Frills and finery



I'm not an organised shopper in the way that some women are. You know that thing when you buy a skirt, the advice is to buy something to go with it too so that you have a complete outfit. I'm always on the run when I'm shopping and therefore I tend to grab what catches my eye and then worry about the pairing up once I'm home. That's how it was with this lovely mesh skirt that I found in TK Maxx, but in the back of my mind were the boots that I'd bought in the Zara sale (grab yourself a bargain here).




I couldn't resist this matchy-matchy look. 




The frilled blouse (charity shop find) was an afterthought, but works tonally I thought. If I'd been at home for this shoot I probably would have added my big leopard fur coat to finish the look off. See that here.




Sock boots were the revelation of the year for me in 2017. I love the fit and the elegance of them, plus they seem to suit my leg shape. My calves are well defined and sometimes can look more so in a bulkier boot. The slim, elasticated shape seem to refine the outline.




The gobstopper ring was a charity shop find, the triangle one came from Sainsury's and the blingy necklace was from a boutique in Truro. The belt was from eBay, a purchase from a couple of years ago, but when it arrived I discovered that it was too big. At Christmas I had a mending day, sewing bits and pieces and came across the belt in my mending pile. I cut the belt at the back, removed a few inches of the elastic and joined the ends together using some strong thread on my sewing machine. You'll be seeing this one again and again I expect.






These photos will be another reminder of my weekend at Nautilus cottage for my 60th birthday celebrations. If you missed that (where have you been?) then see the link here to take you back and for the Abba party see here

I'll sign off now and wish you a lovely weekend. As I look out the window the sun is shining and that's surely time for me to get out for a walk. Yesterday I walked for about three miles looking for beach to swim on, but the winds were too fierce. I'll leave you with some island photos I've taken over the past week, starting with one that I actually captured from my kitchen window while I was busy cooking yesterday afternoon. It's a pretty special view at the best of times, but I love to watch this local guy zoom back and forth across the bay between Tresco and Bryher when the winds are fresh. (Note to self - if Gareth is out kite surfing, then it's too wild for me to be sea swimming!)








This view down the channel marks the difference between the summer and winter. If this were summer, there would be no clear water, just lots and lots of boats and yachts moored up making a little community all of its own. We're only weeks away from the new season starting and I'm ready for it. We've had enough of gales and wet grey days. Bring on 2018 summer season!

Anna x

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Birthday weekend

So here's the final reprise of my birthday weekend. We had decamped to Nautilus Cottage for a few days which was sheer luxury. The views across the islands stretch out from every vantage point.


I could imagine that this must be a lovely spot in the summer.





The cottage has an upside down layout meaning you can lounge around upstairs all day long as you take in the stunning views. 


See the professional shots of the house here



Birthday cards, flowers and presents from family and friends - I felt very spoilt!



A sumptuous photo album.



Personalised gift vouchers.


Sasha gave me this fabulous memento of my blogging days.



The Neil Pinkett painting was a gift from Steve.




He also gave me this silver and gold ruffle ring by Emily Nixon.




My niece Kate gave me the splendid tome from Vogue.








I had arrived before the rest of the family and once I'd set the house up, I decided to do a photo shoot. The light was a bit challenging, especially as I was using the timer on the camera, but at least you get a bit of an idea of what I was wearing to chill out in. The sweater is from TK Maxx, as is the fur coat and the funky trainers. My jeans are pre-loved (by Next) and caught my eye because of the metallic buttons in different colours. Sunglasses are my old faithfuls by Quay Australia.

This cottage is part of the Sea Garden development which was built on the the site of the old Island Hotel, the place that I came to work in all those years ago (40 to be precise). In fact, the rooms that I cleaned were numbers 37,38, 39 and 40, and this cottage sits exactly where they were, so it was funny to imagine myself beetling about making beds, cleaning baths and hoovering in this very same spot during my time as a chambermaid. Myself and the other chambermaids were a scatty bunch, but we worked hard and played hard and we constantly played tricks on each other. One of the favourites was to sneak along the corridor when someone was vacuuming, then switch off their hoover and hide nearby. As they were puzzling over what was amiss the game was to jump out and make them scream. Much hilarity ensued, followed by the housekeeper's footsteps as she came to tell us off. The trick was to make yourself scarce so that you weren't caught as the perpetrator. (The housekeeper just so happened to also be my mother-in-law!)


This was taken in 1986. Myself and the other chambermaids were waiting, nay loitering about, in the hope of seeing Prince Charles who was making a visit to the island for the day. What a long time ago that seems now!

Anna x

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My ABBA party!



Yep, here we are, hubby and me having a little pre-drinks party in Nautilus cottage (see here) before we joined the revellers in our local pub for my ABBA party. We moved into this holiday cottage for the weekend as part of my 60th birthday celebrations and invited some of the family around to get us in the mood for the night ahead. 








One or two fuzzy shots are inevitable as the booze was flowing freely!



My niece Zoe (far right here) owns and runs the grocery store on the neighbouring island of Bryher and in addition to looking after her young son, also has a thriving cake making business. My dietary issues mean I can't eat cake and I was worried that I'd miss out on that particular birthday treat, but Zoe delivered this wonderful chocolate cake for everyone else to enjoy.




Zoe copied my pink patent brogues to perfection. They look too good to eat, don't they? Follow the link here to see more of Zoe's incredible cakes as well as seeing her adorable son Emilio. 



And this is Jamie downloading ABBA music at the last minute as plan A had gone awry. He did a fabulous job with only 30 minutes notice, helping with the playlist and putting the sound system in place at the pub in time for the party to start. 


Oh, just one last tweak!



So here they are, all the party goers in their various and splendid outfits -


Ready!




All the shiny, happy people.


All that hair!


All those teeth!








Pucker up!



Ben was a previous gallery assistant of mine, but didn't look half as sexy then!



Have you lost something, Steve?


As the evening progressed, the boys became girls and...


... the girls became boys!




The family photos seemed to be lacking my favourite daughter every time!




Boys in green satin, boys in blue satin - it's not often you see that in our local pub!


  



My poor feet were aching after four hours of dancing in these heels.




Catching up with Polly... 




... and Heather.




And my other gallery helper, Max on the left. What an amazing wig!




Diggin' that man-love!




The smoke machine was working overtime, but that didn't stop them boogying. 




I'm so grateful to everyone who made my evening the success it was. I think about half of the adult island population came and weren't the outfits just fantastic! I'm already thinking that I need another birthday party like this next year - it's the perfect antidote to that post-Christmas slump. Another year, another theme... Any ideas?

I had lots of lovely gifts for my birthday and want to share them in another post. I also managed to fit in a couple of photo shoots while I was in Nautilus, so will feature some of that in my next post later on this week. I gave myself a few days away from work and the usual domestic routines as well as social media, but now I'm back home I need to get back on track. So to my fellow bloggers - I'll be round to see you soon. And to all my readers - thanks for your patience and I hope you thought my ABBA post was worth waiting for.

See you soon!
Anna x

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