High Tea

My walking companions and I treated ourselves to a lovely  High Tea at the Gunners Barracks Middle Harbour recently.

First arrived the sandwiches, then the hot savouries, scones with jam and clotted cream followed by a tower of delicious cakes and desserts.

After finishing our "feast" we felt that  a walk around the area to justify eating all that food was needed.

The fort was built in 1871 and designed to fire at enemy ships as they attempted to sail through Sydney Heads.   One of the  cannons still remains there now as can be seen below.

The view through one of the gun turrets facing out to the Harbour.

Being a fort and perched high up on the Headland it gave lovely views across the Harbour and City.   As you can see the air quality was not good that day due to controlled burn offs taking place around Sydney for the up and coming bushfire season.

Even after our walk around the area I think that a lot more walking will be needed soon to counteract all those delicious cakes that we all enjoyed so much.

Sadly I have to say not much sewing happening at the moment but I hope to rectify that next week and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

FNSI

Spring is just over a week away and already I can notice the longer, brighter warmer days with some of the blossom trees already blooming and the bees busy buzzing around them so it was very easy to pick a theme for September's  Sunbonnet Sue.    I have called her "Spring Sue" and had fun going through my scrap bins to find spring like fabrisc and this is how she has been dressed  this month.

I  have now chosen patterns  and pre-washed all of the fabric that I will be sewing with for bub  over the next few weeks.  I will make lightweight nighties for those hot summer nights that we have in Dec/Jan/Feb, chino long pants for those in-between cooler days that pop up every so often as well as sundresses and shorts.

Thanks again Wendy for organising another fun night of sewing.    It is time to visit Sugarlane Designs for some blog hopping to see what all the other bloggers who took part in FNSI got up to last night and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

The In-between bag

As I mentioned in my last post hubs requested an in-between bag - in between his big bag and small bag which I had made sometime ago.     After spending many hours looking in the luggage departments of all the bag shops in our area he could not find what he wanted in terms of size and number of pockets.    The bags were either too small, too big with insufficient pockets or the adjustable strap did not reach to the length that he found comfortable so off to the fabric shop to find a fabric that is hardwearing as well as a good man colour and I found a mid grey denim which I thought would be appropriate.

Out with the tape measure and the two previous bags to get the exact size and here is the result of what he wanted and how I interpreted that.

The inside has two roomy secure pockets as well as a secure pocket on the outside of the back.

Also a small secure pocket on either side of the outside  for such things as mobile phone and bus tickets which means that you do not have to rummage through the bag every time the phone rings to locate it.

I am pleased to say that hubs used the bag yesterday and is very happy with it.    Everything has a place within easy reach.  

Now that spring is not far away it is time to think about sewing summer dresses for bub so I have been looking at patterns and getting a head start by pre-washing some pretty fabrics.     Now  I have to measure her for length etc and start cutting out......not my most favourite part of the process.

Back soon with some piccies on my progress and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Q Station

Is where hubs and I headed during the week.   We have lived in our area for over 40 years and have always heard of "Q  Station" but have never been there so it was time to see what we were missing out on.  

The old quarantine station is inside the Sydney Harbour National Park and is now leased out to an hotel chain to manage.   We did not realise just how big an area was involved in the Q Station so I am glad that we opted for the big breakfast option at the hotel before setting off to see the sights.

This is the Main Axial Street of the First Class area

The First class kitchen.     Imagine having to cook on that stove.

Original sinks in one of the bathrooms.    A modern touch with the soap and towel dispenser.

The ladies did manage to get themselves a sewing room.  Unfortunately it was locked so I was not able to go inside.

This is the view from the Second Class dining area looking back to Manly........very different to what it would have been back then

And this is looking back across to the city

What a fascinating place and well worth a visit.     The nightly ghost tours would certainly be interesting.

Hubs has requested a new bag.......an in-between the large bag and the small bag which  I have cut out and partially sewn.   It is on my "to do list" to get it finished this weekend so hopefully I will be back very soon with some photos and in the meantime

Happy sewing all