52 Weeks of Memories - Weeks 31-35

Week 31 - Sign

Some street art from Christchurch - I think it's pretty much a sign.

Week 32 - Family

A little cat family

Week 33 - Black and White

Old framed newspaper at Skippers.

Week 34 - Animal

A spider that had taken up residence outside our house - until we kept destroying its web.

Week 35 - Inside

Taken from inside the blossoms of a cherry tree.

My Craft Collection - Knitting Supplies

So I'm not a very good knitter. In fact, I've never finished knitting anything and I'm still on my first scarf which I started at least 5 years ago. And yet I still have a HEAP of yarn and knitting supplies (majority of it was gifted).
One day I will finish something. I have no idea when and if I will ever use up all of this yarn but you never know...

So this post is dedicated to all of my yarn, wool, knitting needles and other random knitting supplies.

 This is how I store all of my yarn:

All of my yarn. A lot of it is polyester but I have a lot of actual wool and cotton yarn as well as a bit of alpaca in amongst it.

Knitting and crochet needles. Also have some tapestry needles and counters that I haven't opened...

These are the books that hold any patterns that I end up making:

My 5 year scarf that isn't finished next too the bag that my Nana made for me:

52 Weeks of Memories - Weeks 24-30

So it's been ages since I've taken pictures for this challenge. So I'm going to do my best to do 5 weeks worth each week. Everything will be photos that I have taken. Though until I'm caught up it could be from previous years etc.

Week 24 - Favourite

My favourite person in one of my favourite places - Hobbiton

Week 25 - Up

View from up in an airplane

Weeks 26&27 - Eyes & Soft

The eye of my oldest friend - Ginger (well loved stuffed cat)

Week 28 - Smile

Not only did this make me smile but I can see smiles in the rocks :)

Week 29 - Bright

Bright door in Hobbiton

Week 30 - Nature

Sometimes I love my country so much

My Craft Collection - Introduction

So I've decided it's about time that I share my craft collection with you guys.
I have way too much stuff for the amount of things that I do.
My favourite craft to do is making cards. This year I hope to make lots for Christmas.
I also have knitting, sewing and lots of random bits and bobs.

As of today, I plan on having posts dedicated to the following:

Knitting Supplies
Washi Tape
Ribbon
Bits and Bobs
Paper and Card
Art Supplies
Accessories
Sewing Stuff

As I go through my stuff I may well add a section. Also, I'll link the posts when I post them so you can always find them from this page.
Hope you enjoy my Craft Supplies series.

After 21 Years I Can Still Recite It...

When I was four years old - my family moved to the USA so that my Dad could do his PhD at Cornell University. I started school at North Street Elementary School in Geneva, NY and every day from Kindergarten on we would recite the 'Pledge of Allegiance' with our hands over our hearts and facing the American flag. At the time, I didn't understand what it meant and just wanted to be like everyone else so did it. But now, looking back, I'm not sure it was appropriate for me to do it as a New Zealander.

As a reward for good behaviour you got to wear a badge that said 'Citizen of the Day' which was amusing since I was not an American citizen (I was a reasonably good child - so got the award more than once - there's picture proof at Mum and Dad's).

We came back to New Zealand at the end of 1995 and I have done the rest of my schooling in New Zealand. In fact, I'm now a Primary School teacher. I am proud to be a New Zealander but I don't understand the intense Patriotic nature that many Americans seem to have. Fair enough being proud of where you come from - but some nations take it to extremes. I remember the sheer number of houses that had American flags out front. You just don't see that here (except when the All Blacks are playing - and then it's just a silver fern). We only sing the National Anthem once a week at school assemblies or if there's an international sporting match (there may well be other occasions but that's all I can think of).

I've started thinking of this again after reading this article by Anne Wheaton. In it, she talks about how her son sat down when the Pledge of Allegiance was recited in class for a few weeks as a form of protest as he didn't agree with parts of it. His teacher had a bit of a hissy fit about it by the sounds of things.

Anyways, that's my little rant about...patriotism? And pointing out differences. It is by no means meant to be an insult to any country. It is just one girl's interpretation on things. And it's a bit rambly :P

'White Flight' and why it upsets me so much

I am a Pakeha (white) relief Primary School teacher. I travel around to a variety of South Auckland schools that are predominantly Maori and Pasifika. I love teaching Maori and Pasifika children. They are some of the kindest, beautiful kids I've taught. Imyself live in Papakura - a diverse but low socio-economic area. We chose to live here over other areas in Auckland and love it here. Many other Pakeha families looking to get on the property ladder have also moved here in recent times due to it being more affordable. But does it show in the local schools? No. And it saddens me.

On my way to one school in the mornings I drive past a group of Pakeha primary aged kids all gathered at a bus stop - dressed in the uniform of a rural school. The local school is a good school and has had fantastic ERO reports. In fact - most primary schools in Papakura have. Again, why are there so many Pakeha families sending their kids elsewhere for school? According to some articles that I've read - it's because they don't want their kids to feel like a minority. Completely ignoring the fact that Maori and Pasifika people are the minority in everyday life. Surely it would be a good thing to feel that way? Therefore they would have more empathy towards other ethnic groups later in life (or so my theory goes). Being at a diverse school means that children are able to be exposed to other cultures and learn about them. I see that as a fantastic thing.

When I relieve, I quite regularly get asked what my culture is. I answer Irish (that's the one I identify with most). I'm proud of my heritage (there's some very interesting stories in my family history - but that's a story for another time). The kids get really excited when I tell them my culture and then proceed to tell me about theirs. I have learnt so much from these children about different cultures and I love that I have.

Another problem with 'white flight' is the decile rating system (as of writing this is still in place - the government is proposing change). This is where students are funded based on the socio-economic status of their school catchment area. The lower the number, the more funding they get per student. The theory is that in higher socio-economic areas families can fund-raise more money for the local school. Many people misinterpret this as a rating on how good the school is. When I worked at Farmers I remember overhearing a conversation between a few of the ladies there about how they wouldn't send their kids to a low decile school because it was worse. Needless to say - I enlightened them to how it really works and urged them to check out the school's ERO report. Not surprisingly (for me at least), the school that they were talking about had a very good ERO report. This stigma needs to stop.

What I would love, is for people to send their kids to local schools - regardless of the ethnicity of the other children who attend ( the only exception to this I have is if the school has a bad recent ERO report or if they don't cater to your child's special needs). Chances are - your child will come out of there a more open-minded human being than they would otherwise. I know that few years of teaching in South Auckland has changed me and I embrace the fact that it has. Enough with this 'white flight'. You are part of the community. You chose to live here. That means that you should enrol your kids in the local schools so that they can get to know their local community too. You as a parent will too. Deal with it.


Disclaimer - this is my opinion. If you disagree you are free to do so in the comments - but do it in a nice way. 

What a busy few weeks...

I've been so busy with relieving the past couple of weeks. There's a few bugs going around which means more work for me :) Which is just as well as we're trying to save as much money as possible.
I've also joined an agency which means more work in new schools which is nice.
It also means that I haven't been able to do as much around the house as I normally do so I'm playing catch up on housework too.
So the blog has been lower on my list of priorities right now. I seem to have excuse after excuse for not posting but ah well. I'll post when I can.
I might take one day off a week if I get too tired. If nothing else to catch up on things. We'll see how I go.

Hopefully next time I post it'll be a bit more of an exciting post :)