Rochelle Elliot's Blog: The World of WellyChelle, page 4

The Supermarket Socialist and The Basket Bearing Capitalist

I’ve just returned from an extremely entertaining jaunt around the supermarket!

Having trolley wrangled my way from snow peas to pottles of yogurt, from rice flour to Surf washing powder, I paused beside the potato chips to check the list one last time.

It was here a lovely jovial gentleman, in the twilight of his retirement (I’m guessing) approached and shared a joke regarding my over stocked trolley (kids + school holidays = I’m hungry, I’m hungry, I’m hungry.) Apparently, so he’s been told, we waste 40% of the food we buy. I don’t doubt him. Though the chippies and chocolate will be long gone by the weekend.

Somewhere between reading my list and chatting about the children, mine at home refusing to eat their vegetables, his shifted out with children of their own, we came around to politics. And it was here that our supermarket chit-chat moved up a gear. We learned something new about each other. Though neither of us were happy with the amount of food we buy and waste, our similarities came to a crashing halt when he admitted to being a National Party crony, and I proudly waved my Labour credentials.

I folded my list and put it away. He balanced his basket on my trolley.

What followed was a highly entertaining twenty minutes, discussing the pros and cons of political party policy. The conversation flowed, backwards and forwards, and though he didn’t agree with my ticking the “we need a capital gains tax,” box, and I didn’t tick his “there will always be poor people, but we shouldn’t encourage them,” stance, we still laughed a lot.

He labelled me a socialist from the outset, and couldn’t understand why I don’t mind paying tax. But then I couldn’t understand when he said he wasn’t rich, he only owned three houses, or why he felt giving kids in poverty rain coats and shoes was just encouraging their parents not to do it.  I tried to explain that helping children was about making their lives better now, not in a few years when someone in the Beehive works out a ‘best plan,’ for how to make the country work. He tried to explain his views on working hard and having the government take it away as tax.

We both agreed the system is broken. We just had very different ideas of how to fix it. Neither of us came away having budged the other, but it was an intriguing conversation all the same!

If my bunch of rag-tag socialists get into power, he’s going to be very upset. If his bunch of crony capitalists get back in, I’ll not be at all impressed.

I told him we should meet back there in the Supermarket the day after the election.

He said I was a good laugh, for a Socialist!

 

Tagged: 2014, capitalism, conversations, Election, Labour, National, politics, respect, socialism

Home for the holidays.

Pajamas all day?
                               Ten cups of tea?
                                                             If you like! 

After a weekend mostly spent lying in bed feeling incredibly blah, I am happy to say I have risen this first Monday of the Winter School Holidays, and already achieved enough that I am comfortably heading into an afternoon of book reading and not much else.

The couch has been vacuumed inside, out and underneath. I always save this job for the holidays. This clean found 29 hair bobbles, a pile of forgotten Countdown Dream Works collectors cards, a few marbles and a chicken nuggets container (thankfully empty!)

I’ve swapped the kids car garage for the Thomas train tracks and laid the throw rug decoratively across the arm of the couch, for which I believe I would have scored at least an 8 out of 10 on House Rules because it both matches my cushions and adds a ‘pop’ of colour.

We’ve had sushi and hot chips for lunch, neither home-made unless you count bunging a bag of frozen chips in the oven – which I do. So I might not have impressed Pete and Manu on My Kitchen Rules, but I get the people’s choice award judging from speed at which the chip butties have been consumed.

And will you look at that… it’s tea time again!

Chelle xxx

Tagged: cleaning, family, school holiday, winter

Beaming about Book Club!

It’s a wonderful thing. To sit and sip tea and talk books. The highs and lows, the difference in opinions. Looking at characters from different angles and talking twists and turns in plot.

We started our book club, The Book Nook, earlier in the year. We’ve only had two meetings, but it really is a lovely thing to have a couple of hours of my time, set aside just for my love of books.

The surprising thing is how much it has opened my eyes to different authors and styles of writing. When time is tight, as it always is, I tend to fall back on old favourites. Now don’t get me wrong, those old favourites are as loved and enjoyed as ever before. I will not be giving up my Freya North, my Lee Child, my Richard North Patterson and my Marian Keyes, not for anyone!

But there are a wealth of interesting, well written books out there, just waiting to be devoured. Other peoples favourites are opened up and shared, and the best thing about book club is that there is an endless possibility of finding incredible, enticing prose.

Do you belong to a book club? Check out The Book Nook on GoodReads!

 

Back on the Brachial Plexus Path!

Chickens! 

What a couple of months it has been! The dust balls are rolling past the pages of my wee blog I realise, so I thought I would give you an update from The World of WellyChelle.

After a rather drawn out process with ACC, we finally got approval for Aidan to go to Auckland for Muscle Transfer Surgery. For those not in the know, Aidan was hit by a car in 2011, knocked off his motorbike, and has been left with a long term brachial plexus injury to his right shoulder and arm. 

He’s had nerve surgery in 2012, which gave him movement back to his elbow, but wasn’t successful in restoring shoulder function, so he has no outer rotation (think holding a plate in front of you, shaking someones hand, reaching for a pen – those kind of things!) So from nerve surgeon to shoulder surgeon we transferred, and latissimus Dorsi transfer was the path they felt best for him.

The only man for the job is a wonderful surgeon, Mr Peter Poon, in Auckland. So we road tripped up, got the job done, and spent two weeks in Pauanui while Aidan recovered from the surgery. 
We were then allowed home, but Aidan is now on strict instructions not to use his arm for eight weeks. 

We are up to week 5, and so far he is being very good. I am only nagging at a mildly higher level than usual. Not using his arm at all is a challenge, and being in a sling 24 hours a day makes for a rather stiff elbow joint. But we have to protect the muscle that’s been transferred, and give it the best chance at attachment. Then when Mr Poon feels it’s ready, Aidan will head back to physio and rehab, and we will keep all our fingers and toes crossed that the muscle is strong enough to do its new job. 

It’s another step on the recovery journey, and we are staying positive and hopeful that good things are to come!

In the mean time, Aidan is off work and is doing an excellent job of keeping my tea cup full while I write my way closer to the final copy of Dancing Inside Out, which I aim to have ready for publishing by August.

I am doing an excellent job of taking the rubbish out on Wednesday mornings and I have only forgotten him in the shower once. 

So lets clear away the dust, bake a batch of bikkies and let the blogging recommence! 

love WellyChelle xxx 

 

Tagged: brachial plexus, latissimus Dorsi transfer, muscle transfer, surgery

Boots and Balls

This weekend was Ashton’s first soccer team experience. 

He’s playing in Grade 7 for Hutt City Football Club, and was excited with every aspect of the experience, from getting his “strip” and new shin pads and boots, to actually getting to the ground and finding his new team.

Grade 7 operates on a fun, skills based level, where the kids start off with warm ups and soccer games that help with their skills and co-ordination. They then moved around and played short games against other teams in their club. This was of course the bit they had all been waiting for.

Ashton had a blast, slide tackling at every opportunity and even scoring a couple of goals.

It was a beautiful autumn morning – a cool breeze but the sky was blue and the sun warm. If only all Saturday mornings could be like that!

 

Ashton can’t wait for next weekend. And so begins what will hopefully be a long and fruitful football career…

  … look out Chelsea – the Ashton-Man is coming!

 

Tagged: ball skills, football, Fun, junior, soccer, sports, team

Who’s a pretty birdie?

This weekend I have discovered a marvelous fun way to use up scrap material and make something that from start to finish only takes about half an hour!


I love these little birds! It’s so much fun putting them together and in one weekend I’ve got a flock of five!


I’ve been using a couple of free internet patterns from here and here.

They are very easy to make. I found they are small enough that pinning isn’t necessary.
I’ve been using a bit of left over ribbon to add detail, and buttons for eyes.
I love the freedom in making these little ones. There’s nothing too complicated and you can give each bird their own personality!


These wee tweet-hearts are an easy fun sewing activity, so if you’ve got a spare half hour, why not have a go?
Tagged: birds, easy, mr bluebird, sew

Sew, a needle pulling thread…

I was enticed back to my sewing machine after visiting a friend whose sewing table and bits and pieces reminded me of my own plastic fantastic container full of bits of fabric kept for future, as yet unannounced, uses.

My machine came to me from my mother inlaw, and I love it because it is simple to use. For an impromptu sewing star like myself, simple means I don’t have to trawl through the manual each time I feel the itch to stitch!

I am proud to say I mostly sew things with lines. I knocked out a couple of cushions on Saturday evening, finally replacing the awful brocade ones that came free with the couch ( only 5 years ago!)

Sunday morning I made good on a promise to help the kids sew something. Ashton came fully prepared with a drawing of a crazy animal he wanted us to make. We cut out body parts and started sewing and stuffing!

Ashton helped me sew on the final features…

Next up was Isabelle. We made a bag from the different fabrics she chose from the box. She used the iron and the sewing machine, starting just with the foot pedal, then moving on to guiding the fabric as well.

She even got to “fill up” the bobbin and watch how to thread the needle and pull up the thread!

Both kids were very happy with their morning’s work!

Our Children’s Education

It’s election year. On the 20th of September this year, we will vote.

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/35083/petitions-womens-suffrage

It will be 121 years and one day since New Zealand lead the world, becoming the first to allow all Women the right to vote.

Duncan Garner (Radio Live) has compiled a list of what he believes the 10 defining election issues will be. 

Number 7 on his list is “Your Child’s education – are you happy?”

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

That got me thinking

     - am I happy? 

I am very happy that my children are enjoying school. That they are still experiencing so much joy in learning and discovering new things. I am happy that their teachers have a grasp on what areas of education they are good at, and where they might need a bit of help, and that those teachers feel willing and able to share that with me.

But sometimes I wish education, as a sector, as an experience, as an important part of our own learning and our children’s, was up higher on people’s election issue lists.

Education has become the hot potato portfolio of the National Party, where it appears ideology often over rides the real needs of the children and teachers who live and breathe learning every day. But that’s just my opinion.

I guess it’s one of those areas that you can poke with a stick, throw a few stones at, just to see what will happen. The effects are often not felt until the stick holder has long since moved on. It’s not like health, where people will start dying, or arms and legs start falling off.

And here’s the thing. If you are happy with your child’s education – if they have a good teacher in a good school, if they came out of the life lottery with a good grasp on Reading, Writing and Mathematics, and if your child is sucking up knowledge and doing all the things the big wigs tell you they should be, then you’re probably happy.

And if your child didn’t get the lucky ticket that puts them on the bell curve on the right side of National Standards, well at least you know about it now, right? Isn’t that what they say? Knowledge is power. Now you’ve got a piece of paper that tells you that your child is well below the standard, that they are not in the “normal range” and now you and your child’s school can “fix it.” They can make it right.

So it’s a win on both sides right?

I mean you might be a little concerned that under the National Government’s new push towards performance pay, the Principal of your child’s good school might not be around as much, since they might be off earning extra money helping out in other schools.

Maybe your school will have to run a lottery to see who gets their kids in the class that has the Specialist Teacher, because the other ones are probably a bit shite. I mean granted, they might be incredible at inquiry, PE and art. But we don’t measure those things with tests, and what does it matter if the kids are learning to learn, if they can’t meet the success criteria in their Writing sample?

And then there’s always a chance that come next year, when the election year funding spree has died down, and a review of education funding measures opens the door to performance pay based on National Standards, and the school you thought was magnificent is suddenly thousands of dollars short, and you might have to join the other “bright” kids and their families, and head off to the school up the road with the money to give your kids the experiences and technology and tools they will need to succeed.

And you might feel for a moment, for the children in your kids old class who will never meet the standard. The kids who don’t have Ipads  in every room, let alone whiteboards and whiteboard pens or enough money in the budget to buy laminating sheets and new footballs.

But your kid, if they’re lucky, will be okay. So you might be pretty happy to let it be.

Or you might not.

You might look at the kids in your school with learning needs, that means they will never be “standard,” because they weren’t built that way.

You might look at the kids who come from a home where they have no books to read, and no colouring in pencils and crayons to develop their fine motor skills. Where their parents struggle to read and write themselves. But who still want the best for their children, and will do all they know how to provide that.

You might want to consider the teachers, who each year get more stressed about the tests, more focused on getting their children to the standards, less willing to skip writing on a sunny day, so their children can have a game of Duck, Duck, Goose, or listen to music under the big trees and collect the autumn leaves. Because it will take them a week or two just to test everyone, and that means there are only 6, or 8 weeks left in the term to actually get the bottom ones up to the standard.

Push, Push, Push.

You might look at this and think – something is wrong. You might wonder what tomorrow will look like for the children who can read and write and work out equations to the test, but who don’t know what it feels like to write what you feel, just because you can, to discover a topic and fall in love with it, and follow it through on a learning journey. And whose entire educational experience revolves around tests they can’t pass and pieces of paper telling them they are below, or well below. That they are not normal. That they are of less value to our society.

And you might think of those women in 1893, and what they stood for. Fairness, Equality. The right to have a voice.

And you might use your vote this year, to give all our kids a voice.

Tagged: Duncan Garner, education, Election, national standards, New Zealand, school

What’s keeping me busy? I’ve been Dancing Inside Out!

I know it’s been a little quiet around Chill Out Chicken… but it’s not from lack of writing, in fact my finger tips have been tipping over the key board lately, attempting to get my next novel ready for your reading pleasure…

I thought it might be nice to whet your appetites, so here’s a run down of my next book…

Dancing inside out is the title of my next novel. Mabelle is a business dynamo, with a heart of gold. She might be devastated when her long-term love leaves her high and dry, falling into the arms of another woman, but you’d be forgiven for thinking “good-bye to bad rubbish” and wondering why she hadn’t kicked him and his overly annoying mother to the curb a long time ago. 
When their break up goes public, and Mabelle ends up in the spot light, she’s got a choice. Hide away under her duvet, or pull on her dancing shoes, wipe away the tears, and take some tentative steps to reclaim herself and her love life. 
What is it they say? Men are like buses, there’s always another one just around the corner. Some times two. And some times some come around more than once. But that’s only of use if you know which direction you want to head in. (and which you might like to climb aboard!!!!!)
Will Mabelle be able to shake off her old life? Is she strong enough to embrace a new future and dance off into the sunset? 
Of course I’m not going to tell you… you’ll have to read the book!

I’m anticipating having it published in June or July this year. So ready your reading glasses, kick-start your kindle and get ready for another tale from The World of WellyChelle!

Tagged: chick lit, love, modern romance, Romance, Women, women's fiction

Kiwi kids are School Camp kids!

It’s been a build up of epic proportions. We kicked off with a note home at the end of last year, reminding us all that the first term of 2014 would involve our little middle syndicate kids (Year 3 and 4′s)  transforming into seniors (Year 5 and 6′s), and celebrating this achievement with three nights away from home at School Camp. Another milestone to tick off our kids educational and emotional journey.

Not to mention the journey we travel as parents, who know they will be fine, but are suddenly struck by how independent and grown up our little babies are becoming!

Weren’t they just starting school? Weren’t they just reading Dan, Dan the flying man and Greedy Cat?

School camps in New Zealand are a right of passage. They are one of those experiences that help you grow as an individual. It’s often the first time kids venture out into the big world, without parental or grand-parental supervision. The first time they sleep in a cabin without an adult. The first time they have full control over what they wear each morning and then there’s the first time they see their teachers in their pajamas!

There are torches and sleeping bags to compare, and a whole new world of activities and events and rules to follow. And you’ve got your friends right there beside you, all feeling excited and nervous and wondering what the week at camp will be like.

Games and jokes and stories. Challenges and obstacles. Will they be brave enough to ride the horse? To do the rock climbing? What will they be having for dinner?

So here we are in March 2014, and camp is upon us! My Isabelle, and my nephews Harri and Josh are going on their first school camp.

Last night we made sure everything was named – from underpants and socks to sleeping bags and pillows. We packed it all into Isaelle’s new purple bag with her new tooth brush and spiderman tooth paste.

This morning I plaited Isabelle’s hair, and made the most of this wee quiet moment with my little girl. I assured her I fully expected her to come back from camp with a birds nest on her head, and I have a half bottle of conditioner with her name on it for the de-knotting that will follow!

We loaded up the car, and down to school we went. We met my sister and her boys there, and joined the other excited kids and caregivers in the school hall. Not to mention the teachers with their lists on their clipboards.

A hundred million kisses were given and the same amount of hugs. Then we nervously left them to it!

As parents, we might take a few moments to enjoy the quietness around the house this week, but I know we’ll be lining up at the gate on Friday to welcome our big kids home, and celebrate their awesome camp achievements!

To all of you who have kids off practicing their independent adventuring skills, hang in there. You are not alone. All over New Zealand, other parents are anxiously awaiting news of how their kids are going at school camp. Just as we tell them, keep busy! It won’t be long and they’ll be back with their smelly feet on your couch and demanding to be fed! 

Isabelle last night, all packed and ready for her big kiwi school camp adventure!

Tagged: kids, New Zealand, primary school, school camp