Autumn sunshine

After a spot of zip shopping after lunch, I should have spent the afternoon sewing but the sunshine was so glorious again that I opted to sit in the sunshine for a good couple of hours before heading to Weston Shore for a breath of air and a quick stretch of the legs. It was so warm I didn't even need a cardigan.

Weston Shore is what is classed as "a beach" in these parts. It's not much but the parking is free, there's usually an ice cream van, you can watch the birds when the tide is out and the boats when it's in. This is as sandy as it gets -

I came across this huge jelly fish, left behind by the receding tide. It must have been at least a foot across - much more had it been submersed in the water I'm sure. Never seen one here before, although I hear they're quite common.

The sunlight looked lovely as it sparkled on the water and I couldn't resist trying to take a picture on my phone, although my camera would have done a much better job. Further along the beach there were lots of wading birds having a wale of a time fishing in the exposed mud. They made a lovley sound chattering away to each other.

There hasn't been much building along the shore line at all surprisingly. If you travel up river just a little there are lots of new blocks of flats on both sides of the river but not here. Not yet at least. Not even a row of beach huts... All there is really, is a row of tower blocks that stand like sentinels at the entrance to Southampton Water. They look quite imposing when seen from a ship - or the Isle of Wight ferry...

They had a makeover not so long ago and the sea-ward end of each block was painted blue, with each building being a paler shade. They've been here my whole life, yet with a new paint job they look quite new. The thing that gives away that they're not new is that they don't have balconies. All the new builds seem to have balconies these days!!

I should make more effort to make it down here. It's a nice walk along the shore - as long as you don't want sand!

And in case you're wondering, yes, of course I bought fabric as well as zips. I saw a lovely sewing machine/scissor/button print and a matching solid, so bought a piece of each... I might put together a little kit and take it into work, along with the fabric and start cutting everything to size ready to sit at the machine come the weekend and just sew. That will speed things up no end. But what to make first? Old fabric? New fabric? Knowing me it will be new!!