Second Hand September our SNA challenge

Hello and welcome once again to our monthly Style Not Age challenge! This month we're tying in with Oxfam who promote this annual event, Second Hand September. I have to admit that this is an easy ask of me as most of my purchases nowadays are second hand, either from Vinted or charity shops. We'll get to my outfit in a minute, but first lets check out my fashionable friends ...

Jacqui's looking extremely stylish in her Second Hand offering. The dress is by Monsoon, costing the grand sum of £6 from a local charity shop and her jacket is a hand me down from her daughter. Catch up on all of her news over on Mummabstylish blog.

Emma has also inherited a second hand piece from her family - her mum's skirt is part of this colourful outfit. Nothing new at all from her, so do skip across to her blog Style Splash for the full low down.

This cutsie look from Gail is based on a pinafore dress from Vinted which suits her down to a T! I don't think I have ever had a pinafore, not since I was a girl, but this is cute as a button on her. See more from her on Is This Mutton blog.

Hilda was invited to join Oxfam in Second Hand September and found this beautiful cashmere blazer by Louis Copeland - tres chic Hilda! She shopped her wardrobe for the rest of her look, so do pop across to see her interesting back story on Over The Hilda blog. 

£10 was all I paid for this frilly frock from Vinted and goodness, how lovely it is! The bright colours and that flirty frill sold it to me and when it arrived it was even better in the flesh. The last half of September has been a mixed bag of weather and this dress has come into its own a couple of times when the sun burst through and I needed something cool and airy for work. 

Nature's variety of greens really help to offset the vibrant orange and purple flowers of this mini dress. The button front and elasticated sleeves make it easy to pop on and off too.

I've brought out my Oliver Bonas handbag from last year and paired it with these elasticated slip on sandals from Primark, a find from my trip to Truro in June.

There's nothing new as far as my accessories go: rings are indeed second hand, sunglasses are from Radley (old) and my Storm watch is pretty much star of the show. 

Second Hand September has been a successful challenge for us all - I do hope you've enjoyed our diverse outfits too. Many thanks for joining us and I look forward to seeing you next time!

                                                                        Anna x

Lovely Linen our SNA challenge for August!

Welcome once again to our Monthly Style Not Age Challenge! This month I chose the theme of Lovely Linen which was led mainly by this recent Vinted buy. The dress had no label but also no pockets and at the weekend I set to creating some by using orange linen fabric left over from a dress I made previously. 

Here's the work in progress and I'm delighted to say that despite putting the first pocket in the wrong way round, I finally managed to fathom it out and ended up with two perfectly acceptable and functioning pockets! But, let's take a look at my fashionable friends and see how they approached this month's challenge...

Gail's Lovely Linen dress is a classic shape from Boden in a zingy shade of turquoise. For the past three weeks Gail has been on LEJOG, a cycling adventure from Land's End to John O Groats - so please do swing by to catch up on her news on Is This Mutton blog. 

Emma's wearing a linen mix co-ord from Damson Madder, worn with old sandals and a bag by Skinny Dip. Catch up on the latest from Emma on her blog Style Splash here. 

Jacqui's jacket and trousers may look like a suit but are simply a very good match - well done that girl! She's added a toning tan top to complete the look - see more on Mummabstylish.

There's nothing new from Hilda with her animal print dress by Whistles, but that's not to say it's not on trend - it looks fab. She shopped her wardrobe for this look - see more on Over The Hilda. 

I'd walked for a mile or so to the far end of Pentle Bay in the hope of getting out of the fierce North wind, but still it played havoc with my colourful frock! I wore my orange denim jacket by Forever 21 to keep the chill wind at bay and my blue Lazy Dogz sandals worked very well with the mulit coloured dress. 

The smock dress has a shirred back and sweet puff sleeves and is a lovely cool shape to wear on a summer's day. I wore a simple white beaded necklace with silver heart - a gift from my sister which has been very useful indeed.

My rings are old as as my sunglasses (from Radley London). 

Hiding down below the rocks I almost managed to escape out of the wind. Once I'd taken my photos I lay down and read my book for an hour which was a lovely way to end my day off.

As ever it's been fun to take part in this monthly challenge. I do hope you've enjoyed this month's offerings from us all. Did you find any new ideas? Or was there something that is so typically you? Whichever, thank you so much for dropping by and please do leave a comment if you've been inspired.

                                                                        Anna x

Samson evening

Hello and thank you once again for taking the time to visit my blog - I do appreciate it! I went for a trip to Samson island the other evening with Mel, my Gallery Tresco Assistant from last year and Jodie who's been stepping in to do some blog photos recently. Steve dropped us across in our little boat, Leah Dancer, which was a bit lively to say the least. He let the boat run up onto the beach and we had to hop out between the waves - I almost got stuck with one leg in and one out but the girls held on tight and pulled me onto the sand.

Mel is due to leave the UK this autumn and will return home to New Zealand by the end of the year, but that's not before she and her partner Pete have packed in a bit more travelling in Europe and the Far East too. I do so admire their wanderlust! The evening on Samson was one of several farewell's Mel is having with many friends that she's made over the past two years. We took some beers and snacks and had a good old chinwag for a couple of hours.

And of course, Jodie did a great job of taking some snaps of my outfit of the day! This was my work outfit and one of my favourites from this summer. The dress was a last minute find from New Look when I was in Truro in June. It has a very 70's vibe and feels so lovely and swishy to wear. It has capped sleeves and an elasticated waistband but I love to add a stretch belt as a finishing feature. 

The jacket was a Vinted purchase and is by Forever 21. Orange, orange and more orange was the theme today, but it feels such a joyful outfit to wear.

We missed the best of the evening sunlight and it was also very windy as you can see, but it was still fun trying to capture some atmospheric shots for the blog. My accessories are these pretty shoes by Rocket Dog from TK Maxx - again they have pretty crocheted flowers like the multicoloured ones seen previously. Rings are old and pre-loved, sunglasses are by Radley London and the necklace was from Accessorize last year. 

I'd hoped for a lovely quiet sunny evening for our outing, but island life means you have to be quite resiliant weatherwise so we had cosy layers at the ready for when the sun dropped.

And here we are, all heading home again. Mel on the left and Jodie on the right. It was so good to get off-island and catch up with each others news.

Bye bye Samson! You never know, we might manage another little jaunt together before Mel leaves at the end of the month...

                                                                        Anna x

Summer is here!

Hi there! How's it going? Here's me, smiling into the evening sun as I revel in the beauty of this wonderful show of agapanthus. I've been doing a lot of early morning walking of late, and this is one of my routes along the road beside Tresco Heliport. Every morning I've been taking note of how many flowers have burst into full bloom and on Friday I decided I needed to capture them as soon as I could. Agapanthus really do mean summer to me, a genuine indication that we're seeing the island at its most beautiful.

My outfit of the day was this lovely embroidered summer dress from Warehouse (bought on Vinted). I really have a thing about embroidery at the moment and so wish I had time to practise some myself. I've even gone as far as buying stencils and threads, a beginners book too, but heck, I simply don't have the spare time. Those of you who've followed my blog over the years will know how I find it challenging at this time of year, trying to balance all the elements of my life; work, home, swimming, walking, cooking, cleaning, laundry, paying bills, writing the blog, taking photos for the blog, making time for family and friends and so the list goes on. Anyway, in an ideal world I'd be sitting in the sunlight sewing away on an embroidery project with not a care, but that's simply a fantasy.

Someone recently remarked that this was my Little House on the Prairie dress - how right they are! I love it, the style is simple and feminine, but most importantly it's the perfect backdrop for all of the sprigs of embroidery, especially this oversized collar. It has an elasticated waist and sleeves, is fully lined and washes and irons like a dream. I've accessorised the dress with a pink stretch belt (old), two pre-loved rings, my Radley sunglasses and my new watch from Storm (gifted). 

My floral embroidered shoes were a recent purchase from TK Maxx in Truro. I bought this multi colour pair and also a lemon/yellow pair. Steve calls them my Jesus sandals which slightly deflated me, but I suppose they are very similar and maybe not as glamorous as I perhaps thought they were. 

Jesus sandals? Methinks not. They're from Rocket Dog and are rather lovely!

On Sunday we joined our family on Bryher for the birthday celebrations of two local babies, one of whom is Mose, son of our nephew David and Polly (my ex-assistant at Gallery Tresco). Polly has just finished her maternity leave and is now back working in the HR department on Tresco. Needless to say I miss her terribly but she's now part of the family which is such a bonus. Little Mose is a darling and is doted on by all of us and his Bryher relatives; cousins, aunts and uncles and his next door neighbour, Grandma. 

Island life on these summer days seems like a dream. It still amazes me that this is where I live. I'm eternally grateful for the journey that brought me here and for the luck that befell me when I landed on the magical island of Tresco and met Steve. 

                                                                            Anna x

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