so long friend…

my camera bit the dust on our holiday. boo. hence lack of postage. i managed to pinch this one of facebook.

we went up to onerahi, and spent loads of time over in pataua helping out a friend who has 4 kids (she had 4 under 3 1/2!!! phew!) the younger twins are now toddlers and are both severly disabled with exzema. it’s totally consuming.  the eldest twin has the worst case of it known. he has to be totally covered up and his hand taped so he doesn’t scratch. it’s heart breaking.

we also spent time in orewa…sopping up sunshine and surf. my girls are naturals in the ocean. it’s getting closer and closer to the time of moving to the beach me thinks.

and my girls and i had rainbow toes for the entire holiday. we were team rainbow. ♥

emma kate

this is emmakate signing in for stacey news…

i went to staces house last night and she magican-ed up a gorgeous dinner for us. twas lovely. there was much laughing and giggling…a lot from staces little bro…who lost it completely. good times.

when even went for a stroll in the drizzling rain and then lay on the slate tiles to cool down and admired staces handywork on the beautifully decorated tree.

emma kate & stacey marie

ALL THE SINGLE LADIES all the single ladies ALL THE SINGLE LADIES all the single ladies…ooh oh oh oooh oh oh oh oh ohhh oh oh oh oh oh ohhh.

my good friend Dani’s hens night was last night. 80′s theme…oooh yeah!

and we had drinks with the compulsory bride challenges along the way…somehow this involved me doing tequila shots…???

then we went to monsoon asia restaurant and i actually managed to get a shoe photo…along with a few penis’ and vibrators thrown in for good measure…(excuse the pun)

and then we went out to the ‘trees of terror’ in sanson…I made it 1/8 of the way before I was held against a wall by a  dude with a chainsaw (real with the chain taken off…gah!) and to be escorted the rest of the way out…if you think I’m a wuss I challenge you to do it if you’re ever in the neighbourhood…but even the escort (a.k.a monster face burn victim) was playing tricks on me so I still screamed the pace down. i think in the future the LABYRINTH might be my limitation…this is a bunny that was at the beginning…he was chained up and very jumpy…but was kind enough to pose for a picture for me

then we went on to town and found some dj’s that would play our songs…and proceeded to dance the night away…in my shoes. (i don’t need to share the pics from this portion of the evening!!)

emma kate

rosie and the weeds.

these are some flowers that made their way inside from my garden. delicious smelling roses and some purple ‘flowers’ that i love…infact they are actually weeds…but i think they are beautiful so they are allowed to hang out with the others. beauty is in the eye of the beholder…some say weeds…i say awesome.

emma kate

lounge camping.

aunty keri visited before she went up to the dirrty north for a few months and we dabbled in a spot of lounge camping… good times!

emma kate

hot-hot or hot-hot?

today has been stinky hot. I’m talking sticky-tar-day hot. the kind of hot you can hear the sizzle when you step on stones…the kind of weather when the colder the water the better. which is exactly what my girls are doing. they have playing so nicely with their dolls for AAAGES out there…and as you can see ‘playing’ means feeding them stones and drowning them…whatever is it.they are happy and not whingeing. which makes me happy and not whinge too!emma kate

sticky plasters are jewelry to 3 year olds…

Indie and I went to pick up my parents (a.k.a mama and papa) from the airport. indie decided to rock her new plasters. who am i to stop the creativity of a little fairy? who knows…it may be on the catwalk of Milan next season! maybe should copyright….

emma kate

CAKE.

it’s seems to be birthday season around these here parts. so a chocolatey chocolate cake was made this morning for one lucky birthday celebrator. i’m sure they won’t mind that my stinky chucks have lingered so close to it…all for the name of creative photography!

emma kate

while the cats away, the mice will play…

as i was submerging my toes in the vege patch out the back…

my DARLING girls were merrily making a complete shambles out the front. as well as picking all the olive buds and leaves off my olive trees, ‘decorating’ the outdoor fireplace …and for some reason indie is wearing her pajamas (?)

*sigh…one of THOSE days.

emma kate

we ♥ barbie toes.

my daughter indie and i warming our newly painted PINK pink toes.

emma kate

on behalf of miss stacey loolaa.

stacey, indie and honor squished in a tiny pink castle tent in indie’s room…discussing their plans of world domination using a crayon and a small plastic dinosaur.

 

emma kate

the himatangi experience.

aaaaaawwwwwgggghhhh (that’s my ‘so-tired-everythings-aches-in-a-good-way-happiness’ noise)

 had the best day at himatangi beach. it was awesome. just what the doctor ordered…. sun shine, sparkling suprisingly warm water…and sand up your crack. brilliant. i went with my sister-in-law and my two girls. niiiiiiiice.

emma kate

happy days ♥

had an awesome day getting so much done….thank you sunshine and your glorious vitamin D. 

i got most of my summer veges in thanks to my personal workhorse.

also my sister-in-law spent the afternoon at ours entertaining the kiddies…love aunty keri!

group hug!!

emma kate

springtime…and the livings easy…

aaaah….how i ♥ daylight savings. i’d like to save all my daylight in little jars just to sniff at during winter…

taking this photo tonight, (as my kids sit eating grapes in their jarmies watching some disney thing before bed…one of my favourite times of the day) …i realise that i still have my christmas lights up from last year… i’m hoping people just think i am SUPER organised for this year…

emma kate

adventure to the great outdoors…

the sun made a brilliant appearance today. the girlies and i played outside and drew with our GIANT chalks on the pavement. happy days. nice to see a shadow again! found out today my 3 year old has kindy photos on monday… tempted to dress her in a navy sailor dress like my darling mother did to me.

emma kate

call me sulky-McSulkyson.

making dinner for my family tonight it suddenly dawned on my i have been negelecting this site …on the menu this evening… calzone.stuffed with parmesan, tomato, field mushrooms, chicken and ricotta…i can smell it cooking now and i am soooooo hungry.

it has been miserable weather here…showing signs of breaking…then just when you have your shoes on to go for a walk WHAM! rain. cabin fever has hit me and my girls bad…there are only so many forts you can build, playdoh snowmen you can make and dora the explorer DVDs you can take!

i am so looking forward to Miss Stacey coming home to visit. i have my legwarmers and fluro-off-the-shoulder t-shirts at the ready

emma kate

good vibes and sun shine….

this morning a huge 7.1 earthquake hit christchurch new zealand, where a lot of my family live. it was only 10km deep and pretty scary for them all! no deaths (thank the lord!) but a lot of devestation and flooding. i’m sending ♥ to them, and hope they have a cloudless sky and a big bulb like we do here in the north to light up their day.emma kate

puss in boots.

these are my 2 year olds favourite boots. i have a feeling even in the peak of summer she will rock these with her togs.

emma kate

child labour at it’s best.

what to get the girls to do on a drizzly afternoon??….DISHES!

emma kate

easy peasy.

one of my fondest childhood memories is hiding in my cousins pea patch scoffing down on the delicious green gems….until he would catch us and run after us with his rifle (it was the south isalnd of new zealand in the 80′s…so pass no judgement!!) and then the bellyache would hit later that evening….but still all was worth it. i planted my little peas that have been nestled on my kitchen window waiting for their big adventure into the great outdoors…although i couldn’t find my gardening twine to rig up a decent run for them…so old sticks found in the wood shed will have to do the trick for now. emma kate

goodbye yellow brick (rocky) road…

gaaaah! what a week and a bit…seriously…what a joke. my two wee girls have been soooo ill, doctors trips every other day, my lars needs ANOTHER M.R.I….and my car went to the doc with a 1200 dollar bill to show for it. (aaand a minor in the scheme of things but my fav bra somehow made it into the dryer where it got caught and torn into 1000 tiny peices   ) sometimes it is so hard to stay on the positive side of the fence…but here’s my attempt at turning the ‘hard road’ into a ‘delicious chocolatey one’…pure chocolate rocky road…with no yukky dried fruit lingering in it.

 

emma kate

the recycled recycling station..

we had this old bench lingering around…it was too dodgy and old to sit on without plummeting to the earth, so now it’s the home to our recycling bins  at the backdoor

emma kate

feeling a bit seedy…

got a few of my early crop seeds sown today… garden war ON!

emma kate

cats like sunny spots, so do i.

due to my two girls sharing a room, spending over month not going to sleep until 10 ot 11 at night…(going to bed at 7 and playing and keeping each other up…little so and so’s…) i have turned my office back into a bedroon for my littliest fairy. in doing so i have made use of a HUGE front foyer and designated it my new work space. loving it! sunshine galore and 2 seconds to pop out and have a cup of tea on my veranda and watch my spring bulbs appear

emma kate

groundhog day…3rd august.

i have been a slacker and not posted for a while…i have noticed that my life (however much i do enjoy it) gets a bit repetitive! so time to make a conscious effort to do something a bit different each day… in saying that my picture today is of where i spend the majority of my time…my beloved kitchen!

emma kate

rainbow bright.

after days of beautiful, crisp, cloudless days we have a drizzly one…causing me to hermit inside in my woolley old man socks. but as they say every cloud has a silver lining…a HUGE-ass rainbow.

emma kate

ice ice baby.

i went for a wander down into town about 8.30am and jack frost was still mooching around.

it may be chilly in this neck of the woods, but it sure is pretty.

emma kate

 

our igloo, is a very,very,very fine igloo…

last night, keeping to my promise to a 3 year old i made last monday, we went camping in the lounge. it was a blast! it also had a lot more luxuries than roughing it outside, like tele and the fridge in close proximity.

and here is our terrific tent! ( and me scoffing down key lime pie…)

emma kate

fox in socks.

usually i am a winter-sulker…mooching around waiting for spring…but this year i have made a conscious effort to embrace the chilly season. i have had  a constent bubble of soup on the stove, the kettle on a continuous boil for many cups of tea and am forever baking those biscuits to dunk.  so pretty much i have chosen to revolve winter around food.

emma kate

 

i choo-choo-choose you.

my friend asked me to to a painting for her friend who’s having a bebe. she thought the baby shower was a few weeks away…but no…it’s tomorrow! so i worked a little magic a did this last night (amongst dealing with a toddler getting molar teeth ouch!) i can’t actually believe i got it done…phew!

here’s a close up of the animals, they begin to have personalities after a while…i think i may need to get out more…

emma kate

the garden fairies have been busy…

i haven’t ventured out to my vege garden for a while…(hence being bombarded with weeds!) and this morning i had a peek and my deliciously multi-coloured brassicas, they are beauties! and they are nearly ready for an extremely colourful stirfry or frittata…just as well as today kicks off my SUGAR-FREE WEEK….it’s been 3 hours…so far, so good.

emma kate

stripey situation 11th june

i ventured up north for stacey’s birthday and finally met the lovely vera    it was a fun night full of karaoke and dancing and too much gin for me… this is a photo of amy and leannes sexy pins in the middle of auckland city (apparently near the elusive ‘nina’s burgers’…which was never found…) the girls swapped their shoes as the stripey shoes were inflicting a world of pain on leanne. i did a good job of documenting the night coming home with some pretty cryptic photos on my camera…

emma kate

june spoon.

okay…..so no feet of MINE are in here…but i just had to skite to stacey that i got to enjoy the sun today with my crazy (but oh so hallarious) girls! it’s been a productive day, pumpkin coconut soup on the stove, rosemary lamb roast in the oven (house smells so fricken good!) and i sold a painting it’s a good day…thank god because i’m sure i have enough unproductive shitty ones to balance them out!

emma kate

raaaaaaaaaaaaaoooow!

this is a commission painting i have been dabbling with for a few weeks…well, procrastinating over really…now i have insentive to get it done by friday so i can fund my night out! (which is a rarity) the power of money is amazing…well, really the power of a decent g&t.

emma kate

jarrrrrs.

i have been uber busy lately…and forgetting to take pics …but today was a wet and dreary day, so i have been cleaning out my fridge (it was waaaay overdue…gah!) and organising my pantry

emma kate

here i am!

my goodness….how slack am i ! it’s been almost a month with no posting. time flies when you’re…well…i don’t know what i’ve been doing….stuff….life.

i finished phase one of some chalk boards i am doing for a cafe in the city…i can only work between 5-7 at night when the cleaner is there. what a mission! i have to sit on a fridge to do the next one because they don’t come down!…brrrrr.

emma kate

tiny dancer. 5th april 2010

 my littlest girl Honor as a shoe fetish and was quite partial to Aunty Staceys jandals

emma kate

80% hippy, 20% working on it…

this is my mighty lasagna i made for dinner tonight… i made my own pasta with eggs from my friends chooks and i used her homegrown galic too…i picked the spinach from my garden…and the tomato pasta sauce i made last week… now i just need to make my own cheese and chase a cow around a paddock.

emma kate

the last wedding of the season…

a beautiful night wedding in the esplanade in good old palmerston north! it was my highschool sweetheart getting married to his gorgeous girlie ,i even got a special mention in his speech! how many ex girlfriends can claim that! there were no feet photos at this stage of the evening as the wine was a’ flowing and i would have face-planted in the process.

emma kate

when it’s cold outsiii-ee—iiide…i got the month of january.

outside tonight it is persisting down…

but inside it’s all cosy and warm (…not really a need for a fire but i couldn’t help myself!) as well as a roast in the oven….ahhhhhhh the first of many!

after an afternoon of looking after my friends 3 kids (making the total one 4 year old, one 3 year old, one two year old and two 1 year olds!) i plan to sit in front of that fire watching trash tele, eating something awfully good!

emma kate

suprise big day for meeee!

my friend and her husband brought my man and i tickets to the pohangina tea party at the pohangina valley estate vineyard as a suprise outing for my birthday we drank red wine, listened to jazz and met some pretty interesting people! it was a fabulous afternoon, topped off by a quick visit to the waterford ( an irish pub in the middle of nowhere!) that was still celebrating st.paddys day…bagpipers and all.

and yes…i do have other photos of people riding/kissing/humping the goat…

emma kate

where in the world?

 

emma kate

we went on mission todaty…my man friend had to get a consult for his back operation ….but we also had to (yes HAD to) break into a boat to get my dads shoes that left there from his fishing trip to the malborough sounds last weekend…it was so fun…

 

oui oui!

my eldest daughter attends montessori in the mornings and tomorrow is ‘international day’ so she is going as a wee french girl…wearing a berret (sp?!?) a red neck scarf and a beauty spot! she has to take a plate of her country…and as i refuse to make pastries at 10pm…cookies shapes like snails it is! (with dark chocolate swirls!!)

sorry no feet…contorting my body to fit them in was just not going to happen tonight!

emma kate

in prep for puddles.

my two wee girls have new matching gumboots…i don’t usually dress them the same, but i had to get identical ones as so no squabbling!

papa bear is at band prac (a.k.a drinking beer with the boys) tonight so i have a glass of wine, chocolate and the remote waiting for me on the couch with a comfy blanket…wooooot!

emma kate

just call me martha…

i have had a ‘feel-good’ day today. spent most of it in the vege garden with my wee girls. we harvested a whole lotta big juicy ‘beefsteak’ tomatoes…and tonight i am making homemade tomato ketchup (‘red sauce’ to us kiwis). WHICH might i add is amusing because those who know me well know i DISPISE tomato sauce…but my kids love it.

emma kate

moving day

dani and i went to visit our friend cindy who had just moved into her new house today! it’s in a little village called Kopane out in the whop-whops (…out in the country) it’s on a MASSIVE section and she’s getting a billy goat for her birthday

and my daughter Honor ‘helped’ out too, i mean look at the perfectly mowed……deck.

emma kate

it’s THAT time of year again :D

bless the broads in blue. the box is nearly empty…

emma kate

my first ‘date’ in yeeeears!

my man took me out for dinner and a movie tonight for my 27th birthday:) i accidentally got a bit drunk at dinner before going to see alice in wonderland…whoopsie. i had the giggles through the whole thing…bless the jagermiester grin i would  like to name this photo ‘emma in wonderland’…(even though it’s really ‘emma in the palmerston north square’)…but i think it’s got a wee bit of majesticness about it.

emma kate

never too old to play with bubbles!

the girls in their jarmies before bed playing with BUBBLES! …my littlest looks like she has a monacle. yuss!

emma kate

unbelievaBULL

the end of my eldest daughters 3rd birthday we went to the bulls domain to watch an awesome band (her very first concert *bless) this is me and my youngest and her wee toes

these are the feet of the birthday girl and her best friends dancing the night away…

it was an amazing day for all…..now time to go catch some zzzzzzzzzzz’s

emma kate

sneak preview…

this is the beginning of my daughter indie’s 3rd birthday cake. i swore it was going to be a stressfree (for me!) lead up to her party…and it has been until now! the fricken chocolate flowers and leaves i made keep melting because it’s so muggy tonight…aaarrrrgh! she is having a neverneverland party tomorrow because she is tinkerbelle crazy i even have a fairy dress and wings…yuss!

emma kate

it’s the small things…

…yes, yes another second hand shop find. my very own peice of  le creuset stoneware…a very “cortina” yellow 70′s vintage peice. it was hiding under a table amongst bits and bobs.

emma kate

market queens!

my friend cindy and i have a stall at the market that runs at the school down the road each semester. not the best shot of our goodies for sale but we had all sorts….homegrown cherry tomatoes, red onions, different shape zuchini,red cabbage, garlic, rhubarb, beans…and all sorts of other veges from our gardens…carrot cakes, the best biscotti ever! chocchip freckly men, homemade plum sauce and jams galore! can you tell a wee bit proud* twas a good morning in the sun.

emma kate

mystery solved…

i haven’t been posting for a while because my camera went walkabout…it was found in the baking cuboard with evidence of the secret squirrel…

i wonder who’s foot this could be…

maybe it was the camera fairy…?

emma kate

love love love.

i started my valentines day this year downing tequila shots outside our tent…in the dark…giggling…

emma kate

13th feb 2010.best.weekend.ever…..so far.

 

 

this is our ‘dancing rug’ at the  Mission Estate motown festival in the hawkesbay… i haven’t boogied so much in a VERY long time! we had jimmy barnes, joan osbourne, the 4 tops, the temptations…and more playing olds school tunes…and of course being on a vineyard the wine was a’flowin!

emma kate

LOCKED AND LOADED.

Ms Stacey fancypants a Ms Emma frillyknickers will be hitting your shores soon…..yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

emma kate

10th februroonie.

oh how good it feels to chuck your pj’s on and fall on the couch after a day of being a mediator, taxi driver, nurse, personal chef, entertainer, cleaner….

this is axl, the coolest cat in town.

emma kate

sunny daze.

the girls spent the day nudey while i pottered in my garden. my tomatoes are kicking willis’ tomatoes arse….muwahahaa.

emma kate

frosty toes.

we went to a 4th birthday party out on a dairyfarm and good old MR WHIPPY turned up…i forgot to take a foot photo so i had to draw them in today!

emma kate

chillax.

girls in bed. time for me.

emmakate

high on a hill lived a lonely goat herder…

way up highfield hill …it’s been a ripper of a day but decided to cloud over a bit for my run…thanks nature.

emma kate

what’s better than new jeans? really cool pre-loved cheap jeans…

these are my 20 dollar jeans i found at savemart…they are ben sherman denim skinnys…they fit like a glove. i am a happy camper.

emma kate

yeee haaaw.

the beginning of a cowboy painting for my friends wee boy who’s turning the big 4 next weekend….watch this space.

emma kate

how much wood would a woodchuck chuck?

it always seems a little weird that in the height of summer you have to start squirrelling wood away…but the smell of cut pine is pretty yummy.

emma kate

let them eat cake.

today had been a day full of goodtimes…kids playing in sprinklers…picking tomatoes…grandparents visiting….and baking a ‘lemon heaven butter cake’.

emma kate

one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

i drove past the salvation army this morning, and this old stool was sitting outside. 8 buckaroos my friends…i love him…when i grow up i may even marry him.

emma kate

pearla of a day

 

emma kate

hanging out with my girls. lemonade ice blocks rock our world.

sunshine lollipop.

the concrete on our patio was hot by 9am….yuss!

emma kate

 

lazy long weekend.

 watching BAM on mtv with my man…it’s like driving past a carcrash, better judgement tells you not to look but you can’t help yourself…

emma kate

 

 

raaaaaawww!!

cracks me up. a painting for my kitchen…nearly finished i think.

emma kate

singing in the raaaiiiiin.

i got to see my sister-in-law keri for the first time this year brightened up a cloudy day

this little piggy….

before bedtime with my girls and our painted tootsies

touched….for the very first time: 19/01

i spent the morning talking to my vege patch. these are my yellow courgettes….or zucchinis…what ever you choose to call them. they should be big enough to eat tomorrow. i love them so.

Emma