Listening to our Chief Minister @gavinstpier’s lunchtime chats has become a Thing for island families, akin to huddles around the crystal set during the occupation.
Friday’s was a game changer. Announcing Stage 4 of Lockdown Exit. .
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Yesterday hairdressers were a-clippin’ at 12.01am.
Restaurants opened somewhat later.
And fireworks 💥 were a-poppin’ in last night’s sky.
Heck, even a spaceship passed by! .
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Yup, there was quite a buzz about the place for this stage in the exit process. .
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But I’ll miss the stone towers.
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A la perchoine,
Mary x.
P. S. I was quite proud of today’s post title, it’s a play on Top Cat’s exit stage left catch phrase - anyone remember that?!
I’ve added discreet today as I have a bit of a confession to get off my chest.
As you may know, I post on Instagram. I like to use it document my days in pictures, which comes in handy when I have senior moments and need a memory refresh on something that I did last year, last month, yesterday!
But sometimes it can push my limits of creativity and last week was one such time when my creative juices needed to flow if I was going to keep up my neat little grid formation of - one OOTD/outfit, one non-outfit - picture formation. (What can I say, I like symmetry!).
You see, last week I was busy gardening, de-cluttering said garden, cooking, walking in strong sunlight or strongish winds. Non of these things was conducive to good outfit posts.
So I took an Insta OOTD break. I cheated. For the sake of symmetry, you understand.
I posted pics of outfits I wore this time last year.
And I think I got away with it, for no one seemed to comment on it ... or perhaps dared to!
Here are my cheats.
CHEAT 1
One of my fave summer dresses, a yellow floral.
Here I szjoojshed it up with duck egg tassel earrings (that colour IS in the floral print, trust me!)
CHEAT 2
I’d worn this outfit for a posh restaurant meal last summer.
Aqua linen dress, embellished cashmere cardi, glitzy sandals.
You know, I’m not really missing restaurant trips.
They do say that do something for 30 days and it becomes habit. Well, I’ve not been to a restaurant in 3 months - I think that habit may be well and truly embedded now.
What about you? Are you missing and yearning for restaurant meals? Or maybe not so much?
CHEAT 3
Toile seems jouey print sun dress and cobalt blue cardi.
And here I really pushed the limits of my daring.
You see, this was taken in the pergola this time last year.
Then an August storm made mincemeat of the pergola - right now it is anything but as pretty as this.
Gardening. Gardening. Gardening.
That’s what I’ve been up to. Seems pretty much all I do these days and perhaps I’m getting to the point where I want to break out.
But there are some bright spots to life right now. I’ve actually entertained too!
My posting took a back seat in recent days as I focused on prep for my first bbq of summer. Or, if truth be told, the first in many, many years. The Photographer isn’t a big fan of bbq food and we got rid of our old bbq last year. But having had a simply delish bbq at Son’s house last weekend, we were keen to give it another go, so Son brought his portable Weber and we were good to go.
Sooo, Friday found me driving down the coast to pick up our meat order at the best butcher on the island. Arguably.
And on a sunny day with the top down, that’s an outing in itself.
But then, oh the tidying up! TP and I “joke“ that if we didn’t have guests to stay or the odd party or drinks thing the house would never get a tidy up. Turns out it’s the same with the garden!
We’ve been focused on actual gardening like planting and stuff and had ignored all the messy plant pots and bits and pieces lurking that make for an unwelcoming outdoor space. So for a few days last week we were rather occupied dumping broken chairs, giving garden furniture a touch up with black paint, organising unused plant pots in a tidy space behind the she-shed, rearranging garden tables and seating into socialable groupings. That sort of thing. It’s hard physical work shifting heavy wooden furniture around but soooo worth it.
Plus I had to hook out the bbq utensils and embarrassingly they looked like they’d never been used.
And then we were bbq ready!
We played boules and bubbles after lunch, then took family photos to mark the occasion.
Son and I rarely have shots taken together, so we thought it a perfect time to get a few in the can with just us two.
Our photobomber had other plans.
Yup, Mr Samoyed saw it as the perfect opportunity to muscle in on the action.
It would have been rude to kick him out eh?
But back to gardens.
I’m wondering if I’m the only person who has to work for days tidying up her garden for guests.
Is your garden always neat and tidy and guest-ready?
I didn’t want to walk around the house in a jean jacket after a recent #herstyleourway challenge and neither did I want to spend a chilly early summer day in a sleeveless blouse. Way too brrr.
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So I played around with variations by doing that tried and tested trick of “bunging a cardi on it”. .
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This is what I wore for the rest of the day, a swingy taupe affair from The White Company. Oh and I soon ditched the wedgy courts for a pair of flatties too.
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Such easy switches.
Bunging a cardi on it makes for wearable living. And trapeze cardis seem to go with everything.
Do you find that?
I missed a day’s posting yesterday as I’ve been totally focused at getting back in hostess mode for my first family meal since lockdown. I’m super excited. More on that in another post.
So today as I rush around doing last minute tweaks to house and garden and food, I will leave you with some pics I took on a recent Freedom Day.
We allow ourselves an outing once or twice a week as we ease ourselves through the lockdown exit door. It’s when we drive somewhere for our daily walk, rather than walk around the hood.
I call these Freedom Days as when we did our first outing a few weeks ago that is exactly how it felt.
So here, I give you L’Ancresse. It’s the area I spent most of my school summer holidays pottering about in, so it has plenty of fond memories.
In no particular order, because that is the way the photos decided to upload, here’s L’Ancresse.
A Martello tower, fortification against attack by Napoleon.
Fortification ruins from the same period.
In the far distance, a building that was once Pembroke Bay Hotel, where I worked at weekends and in school holidays from the age of 14. And where by absolute chance I met The Rolling Stones in 1964, got their autographs on my Reelin and Rockin ep that I’d bought hours before and had with me, and then saw their concert that evening. I couldn’t make this stuff up!
Fort Le Marchant, another fortification against Napoleon’s forces.
A rare sight these days, a vapour trail.
An Arsenal, from the napoleonic period.
It’s a great bay for swimming, a big sandy bottom!
A German lookout tower, WWII.
A German bunker, where I used to play as a child. They’re locked up now.
Gorse.
I love how the sun’s heat warms the gorse oil and creates a fabulous perfume that fills the air at this time of year. My spirit soars!!
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I wore this recently when participating in the #herstyleourway challenge.
This outfit quite surprised me.
I’d thought it was going to be quite a dull outfit but it felt bloomin’ good on!
Comfy yet cheeky. I think it’s all about the footwear. I chose peep toe booties to summerise the Pinterest look (see below).
Wearing heels with jeans makes me feel that bit sassier. You too?
I tried the tummy tuck once more, and once more it was rejected by The Photographer With Fashion Views. He says it looks messy and bulky and it’s not flattering. I think he may be right ... on this occasion!
This is the look I was recreating. One that I was not looking forward to styling.
It turned out to be a comfy outfit that I’d wear again on a cooler summer’s evening.
But right now the summer is hotting up and hopefully this one will have to stay in my mind’s storage for some time to come.
Good morning my lovelies!
#nofilterneeded today in for his stunning sunrise over the sea.
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My bro took these - I was probably just thinking about my first coffee of the day whilst he was out busily snapping!
I'm thankful he shared these symbolic shots with me.
A rising sun, symbolising new beginnings.
Our household bubble is allowed to bubble buddy with three other bubbles as of last weekend.
I'm over the moon happy and Son's family, Other Granny and The Pout Bubble have been making up for lost time since Saturday!
We've now had no new cases of Covid-19 in 3 weeks and have just 3 live cases remaining on the island, so let's tippy toe some more on that freedom path!
How are you ok doing on the lockdown exit path?
Is your area tippy toeing too?
As my hair grows longer in lockdown, I seem to be drifting towards a hippy vibe.
My natural instinct on some days draws me to boho casual, like a peasant blouse and jeans. .
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This seems a perfect outfit for at home “socializing”.
A pretty print top is what gets seen on screen when Zooming.
It doesn’t matter what’s on the bottom half, if anything at all!
But as I was lounging about in the garden between calls on this day, I chose jeans - sparing the neighbours the trauma of seeing me in pretty top and nothing else!
This was my first drive-to-walk treat as restrictions ease.
I'm allowing myself one of these treats a week as we tippy toe through our Covid-19 exit strategy.
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We've had no new cases in over 2 weeks and just a handful of live cases left.
Birkenstock’s are the ultimate in summer comfort.
And these silver beauts add a bit of glam to that comfort so can be worn with just about anything in these bare-legged months, including pretty skirts and dresses as well as the ubiquitous white jeans.
And my stay-home outfits are all of the above
They just have to be the ultimate in at-home footwear, right ladies?
I saw this Pinterest inspo as something to wear post-lockdown so I tweaked it a little to create an outfit for home right now.
Is this an outfit you’d wear right now? I think it’s casual enough for home lounging with cami and the flatties.
And switching up to wedges and striped bag would be a quick tweak to take it outside in that big wide world I’m rapidly losing touch with whilst cocooning in my little household bubble.
Wedges and a bag are additions for when we get back to normal.
Pink shorts are definitely left for someone with the legs for them.
Old pink crops are my switch to make this retirement style.
A cami and flatties make this an around-home outfit for lockdown lounging.
And come lockdown exit, I’ll totter around on heels once more!!
Have you worn any form of heels during lockdown?
It feels weird putting them on right now, like I’m dressing up in mummy’s stuff and pretending to be a grown up!
