. My next shopping trip will be in September when I'll be updating my autumn/winter wardrobe. I hope you've enjoyed my lastest spree and would love to hear your thoughts. Have a great week!

Anna x

May show time!

Yes, it's that time of year again - time for another exhibition at the gallery with the best excuse ever to bring out my finery. This outfit went with me on our cruise in February (see here), but didn't make the final cut when I swanned around the cabin to get Steve's opinion. In fact, we both liked it, but not as much as some of the frocks I had taken along which rivalled this shirt and skirt combo. 

On Thursday we were hosting a mixed show from a group of seven artists. I managed to hijack a couple of the artists before the preview evening began. Nicola Hancox and Paul Lewin both went on to have a great opening night party. Check out their work here.  The Isles of Scilly attract thousands of tourists every year amongst them hundreds of artists, professional, amateur and aspiring, hoping to capture the essence of this beautiful archipelago. The five inhabited islands offer an insight into life where weather and tides influence our every day, where boats are our main mode of transport, where there will be more birds on the beach than humans, and where it's possible to spend a day playing Robinson Crusoe on an uninhabited island if that's your dream. To learn more about these beautiful isles see here.

As you can no doubt tell, the wind was blowing as Polly and I tried to maintain our smiles and ignore our windswept tresses. Our photo shoot was a bit of a rushed affair thanks to the weather, but at least you get an idea of the evening and our ensembles. Polly wears a black lace dress and black sandals both from H&M. My black blouse is from Uniqlo, the skirt is by Anthropologie (I succumbed to it at sale time which helped make it less painful), shoes are my well worn favourites from Primark, clutch is Accessorize (charity shop) and doesn't it match these shoes perfectly? My belt was from eBay, necklace from Dorothy Perkins and rings are from a charity shop.

Linking with

Catherine of Not Dressed as Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Anna x

The road to nowhere?

I'd spent all day at work, more than a bit envious of everyone having Sunday off while the weather was glorious. Later in the afternoon it was so hot I pinned the gallery doors open, and that's when I decided I needed to get out to capture this wonderful day on film. At the end of business I dodged home, grabbed my kit, jumped on my bike and headed south to the far end of the island. What may look like the road to nowhere is in fact Carn Near quay, the most southerly point of the island, and the nearest to St Mary's (the main island of the Isles of Scilly). This quay is where the boats dock when the tide is too low to arrive at the other quays on the island. All the day-trippers had gone home and the high tide was washing over the top of the quay giving it a surreal look. Great - something different for my photo shoot.

This is the view of the far end of Appletree Bay - the beach where I often have my early morning swim. I start off at the other end, where the road runs along the edge of the beach and I swim along the shoreline in this direction. In the height of the summer I can stay in the water long enough to swim the entire length and all the way back again. In the midst of winter it's only a matter of some 50 or so strokes and I'm frozen to the core. Currently I'm working things up and this morning swam half way along and back. I could swim much further if I donned my wetsuit, but that's not the point. The challenge is to brave the waters no matter what the temperature with only my swimsuit to keep me warm.

I was cycling on my way home when I came across these little kiddies boots marooned on this roadside bench. Surely someone must have noticed their barefooted toddler was missing something? I'll drop them in to the "Lost and found" at the island office tomorrow. The next photo shows that this little girl must have been a budding fashionista and really ought not to have been separated from these cute little boots.

Aren't they fab little boots? I do hope they've been reunited with their owner by now. Anyway, back to the outfit. I just want to add one final photo to show the pitfalls of doing your own photo shoot. I know it's unavoidable for us a lot of the time, but I think if Polly had been with me she definitely would have told me off for over-posing! I thought I looked like an aspiring 1950's model.

Notice that over extended front leg as I try to take on the look of a long-limbed beauty. Hahaha! Thank goodness I don't take myself too seriously. This one really had to be shared. Today's outfit is a mix of new and new-to-me items. The cardi is from H&M (sadly already sold out), the shoes were from TK Maxx, and the trousers are M&S from a charity shop. The trousers fit really well, but are a strange cut - not exactly harem pants, but loose fitting with a drapey crossover front which really didn't photograph as I would have liked. Some well chosen poses and my strategically placed handbag seemed to get round this quite well though. Feedback on today's offering, or anything else featured on the blog, is as always very welcome. It's good to know that I'm not just twittering away for my own entertainment here.

Cardigan: H&M. Trousers: M&S (charity shop). Shoes: SixtySeven (TK Maxx). Necklace: Debenhams. Handbag: Accesorize. Watch: Michael Kors. Bangle: Kate Spade New York. Flower ring: charity shop. Sunglasses: Quay Australia.

Linking with 
Cherie at Style Nudge
Jess at Elegantly Dressed And Stylish