Bonmarche Gypsy Skirt - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Morning my lovely friends.

How are you all doing today?

Seems I've missed a day, thought I had another one to prepare today's blog post!  My reason for being late is that it was my daughter's birthday yesterday and the time just flew by!  I mowed both front and back garden by lunch time, then we had a stream of family and friends visit to wish her well on her birthday - but as they say "better late than never" eh!  She had a lovely day as I did too and it was so nice to catch up with family who I'd not seen for a while.

Today I'm trying out a new-to-me gym class .... Body Balance!  Anyone heard and tried it?  I'll let you know who it goes, I've also booked a spin class straight after so wish me luck ... 😅

I try to wear dresses in the summer, but I'm also smitten with a skirt, and if it's a swishy, twirly version then I'm all over it, just like this one from Bonmarche.

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

Style Not Age - Jackets for July!

Hi there my lovely friends.

So pleased you could join me today.

I've had a fantastic weekend, which started on Friday when I had a trip to the seaside with friends.  My Abu Dhabi ladies decided to catch up for an afternoon of fun and laughs, reminiscing about our previous holidays and the possibility of planning another when we can get away safely - who knows when that will be!  We're all wanting to get away as soon as we can and feel, like everyone, that we took going away for granted!  

We took the train to Broadstairs and found our way (via a gorgeous boutique - and yes I did buy a dress!) to the little Italian restaurant which overlooked the beach.  After a delicious meal and a couple of bottles of Prosecco we moved onto an outdoor bar for cocktails and more laughs and chatter.  It was so nice to actually feel free and normal.  I hadn't realised just how different and restrained I'd felt.  We had a couple of Porn Star Martinis (my favourite) and felt even more relaxed with the great company and enchanting surroundings. We made our way back to the station and then back home, all feeling happy and content with the meet-up and looking forward to doing it again. X

Saturday was a spent in the garden cutting yet more hedges ... seriously who needs the amount of garden and hedges we have!  😖  

If you're lucky enough to have grand-kids you'll know how fun it is to have them for a sleepover.  It was my daughter's wedding anniversary so whilst they celebrated with a night out having dinner - we had McD's and a house full of children (3 to sleep and 1 more for dinner)  It was bedlam, but they all had fun bounching around playing with toys, hide-and-seek and generally being loud!  I got them settled at a reasonable hour making way for a film and a glass of chilled rose - well maybe more than one glass was consumed - ha ha!

Okay I'm going to pull myself away from the weekend frolics and talk about the July Style not Age challenge which was set by me!

Jackets for July.

I felt this title would give a wide scope for everyone, and with the weather being so changeable it would be the perfect prompt to cover every eventuality.  I had a few ideas for today's outfit, but settled on this new number from Bonmarche.

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

Vibrant & feminine OTS Dress - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Hi there my friends, hasn't it been scorching weather recently?

I must admit to finding it a tad too much at times - I'm sure it won't last too long so I should just try to enjoy it. Trouble is doing everything I want to do makes it twice as hard when it's hot!  I've still been to gym classes and have done work in the garden, but it's totally taken it's toll on me!

The garden is looking really nice now, I'm keeping on top of the grass cutting and with the flowers blooming everywhere, it's a real joy to sit outside.  Today I've planted some wild flower bombs - I can't wait for them to grow and I'll be putting them near my little bee hotel - think that might be quite helpful to them. 

On Tuesday I joined my daughter and mum for an afternoon tea.  It was actually my mum's present from my daughter for Christmas, but with covid and lockdown Tuesday was the earliest opportunity to go.  They invited me too which was so lovely - I really do enjoy an afternoon tea and had fun spending the whole of the afternoon with them both at our local  nearest Cafe Rouge in Bluewater.  We dined on sausage rolls, quiche, ham and lettuce rolls followed by my favourite ... Scones, jam and clotted cream, Fruity Carrot cake, Billionaire torte and Blackforest mousse.  We drank endless amounts of tea, but I just had to add the optional glass of Prosecco to my meal, well would have been rude not to!

Yesterday I did a lot of 'getting things done'  I tend to leave things to the last minute & if they don't need doing I wont start them ... my mum calls it 'finding it hard to get to first base'  my daughter spurred me on and I got about 3/4 of the list completed.  Not big endless tasks, just small things like arranging a carpet cleaner and sewing part of my ripped gazebo.  It's quite refreshing to finally tick them and a few other jobs off my list!

Pleated Skirt with Mustard Accents and Lotus Shoes Wedges.

Hello and welcome to my blog.

It's aimed at ladies over 50, but quite honestly everyone is welcome!

How's your weekend been?

The weather certainly didn't let us down this weekend, with temperatures soaring into the 30'S at times I just had to sit in shade ( I know who actually am I - lol).   

Friday night my ballroom dancing had me tangoing into the weekend with flair & energy.  This was the first time I'd learnt any Tango steps and I really enjoyed the twists and flicks.  It's a work in progress but it's nice to push yourself every once in a while eh!

Saturday was garden day!  Hubby and I spent most of the day cutting hedges and generally tidying up the drive.  We cleaned up and headed over to my daughters to watch the Formula 1 Sprint Race and The Open (which is down the road at Royal St Georges in Sandwich.)  I'm enjoying watching golf more and more over the past few years, and am starting (slowly) to grasp the rules!  It may be a sport I'd like to learn one day, although I don't think I'd be any good at it .... I struggle with Crazy Golf!!! 😆

I enjoyed not cooking on Sunday ... going to my daughters for a BBQ was heaven.  The family were also there so we had a nice few hours soaking up the sun and putting the world to rights - we decided we needed a pool of some description, but had to settle on dunking our feet in plastic boxes full of cold water .... ha ha ha. 😍

Wearing shorts and a bikini top I figured photos of this wasn't going to make the blog, but here's what did!

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

Paisley Maxi, coral and Denim - At Home With ... - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Hi everyone, glad you could make it today.

I'm excited to share another fantastic blogging friend with you.  Do keep scrolling to see who's joining me today!

But first can I show you my OOTD?  I'm trying to entice the sunshine to pop over and stay for a while - so far this week  it seems to be working!

I've shopped my wardrobe today, prompted by a lovely lady over on IG (will try and link to her).  She was wearing a lovely maxi skirt with a dainty pale coral top - so here's my copy.

I've had the maxi for a while as I have the top and my old jean jacket made the hat-trick, so for the haul I wore some really old trainers too! 

Dressing for a Garden Party, Matalan Style.

Morning my lovely friends.

How are you?

Sorry I'm so late with today's post, but you know how it goes sometimes!

Been a busy weekend for me with dinner out on Saturday night for my brother-in-law's birthday.  We went to a local haunt that we used to use years ago - was nice to have a trip down memory lane remember the good times with family and friends.  

The Red Lion is a little village pub complete with green and church next door, typically an idyllic olde worlde venue and the meal we had emulated the fabulous ambiance.  I picked a delicious prawn and crab cocktail served with brown bread and followed this classic started with roast garlic and thyme chicken, dauphinoise potatoes served with seasonal greens and copious amounts of Prosecco - I certainly paid for it the next day feeling very much the worse for wear!  My daughter made a fantastic cake, chocolate with more chocolate decorated with a mixture of chocolates and a dusting of gold sprinkles [I'll try to link a piccy for you all].  It ended up a very late night after we carried on the party at my SIL's with more Prosecco & some dancing, I wonder why I couldn't move the next day - I certainly pulled some snazzy moves!

So after a late start on Sunday it was round 2!  I had been invited to my friend's birthday garden party.  I took a nice fresh potato salad to accompany the tempting buffet she'd laid on ... shall I tease you? 

Freshly bbq'd burgers and chicken, avocado salad, coleslaw, pesto rice & aubergine parmigiana [which I fell in love with, so I'm getting the recipe and am going to try making it myself].  This was followed by homemade apple and summer fruit crumble and custard, this was also very yummy.  I was a good girl and decided to drive, this meant taking a bottle of Nosecco .. my new found friend.  If you don't want to drink, but feel like you're missing out, this is a brilliant way to 'cheat'.  It pop's like a proper bottle and has bubbles too - if you pour it  into a champagne flute you'll feel like you're having a real drink - that's half the problem isn't it, having a coke in a big glass makes you feel like you're not drinking and being different.  [I don't know why that is a problem, but it is!]  So a wonderful afternoon was spent sitting in the garden having a laugh and chatting with good friends.  We left in time to watch the football at my daughter's house, let's not get onto that subject as it's still too sad to talk about! 😭   

Shall I let you see what I wore to the garden party?  It was perfect weather, not too hot and not too cold.  I wore this glorious dress.  It's a buffet style and just spot on for the wonderful buffet we devoured.

One Night On The Spirit of Discovery - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Morning my lovely friends.

Many thanks for joining me today.

How's July going for you?

I decided to head over to my local outlet yesterday, I was so looking forward to spending a couple of hours wandering round the shops - Imagine my disappointment when every shop had hardly anything I liked!  I wanted to see what M & S had in there, especially the underwear - very little was being offered.  Same in Clarks, the shoes and sandals were pretty naff to be totally honest.  Phase Eight and Roman weren't any better and after an hour I decided to call it a day and come home.  I might have to resort to doing what I hate .... online shopping!  I just don't enjoy it - I like to look at clothes, feel them, see what the fabric is like, do the colours suit me up close and finally try them on in the store!   Am I the only one who feels like this?  Please tell me I'm not!

Anyway enough about my shopping antics let me tell you about my night away. 💓

June Review.

Hi there my friends.

How are you all doing?

I finally managed to cut the grass last Friday and I also took advantage of the window of pleasant weather on Saturday morning and potted my plants!  They all look so pretty and have started to grow already, although everything seems to be late this year with many of my  original plants not even in bud!  I've been using a plant feed for the first time, so fingers crossed they bloom into beauties soon.  Come on sunshine we need a lot more of your company!

Saturday afternoon we popped to a friends for an open air party in a field.  I was very nervous of the rain on Saturday, but we were blessed with a cloudy but warm event.  That evening we watched the England - Ukraine football match at my daughters.  Seems times have changed as hubby watched the whole match and we got four goals - maybe I'll let him watch the next match on Wednesday!

So shall we get cracking on the ...

June Review.

Early in the month although warm I was sharing a Spring style with cream culottes, pale blue chiffon blouse and my jean jacket.  I wore boots with it too, but decided by switching boots for sandals and leaving out the jacket I could wear it on a cooler Summer day.  Hop back to check out the full post here. 

He Won!

Morning everyone.

I do hope you are feeling good, I'm one very proud Mummab!  Read on to find out why.

Getting ever nearer to hopefully the ending of lock-down, although I know many people aren't entirely pleased with it.  It's a big topic of discussion that I wouldn't even dream of entering into as everyone has their own opinion of what should and shouldn't happen, what I will say is it can't come quick enough for me now!

So back to the post, you might have been following my IG stories recently when I shared the fact my youngest son would be competing in the oldest rowing race in the world - The Doggett's Coat and Badge Wager, and you can read all about if here.