Morning everyone.

So pleased you could join me.

How have you been?  A busy few weeks for me with the baby's arrival growing ever closer!  The house is full with baby clothes and all the extras they need and I'm getting rather excited to say the least.  I'm wondering how Max is going to take the new baby.  He has his moments, but on the whole he's very good with me, David and the rest of the family, so I'm sure it wont be too hard for him when she goes off to hospital, well that's unless she takes after her sister, my eldest daughter, she popped our first grandchild out at home and didn't have time to get to the hospital!  So yes as they say anything can happen!

Another month has rolled by and don't they seem to be getting faster?  It'll be Christmas before we know it and we'll be enjoying all the delights that brings.  I've vowed to get presents done early (I know I say that every year) but I want to enjoy getting them and not having it to be a chore.  

So without further ado let's look back on my outfits for October for the ....

October Review.

My first post featured a bit about Porto & Life insurance, you can read all about my exciting trip here and marvel at the photos of the special place David and I celebrated our 60th birthdays - albeit a tad late!

What to wear with a full skirt - Chicandstylish Linkup

Hi everyone. 

How’s it going?

A couple of birthdays this week. It was my mum’s on Monday so I invited her for dinner and we had a family favourite of spicy prawns with a glass of champagne to wash it down. My daughter made her a cake and she had some lovely cards, gifts and a couple of bottles of wine. I know she had a brilliant time and it was lovely to spend it with her. 

On Wednesday it was Emily’s birthday. All the family came round and the easiest dinner to prepare quickly was hotdogs and chips which went down really well.  Her due date is getting nearer and we’re all very excited to meet our newest addition to the family. 

Popped into a couple of shops to get some birthday presents on Tuesday and managed to bag a rather nice pair of trousers. I’ve been after some Leo print jeans but spotted these lightweight wide leg casual trousers for a sale price of £12. Wore them the next day with my chunky trainers, black jumper and statement chunky chain necklace. Will share a piccy soon as it was dark when I got a chance to take photos. So until then, I’ll share this look which I ‘copied’ for a fellow Instagram. 

Autumnal Hues from Style Not Age.

Morning my lovely friends. 

Hope your weekend went well. 

It’s the last Monday of the month so shall we take a look at what the latest challenge is for the ladies from Style not Age? It’s perfect for October …

Autumn Hues. 🍂

Our prompt is right on cue as we’re well and truly in the midst of autumn. The leaves have started to turn gorgeous shades of red's, browns, yellows and oranges, and the weather has changed typically to having cooler, wet and dewy mornings, making way for warmer, sometimes sunnier afternoons - we really are lucky here in the UK, the sights to see are splendid and worth taking a walk in the woods for. I took full advantage of the weather to take these shots, only one little hiccup when I couldn’t find my remote for the phone when I got home. Endless searching in pockets, my bag, the car, around the car, back to scour the location only to return home succumbing to the thought of getting a new tripod and controller only to see it sitting on my worktop in plain sight! Do you ever lose something that’s staring right at you? 😂

Burgundy jumper & blazer - Chicandstylish Linkup

Morning all. 

Hope it’s going well for you all. 

Hasn’t the weather been funny? Just can’t seem to make its mind up. I’m going out in jeans and a jumper or jacket and having to take layers off by the afternoon and sometimes it’s the opposite, starting off in lightweight clothes and having to put a jumper on to warm up! I’m not sure I’m fond of this in-between time!

I’ve worked hard over the past few days, leaving little time to get blog posts, photos and social media sorted, you see I’ve been painting at my daughter’s house. Everything is being painted white and I’ve been doing what I can which has been quite tiring - but I love it. You start with a mist coat, which is half paint half water and I’ve been covered nearly head to foot with the stuff, it’s so sloppy (if you’ve ever done this before you’ll know what I’m talking about)! Upstairs is almost ready for carpets, so moving in date is edging nearer although I’m not sure they’ll be in before the baby arrives … in November!! I’ll keep you posted as to how that goes my friends. 

So let’s talk burgundy, are you a fan? I had a jumper a few years ago but that went to charity and because it was the only thing that matched this grey blazer I’ve hardly ever worn it! Well that changed when I came home with this skinny rib top from Sicily. 🍇

… it was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment purchase, the ones we make without giving any thought to what it would be worn with!!

A Wrap Dress from Jenerique.

Morning all. 

How are you my friends?

I’ve blinked and missed the weekend! Surely it’s only Friday? Ha ha, I’m joking really but to be honest with you my weekend was so busy it came and went in a flash!

Friday night I was back to ballroom. We took on a jive and as usual I picked it up quite well and throughly enjoyed the whole dance, well we only learnt half the routine and will finish it off next week. 

On Saturday morning I helped my eldest daughter out and took one of her boys to football. After a last minute change of venue the game started in the rain, and fortunately I anticipated the wet weather and took my rain coat and umbrella. Alas it turned chilly by the end of the 40 minute game and I was rather happy to get home. 

I soon warmed up as I went to my daughter’s house, the one who’s living with me whilst her house is extended, for a day of painting. We started with a base layer of mist spray which was the worst part of painting. Once all the upstairs rooms had one coat of the mist spray we started on a proper coat of paint, we went round all the rooms before returning home for an Indian takeaway and a much needed glass of bubbles. 

The following day, after doing a clean for my daughter at her Air BNB, I went back to paint again, this time after finishing the landing I started on the downstairs. Another mist coat which is a watery half mix of paint was applied. It’s a big room with the kitchen, dining area and sitting room all in one place and although it took ages, we managed to get it all done. We’ll tackle that room in the week with proper paint and hope to see the difference in no time, painting a room really starts to make a room more like a liveable room doesn’t it? After a busy weekend of hard work it was wonderful to come home to a home cooked dinner of chicken, mushroom and leek pie served with baby roast potatoes, tender-stem broccoli and peas. Isn’t it nicer to have dinner cooked for you?

As you can imagine I didn’t have time to take photos, which is a real shame - I’ve been wearing so many wonderful autumnal outfits since I came home, so I’ll share a cute dress I took away with me to Sicily. 

Items Marked with * have been gifted to me, however these are 100% my own honest comments. 

Trending Leoprint & Red - Chicandstylish Linkup

Good morning my friends. 

How are you all?

Feeling typical holiday blues recently. I adore going away, but hate coming home to normality, that being said I love coming home to see the family. Didn’t have much washing so the suitcase’s and everything I packed is away. 

My holiday to Sicily was amazing, I had been worried visiting for a second time wouldn’t be as good, but I have to say it was every bit as fantastic as the first time. I’ll be posting about my trip in the next few weeks, so if you like The Godfather and Sicily do look out for it. 

Todays outfit is based around the trendy leopard print and red mix,  all shopped from my wardrobe and you’ve probably seen the clothes before, but it’s nice to play around with pieces in your wardrobe to find new looks isn’t it!

Styling Cream Wide Leg Jeans.

Hi there lovelies. 

How you all doing?

I’m returning home from my exciting few days in Sicily today, hope you’ve seen what I’ve been doing on stories!

I feel like now I’ll be starting to get ready for Christmas, there’s decorations and goodies in the shops already so I’m planning on getting something every week so it won’t be too much of a rush nearer December. 

Items marked with * have been gifted to me, however these are 100% my own honest comments.

 

Satin Slip Skirt with Lightweight Jacket - Chicandstylish Linkup.

Good morning everyone. 

I send you good wishes from Sicily!

I’m away for a few days so have this post planned in advance. The last couple of days have been the usual busy build up to my trip, there’s always so much to do and even though I try to plan everything that I need to get ready it’s still a mad rush at the last minute!

I’ve been checking the weather in Savoca and it’s apparently going to be a nice and hot in the high 20’s, which will be lovely.  I’m taking a few different outfits and plan to have a nice choice of dresses etc, shoes and jewellery.  We’ve been there before back in 2022 and it’s nice to know where the hotel and all the places we visited last time are. I’m hoping we’ll visit some new venues, so will be taking the guide with us (so long as I can find it) 😂.

Today I want to show you a ‘go to’ look that works so well for me. It’s a perfect number for nicer Autumn days when it’s not too cold and still fairly warm. We position have many more days like this so I’d switch a couple of pieces to make it suitable for colder days. Let me know if you like it my friends. 

September Review.

Hi there everyone. 

Thanks for dropping in!

I’m getting ready for my little trip to Sicily on Wednesday. It’s a joint birthday present for David and me and you might remember the story of what happened when I gave my hubby his present! Catch the full post here, it’ll enlighten you as to what happened if you missed it!

Out to our friend's house on Saturday night and they really were the most perfect host’s. They cooked us a wonderful meal which comprised of steak pie made with gluten free pastry which was delicious, roast potatoes, homegrown runner beans, mushrooms and tenderstem broccoli. Tucking into this wonderful meal whilst enjoying delicious wine was the best, we talked and laughed and I had the best night.  Eton mess followed by cheese, biscuits and a glass of port followed! Now it wasn’t a late night but I have to say Sunday went very slowly, so much so I didn’t do anything but lay on the sofa! Way too much drinking involved but boy was it a good night. 

Even though it’s the 7th October, it’s the first Monday of October which means a quick recap of September’s outfits for the …

September Review. 

At the beginning of September the weather, like usual was changeable so lightweight trousers and tee shirts with a jacket are the perfect answer to our fickle temperatures. 

I noticed these flamboyant wide leg trousers immediately I saw them and picked up the top at the same time. The oversized jacket is a thin fabric that makes it a good addition for a mix of weather. 

Life Insurance & My Trip to Porto - Chicandstylish Linkup

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog.

Hope you are good. 

I'm so pleased you stopped by today! The much anticipated blog post about my trip to Porto is here!

Do you remember I mentioned both David and I had our 60th birthday’s this year and we were elated to have been given this amazing present from our 5 kids and their partners.  Yes they’d planned a wonderful long weekend to Porto in Portugal where the Port comes from and what an interesting and memorable few days we had.

The older I get the more I realise how important life is!  Life is for living each day to the full, as you never know what is round the corner.  It's often hard to get out and do the things you want to do isn't it, but I'm a firm believer in making time to do something different it will fulfill you in ways you wouldn't imagine.  Some years ago I returned to ballet lessons and after that I joined a ballroom class, and I've got lots on my agenda to try out, I'd like to try painting, riding a horse and may learn to play the piano - these might not happen but it's all about setting goals or making some kind of bucket list!  I'm becoming more and more aware of losing people in my life - my dad passed away some months ago - we had an estranged relationship but it's still hard to accept things won't be the same. That's why I'd recommend some sort of life insurance.  Life can take an unexpected turn and leave loved ones stranded, not something I'd wish on anyone, affordable life insurance is easy to get and very much worth it.  Why not see what your possibilities are, it's never too late and really easy to find out all the details like monthly costs etc and would, in my opinion, be money well spent and give you peace of mind for sure.

Now let's get back to my weekend in Porto. We flew from Stanstead early on the Saturday morning and enjoyed the 2 hour 10 min flight watching a film on David's phone and polishing off a couple of drinks and a cheese and ham toasty.  After a bit of a hiccup with our transfer (the driver didn't turn up), we jumped in a taxi and were soon on our way to our little hotel.  The transfer was only a 25 minute drive, so before we knew it we'd arrived.  Check in wasn't until 3 pm so we dropped off our suitcase and bag and went off to explore.