My outfit of the week

Hello again! How are you? I've been busy as ever this past week with some days spent out in the holiday cottages packing art and others back at my desk catching up on admin. This was an office outfit, a new houndstooth check suit, a recent purchase from Primark. The inverted pleat skirt and boxy jacket aren't lined but are a heavyweight fabric which is ideal for this time of year. 

I'm very partial to a suit as you probably know, and this green and black combination is zesty and fun. It's definitely a winter outfit as I won't be wearing it without thick tights due to the length of the skirt. I sounded Steve out at the time of purchase to see if it was okay and it got his approval. 

It's easy to be a bit dismissive of high street fashion, but if you curate the look with some individual accessories you can personalise it to speak your own style. By adding this double buckle and stud trimmed belt the focal point moves, drawing the eye to the waistline. From there the eye travels to my green orb pendant by Vivienne Westwood. My rings are old, preloved and perfect finishing features for the look.

The final flourish has to be these black stretch ankle boots with contrasting green soles. The chunky soles are bang on trend and work to balance the outfit avoiding a top heavy look. I found these in TK Maxx. 

My old black Radley sunglasses finish things off nicely!

This outfit will work equally well when we re-open in March and I'll still be wearing tights for warmth. I can swap out the white body for a black roll neck on colder days and also have a lime green tank to slip on for a different take. 

I've had two trips to the mainland in October, each enabling me to have a few hours of lovely retail therapy. I had time to visit some of my favourite charity shops as well as some high street stores. The spread above is a joyful collection gathered with winter in mind to give my wardrobe a huge injection of colour. The happiest find of all had to be a pink trouser suit, the holy grail of shopping for me. You may have heard me talk of the fruitless search for my perfect pink two piece a couple of years ago and suddenly, out of the blue, I found it! A special suit deserves a special occasion, so it'll turn up at some stage, don't worry.

                                                                                                     Anna x

Orange you excited for Halloween?

Hello again and a very warm welcome to our monthly Style Not Age Challenge where five over 40's come together to showcase our chosen theme, which this month was proposed by Jacqui. Orange you excited for Halloween may not apply to everyone, myself included, but the opportunity to wear one of my favourite colours is not wasted on me. Let's catch up with my style sisters to see their offerings, shall we?

Mummabstylish's Jacqui chose the colour orange to tie in with pumpkins and also it lets her show off this fab 70's print dress by Izabel worn with her pretty Clarks sandals. 

Emma from the Style Splash is channeling that 70's vibe too with this hippy chick maxi dress from TK Maxx worn with her cute stetson. Do pop over to read her back story on the blog.

Gail is entering into the swing of things with her spooky themed outfit. Those tights are rather fabulous, aren't they? See more from her on Is This Mutton blog. 

Hilda shopped her closet for this autumn look and didn't she do well (as one famous TV presenter used to say)! The cosy coat is 25 years old and the boots and hat are 6 and 5 years old respectively - great cost-per-wears on these, eh? Check out her story on Over The Hilda blog.

My outfit is a mixture of old and new pieces. The trench (TK Maxx) must be about 5 years old, the polo neck was a charity shop buy from years ago, boots are from Topshop a few years ago and the orange floral trousers are this season from Primark (now on sale for £6).

 

Nothing new jewellery-wise here. You'll have seen it all before, sorry.

As you can tell, this week's photo shoot took place in Gallery Tresco once again. Terrible weather left me with few options and the gallery is sooooo much tidier than home!

Saturday was our last day of trading until Christmas, so my days are now all about catching up on winter works. Currently I'm involved in packing up artworks in some holiday cottages in readiness of building works being done. I do enjoy the varied job I have. 

We've had a brilliant year at Gallery Tresco. Sales of paintings were up on last year, and we expanded our jewellery collection too with great success. I know it'll seem like the blink of an eye before we re-open for 2023. 

                                                                                        Anna x

Hurrah for that Friday feeling!

Yes, after a week back at work, here I am at the end of the day, flushed with that Friday feeling. Much as I love my job, it's been tough to know that there was a second Triscape retreat taking place just on the other side of the island - without me! I've been green with envy at the very thought of it all. But hey ho, life goes on and I've had a busy week catching up on sales and making plans for the weekend ahead. 

 

I'm sporting my new work glasses here, not too expensive as they were from Specsavers, but they are great for my computer work when my eyes are getting tired. I wear reading glasses for my bedtime read, but apart from that it's only computer work that has me reaching for my glasses for a clearer vision.

And once work is over, it's time for a bit of fun! I love to have a bop around the back of the gallery when we're closed and I'm winding down. The weather wasn't good for outdoor blog photos so I settled down to capturing some shots indoors for a change...

My outfit of the day shows nothing new, simply a joyful collection of animal prints along with my cream Asos boots. The frilled blouse was a charity shop find from many years ago and is still going strong. I had planned to wear a fab fur coat over the top of this, but we had mix of wet and windy weather that scuppered my plans. I'll show you next time!

The cream leather belt was a second hand find, but actually brand new from Country Casuals. Rings are old too, but perfect tonally for today's look.

And it's that time of the year again, when I bring out my Paul Costelloe leopard skin handbag. It's sleek, stylish and great fun!

And talking of fun, the rest of the shoot was all about hamming it up for the camera - and why on earth not?

Hurrah for that Friday feeling and hurrah for having the freedom to dress as I please, even at work! 

Wishing you a fab week ahead x

Anna x

Triscape comes to Tresco

This is what a Triscape adventure break looks like if you join their Tresco retreat. Take a moment to appreciate the wonder of immersing oneself in nature as you travel at eye level with the sea, glimpsing fish as they dart behind craggy rocks and crabs scuttle to take cover as you pass overhead. This truly majestic sky was lost on me, and the others too I expect, as we swam towards our goal of Bryher shores. There are four of us in this shot; how easily we merge into the flotsam that are buoys bobbing in the water - all the more reason to be swimming in a group with a safety boat to keep us together as we made our way to Anneka's Quay and then on to Church Quay.

We were ferried in two groups in to the small sandy cove just below Cromwell's Castle which was to be the starting point for our first open water adventure. On Friday we had to seize the day as the weather was perfect for the crossing between Tresco and Bryher and fresh winds had been forecasted for the weekend ahead. Prior to this, we had sessions in the heated pool where our coaches - swimming legend Kerri-anne Payne and Jonathan Cowie (ice swimmer and contributing editor to Outdoor Swimmer magazine ) - had observed each of our strokes, explaining and showing us on video what needed to be fixed to improve efficiency. Now was the time to put these adjustments into action.

Seven intrepid, or maybe slightly nervous, swimmers gathered on the tiny beach below Cromwell's Castle ready for their first inter-island crossing. Personally, I'd had butterflies and adrenalin rushing about my body for the best part of the day by the time we gathered for our watery adventure at 4pm. As you know, I'm no stranger to sea swimming, but group swimming seems to increase the tension of the event.

And we're off! 

Mid channel is flat calm, but truly dark water beneath which can be unnerving for some swimmers who aren't used to sea swimming. We held together as a group and that really helped.

We swam behind Hangman's Island on Bryher, hugging the coastline, but the long thongs of seaweed were so thick we could barely traverse them. I couldn't help laughing out loud at the slippery progress I made - neither swimming nor paddling!

And this is the triumphant beam of Sacha (not my daughter Sasha) after her channel crossing - what a joy!

For some of the group, their challenge was to cross to Anneka's Quay and as you can see they were all thrilled with their success. 

My own challenge was to complete the swim at Church Quay. Two swimmers and our two coaches welcome me in with applause as I stagger onto the steps. The real battle had been the final stretch of water between both of the quays which was being hit by the tidal wash. At points it was shallow enough to wade which was what we did at for a moment or two to ease the strain. Somehow if your coach is wading it seems okay for you to do the same.

And what better way to celebrate than with jumbo portions of fish and chips? We gathered on the lawn above Raven's Porth and congratulated each other on our success. 

The course ran from Wednesday to Monday, so you can bet I've got more photos to show you but I'll keep those for another day. Suffice to say that I've been in my element, not just learning from the double world champion and silver medal Olympian that is Kerri-anne Payne, but also for spending time with other water babies, all keen to improve their swimming style and efficiency. I'm pleased to say that I've cracked some of my issues, but still need to refine my stroke. I'll be signing up for another course with Triscape next year that's for sure!

                                                                                        Anna x