Ooooooh Cute!

OK, so I'm not really one for cats, but this is actually quite cute!!!!

In my happy place

I'm in my happy place. No, really, I am! Right here, now, as I write!

When I go to sleep at night, I often imagine myself sat here, on the top of Portsdown Hill, jut at the back of Portsmouth.

Image from http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Portsdown_Hill

When I lived in Biddyville (aka Bedhamption) I used to drive the long way to work, via the hill, just so I could get a shot of “the view”. It was as good as a tonic. A pick-me-up. A feel good moment which set me up for the whole day. I used to try and do it at least once a day – usually I managed twice!

Every time I came up here the view was different – I saw different things, spotted different landmarks. A bit like one of those Find Waldo books, I would strive to follow familiar streets down into the city, until they were too small to differentiate.

Of course, the weather made a big difference. Some days (like today, unfortunately) the hill is virtually in the cloud – you can only see about ½ way down Portsea Island – not a scrap of the Isle of Wight is visible, and even the most prominent landmark for miles around is shrouded from view, the Spinnaker Tower. :-(

Other days, however, the air seemed to be so clear, that you could reach out your hand and grab the Isle of Wight. Eastwards, you could see into Langstone Harbour, and Chichester Harbour beyond that. Looking West, and Southampton water was clearly visible beyond Portsmouth Harbour and even Fawley could be spotted in the distance some times too.

The city (one of the most densely populated areas in Europe) always looked magical from up here. A tiny toytown of streets and buildings. The sun would be glinting off all the various bodies of water, hugging the coastline.

I would drive along the Portsdown Hill Road, and the tension...would....just....ebb......away! I recommend it to anyone who is stressed.

So even though today isn't quite one of those sparkley shiny days, I'm *still* in my happy place :-D

Pengies and a butterfly

Another finished thing!

I did a blog entry a while ago about projects which I have on the go and there were a few pics of a green bag I was making using stripy fabric as a lining. I had come to the conclusion that I was going to have to remake the lining with some interfacing in it to add some extra body to the internal structure.

Well last Saturday, I unpicked the lining and got started on cutting out the interfacing and ironing it in. I then re-stitched it together and put in a popper and a handle...

The rather ham-fisted stitching you can see, is actually where I've added an internal pocket, in the original crochet green. It's just a little different from the usual pocket...

                                      

I had already put some beads on the front of the bag...

So it was ready then for the lining to go back in...

I'm so neat at stitching!!!

And so it all went in nicely...spot the use of my new press stud gun!

Once the lining is all finished, it looks like this....

How cute?!

Perfect for an evening

End-on view

Spot my "Handmade by Liza" label