Citrus colours for summer

Hi there! Here's my favourite work outfit from this week. The dress you'll have seen before, a yellow linen number (with pockets) that I found in TK Maxx, perhaps last year? I've worn this several times on the blog I'm sure, but that doesn't detract from how sunny and bright it is and such a joyful piece to wear.

I've pepped up the outfit with these fab orange sandals, new from ASOS this summer. They're ridiculously high and I'm only able to wear them for half a day at a time as I've not broken them in quite yet. But heck, aren't they totally wonderful? 

 

The orange elasticated belt is also new, this from Amazon only last week. You may recognise the other accessories here as I wore them with my orange dungarees recently (see here), but they're so perfect for this outfit too. 

I couldn't resist including this photo as I seem to have one like this every time I take my blog photos. I wonder if subconsciously I'm trying to audition for a shampoo advert? Hilarious, eh?

My thanks go to Mel, my seasonal assistant for taking these photos. I hope to feature her and my admin assistant Emily soon as we've got a staff meal coming up next weekend and will endeavour to get a shot of us all together. 

I'll leave you with this beautiful beach shot from glorious Tresco.

I hope you're enjoying this lovely weather!

Anna x

Jumpsuit June our SNA challenge

Hello again and can you believe that it's the end of June already? Another month seems to have just whizzed past us don't you think? This month's Style Not Age Challenge comes from Hilda and was a great choice for me as I have this new jumpsuit to share with you. But more of that later. Let's take a look at the rest of the collective first...

Emma's hot pink frilly number comes from Zara and oh, how I have jumpsuit envy! Silver sandals and handbag are from Yaa Yaa London - brilliant accessorising Emma! See more on her blog Style Splash.

Jacqui's jumpsuit is from Roman and is totally fab too! I'd wear this in a heartbeat, but she's unsure if this is right for her. What do you think? Hop across to her blog Mummabstylish to let her have your thoughts.

This elegant jumpsuit of Hilda's is by Coast, but not new. Cool and stylish as ever Hilda carries this off with her usual aplomb. See her back story on Over The Hilda blog.

Here's another fab jumpsuit, from Gail this time. I love the double polka dots! This isn't new, but was from Phase 8 and Gail has accessorised it with red espadrilles and necklace. See more from her on Is This Mutton blog.

So here I am in my brand new (not even bought from Vinted) jumpsuit from Onjenu - see it here. I stumbled across this on social media, as you do, and immediately fell in love with it. I've worn it twice already and it's beautiful; so soft and easy to wear and very flattering indeed. No zips or buttons, you simply pull it on and smooth the pleats over the waist and bust to fit. It's soft fabric is lovely and drapey earning me lots of compliments.

And I mustn't forget to mention that IT HAS POCKETS! OMG, there's nothing nicer than a slouchy pocket to make a gal feel cool. That clever feeling of being dressed up but having hands deep in pockets makes it all look so uber casual. I wore this recently to a party evening at work and I felt a wonderful combination of chic and yet comfortable.

My necklace was a Gallery Tresco purchase from jeweller Charlie Dodge, rings are both pre-loved and sunglasses are by Radley London. 

The jumpsuit is quite long so I wore high platform sandals in natural suede from TK Maxx.

My photographer this week was Jodie who works locally in Tresco Stores. She appeared as I was lining up my tripod and camera and offered to do the honours - and didn't she do a great job! Thanks Jodie for stepping in and for making me feel so at ease.

So, here's a rather strange postscript to today's feature...

On Thursday my puffin swimsuit was stolen from my washing line. It was a bit of a shock for this to happen here on our idyllic island paradise as it kinda shattered the dream world I seem to live in. As you'll see from below, my washing line sits next to the main road on Tresco island in full view of everyone. Anyway, I posted about it on Instagram and my son Jamie did a similar post on Facebook.

Fast forward to Sunday lunchtime when the swimsuit was tossed over my garden wall. It begs the question that the perpetrator felt this was too hot to handle and that they might be rumbled if they tried to wear it here. I had suspected that the thief had scarpered to the mainland being a dodgy day-tripper, but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, I'll be keeping my swimsuits indoors to dry in the future.

                                                                        Anna x

Gallery Manager once again

Hello lovelies! Yes, here's me back in my normal guise as Gallery Manager of the art gallery on Tresco. It's been a long seven weeks during which time I was seconded to the Cottage department in my role as art curator of the large Tresco Art Collection where I rotated paintings between houses, adding new works when I deemed it necessary. I'm now onto the next step which entails cataloging every one of the 40 cottages with its updated collection. My photographic memory is serving me well as I can walk through every single house to visualise each piece, room by room. 

My outfit of the day is made up of old and new, as is my wont. The jacket, I inherited from my daughter many years ago, was from H&M. The brown jumpsuit came from TK Maxx last year, but this is the first airing on the blog, worn with a thrifted orange leather belt to go with the chunky orange necklce (old) and my new and rather fabulous orange boots from ASOS - see them here, now reduced in the sale! 

None of my accessories are new - the brown across the body bag with orange trim was a charity shop find. Rings are preloved and sunglasses are by Radley London.

The sun has returned as have the holiday makers, all descending on the islands in time for Easter. I'd forgotten how busy the island can get! 

                                                                    Anna x

Workwear with no frills

Hello lovelies, how's tricks? I'm still knee deep in artworks, battling my way through the art upgrades in our holiday cottages. Today it's been Wigeon that has come under our attention. Mel and I have been planning the distribution of paintings across the final six cottages and this is certainly testing the grey matter as we try to balance the needs of each house with what we have at our finger tips. Here's some examples of rooms we've dressed so far -

This trilogy is by Ellie Verrecchia - see more here. 

On the right is a painting by Chris Hankey (more here) and on the left, one by Iona Sanders - more from her here. 

These three are by Cornish artist Maggie Matthews see more from her here.

Art for interiors is always fun as you sweep in at the last hour adding colour and character to each room, hopefully enhancing the soft furnishings and making the best of the room. No two rooms are finished to look the same and of course the gamble of adding bright contemporary art into old houses may not be to everyone's taste, but we love the finished looks.

My outfit of the day was very plain and simple. My turquoise corduroy dungarees are from Enjoy Clothing in Truro and have been aired on the blog previously. I've paired them with a bright orange roll neck, second hand from Vinted at only £5. My third addition are my white patent boots, quite old now, from TK Maxx. No rings (totally impractical when hanging art) and no necklaces for the very same reason. 

Sunglasses are my old favourites from Quay Australia.

I'll leave you with the spectacular view afforded from the lounge in Puffin Cottage. We'll be working our magic in there tomorrow - wish us luck!

Anna x

Last week

Hello again! Yes, this was me last week at work, outside Norrard Cottage which is having an art upgrade to complete the recent refurb that's taken place. Apart from managing Gallery Tresco, I also curate all of the artworks in the 100 cottages on the island which can be quite a juggling act. This winter I've been tasked with the refresh of over 30 houses to make them ready for a photo shoot for the Tresco Island website. It's a joy to do, to find the perfect pieces to suit colour schemes and layouts of rooms. My new gallery assistant Mel drives us around on a little golf buggy loaded up with armfuls of art wrapped up in bubble wrap and off we hurtle in every direction most days. 

Workwear has to be practical on these days and for me that often means lycra to offer stretch and ease of movement. This camo two piece was from ASOS a couple of years ago and has been a great buy. I've paired it with these comfy boots from TK Maxx.

The orange puffa gilet was a purchase from Primark last summer (yes, shame on me for succumbing to fast fashion, especially after last week's post!). I'm a sucker for anything orange... Sunglasses are by Radley London.

You can check out some of the views from the holiday cottages on the Gallery Tresco Instagram account here. This back door view may not look terribly inviting, but just see the wonderful view from the loo here! Mel and I will be dodging about from cottage to cottage over the next couple of week as we add the icing to the cake in each of these holiday homes ready for the summer ahead. I'll post a link once the images are live on the website.

Have a great week!

                                                                                       Anna x

This is 65!

Hello and welcome to my birthday post! Yesterday I turned 65, a proper grown up birthday it seems (although not yet an OAP), but it feels like a fairly significant number. To age is indeed a privilege and I for one am very grateful to reach this particular milestone. 

 

If you're a regular here then you'll know I've been laid low over the past couple of months with virus after virus, a chest infection too followed by strep throat, so today's post feels like another kind of milestone as I was up and dressed (to the nines) for a birthday trip with my dear husband. He drove me to this fabulous vantage point on Tresco aka King Charles Castle so that we could enjoy the beautiful sunny day. He packed a picnic, found a blanket and off we went for a jolly outing. When I had appeared in this psychedelic trouser suit his response was 'Wow!' quickly followed by, 'But will you be warm enough?' Moments later I returned with this cosy extra layer, which was very much needed as we sat on the very top of the island. Gone are the days when he questioned if my choice of outfit was appropriate, thank goodness.

My ensemble comprises of this pink, peach, orange and white psychedelic trouser suit (reduced now on ASOS), bought for my birthday by my son, worn with a white top (charity shopped) and white patent boots which Steve gave me for my Christmas. My orange fun fur was a TK Maxx buy from a couple of years ago. 

This 60's look resonates with my younger self who, on the cusp of her teens, became aware of the fashion of the day, finding it a source of joy and excitement and very much a place where I felt I could express my fledgling self. Mini skirts, midriff tops, bell bottoms, knee high patent boots, shaggy fur coats and suede fringed waistcoats were all I longed for. Pans People on Top of the Pops wore psychedelic hot pants, doe-eyed Twiggy was my first girl crush and my bedroom walls were covered in posters of Marc Bolan, David Bowie and David Cassidy. My Jackie-reading prepubescent self ached to be grown up, to shop at Bus Stop and Biba, be part of this rollercoaster ride of pop music, Woodstock and Beatlemania. Oh what memories!

And now this trouser suit encapsulates all that I'd hope to be at 65. The older I become the more comfortable I feel in my skin. I don't have to rely on anyone to tell me I look okay. If anything, I feel a rising sense of urgency that I may not have enough time to try out everything I still want to play with. Working full time and salting away money into my pension pot is important, but I don't want to miss any fashion opportunities along the way. I'm not driven to spend lots of money on designer clothes as I may have done in the past, but to simply enjoy personalising choice items that I come across. The Sewing Bee has been a lovely distraction recently during my time at home, and also a wonderful source of inspiration. I feel a sewing urge coming on and am about to set my sewing machine up in the spare room to make it more accessible.

I've had to make a few adjustments to the trouser suit which I'm pleased with. I've taken four inches off the trousers, lined the jacket, taken a couple of inches off the sleeves and most scary of all, I made three button holes as the jacket came with four randomly placed buttons but no button holes. Just this little bit of sewing has been so enjoyable that I'm keen to get back to it again. A summer linen dress is on my wish list and I have the pattern, but no fabric as yet...

So, back to the outfit. My gilt 60's belt was a Primark find last year, the gilt necklace a Christmas present and the resin rings are both pre-loved. My retro sunglasses were from River Island many moons ago.

And here's my white patent boots (on sale here at Deichman). 

This laid back birthday celebration couldn't have been more perfect. Later in the day I opened cards and gifts from family and friends as well as receiving three lovely bouquets of flowers. I felt very spoiled. I'll leave you with the view from our picnic spot. What a beautiful day it was!

From here, Steve and I watched a large shipping container in the distance as it rounded the islands gradually changing course to head North to Ireland or beyond. Its journey along the horizon was slow and steady, transporting containers of goodness knows what from one part of the world to another. We observed its passage, musing over the days when we had sailed to other countries by cruise ship, reminiscing about ports visited and sights seen. Happy times! 

                                                                                 Anna x