Hey friends! Sorry for the quiet, I've just been away to Borneo with university, but there'll be plenty of posts on the way soon.
Last month Leon and I visited the Eden Project on the way home for the holidays, and despite being more excited than a 6 year old on Christmas Eve, the day somehow managed to exceed all expectations!
I've visited a few times before with family, but never been to their 'Shadows and Light's show.
After exploring all day and marvelling at bright flowers and colourful birds, as the daylight faded the domes started to come alive again. The photos really speak for themselves!
As it was getting dark we found ourselves in the Mediterranean dome, which came alive with colour and lights. All the olive trees had streams of fairy lights, and the projections onto the plants made it feel like we were underwater. We'd spent the day looking around the domes, but when night came it was completely different and it felt like we were on a different planet! In the middle of the dome there was a laser forest, where you could walk through and as each laser moved it made a different sound. It was so surreal and magical I'm sure we enjoyed it more than the children did!
Now to the rainforest dome! This one appealed to the scientist in me- the lights and mist were based on an algorithm that took into account precipitation, temperature, humidity, wind speed and cloud cover from real time rainforests. You could easily have missed it, but if you watched carefully you could see the slight changes to sound and colour as you walked among the plants. Even regular leaves were transformed into something from Avatar, and the whole experience was mesmerising. I really don't think there's much I can say to do the whole experience justice, so I'll leave the photos to do the talking...

Long time no see! My AS exams are finally over, so I'll have more time to blog over the coming months with exciting content. To begin with, this post is about last weekend where I paid my first visit to The Dig for Victory Show, a 1940's themed festival on the North Somerset Showground (and if that sounds good, I can assure you it was even better in person!)
First up, the Victory tent. It may seem quiet, but this was just before opening time on Saturday morning once we'd set up our tent, so we were the first customers. The attention to detail in decorating was divine: bunting, vintage crockery and fresh flower arrangements made me feel at home right away, and the staff were so friendly and dressed up too. My parents and sister chose scones, Sam had a slice of New York cheesecake and I had a slice of classic Victoria sponge (it was agreed that they were all delicious!)
Throughout the day there was so much entertainment, from the Military Wives Choir to history talks and live music, the volunteers really pulled out all the stops. One of the highlights was a fashion show by Blitz Buddies- the commentator and all the models were so fun and enthusiastic about their clothes, many of which were originals with some modern reproduction garments. Vintage Gal did a lovely detailed write up with close ups each of the outfits, so be sure to check out her post HERE.
In the evening, Sam and I dressed up ready for the Victory Dance, where we had an hour of basic dance steps followed by music from The Marionettes, DJ UXB, The Goodnight Sweethearts and Ricky Hunter. The soundtrack of the night featured the likes of Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole- right up our street in music taste! Despite never having properly danced Swing or Lindy Hop before, we gave it our best go and had an absolute ball (excuse the pun) even though we tripped over each others feet and were out of time to the music quite a bit!
Around the showground there was plenty to see, from craft demonstrations, vintage stalls and classic cars and tanks. It was very interesting to see the progression of styles, but of course my particular favourites were the fellow Morris Minors and also this little cream Austin *sigh*.
On the field we also watched the tanks and skirmish, where actors dressed as soldiers and showed the audience how an attack would take place in World War 2. It was so noisy when even just 3 or 4 guns were firing at once, I can't even imagine how awful it must have been in reality. The whole weekend was very thought provoking and really made you think, not just about the fashions and 'vintage' aspect but also the reality of rations, war and make-do-and-mend which really wasn't as glamorous and come films make out. As well as this, the show raised £4,000 for Army Benevolent Fund and the Children’s Hospice South West last year and is run entirely by volunteers, so I really can't fault the weekend at all- the set up, entertainment and atmosphere was all brilliant.
 

Rhubarb is one of those plants in every vegetable patch, but it just doesn't get enough justice in supermarkets! Apple crumble is the usual go-to comforting dessert, so here I've mixed it up with some fresh rhubarb from the garden and a splash of rum for casual summer dining. The tangy fruity flavour matches perfectly a sweet flapjack style topping (and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream too if you fancy!)
For the filling: 550g rhubarb, 3 tbsp rum, 50g caster sugar, 25g soft brown sugar
For the topping: 125g plain flour 60g soft brown sugar, 60g margarine, 50g rolled oats

Heat the over to approx 180C.
Wash the rhubarb stems and chop into inch-long pieces.
Add to a saucepan with the sugar and rum, and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes until the rhubarb is softer but still holding it's shape.
Meanwhile, mix the sugar and flour for the crumble topping in a large bowl, then rub in the margarine until the mix resembles breadcrumbs and stir in the oats.
Add the rhubarb to an oven proof dish (remove some of the excess juices if necessary) then top with the crumble mix.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes until golden and firm on top.
Serve hot or cold with a spoonful of cream or vanilla ice cream.
 

After shopping, I finally got convinced to try sushi or the first time and we stopped off at the the sushi bar for a light lunch. Okay, so I was a little cautious to begin with (I'm up for trying most foods but salmon skin? Not top of my list!) but nevertheless I really enjoyed picking food off the conveyer belt and the food itself was amazing. I especially loved the avocado maki and pumpkin korroke, but I'll be giving the wasabi a miss next time ;)
What have you all been  up to recently?