Darts Night.

Hello everyone. 

Hope you’re all okay. 

How’s your week been? 

Another extra busy one for me.  I know I like to go to my gym classes but they do take up a lot of time. Seeing the kids is important to me too, so a lot of the time is spent with one or other of them which I love. I try to see my mum a couple of times a week along with talking to her on WhatsApp too. I shop for dinner ingredients daily. I know it’s a time waster and I could plan evening meals each week and buy in one hit, but that’s not how either David or I like to do it. I don’t visit the shops every week either but I usually pop somewhere every couple of weeks whether it’s bigger towns like Canterbury or my local Whitstable & Herne Bay, that’s to buy things like cards, toiletries & birthday gifts. 

I headed over to Ashford Outlet yesterday. I had to exchange a Christmas present for David and the deadline was the end of this month so had to be done soon. I’d completely forgotten about changing the polo top, so had to rush over yesterday once I’d picked up the receipt from my son and daughter-in-law. Silly me though as I assumed (we all know what that means) it was from TKMaxx but it wasn’t. The top came from Abercrombie &Fitch so that was where I headed to. They didn’t have one in store but the helpful sales assistant did everything for me and arranged for a new one to be sent out in the correct size - brilliant. 

I had a quick browse in the Marks & Spencer over there but nothing caught my eye. Although I’ve just picked up a co-ord from their website. I’m excited to share the check two piece with you, so do watch out for it soon. 

You might have caught the snippet I mentioned on my last post where I spoke briefly about getting together with all the family. Such a joyful thing for me along with the other things I spoke about on this SNA post.  Let me share my exciting evening with you today. 

Style Not Age share their Joyful January outfits.

Good Morning. 

How your week been?

Can you believe it’s the last week of January?

It doesn’t seem two minutes since the last Style not Age challenge was being shared and here we are promoting the first one of 2026. 

Anna from Anna’s Island Style picked this topic and she’s given an easy option that will suit all of us which is just as well as sometimes the next year can prove a bit more challenging!  She’s given us the helpful and extensively open title of … Joyful January. 

January is usually thought of as a dowdy depressing month. Christmas is done and dusted with all the pretty decorations and presents stored away or put to good use (mostly). The weather is usually horrible with dark early evenings and cloudy days, sometimes with a drop of snow but more often wet and windy here in the UK. Although we have the odd bright and clear day, which hints that Spring is on its way! This year has been a bit different for me. You can read about my two fantastic joyful Christmas presents from David on my last post here and last night was spent doing another of my favourite things that make me feel joyful …. being with David and the family. ❤️

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

 

My Christmas Presents - Chic & Stylish Linkup.

Hi there everyone. 

How are you?

I’ve had such a busy few weeks and haven’t had time to blog which is sad for me. Family life has been choc-a-block so making time to partake in my favourite hobby has been truly difficult. Anyway how’s your past weeks been? Have you checked out the new fashions, or maybe tried a new hobby or recipe? Do let me know and join the linkup below. 

Let me tell you about my last couple of weeks. I’ve been enjoying two birthday presents from David. Firstly he surprised me with a night at Canterbury Cathedral. He’d booked the classical music event which was set in an Illuminated Canterbury Cathedral and was incredible. 

It featured the legendary Hans Zimmer and John Williams, whose famous musical scores were presented in an illuminated cathedral & were stunning. You may be aware that they both have composed some amazing soundtracks and musical scores for various films and have received accolades and awards for their outstanding work. Our evening in the cathedral, which was preceded by a meal in The Ivy, was fantastic. It really was an enchanting evening that had me entranced from the moment I walked into the fabulous setting. 

Still in my Brown Era - Chic & Stylish Linkup

Morning all. 

How’s your first week of the new year gone?

I’ve been loving getting back to normal. Back to the gym and dance classes for me and I’ve got a renewed enthusiasm for it. That’s what having a couple of weeks off does for me, does that work for you?

I popped to a couple of stores on Tuesday, I had to return something and ended up with a new bag! I have SO many bags and plan to have a cull to reduce some I don’t really use. Today’s outfit was what I wore yesterday, it features a new jacket and some boots along with that cute bag. 

December Review

Good morning my friends. 

How are you on what might be your first proper-back-to-normal-day!

I’m back to the gym this morning and am planning to lose the few lbs I’ve put on over the past weeks, which I’m really looking forward to doing.  I’m not worried at all as I knew 100% I’d put a bit of weight on. I know I’ve been eating lots of things I shouldn’t have - but really enjoyed doing it! lol. 

I’m taking the last of the decorations down today too. The house looks so bare and quite honestly sad, but I’m excited to think next year I’ll hopefully be in the new house so will have to see where I can put everything and more importantly if any of the garlands will have a suitable place!! ( My house has lots of wooden beams that can easily have hooks drilled into it. New house won’t have that!) Do you leave the festive decorations up for as long as possible or do you remove them at the earlier opportunity?

Now you know it’s the first Monday of the new month which makes way for the December Review let’s take a stroll down last month’s lane. 

Way back at the beginning of the month I was sharing a new pair of barrel leg trousers I found on Vinted. Head over to this post to read all about them. 

Animal Print with Block Colours - Chic & Stylish Linkup.

Morning all. 

Welcome to you all and I’d like to wish you a Happy New Year. 

I can’t quite believe it’s 2026, last year flew by. I’ve got a very exciting year ahead. You see my daughter is getting married in August so there’s lots of plans and preparations along with finishing off the new build. It’s really starting to take shape, we’re at the first fixing & plaster-boarding stage with plastering on the horizon. I’ll be looking for a kitchen and paint swatches before long!

I’ve also got to get my dress planned for the wedding too. I’ve worn blue to three of my children’s weddings and had an idea to go for something different but until I see it I’m keeping my options open!

With the weather apparently getting very cold I wanted to show off a stunning scarf I’d been given. It’s from the small selection at Damart and came in the goody bag I received at the WS preview last September . 

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

 

Prints Charming with Style not Age.

Hello everyone. 

Phew! Didn't that rush by!

I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year. 

Like you I've had a busy few weeks, resulting in not getting the past three blog posts out!  Things will calm down now a bit and I hope to get back on track. Anyway I hope you've had an amazing holiday period and a wonderful Christmas.  The food in our house was plentiful as was the drink and company - so lovely to spend special time's with family and friends. How was yours and what did you get up to?

So welcome to my blog which is the last one of the year and is dedicated to my friends and I for the last Style not Age post too!

This has been set by Emma and her apt choice of Prints Charming suits us all nicely, well nearly all of us!

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

Sparkly Season.

Hello there my lovelies. 

Hope you’ve had a great weekend. What did you get up to?

I’ve had a lovely one. Didn’t achieve much but most of it was family orientated, which is alright for me as I love being with the kids. 

I spent the morning on Saturday at my grandsons football match. They didn’t win - but did very well and it’s all part of the learning curve isn’t it! I must say the opposition had parents that were a very rowdy bunch and did call out some unwelcoming jibes - mostly to their own team, but each to their own I suppose! 

It was a chilly morning but with bright sunshine, which was good and the park was only down the road from me therefore didn’t take that long to get there and back. The girls came home from the other match so we had an hour or so to catch up and put the world to rights! Anyone else do that with their kids?

How are you getting on with your Christmas preparations? I’m gradually getting there with only a handful of gifts to buy and wrap. My youngest helped me at the weekend by wrapping some presents I bought last Friday so that’s been a godsend! This week I want to make sure I’ve got all the food and drink shopping sorted. I’ve got a Tesco delivery coming next Sunday so fingers crossed I’ll have everything covered and ready for the big day. Do you shop online for your food or do you venture into the supermarket before Christmas?

Have you been wearing your sparkles recently ? ✨ 

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

 

Wine Coloured Maxi Dress for Winter - Chic & Stylish Linkup

Hello and welcome. 

How’s your week going?

Hasn’t the weather been atrocious? I got soaked on the school run on Monday afternoon. When I left home it was clear weather so I put this outfit on. I must have had a sixth sense as I decided to change before the school run and put some trousers on with my chunky boots and padded jacket! But to my horror I hadn’t thought enough as by the time I’d arrived at school and got out the car the skies had darkened and the rain was tipping it down! I had an umbrella but the wind made keeping it in place almost impossible, so you can imagine I got soaked!

Anyway I thought I’d show you how well this outfit turned out once I’d played around with a few pieces. I wanted to make my new maxi dress wearable in the Winter and reckon I achieved my goal, what do you think?

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

Arundel, West Sussex.

Good morning my lovelies. 

Hope you’re doing well. 

I’ve had a super weekend as I’ve been away overnight to stay in Arundel with David and our best friends. 

We try to get away before Christmas for a well deserved break, and also we exchange our secret santas! 

So after an early start on Saturday morning, we found ourselves in the little town of Arundel in West Sussex. We’d booked a hotel in the centre, which was surrounded by pubs, restaurants and coffee shops. Arriving earlier than check in, which was 3pm, we parked the car and did some wandering. The weather was awful and rained the whole time we were there bar a few windows when it had cleared, so we purposely timed pit stops in the shops and pubs when the rain fell. It worked out quite alright but I still was annoyed that I’d not take a coat with a hat or an umbrella! My scarf I’d taken helped but to be honest the rain played havoc with my hair as it wasn’t waterproof!