That was Mother's Day!

How was your Mother's Day? Did you get up to much or was it all about doing nothing for a change? Jamie treated us to lunch at the Ruin Beach cafe which was a lovely little outing. Of course we missed having Sasha with us but she was having a little outing herself as she took the train to Chester for the day. 

Tresco daffodils picked by Jamie brightened up the house along with cards and a lovely tub of body butter from Sasha. 

The weather was showery so my orange Barbour jacket was perfect to go with this outfit. We stopped on the way to the beachside cafe and Jamie did the honours with the photos. As always there was much bossiness from me and a look of panic on his face in response.

The dress is old, from Vinted maybe last year but pepped up with these rather fabulous and totally perfect tights that were a birthday gift from Fiona. I wore a thermal long sleeved top under the dress as it was a decidedly cold day. The black patent boots are from Deichman and my handbag is by Steve Madden. All in all, I was rather pleased with the look.

Steve assisted from the sidelines holding my coat as the wind gusted round about us and I pretended it was a warm spring day.

The orange perspex rings seemed right for this bright outfit and I added my Vivienne Westwood orb necklace. It was a fun look and felt very me.

We had a lovely, gentle lunch with a beautiful view to boot - it was a good time to count my blessings. As I write this now my husband is listening to James Taylor and I'm feeling rather sentimental about our life together. Recently one of my dear friends, Lucy Dorrien-Smith passed away after her long battle with cancer. Lucy was a big part of my life on Tresco, giving me the job at Gallery Tresco 28 years ago and mentoring me in the role as Manager some time later. But not only was she my boss, but a dear friend, supporter and guiding light when life was tough. Lucy believed in me, encouraged me and helped me to become the woman I am today. I'm missing her daily and can't quite get my head around the sense of loss that has hit me. To know that she's no longer in pain is the only balm to my sadness.

Dearest Lucy, you've left a huge gap in our tiny community, the loss is immense.

Anna x

Back again!

Hello again and apologies for the absence! As mentioned in a previous post my spare time has been taken up with some DIY. I'll show you the before and after snaps in the hope of impressing you with my handiwork...

As a before shot this is a grim as it gets really. Rising damp had caused the wall to collapse and needed professional help. We had a local expert come in and pull the entire wall down and he plastered that and the adjacent wall to make them sound. 

So you get my drift then... it was a big job, dragging these old stairs back into something not just acceptable but rather smart I'd say. That's what I've been up to since my last post, but I have had one long walk during that time.

There's nothing new here - Zara jacket, Joules wellies, old jeans and sweater. I wasn't intending to use this on the blog, but I simply haven't had time to think about anything but decorating!

Gallery Tresco is due to open for the 2026 season on Monday and I'm sure you can imagine the flurry of acitivity going on currently to get things ready. My focus is entirely on the job but I'll be back on track soon, dressing up and showcasing my colourful wardrobe for another season at the helm.

                                                                    Anna x

A toned down colour palette this week

Hello again and thanks for dropping by! Today's outfit owes quite a lot to the Traitors influence, namely that style icon Claudia Winkleman (again). There's no point in me apologising as I find myself loving an oversized sweater and leggings a la Claudia. 

This fabulous cream sweater is from M&S, purchased just before Christmas when I was in store. I'm pleased that I was able to try it on in the shop as I sized up to get the loose fit that I wanted. 

This is my second week of wearing cream and honestly it's such a surprise to find that I like it so much. The loopy knit sweater is warm and weighty (oh you know how much I like a weighty fabric). And of course, cream is very good to warm up a pale complexion like mine. I wear a tinted moisturiser and blusher to ward off the pale winter tone of my skin.

My black leggings are very old, from Primark and the cream boots (by Catwalk) are on repeat from last week. I found them in the British Red Cross shop in Truro, brand new and only £6! Aplogies for repeating myself, but clearly I'm chuffed with them as well as them being an absolute bargain.

Cream crunchy cotton socks join that no man's land between boots and leggings, plus they add a toasty layer around the ankles.

My rings are both pre-loved and the sunglasses are by Radley London. I have to mention that it's a total relief to me to be in February now. Despite having a January birthday I really don't like the post-Christmas slump that seems to happen to me most years. I think my body responds to January by throwing up some ailment or other and this year I've had bronchitis. I'm just emerging from that and it's left me washed out and weary. A bit of sunshine yesterday was just what I needed.

It's only a month now until the island re-opens for another season which seems incredible. I have so much to achieve at work and that will have to be somehow condensed as I've missed two weeks while I've been recuperating. I'm hoping I can wave a magic wand to bring all of the projects and restocking and setting up all together in time. Wish me luck with that!

                                                                        Anna x

Joyful January our Style Not Age Challenge this month

Many thanks for joining me and my fashionista friends for our monthly Style Not Age challenge. It was my turn to set the theme and so I thought it might be good to view this normally anti-climatic month as a positive. Let's dive right in to see how everyone approached this one...

Emma is embracing her Joyful January look with gusto! Her joyful jacket is by Jayley and the perfect handbag for today's feature is from Vinted. See more about this rainbow bright outfit on Emma's post on Style Splash.

Hilda has opted for a more casual look this month. Her barrel jeans are by Cos and jacket is by Zara. Shopping her closet still results in this on trend look for her. Catch up on on her news on Over The Hilda blog. 

Jacqui is looking joyful indeed in her new Damart jacket paired perfectly with the maroon faux leather midi skirt. Catch up with Jacqui's backstory on Mummabstylish blog feature.

My Joyful January outfit coincided with an outing for my birthday a few days ago. This is what it looks like to be 68 - well, when you're me that is! I'm happy to say that I don't know what the expectation is for the average 68 year old woman and how she ought to look nowadays. No matter anyway. I'm making up my own rules as I go and the journey is indeed a joyful one!

For our picnic lunch at the north end of the island I gathered together some of my favourite items to create this daytime look. My cream shaggy jacket may not say daytime to you, but my style ethos is always to look my best every day without needing a reason to dress up. I think the jacket works equally well with denim as it did with my sequin leggings from the festive season.

The fairisle jumper is a wonderfully cosy knit as well as being the perfect length for these high waisted paperbag jeans. My favourite style icon Claudia showcased many a fairisle sweater during the Traitors series - I'm sure all of the Scottish Fairisle knitters were applauding her stylist for that bit of promotion. I wore a cream thermal top underneath as the jacket is more fashion than functional, but hey sometimes one has to suffer for one's art!

Nothing new with my accessories: the belt was from Amazon years ago, the cream flower ring is a charity shop find and the other is my birthday ring by Emily Nixon from last year, and the sunglasses are by Radley London.

My cream Chelsea boots were a find in the British Red Cross shop in Truro in December, a wonderful purchase as they were brand new and only cost me the ridiculous price of £6. Sometimes I just find myself being in the right place at the right time!

                                                                    Anna x

My festive round-up - part one

Hello and here as promised is my round-up of festive outfits. It's probably no surprise to you to learn that the past two weeks bridging Christmas and New Year are my favourite for the opportunities to dress up. Even the mundane daily trip to the shop warrants a fur coat over jeans during the festive season.

The fur is very old, from TK Maxx, jeans old too, the bejewelled belt was from Amazon a couple of years ago, the cream sweater has a light smattering of lurex threads spun thoughout - it was from TK Maxx last month and Dr Martens were a Vinted buy a few months ago.

Wrap me up in fur and I'm at my happiest, feeling glamorous and believing I'm gorgeous, regardless of what anyone else might think! There's nothing nicer than a cosy fur coat at this time of year.

Somehow this particular outfit didn't make its party debut this time, but Fiona had assisted with a photo shoot ready for an invite to drop on the mat. No matter, it's my birthday this month, so I've not missed my chance...

The lightweight shaggy jacket was from F&F at Tesco - a find while I was doing my Christmas food shop there last month. At £50 it was more than my thrift finds, but I fell in love with it straight away and didn't think twice about adding it to my trolley. 

The sequinned leggings cost me £9 from the Cancer Research shop in Truro last month. The pale gold glitter knitted top was from New Look at the same time and the Kurt Geiger ankle boots were a bargain from TK Maxx during the same trip - a successful shopping session!

The black boots are velvet and the bejewelled bows are like huge brooches, stiff not soft, and make these such a statement. I'm thrilled with them.

This is what I wore to our pre-Christmas drinks party in the Gallery on the 23rd December. Nothing new here at all: the gold lurex cardigan was a charity shop find in London many, many years ago, but a huge bargain at only £6! It's a heavyweight knit which feels lovely.

The velvet jeans are Levi's, second hand from goodness knows when and the cream lace bodysuit was from Vinted some time ago. The bejewelled Amazon belt is making another appearance along with gold leather boots, pre-loved too, from Vinted.

As for accessories, the gold chain necklace was a recent purchase from Vinted, the sunglasses are very old from Radley London, the flower ring was a thrifted piece and my other ring is from Emily Nixon Studio. The whole look is probably a bit understated for me, but sometimes it's good to surprise people and not be too predictable.

And this was my Christmas Day outfit for the lunchtime drinks at the New Inn. I had hoped to make a net skirt like the Claudia Winkleman one shown on my blog previously - see it here. I was definitely up for the task, but the fudge production took presidence. I still have every intention of making it - that's once I can fathom out its creation without a pattern.

Plan B was this tiered frilly net skirt, bought in TK Maxx last time I was there. I added a red flouffy underskirt along with red tartan tights with black patent boots (new from Deichman). The red top is by Hobbs, but amazingly only cost me £3 when I found it in a charity shop in Manchester in September - God I do so love a bargain!

The fake fur and feather trimmed handbag is truly a vintage piece now. I've had it for over 20 years but store it away in its own plastic zip lock bag to keep the moths away. It always earns me compliments every time I bring it out.

Steve took my Christmas day snaps en route to the pub so it was all a bit rushed. As for this one, it's meant to showcase my Vivienne Westwood orb pendant but I fear my bazookas are stealing the scene! I'd bought what used to be known as a foundation garment aka all-in-one spanx to give me a smooth, steamlined look with some of my more fitted party clothes but honestly, I think I'd hoiked my boobs up towards my ears on the first wearing of it. I definitely don't have pneumatic bosoms normally!

This comedy shot of Jamie through the broken window was one of his best oops moments of the holiday. Our front door had swollen up after many days of rain and Jamie had put his shoulder to the door to help heave it open - with smashing results! I heard the crash of glass and snapped his rather sheepish look.

I'm going to finish here today, but I do hope you'll come back next week to see the final three festive outfits I have to share with you, including my New Year's Eve party outfit - a real sequin extravaganza!

                                                                    Anna x