Such a Perfect Day

Such a Perfect Day
A coffee, a lunch on a whim,
Then later the beach and a swim,
And then go home.

 

Yesterday was one of those Perfect Days.
 

 

It started out with this outfit.  A meet up with my Cruisin' Cousins over coffee,

 

 

here at The Urban Kitchen

 

We discussed plans for our forthcoming mini cruise and, of course, what to pack.  I passed on the great tips you lovely readers have given me and we will take those on board (pun started out unintentionally but how I like it now!).

The cardi was superfluous by the time I parked the car, such a beautifully warm day.

Meanwhile, TP had walked home through pretty lanes from the paper shop where I dropped him off.  He sat in his favourite armchair and sudokued and crossworded peacefully and to his heart's content.

TP and I then met up for lunch with friends.  We walked to a nice beachside restaurant,  getting in our daily dose of exercise.
 

 

And by this time, it was too hot for even a slip of colourful silk around my neck.

 

The shoes had been changed for some good walkers, these Clarks flatties and the scarf had been stylishly tied to my handbag, a Jones bag, as in this older photo.  NB: This bag was again admired at coffee.  It's really old but it receives compliments nearly every time I wear it ... even after all these years!

The beachside restaurant can look like this in bad weather.

 

Fortunately, in August it looks like this!  A Perfect Day.

 

 

Serene

 

 

Romantic.

 

 

And during the day, the glorious sun shines through the glass doors, so this is the best view I could give you from my table.

 

Scallops wrapped in bacon.

 

We had an invigorating walk back home.  I walked briskly, to work off some lunch calories.

Then, back home, a lovely surprise.  Voicemail from Son.  A meet up at tea time down at the beach.

Oh what a smashing time we had.

We swam lots with the GKs.  We frolicked in the water, played games at the water's edge.

We caught up with family news whilst lolling around, our bathers (swimsuits) drying on us in the sun as sandwiches and yummy home made biscuits were nibbled.

So perfect.

A v. old Next kaftan, with nice beaded detail on the neckline.  I usually wear it on poolside holidays only.  I don't go on many of those.  So it's v. old but still v. new!

 

Under my kaftan I wore my brown bathers from Bravissimo.  Great for swimming,  dry in a flash.  V. old and still like new, even though worn loads, in salt and chlorine water every single year, for the past 10 or so.

 We returned home, my hair looking like that of a surfer girl granny after so much swimming in salty sea water.

And The Photographer said "Today has been a Perfect Day.  This feels like retirement."

Such a Perfect Day, I'm glad I shared it with you. 

Have you had a Perfect Day this summer?  Maybe you've had many.

What is a Perfect Day to you?  Do you have the elements of a Perfect Day in mind? 

Or do days just surprise you by being unexpectedly Perfect?

Perhaps there just isn't a prescription for a Perfect Day ...

A la perchoine.



What is This Life ...?

Well, disaster, darlings!

We had a thunderstorm and a lightning strike directly overhead.   A thunderous single crack lasting no more than a few seconds.

 I happened to be sitting in the room where the wifi router is located.  I saw a flash of light in the room, for just a second.  I fear I may have been Frankensteined!

No surprise that I discovered later that we had no broadband connection on any devices.

So we've had a few days of trying to sort things out.

After many helpline conversations and fault finding missions, I picked up a new router today but we're still not there, it's not functioning and the hotline A Team are now on the case.   I'm typing this on Kindle as weirdly the router log-in has managed to piggyback off someone's WiFi in the hood onto this device. It's the only device that's functioning which means I'm on slow one-finger typing.  What a palaver!

Has this happened to you?

How did you cope?  Did you carry on regardless or run around like a frustrated headless chicken?!

The house benefited from my off-line status. With no keyboard twiddling to be had, I took to cleaning and organising the house.  That pleased The Photographer and, surprisingly, me too!

I hope it'll be business as usual for me soon.

But anyway, me and my one finger are here, so let's move on.  

Earlier in the week,  I enjoyed two school sports days spread over the one day.

I count my blessings that I am such a lucky granny to be able to participate in my little treasures' special days.

I felt inspired to take a selfie for you half way through the day.

And to show you the lawns on which sports day is held.

I am on cloud nine when I get to go this type of event.  I get a little over-excited and am close to tears of happiness.  

So emotional.

All the children did wonderfully and were so happy, enthusiastic and energetic.  What an amazing experience.

The school kiddies were lucky enough to have their special event on a glorious day.

It was hot, I doubt they noticed ... but grannies do!

So when Son and DIL invited me round for a refreshing Jacuzzi whilst they and The Photographer watched the first of the new series of Game of Thrones (I don't follow it), I jumped!

 I quickly slipped on a long Primani maxi.

This is its first outing this year.  It was excited too!

Under the maxi I wore my black tankini from Bravissimo, ready for some bubble action!

What a pleasure it was to soak my body in that bubbling Jacuzzi, looking up at the beautiful summer evening sky.  Watching the smokey wisps of cloud drift by, listening to the chatter of evensong, then letting my mind drift away as the sun itself began to drift behind the trees.  And to add to my pleasure, a hunky Samoyed was watching over me as he lay on the nearby sunbed.

What bliss.

What is this life if, full of care

We have not time to soak and stare.

With apologies posthumously to W H Davies for tweaking his words ever so slightly to make his poem Jacuzzi-friendly.


A perfect day, from start to finish.


Have you been lucky enough to tag along to any sports days this summer?


Now, dear reader, something special is happening in Pout World. I'm getting close to 100,000 reads.
Yes, I'm more than a little excited!
I'm displaying the number in the top right hand corner of my page to mark the event.  If you just happen to be the one who tips it into six figures, I'd be thrilled if you let me know in the comments box that it was you who crossed that magical threshold!


A la perchoine

The Shorts Affair Continues

Hi peeps, thanks for popping in.  Hope you are enjoying the lazy, hazy days of summer.

I've been having some family time in the sun, including a super few days with the GKs. 

Along the way I squeezed into the long-awaited denim shorts.  Well, not really squeezed, this latest batch of shorts are rather loose.  But I guess that is practical when the weather is hot.

. 

These are from Dotty P.  I think there's something wrong with the website, it shows only 3 styles left.  Must be an error.  As you can see, they are sort of knee-length denim and, trust me, they are extremely comfy.  You also get a glimpse of my fave tankini too, old and from Bravissimo.  I was ready to hit the beach!

Now, I think these are the pair from Next here.  These are favoured by GD and The Photographer. 

So subtle is the difference between the two pairs that I'm not entirely sure which is which!

Worn with a Next longline navy camisole and black hat shading sea-ready face!

At the moment I am doing some positive thinking on my dalliance with shorts.  It may be just a brief encounter.  But if I can forget about what I look like and think of comfort, then maybe, just maybe, shorts and me could turn into an LTR.

How are you doing with shorts this summer?  On?  On and off? Or totally off?

So far beige chinos and jean-shorts are sort-of doing it for me.  And the longer length and the thicker fabric is the combo that stands up to the challenges of my chunky legs.

The old negatives are fading with the good choices I'm making.

GD finds my shorts try-ons/wearing amusing (embarrassing).  Apparently the big issue is the knees (like I didn't know that).  But she has a different take on my knee issue.  It would seem that when my knees bend it doesn't look like they're bending. 

I'm still trying to visualise that one!

Do you have any tips or fixes with shorts that works for you?  That you could share with me? 

 'Cos me and my knees need all the help we can get!

Now, what else have I been up to?  I'm getting to that stage in life when I have to check the diary or my camera to see what I was up to yesterday.  Sound familiar?

OK, so the photographic evidence tells me that I met up for a bite to eat with some girlfriends at our local, the Rockie which is down on the coast.  The one with the nice sunset view over the sea.  Trouble is, my little pensioner eyes only get to see it when the nights start to draw way in, because I'm usually home again by 8pm!

But the pink clouds were a pretty sunset-substitute!

Back to the outfit.  It was a lovely evening so we enjoyed the walk to and from the pub.  I shaded my eyes from the sun with the Next sunhat and as the vibe was casual, I allowed myself to stay comfy in the Birkies. 

I really have learned to make sensible choices for the pub-walk, eh?  I arrived home blister-free!

 

The Next linen mix navy cardi came too.  In my bag the whole evening.

This old Primani jersey maxi dress is just so useful on summer days like this one.  I do believe it will enjoy a place in my suitcase next week when I go to France.

And tonight my guest Marianne has met up with a friend for dinner in town.

Looking so lovely wearing a white/grey toile de jouy style print skirt in  a simple A-line.

I leave you with another try-on.  With my recent holiday in mind, I ordered  this vest, to bring perhaps a little lift to my wardrobe and my days.  Not sure about it.  It trapezes out at the hemline and looks a bit strange on me.  With shorts anyway ... well, wouldn't anything?!

Will try it on with white capri jeans tomorrow.  Because Marianne's come home today with a real pensioner-priced pair for me - £3!!!

A la perchoine.

 



Life's A Beach

Life certainly was a beach today.  From early morning I was playing in rock pools with my cute GS.  Then late afternoon, The Photographer and I returned to the beach for a swim.  Our sea leads straight off the Atlantic so it is, er, shall we say, "refreshing".  But once you're wet, it's uplifting, envigorating.  With temps now reaching 26-30c, spending days on the beach is the way to go.



The great beach weather started at the weekend.  I was busy gardening but I squeezed in a few moments to hunt down my bathing suits and wash and dry everything ready for life on the beach. 

So here's my OOTD.

A black tankini set.  I think the make is Panache and it's from Bravissimo.

The tankini has a bra-type arrangement at the back, so provides great support for Big Girls.

My old black tankini set, similar currently available.

My tankini top is underwired.  And an added bonus with this set is that the briefs are high-waisted and have a fold-over arrangement so they can be kept high when swimming and rolled down when sunbathing.  Pretty well designed for most beaching requirements.

Now, are you familiar with Bravissimo?  It's a UK company that does absolutely great underwear.  Especially for Big Girls.  I have amassed an embarrassing amount of their underwear over the years.

But they do great clothing and beachwear too, all constructed with the needs of curvy ladies in mind.  And some of those have popped into my shopping trolley too over the years.  Clothing and beachwear, that is - curvy ladies have not been popping into my shopping trolley. That would be kinda surreal!

Anyway, back to the matter in hand - their delivery is so speedy (Bravissimo's, not the trolley-leaping curvy ladies' delivery!) and everything arrives wrapped elegantly in branded tissue paper.

Now, allow me to show you a few other swimsuits which were pulled out yesterday.

Green, navy and white tankini set, similar currently available.

 Now this set is my fave.  I adore this fresh green, navy and white tankini, which I bought 3-4 years ago for a holiday on Cote d'Azur.  It screamed out "French beach!". The tankini top was just perfect to wear off-beach too with a white lawn skirt or crops, for those really hot days you get down there.



Brown swimsuit, similar currently available here



I've worn this brown swimsuit loads over many years.  It's a flattering cut.

All of the above have the same bra mechanism in the back, so provide great support.



This is the odd one out.  It's from M&S, bought many years ago.  It has no bra-mechanism or Big Girl support system.  But it works just fine as a really light swimsuit and the chest band in its own way provides some support.  The net panel means that it dries speedily whilst I loll around on the beach after swimming. It's black, but like the black tankini set above, it looks sort of navy in the pic.

Years ago I really struggled to find swimsuits with adequate sized cups.  These days, I'm spoilt for choice.  Curvy ladies do not need to search hard, just hit the Bravissimo website.

But please, no jumping in my shopping trolley!

I hope these tried-and-tested examples I've shown you of curvy girl swimsuits will be of help if you are a similar body shape and are tearing your hair out to find something fit for purpose.

I leave you with a shot of where I spent my day.  

On the beach.  For Life's A Beach right now.

A la perchoine.