Black and coral heart - OOTD

Hello there,

I finally managed a couple of OOTD posts this last week, which doesn't sound that unusual but as I work from home, most outfits are jeans and t-shirt (and no-one wants to see a week of that - do you??).

There's also a black theme here - which is ironic as I always thought I was someone who didn't own much black. But it's snuck in there and I rather like it. The coral heart on this t-shirt is made of sequins which helps to make it that little bit better than your normal casual t-shirt.

I'm also in love with these sandals at the moment. After my ankle op, I'm still needing comfy flats so these are perfect. They remind me of Birkenstocks - but a lot cheaper.

T-shirt - George @ Asda (old) size 20
Cardigan - George @ Asda (old) size 22
Boyfriend jeans - Marks & Spencer size 20

Shoes - Marks & Spencer (old)

I have my hands in my pockets in every photo - guess I just don't know what to do with them! Must work on better poses. I'm also experimenting with finding new places to take blog pictures. This is in my front garden (which amused the neighbours greatly) but seems to work.

Where's your favourite place to take blog photos?

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx

Simply Be and Exeter

Hello there,

Well, this is the final post from my trip down to Devon. It won't be the last time I'm down there though this year as we have links to Okehampton and like to be in that area of the world as often as possible.

I was so pleased when I heard that Simply Be were opening a store in Exeter. The nearest store to me previously was the Oxford Street one which I still haven't had time to visit yet. So knowing I was in Devon for a week, it would be rude not to pop into Exeter and make the Devon branch of Simply Be my first store to visit.

Firstly though, a detour to the quay side for a rummage around the antique centre and a hot chocolate

Now, a quick confession. For some reason, I thought the Simply Be store was in the new Princesshay shopping area. Well, not quite. Cue a fair bit of confused wandering around until we spotted it on the High Street.

Confession number two - did I take a photo of the shop front? Nope, I just squeaked and ran inside. I'm a truly organised blogger.

I did however take some photos in the changing rooms (huge changing rooms - lovely). I'd had my eye on some items from the website so I made a beeline for these to try on.

First up was the Boho Tunic dress. The colours are amazing, but I've never been very successful with tunic dresses in the past. I feel that they make me look blocky and square and I felt the same way in this one

So as much as I loved the colours, that went back.

Next up was the lace up babydoll summer dress. Now this nearly came home with me, despite not looking much like the picture. But it was just too short at the back. I think if it ever ends up in the sale though, I wouldn't think twice about buying it.

I'm sure I tried more on, but I seem to have only photographed some (note the concentrating face). Last up was the burnt out floral top in black. Now, I have to admit that I have a quite a few of these style of tops in various colours, but not black.

I fell in love with this straight away. I had a green camisole on but the whole look can be changed just by changing the base colour. This top came home with me and has already been worn lots.

The staff in-store were lovely and so helpful. They advised that this top came up small so I was glad I'd tried it on before ordering online.

Guess where I'll be heading back to in a couple of months?

Thanks for reading

Cathy

xx

Ilfracombe and Verity

Hello there,

I've given our trip to Ilfracombe a separate post all on it's own. This is because our main reason for visiting was to see the Damien Hirst statue Verity.

Now I've heard Verity described as Marmite - you'l either love her or hate her. Personally, I love her and it's exactly the sort of art I love to go and see. But I do appreciate that it's pretty graphic, so if that's not your sort of thing, probably best to pass on by.

Verity is a 66 foot tall steel and bronze statue by Damien Hirst who lives in the town. The statue depicts honesty through the name Verity and by holding of the scales of justice while stood on law books. It's been loaned to the town of Ilfracombe for 20 years from 2012 and has become a tourist attraction in its right. But the dissected image of a heavily pregnant woman is a very strong image

It's said that the best place to get an overview of Verity is from St Nicholas's chapel on Lantern Hill. This is also the only place on the waterfront that has any info about the statue. I think they wanted to make you climb to see the info board.

There was certainly a lot of people there looking at her. I can't imagine how busy this little town would be in the tourist season proper.

I hope you enjoyed a view of our trip to Ilfracombe. Thanks for reading.

Cathy
xx

Devon, the north coast and a little bit of rain

Hello there,

As soon as I got back from Blackpool, I turned around and went down to Devon. I feel a bit like I'm living out of a suitcase at the moment but I wouldn't change a thing - I love seeing new places.

I'm going to split Devon into a few blog posts as I finally got to visit the Simply Be store at Exeter in person (yay!) and we also went to see the Damien Hirst statue - Verity at Ilfracombe. Now, Verity is a bit like Marmite, you'll either love her or hate her (I LOVE her) so I think it's probably better to give her a post all of her own so as not to offend or upset anyone.

I've mentioned it a few times before but this area of the world really is one of my favourite places to be. Potential retirement spot I reckon. But even in sunny Devon, the weather can be horrible

Thankfully, the weather didn't last all the week. So on the first sunny day, we headed from our base near Okehampton up to the north coast.

We stopped off at Great Torrington, a wonderful small market town with views over the surrounding countryside. The Battle of Torrington during the English Civil War took place here and there's lots to see and learn here. A couple of hours just wasn't long enough

Great Torrington is well known for its pannier market - an indoor market with a glass roof. There were some lovely craft shops in here.

We headed onto Ilfracombe - but as mentioned that will be a post all on it's own. On the way home from we detoured past Westward Ho! The only place in the UK with an exclamation mark in its name.

The beaches are huge and seemed to go on for miles - I think on another day it would be a perfect place for a picnic.

Driving back through Bideford, we saw the cutest van!!

The wing mirror were ears, there were horns on the roof and it even had a set of udders.

That's my first part of my trip to Devon, more to follow soon.

Thanks for reading

Cathy

xx

Blackpool Tower Ballroom and the view from the top

Hi everyone,

A couple of weeks ago I took my Mother up to Blackpool for a weekend away. We're both fans of Strictly Come Dancing so a visit to the Tower Ballroom was top of our agenda. I also persuaded my mother to go up the Tower too (she was less keen on that bit!). A few weeks before we went, I booked a cream tea to make the event a bit more special.

It was a bit of a long and windy walk from the hotel to the Tower

 But plenty of places to stop along the way.

Yep - I was brave and stood on the floor (and yes - it made my tummy flip).

View from the top.

We were spoilt with the cream tea - and ate the lot!

We were sat so close to the dancers and so lucky to see some professionals there. They moved so quick it was hard to keep them in focus.

The view from our hotel - we could even see the Tower light up at night.

Although we were only there for a short time, it was a lovely short break. A little bit windy (read very windy) but no rain so we were able to walk to most places - good exercise for the ankle! I'd really recommend booking the cream tea at the Ballroom. It made the event special and the staff were lovely. You can stay in the Ballroom after you're finished and we went upstairs to watch more of the dancing. We never felt rushed which can happen with some booked events and most importantly, my mother loved it. Details for the Tower and the Ballroom can be found on their website & I booked the Tower tickets in advance to save some money.

There's a lot of photos there - so thanks for reading!

Cathy

xx