Purple Reign, our Style Not Age challenge for August

Hello lovelies! Can you believe it's four weeks since we last did this? Anyway, welcome once more to our Style Not Age challenge which was set by Emma this month. And honestly, I found this a terrible one to do! I have so few summer clothes in purple. Purple is rich and sumptuous and velvety and brocade-y and oh-so-very-wintery to me. So what was my dear friend thinking of by setting us this now of all times? Emmaaaaaa!!!!!

At least I've managed to change my face from that quizzical look to feigning pleasure at this crazy quest. I'll talk you through the outfit in a mo, but let's see what the others make of it, shall we?

First to drop into my inbox was this stunning suit from Hilda of Over the Hilda. My heart sank at see how stylish purple could look. What can I say? She nailed it! Do pop over to her blog to get the full story of this gorgeous ensemble.

Next up was Mummabstylish's Jacqui who has this casual look taped. Purple suits her dark hair and complexion to a T. Such a cool look Jacqui - well done!

It's no surprise that Emma of Style Splash chose purple as this month's theme when she had this chic outfit lined up. Another great get up here Emma, full marks!

So, here's the truth about this outfit of mine. This is my only purple summer top currently; I picked it up in a charity shop earlier on this year. It's by Per Una and has that vintage vibe being stretch lace and reminds me of tops I used to wear many moons ago. 

My favourite piece of this outfit is without a doubt the fabulous Oxford bag style trousers by H&M in collaboration with William Morris. Read more about that here. I'm rather pleased that Vogue recommended these as one of the best pieces to buy. Not only that, but I picked them up in the January sales when I was staying with my sister in St Andrews in January.  St Andrews may be more famous for its University and golf course, but I found it very accessible for shopping, being neither too big nor too small and a great mix of high street shops like H&M plus a great selection of charity shops. I ended up posting three boxes of shopping home to myself! 

The pre-loved theme continues from the lace top, to the white leather belt through to the rings. My gold coloured bangle is made from brass and the brand is Almost Perfect. The gold chain necklace was a Primark extravagance at £3.99.

New sunglasses here today, by Superdry for a change. 

The perfect neutral summer sandal by Europen from TK Maxx. Soooo blooming comfortable and all day long wearable. Hurrah!

Steve and I were on Cradle Porth for today's photo shoot. The views behind capture the Isles of Scilly at the end of the day in high summer when the tourists have retreated leaving the islands to ourselves. This year we seem to have missed those end of day picnics that we used to do. Life has been particularly busy with more boat mending to do and also the two new additions to the family -

The two new puppies are from left to right Gilly and Brigg with our old timer Jack . Pink nosed Gilly belongs to Jamie and Brigg belongs to Sasha. Everyone has their hands full with all the basic training going on at the moment. I'm steering clear (not that I don't love them, but too many cooks...) as most of my spare time is being spent in the sea - but more of that another time.

I do hope you've enjoyed this month's challenge and please pop over to the other blogs if you get a moment. My next post will feature the final summer exhibition which took place on Friday. Do join me for that later on this week!

Until then, have a great week!

Anna x

Midweek monchrome

Hi! How's your week going? Mine is busy as ever, with a few interesting challenges, but hey what do think about my midweek offering? Monochrome isn't usually my thing, but sometimes I like to step out in something unexpected.

There's something so terribly chic about black and white, don't you think? Classy, understated, elegant, that's what monochrome brings to mind for me. The accessories have to be in harmony with that style too. It's good to have a strong theme to follow.

The shoes were the starting point for today's outfit. Purchased in TK Maxx, these Nine West flatties are stylish as well as comfortable. The black band is made of elastic which means they are stretchy but not grippingly tight. I wore them for the first time here and they were all day comfortable. Hurrah!

The white trousers were a bargain (£5) from Tesco last year in the spring sale and don't get out much. I have a real problem with white trousers as I find them so difficult to wear in anything but scorching weather. They just look wrong on a dull, grey day. But hey, that's just my opinion. Perhaps it's because I spent my formative years in Scotland where women rarely wore white trousers - but maybe that was because the sun rarely shone! The only white jeans I remember seeing were adorned with tartan edging in homage to the Bay City Rollers. Groans from some of you, and quizzical looks from others.

The black and white top, no label, cost me £7 from the Cancer Research shop in Truro last month. Top and trews coming in at £12. The look belies the price eh? Not too shabby I'd say.

Pre-loved rings and a silver Tree of Life pendant finish the look off, plus of course my favourite Quay Australia sunglasses. 

That's all for now folks. Sorry to be brief, but tomorrow I hang the final summer show and bed beckons for me now. Do join me again soon to see how the grand finale looks. (The outfit must be somewhere in my wardrobe, but I've yet to find it!)

                                                                                           Anna x

Pentle Bay photo shoot

Hi, hello and how's your weekend going? I had a day off work yesterday and managed to fit in a visit to the beach in the morning. Steve and I both had chores to do, but it was too lovely not to take a stroll out together and combine it with a quick photo shoot. This location is on the bank above Pentle Bay showing the island of St Martin's behind me.

From an aesthetic point of view, this beach looks more attractive on the high tide, but even on low water it's still pretty. See it later in all its turquoise glory.

I found this lovely crisp linen shirt in a charity shop while I was in Truro recently and this is the first time I've worn it. The colourway just says summer doesn't it? Turquoise and fuchsia pop beautifully when paired together making a great impact in this floral pattern. The brand is Tina Taylor and it only cost me £7. I'm often asked how I manage to find these super bargains and really it's very simple - I search each and every charity shop thoroughly, scouring the racks regardless of the sizes they claim to be. I try things on in the shop to avoid bringing home bad buys too. But all of this takes time and dedication which is where most of us falter. We're all so busy nowadays, that devoting a whole day to browsing in this very undefined way might seem like a dreadful squandering of a day off. I think my successes fuel me to have patience with these searches. It's not for everyone, this time consuming hobby, but I love the surprises and the bargains, plus the fact that I often find a new brand that's a bit unusual in design, like today. The frilled trim on the sleeves and down the front of the blouse make it stand out from your ordinary high street linen shirt.

When I got it home I was rather pleased to discover that the pink of the shirt was the same shade as my Boden chinos which I'd bought in the sale in the spring (see more of them here). The trousers have an element of stretch in them helping reduce creasing and adding to their practicality. The brocade mules aren't new, in fact I think I may have had them since last year, or maybe the year before. I bought them in TK Maxx and the brand is Red Kiss. My blogging friend Sheila of Ephemera featured her similar pair a couple of weeks ago which is what reminded me about these lovelies of mine. Thanks Sheila!

I had to include this shot purely for the crazy bird that looks like a flying mini-submarine! Your help in identifying this bizarre creature would be much appreciated. Oh goodness, Steve has just taken a look and tells me that it's probably a bee, not a bird. Doh!

My double heart silver Tiffany necklace was another charity shop buy, this time from many years ago when I was in Ireland. It's a great memento of that trip with my two sisters when we drove around the lush green countryside of county Cork. The silver ring is pre-loved too and the pink ring, (isn't it a great match) was a gift from my friend Maggie.

The silver and pink bangle was also a gift from another friend and the terribly cute handbag was a charity shop scoop. The flowery sunglasses were from Sainsburys a couple of years ago.

It was so lovely on the beach that Steve and I went back home and waited for the tide to flood so that we could go off in our boat for an off-island picnic, however the weather took a turn for the worse, bringing heavy cloud and rain with stronger winds. On the other hand it did mean that the chores got done after all!

Just a little addition to this post, with the tenuous link of Pentle Bay. My friend Fiona and I had a day off together a couple of weeks ago and set ourselves the task of having a longer swim than usual. We swam from Blockhouse Point to Pentle Bay in brilliant sunshine, encountering a few jellyfish, the occasional swimmer and the odd sailing boat along the way. Fiona is in training for the inter-island swim which I did a few years ago and as you may already know I'm hoping to circumnavigate the whole of Tresco in one day - both of us are lined up to do this in September which seems to be coming around rather quickly!

Flushed with success at Pentle Bay. We sat and admired the view for a while, had a drink and bite to eat and congratulated each other on how well we had done. Since then work, bad weather and bad tides have interrupted our flow, but we hope to still get a good few miles in between now and the events. Wish us luck!

                                                                                       Anna x

Summer show 5

Hello and welcome to the reprise of Tuesday night at the gallery where Tom Rickman was our artist in attendance for the opening of his summer exhibition with us. I'm not sure who was the most delighted with the outcome as Tom sold 6 of his 10 paintings. We're both grinning madly here at the end of the night and for good reason! Tom has been showing his work with us for many years now and his passion for the North End of the island hasn't faltered over that time, nor has our guests appreciation for the subject either. Thank you Tom, for making the effort to come across the water from mainland Cornwall to attend the party. The other two contributing artists are Jenny Ulyatt and Alasdair Urquhart. The entire show can be viewed online here. 

I've shopped my closet this week for my exhibition outfit, purely because I love this frock by Finery and have only worn it once before. I fancy that I probably paired it up with the same shoes that time too, but goodness why on earth not? I'm a big fan of Finery as a brand because they do a great job to what you'd call grown up dressing. The cut is always stylish and flattering (see this other dress in the sale currently for more of what I mean). My orange frock was a TK Maxx find last year, so I picked up a bargain there too.

The satin floral shoes are my favourite summer stilettos meaning you'll have seen them many times before I expect. The always earn me lots of compliments, especially for those shiny gold heels. I'm learning to keep it zipped when someone says they love these (and yes, a few ladies did the other evening) as my default setting would be to blurt out the fact that they cost me £5.99 from Primark. Sharing that here somehow doesn't seem to count. Mad, eh?

This frock is all about the f's - flouncy, frilly and fun!

I'm hoping to round up my lovely helpers during the next and last summer show to get a photograph of them all together. The girls are always in a rush to go off for a celebratory meal together at the end of the shows and I seem to get caught up in saying farewell to the artist of the day, missing my chance of a group shot. Needless to say, I'm so grateful to them for all the hard work they put in to make these nights a success - especially Polly who helps to hang the show too - I couldn't do it without you, so thank you all ladies!

I usually have a swoosh factor shot, but this is the best I can do given my limited resources this time!

The rose gold ripple necklace was a purchase in a tiny side street boutique in St Andrews earlier on this year. I've added a rose gold ring (pre-loved) to that along with this bejewelled contemporary ring which I bought at an airport concession during the same trip. Both bangles are in rose gold, the sailor's knot is by Kate Spade and the other was from the gallery in the basement of the Barbican. The sunglasses of the moment are by Guess. 

Thanks so much for joining me again. I'm dreadfully aware how busy we all are at this time of year, all the more so when we have to make the most of these precious last few weeks of the summer. I've come to accept that my readership drops off around now, so I do appreciate those of you who are able to make the time to follow the story of my island life. It would be lovely to have your comments, good or bad - I love a bit of constructive criticism - to let me know you're out there, especially if you've never spoken to me before. I write my blog for you, each and every one of you and it's wonderful to create a connection to you. I'm always happy to widen my circle of friends. And a final thank you to those who comment regularly x

                                                                                         Anna x