Easter weekend on Tresco




The sun shone down on Tresco this Easter reminding me how beautiful this little island paradise is. The view is from the Sea Garden Cottages, namely from the patio of Shrimp where I was visiting friends. I regaled them with my memories of being a (hopeless) chambermaid 45 years ago at the Island Hotel here in these grounds; I was besotted with this view and thought it to be the most idyllic sight I'd ever seen, so much so that I spent far too much time staring out the window and not enough time cleaning. The truth is, I still find it mesmerising. Anyway, the figure in the distance is one of those I was visiting - more recognised for his voice than his physical self.




Yes, it's the Radio 2 DJ legend that is Johnnie Walker! Johnnie and his gorgeous wife Tiggy are regulars to Tresco, this most recent visit being to celebrate Johnnie's 78th birthday. Doesn't he look well on it! Johnnie hosted a birthday dinner at the Ruin Beach Cafe where he was joined by friends for an evening of good food, fine wines and lots of tales about the music business. I quizzed him as to who has been his favourite musician to interview to which he replied James Taylor. You can't argue with that.




This was Monday's work outfit showing nothing new, simply a mix of pieces shopped from my closet as they say. The main feature is this rather fabulous coat by Clements Ribiero which I bought about five years ago in Manchester from TK Maxx. It's three years since I wore it last on the blog here and yet I do so love it!




I've mixed designer with high street fashion to give my own style. The sweater is from H&M, trousers from Primark and the gold leather Chelsea boots are so old I can't recall where I found them. The boot cut trousers are maybe a tad short, but I've seen girls wearing wide cropped trousers so thought I could get away with this too.




Nothing new  with my accessories either - the gold chain necklace was from Zara, rings are old too and sunglasses are from Radley London. 





External photoshoots are always tricky whether it's due to the weather or someone popping into the shot or the camera almost getting blown over which was the case here. I'd dodged about the island trying to find a quiet spot out of the wind before the gale arrived, hence the varied backdrops. Today it's been raining for most of the day with winds gusting up to 70mph and tomorrow is forecast to be more of the same. We were lucky to have it so good for Easter. I had a lovely swim on Easter Sunday on Green Porth beach - see my timelapse clip on the Instagram link at the top of the page.

Many thanks for popping by. Have a lovely week!

Anna x

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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

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Denim - But Not Jeans is our SNA challenge for March




Welcome once again to our Style Not Age monthly challenge! Jacqui's theme is a good one - Denim, But Not Jeans and we've all found our own way to express ourselves without being too similar. My jacket isn't new, but it's not been shown on the blog for some time and it's still an interesting piece - easy to do if you have some old brooches lying around.




Hilda went for a double denim look (not breaking the rules was it?) after finding this oversized jacket in Primark. I love this light blue denim twosome but she decided to return the jacket after some thought - not really me is a good instinct that has to be followed. See more from Hilda on her blog here.




Gail's maxi dress in denim is new from ASOS and is a real style statement. I don't wear a lot of denim myself but love this bold look. Read Gail's back story on Is This Mutton blog




EBay came up trumps for Jacqui as she scoured the internet for this denim maxi skirt which she's paired with a pretty yellow blouse (old from M&S). The combination has a fresh summery look to it, very fitting for the official start to summer, eh? Catch up with Jacqui's news on her blog Mummabstylish




Emma's denim dress was also an eBay purchase, but from way back during lockdown. It's a vintage find with lots of beads and embroidery as well as batwing sleeves and a figure hugging shape that suits her perfectly. Find out more about her outfit on her blog here




We've been having wild weather down here on the Isles of Scilly but I just had to bite the bullet and get out there to take my photos. This was a work outfit, mostly shopped from my closet apart from the boots which are coming up next...




These white leather cowboy boots are a recent buy from Vinted and the brand is Topshop. I plan to wear them with a long dress, but which one, I'm not quite sure yet. Vinted has become my guilty secret of late, a weakness my daughter is to blame for. She did warn me that the site can be a bit addictive. The good news is that I'm have a few successes with selling on some of my shoes and clothes meaning I snowball funds momentarily before I splurge the lot on another purchase!






Jewellery and sunglasses are all old, as is the rest of the outfit. Trousers were from Topshop, belt from eBay, sweater from Primark and sunglasses from Radley London.




Standing on the road that leads to Old Grimsby quay was just like being in a wind tunnel! I feel a small fanfare is needed as I will be working on my last cottage rehang of artwork tomorrow (Tuesday). It's been a long old slog to bring about the change that was so needed and at times it did feel like we were working in the eye of the storm, battling against time before the photographer arrived and even when she did, we were simply one cottage ahead of her for two whole weeks. That said, I'm extremely proud of all of the work Mel and I have achieved and am looking forward to seeing the overall results on the website in due course.


Many thanks as ever for taking the time to pop by. Please do take a look at the other blogs too if you have a moment. Until next time, take care and have a great week!

                                                                                             Anna x

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Mother's Day lunch




Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely mums out there! My kids treated us to a lunch out yesterday at the Ruin Beach Cafe on Old Grimsby. We started off outside but as the sun faded behind the clouds we relocated inside but still with a great view to enjoy. 






Pud of the day was this lovely chocolate desert. Steve didn't so much eat it as inhale it within minutes!




Unusually for me I opted for an all black outfit. Levi jeans and Ralph Lauren jacket plus white frilled shirt are all old. The pared down look was chosen to highlight my rather fabulous new cowboy boots - these are definitely the stars of the show. 




I bought the boots on Vinted last week. They're brand is MOMA New York - the Museum of Modern Art and you can find them here. They are called Sunny Days Ankle Boots and each pair is made from vintage saris and hand decorated with embroidery and beads making them quite simply unique. This was their first outing and I was thrilled with the fit and comfort of these cowboy boots. The sole and inner are both leather and are true fit for their size. These are boot heaven!




I took my lead from the boots with my accessories too - orange belt and scarf are old as are all my turquoise coloured necklaces and ring. Sunglasses are from Radley London.




Workwise I'm happy to report that I ought to be finished in the cottages within the next week. It's a wonderful creative project, but I am missing the Gallery and all that comes with it. If you've been on the island recently and popped in to see me then I do apologise for being awol. As I say, normal service ought to be resumed by next week!

                                                                                      Anna x

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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

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Workwear for this week




Hi there! Another week, another work outfit. Yes, I'm still working on my big art project, that of renovating all of the individual art collections held within almost 40 holiday cottages on Tresco. Today's photos are from the patio outside Maiden Bower which sits on the banks of Farm Beach. My new assistant Mel was keen for me to showcase my tool kit too. I laughed when she called me #bosswoman!




I've worked on over 30 cottages so far, removing old faded prints and replacing them with lovely original pieces of art, befitting of these luxury cottages, many of which have had new soft furnishings and fabrics added recently. These will all be shown on the Tresco website in due course. The challenge for me is to not only find the right paintings but also to hang them in the right spot. Navigating wonky old ceilings and heavy beams adds to the challenge of getting them to look right and of course, hang straight! My trusty spirit level has become a good ally and duly given a name - Betty. Where's Betty? is my constant cry in Mel's direction as I stand clutching the frame of a large painting as I try to find the sweet spot. 




And so on to the outfit of the day. Steve bought me this Love co-ord for my birthday. I'd seen this worn on Gogglebox (one of my favourite programmes) and had mentioned this to Sasha. Before I knew it, she'd tracked it down on Vinted. I've managed to do the same - if you'd like to buy it then there's one right here. The brand is Never Fully Dressed and they seem to make lots of outfits along the lines of Love. Cute, eh?




My boots are new, purchased from Vinted too. The brand is Zara and they were brand new with the labels on for £20. Terrific value for a pair of leather boots. I love the shape and the big chunky sole. Steve informs me that these are in fact farmers boots and that you'll see them on many a tractor across the land. Always ready with a compliment is my dear hubby!








The island is open for business now and the Gallery opens on Tuesday the 7th. I've called in lots of favours to cover the first week of opening while I continue with the cottage art. Hopefully I'll be back at the helm soon and in due course you'll be able to see the fruits of my labours when the photos go live on the website.


Many thanks for dropping by!

Anna x

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All Buttoned Up, our SNA challenge for Feb




Hello again my lovelies! Can you believe it's the end of the month already? Well, the last Monday of the month at least, which means it's time for our Monthly Style Not Age Challenge and this month our theme is All Buttoned Up as chosen by Gail. I found this a very inspiring challenge, one that ties in with my latest news hobby-wise, but I'll share that in a moment. First, let's see how my fashionista friends approached the task in hand, shall we?




Emma is looking pretty in pink in this button featured trouser suit. The fact is that it's not even a suit, but a thrifted jacket and perfectly matching trousers. Catch up with her on her blog The Style Splash here for all the fashion details. 




Jacqui from Mummabstylish has opted for pinstripe sailor trousers as her buttoned up feature, a classic style that never goes out of fashion. A chunky roll neck and matching grey across the body bag completes this weekend look.




Hilda's lean and leggy look features her much loved jeans from Next with a buttoned up cardi/jacket from Zara which she confesses to hardly wearing, but goodness knows why not - it's very pretty! Read more from Hilda on her blog Over The Hilda




Gail does indeed have this month's challenge All Buttoned Up. Oh how I love all of this look! Black and white with a pop of orange makes for a stunning combination and her shoulder buttoned sweater is fab. See her back story here for all the style details. 




My buttoned up item is a thrifted linen pin tuck blouse by Jaeger which cost me £5. It was only when I got it home that I discovered a scorch mark on the sleeve. My bargain maybe wasn't so much after all and I relegated it, in rather bad humour, to my mending pile. Fast forward to last year when I had a bit of a creative moment and decided to try to cut and create some applique to cover up the offending area. 




The addition of another mulitcoloured sunflower bloom at the back of the blouse helped it look more of a feature than a cover up job.




The final alteration took place when Gail announced this month's challenge and I decided to remove all the rather boring white buttons and replace them with whatever I could find in my button box. My white linen blouse has become a quirky and unique addition to my wardrobe, another slow fashion item. I do feel rather pleased with the end result.




The rest of my outfit is made up from these lilac wide legged jeans from Primark and my old floral Converse boots. The day was a real bonus allowing me to find a spot out of the wind which looked like a perfect summer's day in February!




The day was quite a breezy one, a definite jacket day! Mine is by Pull and Bear purchased for £30 at TK Maxx last year. It's super cosy and I just love the colour. It makes me think of the famous poem by Jenny Joseph entitled Warning which starts with 'When I'm old I will wear purple'... Read it in full, here





I sat on the outcrop of rocks at the end of Saffron Bay and enjoyed the view on this blustery day, pleased to have my padded jacket on to beat the chill wind.




Oh, and finally, the news that I mentioned earlier, is that I've joined The Very Scilly Sewing Bee, a new course being run on St Mary's for the next five weeks. I'm excited to say that I'll be trying to make a dress for the very first time. As you may know, I've done bits of sewing in the past, but never made anything from a pattern. Hopefully I may have a dress to share with you sometime soon! Thanks for joining my friends and I for this month's challenge and please do pop across to see more from them on their own blogs if you have a moment.


Have a super week!

Anna x

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