Style not Age .... Perfect Attire for a Picnic.

Morning my friends.

How are you today?

Nearly July, can you believe that!!

Scary how quickly the months go by - we'll be starting Christmas shopping before long! (Sorry)!!

Now did you see my stories and IG page?  Do you remember my son was competing in the Doggetts Coat and Badge race on the River Thames?  Well he won!!!!  I'm ecstatic and bursting with pride.  I'll be sharing a dedicated post soon, so do look out for it my friends. 🥇

Today it’s time for another challenge for Style not Age, I do hope you enjoy seeing how we tackle these challenges as much as we love doing them!

This month it's been Gail's job to find a prompt for us, she's picked a brilliant one, which is just so apt for the month of June .....

Perfect Attire for a Picnic!

I had romantic ideas of a picnic in a field complete with picnic hamper, checkered table cloth & wispy grass swaying in a light warm breeze - alas my busy week and changeable weather scuppered those plans.  I resorted to taking piccys in the garden with no fun filled afternoon in sight!  

My dress is from Matalan, and was the obvious choice for a lazy summer picnic.  I'll be holding onto that idea for a future outing, and will be wearing this outfit when I can. 💛💛

Am I really old enough for a Saga holiday? - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Hi there my friends.

Hope you are well.

I'm actually away at the moment, but will be home later.  

Hubby and I have been away for the night, we've been taking part in the Saga Shakedown before they go back into service.  The Spirit of Discovery was our home for the night and we took full advantage of all the facilities including the bars, restaurants and evening entertainment.  We had to follow all the Covid safe directions which started with taking two tests that obviously had to give negative results and we had to have had both our jabs.  Mask wearing was needed as we would usually do when visiting restaurants and bars. We didn't actually leave the dock, as it was only for the night, so a nice tropical sunset might have given us a prettier outlook.  I'm not sure if cruising is my thing or not, but it was certainly very nice to be spoiled by everyone on the boat.  It made a really nice change to be away somewhere different too. Many thanks to my nephew who works for Saga for the opportunity. X

I knew exactly what I was going to wear for both days and the evening, and everything fitted into my overnight case beautifully.

Loafers from Lotus + Jeans, Tee Shirt & Duster.

Hello my lovely friends.

How you all doing?

Not much went on over the weekend, just been watching Euro 2020, but I'm not even going to mention the England - Scotland match, that's better left un-said! (Nil - Nil) in case you didn't know!!! 

If you follow me on IG you may have seen I was lucky enough to go to the local Nicholson's Pub* on Thursday.  I was gifted an experience with them to watch the footy at The Buttermarket, so hubby and I had a lovely evening enjoying some drinks and a nice meal watching it.  Denmark were playing Belgium & the score of 1 all proved exciting to watch, such a shame that the next day our team couldn't emulate that thrilling game!

With changeable weather again, I've been between outfits, the cooler dresses have been replaced with jeans, tee shirts and cardi's,  I even wore a jacket last Friday when it was tipping it down!  I managed to cut both front and back lawns before the rain set in, so that may be kept at bay for a bit.  I'm sure as soon as the sun's out, it'll need doing again! 

This week I'll be getting prepared for Friday.  It's race day for my son when two years of preparation finally comes to fruition.  You can read about his first attempt here and also my older son's race day here too.

This year we are team white, not the best colour to be wearing with the grand-kids around - I'll try and take photos earlier rather than later. Ha ha.

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

At Home With ... Laurie - Vanity & Me - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Good morning my lovelies.

Hope everything is going well for you.

Not much to report since Monday.   I've been having a wonderful time in the garden, getting the grass in order and sorting out the planters.  I've also visited the garden center, it was nice to wander around checking out all the pretty plants and flowers, and aren't the pots & planters expensive!  I bought some pretty flowers to entice the bees, I love having these little visitors in my garden.  I have two big tropical looking plants in pots that have sprouted huge flower stems in the middle which the bees just love - there's plenty busy buzzing around collecting all the nectar.  I would just love to know where they are taking it too - Bee's intrigue me and I've always been very tempted to have a bee hive in my garden!  Just not sure that would be any good with my grand-kids around - they don't like anything that buzzes around them!!  

Tonight I'm off out, I'd love you to stop by my IG stories to see what I'm up to ... I'll share all on Monday in case you miss it. 

Today I'm At Home With .... Laurie - Vanity & Me.

I'm pleased to welcome Laurie to the blog today, and look forward to sharing some secrets about how she goes about her blogging life.

I've long admired Laurie's fabulous style and have often tried to copy.  However with totally different colourings, the shades that suit this stylish blogger don't seem to suit me.  Her style tends to be of a neutral fashion, and everything she wears is finished off to perfection.  So let's get started on the questions and let you see for yourself Laurie's effortlessly chic outfits.

What to wear to a Summer BBQ.

Morning everyone.

Thanks for joining me today - so good to have you here.

What have you been up to over the weekend, do tell all!

Friday night I was ballroom dancing again, it's been lovely to get back to a normal'ish' way of life and great to catch up with friends - especially my best one.  We have been learning the Rhumba, it's been an easy routine to remember & I like the fast pace of learning in this class, but it has been a shame to have to dance alone.  

Saturday hubby and I visited an Aunt in Harlow, Essex.  We had a wonderful couple of hours reminiscing old times and having plenty of laughs along the way.  It's awfully sad to think times have gone when she used to come to stay with my dear MIL, we would go out for dinner and they would come to ours on a Sunday for a roast with all my family.  She's always been full of life with plenty of funny stories to tell - alas times change don't they.  We have to embrace the present, now is the time we make tomorrows memories.  

We also visited the local Robin's Pie and Mash shop.  It's a traditional East End dish comprising of minced meat pie (different pastry for top and bottom), mashed potato and green liquor ( made of parsley, potato water & eel jelly)  Obviously we bought home Pies and Liquor for the family, its a real treat in my house. 😀

Sunday was good fun too.  My best friend's birthday so we were invited to her's to make pizzas and have a few drinks (alcohol free obviously)  You may have seen my stories on IG showing me making pizzas.  What a brilliant idea, they were easy to make, I put on my choice of toppings and slid them into the oven.  Some five mins later they were ready, smelling super tasty I enjoyed mine with some salad.  

Oh yes and there was also the option to make sweet pizzas with chocolate, strawberries and biscoff spread - yep I can confirm they tasted awesome.  Here's the oven my friends have. 

With weather in the high twenties yesterday, I was melting.  I thought my shoestring strap floral black and white dress was the best option.  I didn't want sleeves or anything too tight.  I would probably have been better off in shorts and a bikini top, but that wasn't really the look I was aiming for!!! Lol

Culottes, Tan Blazer & Pretty White Blouse - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Hi there my friends.

How's it going?

We've had some brilliant weather here in the UK recently, I hope you've been blessed with some warm rays. 

I'm getting the garden into shape and today after ballet I'm off to the garden center to pick up some new flowers.  I really enjoy being in the garden and would happily work outside than do any housework or cooking!  As it was so hot yesterday we had a BBQ of burgers and sausages, we all agreed a basic menu like this is sometimes all you want!  

I'm on day 10 of no alcohol and calorie counting - it's going well so far - so I'm hoping I can trim down again.  I'm also back to my spin classes, I absolutely love working out and even though I find it bloomin' hard work I know I feel better for it.  My dancing classes are open again, so I've been having fun getting back into the swing of them too. 

Did you miss any of last month's posts?  You can catch them all in one on Monday's post featuring my May Review.

Had my 2nd jab on Monday, all went well and we even managed to have a bite to eat in a local restaurant.  The little Italian called Posillipo is in the center of Canterbury and was rather busy for a Monday night.  We had a table inside and devoured our dishes washed down with a beer (zero for me) - no wine on a school night of course. 😆  I wonder if you saw my dishes on Instagram? Hope I didn't make you jealous?  I had Scalopine Di Pollo with a side order of Spinaci - what more can I say it was delicious. 

I've been wearing lots of dresses over the past few days, it's been too hot to wear much else.  I wanted to share this pretty blouse with you today.  I need to wear it with a pretty white skirt, but first I need to get a pretty white skirt - lol. X

May Review.

Good morning everyone.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today.

How you all feeling?

Isn't the year flying by!  I can't believe it's June already, without a hint of a holiday or break away on the horizon.  Have you managed to escape somewhere interesting and exciting - do tell!

My season of birthday's has finally eased with only one birthday late next month.  I'm certainly all caked out now which doesn't help with losing weight - lol.

As it's the beginning of the month it's time for the May Review so in case you missed any you can catch them here in this concise post.

I've started a new monthly series called At Home With ..... did you see it?

This month I've featured Nancy - Nancy's Fashion Style and Anna - Anna's Island Style.

If you would like to be featured please do let me know, I would love you to join in. X

So cast your mind back to the start of May.  The weather was typical for the UK and very changeable, so I was between wearing trousers and boots with coats to wearing dresses with trainers and pretty jackets.  My first look is my shacket, my opinion did a full 180 with this trend & now I love them! 

This is from my local F & F and I think it smartens up jeans and these faux leather trousers perfectly.

Neutral Casual Chic - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Morning my lovely friends.

Hope you are all well, are you enjoying a four day week?

I had a super weekend and because the sun was shinning everything & everyone seemed happier.  I actually sat in the garden on my new-last-year rattan furniture, haven't managed to do that yet this year!  We even ate dinner outside on Monday.

It's half term here in the UK and the town has been really busy so I try to avoid it unless I pop in early.  I met a friend on Wednesday, we went to have lunch at our local which is in walking distance - we've not seen each other since the beginning of lock-down and it was lovely to catch up with her.  Sitting in the pub garden, in the sunshine, eating and drinking was pure heaven, I'm not going to take things like this for granted anymore.

On Tuesday I returned to my spin class at the gym, I was worried I wouldn't be any good - but I surprised myself and finished the whole class not coming in last but with quite a respectable score.  I'm pleased to have booked another class this morning - wish me luck!

I also have a trip to our local wildlife park booked today - I'll be going with my girls and grandchildren, I'm excited to be visiting Wingham Wildlife Park as I've not been before.  There's lots for the kids to do, so the fun and adventure begins as soon as we arrive. 

Now let's tell you a little about my outfit of the day.

The long necklace I fancied wearing works really well - it's got a bit of everything going on, wood, beads, gold and chains.