Christmas jumper day

Hello again! Did you take part in National Christmas Jumper day last Thursday? Here on Tresco we did and this was my offering. It's not new, but is one of my favourite Christmas jumpers and really, I don't feel the need to keep buying a new one every year.

I think I bought this sweater a few years ago. It's from H&M and maybe needs a bit of debobbling this year. I must admit it was a last minute rush to find it and get an outfit together the other day. My rings are pre-loved.

The rest of the outfit is pre-loved or simply old. The trousers were passed on from my daughter and the white shirt was a charity shop buy many years ago. Sunglasses are old, from Radley London.

What's new however are these rather fabulous cow print boots, a recent purchase from Vinted. The brand is Koi and even though they look massively high the balance between platform and heel make them surprisingly comfortable. I wore them all day without a pinch or tweak.

I topped the outfit off with my oft-seen green faux fur coat, a regular at this time of year. Red, white and green is very traditional, a lovely look for the run up to Christmas. 

How are your Christmas preparations coming along? As usual I'm up to my elbows in fudge making before I can turn my attention to the home front. I've packed up and sent off some boxes to my relatives in Scotland today and will have more ready to wrap tomorrow. We won't be having our Christmas tree until nearer the time; it's down to Steve as to when he can make the time to find one in the woods somewhere. Apart from that we have presents on the way, so I'm poised with fingers crossed that Mr Postman will come up trumps.

                                                                                              Anna x

The joys of the utility jacket

Who'd have thought I'd be excited about a utility jacket? I never cease to surprise myself! This beautiful floral jacket is from H&M (via Vinted, surprise, surprise!) and is my latest guilty pleasure. New, the jacket would have retailed at £39.95 and I paid £10 for it. Sorry if I'm beginning to sound like an advert for the second hand site, but honestly it's a source of some pretty amazing bargains. 

As is with all of my clothes, I buy them because I love them and this jacket is my latest new love. Even my husband is impressed by it. I think its appeal for me is the wonderful juxtaposition of a traditionally masculine style adorned with these perfectly feminine florals. This was its first outing, a stroll out on my day off to capture the simple stylish nature of the jacket whilst out in nature. Too cheesy? Sorry.

I've shopped my closet for the rest of this outfit. The shirt is old, from Primark, the fairisle tank top is an old charity shop find, the Levi's jeans are also pre-loved. 

The chunky chelsea boots were from Primark, bought a year ago and are super comfy for yomping about in the countryside. 

The jacket sports four big patch pockets, large and roomy with enough space to do away with a handbag if you wish; phone goes in one pocket, wallet in another, hairbrush and lipstick in the third and tissues in the last - perfect! My only accessories today are my Radley sunglasses and a simple gold chain.

 

I'm pleased as Punch with this new addition to my wardrobe. Winter walks will take on a new stylish attitude with this fabulous jacket.

My new working regime for the next few months is that of a four day week now. I've saved my annual leave up and am taking long weekends off to catch up at home. It also means that I'm able to fit in three consecutive days of sea swimming which is great for me at this time of year. I really do rely on my swimming to help stablise my SAD symptoms and it's held me in good stead for years. I'd love to say that I can manage to swim every day, but the shorter days are a challenge to fit it in either before or after work. In addition, the intermittant storms do impact on when it's safe to swim, but all in all I'm doing well. If you click on the tiny link above, just to the right of the About Me tab, you'll be able to see my latest swimming clip on Instagram.

I'll be back next Monday with our monthly Style Not Age challenge so do pop by if you get the chance. 

In the meantime have a great week!

Anna x

Call me Sybil!

Hi there! Do you remember Sybil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers? This frilled blouse brings her to mind don't you think? I fell in love with it at first sight, buying it without pause from Vinted last month. I love everything about it; the coral colour, the abundance of frills and flounces and general over-the-top look of it all. 

I thought the blouse deserved an outdoors photoshoot to capture the movement of the chiffon and up on the top of the island was a great setting. 

As you know, I totally love a bit of drama and this backdrop seemed to be perfect to showcase my new glamorous purchase. The view from King Charles' Castle overlooks Bryher and onwards out to the wild Atlantic Ocean. 

The crop flares are very old, but work well with the look, as do my orange leather boots - find them in the sale on the ASOS website here. The Gallery may be closed at the moment, but that's not going to stop me dressing up just for the heck of it!

I added a wide belt to bring the outfit together - this is very old too, but being leather has simply improved with age.

The entire outfit has been pulled together from existing pieces in my wardrobe, apart from the blouse obviously. Even the rings are old, also pre-loved, bought in charity shops.

The finishing touch is this beautiful oxblood leather coat by Next which I bought second hand from the Oxfam shop in Truro. A leather coat or jacket is such a worthy investment and this one is a keeper for me.

I feel I need to mention that I've sold a few items on Vinted recently which I think helps to counter the recent rash of purchases. At least if I can bankroll my purchases by selling at the same time then I'll arrive at a point of balance!

Wishing you a fab week!

Anna x

Spread The Joy

The title of today's post is inspired by Gaby Roslin who has recently released a book by the same name; see it on Amazon here. I heard Gaby on Radio 2 yesterday and she really struck a chord with me, especially when she commented on pink and orange being her favourite colour combination and I was wearing my outfit of the day already! Anyway see how my day unfolded...

The first photo shows the view from my garden, but also features our boat Leah Dancer in the foreground. This boat has been a huge renovation project over the past two years, culminating in it finally being launched in September. Apart from the day job, Steve and I have worked every weekend and most evenings over this summer to finish this labour of love, but it has meant us giving up many other things to acheive our goal. For me, the joy of my life, my sea swimming became a luxury I simply couldn't afford. We both made compromises and they were worth it. But now, thank goodness, I'm back in the groove and swimming on the high tides which this week have been in the morning. I met three other ladies crossing the bay yesterday morning and we stopped to say hello and, lovely morning!

Another joy I've recently managed to reinstate is my lunchtime walking with my friend Fiona. We both seem to have had equally busy summers and now at last are taking some time back for ourselves. Walking and talking is great fun, good therapy too and a great way to build up a bit of fitness. We walk a circuit of the island, but not across the North End, which takes us approximately an hour, giving us our 10,000 steps along the way.

And so, on to the outfit of the day. Like Gaby, I love pink and orange together which makes this another favourite of mine. The pink trench is really old now, but is still a source of joy, especially as it was a wonderful charity shop find at only £5!  Pairing it with my new orange handbag (see full details in my previous post here), makes the whole look pop.

One simple move that Gaby advocates is to jump, yes just jump, then jump and smile at the same time and see how effective that is in bringing an immediate sense of joy. I did a bit of that whilst up on the ramparts of the Old Blockhouse after work. My camera had a job trying to capture these shots of course, being a moving image, but at least you get the idea from this shot.

My pink and blue floral dress was another thrift shop find, from last year but this is only the second time I've worn it. It was a toss up between these silver brouges (very, very old from Office) and pink tight and boots. The shoes won for the simple reason that they're much more all-day-long comfortable. 

I'm wearing a long sleeved thin thermal layer (old, from M&S) underneath to keep the autumn breeze at bay. My rings are second hand and sunglasses are by Radley London.

Counting your blessings is another source of joy and taking time to stop and stare is an easy way to do this. The beauty of this place never ceases to amaze me. I can't imagine living anywhere else.

Milky autumn sun dancing behind the trees.

Home again in time for tea! So that was my day, and I do hope you enjoyed sharing it. I was at work too, but never seem to document that much as it's pretty much the same backdrop most days. Winter works are on the horizon though meaning I'll be getting out and about more, so hopefully will get some snaps of that in due course. I hope you're well, I hope you're finding the joy in your life and sharing it with the ones you love.

Have a great weekend!

Anna x

Craving Crochet is this month's SNA challenge

Hello and welcome once again to our monthly Style Not Age challenge where Jacqui has chosen Craving Crochet as the theme. This proved to be very simple for me as I only have one crochet item in my whole wardrobe. This Karen Millen cardigan is a pre-loved item, found in a charity shop and chosen because of the autumn colours which I love, plus the fact that it was only £8!  

So, here's Jacqui looking totally fabulous in this Boohoo crochet maxi dress. High heels and tote bag complete this monochrome look. See more on Mummabstylish blog.

Emma's cute crochet vest bring's a 70's vibe to her deliciously bright ensemble. Catch up with the catwalk chick on her blog The Style Splash here. 

Another retro look comes from Gail in this adorable shift dress with crochet overlay - an impressive charity shop find for only a fiver! Check out her back story on Is This Mutton blog. 

Hilda's back story for her outfit is quite dramatic as her red gloves are in fact bandages from a recent fall, resulting in splints to hold together a broken finger and knuckle. Her planned crochet top wouldn't fit over her bandages, but a friend came to the rescue with a tank top and bag instead. Do pop across to her blog to hear her account on Over The Hilda.

I've shopped my closet for my whole outfit this month which makes me feel good after what seems to be a bit of a heavy retail summer. 

The satin kitten heels must be vintage by now as they were from Dorothy Perkins well over 20 years ago. I decided to ramp things up to create an evening out look and these shoes pretty much nailed it. Satin and pearls say evening glamour to me, don't you agree?

The satin trousers are very old and I think may have come from my daughter at some stage. The vest top is old too and the leather belt was a charity shop find a few years ago.

All my accessories are old. The chunky pearl necklace was from Debenhams many moons ago and yet is still a firm favourite of mine, and maybe yours too? My large cocktail ring is  from TK Maxx and the flower one was a gift from a girlfriend some years ago.

This wasn't my finest hour, photography-wise. I battled to find a quiet corner as the evening sun was dropping in the sky, resorting to my old faithful haunt of the slipway in front of the gallery. I'd mooched along to stand on the quay in the golden evening light, but there was a rush of small dinghies appeared alongside bringing the yachties in to New Grimsby quay in search of somewhere to have supper. I had great intentions to do a re-shoot, but life seems to have been busy as ever. Next week I'll feature myself and the girls from work as promised when we went out for our end of season meal together. The flower strewn vintage frock was much admired... 

Wishing you a lovely week!

Anna x

Oh! Orange overalls.

Hi there! How are you? This is another new outfit from Number 36 boutique on Causeway Head in Penzance. The linen overalls called out to me when I was in there during the summer; as you may know, orange is one of my favourite colours. I love the oversized style which is a great contrast to some of my more fitted outfits. I've worn these both to work and at weekends for a more relaxed look, but which says I've still made an effort.

I dodged about in the early morning sunshine trying to showcase the outfit without it being drained in the bright light. My garden wasn't too bad.

This is my go-to jewellery for orange outfits - the perspex necklace is very old, from another Penzance boutique, but which no longer exists, the gold edged bangle was again from a charity shop as were both rings. Sunglasses are from Radley London.

The white tee shirt was also a charity shop find. The classic white tee can always be found in my favourite thrift stores and I do tend to pick up a good quality one when I see them.

My Lazy Dogz sandals complete this easy to wear ensemble. 

A dear friend of mine recently turned 50, so I decided to make this FAB 50 tee shirt for her. I had this pristine white tee from M&S in my cupboard and then cut out the letters and numbers from some leftover fabric. I had planned to hand embroider the edges with some pink stitches but the needle was too big for the fine cotton lawn and broke it apart. Plan B then, or rather Plan C. B was to do a zig zag machine stitch, but for some reason my zig zag didn't work out so I did a simple stitch, twice to reinforce it.

Even though life is hectic as ever, I still have this creative niggle to sew. Another little project I've just managed to fit in was to add some silk flowers to a lovely vintage dress of mine. We plan to have a staff meal this month so I'll probably wear it then. I must say, I'm particularly pleased with the end result and can't wait to waft about in this maxi dress!

Thank you for dropping by again this week. As you'll notice I seem to have no particular posting day now due the busyness of work and life in general, but I do love to hear from you and to read your comments.

Have a great weekend!

Anna x