Bank holiday weekend

Hi there! How's your Bank holiday going?This is me on our fine Bank holiday Monday taking a breather on the quay at New Grimsby. At last we have some fine weather here after an entire weekend of fog. It's been the World Pilot Gig Championship festival on the Isles of Scilly this weekend and some of the races have been affected by poor visibility. The event finished on Sunday meaning today will be a leisure day before the crews all start to disperse and make their way home. I personally haven't been involved but the vibe is always a positive one over these weekends.

I've had a week off work to play at my sewing machine, although it's not been fun and games all the time. I'm a bit held up while I wait for supplies to come through the post which is painfully slow. I've started sewing dress number two despite dress number one still needing adjustments around the neck. I think I need to replace the interfacing as it's too heavy. This is all very hit and miss, but is a very good learning curve for me.

Apart from sewing, my other tasks were to defrost the freezer (done, tick) and make a batch of soup for my lunches (two week's portions, done, tick) and then to undertake the bi-annual clothes changeover (done, tick). Which is where today's outfit comes from. The gingham seersucker shirt was new from TK Maxx last summer, but this is the first time I've worn it. In addition, the gingham baseball boots were a new purchase also last summer from Primark but never worn. It was great to discover them when I opened one of the suitcases; in fact I've come across a few other things that still have labels on them that were packed away at the end of the season. My jeans are by Curve Appeal (old) and are uber comfy with lots of stretch.

I do love filling my wardrobe with all of my colourful summer clothes! I can't wait to get back to work now. One of the other things I've done in the midst of this changeover is a big dejunk. I've thrown out 22 pairs of shoes that were truly sad and worn through - much loved to the point of being worn out so off they go to the bin. In addition I've filled an entire holdall with shoes and anther with clothes that I'll be selling on Vinted over the next few months. I've been quite honest with myself and decided that these will never be worn by me again, so off they go!

The 60's necklace and bracelet were both charity shop finds as was the funky ring. Sunglasses are by Radley London.

I'll probably nip out later to swim on the high tide this afternoon and then I'll spend another couple of hours at my sewing machine before dinner. My week off has been lovely, very restorative and just what I needed. 

                                                                                          Anna x

Bring Me Sunshine our SNA challenge for April

Hello and welcome to this month's Style Not Age challenge as chosen by Emma from Style Splash seen here sporting this sunny yellow frock M&S. She's styled it with an across the body bag in blazing orange and blush pink sandals - see more on her blog.

Gail has gathered her favourite sunshine colours together in this bright and cheery outfit. Like most of the UK the weather still had a cool edge hence socks, scarf and hoody to ward off the chill winds. Catch up with Gail on Is This Mutton blog.

A wonderful splash of golden sunshine comes from Jacqui of Mummabstylish in this sunray pleated dress. Rain nearly stopped play for her as she tried to get out to take photos but she managed to capture this between the showers - see the backstory on her blog.

Hilda wears a veritable rainbow of colours in this co-ord by Never Fully Dressed. That's the best thing about a two piece isn't it - no worries about matching items or colours - it's all done for you! Catch up Hilda's latest on Over The Hilda blog.

My offering for this month's challenge isn't what you (or I) quite expected I'm afraid. The promise of my first ever home made frock didn't materialise when the matching petticoat flummoxed me at the last jump. The orange dress would have been perfect for this month's challenge too, but hey, such is life! For those of you who aren't on Instagram here's the latest photos of both frock and petticoat -

I'm still tweaking the neckline of the dress as it's not quite sitting flat, but I've got a couple of things I can do to hopefully resolve this. I've had lots of feedback to say that I could wear the petticoat on it's own as it's so pretty and I may now fully line it to give me that as an option. I'm finding that the more I sew the braver I'm becoming about these tweaks. Hopefully by next week all will be ready for the big reveal. I've ordered a new necklace and footwear so fingers crossed it'll all be fine for Monday...

My stand-in outfit is this bright pink trouser suit bought last summer from Primark, but never worn before. I think I mentioned at the time that I'd at last found my perfect pink trouser suit and this is it. I can't believe that something so stylish and surprisingly good quality could found on the high street for only £42!

The satin blouse is from Zara (last season) and my white belt is from Amazon, white patent boots from Deichman and favourite sunglasses are from Quay Australia. The pink of the suit is verging on neon which meant I got quite a reaction, but that's no bad thing.

There's nothing new jewellery-wise - rings are both pre-loved, as is the brooch and the necklace was bought from Charlie Dodge a couple of years ago. 

At least my photos are fulfilling the remit of Bring Me Sunshine on this bright blue day!

Anna x

Wednesdays mean Timeshare party

Hello lovelies and sorry for the tardiness in my posting this week, but this is the reason. I'm in the middle of my latest obsession meaning every spare moment is being spent sewing. I hope to showcase the dress on Monday for our monthly challenge so please do swing by again to see the fruits of my labour.

So, as the title suggests, Wednesday means Timeshare party here at Gallery Tresco and this was me after the event last night. Timeshare and Island Share owners have bought into Tresco life and as such this weekly gathering is one of the perks. It's the perfect opportunity for everyone to get together to chat about all things island as well as comparing what each property has to offer and to boast about who's got the best view!

It may not look like it, but I'm struggling to find things to wear at the moment as I've not yet done my bi-annual clothes changeover. My wardrobe and shelves are still full of winter woollies and boots, but hopefully next week I'll be taking some time off and that will be one of my chores. That said, I did receive lots of compliments about outfit of the day last night which is always a lovely boost to the morale. Nothing new here at all; the suit was a charity shop find in Harrogate a long, long time ago (it was on the men's rail, so do remember to rummage everywhere), likewise the vintage blouse, another charity shop find this time from Exeter many moons ago, the boots were from Diechman just before Christmas and the pink handbag is rather ancient too.

The pink handbag by Furla is my mini Candy bag which unfortunately didn't show up in quite the right colour - it's much more pink than that! Not quite the same colour as my boots but still acceptable fashionista-wise I think. More importantly, it's the only pink bag I have.

Nothing new with the accessories either. Sunglasses are my old faves by Quay Australia, the bejewelled watch was a charity shop buy and only recently rediscovered in a box, the huge pink resin ring was a gift from a friend and the other a charity shop find too. The necklace was a purchase a few years ago from Gallery Tresco and is by Charlie Dodge.

My beaded belt, an Amazon buy, always gets lots of comments. It's so utterly feminine isn't it?

So, you must excuse me, but I've got to return now to my sewing machine. I'm trying to make a pink net underskirt to wear under my orange linen dress, as one does. The slight problem I have is that I don't have a pattern and despite looking at lots of tutorials on youTube I'm really none the wiser. I have no real idea what I want to achieve apart from it being a flash of colour as I walk. 

As ever, thank you so much for dropping by and hopefully I'll see you again on Monday!

Anna x

Easter weekend on Tresco

The sun shone down on Tresco this Easter reminding me how beautiful this little island paradise is. The view is from the Sea Garden Cottages, namely from the patio of Shrimp where I was visiting friends. I regaled them with my memories of being a (hopeless) chambermaid 45 years ago at the Island Hotel here in these grounds; I was besotted with this view and thought it to be the most idyllic sight I'd ever seen, so much so that I spent far too much time staring out the window and not enough time cleaning. The truth is, I still find it mesmerising. Anyway, the figure in the distance is one of those I was visiting - more recognised for his voice than his physical self.

Yes, it's the Radio 2 DJ legend that is Johnnie Walker! Johnnie and his gorgeous wife Tiggy are regulars to Tresco, this most recent visit being to celebrate Johnnie's 78th birthday. Doesn't he look well on it! Johnnie hosted a birthday dinner at the Ruin Beach Cafe where he was joined by friends for an evening of good food, fine wines and lots of tales about the music business. I quizzed him as to who has been his favourite musician to interview to which he replied James Taylor. You can't argue with that.

This was Monday's work outfit showing nothing new, simply a mix of pieces shopped from my closet as they say. The main feature is this rather fabulous coat by Clements Ribiero which I bought about five years ago in Manchester from TK Maxx. It's three years since I wore it last on the blog here and yet I do so love it!

I've mixed designer with high street fashion to give my own style. The sweater is from H&M, trousers from Primark and the gold leather Chelsea boots are so old I can't recall where I found them. The boot cut trousers are maybe a tad short, but I've seen girls wearing wide cropped trousers so thought I could get away with this too.

Nothing new  with my accessories either - the gold chain necklace was from Zara, rings are old too and sunglasses are from Radley London. 

External photoshoots are always tricky whether it's due to the weather or someone popping into the shot or the camera almost getting blown over which was the case here. I'd dodged about the island trying to find a quiet spot out of the wind before the gale arrived, hence the varied backdrops. Today it's been raining for most of the day with winds gusting up to 70mph and tomorrow is forecast to be more of the same. We were lucky to have it so good for Easter. I had a lovely swim on Easter Sunday on Green Porth beach - see my timelapse clip on the Instagram link at the top of the page.

Many thanks for popping by. Have a lovely week!

Anna x