July catch up

Hello! Apologies for my absence, but I've been a tad under the weather with a spell of vertigo that laid me off work as the room spun and I clutched onto the sick bowl. The doctor prescribed anti-dizzyness pills which thankfully worked and I've now returned to work and am catching up on the rest of life, including my much neglected blog.

This was a recent work oufit, a lovely burst of colours, a new collection of pieces brought together to create a joyful look. I bought the skirt in TK Maxx over a year ago and yet this is the first time I've worn it. The shirred elastic top is by Boden and was a recent Vinted buy as were the pink and orange bejewelled sandals that you'll have seen previously on the blog.

My hand-knitted bag was also from Vinted, customised by me with a gold chain and Barbie brooch to give it a unique bit of styling.

Anyway, after a week of being ill and well on my way to recovery Steve suggested we make the most of the lovely sunny day by going off in our boat for a picnic. We visited St Helen's, one of the uninhabited islands, taking a picnic and walking shoes so that we could walk to the top of the island to enjoy the 360 degrees view across the entire Isles of Scilly.

The island is mainly wild and overgrown with one pathway that leads to the old settlement and on to the top of the island. There's a small beach where we landed and stopped to picnic as we drank in the view.

In addition to these small dwellings St Helen's also had a small hospital known as the Pest House. The Pest House was built as a Quarantine Station in 1764. Any plague-ridden ship to the north of Cape Finisterre and heading for England was required to anchor there. It played a national role in safeguarding the country from ship-borne infectious diseases arriving via the Western Approaches. St Helen’s was chosen as it was uninhabited. The facility remained open in 1850, but was officially closed under the Public Health Act, 1896.

I've tried to add a video to here of the view but it's too large a file, however if you look at the strapline at the top of the blog and immediately to the right is the little camera icon for Instagram - click on that and it will lead you to my post showing the breathtaking imagery.

On reaching the summit we walked across the bouncy dry heather to reach the farthest point looking out into the Atlantic ocean to see Round Island Lighthouse (no longer manned but it still offers guidance to seafarers who pass by these hazzardous rocks).

And so it was time to go home. Another little island adventure was over, but the joy is that we can return again whenever we choose. Steve took our little dinghy down to the water's edge as I took some final snaps of our outing.

Leaving no trace of our visit apart from our footprints - soon to be washed away on the next high tide...

                                                                            Anna x

Hurrah for picnic time!

Hi there! I don't know about you, but we've not had much of a summer here. On Friday however, we had a scorcher of a day, something I'd been watching on the weather forecasts for days and had primed Steve that if it delivered, then we'd be mad not to get out for a picnic. And so, at 11am we bundled said picnic fare, beach towels and all the other necessary accoutrements and off we went in seach of our spot. 

We ended up landing on this tiny cove on the uninhabited island of Tean, opting for a two person beach in the hope that we'd not have to share our spot. I know it sounds terribly antisocial, but we do like to have private time together in the midst of the busy season. The little beach was perfect and was tucked in out of the wind making it a real sun trap. 

By early afternoon, picnic eaten, bottles of beer now empty and skin suitably crisped, we were ready to head off home, but not before I'd captured the moment for posterity. 

Yes, it's time for the Mermaid coat outing! Once a year I love to bring out my dazzling sequin coat, preferably on the beach, and swish about in a cloud of self delusional beauty and joy. Here's a link to a previous session. I'm not sure when this became a thing, but I do like to have these references to previous picnics in different locations. Here's another one. 

I featured this shot on my Instagram feed (see here) yesterday. It does make me smile to regard myself as an OAP in bikini and sequins - who'd think you'd find those three words in the same sentence? Another year on and my tummy is a bit rounder as are my hips and thighs too as age creeps up on me but I'll not succumb to comparisons with those who might undermine my self confidence. This is me as I am now, full stop.

The rustling sound of the sequins as the coat billows out in the wind is a delight to me - one that feeds my imagination, ramping up the glamour factor to the max. Mock me all you like, but it's a heavenly sensation!

The sun behind me gives the illusion of a deep tan and flawless body so of course I'll keep this one for posterity too. 

What a perfect backdrop for the Mermaid coat! I honestly can't believe my luck - this is my real life, not just a holiday snap. Steve and I talked a lot about how fortunate we are and have been to spend our days on these islands able to work in jobs that we are passionate about and have the ablilty to island hop in our downtime to relax in these beautiful surroundings.

The last shot and it was time to pack up and go. We'd had a glorious day on the beach, enjoying each others company and counting our blessings . Posts like these are so valuable to me to refer back to in the long winter months. A reminder that summer will come again and my Mermaid coat with always have another outing!

                                                                Anna x

September razzle dazzle

Summer wouldn't be complete without a post featuring this fabulous shimmering coat on the beach. I may be totally bonkers in this need of mine, but there's nothing finer than swishing about on the sand in this glorious sequinned duster. My ever tolerant husband did the honours when I pulled it out of my backpack (not unlike a magician with his white rabbit), during our recent picnic on the uninhabited island of Northwethel. Two outfits for a beach picnic? Why ever not?

The rustling, shell-sounding coat was made for swishing and swooping and generally showing off. I was in my element, gadding about in the sunshine believing my own hype of how totally fabulous I was! (Well at least for 5 minutes anyway).

The coat is many years old now, but came from Topshop when new. It was a Christmas present and yet has been worn mostly in the summer rather than during the festive party season.

If I could get away with it, I'd swoosh about in this at least once a week. But realistically, I'd look like a bit of a loony if I did. (Please feel free to send me wake-up message if I ever drift that way.)

The coat holds magical powers over me - behold how beautiful I feel, and therefore I am! Be dazzled by my shining presence! Oh what fun!

The stark reality of my pot belly and cellulite thighs all melt away as I muse over my marvellousness!

My glittering necklace is by Charlie Dodge, a jeweller we represent at Gallery Tresco. 

Rings are preloved, but still rather lovely. And note how the pattern on my swimsuit echoes the shapes of the sequins...

One final, glamorous swoosh and I'm gone!

Anna x

September beach outfit

Oh wow, what a beautiful day we had yesterday! Luckily I had the day off and by lunchtime I managed to persuade Steve to sneak a half day off too so that we could skip off-island to a remote beach. As we motored off in our boat, it felt like it might be the last chance for a summer picnic this year. And we weren't the only ones making a break for it - the sea was teaming with small boats like ours, all hoping to find a secluded spot to claim for themselves. Our favourite beaches over on the Eastern Isles were already occupied so we turned back to Tean (no), then St Helen's (full of kayaks) and then finally across to Northwethel before we could claim our own island for the day.

I'd taken a couple of outfits for my beach romp. I'm sure I've shown these cover-up trousers before as they're my go-to piece for picnic days on the beach. I found them in an Op shop in New Zealand when Steve and I went touring over there in a camper-van. Oh happy, carefree pre-Covid days!

 

The multi-coloured swimsuit is by Boden, gifted from a friend. The very nature of being strapless means it's well constructed with lots of inner support as well as stretch. I haven't worn it for swimming, but I fancy it would withstand the normal rigours of a dip in the pool, if not the sea.

I was very pleased with the impromptu picnic I pulled together at short notice; I made Steve a couple of sandwiches of french baguette filled with mashed avocado, crisp fried bacon, sliced fresh tomato and a sweep of mayo. I had tuna, tomato, avocado and beetroot salad and we both had some sweet baby tomatoes from our greenhouse followed by banana icecream made by yours truly. 

It's ridiculous how quickly this summer seems to have shot past us, don't you think? Indoor and outdoor life aka beach life for me has felt much more normal than last year when we were all quite jittery about the pandemic. Our guests on the island seem much more relaxed too, although this has meant that we have a rising number of cases of the virus being reported on the Isles of Scilly of late which is inevitable. The easing of rules was always going to result in numbers rising. However, the upside is that the local economy has thrived with the influx of cruise ships as well as almost every bed on Scilly being fully booked for the entire season. It's been a great year.

My necklace is by Charlie Dodge, rings are both pre-loved and sunglasses by Quay Australia. Thanks for dropping by. I'll show you my second beach outfit in my next post, so please do swing by again for another dose of sunshine on the beautiful Isles of Scilly. 

Another picnic and another day to count our blessings for our life here.

Anna x

Summertime picnic

Hello lovelies!

Yes, this was our Friday escape. Steve and I had an awayday motoring off in our little boat to the Eastern Isles for a day of eating, drinking and splashing about in the sea. We've both been working hard, putting in long hours to keep up with things and this was our reward.

This is our favourite uninhabited island giving a Robinson Crusoe feel to our day. As we landed on the tiny spit of sand the flock of gulls took flight leaving us to set up camp on the white brow of the island. Our needs were simply to sit down and enjoy the view. Taking time away from home was long overdue and we talked and talked and talked. We've both been on a loop of eat, work, sleep for weeks and this was such a treat.

The pale turquoise strip of sand is where a beautiful sandbar reveals itself on the low tide. I was hoping we could get onto the sandbar before we went home and kept my eye on things as the day progressed.

And I wasn't the only one to be drawn to the lure of Ganilly sandbar.

Kayaks and boats arrived spilling the beach lovers onto the silky smooth sand as it revealed itself more and more. Steve and I bided our time, waiting until the last visitor left before we headed across.

The water was deliciously warm around the edges of the sandbar, ideal for wee paddle.

Messing about in boats, a picnic and splashing about in the water - that's my idea of a fun way to spend a day off!

Here's an update for you late readers -

I sent this photo into BBC Breakfast programme last Sunday just as I was writing this blog post. They had asked for viewers to send in photos of how they were managing to keep cool in the heatwave. Much to my amazement, and only 5 minutes later this appeared on my screen.

Some of my Instagram followers saw it on TV and sent me messages too! 

Anna