.jpg "Books in October: Is This Mutton")
Dear friends. It's time for another Tell Us About challenge, where 10 bloggers from around the world respond to a prompt each month.
I'm thrilled that we're back to full strength with the addition of US blogger Anne M Bray.
This month we're ruminating over Schooldays, a prompt set by Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper.
We can approach the topic from any angle we choose. I imagined there would be several reminiscences about schooldays so I decided instead to pick just a few comedic moments from school - and Sunday school (which counts as a school), including one from my mum.
Gifted Fashion
Dear friends. A striped knitted dress is your best friend, when you find the right one. That's an important caveat, because they're often a fine, clingy knit that highlights the lumps and bumps. I don't know about you, but I've got to an age now where I refuse to wear "control pants."
I'm glad to say I've found the perfect striped knitted dress, and it's from Damart.
Dear friends. A lot of us get SAD (seasonal affective disorder), or the plain old blues, at this time of year. I've got a few tips on how to find some joy in Autumn/Fall and Winter. Plus I'm wearing blue in three different outfits. Clever juxtaposition, huh?
And Wow on Wednesday
Dear friends. Meet Sally Millington, a 45 year old woman who has been setting herself 52 challenges a year since 2018.
In addition to completing 336 challenges (so far), Sally also has a side activity of running every single day. She recently passed the milestone of 700 consecutive days.
The challenges range from physical, creative, relaxing to travel related and some Sally describes as plain daft. Here are 5 of the challenges to show how varied they are. We also have some tips on how you can become an everyday adventurer, like Sally.
Style Not Age challenge
Dear friends. Welcome to my review of September, a good month for socialising with friends old and new, and seeing the big ticket event of the year. No, not Oasis but Van Gogh at the National Gallery.
And Wow on Wednesday
Dear friends. If there's one thing I look forward to when the weather gets cooler, it's The Total Look. This is when I achieve a tonal, or contrasting, look from head to toe, with everything co-ordinating. No black shoes or handbags for me when I could choose purple or rose gold!
Dear friends. It's been a while since I shared my latest reads with you. I'm glad to say today's crop is a stellar selection! New books from Elizabeth Strout, Clare Chambers and Sally Rooney for starters.
Let's dive in.
Dear friends. It's time for another Tell Us About challenge. This month it's Favourite Things, set by Australian blogger Jill from Grownup Glamour.
I'm honing in on one of my many favourite things: my love of stationery. If you want to offend me, dear reader, you would offer me a Bic pen to write with, and lined paper to write on. At the very least I expect a Pentel, although my pen of choice uses ink. From a bottle.
The problem is, I have fewer uses for stationery nowadays.
Dear friends. One of the fastest ways to shock my Kettlewell colour club friends is to tell them I still wear black.
Colour analysis tell us that only a very small sub group of those classed as Winter can wear black successfully, near the face.
I took this quite seriously at the start of my analysis journey. I could see that "my" warm and bright colours were far more flattering.
But then.....I started to rebel.
Dear friends. Today I'm sharing a couple of my new season buys. I wrote last week about how I was mainly buying thrifted clothes, perfect seeing this is #secondhandseptember. But because of the scarcity of the warm, clear and bright colours that suit me best, I'm also buying a few items from Kettlewell Colours.
They specialise in basics and iconic pieces for women who have been colour analysed.
Dear friends. Are you always eager to see what the new season brings in terms of latest drops at the fashion retailers?
I used to be, but now that I've experienced the advantages of having been colour analysed, my approach is more guarded.
A brief look at M&S, John Lewis, Boden and Oliver Bonas shows that hardly any of the colours appearing in the shops for autumn are my favourites.
Dear friends. Today I bring you a book I found truly magical. How I wish I had a Sherpa family, like the heroines of this book!
I'm thrilled to be on the blog tour for The Sky Beneath Us by Fiona Valpy.
Genres: historical fiction, women's fiction.
Dear friends. DCI Vera Stanhope is back, and searching for a troubled teenager who may have murdered a fellow resident in her care home.
As always from Ann Cleeves, it's a complex, well constructed and eerie thriller.
It's my turn on the blog tour for The Dark Wives.
Dear friends. Today's wrap-up of August is a different post than usual. Instead of writing about what I did on each day, I'm sharing a picture.
We cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats, the length of mainland Britain, in August (covered in this post), and I had lots of scenic photos I didn't have room to share.
Thanks to fellow riders Steve Waplington, David George and David Hamilton for many of the photos. My own are marked * in the caption.
Dear friends. I'm back from the most amazing adventure, cycling across the UK in 19 days.
Today I'm going to cover my "journey" in terms of how someone who disliked cycling 17 months ago ended up on the iconic 1000 mile (1,607 kilometres) Land's End to John O'Groats (LEJOG) ride. Plus some of my learnings and tips for anyone contemplating this or another bike holiday.
On Friday in my usual monthly review I'll cover the actual journey, day by day, with pictures.
This month it's HOLIDAYS, or Holidays and Vacations for US readers, the prompt from Mary Katherine.
Dear friends. Sharing today a new book that's full of inspiration and wise advice from Fiona Lambert.
Fiona is a successful businesswoman and mother of two who has held senior roles at Next, Asda, Dunelm and River Island. Fiona worked alongside George’s founder George Davies to set up and launch George as the first fashion supermarket brand in 1990.
Dear friends. I've bought another original vintage dress! In cream and gold brocade it really caught my eye at Etsy.
I immediately earmarked it for a reunion event in October, although I'll need to wear it with a silky roll neck or jacket of some description, as it's sleeveless.
 |
Dear friends. Today's book spotlight features the latest novel by much loved contemporary writer Amanda Prowse.
Swimming to Lundy was inspired by the tragic and sudden death in 2022 of Amanda's brother Simon, aged 52, after a family lunch.
She says the new book was written to help herself and others come to terms with loss.
It's my turn on the blog tour for Swimming to Lundy.
Dear friends. It's time for a beauty update, where I share products I've both bought and been gifted, and give my honest reviews.
First up, new creamy eyeshadow sticks (gifted) from Look Fabulous Forever. Many of you are fans of this brand, created for the specific needs of older women.
Dear friends. This month four blogger friends and I am getting out our Festival Finery for this month's Style Not Age challenge.
I've actually been to a festival this month and am sharing the outfit I wore.
Dear friends. July was a good varied month with mixed weather and lots of fun. Starting with the last few days of June which weren't covered last time.
Dear friends. A simple cream shift dress today, a great choice for those days when you don't want to be particularly colourful. I wanted the pretty vetch in a nearby park to take centre stage,
The dress was an amazing charity shop bargain. It cost just £5 in a shop in Wimbledon last year. I haven't worn it much but pledged to give it a twirl at Gunpowder Park, Waltham Abbey.
Dear friends. Today I'm bringing you a new book spotlight. Cassie Raven is the antithesis of the usual crime thriller heroine. She's a pink haired, tattooed, feisty mortuary technician.
Dear friends. I'm thrilled today to feature the latest book from O J Mullen. I'm a big fan of his gritty and tightly plotted crime thrillers. This one is in the unusual setting for this genre of an ad agency. It's my stop on the blog tour for The Wrong Woman.
Dear friends. Here are my reviews of books published this month. Thanks to the publishers for early review copies in return for an honest review.
In the Goodreads Reading Challenge I'm at 75 books (target 100), 22 books ahead of schedule. My reading has slowed down a little. As a NetGalley reviewer I'm typically reading books several months before their publication, and the months November to December seem to be quiet for publishers.
Dear friends. Blogging is the topic of this month's Tell Us About challenge, chosen by Debbie of Deb's World.
Tell Us About sees 9 bloggers from the UK, US, Australia and Portugal responding to a different prompt each month. All bloggers are welcome to join the link-up with their own posts on the topic.
I've been blogging since 2006. My first blog was A Curious Girl's Guide to Life, which I no longer update, although it will presumably always be "out there" in the ether.
Dear friends. I've just had a colour refresh - style not hair - and it's all good because the colours I've been naturally gravitating towards are indeed my wow colours!
If you think I'm talking in gibberish, let me explain. Regular readers will know I'm a big fan of colour analysis. I was re- confirmed as a spring a couple of years ago, but as I was more concerned then with how I would mix winter and spring colours, I didn't focus on wow colours.
Dear friends. This is the time my garden is at its height. It's fairly small and I focus my attention on spring and summer planting.
It's now July and 1 of my 4 dahlias is flowering; the phlox are out, in very splashy colours, and "shed corner " has returned to its former glory, with brightly coloured containers.
Dear friends. This summer I've been wearing far more skirts than I normally do, having bought four pre-loved Boden skirts from eBay.
It got me thinking about my Boden skirts over the years. I can see why some of them worked less well for me, and why some were outstanding.
Dear friends. A quick post to share an absolutely phenomenal list of books. They're titles I've either just read, or am about to read. Some of my favourite contemporary writers are here: Elizabeth Strout, Clare Chambers, KL Slater. You'll be wanting to pre-order.
Dear friends. Had a delightful outing with friends from the Kettlewell Colour Club to see the BIBA exhibition at the London Fashion & Textile Museum.
BIBA was a fashion brand started by Barbara Hulanicki in 1964. It became very influential and along with Mary Quant, was one of the fashion retailers shaping "the London Look."
Dear friends. June has been a satisfying month. I did quite a lot, and the weather improved. Highlights included a visit to the Kettlewell Colour Studio, a beach holiday on the Greek island of Skiathos and a couple of cycling adventures. I also saw an excellent exhibition of Vivienne Westwood's private collection, prior to auction.
Dear friends. Today's book spotlight is a story that will make you laugh and cry. It's a colourful, vivid and evocative account of a Blackburn boy's battle to become a performance artist and remain true to himself.
Northern Boy is the debut novel from award winning Iqbal Hussain.
Dear friends. Dreamy Dresses is Jacqui's prompt for this month's Style Not Age challenge. Five style bloggers from the UK and Ireland interpret a different prompt each month.
Regular readers will know that until recently, I seldom wore dresses. I had around 3. But this year I've satisfied my inner gamine by finding some shorter, retro style dresses.
I wore my Voodoo Vixen nautical dress for an outing to Christie's with Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper. The auctioneer had put on a splendid pre-auction exhibition of the Vivienne Westwood personal collection, which comes under the hammer this week.
It was a very inspirational exhibition and very well done. As it was a chilly day, I'm wearing my dress with a Kettlewell short tie wrap in soft white. Shoes are from Boden.
Below: a quick snap of the building, with a neon Westwood logo.
 |
Thanks to Penny for the photos. If you'd like to see more pics from the Vivienne Westwood pre-auction exhibition, check out my post about June on Friday (28 June). The auction happens on 24 June so I'm sure there will be pictures in the papers too. (Who still read a paper? I do, The Times on my tablet).
.jpeg)
