Citrus brights for summer

Hello, and thanks for dropping by! How's your week going? Are you blessed with good weather, wherever you are? Here in the UK it's a mixed bag again this week, making the daily outfit challenge an interesting one. Not only has it been dull and wet here on the Isles of Scilly, but there's been a cold North wind blowing which resulted in me wearing my long sleeved thermals (in June!) as a base layer to keep the chills out.

We had a last minute burst of sunshine at the end of trading today, so I nipped home and changed into this summery ensemble and Polly kindly did the honours. It was great to have a quick session in front of the camera with her. 

I'm very lucky that Polly and I have a great relationship which extends beyond the workplace. It's lovely to have the chemistry that we do, especially when it comes to our photo shoots. She has a good eye and an inquisitive mind when using the camera plus she likes to throw the odd insult in to get a funny response from me. 

Never one to take myself seriously, I do like the excuse of hamming it up in front of the camera. Acting my age isn't something that worries me too much as you can tell. 

Anyway, enough of that. What about these citrus brights - do you like them? Both trousers and jacket are from the high street, Primark in fact, purchased earlier on in the spring. The jacket is fake suede, a very good imitation to be fair as it's a decent weight with a nice nap to it. Under the jacket I've got a lime floral net tee shirt with an orange vest top underneath, tying the two tone look together nicely. Both of these tops are charity shop finds. 

The lime satin sandals were from TK Maxx last summer and the brand is Steve Madden.

The orange ring is pre-loved, the lime one was from an airport concession, the perspex necklace is very old, as is the orange bangle. My sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

It's only about three weeks now until we start our summer exhibition period with one show opening every 10 days. Where has the time gone? All my good intentions for having caught up with all of the outstanding chores seem to have whizzed past me once again. I can see that July and August will be the same flurry of work, blogging, swimming and boat trips to the uninhabited islands while the housework and gardening seems to be left for another time (goodness knows when!) but I'm all for seizing the day, as they say. Promises I have made to myself to dejunk the loft, read a book a week, and start to use my gym membership - they all appear to be fading into the background as I juggle my life/work/play balance once again. Please do tell me that I'm not the only one ... Leave me a comment if you too struggle with the superwoman image.

Until next time, have a super week!

Anna x

It's exhibition night again!

Hi, hello and how's your Sunday going? Last evening we opened our latest exhibition, the Creative Scilly Festival Show which ties in with the 13 day festival which has been running across the islands between the 10th and 22nd of May. We were so happy to have one of our exhibitors, Nicola Hancox, join us for the evening. She had a busy evening meeting guests and clients who wanted to hear about her paintings and the time she had spent on the island finding new inspiration for this body of work. She sold one piece at the event and the buyer was delighted to hear first hand how the painting came about. 

I've known Nicky and her husband Rick since I took over as Manager of the Gallery which must be about 15 years ago now. We've been good friends ever since I managed to (unwittingly) lock Nicky in the gallery one lunchtime as I was dashing out to catch the post. Nicky was standing at the back of the gallery at the foot of the stairs, drumming up the courage to ask if I'd take her work on, when she realised that the music had stopped, the lights were out and her reverie of a much-longed for exhibition in the beach side gallery dissolved as she found that she was alone and locked in to boot! Ten minutes later, a neighbour passed the gallery to find Nicky at the window, panicked expression on her face, mouthing "I'm locked in!" - poor Nicky imagined that she was stuck for the weekend! When I released her, she and I laughed and hugged and have become firm friends ever since. Needless to say, I had no choice but to offer to show her work! (And thank goodness I did, as she has a very loyal following which has grown over the years.)

The dress was a Mother's Day present from my kids last year. They gave me money to buy something when I was off on one of my jaunts to the mainland. I found the maxi dress in my favourite retail haunt, TK Maxx, the brand being Luna Allegra - the label says it's made in Italy. I didn't know how to style it up last year as it seemed very frumpy by the time I got it home and left me uninspired. But yesterday I came across the lime satin sandals by Steve Madden which seemed to lift the dress into another place completely. I loved how it made me feel, which I hope comes across in the photos.

It's lovely to do a photo shoot on these evenings as the vibe is much more relaxed, less rushed too. Polly and I seem to have less time to fit in a morning shoot of late so this was a treat to get back in the groove again.

I've dug out another pair of Quay Australia sunglasses for this evening look which I thought worked well. The necklace is from Primark, lime stone ring was from an airport concession and the other ring was a charity shop find as was the elasticated black and gold belt.

Polly and my helpers are all a bit camera shy this year, but trust me, they all look as spiffing as ever! We had a hectic evening which felt like one of our height of the summer openings due to the volume of guests that arrived en masse as we opened. The wine flowed, the canapes were much appreciated and red spots were scattered over the exhibits which made all the hard work truly worth while. We had a fab evening, and now I must get back to work to clear up ready for today's trading. 

Have a super weekend!

Anna x

Show time once again!

Hellooooo! How are you? I may be a day or two late, but here they are, the dream team from our most recent exhibition opening night and don't these young ladies look fabulous? From left to right, Tash, Polly and Hannah did a wonderful job as well as sparkling amidst the heat of the evening on Tuesday when we opened the show for Stuart Kettle, Maggie O'Brien and David Thomas (see the paintings in full here). We sold a few pieces on the opening night and sales are continuing fine thank you.

My frock for the evening is an chiffon number (preloved) by LK Bennett which almost broke the bank at £15. Joking apart, it was in immaculate condition and fits like a dream. This lightweight fabric was perfect for the hot summer evening when we were almost becalmed at New Grimsby with not much of a breeze circulating around the building despite doors and skylights being open.

The finer details of the dress can be seen here where the pleating creates a gentle empire line and a deep v neck with a tiny modesty band behind. The lining is polyester which swishes nicely as you move. This cobalt blue isn't a colour I wear a lot of, and certainly not what I would wear in the winter when my Scottish pallor wouldn't be enhanced by this tone at all, but with a light tan I can just about get away with it.

Note this delicious floaty layer of chiffon - I fancy I didn't quite dance around enough to do it  justice however!

Here's a wee twirl for you.

Oh, and I can do this too!

These lime green satin sandals are by Steve Madden from TK Maxx and also cost £15. The kitten heel was a great height to wear after a long day at work, not too high, nor were the straps too snug either. I wish I'd had a some lime green accessories, but I got by as you can see below.

My oversized pearls (from Debenhams) you'll have seen before as well as the green amethyst bracelet which my dear hubby bought me in Morocco. The fab blue rings are charity shopped. I'm wearing my old favourite sunglasses from Quay.

The photo shoot was at the end of the evening when we were confident that things had gone well which I hope shows in our overall relaxed body language. It can be quite a stressful day, preparing the gallery for the evening's party as well as the conversation topic of the day being which outfit we will wear. So far this summer I've managed to choose mine well in advance and even stick to it rather than my usual last minute change of heart. I'm floundering a bit already about the upcoming one in August, so watch this space...

And finally, July on the Isles of Scilly has been nothing less than idyllic in the heatwave. Work days are peppered with end of the day picnics for Steve and I which makes for a welcome bit of downtime for us. We're off to another island tonight, but in the meantime I'll leave you with some picnic shots from the last couple of weeks.

Landing on the high tide at Samson, just a two minute boat trip from home. 

A quick hop from the boat into the little tender to take us ashore.

Picnic over, it's time to capture something for my Instagram feed - I gotta feature this amazing setting, surely! But first, a slight tweak here, a little adjustment there ...

What about placing another pop of colour here? This hat will do nicely!

Swatting a couple of flies away before I can settle down.

And this is it! The shadows created by the evening sun managed to make me look much more tanned than I really am, so no filters required. Tresco island lies in the backgroud with a sprinkling of yachts moored up in the channel.

This time last year I posted a bikini shot and said that I wasn't sure if at 60 I'd still be happy to wear one. Yay, I still am! 

Anna x