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

Primark trouser suit

This is my outfit of the week, a Primark trouser suit that I've had for almost a year now but rarely worn. Initially that was because the trousers were too long and I finally got around to altering those in the spring when I was having my sewing moment. Thereafter I wasn't terribly inspired by the two piece simply because it was a) very plain and b) quite boxy in shape giving a masculine outline. 

Anyway, I've recently aired it a couple of times and haven't exactly fallen in love with it, but am trying my best to convince myself that it deserves to be worn. What do you think?

I feel that the citrus colours work really well together making the whole outfit pop which is a point in its favour. I've worn my orange and lime Dr Martens to add a funky edge too.

I bought this fabulous brooch especially to add as a permanent feature to the suit as I feel it really does lift it out of the ordinary. The maker is Caroline Kelly Foreman, one of the jewellers we stock at Gallery Tresco - you can see the full range of her work on her instagram page here. Caroline works in recycled aluminium and resin to great effect and sells through her Etsy shop too.

So what do you think of this outfit of the day? Is it a tangerine dream? The jury's out on my part and I'd love to have your opinion to help me decide if this is a keeper. I probably didn't help myself by wearing this on one of the hottest days of the year! The lime green (shows up as more lemon here) Primark bodysuit acted as a second skin, one that got hotter and hotter as the day went on... 

                                                                        Anna x

Samson evening

Hello and thank you once again for taking the time to visit my blog - I do appreciate it! I went for a trip to Samson island the other evening with Mel, my Gallery Tresco Assistant from last year and Jodie who's been stepping in to do some blog photos recently. Steve dropped us across in our little boat, Leah Dancer, which was a bit lively to say the least. He let the boat run up onto the beach and we had to hop out between the waves - I almost got stuck with one leg in and one out but the girls held on tight and pulled me onto the sand.

Mel is due to leave the UK this autumn and will return home to New Zealand by the end of the year, but that's not before she and her partner Pete have packed in a bit more travelling in Europe and the Far East too. I do so admire their wanderlust! The evening on Samson was one of several farewell's Mel is having with many friends that she's made over the past two years. We took some beers and snacks and had a good old chinwag for a couple of hours.

And of course, Jodie did a great job of taking some snaps of my outfit of the day! This was my work outfit and one of my favourites from this summer. The dress was a last minute find from New Look when I was in Truro in June. It has a very 70's vibe and feels so lovely and swishy to wear. It has capped sleeves and an elasticated waistband but I love to add a stretch belt as a finishing feature. 

The jacket was a Vinted purchase and is by Forever 21. Orange, orange and more orange was the theme today, but it feels such a joyful outfit to wear.

We missed the best of the evening sunlight and it was also very windy as you can see, but it was still fun trying to capture some atmospheric shots for the blog. My accessories are these pretty shoes by Rocket Dog from TK Maxx - again they have pretty crocheted flowers like the multicoloured ones seen previously. Rings are old and pre-loved, sunglasses are by Radley London and the necklace was from Accessorize last year. 

I'd hoped for a lovely quiet sunny evening for our outing, but island life means you have to be quite resiliant weatherwise so we had cosy layers at the ready for when the sun dropped.

And here we are, all heading home again. Mel on the left and Jodie on the right. It was so good to get off-island and catch up with each others news.

Bye bye Samson! You never know, we might manage another little jaunt together before Mel leaves at the end of the month...

                                                                        Anna x

Festival Finery our SNA challenge for July

Hello and welcome to our Style Not Age Challenge for July! Emma's choice of Festival Finery was greeted by all as a timely feature and one that I particularly enjoyed. I didn't have a festival to go to but chose my outfit with Glastonbury in mind and took myself off to the annual Tresco Fete as an excellent substitute. But first, let's check out the rest of the style collective to see how they approached this one...

Jacqui could be traipsing across a field on the way to her festival, maybe even Glastonbury too! Her summer dress is from Cotton Traders, sandals from New Look and bag from Fiorelli - see more from her on the blog Mummabstylish.

Hilda treated herself to a new hat from H&M and sunglasses from TK Maxx, shopping her wardrobe for the rest of her very stylish outfit. Catch up on her back story of dressing incognito for her festival on Over The Hilda blog here. 

Emma looks ready for a long day and night too of dancing in those fab Converse trainers at her festival! The pink leopard print jumpsuit was an amazing charity shop find - see more from her on her blog Style Splash. 

Gail is the only one of us who actually made it to a festival for this piece - she was at Hyde Park for a Kylie  Minogue concert! Her jacket is from Amazon, paired with old M&S chinos and natty turquoise shoes from Embassy London. Read all about it on Is This Mutton Blog.

I found my rather fabulous dress on Vinted (no surprises there then) along with the matching hairband. I've been so keen to wear this fab frock and yet was keeping it for this showcase first time out. As I mentioned, this was the annual Tresco Fete yesterday where they have live music, a bar, food, and lots of games and stalls for all the family to enjoy themselves. The weather was perfect all day long making for a blissful event for everyone involved. My friend Jodie kindly did the honours with my photos and made a great job of it!

My pretty floral embroidered sandals came into their own again this week with my 80's outfit. The handbag is old, a charity shop find from years ago, but a great little summer bag for occasions like this.

My necklace and matching bracelet are both old, charity shop finds, as are the two plastic heart rings I dug out to complete the look. I like nothing more that coming across funky jewellery when I'm trawling through my favourite mainland charity shops - I know it'll always come in useful at some stage!

Ah yes, here's the glamour shot to finish things off nicely! I do hope you've been inspired by this month's challenge - maybe we've given you some ideas for your next festival trip.

                                                                Anna x