Steamfest at Sheffield

I had never been to Steamfest before, so I rang my friend Margie and asked if she wanted to go for a drive into the country with me to check it all out. (Husband on nightshift so he is no fun during the day)

I got a yes from Margie, so up we went.  Of course, being all grown up, the first thing we did as soon as we got through the gates was get ourselves onto the teeny steam train for a ride!!

We parked ourselves in the First Class Carriage for the trip up –

 

And then braved the elements and soot in the open carriage on the way back –

Lack of husbands on this trip meant a guilt-free dawdle through the craft halls – I immediately found some beautiful hand spun and dyed merino wool which I purchased… later to be made into someone’s birthday or Christmas present I reckon!

After some exhausting browsing and chit chatting (its quite amazing how many people you bump into that you know when you drive an hour from home!) we (Margie) spotted a small sit down tent area where the lady was serving scones with a cuppa of your choice.  In need of fortification, we immediately sat and ordered some wood-fired scones!!  I am sorry to say there are no photos of those little clouds of delicious-ness because we scoffed them before I thought of getting my camera back out.  But I did get a photo of the very cool oven they were cooked in:

A bit further up the track we found a sight worth seeing – a squadron of primary school kids having a tug-of-war with a steam roller! Not something you see everyday and there was great excitement each time the kids managed to pull the engine in their direction! (I do suspect some mechanical help may have played a part)

There were really interesting, working machines everywhere.

It was great hearing them fire up the engines and seeing the process of the wheat being separated out and the remaining hay baled.

It was a different way to spend Sunday and a lot of fun. A small escape from the kitchen with its waiting kilos of tomatoes!

The afternoon brought the sunshine back and once home it was nice to sit on the back veranda with a cup of hot chocolate, enjoying the view and listening to the delicate sounds of cows bellowing in the nearby paddocks!

Ahhhh – that’s the life!

Cheers