Throwback to summer

It may be January outside, but in blogland it can be any month I choose and today I pick 6 months ago when the sun shone and we were revelling in the glory of summer. My daughter Sasha had come home for a long weekend and we had lunch out, followed by a walk to the Abbey Garden. 

This view from the Ruin Beach Cafe is one of my favourites on the whole island. When I first arrived here (some 38 years ago) for a summer season, I worked at the Island Hotel which was situated just behind this building. I was employed as a chambermaid in those days, and spent far too much time gawping at the views from every bedroom window - I truly thought I'd died and gone to heaven! The jetty to the right is where I met the young royals last autumn see here. Beyond that is a tiny row of cottages where my husband grew up and on the top of the hill is The Old Blockhouse castle - read about its history here. The view across the bay takes in St Martin's on the left and beckoning in the distance directly ahead are the Eastern Isles, an outcrop of uninhabited islands that are the perfect escape for for a day out with a picnic and swimsuit.

Sasha loves coming home to wind down and let the island work its magic. 

A day off work in the summertime means chilling in something comfortable which these casual trousers certainly are. I found them in a charity shop in New Zealand a couple of years ago. The handbag is also from New Zealand, a gift from my friend Suzie who used to live here but has moved to that much larger (South) island now. The sandals are old, the tee shirt was from a charity shop last summer and the sunglasses are by Quay Australia. My jewellery is an assortment of gifts and thrifted pieces and my rose gold Darci watch is by Michael Kors.

The Abbey Garden draws thousands of visitors to the island every year and this small montage gives you a taster of what's on offer. Gardener Emma is in charge of all of the floral displays within the Abbey itself. I love this photo. It shows not just the idyllic surroundings, but captures a natural, joyful moment in time. For more details about my island home, holiday offers and where to stay click here. 

Anna x

Happy New Year!

Hello and welcome to 2017. I hope you're not too groggy after a big night of celebrating, and if you are, may I suggest dark glasses, a mega dose of vitamin C, lots of fluids and a nap as soon as possible. A week away from the blog, and to a lesser degree from social media too, has done me the power of good. The pressures of delivering the perfect Christmas are challenging enough without dipping into the internet to see how amazingly well others are pulling it off. Much as I love the imagery of instagram, it's so easy to get dragged into the slipstream of others who are zipping along in a cloud of marvellousness. Our 2016 Christmas will be remembered for being the one where the oven element blew half-way through cooking our post Christmas gammon resulting in a comedic dash to my son's house, oven gloves clasping hot roasting tin in yards of foil along with steaming jacket spuds, all compounded by the cover of darkness while my husband masterminded proceedings wearing his brand new head torch. (No street lights here on this tiny island.) None of this was like the adverts featuring the perfect Christmas scenario from Iceland, M&S or Lidl!

And so on to the outfit of the day. Yes, it's totally rock chick with no apologies. Well I say no apologies, but I will admit to one final sneaking in of these glitter trainers which had a lot of you voicing your opinions in 2016 and not necessarily in their favour. See those previous posts here, here and here. However, I really, really think this may be their finest hour. Call me biased, but the liberal dose of leather, lurex and studding all seem to enhance these sweet little trainers in their best styling yet. I've ramped up the glitter factor with this fabulous lurex top which is by Versace, found in a charity shop for £4.99 no less! The studded Michael Kors jacket doesn't get out much and is the ideal finishing touch for this look today. So here's wishing you a very peaceful and happy New Year and do enjoy the last few days of the holiday!

Outfit details - trainers: B3D (TK Maxx), trousers: H&M, jacket: Michael Kors, top: Versace, sunglasses: Quay Australia, rings: charity shopped.

Linking with

Catherine of Not Dressed as Lamb

Patti of Not Dead Yet Style

Jess of Elegantly Dressed and Stylish

Anna x

Happy Christmas!

To all my loyal readers and blogging friends, I'd like to say thanks so much for your companionship, comments and support over the past year. It's lovely to have your company and I wish each and every one of you a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. My festive rituals include making endless batches of fudge to give to family and friends and so I will finish with some snaps of that along with some of my favourite views. I'm going to take a blogging break for a week or so now, and look forward to catching up with you all again in the New Year.

Happy Christmas!

Anna x

Sparkle and shine

Today's offering is my attempt at wearing sequins in a more casual manner. However, I do realise that my default setting is probably a bit more blingy than most, in which case this maybe isn't as dressed down to you as it is to me. The fabulous mini skirt was a purchase in the January sales and this is the first time I've worn it. 

Almost exactly 12 months ago I was just beginning to falter with the first signs of flu. I struggled on until Christmas day when I managed to cook the turkey with all the trimmings, missed the lunchtime drinks at the pub, then almost as soon as we ate I spiralled downhill. By 4pm I was wrapped up in a duvet on the sofa, in denial, still trying to get my money's worth out of the big day. Things continued to deteriorate from there on and days drifted past in a blur of sweat, aches and pains. Eventually I resurfaced, well into the New Year to be greeted by an avalanche of parcels - evidence of my efforts at self medicating and proof of my influenzia delerium shoppingitis (as coined here) - which covered every glittered/sequined anything that you could imagine. Much of it I returned immediately, and many sparkly pieces of finery were placed in a holding pattern until I could get a second opinion. Polly came to visit and this mini skirt was the final item to be discussed. Yes, you'll not be surprised to hear that I was concerned that it was WAY too short for me/someone my age. Thick tights and flat shoes were our joint decision as to how to make this more wearable, so what the heck has happened today? Glittery tights and these brand new boots with fabulous gold high heels are what's happened, because this Christmas I've got a whole lot of catching up to do!

Skirt: H&M, sweater: TK Maxx, boots: New Look, tights, H&M, thermal top: M&S, rings: charity shopped, sunglasses: Quay Australia.

Anna x

Ping-Pong Post no 10

Hello and welcome once again to this monthly feature as you join me and my friends Samantha of Fake Fabulous  and Ann of Kremb de la Kremb in our style challenge where we send our clothes ping-ponging around the world to each other. There's no discussing what we're planning or how it's going, so for us it's also a great surprise to see what the item of the month has spawned. Edition 10 sees us all getting nicely into our strides with this offering for the party season, very nicely I'd say, and in case you don't know how this little venture started off, follow the link here. And with that I'd suggest we take a look at Ann and her rather fabulous sequined top.

Ann's Christmas styling is grown-up elegance; chic and understated (if sequins can be understated). The black cape and trousers constitute a contemporary trouser suit - loving those flares Ann - and her choice of pink clutch ties in with the top as well as adding another feminine touch. And just in case there wasn't enough Christmas sparkle, she's finished the look with these silver glittery pumps. Viola, perfection! 

Follow Ann on instagram here.

Details -

Earrings--Les Néréides (after Christmas splurge last year when Santa didn't bring them... Hehehe!)

Evil Eye Necklace--Science Technology Market in Shanghai

Top--very old from a mall boutique shop in Caracas, Venezuela

Cape--Forever 21

Trousers--Forever 21

Bow Clutch--HM via a swap

Pumps--Kate Spade via Poshmark

Samantha has taken the very classic route with this satin maxi skirt and little fur jacket to accompany the array of colours in the spangly top. She's added a cute mini clutch too, and the pop of colour from those dazzling, green metallic shoes matches perfectly with the sea colours of the top. Cinderella will indeed go to the ball!

Follow Samantha on instagram here.

Details -

Skirt: Vintage (I found it in a charity shop for a pound…yes, a POUND!!)

Top: Annie’s!

Shoes: Martha Johnson (Found in Tkmax’s bargain shelf for a tenner!)

Bag: Tkmax

Earrings: Asda

Whilst my two gorgeous blogging friends have managed to look elegant and composed, my default setting seems to be full on laughter at one of Polly's jokes. Yes, this photo shoot was taken way back in September when she and I were able to take advantage of the late summer evening at our local beach bar.

It's not often that we come up with the same styling, but like Ann I too created an evening trouser suit with the help of these harem pants and my silver grey tuxedo. I much preferred the look without the jacket though to show off the super sparkly top. Polly loved it that my mocktail reflected the colours of the sequins. My item of note has to be the fantastic Jimmy Choo's which were a leaving gift from a previous assistant, Linda who worked for me quite a few years ago. I happened to bump into her on my last visit to Truro which was a lovely surprise. Linda is currently back at college studying art, fulfilling a lifelong dream of hers. 

Details -

Jacket: Whistles (old)

Trousers: Costume Nemutso

Top: Ann's

Shoes: Jimmy Choo

Rings and bangles: charity shopped/gifts

Handbag: old

My next post will be on Friday where I'm going to see if I can style sequins a bit more casually perhaps - is that possible? Please join me to see how that goes.

You can follow me on instagram here.

Anna x