Farewell to summer!

Much as it pains me to say it, I realise that it's probably time to admit that summer is nearly over now. This is my final nod to the dizzying days of twirling and laughter and general sun-induced madness that takes hold of me for a few short months of the year.

Hoping that the clouds will part.

This lovely handbag is from my dear friend Suzy who lives in New Zealand. It's an authentic bag from the South Island featuring pieces of Paua shell which are recognisable by their myriad of colours. 

Maybe I'll just give you one more twirl before we call it a day?

I've had such fun sharing my summer wardrobe with you all. The feedback and comments have been a great pleasure for me to read when I return to my blog at the end of a working day. I work hard and play hard, and it's so rewarding to share some of my memories with you knowing that you're enjoying them too. Autumn will bring changes again: Polly, my gorgeous photographer, will be leaving my employ as her contract finishes in a few weeks time. We're going to be busy capturing as many outfits as we can before she leaves me. I'm hoping that she will be able to stay on the island until November by which time I might have filled my draft box with lots of autumn offerings. We've already done a shoot for a December feature and we may even get a January one in the bag too before she heads off to the mainland. But the good news is that she plans to come back to work for me again next season - roll on March I say!

My dress is from H&M (many moons ago), shoes are charity shopped, both necklaces are by Charlie Dodge, watch is by Michael Kors, bangle and rings are charity shopped and sunglasses are by Quay Australia. Handbag as mentioned is from New Zealand.

Linking with 

Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Jess of Elegantly Dressed and Stylish

Thanks, Polly for doing such a great job x

Anna x

Two busy Sundays

The past two Sundays have been very busy for me. Rewinding to two weeks ago, I was still on the mainland after a mini shopping spree. I say mini as it only involved one spare bag being filled as opposed to a four bag real shopping spree. On the Sunday morning my daughter Sasha drove us down to Penzance so that we could have a swim in the Jubilee Pool which has been a long term dream of mine. It was watching some swimmers here a few years ago that inspired me to take up regular sea swimming. Ever since then I've tried to factor this in on one of my trips away, but it never worked, so it was fantastic when Sasha suggested it. This was the last day of the season at the pool but you can still read all about the wonderful Art Deco lido and pool here.

After swimming in the pool, I came home and looked up the website for the Jubilee Pool. I found the page on its history really interesting. See here for the story of this wonderful amenity.

So let's fast forward to the following weekend when we had a huge spring tide on the islands giving rise to a relatively new occasion - the low tide event. As the tide recedes, the islands are surrounded by sandbanks which can, on a very low tide, join up to lead from one island to another, albeit for a very short period of time. Hundreds of visitors came by boat from St Mary's (the main island of the Isles of Scilly) to attend this very different pop up event. They were landed at Carn Near quay and from there were able to walk along Appletree Bay out to Appletree Point where the flags were flapping wildly in the wind, indicating the location of the fun. 

This is the view from New Grimsby. If you look into the distance you might be able to make out the tiny ant-like figures gathering to join the party. 

This wonderful sight is even more awesome when you consider that this area is the main thoroughfare for the boats, and therefore will be completely under water in six hours.

The crowds were happy to be eating local fish, freshy cooked out in the middle of the channel. A glass of bubbly or a bottle of beer washed everything down perfectly, with the backdrop of music and laughter making it a memorable lunchtime party. All too soon the tide would be turning and everyone would scatter.

On my way back home I met these three Wrens from HMS Echo which was anchored up in deep water near St Mary's. They were conducting a maritime survey of the low tide, rather than heading for a bowl of fish stew. We had a quick chat before they went on their way. It's grand to have these little encounters on a day like this. Lovely to meet you ladies!

As I got back onto land I stopped to put on my shoes and found myself standing next to this colourful lady called Sue. Don't you just love those nails and that amazing hair?  Sue was having a holiday on St Mary's, and had enjoyed spending her Sunday lunchtime sampling the fare at the pop up party. I hope that everyone else had relished the low tide event it as much as we did. These islands offer an all year round calendar of outdoors activities - click here to find out more about what's on and how to plan your visit.

Anna x

Vintage Jaeger + Tu = my style

In case you didn't know, I'm a big lover of bright colours. Patterns too, and also a touch of glamour, so this outfit ticks lots of boxes for me today. And before you come back at me about these crazy shoes, let me jump in to defend them and tell you that I wore them all day long without a twinge of pain or discomfort. The straps were attached with elastic making them easy to walk in, also comfortably snug and the heel to platform ratio seemed perfect for my foot shape. They were brand new from a charity shop, made by good ol' M&S. 

What pleases me most about this outfit is the fact that I've married the fabulous shocking pink vintage Jaeger jacket with this dress from the Tu range at Sainsbury's. I love that juxtaposition of high end and supermarket fashion walking out in style together. The jacket was a bit worse for wear with stains down one arm when I discovered it in a charity shop in Truro this summer. I passed it by, not for that reason, but because I have a jacket of the same colour which I still haven't worn yet. Sasha suggested that I try it on anyway. As you can see, the fit was perfect. We dropped the jacket into the dry cleaners and hey presto, it's as good as new. I know it can be off-putting to go into some charity shops where the air is heavy with strange, musty or even slightly unpleasant smells, but for me that can often signal that the shop may be a haven for all sorts of undiscovered vintage finds. A couple of washes or dry cleaning can remedy the majority of smells. And the last reason I'm keen to visit these musty shops is because I know a lot of people won't, therefore I'm very likely to find a stonking good buy - like this beautiful Jaeger jacket! 

Have you managed to scoop up a great charity shop find recently? Tell me about it in the comments box below. I'd love to hear about it.

Shoes: M&S (charity shop), dress: Tu at Sainsbury's, jacket: Jaeger, handbag: charity shop, sunglasses: Tu at Sainsbury's, necklace: Debenhams, belt: ebay, rings and bangle: gifts.

Anna x