September smiles

The wonderful golden orb in the sky is all that it takes to set my positive mood for the day (well that, along with the chilly morning sea swim that gets my endorphins rushin' around like crazy). What an easily pleased gal I am! I'm still acting and dressing as if summer is a constant in our lives, and you may even think that it's my willpower alone that keeps the sun shining.

It's still warm enough not to need a jacket yet, but I fear that may not last for much longer. (Crazy gal, but realistic too eh? You're enchanted, I can tell.) I'm always keen to bring out the last round of finery for one final hurrah, and that's what this pastel hued outfit is all about today.

The nude pleated skirt was from Tesco's last year and I've paired it with this cutaway top which was a find at our local fete earlier this summer. The chunky soled sandals are from Topshop. I love them not only because they're super comfy, but because they add a bit of funky style to the look.

What's not to love about these babies?

All the jewellery is preloved, much loved by me too!

A little swish this way...

… and a little swish that way, then

a wee gust of wind gives a quick flash of flesh!

Polly laughs that it's too late now to grab hold of that wayward flap. Hey ho! I hope that brings a smile to your face too. 

Do drop me a line or add a comment if you have a favourite piece from this summer that you'd like to see again before I pack the lace and linen away for another year. I've got a couple of things in mind and the weather may not even accommodate those, so please do hurry!

Until next time, have a great week!

Anna x

Carpe diem

Yesterday was most definitely a seize the day kinda day, when all plans for housework, paying of bills and worst of all, some in depth troubleshooting of poorly laptop had to be set aside in favour of a bit of messing about in boats. After a quick gathering together of the basics for a picnic, Steve and I took off in the boat and headed out to find a beach to ourselves. 

The sunshine and that end of summer feeling had brought the locals out, all wanting to enjoy the islands before autumn truly takes hold.

We moored up in the bay at Tean and crossed the narrow neck of land onto a sweep of beach which faced out into the Atlantic affording us the most idyllic view.

Round Island Lighthouse looking very majestic.

We drank in the view which was populated by the occasional boat sailing by.

Never one to miss a photo opportunity, I just happened to have the perfect late summer outfit ready for the moment. (Technical issues however abound currently with both camera and laptop, so apologies for the slightly fuzzy photos!)

Full marks to Steve for his creative eye with the setting for these shots. Low tide isn't always the prettiest to photograph, but the boy done good, don't you think?

Windswept hair and no lipstick has a real back to basics look for me in these shots. My beach dress was a sale purchase last summer from Sainsbury's, sunnies are my ol' faithfuls by Quay, necklace is by Charlie Dodge and bangle is preloved.

And finally, the news is that my modelling debut is on the news stands! The October issue of Woman and Home features adverts for the new "I AM" campaign for JD Williams. I'm thrilled to have made the cut and still can't quite believe it. The full story along with more shots are, of course, going to follow, but I just couldn't keep quiet for any longer.

Thanks go to my son Jamie for lending me his laptop otherwise there might have been a long blogging break while mine is being looked at by the IT doctor. I'm missing some of the technical help that my own laptop offers, so do bear with me if things are not looking quite the same as they usually do.

Wishing you a fab week!

Anna x

The final summer show!

I really can't quite believe that another entire summer show period has come and gone. Summer in my book is highlighted by the start of our exhibitions and ends 60 days later when the six shows are all done and dusted. We opened our final summer exhibition on Friday the 24th August, sadly without any artists in attendance and also without a single shot of my lovely assistants. Life, as they say, rarely goes to plan and just to add insult to injury the perfect summer weather I had imagined somehow failed to appear. Instead the sky was grey and the wind was mighty fresh!

This is my vintage two piece that I bought in Harrogate for £8. It's real silk too.

The padded shoulders make me think this is an 80's piece, but please tell me if you know otherwise. The skirt length too indicates an 80's hemline don't you think? I certainly felt a bit Dallas in this. 

Fuchsia was what came to mind when I was searching for my accessories. The handbag and rings are all preloved, of course. The oversized pearls are from Debenhams.

The shoes are from TK Maxx (£14.99) and are by Miss Selfridge. 

The belt was a gift from my friend Bo in Portugal. She also sent me a dark green version too. Both are leather with elastic back, which is my favourite type of belt, but of course you know that already.

Here's a peek at the gallery just before opening and if you want to see the show in full you can see it online here. The party went really well; much busier than I expected given the wet and windy evening. I had resigned myself to having a very slow start with just a trickle of guests, but it was a lovely turn-out with sales being strong too. My windswept photo shoot was before the show and I had planned to capture the team at the end of the evening as we always do, but instead I was tied up with a last minute purchase and when I finally finished, I discovered that the girls had deserted me in favour of dinner at the pub!

And finally, I forgot to mention that the skirt has pockets - hurrah!

Have a lovely week.

Anna x

Wild about animal print - the Style Not Age challenge for August

Welcome to the Style Not Age monthly challenge with our subject of Wild About Animal Print as suggested by Emma of Style Splash. You may be surprised to learn that I don't seem to have as much animal print as you might expect, given my extensive clothes collection. One cardigan, one pair of boots, one pair of shoes and these trousers were all I could lay my hands on last week when I was trying to pull my outfit together.

The silky trousers are the Viyella brand, and are second hand, purchased many moons ago, but never worn until now. The issue I have with them is the elasticated waistband which makes me feel puffy around the midriff and therefore middle aged (what do you mean, that's cos I am!). My options were limited on this very hot day, so trousers it was. The Karl tee is by Karl Lagerfeld, a find in TK Maxx earlier this summer and it has been a great addition to my wardrobe for when I wanted a simple look without being too understated. 

The rose gold pumps are from TK Maxx too, the brand is Head Over Heels and again they've been very handy this summer for that dressed down look. Sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

I'm wearing my wedding ring along with a rose gold cz ring, my Michael Kors watch and two rose gold bangles.

I forgot to mention the gold necklace. This has quite a funny story to it ... Sasha and I were out shopping in Truro last year, checking out all of the charity shops for me and the high street ones for her. I came across this lovely necklace amongst a little cache of jewellery in the Barnardo's shop and gathered up a selection to take to the cash desk. Sasha stopped me on my way, telling me in hushed tones that these were all things that she had cleared out of her jewellery box only the previous week! As you can see, that didn't stop me as I was very happy to know the provenance of them all, plus the charity was benefiting too.

The Abbey Garden is full of lovely little nooks and crannies of interesting views with all sorts of plants. The agapanthus seem to be much favoured by my artists, so much so, that almost any painting featuring them sells!

The joyful bronze sculpture is called "Tresco children" and was made by David Wynne.

Let's take a look at the other ladies and their animal print ensembles.

Emma from Style Splash is vamping it up with her leopard print pencil skirt. She's chosen black as her neutral to compliment the print and wow, what a glamorous look this is. The layered frills on the sleeves are wonderful (do keep me in mind, when you're done with this one Emma).

Jacqui has accessorised her animal print dress with pink sling backs and handbag. She too has taken a walk on the wild side with the exotic backdrop for her shoot and is another lady who looks like she wants to squeeze the last out of summer. See Jacqui's post on her blog here.

This month's challenge clearly inspired Hilda to go to great lengths by wearing three kinds of animal print - giraffe, snake and leopard print and how fabulous does she look! Hilda's is always a class act and this time is no different. I'd award full marks to her for originality. See more on her blog Over the Hilda.

Thanks for joining us and before I leave, I'll add some shots of the Abbey Garden in bloom. Apologies for the lack of plants names here, but I hope you enjoy the flowers anyway.

Enjoy your week!

Anna x