Breenhold Gardens

Hi Everyone,

It's a very specific post today, a recommendation in fact: you should all go to Breenhold Gardens on Mount Wilson. My mum and I visited the gardens on our Blue Mountains road trip and we discovered a beautiful haven of huge trees, calm fountain gardens and lots of cute walking trails.

Some highlights were...

One of the main paths

A diamond? Sadly just a water droplet...

Close up leaf :) 

Okay: so bright-red toadstools with white dots ACTUALLY EXIST!!!

So I certainly recommend a visit if you happened to be in the area, here is the link to the Breenhold Gardens website: http://www.breenhold.com.au/

Thanks for reading,
Eve out :3

Ironfest!!!

Hi Everyone,

So on my road-trip to the Blue Mountains area my mum and I went through Lithgow and went to Ironfest: a steampunk/medieval/war festival for a bunch of adults to act like children... It's great fun and I highly recommend it. It's an annual event and it receives high praise in the media.

Here are some highlights:

At Ironfest you need to be prepared to see anything. People come from all over to cosplay or dress up and have fun.

The dark overlord with his horse...

 And lots of people look really fabulous in their costumes, whether it be steampunk...

Or medieval...

Or cosplaying a famous character...

My mum had bought tickets for two days, but the first day was a lot better. There were more people and the weather was better. Overall the atmosphere was very exciting! 

Here's some more random photos,
such as the horseback jousting and other fights...

Incredible steampunk!

Replica medieval arrowheads, being showed-off by a medieval enthusiast

The RANDOM ARAB in the background!!!!!!!

A belly dancer in the parade

Okay, I included this because he looks so suspicious of everyone and everything and I don't know why!

It's the mayor! She came in full costume and looked fantastic

And last of all a pretty owl!!

That's Ironfest! Overall it's a brilliant festival to go to and a great opportunity to dress up. We found that buying earlybird tickets was certainly worth it for the discout. Here's Ironfest's official website: http://ironfest.net/
So please join us there next year!

Thanks for reading,
Eve out :3 
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I return!

Hi Everyone!!!

So sorry for taking such a long break, I was on a road trip with my mum :) It was great fun and I promise there will be a proper post about the road trip but until I have time to write it, here's some embroidery I have done recently (just to inspire you!):

And here is one that I just finished today:

Ignore what it says...Its a very, very long story...

So there's my in-betweener post, I hope it inspires you to try some cross stitch (its really fun and relaxing) Now I have to go and write an 800-1000 word essay before school starts back!!

Thanks for reading,
Eve out :3

What I Learned in America: Las Vegas

Hi Everyone!

About a year ago my mum took me on a once-in-a-lifetime trip all across America. We visited (in order) las Vegas, Orlando, New York, Binghampton, Seattle and a tiny visit to LA. But first up is Vegas:

As soon as we arrived in Vegas we were greeted by a large cavern of slot machines! In the airport!!

All the neon lights, wow

Another fun Vegas airport thing is the transit train to the baggage claim. Yes, you read correctly; there is a TRAIN to the BAGGAGE CLAIM because you can't just walk 200 meters...

After a short trip from the airport to 'The Strip' we arrived at our first hotel on our trip: The Flamingo. I really wanted them to have live flamingos and I wasn't disappointed:

The Flamingo is a great place to stay, with a really nice view (or at least our room had a nice view) But it wasn't as good as our next hotel, Caesar's Palace.

View from the Flamingo

From our room we could see the High Roller slowly turning in the distance. The High Roller is the world's highest ferris wheel, so of course I had to go on it!
The view of it from the ground is very intimidating, so I put the actual ride off until the evening. Here's the day view:

*gulp* the fear!

I was nervous, but all fear disappeared as soon as the carriage reached the top:

This photo doesn't really do it justice...

So my first Eve-style tip for Vegas is: Go on the High Roller. I know that's very specific but it's an incredible experience. Even if you're afraid, give it a go. If you can't bear to watch, you can always stand in the center of the carriage with your eyes shut!

Of course there are various other specific tips I could give but they can be summed up in one: Eve-style Vegas tip 2: explore EVERYWHERE. You can discover little hidden gems all over Vegas, things that just make you smile:

That's an escalator, a SPIRAL escalator! 

And that is indoors!

Somewhere that you will probably stumble across is the Hershey's store and the M&m's store. These are both great because America has no tax on candy because they are considered a 'necessity'!

A wall of Hershey's kisses

My mum also found the Neon Museum in vegas (their website: http://www.neonmuseum.org/) which   really took us back in time to the early days of the Vegas Strip.

Just a small part of the neon lights display

Eve-style Vegas tip number 3: Eat well, find the best food. And even if McDonalds looks very appealing...

...Always go to Denny's Diner instead!

The next hotel we stayed at was Caesar's Palace which was even better than the Flamingo.

So those are some tips from my first trip to America. They aren't from a professional but they might help you find some fun things in Vegas. 

Thanks for reading,
Eve out :3

My Hair & the Sky

Good evening everyone,

So today I dyed my hair, which is becoming a bit of a holiday tradition for me. My last permanent colour has slowly been fading to a bright orange which is not exactly 'natural looking' which my school requires:

Note: When I brush my hair it becomes the ULTIMATE POM-POM!

And this was how 'Schwarzkopf LIVE Salon Permanent, Oleo intense warm copper' worked on light-dark brown hair:

And that is with a lot of nice curling product!

nice smiley me :) 

I personally can't see much difference, but my mother can...

Also, on another note, the sky tonight was really special; with bright fairy-floss clouds and a knife-blade moon:

tiny moon! And an annoying powerline...

so pretty!

Two unrelated things in one post, how odd. Oh well, that's a summation of my day really :)

Thanks for reading,
Eve out :3
p.s Why not get updates when I post by subscribing by email! In the right sidebar at the top of the page :) 

Steamed Pork Buns

Hi y'all,

I made steamed pork buns!! One of my life-goals has been achieved. And here is how I did it (using this recipe though: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/32735/steamed+pork+buns)

First of all, gather your ingredients:

• 2tsp peanut oil (I didn't use that at all and they turned out fine)
• 200g pork mince 
• 1/3cup Hoi Sin sauce
• 2 green onions thinly sliced
• 1stp instant dried yeast (it's important that this be fresh so the dough rises correctly)
• 1tbsp caster sugar 
• 2/3 cup warm water
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour

Then you follow these instruction (taken directly off the Taste website because I'm lazy!)

Step 1: Heat a wok over high heat. Add oil. Swirl to coat. Add mince. Stir-fry for 3 minutes or until brown. Add hoi sin sauce and stir to coat. Add onion. Stir until well combined. Transfer mixture to a bowl and set aside for 20 minutes to cool (ADD EXTRA SAUCE IF YOU WANT AT THIS POINT. SEE THE NOTE BELOW)

Step 2: Meanwhile, combine the yeast, 2tsp sugar and 2tbsp warm water in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let this mix stand for 20 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. Place flour in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture, remaining sugar and remaining water. Stir to form a soft dough, adding another tbsp of warm water if necessary. Turn out on a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes (or until smooth). 

Step 3: Using floured hands pat 1 dough portion into an 8cm disc. Place 2tsp mince mixture (or more/less depending on the thickness of your disc) into the center of this disc. Draw the edges up to form a bun and pinch together to seal. Repeat with the remaining dough and mince mixture. One done, cover loosely with a tea towel and set aside for 30 minutes to prove.

Step 4: Place a large steamer (does not have to be bamboo like the website says, I used a metal one) lined with baking paper over a saucepan or wok of simmering water. (make sure the steamed is not touching the water). Using a metal skewer, pierce holes in the baking paper. Steam the buns, in batches, for 12-15 minutes or until puffed and tender. Serve!

1. 
   

NOTE: I actually made more sauce to go in the mince mixture, while it's cooling after being fried with the onions. I added some black-bean sauce and a bit of water, as well as extra Hoi Sin sauce. You don't have to do this, I just mention it because mine tasted extra yummy after I did this :)

This is how delicious my mince mixture looked, it makes me hungry just remembering it:

Here is how the dough should look:

I have to say, before the uncooked buns had time to rise they looked really gross:

But once cooked they were fabulous:

So there you have it: a majorly succesful recipe for steamed pork buns so you too can enjoy the glory!

Thanks for reading, Eve out :3
p.s Why not get updates when I post by subscribing by email! In the right sidebar, at the top of the page :) 

Birds

Hi Everyone,

Last weekend I went to a park and took some aesthetically pleasing photos of various birds. Here are those photos:

I love the colour in the one above, it's so...pastel! Pink and blue and white!

The Crow.

Action shot of the crow.

And that was my collection of bird photos, all taken using my new groovy camera! It's probably obvious that this was a 'oh gee I haven't posted in AGES I had better post right now!!' post, a more planned and prepared one will come soon I promise!
Thanks for reading!

Eve out :3
p.s Why not get updates when I post by subscribing by email! In the right sidebar, at the top of the page :)