Casual but Still Stylish - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Hi there everyone, thanks for joining me today.

What have you been doing this week?

I've been all behind this week and most probably the reason being I've been going down with a cold.  Two of my daughter's have had it and it's been going round the grand-kids, so no surprise I got it!

It's left me feeling really tired with a barking cough and sore chest - I'm hoping it doesn't turn into something more sinister and have been chucking paracetamol and ibuprofen down my throat and drinking honey and lemon at every opportunity (with a brandy in it at night - for medicinal purposes you understand).

Fortunately I haven't had either dance classes this week and cancelled my two classes on Wednesday.  It's pointless trying to exercise when I feel ill as I'm sure it will have a negative impact!  I hope to be feeling on top form by Friday as it's my mum's birthday and then my daughters on Sunday, so will be a busy weekend!

So with that being the situation, I've not felt much like taking photos.  I had to drag myself and get this outfit together yesterday, but once I had it on, I quite liked it!

March Review.

Morning my lovely friends.

How ya' doing?

Happy Easter Monday.

Did you have a nice Easter weekend break?  

How many Easter eggs have you eaten?  I only got one and that was after lots of big hints to hubby and nearly having to buy it myself - lol.  I usually receive one from my mum, but she hasn't been out yet so didn't get one from her!  Ohhh I sound like a spoiled child don't I!!!!

The children enjoyed their Easter Egg Hunt 🐇🥚  If you follow my IG stories you may have seen my trail.  They had lots of eggs to enjoy, so I hope they didn't eat too many and make themselves ill!!!

Time for the March Review.

It's scary to think we are in April already, I just hope and pray that things keep heading in the right direction and we can continue our route out of lock-down.  

A new month also means I can share last month's blog posts.  

In this post you can read about what I've been obsessing over, I had a busy month that was filled with all sort of emotions.  I sadly lost my darling little Jack Russell Roxy after her being by my side for nearly 16 years.  Also I had a special little lady arrive some ten days early.  She's gone a long way to mend my broken heart. 💖

But first let's start with a vest top.  There's a few different terms for this little jumper and I've been interested to find out what you call them!

Style Not Age - Borrowed from the Boys!

Good morning my friends.

Hope you are well.

Last Monday in March can only mean one thing .... a post featuring the ladies from the Style not Age collective.

This month fell to Emma to come up with an interesting topic and a rather engaging prompt she offered us too!

Borrowed from the Boys.

Well this left the challenge wide open quite honestly.  There were so many routes I could take, so I hope you are impressed with the one I chose.

I think Emma had more in mind to theoretically borrow styles that boys wear, where I took it more literally - I borrowed this from 'my boy'!

Rome.

Morning my lovely friends.
How's the over fifties doing?  In fact how are you all doing?
You may have seen my IG stories a few days ago and seen I've just come back from Rome. So you might have watched my antics around the beautiful city.
Today I wanted to share the wonderful days I spent there.  Four other couples joined hubby and me for our four day escape & we made some excellent memories visiting many of the landmarks and special places Rome has to offer.  Today I'll share what we did and what we saw - hope you enjoy joining me.
We booked separate flights, accommodation and transfers, which worked out a better deal for us.  Our flights with Easy Jet were as smooth as you like and we arrived after the 2 hour and 5 minute flight full up with breakfast and a cheeky bottle of Prosecco (small one - lol) excited with anticipation of the ensuing days.

Hey! do you spot The Vatican behind me?

My weekend antics and #wiw

Hi there, how are you all my lovely over fifty blogging friends?
Busy weekend for Mummab!  Meeting a friend for cake and a cuppa on Saturday with an exhilarating walk along the seafront to work it off!  My little town was absolutely buzzing with people everywhere.  It seemed like a summers day especially with the delightfully warm wind blowing off the sea.  People were sunbathing on the beach, although I didn't see any swimsuits.  Ideal weather for flying kites, & I saw a couple of bright flyers swooping and soring high on the breeze.
Stopping in the aptly named Windy Corner Café for an acceptably large piece of Lemon Drizzle and Polenta cake - naughty but oh so nice! Washed down with plenty of tea.  Nice to catch up with a friend like this and it was such a treat because it's not something I'd normally do on a Saturday!
You'll never guess what I did on Saturday night!  It was Esther Ruby's birthday and she had a silent disco!  Yes you heard right (sorry - excuse the pun!) a silent disco.  With personal headphones and a choice of three music channels to dance the night away!  I did think I'd end up in the front room listening to the juke box with the oldies, but had a really fun time dancing and singing all night!  When a new song came through there was lots of pointing, mouthing and pulling one earphone off to shout "switch sides" "hey this is a good one" or "I love this one". Although it was hilarious when I took the earphones off and I could hear everyone 'humming' and 'singing' to their own personal songs! Out of tune & drone came to mind - ha ha ha!



Here's what I decided to wear.  Because of the unexpectedly warm weather on Saturday night I chose to wear a sleeveless top over some black jeans.  I picked up some boots in Florence and Fred (I'll show these in the next few weeks) on Friday and couldn't wait to wear them, super comfy soles meant I could and did dance all night!  These aren't in the photos because I hadn't bought them when they were taken.  The tassel ankle boots look great too so I could have worn them, but they aren't quite so great on my feet!

Style Steal - #chicandstylish #LINKUP

Hi there lovelies.  What are you up to?
I feeling rather pleased with myself at the moment.  You see I'm following a diet and so far have lost a stone!!  I'm so shocked because I've never really managed to lose any weight on a diet.  Does this sound familiar, start the diet on Monday, do really well and stick to it until Friday - then it goes downhill with takeaways, prosecco, dinner out, prosecco and a big family roast dinner with more prosecco! 😂 Then I wonder why I've not lost any weight!!!  It's so obvious - you literally 'are what you eat'.  Trouble is I LOVE MY FOOD!  Now this diet I'm following is not actually difficult, you just have to stop eating and drinking the things you aren't allowed and eat what you should - it's not brain science, lol. It's all about accepting a different mind-set.
Anyway - so far so good and I'm chuffed pink with my clothes feeling looser and looking much better! I'll keep you posted how the diet goes.

Okay back to today's Style Steal.  It should have been presented Monday, but I decided to push it back by a few days, due to not having photos ready to use - Opps! Which reminds me I've still to use my voucher for a photography course!

Style not Age - Wild about Animal Print.

Morning all.  How was your past week?
Nearing the end of August now, and it's definitely starting to feel like Autumn/fall is just around the corner with slightly cooler mornings and mushrooms popping up in the garden!

This month the ladies of the Style not Age collective are going wild - Wild about Animal Print!
Emma has bestowed the never-go-out-of-fashion element for our latest challenge, and rather happy I was with this task.  I think animal print is rather like Marmite - you either love it or hate it!
Having come a long way since the days of Coronation Street barmaid Bet Lynch donning leopard print "anything" - with the arrival of the more subtle prints such as zebra, giraffe & snakeskin.

As you may already know I love wearing dresses, and tend to wear them a lot.  So it's nice to find a dress that can be transformed from casual to dressy just by adding different appendages.  For this challenge I opted for heels, but fancy trying baseball pumps and a jumper for a basic relaxed feel.

Style Not Age - My Jumpsuit Joy!

Hi there ladies, how's May going for you?
Today It's time for May's Style not Age challenge.

I've been away in Cornwall for the weekend with my family & only just got back!  After the busy couple of weeks I've had lately it's been nice to take time away to collect my thoughts and relax a little.
The stunning Pencubitt House which is situated in Liskeard played host this weekend.  I enjoyed the surroundings of the countryside in Cornwall whilst partaking in drinking large G & T's, wine and wonderful food - well someone has to! 😉 The silence interrupted by the distant mooing of cows, the flapping and swooping of the swallows building their nests & our intermittent laughter! I'll be sharing a post about my weekend away soon, so hope you'll watch out for that one!
Back to the Style not Age Challenge ….

May's task fell into the lap of Anna.  My Jumpsuit Joy has been one of my favourite challenges so far, and I jumped in (sorry) with two feet.  I did think I'd be buying a new jumpsuit as you've seen all my collection already, here's my snakeskin choice, orange is the new black pick & finally my faux velvet style steal.

Oh cheeky I'm stealing TWO Styles!

Morning lovelies.
How are you all?
Ready for a Style Steal?  Last month I missed this feature for no reason in particular, so as soon as I spotted two of my favourite bloggers wearing this colour combination for Ada's birthday party earlier this month I knew I had to try and emulate both their styles. Yes two styles, I'm trying to make up for last months missing post!

So do you know who's style I have copied this month?  If you've seen either of these bloggers you'll understand just why I wanted to steal from them.

Style Steal - White Jeans & Leopard Print.

Hello, thanks for stopping by - welcome to my blog for the mature lady (well for everyone really).

Catch up with previous 'steals'  July,  August,  September,  October,  November,  December, and January.

My Style Steal today is from a gorgeous lady from across the pond in North Carolina, with a love of fashion in common I've wanted to try and 'copy' one of her styles for a long time.
Meet Jessica who you'll find creating stunning outfits at Elegantly Dressed and Stylish you'll see on her blog she really is both of these.

Another way with my Red pleated skirt.

Hi there.

I'm very slowly getting back to normal and can't believe how a cold can knock you for six!
I came down with this unwanted ailment last week after retuning home on a high from skiing.  I managed to get all the washing done, except some ski gear and had even managed a cycle class!  then it all went to pot.  I knew I was getting something, but hadn't guessed the severity.  I wouldn't say I had the flu, but certainly was suffering a very bad cold that did necessitate me to stay in bed for a couple of mornings - dragging myself up to then just lay on the sofa - yes that bad!

I'm usually a very 'well' person, always seems to avoid the coughs, colds, and upset tummies that make the rounds most years, so when I am struck down I hate it!
I hate having no energy, no oomph to get things done, not wanting to eat and feeling tired - it's just not me and I'm glad to see the back of it!

I went to the Panto!

Oh no you didn't!
Oh yes I did, with my three daughters and princess. We had a wonderful girls afternoon out, great to have a little girly time!
For those who aren't familiar with the Pantomimes in the UK read on to find a little bit about our Pantomime tradition.
Okay so a Panto is a musical comedy stage production, traditionally for all the family to watch over the Christmas & New Year period.   Modern Pantomimes feature gender-crossing actors, combining topical humour with a story that's loosely based on a well know fairy tale, children and parents are encouraged to join in with singing & shouting out of phrases.  Confused?  yes lots of people are.  We had a lovely afternoon out watching Peter Pan, which was full of dancing, singing, jokes and acrobatics,  we all loved it - although princess did ask when were we going home about half way through!

Do you remember me saying I gain inspiration from my surroundings? 

Sunday Funday on the RHDR - choo choo!!

Morning - are you excited? only 4 more sleeps till the arrival of Father Christmas!! 
Let's hope I get everything sorted for a silky smooth-running Christmas Day.  I simply adore the main event, but really like Boxing day too - it's so much more relaxed and chilled.  All the stress of making sure everyone has got what they want, dinner is cooked on time and I've not forgotten anything!  So boxing day I can relax, unwind & enjoy the presents, company and what's on telly without any arguments!

Last Sunday I had an exciting day out.  After an evening at a surprise party it was nice not to have to get up and cook a roast dinner!  So a day out with nearly all the family was just what I did.  My daughter had arranged dinner in a pub en route to Hythe.  I'd booked the annual Santa Special on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, a lovely family trip that all ages would enjoy.  Along with hubby I was accompanied by both grandchildren, daughters, SIL and son - although my prince is still too young to appreciate the visit, my little princess adored it.  She met Santa, rode on the 15" gauge miniature steam train, visited the model railway (she loved pushing the various buttons to start and stop trains, along with lighting some buildings) grand finale was real snow being sprayed - everyone looked really cute with snow in their hair!

My Abstract/patchword Dress.

Morning, how are you?

I'm still away on my holiday to Abu Dhabi, but when I'm home I'll have lots to share with you about my experience in this enigmatic city.  But until then let me show a recent addition to my dress selection.



Whilst out shopping with a friend I found this patchwork dress in TK Maxx,  not only patchwork but it has an interesting abstract design in the pattern as well.  We'd gone out to look for outfits to take on holiday, but I came home with this!  Well in my defence my friend spotted it and suggested I try it on.  It wouldn't have been my first choice, but once I caught my refection in the fitting room mirror I rather liked what I saw, something out of the ordinary for me so I changed my mind & the deal was sealed!

MummaB - Style Steal.

Hi there, are you ready for another Style Steal?
I really hope you've been tuning into my monthly over fifty Style Steal, there's some great bloggers out there and I'm only too pleased to share them with you - maybe giving you some inspiration of styles you can duplicate.
You can view the past months offerings here:
October featuring Nancy,
September featuring Emma,
August featuring Rachel
July featuring Catherine.

Then let's wait no longer, here's November's number.

As soon as I saw this outfit I knew it was my sort of thing.  I really wanted to find something similar, so set about finding my 'steal'.   Only having two of the items in my wardrobe I had to search for the main attraction and search I did.  It didn't take me long to find a near copy of this Target jumpsuit.

Rosegal - Two super stylish dresses.

Hello lovelies, hope you are all well.

You may remember a few weeks ago I shared my Rosegal wish list with you, & here's two super stylish dresses that I'm pleased to show you in full.

Did you catch my post on Monday?  It was the monthly 5Over50 challenge featuring boots.  You can find out all about how 5 over fifty bloggers took a walk on the wild side with our Boots that were made for Walking.

My purchase from Venice.

Hello, glad to welcome you to my blog.

Hope you've had a fun filled week.  Was it too scary?  Did you have many 'Trick or Treaters'?
I'm sad to admit we had no scary costumed children trick or treating at our door, despite having plenty of treats to exude, nothing happened. No knocks, no tricks and no scares!  It wasn't until speaking to my daughter yesterday morning, she told me if I didn't have a carved pumpkin or scary Halloween paraphernalia dangling around our house, most children wont knock!  I hotfooted it up to my friend-with-young-children's house and gave them the sweets we'd been saving for them, apologising for the dark, undecorated and uninviting house they'd neglected (for obvious reasons) to visit.  Must try harder next year!

I've just about got over my excitement of meeting my fellow over fifties bloggers and hope you managed to catch my blog post on Monday explaining my day.

MummaB - Style Steal.

Hi there, welcome to my blog.

Today I'm sharing another style steal.

With so much inspiration on the blogs I follow, back in August I decided to copy a look from another fashion blogger who's style I admired immensely, this has led to a monthly posting of copies from other inspiring ladies.

So without further ado here's my steal for October!

Meet Nancy, her blog about women's fashion centres around her style, fashion and lifestyle in the Netherlands. 

Floral for Autumn - why not!

Hello there, thanks for visiting today.



Last week my daughter decided to clear out her wardrobe.  So she scattered all the clothes over her bed, on the chest of drawers & also on the floor & set about going through them.  Managing to create some three or so bags for the charity shop and one for the bin! 
This is something I need to do, but I keep putting it off!  I will psych myself up and try to address this soon! Pinky promise!!!

Anyway, whilst my daughter was reorganising her wardrobe I spotted a jacket lurking under the charity pile.  Pulling it from it's slumber from under the huge pile I asked about it.  She explained it was a jacket she had bought some months earlier, but hadn't checked the size It must run in the family It was on the wrong hangar, so she bought the wrong size! 
Silver lining... I benefited from her loss and nabbed a freebie for myself!  I must add she's only gone and done it again a few weeks ago and guess what?  I got another give-away jacket - read about that in a future post I'll be sharing. X

5Over5O - A woman wears many hats!

Hello, thanks for stopping by today.
You found me styling the latest edition of the 5 Over 50 challenge. Set by Gail from Is this Mutton? who just so happens to be the lady who bought us all together.
If you haven't seen our previous challenges you can view what five over fifty fashion bloggers styled here, here, here, here & here.

A women wears many hats!
How true is that statement?
This task, as with some of the other challenges had me on a stumbling block.
Upon a little brain crashing I realised this subject had a double meaning!
Actually this woman wears many metaphorical hats! Although owning hardly any!!

When the children were much younger I had many hats to wear including wife, mother, nurse, taxi driver, gardener, children's entertainer, cleaner and chef!  (I bet that rings true with plenty of you). Now-a-days I'm still as busy but with some different hats added and some taken away. All of these have enriched my life in so many ways, but there's still so much more to learn and enjoy.
So now the hats I wear are a wife, PA to hubby, cleaner, chef, mother, daughter, gardener, dog walker and occasional taxi driver, however much more importantly blogger, shopper & Nanny💗 need to be added to the list and I particularly love these 'hats'. 🎩👒

So my style today obviously includes a hat, but not my hat as I don't own any like this - my only offering would be a grey pull on beret, oh or a ski helmet - not sure that would look right with my dress, ha ha!
This gorgeous burgundy floppy felt hat belongs to my trusty photographer Esther Ruby.  I knew she had a couple that would be perfect for the outfit I'd imagined so asked if she could bring them along for the shoot - voila here's the result.

Picking up a pattern fusing habit from Anna - she's the queen of mixing it up, and I hope she's impressed with my offering.  This is a trend that is totally alien to me, I've been taking baby steps to try and get into my groove with blending designs.  I'm still not over confident with the abstract pattern of my dress fusing with the snakeskin bag.
Don't they conflict with each other rather than merge?

Having owned the dress for years, it's something that comes out every once in a while and serves a purpose.  I'm normally very precise about what I like and don't like with clothes, but by contrast I'm very in-different about this casual jersey dress,  I neither love this or hate it! I feel it could be slightly longer, but on this occasion I'm swayed by the colours and front pockets - so for now it's getting a thumbs up from me.👍

Dress from Debenhams find similar dresses here
Boots from Debenhams find similar ankle boots here.


That's a wrap hat from me - lol!
Let's see how my four other friends got on with this challenge.

Over to Gail the founder of 5Over50.

You can find her here IsThis Mutton?
We've obviously got the same mind set because we're wearing similar colour and style hats.
I love your red accessories Gail, especially those boots reflecting that fabulous backdrop of hanging red ivy.

Laurie can be found at Vanity and Me Style.

What a perfect jumpsuit Laurie is wearing, the two tone trilby compliments her accessories wonderfully well, and you're going shine under the golden glow of the lamplight Laurie - glorious!

Next here's Hilda from Over the Hilda.

She is sharing her stunning made-to-measure Anthony Peto hat. How marvellous is this leopard print boater, Hilda you've made a stunning statement with the hat and your super stylish coat - I feel red coats are the way forward this season, so Hilda you're spot on with yours.

Finally Anna from Anna's Island Style.

Sharing not only her style, but some artwork and stunning surroundings too!
Looking cheeky in this blue outfit, & with that cute bowler hat Anna we're seeing your original off-beat style that you create so well.

The links for these bloggers are listed above, so I hope you'll be visiting for more ideas.

Glad you could catch our fifth instalment and hope you'll get plenty of musings from me and my blogger friends.  Let us know what styles you've been inspired by & maybe leave a link to a photo!!! 😁


Thank you Esther Ruby for producing such stunning photos again. x

Thanks so much for stopping by, I'd love to hear a comment from you.

Bye for now. X