wordful wednesday and the pearly whites

 although i've been through the whole teeth-straightening business before

(with miss now-20)

i'm constantly amazed at solid bone can be re-arranged!

lower braces and spring in place

june 2010

august 2010

november 2011

the entire process took less than 18 months

compared with 3 years from start to finish for miss 20

technology marches on!

    

photostory friday: with thanks to kate sheppard

things about this photo to note:

i'm wearing mustard.  being a warm-toned girl - mustard looks good on me.

 i was also wearing a mustard skirt in this photo.  (you'll just have to take my word for it)

the sun is out and it's gorgeously warm

we're sitting on the deck of our local cafe (we, 5/6ths of our family)

we had (well, those 18 years and older) just voted

which seques very nicely into the historical information i'm about to impart to you.

here goes:

When the Governor of New Zealand, Lord Glasgow signed the Electoral Act into law on 19 SEPTEMBER 1893, New Zealand became the FIRST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD to give women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

Kate Sheppard was the leader and main figurehead of the suffragist movement in New Zealand.  

she was a source of inspiration to suffragists and campaigners for equality between the sexes, both in New Zealand and throughout the world

this is not a photo of Kate Sheppard.

it is however, a photo of my 20 year old, who voted for the first time today

thanks Kate



Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

wordful wednesday - and the silliness continues

sunday night was the inaugural UGLY T-SHIRT AND DVD NIGHT

for my zumba friends

held at my house

my girls (who are zumba 'babies') got into the theme of the night

finding ugly t-shirts was not difficult

this classic i'm 'modelling' is from the menswear section of a local thrift store

there were over a dozen willing contenders, but the winner on the night...

maria, wearing her husband's FAVOURITE T-SHIRT!!!

i even bought a little trophy and had it engraved

maria gets to enjoy the winner's spoils until our next evening which will be held early next year.

    

photostory friday and the once-in-a-lifetime 11/11/11

coz i'm a nerd, and nerd's can be a little ocd (well, this one is) and as a scrapbooker, i also love numbers

like that time i took a photo on the 6th of july in 2008 at 11 seconds and 10 minutes past 9

(i'll give you a minute)...

anyhoo - today was GORGEOUS, as are these lovely ladies, 2 of whom i went on a lovely walk with, because i'm currently AWOL from zumba with a calf strain

after the walk and before we all went our separate ways, i insisted we take a photo

at 11.11AM on 11/11/11

(because we can)

then i used PIXLR-O-MATIC to apply the filter (on my iphone)

the rest are our 'prior to 11.11am' photos where we mucked around to get the best angle for the sun

which we didn't quite manage to perfect

but who cares!!!

and some trivia to finish:

11.11.11 is special because there is no other date that consists of all the same number.  The day comes around once every 100 years, meaning today is the only time many people will be alive to experience the unique date.

- Some websites are predicting the date 11.11.11 marks the end of the world because the comet Elenin, Earth, Venus and Mercury are expected to align.

- 111111 x 111111 = 12345654321

- 11.11.11 marks the 93^rd anniversary of Armistice Day. Armistice Day was the last day of WWI. It is observed with one minute of silence at 11am.

- The date is seen as being a lucky and many people around the world have chosen to make it their wedding date. Thousands are expected to flock to Las Vegas... there's no forgetting the anniversary!

- The number 11.11.11 is a classic example of apophenia, the human urge to see patterns in essentially random events.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

wordful wednesday and my love of the silliness

this weekend just gone, i hopped on a plane and flew to australia to surprise my bestie tara

she moved away almost 2 years ago, and i've been lucky enough to visit her 6 times 

TWO of those times she didn't even know i was coming. 

her surprise is priceless and brings me much joy.

i always go for a long weekend (fri-mon) and we always manage to hit the mall, the beach, the local watering hole, and make some magic in the kitchen

this time was no different

my current cupcake fad: red velvet cupcakes

those red candy-coated chocolate balls are called jaffas

jaffas are legend in australia and new zealand, because when movie theatres weren't carpeted and sloped down, people would roll JAFFAS down the aisle

it's also believed that the orange/chocolate flavour is now described as JAFFA because of this particular lolly (candy)

anyway - they also make very good FAUX NIPPLES

the weather was spectacular, so we went boating one morning

and then to the beach in the afternoon

whoever put out this sign clearly had a sense of humour

gotta love it

    

Purple {Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge}

more shots from our local botanical gardens

fairly sure none of these shots are from my garden

coz green figures i have not!

pansies or sweet peas?

either way - they're adorable

and of course tulips

LOVE.