Hello again! Yes, I'm back after my mini break at home where sewing was the name of the game. It was glorious, stressful, frustrating and a joy, as well as a battle as I struggled to overcome my personal limitations with both machine and brainpower, but mostly it was fun.  Here I am wearing my new jacket, lined in burgundy satin to give it a bit of both body and style. This was one of my minor sewing projects, causing me less of a headache than others. Initially I'd planned on lining this £6 Vinted three quarter length jacket in a baby pink satin fabric but it didn't excite me s ..read more

Thank you for coming, but sorry, I've taken a week off work and blogging and life in general to satiate my need to sew! I have lots of upcycling, mending and making planned and know that I'll only achieve a fraction of it, but goodness what fun it is to be sitting at my machine for hours at a time. I'll be back next week and hope to show you some of the results - providing they're a success of course!                                          ..read more

Hello again! Today I'm trying to find a plus with the British weather and that can only be the excuse to buy a new weatherproof jacket and wellington boots. The orange jacket is by Barbour and cost me £40 (brand new from Vinted) as were the Joules wellies.  My ongoing wardrobe clear-out has extended to the downstairs coat cupboard now where I'm dejunking like a frenzied idiot, getting rid of coats that I've had for years despite never wearing them. In their place I'm replenishing my coat collection with all sorts of lovely (and mostly orange) coats and jackets. I'm suddenly aware ..read more

Earlier this month the designer, decorator and style icon, Iris Apfel died at the age of 102, leaving behind a wealth of imagery to inspire the fashion lovers amongst us. Her viewpoint that "colour can raise the dead" sums up her dedication to powerful dressing. Iris enjoyed finding a bargain and never paid full price for her clothes or jewellery, trawling shops, flea markets and bazaars for unique pieces to add to her immense collection. To quote the Guardian Obituary, "She is the most decorative sight in each shot, her ensembles put together with complex cadenzas atop an underlying ..read more

Wow, what a difference a little bit of sunshine makes! I honestly can't begin to explain how much the sunny weather on Sunday made to my mood. Not only that, but I took myself off to the beach on Saturday morning to swim on the high tide despite the fact that it was tipping down with rain. The sea was glorious - chilly, yes - but the isolation that the sea offers; the sense of escape and ultimately the watery meditation that the big blue provides is the best therapy ever. I returned to Green Porth on Sunday morning and repeated the whole process with even more delight as I didn't have to s ..read more

Hello and thank you so much for coming. Today's post has been delayed for no other reason than that I'm struggling with too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Frankly, I'm exhausted. BUT, I owe it to you, my lovely reader, to say thank you for keeping coming back to check if I'm around. I'm writing this during my lunchtime as by the evening I seem to be too tired to think. The run-up to the new season on the island seems to have drained all my reserves. I'm too tired to swim despite the fact that it generates energy in me. Mentally I can't face anything beyond the essentials in li ..read more

Yes, here we go again with another season! On Friday 1st March the Gallery re-opened for business and this was my outfit of the day. No points for guessing where I found this fabulous jumpsuit - Vinted, of course! I've been selling consistently as part of my ongoing clear out and that's given me a bit of a healthy piggy bank with Vinted which helps when I find something as lovely as this. Sasha introduced me to not only the joys of Vinted over a year ago, but also the Lucy & Yak brand. I'm very grateful to her. My jewellery is all old, the necklace was from Topshop and the rings ..read more

Hello again! How was your weekend? Busy? I managed some downtime with a couple of swims and a walk in the sunshine on Sunday afternoon which was lovely. I'm painfully aware that the feel of the island will change soon once we become fully open and that's essential to keep us all in gainful employment, but I will miss the peaceful walks and empty beaches. I also know that once the season starts we're all suddenly 'on' becoming acclimatised to that position overnight. I'm really not complaining, simply saying that the year is most definitely a game of two halves. I'm sporting my new si ..read more

Hello and how are you? How was your weekend? We had a mixed bag of weather and I timed it badly just missing the sunshine that I'd hoped would be the backdrop for my photo shoot. I tweaked the brightness on the photos as it was turning showery and grey. By the time I'd taken six shots the rain started! I seemed to spend most of my weekend cooking, doing prep for meals this week and then catching up on laundry, so pretty much all that domestic stuff that just keeps coming. My outfit is super casual, but worth mentioning are these fab orange boots from Vinted, costing me £12 (River Isl ..read more

Hello again, and how's tricks with you? Recently my sister-in-law, Gill, celebrated her 70th birthday and we had a lovely family gathering to mark the occasion. Do you remember Polly who was my gallery assistant a few years ago? Well she and my nephew David had a baby six months ago - this is Mose in the photo. We had a very long and lazy lunch party for Gill, with delicious food and an endless supply of champagne. Gill's children had clubbed together to pay for a week of luxury in the newly converted Blockhouse Cottage which was the childhood home of Steve and Gill so you can imagi ..read more