Adidas trouser suit

Hello lovelies! Life rarely goes to plan and yes, I've still not managed to do my autumn/winter clothes changeover, but have mustered up this offering, my workwear from yesterday. The other promise of a round-up post has also fallen by the wayside, but it'll make an appearance at some stage. Disorganised is my middle name at the moment, but I hasten to add that's only on a personal level; work has mushroomed, including the three full days it took for me to pack up all of the art from our local pub, The New Inn, this weekend. The pub is undergoing a total refurb this winter and it fell to me to pack up the art collection and put it into storage for the duration. The back fire exit has a wooden staircase with 15 steps, below which was the container to hold the collection. I can testify that each time I ascended the stairs I ran up them - every single time. What a workout that was!

My salmon pink corduroy trouser suit is a great bit of transitional dressing. It's a heavyweight fabric that's cosy and comfy too, but decidedly smart. The trousers have a touch of stretch and very deep pockets - fab! I decided to jazz things up a bit by adding leopard print shoes (old from Office) and my Paul Costelloe handbag. 

The light was amazing yesterday morning when I took these shots on New Grimsby quay. Huge cloud formations were causing the sun to appear and disappear from shot to shot. 

My 60's vintage shirt is by Mark Roberts and was a find from a couple of years ago and maybe not seen on the blog previously. The white leather and silver belt is another charity shop find.

My gold chain necklace is from Primark (old), rings are pre-loved and jazzy yellow sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

So, the thought has just occurred to me that it's only a week now until the gallery closes and I take a month's sabbatical - sounds so much better than holiday or annual leave eh? Anyway, during that time there'll be no need for fancy work clothes at all. The pressure is off therefore to drag these out this weekend. It might make better sense to have this as one of my projects to do while I'm off. I'd really like to do that whole trying everything on and clearing out what doesn't fit or, more importantly, in the words of Marie Kondo, Spark Joy. As a clothes hoarder I acknowledge the need to delve deep and clear out from time to time.

Aside from the clothes sort out, I plan to read lots, swim every day on the high tide and clean my house! Oh my goodness, isn't that always the first thing to go when you're pushed time-wise? Every day when the postman opens my door to drop the mail onto the mat, I just want to apologise to him for the lack of hoovering once again! As usual, I'll also plan to factor in some down-time, but I seem to be hopeless at that too. Guilt at lying around watching movies during the day haunts me. But I'll be making a stab at chilling some way or another. I'd like to get back into my winter walking again and am sure Fiona will be keen to join in that again. All in all, I'm really looking forward to having a break from work. Work hard, play hard is my motto and it'll be great to have a go at the latter.

                                                                                      Anna x

October Style Not Age Challenge

Hello again! Yes, it's the last Monday of the month and that signals our Style Not Age Challenge again. This time Hilda has chosen Cosy Autumn Coats as our theme which seems to have turned up all sorts of lovely offerings. Mine is a bit lame I'm afraid as it's not exactly cosy, but still rather lovely even if I say so myself.  I'll spin my excuses later, but let's dive right in and see what all of my style sisters have come up with, shall we?

Jacqui is wearing a very sleek black quilted coat from M&S. It's my idea of a heavenly winter coat, ideal for cosying up in. Catch her backstory on Mummabstylish blog. 

Emma's Style Splash is also sporting an M&S coat, although hers was an eBay bargain for £10! I love the leopard print collar and would be very happy to add this to my coat collection. 

Gail's velvet military style jacket is from Joe Browns, paired with a velour skirt from Hope, giving a very sumptuous look. M&S brogue boots add an edge to the outfit which I love! See more on her blog Is This Mutton. 

Hilda wears a super Michael Kors coat from TK Maxx that has a fur trimmed hood to keep cosy against the chill winds. See her full feature on Over The Hilda.

You'll have seen my KEW 159 coat before and I had hoped to have something much more cosy for this challenge, but honestly my life is like a whirlwind at the moment! I've still not had time to do my clothes changeover this week and do wonder when that will happen. I'm scheduled to work all next weekend, so goodness knows when I'll find the time! Anyway, this is one of those transitional outfits where my Topshop lightweight dress has been given the seasonal treatment by adding a long sleeved thermal layer underneath, plus some thick tights creating a warm under layer. 

I've found that another clever way to keep cosy is to add a belt which traps warm air around the middle. My olive green studded belt was a gift from my friend Bo in Portugal. I'd admired this and a black one when I was last there on holiday and lo and behold she sent both to me as presents! My rings are both pre-loved and the dark green pearls are very old but much loved. Blue rimmed sunglasses are by Radley London.

We're still basking in some glorious golden autumn weather here on the islands which is probably how I'm still getting away with not having any autumn/winter clothes to hand. 

My mint green Office brougues are quite old now, but I'm still very happy with them despite the odd scuff or two around the toe area. Less than perfect is fine and is surely a sign of being worn and loved.

Yup, can you believe the size of this stick insect? I've no idea what kind it is, or even how common or uncommon this fella is, but it was a lucky break to stop here for my photo shoot and capture him. Details on the back of a postcard please.

Many thanks for dropping by again. I do hope you've enjoyed this month's challenge. I'll be back soon and plan to share the last bit of boating fun that Steve and I managed to squeeze in while the fine weather held out this month. Boating fun and some swimming news - how does that sound? Hope to see you soon!

                                                                             Anna x

Bonus days

Hurrah for these last few bonus days of golden sunshine and calm weather that we've had here on the Isles of Scilly. Tresco is still buzzing with holiday makers, especially now that we're coming into half term time meaning that the island is busy as ever. I finished work at 4pm the other day and instead of tackling the behind the scenes jobs and mounting admin, I opted to lock up promptly and head out for a walk in the late afternoon sunshine. It's ages since I've been up to the two castles and thought they would afford good light for a photo shoot too.

Up here at the top of the island is a fantastic opportunity to get a 360 degrees vista of the islands. King Charles Castle sits at the entrance of the channel between Tresco and Bryher islands and was build as a fort to protect the north end of the island. However, the site was too steep too be practical and was superseded by the Star Castle on St Mary's which held a better location to protect the islands from invading forces. 

To the north in the background you can see Round Island Lighthouse which is no longer manned but is still operated remotely to keep the shipping traffic safe from the surrounding rocks and reef.

Out in the east, I knew that Brittany Ferries ran from Portsmouth to France and Spain but had no idea that they passed so close to the islands. 

Looking west towards Shipman's Head on Bryher and the big Atlantic ocean beyond.

And so, on to the outfit of the day. Transitional dressing is still the theme, whereby I've not pulled out any of my autumn/winter clothes and am trying to get by with clever dressing. These fabulous corduroy dungarees have been perfect for the past couple of weeks when it's been chilly in the morning but warmer by lunchtime. I bought them at Enjoy Clothing in Truro and every time I wear them they attract lots of compliments. The colour is fab and the fit is wonderfully relaxed and easy to wear; slouchy and yet still okay enough for work. 

The neon top works so well with the ribbing of the corduroy, don't you think? The high neck is again, cosy for the mornings, but being short sleeved is still cool enough when temperatures rise. And neon is making a big comeback at the moment isn't it? I do like it when fashion and my wardrobe collide like this. My blue plastic rings are both charity shopped and sunglasses are by Quay Australia.

My grey platform trainers are old, but hardly worn. I bought them online a few years ago from Zara and even though I didn't totally love them I couldn't be bothered to send them back. Anyway, they've come into play this summer which alleviates the guilt somewhat.

It was a glorious afternoon; peaceful and calm away from the hubbub of the village. 

These cannons are defending Cromwell's Castle which is below King Charles's Castle. 

And looking south down towards St Mary's and St Agnes. Golden light, the best for flattering my pale skin tone!

As the sun started to drop in the sky I made my way home along the coastal path. This beautiful big gin palace appeared and moored up between the islands. We don't get many visiting boats coming into the islands after summer, but the spell of calm had surely brought this latecomer. 

A couple of hours spent outdoors had done me the world of good. The pressures of work have held me hostage for far too many weeks over the summer months, but at least I can feel things beginning to ease at last. As we drift into the winter I plan to take a month off work with no real aims or goals at this stage. I need to recharge my batteries and what better place to do that than here.

                                                                                          Anna x

Forever You Beauty launch

Hello again! Here's a bit of a departure for me here on the blog - a beauty collaboration! I was approached last month by the team from Forever You Beauty asking if I'd try out their new products, made especially for the mature woman. To be perfectly honest, I don't see myself as a poster girl for any beauty product, what with my large nose, thin lips and wrinkled skin (especially on my neck). As ever, I'm the first to put myself down and did respond with a scarily honest snap to rebuff them. To my utter surprise they persisted. The brand is keen to promote each and every woman as an individual - No one is you and that is your power is their tag line. This does chime with me as, despite my lack of conventional beauty, I'm still very happy in my own skin and with having my own particular style.

The sheer sticks are made to act as multi-taskers for delivering moisture, glow and colour to cheeks, eyes, lips and body in whatever way you choose. So far I've only used them in my daily (face)make-up routine and can report that they live up to the fresh natural glow as promised. 

I use the tint as blush on the apple of the cheeks, blended into my base. The pink hue gives a natural colour and then I've topped it with a sweep of the glow as highlighter to give a lovely healthy sheen. What I love about this combination is that the stick formula is really long lasting and doesn't sink into the skin over the course of the day. Over the years I tried powder (dulls the skin and is quite aging) and cream blushes (disappears after a couple of hours), but none have had the staying power of these glossy sticks. 

Check out the Forever You website for full details of ingredients used as well as how to order. The bonus of this new brand is that they're offering a full 30 day refund if you don't like the products - even if you've used it all! With a pledge like that you really can't lose can you?

This last photo shows me after a day out with the family, where we sat outside in the sunshine for a couple of hours having a long Sunday lunch. My normal cream blush would have sunk into my skin under these conditions, but the stick blend seems to sit on top of the skin rather than disappearing. There are lots of lovely oils plus shea butter in the sticks which deliver this long lasting blend. No melting away means my fresh glow stays all day long!

Disclosure: I was gifted the set of Forever You trio. The review is my honest opinion and all words are mine.

                                                                             Anna x