Another week, another heatwave outfit!

Yes it's another heatwave hello from me! I'm gradually learning what works in these high temperatures with Friday's work outfit looking like this. It's not new and has been featured on the blog previously, but the loose fit and total cover up seemed to keep me cool all day long. The paisley maxi skirt was a charity shop buy and the silky paisley top was a hand me down/up from Sasha quite a few years ago.

The agapanthus are in full bloom now so Fiona and I walked out to the Heliport down on the south end of the island to capture these colourful shots. The photo shoot was meant to be followed by a cooling swim in the sea at (nearby) Appletree Bay, but yours truly managed to forget her swimming costume. Barefooted Fiona and I walked across the heather (sprinkled with prickly gorse) to Pentle Bay, but by the time we arrived there to the choppy sea and windy side of the island it was 8pm and my offer of skinny dipping had lost its appeal.

This multicoloured beaded necklace is new to me, a recent charity shop find for the princely sum of £3. I've been holding back to find the right outfit to showcase this and am really happy with the overall look.

Rings are preloved and the pink stretch belt was an eBay buy from years ago. I love the mish mash of colours here though - so very summery!

This must be the year of summer flatties for me! These floral sandals are heaven to wear as the back strap is stretchy and the soles are soft and spongy to assist all day comfort. Apologies if the comfort work keeps cropping up on my blog of late, but heck I'm on my feet all day and really need a kind and wearable shoe for my weary feet. I found these ones on Amazon. 

It's such a feminine outfit and one that had me wafting about with a smile on my face all day long. 

So this was us, Fiona, me and Jilly, partners in crime on Thursday as we staged a picnic on the beach at the end of our working day. After much promising and planning we finally co-ordinated our diaries and managed to spend a few hours lounging about on the sand, eating and drinking and even having a dip to cool off. We laughed and chatted and shared stories of work and home. Our next date will be a movie night at mine as I've got a great film saved on my planner. But anyway, Jilly was in fits of laughter at my tales of woe when the world seemed to conspire on the previous day leaving me frauded and flat.

My day had started badly with a message on my home phone to say that my credit card was showing suspicious activity and for me to press any button to run through a security check. Well, I don't know about you, but I've watched so many of those scammers programmes that I don't trust any automated message. I dismissed it and went off to work. Some time later I found a text message from Tesco's to say that they couldn't fulfill my grocery order as my card had been declined. Typical! On Wednesday's I only have cover at work after lunchtime. I was also due to have an afternoon meeting with a local jeweller bringing some (long-awaited) pieces for our display. It's been two years in the planning so this was going to be a lovely catch up with Sophie especially as she's created an exclusive range for Gallery Tresco.

Finally I manged to leave work just after 1pm and went home to check my credit card account online. Well blow me! I'd indeed been frauded - I had a payment showing for an Uber!!!! (I live on a tiny island, only one mile by two, with not an Uber in sight.) Anxious and more than a tad worried, I rang the number on the back of my credit card and after much waiting, followed by the necessary security questions, I finally got through. "I'm sorry Mrs Parkes" said the assistant on the fraud line, "but our alarm has just gone off and we're evacuating the building. You'll have to ring back later." Grrrrr...

My morning had been punctuated with phone calls from Tesco's regarding the failed payment but I had no time to resolve this as I was manning the desk alone. My next lunchtime call was to them and ironically coincided with the same lunchtime for the only operative who could unravel the non payment and rescheduling of my order. Off I go the to the Post Office, accounts office and then back home for lunch. On returning to work, well would you believe it, but my meeting with the jeweller had taken place with my stand-in in my absence! More seething and gnashing of teeth at the missed opportunity for this face to face as she was already on the boat back to St Mary's.

Various small challenges threw themselves at me within the workplace throughout the afternoon and I also managed to miss speaking to the Tesco's operative when I was tied up selling a painting to a client. Eventually I broke free and dashed home to call him back. We were connected, but surprise, surprise my home phone died at the moment we were about to speak! I put it on charge, returned to work and received several text messages from the bank asking me to call. Finally at 4.30pm I got through to the bank and they succeeded in putting a stop on my card. By this time I was so stressed out about Ubers and missed Tesco's orders that the fraud line assistant actually asked me to stop and take a deep breath. She then went on to say how difficult it is to send any messages by phone or text which are understood to be authentic. She continued, saying that I'd acted responsibly and was 100% correct in using my credit card as the true source of the contact phone number rather than risk responding to what may have been a scam call. Ten minutes later and I had finally managed to reschedule my grocery order too.

By 6pm the working day was over and the dust had settled on my financial debacles. I gathered together my swimming things, safe in the knowledge that a long swim on Appletree Bay was just the tonic I needed. I made a flask, grabbed a snack and a book ready for a couple of hours winding down in the evening sunshine. I jumped onto my bike and headed off. But wait, my bad luck hadn't finished - I had a flat front tyre!!!!  Defeated, I retreated to home and bed. Sometimes bed is the only answer!

                                                                      Anna x

Our Tutti Frutti Style Not Age challenge for June

Welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge! We're all very Tutti Fruitti this time thanks to Emma and her very summery theme. I love how we've each interpreted this differently, but oh-so-coulourfully too!

I felt I just had to start with Gail who's set us off in the right vein with her tee shirt which is actually called "Tutti Frutti". The top and skirt both come from Kettlewell, but not from the same years. She has shopped her closet for the rest of her outfit. Read her style story on Is This Mutton. 

Jacqui's rendition of Tutti Frutti comes thanks to her daughter whose dress she borrowed - how blooming lovely is this? Her cute Steve Madden handbag and strappy green sandals finish off the look to perfection. Catch up with Jacqui's news on Mummabstylish.

Emma's fruity shirt and bag are from Fabienne Chapot - a brand I've not heard of before. Paired with zingy green trousers from Asos and lots of bright orange accessories she really has embraced the colourful theme. Find Emma's blog Style Splash here. 

Hilda has opted for this stunning kimono from Zara as her main featured piece, complimented by a Hugo Boss dress and Clark's shoes - none of these are new and yet are all totally fabulous! Catch up with her on Over The Hilda. 

The Tutti Frutti element of mine surely has to be this vintage Jaeger skirt. A customer of mine recently declared this a very Christian Lacroix design, which I suppose you could say is true. I've featured it on the blog before, but that doesn't detract from its charm. It was a charity shop find from a few years ago and gets an airing at least two or three times over the summer months.

The net underskirt is always a bit of fun and works really well with this look, although I must admit it does make me prone to flashing a bit of net from time to time without any warning or particular reason. Not sure if an ol' gal like me ought to do that, but what the heck!

The voile spotty sleeved top (from TK Maxx, old) adds to the flamboyance of the outfit. I have a black version which works equally well with this. 

Rings and pink Candy bag by Furla are all old too, but still pretty as ever. 

My black buckled and studded belt was a gift from a girlfriend many moons ago and is ideal for sleekly pulling a skirt and top together - great for those days when back fat and tummy bulge are in danger of becoming the focal points!

My dear old faithful (H&M) sock boots are still wearing well. Also going strong as these floral sunglasses which came from Sainsbury's years and years ago. This work outfit sparked lots of chats about women of my age making a style statement in the workplace and also earned me compliments from quite a few men too. So far, I'm still not invisible and hopefully never will be!

Thanks for joining us for this month's challenge. Do pop over to read the back stories from my friends if you have a moment!

                                                                            Anna x

This summer's best supermarket find

Hello lovelies! How are you? As you can see, I'm in fine fettle. And yes, can you believe it that this most colourful summer frock is a supermarket find? I happened across it when I was in Tesco's in April. The shirtwaister is such an easy to wear style and this one is in the most lovely of fabrics. It's weighty enough to move in that satisfying flappy way and yet not too heavy for summer wear. 

I've  only worn the dress once, but already it's earned much praise along with comments that it doesn't look like a supermarket purchase in the least. The floral pattern is classic and the shades of cream, orange, pink, yellow and green are all very much suited to my skin tone. I love the sleeve length too. In fact, what's not to love about this whole thing? It cost £25 - well worth the money in my opinion.

Nothing new by way of accessories here. The belt is a charity shop bargain in leather. The rings and watch are all old too. 

My necklace is from Zara and was a present from a girlfriend at Christmas. I like the fact that it's not a heavy gilt piece but is really lightweight and therefore I hardly notice I'm wearing it. My Sunglasses are by Radley, from another girlfriend.

If I'd been organised I could have shown you the orange wedge sandals that I wore for the first half of the day. But instead here's the afternoon's flat sandals in coral which are quite old now, from Primark a few summers ago. I fear that they won't last another year sadly.

Fiona did the honours with the photography at the end of the day. I swished about here and there, talking most of the time and spoiling many shots into the bargain. We meandered off to the beach afterwards to swim and chat as is our habit at this time of year. We are both ever grateful that Tresco life is on this small scale, our wild swimming so accessible, the backdrop to our daily lives so stunningly beautiful. With a post-swim flask in hand we regularly count our blessings.

Sending you lots of love from Tresco!

Anna x

Friday is fun day!

Hello again! This was my work outfit from Friday, hence the handbag-on-the-beach situation which might appear odd otherwise. Fiona and I wandered off to find a quiet corner for the photoshoot, ending up here on Cradle Porth our favourite swimming beach. It was pretty much low tide so we made our way across the sandbar down to the water's edge first of all.  We found ourselves in the teeth of the wind, but the backdrop is pretty idyllic you have to agree.

Just in case you've missed the back story to my over-the-top trouser suit you can see it here. I'm planning on wearing the amazing get-up once a week to showcase it and share the love for this most amazing bit of tailoring. The feedback is wonderful and creates lots of opportunity to share the tale of my luck in securing such a fabulous two piece.

This week's variation has the joyful addition of a satin blouse which my daughter gave to me last month. It's from Zara although I can't seem to find it on their website now. The pink colour isn't an obvious partner to the aqua suit and yet it does have accents in this same shade. I put the two things together as they lay on the bed and it was a beautiful "this works!" moment.

My recent extravagance hasn't stopped at the trouser suit. I've treated myself to this gemstone necklace with silver and gold cowrie shells. It's from a range by jeweller (Julian Warrender) that we stock in Gallery Tresco and it really caught my eye as the sea colour of the gemstones were such a great match for the suit. How could I resist? Both the necklace and trouser suit are investment pieces which at my time of life seem more important than ever. I shall cherish them both while making  point of wearing them regularly throughout whatever remains of my working life.

My other new tweak to the ensemble is this rather lovely pearl belt which is another thing of joy. I found it on Amazon. The rest of my jewellery is old, including the modesty brooch which might have to be a permanent fixture on this low neck blouse. My sunglasses are old favourites from Quay Austalia.

My Replay trainers (from TK Maxx) are still looking smart and are soooo comfy, all day comfort in fact. The River Island handbag (second hand) is a great choice for this outfit with lots of embroidery in gold and aqua. 

My weekend has been a mixture of work and play. I've been helping renovate some of the woodwork on our boat - simple painting and varnishing jobs that I can't really mess up while Steve is dealing with more major things like replacing the floor and fixing outboard engines. We are very late to be doing all of this, but our lives are always seem to be this way. On Sunday Sasha and I spent the afternoon on the beach. We went to Rushy Porth on Tresco, otherwise known to locals as Borough Beach. After a while I remembered to slap on some sun cream, but by bedtime I discovered how haphazard that had been. I've got sunburnt patches on my legs, one knee, both shoulders and even a random patch on one foot - honestly I ought to know better!

Anyway, that's pretty much it for this week. I do hope you won't tire of seeing this suit over the months ahead, although I do think I'll restrict it to only the odd time when a variation merits showcasing. In the meantime I'll leave you with some beach shots from yesterday on sunny ol' Tresco.

Wishing you a great week ahead!

Anna x

7 years of blogging

Hello and welcome to this celebratory post! I can't quite believe that it's seven years since I took up blogging and yet here I am reveling in my self promotion and the excuse to dress up for no other reason than that I want to. If you're a regular you'll recall my recent post Inspired by Iris Apfel. Well, much to my amazement, I somehow have pulled it off and managed to buy the longed-for suit as worn by Iris in the advert (see here). 

On the launch date of the H&M collection I was off-island and unable to get online to join the queue of fashionistas all keen to purchase their own favourite piece. My best friend Bo who lives in Portugal stepped up to join the race on my behalf. She managed to buy the trousers through the Portuguese H&M website which was no small feat. By the time she had posted them off to me I was home again and had fallen prey to Covid. 

Some five days into the virus I had to go online to pay my water bill and then had the idea that I maybe ought to check out eBay just in case the jacket had surfaced there. My first find was a size 16 version which was currently being bid by 6 hopefuls, raising the price to £533...

I continued with my search and found a jacket in a 12, (brand new with the labels still attached) newly listed with 6 days to run and no bids as yet. I had a few minutes to consider if I ought to wait to bid on the last day, pitching it at what I hoped to be the right price. But, really I knew I couldn't risk missing it. So I bit the bullet and clicked the Buy it Now option. I've not had a moment of regret at paying over the odds for what is my dream suit. It is a thing of beauty, a thing of joy and probably the most exquisite outfit I own. I love it and I deserve it.

In homage to Iris I'm wearing more than one necklace again, but have toned it down slightly this time. There's nothing new here, just a few second hand bangles and various pre-loved rings too. My sunglasses are old, from Radley London.

I bought these pristine new Replay trainers from TK Maxx recently once I knew I'd secured the whole trouser suit - I love the simplicity of the white tee and shoes which contrast perfectly against the ornately embroidered and pearl laden suit. The pea pod pearls are divine, don't you think?

And here's another beautiful touch to the design - the 100 year symbol combined with the glasses the style icon wears. 

Anyway, here's the icing on the cake of my 7th blogging anniversary -

The first outing of this most exquisite two piece was last night when Steve and I were invited to join Johnnie Walker (DJ legend of our times) and his wife Tiggy to their Eurovision party. We were in a small party of six at one of the Sea Garden cottages on Tresco where we enjoyed a running buffet of Tapas and local fare with lots of liquid refreshments. Johnnie wore his Sergeant Pepper shirt and I must admit I'm inclined to call my suit by the same name, although pea pod suit does have a nice ring to it ...

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that I had changed into a pale aqua top and turned up the jacket sleeves. If I'd been able to try on the jacket in store I might have chosen a smaller size, but beggars can't be choosers can they? So I'm sporting this as an over-sized jacket as if I planned it that way. To be perfectly honest I see this as a true collectors item. I totally love it and feel it's totally me in fabric form. 

We had a brilliant evening, much aided by great company and the spectacularly welcome result for Sam Ryder for Great Britain. Every time I put on this suit it will evoke happy memories of the night we partied to Eurovision with Johnnie Walker and co!

And finally. No blog post of mine would be complete with out the obligatory photo-bombers...

And what about this bit of visual trickery? See how I launch this bird from my hand to fly off overhead -

And that's it. My 7th year of blogging and I'm still enjoying sharing my island life with you. Please do take a minute to say hi in the comments box if you'd like to share your thoughts about this or any of my posts - I'd love to hear from you.

See you soon!

Anna x