Welcome to the Jungle our Style Not Age challenge for May

Welcome to our style challenge for May!

This month Emma chose "Welcome to the Jungle" as our Style Not Age theme, a great idea if I may say so. I was delighted when she suggested this as I've had the perfect outfit waiting for this very opportunity. But first, let's see what sparked her challenge shall we?

Style Splash's Emma has nailed it with this fabulous trouser suit by Scotch and Soda. In fact, I love everything about this outfit - the cute tee shirt, matching necklace and the orange accessories all amount to blooming perfection!

Hilda from Over The Hilda is a woman after my own heart by borrowing her daughter's cardigan for this feature. I'm partial to a bit of clothes sharing too! The beautiful cardi is by designer Hayley Menzies, as stocked by Liberty amongst other stores.

Gail from Is This Mutton is sporting a snazzy palm tree print jumpsuit with mules from Topshop. A neon see-through clutch and statement necklace finish off the look.

Jacqui from Mummabstylish played a great move here by borrowing her jumpsuit and scarf from her daughter too and boy doesn't she look great in them?

My silky and comfy two piece is from by George at Asda and was a charity shop find last year. I picked up the trousers while I was in Truro at one of my favourite shops. On taking them to the till, the assistant asked if I'd seen the matching top .... Well, I hadn't, but was delighted when she flicked through the racks and yes, it was still there! Both the trousers and top are loose fitting with elastic waistbands making them just right for lounging around or getting out and about on hot days. The two piece cost me £7.50, so what's not to love?

Just a quick mention to my artistic director of today's shoot for capturing these jungle shots. My long suffering husband gets dragged out twice a week for the blog photos and it's all done with good humour, but isn't one of his favourite tasks. I gave him the jungle remit and he delivered this great backdrop. I spotted this fallen log on what looks like a jungle swamp and said it would be great to stand on this for some atmospheric shots. This entailed him carrying me down a slippy bank and across this marshy bog to plonk me atop the slightly rotting tree. Thank goodness no-one saw me getting a piggy back especially as he nearly tripped as we were navigating the downwards slope. I was impressed that he lined up the Montbretia flowers to add to the shots - hurrah for my darling hubby!

Here's a better look at the outfit. The short sleeves have a cute bow as adornment. 

All of my jewellery is pre-loved. The sunglasses of the day are by Quay Australia.

The perfect footwear for today's outfit, these flower sandals were from Primark a couple of summers ago.

Thanks for joining us again this month and I do hope you've found some inspiration from the collective. I'll be back on Friday with the weekly Dress Up Friday feature so I hope you'll join me for that too.

Wishing you a lovely week!

Anna x

Hurrah for Dress Up Friday!

Here I come with Dress Up Friday!

Yes, it's that time of the week again and I'm delighted to be taking part in this weekly gathering where like minded souls parade their idea of dressing up. Last week I chose a jumpsuit and this week I've opted for a very flouncy frock. Like so many of you, I'm not indulging in retail therapy at the moment meaning I'm shopping my closet for the outfit of the day. 

It's frilly, flouncy and so utterly feminine and I just love it! The delightful dress was from Zara last summer when Steve and I were in London for the weekend. See that colourful post here if you haven't already. I didn't try the dress on at the time due to the massive queues at the changing rooms, knowing that this smock style surely had to fit, and it does. I love the romance of the tiers of frills and the peach flower sprigged print is very flattering for my skin tone. Yes, this is a keeper and I do hope to be wafting about in it as an old rocker in my 70's!

The dress has an irrestistable swoosh factor.

Our photo shoot was early in the morning, but we still managed to be photo-bombed by my daughter, of all people, who was out for a 15k run!

I'm not sure how many laps of the island she had to do to achieve that impressive distance.

The gold sandals are by London Rebel, bought from TK Maxx.

I'm sporting a fab pair of Radley sunglasses today along with a green resin necklace and toning rings - all charity shopped. Radley has a buy one get one free offer on until the 27th of May so hurry to grab yourself a bargain. 

I'll leave you with one final swoosh! 

Thanks for joining me again today. I'll be back on Monday with the ladies from the Style Not Age collective, so do please swing by to see what we've been up to this week.

In the meantime, have a super weekend!

Anna x

My skin cancer journey

Hi there!

Today's feature has been written to coincide with Skin Cancer Awareness Month 2020 which runs from the 1st to 31st of May. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the dangers of unprotected sun exposure and educate the public about the ways to help prevent skin cancer. UV exposure from the sun is one of the main causes of skin cancer and also one of the most preventable. This campaign hopes to reduce instances of skin cancer and increase the likelihood of early detection through education. 

During the month, people who have been affected by skin cancer are encouraged to get involved by sharing their stories on all forms of social media using the hashtag #MySkinCancerJourney, and everyone is invited to share information about sun safety, skin cancer prevention and early detection with friends and family. 

These photos are taken from my trip to Cape Town in January 2019 when I was oblivious of the dangers of skin cancer. I'm an every day sea swimmer and have always thought that my half hour in the ocean would be helping me to not only keep fit, but also get my daily dose of vitamin D. Oh what a healthy bunny I thought I was!

Fast forward 6 months and I had been referred to a skin specialist as a result of some patches which I thought were eczema. The itchy, flaky sores had been quietly growing and spreading across an area of my upper back for what may have been months if not years. I was questioned about my sun exposure, in particular about sun bathing, which I rarely do. On further questioning it turned out that my daily swim affording me of my dose of vitamin D was in fact far too much for my fair skin. Ten minutes maximum is all I ought to subject myself to and even then, just showing my forearms for that length of time would be perfectly adequate. Instead, the sun's rays hitting my skin through the water were effectively intensifying the sun damage. The diagnosis was Basal Cell Carcinoma, the least dangerous form of skin cancer, but it can still be disfiguring if left untreated. In November I travelled to the mainland to have the two deeper lesions cut out.

By December the wounds had already started to heal nicely and 6 weeks after the surgery the stiches were removed. The other patches were being treated at home with a chemical cream.

Another month down the line and both kinds of treatment were looking similar and healing well. I had been banned from the sea after surgery and missed almost 16 weeks of swimming thereafter. Staying out of the water ensured that I didn't pick up any bacteria in these open wounds. During that time I resorted to lunchtime beachside walks to get my daily dose of ozone.

Another month later and the wounds had healed and the skin was settling down again.

And now this is how the area has mended. The excision has left me with little mounds of skin that are prone to itching, but I can only think that's still part of the healing journey.

This was my pre-cancer norm as far as swimwear was concerned. A swimsuit and not a jot of suncream. Pah, half an hour in the early morning sun was no risk at all - oh what a fool I was!

And now for me, cover-up is the name of the game. I've invested in some swimwear to protect the vulnerable areas where I've had treatment. I use factor 30 suncream on my legs, but I'm not confident that I could reach all of my back and get full sun protection. If you're a regular sea swimmer or any other outdoor swimmer, then do think about your own skin type and if you're doing enough to keep yourself sun-safe. The past six months have made me reconsider if it's more important to wear a natty little cossie or to guard my skin from further damage.

What I hope you may take away from this is that even in the UK we can get skin cancer. My daily sun exposure is what accelerated my own condition, but I would advise anyone who exercises outdoors to take note of any moles or skin blemishes that become a permanent feature. Take photos so that you can monitor any changes in size, shape or condition of the area and if you notice anything different I would urge you to visit your GP. I know of two friends who had moles on their legs that turned out to be melanomas. One of them had surgery and has fully recovered and the other is still undergoing treatment two years after diagnosis. 

The other thing I've learnt through the Sun Awareness website is the danger of using sunbeds as they too can cause skin cancer. If you want to sunbathe, then do so safely using at least a factor 30 and reapply after swimming. Avoid the midday sun and don't allow yourself to get burnt. And follow the advice of Slip, slap, slop for young children - slip on a tee shirt, slap on a hat and slop on some sun cream. Our recent Stay Safe advice must surely extend to our sun awareness too, now that we're on the brink of summer. Last of all, please check out The Big See website to find out how you can protect yourself from this form of cancer which kills two people every hour.

One final link worth looking at is from the Skin Cancer Foundation. It dispels the myth of the healthy tan - it's a must read.

Thanks so much for joining me!

Anna x

Yay! Another Dress Up Friday

Happy Friday!

Hello and happy Friday to you all. And yes, Friday now means Dress Up Friday which surely has to be the highlight of my week currently. I do miss dressing up for work so this is the next best thing. What about you? Do you have a day when you bring out your glad rags? Sunday maybe when you Zoom the family? Do let me know what merits some dressing up in your life.

I bought this fabulously colourful jumpsuit in the autumn of 2018 when I was in Manchester filming an advert for JD Williams. The all-in-one was from H&M in collaboration with GP & Baker fabric which I picked it up in their end of summer sale. See my styling of it then, but mainly to check out my sharp haircut of the day - oh how I'm missing getting to the hairdressers!

I chose neutral sandals (Bertie) and belt (pre-loved) for today's outfit along with my lovebirds handbag (also pre-loved) to tie in with the pink and blue of the flowers. 

Orange is my accent colour for rings and bangle - all of these are charity shop finds.

Today's sunglasses are by Guess. The tonal beaded necklace was from a market in Cape Town.

Thanks for joining me again today. As the lock-down restrictions are gradually being eased in England, I can say I'm delighted to report that sea swimming outdoors is now legal again as are water sports. Wednesday saw a flurry of boats being launched in the harbour at New Grimsby. Apart from that we're not seeing much different here on the island currently. Plans are afoot to gradually restart the business within the next month or so which has galvanised me into action again. I'd determined to achieve as much of my spring cleaning as possible before I have to return to work. 

The view from my kitchen window looks as quiet and calm as ever.

Anna x