My staycation

I've had a week off work, a staycation, but one that was eventful with the departure of one Prime Minister and the arrival of another and of course, the shock of the sudden death of our beloved Queen Elizabeth II. As the drama of that day unfolded, I was at home watching the TV coverage with a sense of disbelief. Within 48 hours of seeing her welcoming Elizabeth Truss into Balmoral her Majesty had passed, leaving us reeling at the speed of her demise. The loss seems so personal to many of us, her benign reign one that has resulted in a groundswell of public mourning. As we are swept along with the pomp and ceremony of this change in the Monarchy the loss is felt globally.

Instead of the weekly work outfit, this is me in my casual wear as I had a walk out to King Charles Castle which overlooks the channel between Tresco and Bryher. These shots are from Monday when we had a huge spring tide of 6 metres which effectively drains the sea from this boating channel turning it into a swathe of sandbanks and pools that draw the intrepid holidaymakers (and locals) to cross from one island to the other. This pilgrimage occurs several times a year and sometimes is accompanied by a low tide event. In fact one was scheduled to take place on Sunday but was cancelled out of the respect to her Majesty.

As the inter-island crossings took place below me I captured a few shots of me in my downtime. No jewellery or smart shoes, simply the comfy cotton sweater ( a gift from my friend Tiggy) worn with these lightweight plisse trousers. This has been my casual wear for most of the summer, perfect for cycling to the beach for a swim or catching up at home. The shoes are uber comfy, bought in TK Maxx in the spring when I was on the mainland.

My only accessory of the day are these Radley sunglasses. If you've been on the island this summer then you'll probably have seen me dressed like this on my day off - it's almost become a weekend uniform. It's a welcome change for me to step back from my work finery and marks a different me from my work persona. On such a tiny island it's so vital to find some escape from who I am at work and the need for downtime is never more necessary than during our peak season. 

Apologies for the erratic nature of my posts over the past few months. My commitment to work has been draining leaving the rest of my life in tatters sometimes. The boat renovations still aren't complete and therefore there will be no off island picnics for us this year. My week at home has been truly restorative however. I've read, napped, deep cleaned some long overdue corners of my home and had some lovely sea swims too. And now am back at work for the final push of the season. Thank you so much for coming to visit, for your comments and for chatting to me via Instagram too. See my latest posts on Instagram here. 

See you again soon!

Anna x

Pistachio two piece from Primark

Hello lovelies! How are things with you? September is upon us but, as ever, I'm not done with summer yet and will be holding onto my summer finery for as long as possible. This was my work outfit from Friday when the sun was shining as opposed to today's showery, blustery weather. 

I picked up this skirt and top in Primark in April and this is only the second time I've worn it. My blogging friend Sheila from Ephemera always advocates wearing a new item as soon as possible, to take ownership of it and make it part of your wardrobe. Such good advice! I've held off wearing some pieces that I bought in the spring simply to keep them as new. However that can also work against them as they/I can go off the boil.

The two-piece is pretty and I do love the colour which is probably why I bought it, but the jury's out as to whether I'll be wearing it again next year. The elastic around the bottom of the top plus the batwing sleeves means that it doesn't sit in one place but keeps popping up over the waistband of the skirt. On reflection, I can imagine that this is meant to be a crop top. (Primark's demographic won't have over 60's like me in mind!)

The other downside is the very long skirt (neither maxi nor midi) which needs high heels or wedge sandals (these are old, from TK Maxx) as I've worn here. Much as I tried this on in the changing room at the time of purchase, I was simply looking to add some new colour and style to my wardrobe and this seemed to fit the bill. I recall I was in Truro for a medical appointment and therefore this would have been a bit of a rushed shopping spree at the time. Hey ho!

The gold coloured chain belt was another Primark purchase, bought at the same time to add a bit of bling to what I already knew was a marginally staid outfit. I do think it works in lifting the overall look especially along with the gold chain necklace - a very old Primark piece too.

I feel I may be a bit unkind and disloyal to this co-ord and have to say that I don't hate it, but need to find better accessories to lift it into Anna's Island Style. Maybe my orange wedge sandals would have given a more fun slant to things? No worries - I'll be packing it away until next year to give it another chance to shine. 

Understatement isn't one of my strong points and maybe I've not been very fair on the first viewing of this ensemble. My choice of vintage handbag is a great match but, you know me, I do love the wow factor. The rings are old and my Quay Australia sunglasses work well in that matchy-matchy way.

Fiona did the honours with our end of the week photo shoot. As friends we pride ourselves in absolute honesty with her telling me often "Oh, you won't like that one!" as I babble on when I need to be concentrating on my photo face. We do have lots of laughs and surely that's what we all need!

                                                                            Anna x

Maxi Madness, our Style Not Age challenge for August

Hello and welcome to Maxi Madness, our Style Not Age challenge for August! Month by month we 5 friends take it in turn to choose a theme for our challenge and this time it's Hilda's choice which has brought about a lovely collection of summer maxi's so let's take a closer look shall we?

Jacqui's look captures the golden glow of summer in what is actually her daughter's maxi dress. Floppy hat and espadrilles complete this balmy day outfit. Read more from jet-setting Jacqui on her blog Mummabstylish. 

Gail from Is This Mutton has chosen her Asos green maxi dress for our challenge paired with sandals from Accessorize. By her own admission it's madness to own such a lovely dress and never worn it until today!

Hilda's maxi is what she wore on her recent wedding anniversary - a skirt from her local boutique worn and a much loved top. Her maxi madness looks utterly elegant I'd say. You can find her backstory on Over The Hilda blog. 

Emma's glorious maxi dress is by Stella Nova, and is a fabulous combination of summer colours. The figure hugging wrap dress can be seen on her blog Style Splash here. 

My maxi dress was from Hush last summer and golly, what a lot of wear I've had out of it this summer too! It's been great for those super heatwave days when you only want to wear something loose and airy. The shade of pink is neither too wishy-washy nor too fluorescent to leave the skin looking washed out.  

Last week's blog Summer Brights outfit (see here) was such a success that I decided to repeat the happy combination of pink and orange again, this time using the orange for my accessories. Nothing new jewellery-wise nor with the sunglasses or old sandals, but all adding a welcome splash of contrasting colour to liven up what is already a pretty lively frock!

The backdrop is of New Grimsby quay for those of you who haven't visited the island. We mooched along at the end of the day to capture these shots with only a few fishermen for company. 

My daughter kindly did the honours with this week's photography. This atmospheric shot is one of my favourites. 

I do hope you've enjoyed this month's offering - maybe we've given you some inspiration for these last few weeks of summer weather and what you could wear. Thanks for dropping by!

                                                                            Anna x

Summer brights

Hello lovelies! I maybe ought to have called today's post "Better late than never!". August has taken its toll on me, meaning I'm way behind with everything apart from work. Well, maybe even at some areas of my work too if the truth be known... Anyway, here I am in the middle of the night, with a bout of insomnia and an internet connection that keeps dropping in and out trying to put this post together.

My summer brights outfit is a mixture of old and new items - the new being this ruffled skirt, yet another purchase from Number 36 in Penzance dating back to my spring visit to the mainland. The white vest top was from H&M earlier this year too and the pink linen shirt (M&S) was a charity shop find from last year. 

The tiered orange skirt feels flirty and fun and it seemed only right to flounce about on the sand for these photos. Fiona, my photographer extraordinaire, was awol as were family and so I had to make do with the timer on my camera and a bit of hamming up on my own. At least I managed to find a quiet spot on where no-one could see my antics.

I was prepared for the odd flash too by wearing my new bikini. I've yet to do a beach post proper this summer as my every spare moment has been spent helping Steve with our boat renovations. Goodness knows if we'll managed to get it into the water at all this year! Just as we've been trying to finish the last patch of paintwork the weather has turned wet and unpredictable here which is very frustrating.

Said bikini is floral and multi-coloured and is the first new one I've bought for years. Am I bikini body ready I ask myself? Probably not, but it's the only body I've got and may well be on display in September when I've booked a week off work. If the boat isn't launched by then, I plan to take myself off to the beach every day (weather permitting) for a high tide swim and then have a picnic and laze around reading a book and sunbathing. I've already put in for a dose of good weather so fingers crossed that will all go to plan!

There's nothing new jewellery-wise and the Radley sunglasses aren't new either. The beaded belt is very old indeed but has been brought out to tie in with my sandals which again were bought in the spring (from TK Maxx) and haven't made it onto the blog previously.

Side by side, the belt and sandals do look as if they match perfectly which for me it terribly satisfying. Matchy-matchy or clashy-clashy whichever is the plan always makes me happy if I manage to pull it off. Such little pleasures in life please me immensely.

So that's just about all from me. I'm having an overnight trip to the mainland this weekend to have my eye's tested but don't expect I'll have much time for shopping. I say that to almost prepare myself for any disappointment. I also have to get a new passport photo taken and have done an online search, but do wonder how reliable that is - one of the venues is KFC! Anyway, wish me luck and I'll be back on Monday with our Style Not Age challenge. Hope to see you then. Please leave me a comment if you've enjoyed this post.

Thanks for dropping by!

Anna x