Barrenjoey Lighthouse

Is where my walking companions and I decided to walk to yesterday.    After parking at Palm Beach the lighthouse can be seen at the top of the hill in the first photo.    Ignore the time that the sign gives to do the walk .  You would have to be a marathon runner and not look to the right, left or enjoy the view from the top once reached to achieve that timing.

Here we are at the bottom of the first set of many steps ahead of us.    As you can see from the second photo there is no railing to grab onto so the rocks alongside the walk helped us to steady ourselves. 

Time to turn around and see how far we have climbed and have a well earned rest. 

We made it and here are the photos to prove it.   The lighthouse was built in 1880 and has an interesting history as do all lighthouses.

                                     

Some of the views that can be seen from the top.    The first photo is looking south with Palm Beach on the LHS of the photo and Pittwater on the RHS.    The second photo is looking north towards the Central Coast with Lyon Island directly in front with some fog over it.

And now for the descent.   I am not sure which was worse - the steep steps going up or the slippery slope coming down.    Some interesting rock formations and caves were seen along the way and nearly back down to the beach where we started.  

On level land again.    Our feet and legs deserved a well earned rest so the photo of our feet was taken sitting down as we all enjoyed a coffee.  

It was a perfect day to do the walk and even though we found it quite strenuous in sections it was worth it.    Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Click clack up and back

Was the sound of the knitting needles over the past few weeks while knitting beanies as mentioned in a previous post.  I was allocated 5 six years old - 2 boys and 3 girls.    Here they are all finished with their pom pom on top.   I tried to vary the stripes each time to make them a bit more individual.

Time was found to top stitch around some bibs and sew on the Velcro closures.   This time 6 were made as the last batch of 3 sold very quickly off the hospital stall.    Some of the fabrics are leftovers from previous projects and  have been sitting around my sewing room for sometime so it is nice to find a good use for them at last.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

FNSI

Yesterday was one of those super sparkly winter Sydney days that just had to be enjoyed so hubs and I decided to head to Balmoral Beach for lunch.    Driving  to the Beach entails heading down one of Sydney's steepest streets.   Every year "the Balmoral Burn" is organised by the Humpty Dumpty Foundation to raise much needed funds for childrens' essential medical equipment.   It has been run for the last 19 years and is not for the unfit or fainthearted.  

Once down the bottom of the hill good views can be seen of Sydney Harbour

The photo below was taken showing one of the many Morton Bay fig trees that are growing around the area and if you look very closely the Manly Ferry can be seen in the RHS of the photo crossing the harbour.  

Many examples of Federation architecture can be seen around the beach such as the rotunda below and the promenade.

One of the many restaurants which can be found to sit, relax, enjoy a lovely meal and a view of the area.

Time to head on home and make a start on getting my blue log cabin blocks sewn together.    This is my nominated OMG for June.  

Thanks goes to Wendy for organising another fun FNSI.   Looking at the list there are 16 other crafters who were going to be busy last night so head on over here to see what they did.  

The knitting of the beanies is progressing well and my aim is to have the last one off the needles sometime this week.   Then begins the sewing up and making of the pom poms.

Linking with So Scrappy

                      Oh Scrap

                      Elm Street Quilts

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Riding the Rails

Today my walking companions and I did something different.     Being a rather wet day it was decided that we should take a trip on the new Sydney metro - Australia's first fully automated rapid transit system.  Here is the train waiting for us to board.

As you can see in the photo below it was one long train which moves very quickly between stations and departs every 10 mins.

Most of the journey was underground but did surface as we neared  Rouse Hill Shopping Centre - a destination that none of us had been to before.  After coffee, some retail therapy and lunch it was time to board the train for the return journey.   

A most enjoyable day was had by us all and it was decided that it is a must to repeat in the not too  distant future with our destination being a different shopping centre next time.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

No finishes but lots of progress

This week has been a week of commencing more library bags.    Fortunately these were cut out so all that needed to be done was stitch them up.   Once the drawstrings are slotted through they can then be considered finished.  Not my choice of fabric but I am sure the recipients will not mind.

So far 3 beanies have been knitted but not sewn up.  I am looking forward to adding in the pom poms on top.    2 more girl beanies need to be knitted and then my quota will have been reached.

And the last items being worked are more bibs for the hospital stall next month.    These need to be top stitched all the way around,  velcro tabs added for the closure and they can be called a finish as well.  

Back soon with all of the above finished....hopefully.....and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

A Pom Pom

Would make a nice addition to the beanies that I am currently knitting was the thought that I had during the night.   Now I have to admit that I have not made a pom pom since primary school - more years than I care to remember  - and my recollection of making them was a rather slow and tedious process using two circles cut from cardboard with a hole in the middle - something like a donut and as the pom pom grew bigger it was very hard to poke the yarn through the smaller middle hole.

After all these years there must be a better way to make pom poms so on-line I go and sure enough pom poms can still be made using that method.   Not happy with that I "googled" a bit more and found that you can purchase discs as well as half discs and then the words  "the quickest and simplest method of making pom poms ever" caught my attention.    Well this had to be investigated and it was discovered that you can make with cardboard a very simple pom pom maker which can be seen below.

And here are the pom poms.   Each one took less than 5 mins to make.   Now that is quick.

The yellow one is a bit too big for the beanies that are being made so the pom pom maker was trimmed  down by about 1".     The blue was made next and it needed to have a bit more wool wound around the cardboard and the pink was the last one made which I think will be a good size.  It sounds a bit like Goldilocks and the 3 bears.   

Now all that remains to be done is knit the beanies that will go underneath them. 

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

FNwF

This week has been very conducive to staying indoors and doing all things "indoorsy" such as reading.  I started this book last week and found it such an interesting read that it has now progressed to the finished pile.    It is fiction written around fact and a subject that I knew nothing about.  

Of course there was plenty of time to make some bibs and glasses cases for this week's hospital auxiliary stall

The beanie that I am currently knitting has progressed slightly from the previous post and last night being FNwF saw me adding the last blue stripe.    I am now up to the shaping of the crown which takes a bit more concentrating and counting.

When I look at the above photos they all have a common colour of blue in them - I must have been subconsciously thinking of June's rainbow colour challenge when choosing fabrics.  Even the cover of  the book is blue!

If you would like to see what the other crafters achieved last night head on over here.

Linking with So Scrappy

                      Oh Scrap

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Sit and knit

Is about all one can do during this wild and wet weather.   The surf is really pounding at present.

As you can see below I am not the only one out photographing the wild conditions.

 An email came in last week from the co-ordinator  of the charity that I sew  dresses for asking for 54 beanies to be made for young children who live  up in the mountain area of Sri Lanka.   Apparently they live in what was described in the email as "rather pathetic conditions" and the nuns would love the surprise them all with a beanie each at Christmas time.  It was requested that each beanie be bright and cheerful.

I was asked if I could knit beanies for 3 girls aged 6 and for 2 boys aged 6 by the end of August.   Very doable I thought considering the timeframe and the cooler weather.    Seeing that blue is the rainbow challenge colour for June I started with a boy beanie first.  

Now that the ribbing is done - I am always glad once the casting on and ribbing are finished as they seem to take forever - I will make a start on the stripes and alternate with blue and grey.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Feeling blue

The rainbow colour for June is dark blue so discarding all the light blues this is some of my dark blue scraps.    More can be found in another scrap bin which I will go through later on today.

My OMG for June will be to get these cut and sewn up into 4 log curved log cabin blocks.

During the week I managed to finish off a pinafore that was requested for Miss M.   I did not have her favourite colour  pink but it is of the dark pink variety - the colour does not show up properly in the photo - but she can dress it up with lots of pink tops and leggings.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all