wordful wednesday - a post for chris

when i posted on friday, chris commented that he needed a glossary every time he came to my blog!

so before i launch into a post CHOC-A-BLOCK full of kiwi slang, i'll let my north american readers take in this picture.

it was taken 3 days ago

this is what christmas is like where i live

this is a pohutukawa (po-hoo-2-ka-wa) tree
aka the new zealand christmas tree
they only bloom at christmastime, hence the name

and this is just for fun after i joined the facebook photoshop fan page

i learned how to turn a pic into a classic painting
so, back to the beach

because it was a sunny day, the FOOTPATHS were fit to busting full of PUNTERS heading for the beach where they were going to don their TOGS and FLIP FLOPS, JANDALS AND THONGS.

some may have brought BANGERS for lunch, others may have just brought tea and BISCUITS. some may have come empty-handed and will end up BLUDGING off others. either way, you don't need much in your CHILLY BIN, before BOB'S YOUR UNCLE, you've got yourself a CORKER little sunday afternoon picnic.

if you forgot to bring a rug, don't worry, you can always sit on the BONNET of your car while it's in the CAR PARK.

the last thing you need of course, is for someone to accidentally kick sand in your SAMMIES, coz that would really cause a BUN FIGHT and you might have to tell the offending foot to NAFF OFF. just make sure you have plenty of SERVIETTES to clean up the mess.

..and don't stay in the water too long and get cold, or you might end up with the DREADED LURGY and you'll have to PIKE out of the next fun night out

so now i'm HOME AND HOSED, go RATTLE YOUR DAGS and see angie @ seven clown circus for a TIKI TOUR of wordful wednesday

spring tulips

we had a wonderful afternoon wandering around the botanical gardens yesterday, admiring and photographing these spring tulips

here are some for your enjoyment too!

the gardens are very popular for wedding photos. we're not entirely sure whether she was aware of it or not, but this gorgeous bride's dress was totally see-through (not that you can tell from this shot, and i wouldn't be so rude as to post a picture!) she and her bridesmaid were stunning

the view looking down at the rose garden (it's much prettier in the summer)

the hubs took this one

and this one too

i took this one on my point-and-shoot!
this bed was planted to honour the dutch community in new zealand

this tui bird was full of the joys of spring

but his enthusiasm wasn't matched by everyone...

there's a path (that we're sitting on) that has been put there especially, so that when you're being photographed (as we are!) - it looks like you're sitting in a field of tulips

tara and i

me and the hubs

9 sleeps til italy!!!!!

photostory friday - GO WELLINGTON!!!

on the eve of yet another mighty wellington-canterbury ranfurly shield clash - it's time for a little history lesson.

this is the ranfurly shield. also known as the 'log-o-wood'. it has a long and illustrious history dating back to 1902, and is the holy grail of provincial rugby in new zealand.

it has changed hands 75 times
it's been held for as long as 8 years and for as little as 7 days

wellington wrested the shield from auckland last year, winning 27 nil, and our city held a parade in their honour.

it was a full circle moment for me (well, sorta).

back in 1982 (when i could wear black fishnets and heels squatting on the back of a truck), the canterbury rugby union held a parade BEFORE their first successful shield challenge against counties. this was in the days when no excuse was really needed to throw a parade.

still living in christchurch, DH ('the boyfriend' as he was the time) and i were part of a voluntary organisation called st. john (like boys and girls brigade, but with a first aid slant). hubs and friend dressed as counties players (by clevering adding a band of white tape around their red and black jerseys) and pretended to get 'beaten up' by the canterbury players (during the parade). see hubs' "black eye".

the 'injured players' (see leg in cast in background of VERY grainy old picture) would get tossed onto the hospital bed which was on the back of a truck, and 'slutty nurse sue' (that would be me), would 'tend' to them.

fun, fun; and look - there we are with the famous logo o' wood.

cut to 2008 and here it is again (except i'm photographing it, not holding it).

this is leo the lion - the team's mascot. it was a VERY windy day

wellington and canterbury have played each other for the shield at least seven times

and we haven't won many of them ('we' being wellington!)

back in 2003 they even had a 38-all draw

which brings us back to today - town is abuzz with 'shield fever'

we won't be at the game, because we're heading out of town for the night
if i'd known about the game, i think we would have stayed in town and gone, coz it's gonna be a good one!

i even have a bottle of chardonnary riding on it with a friend

GO WELLINGTON!!!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

photostory friday - kickin' in our new boots!

tara and i had an impromptu trip to the mall last friday (on our respective days off). i'd been looking for flattish brown boots most of this winter and tara was looking for some black boots to go over her new black jeans.

i guess the planets were all in alignment that day, because we BOTH FOUND SOME!

because it was warm, and because we had a few minutes up our sleeves before school got out, we celebrated by stopping off at a local beach to take some fun shots.

note that tara has hidden her shopping bag BEHIND mine because it's so much smaller
she has shopping bag envy!

i just love my new boots!

i don't know where i was going with this. i guess i just got caught up in the moment
maybe i had spring fever or something...

so, does this ever happen to you? i was actually re-visiting the same shoe store to see if ANOTHER pair of boots i had my eye on had been FURTHER DISCOUNTED.
they had not, and i ended up buying a NEW SEASON pair - that were another $80!
the shop assistant said "my husband says, why don't you just go for the MOST EXPENSIVE pair straight away"!

he might have a point!

then it was tara's turn to try hers on, but oh no!
she has sweaty feet and can't get them on!

so i'll just hold them up against my person so you can see, ok?

a good day

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

our weekend: a visit to the waterfront and a mini-break

the sun came out yesterday. most of wellington was so stunned so see this bright yellow ball in the sky, they immediately took to the watefront to walk, skate, cycle, and generally leap about with glee.

we joined them.

te papa (our national museum) had a couple of things going on. this display of fancy cars was one of them. i personally don't see what the fuss is...

inside the museum, this was going on

this little guy (who can't be more than 11) completed a 3x3 rubic cube in under 3 minutes - BLINDFOLDED!!!

the audience was in awe. as they should be!

then we stopped at chaffers dock for a bite to eat.
here's the grandma to my cupcake holder!!!

raspberry cupcake - yummmmmmmm

the view from our table to outside. all the outside tables were taken - dammit!

there was no wind. just gorgeous

chaffers dock

after our trip downtown with the girls, the hubs and i took a mini break!
it was our first in over 18 months - that's too long!

we stayed here - pretty cool huh? almost brand new

this is the spa we didn't relax in (no togs) and the pool we didn't swim in (too frikkin' freezing!)

we did however, relax upstairs in our 2-bedroom apartment and enjoy the last of the afternoon sunafter a curry at the local 'indian', we headed back and watched the all blacks beat the aussies at rugby. it wasn't pretty, but we won!

this morning we had breakfast here

then took a walk along the beach

yes, this is a teenage boy surfing in the ocean - IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER!!!

how cute are we?