I thought I should maybe post a quick page to explain a bit about the banner at the top of this blog.

For a start, if you want to see it full size, just click here. Yep, I know, it’s big.

So, why does it contain all kinds of strange creatures and thingies?

Well, it’s all because of those funny lumpy little structures in the background. You see, they’re quite unromantically a bit of motorway-side art just before our local motorway exit. And I don’t know why, but I have always thought they looked like something a little mystico-whimsical, like something out of the Moomins or one of the Hayao Miyazaki films, especially My Neighbour Totoro. In my mind they have been christened the Hattifattner houses, although as far as I can tell, the Hattifattners never had houses.

Being totally unoriginal, I therefore decided to place a few of my favourite characters in this strange landscape, along with my very own Poukai and a couple of her friends in the bottom left corner…