Sophia Goes on an Outing

It was a beautiful day yesterday and Mick finished work at lunchtime.  Therefore, we took the opportunity to take "Sophia" on an outing.

Sophia is our Moto Guzzi motorcycle - a stylish Italian lady in a red dress. She is quite a home girl these days, not having been on an outing since September last year, which is a bit sad.

Mick wanted to give her a service and the oils have to be warmed up before being drained.  It was only a relatively short ride, but so nice to get on a bike again.

Our first destination was Chifley Dam, our local water storage.  It looks lovely, but is well under halfway full.  As you can see, the landscape is very dry. We will be having even stricter water restrictions as of mid October. 

On our way back we stopped at The Lagoon School of Arts.    We don't have all that many "portrait" style photos of Sophia, so it was nice to take some today.

The building dates from 1902 and is looking very sad.  It is such a pity that it has been let get to this state.

We had a look through the broken front window and inside doesn't look too bad.  If it is never going to be used as a public hall again, maybe it could be sold so someone could convert it into their home, before it gets too far gone.

Our next stop was over at the O'Connell Avenue Cafe for coffee and cake.  There always has to be coffee and cake when we are out and about.

One tree beside the outdoor seating area was just starting to burst into flower.  I'm guessing it is a flowering plum.  The bees were loving it.  Apparently, today is the first day the bees have been visiting.

Before heading home we stuck our head in the nice little gift shop next door to the cafe.  The tall white vase came home with us.  It should hold a single bloom nicely.  The white vase next to it came from the same shop last time we visited.

It was only a short ride, but we both thoroughly enjoyed it.  I think Sophia enjoyed getting out as well.  We must try to do it more often, especially as the weather is now warming up.