A Trove of Tales

I recently spent some time in Castlemaine, a small historic goldmining town in Central Victoria. With a population of approximately 8000 people, this deceptively small regional centre is driven by a vibrant community of diverse locals. I was constantly surprised by the vast variety of attractions this town has to offer those who visit:

Great food - I took this photo when I was doing some study at my favourite cafe called 'Apple Annie's Bakery'. Whatever your budget, Castlemaine has an abundance of cafes and restaurants that will not dissapoint. On the cheaper end of the scale (where I tend to linger), there's the 'Railway Hotel' with brilliant food at very reasonable prices. If you're happy to spend a little more money, I also dined at 'The Public Inn' and left with extremely satisfied tastebuds!!

Botanical Gardens - I was so surprised when I came across the gardens in Castlemaine, with tree lined paths, a lake filled with ducks and swans, and vibrant displays of flowers, it is a hub of activity from children in the playground, to bootcamp classes and groups of runners or walkers.

Mineral Springs - Castlemaine is located in the midst of a number of mineral springs. This photo was taken at Glenluce mineral springs, approximately 10km south of Castlemaine, and features the original mineral springs hand-pump.

Wineries - Surrounding Castlemaine are a quite a few impressive wineries, which make for a lovely afternoon of touring and tasting.

Bushland Walking Tracks - Kalimna Park is a large bush reserve within the township of Castlemaine. There is a network of walking tracks etched throughout the reserve, and a tourist road that runs around the perimiter...featuring some very steep hills, it was a perfect location for my hill training.

Shopping - Castlemaine offers a very unique shopping experience, from recyled vintage, fashion boutiques, to art galleries. This bookshop named 'Soldier and Scholar' certainly took me by surprise. I couldn't believe how many books were crammed into this small space! I really enjoyed spending some time persuing the shelves of this shop.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the attractions on offer at Castlemaine. If you ever find yourself driving through the town, I highly recommend that you stop for an hour or so to see it for yourself. I'm sure you wouldn't be dissapointed!

Emma xx.

Weekend Snapshots

My time over the weekend was spent on the set of a music video clip for a Melbourne band called 'Crossing Romeo'. The story line was about the band members stumbling into the backstage dressing room of a fashion show, and I was an extra in the role of a make-up artist for the show. Most of the people working on the clip were volunteers, and it was amazing to see everyone come together to create, what I'm sure will be, a very impressive production. Here are some behind the scenes snapshots:

One of the band members, Matty, practising the bass during a break.

Gorgeous smokey eyes in the make-up department.

Break time in the green room.

It was a great experience which provided lots of networking opportunities! The music video for the song, titled 'No Need For Names' is scheduled to be released in mid-July, I can't wait to see the final product!

Emma xx

Foodie Friday

Poached Eggs 101

For a long time, I battled trying to make poached eggs. I tried various techniques but could never achieve a nicely formed egg! My mum owns an egg poacher whereby the eggs are broken into moulds, but they seem too perfectly formed for me. Last year I was watching Masterchef and learned a very nifty trick to poaching eggs which I would like to share with you for this week's Foodie Friday.

Tear off some cling wrap (about 30cm x 30cm), and spread with a little olive oil.

Line a ramekin with the cling wrap (if you don't have a ramekin a mug, cup or small bowl will do the trick).

Break an egg into the cling wrap.

Gather up the edges of the cling wrap, and twist to encase the egg in its own little bubble.

Pop the egg-bubble into a pot of simmering water, and cook for approximately 3.5 - 4 minutes if the egg was at room temperature, or 4.5 - 5 minutes if the egg was in the fridge.

Remove egg from cling wrap and pop it onto an English muffin, a slice of toast, or whatever tickles your fancy. You will find you have a well formed poached egg (which doesn't look too perfect) with a nice runny yolk.

Emma xx

Catch-up Snapshots

Well, it's rather upsetting to me that I've not been able to write any posts yet this week. In order to catch-up I've extended the regular 'weekend snapshots' post to include my Monday and Tuesday this week as well- today wasn't included as it was spent studying in my pj's!

Saturday: feasting.

I spent the weekend at home with my family, we got together for my mother's birthday. Mum always loves catering at family gatherings, and this was no exception! Our dinner on Saturday night included Asian-style pork spare ribs, chicken curry and steamed Asian greens. And then there was the sticky date pudding for dessert...

On Sunday we travelled together to a gorgeous little country farmers market, enjoying tastes of fresh produce, handmade chocolates and espresso coffee.

Suprising sunshine! Savouring it on the bank of the Murray river.

I travelled to Bendigo on Monday for a day of pampering at the hair and beauty salon! My day was made even better by the tree lined streets of red and golden Autumn leaves.

Tuesday was spent at the airport filming a TV commercial for Tiger Airways. I was an extra so just spent a few hours sitting on a plane and meeting new people. Not a bad day's work if you ask me!

It's hard to believe that Wednesday is already over!

I hope you're all having a great week,

-Emma xx

Channeling Nina

One of my favourite TV shows at the moment is Offspring, I've been following it for three seasons now. I especially enjoy the unwavering fashion sense of lead actress Nina Proudman (Asher Keddie). She is my inspiration for this week's outfit post...

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['Cotton On' white shirt and pink shirt, 'Ally' skirt, 'Sportsgirl' beanie, 'mADe with love' scarf]

-Emma xx

Foodie Friday

I recently created this incredibly easy but deliciously good chicken dish, and thought it would be a great one to share with you as a frame-by-frame recipe.

Mix together: olive oil, crushed garlic, Moroccan spice mix (if you don't have this on hand try a combination of all or some of these spices - cumin, tumeric, ginger, cayenne, corinader, cloves and allspice), pepper, salt and some herbs (I used dried thyme).

Grab a chicken maryland (one for each person you are serving). Cut across the chicken like so, about 2cm deep. Smother in spice paste.

Warm some olive oil in a roasting pan over a high heat, pop the chicken into the pan and brown quickly on both sides. Pop the whole pan with the chicken into a pre-heated 200 degrees celsius oven, and bake for approximately 30 minutes.

Remove from oven, check to see if it is cooked (when chicken is cooked the juices run clear, that is, they are not red-ish/pink-ish coloured).

Consume.

That is it! Very easy to create. The skin comes out delightfully crispy, but the meat is juicy and tender. I've made this recipe up myself, so you're free to run with any ingredients that you think would taste good. If you make it with any alterations let me know, I would love to hear all about it!

Happy eating. Emma xx.

Lovely Gifts!

I'm just completing my final week of clinical placement for Occupational Therapy, this is my last clinical experience as an OT student...by the end of the year I will be fully qualified! Just a tad exciting for me.

 

I've really enjoyed my placement, it's been a long one (13 weeks) so I'm thankful that I was placed at a great site.

 

My colleagues took me out for a farewell dinner last night, and presented me with a very lovely gift!

So people noticed that I have a slight obsession with scarfes (I wear one every day!), they gave me this gorgeous neautral beige one with black paisley print...I absolutely love it!

It's one of those perfect colours that seem to go with everything. I wore it to placement today with grey and lilac and I have no doubt that I will be mix-and-matching it with many other outfits too!

I prepared this little gift for my supervisor in return for being so wonderful! The bracelet is from the regular Tinsel and Teacups range, but I made up the matching earrings as a little extra. The stone is white howlite.

I also prepared a little homemade card for her. The reason it features a weaved basket is because:

When OT became established as a profession in 1917, one of the therapeutic approaches used with patients was basket weaving. The profession has since evolved and basket weaving is very rarely if ever used as a therapeutic approach. However basket weaving has lived on as an almost unwanted yet humorous symbol of OT.

I have received many remarks in jest during my placement, questioning whether I've been off weaving baskets with my clients. So this card was obviously designed to appeal to the more humorous side of our profession.

What's wrong with basket weaving I say?? I love a good basket! Such as this one below:

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The bike ain't vintage without a basket!



Emma xx

Red Delicious

Portmans definitely has to be my favourite shop at the moment. Last week I purchased this gorgeous red dress with teardrop cut-outs from there, and finally wore it out for dinner last night!

 

Portmans dress, Diva earrings, thrifted bangle, Sportsgirl bag, Kmart heels.

The detail on the neckline speaks for itself, leaving minimal requirement for jewellery. A pair of gold drop earrings and a thick gold bangle did the trick. I would just like to add that these $15 black suede heels from Kmart have served me so well! I've now been wearing them for a year and they're still going strong. Cheering.

Emma xx.

Weekend Snapshots

Happy Monday!!

I hope you weren't struck down by Monday-itis today, and have had a fresh and energising start to your week!

Here are several things that made me smile over the weekend...

Finding comfort in warm pumpkin soup on a chilly evening

My toasty hand-knitted socks + cosy fire

Watching 'Escape to the Country' with Mum, our favourite TV show to watch together...[source]

Lady-like Mother's Day afternoon tea with Mum: orange and passionfruit melting moments + turkish delight

Soaking in a bubble spa to soothe my tired muscles

I hope you enjoyed your weekend.

Emma xx

Foodie Friday

Welcome to the newest addition to Tinsel and Teacups- Foodie Friday! The themes of my Friday posts will from now on be all things delicious...

With Mother's Day weekend upon us I've decided to feature the home-baked gift I've prepared for my mum this Sunday.

This recipe was adapted from here. Originally written to be 'orange and passionfruit yoyos' I made the same mixture but baked them as individual cookies rather than yoyos to be sandwiched together. I then drizzled over the delicious passionfruit icing.

I try to steer clear of simply spending money on Mum in the commercialised fashion that Mother's Day seems to have become. Making, baking and just spending time with Mum are the ways I prefer to say "thanks for being the wonderful person you are!"

Have a lovely weekend,

Emma xx.

Musical Matters

People encounter music on a daily basis. It is such an integral aspect of life, that it seems to fit seamlessly into our day without us taking too much notice. The morning joggers listening to their iPods. The pleasant elevator music that manages to disperse awkward silences. The theme tunes to our favourite TV shows- I can't imagine watching Offspring without first singing along to 'When We Swam'!

My beginner guitar fingers...

My most recent musical challenge has been teaching myself to play guitar. However, music has certainly been a large part of my life since I was little, I've always had a reasonably good 'ear' for music, or natural pitch. I have been a flautist for 10 years now, and know from this experience that music provides an avenue for communication on a level different from words. It can be a powerful way to express emotion or tell a story.

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I'm currently completing an honours research project about the use of music as a therapeutic tool by occupational therapists. Being a research topic that I am interested in I'm finding it a very enjoyable process! The part I have most enjoyed is hearing stories about the ways music has successfully helped people overcome barriers to communication and participating in daily life with others.

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Music is a great way to bring people together. It's something that everyone can relate to, and provides wonderful opportunities to connect with others. I can't wait to complete my dissertation and have my research findings available to the public. I hope that in my future career I will be able to incorporate music into my practice in one way or another to assist my clients to achieve their goals.

Emma xx.