House full of blokes

Up at the top of the Nevis, Christmas Day 2015 Spring has well and truly sprung and time is nearly up on the campaigning.  There were a couple of major events for me this week with the end of term rush and the Meet the Candidate meeting being the really big stuff. The Meet the Candidates meeting was great.  It was standing room only and the audience was a really mixed bunch, a good cross section of the Cromwell community.  The Community Board candidates all sat in the back row - we let the big boys (and girl) - the Mayoral and Regional Council candidates sit up front. I really enjoyed listening to each person speak and make their case.  The seasoned campaigners come across so cool and confident, so incredibly used to being up in front of large groups of people.  My usual audience is often larger, but mostly aged 11 and under and they aren't there to critique what I have to say - they have to listen to me - that's the deal at school. My talk was tightly...

The movie is lots of random photos from the Harrison archives - it shows a busy, happy, chaotic life Voting papers have been delivered to households and it is time to have your say.  Fill in your ballot, pop it in the orange envelope and pop it in the post.  You can vote for between 1 and 4 community board members - you don't have to vote for 4 if you are unsure about the candidates.  If you want to know more before you make your mind up then make sure you get to the public meeting at the Golden Gate conference centre 7pm tomorrow.  All mayoral and community board candidates will be represented - it is a great opportunity to make an informed decision. Here is my speech - if you are unable to make it.  There is nothing new here - I've used my blog posts to form the basis of what I am going to say - don't make reading it here an excuse not to turn up either - it will be much better live - there might even be a song and dance- you never know! Kia ora Kou...

Anna Natalya Harrison - little girl version (still have the same hair do, maybe just a bit more proficient with the hair brush these days)  The business end of the campaign is upon me.  Voting papers will arrive at the end of the week.  I've read the candidate handbooks and the information from Local Government NZ and I know that low voter turnout is a reality for local body elections.  The main reason given by eligible voters for not sending papers back is that they don't know who the candidates are.  The other little gem of information is that most people who end up voting do it as soon as they receive the voting papers. That gives me a double purpose for the next few weeks - making sure Cromwell knows who I am and why I am standing, and encouraging people to have their say - vote! I am hoping that my little musings, blog posts, piccollages, appli videos, recipes and facebook photos have helped Cromwell people to get to know me as a person and as a candi...

Dad's field, Hampstead Heath with my older sister and my dad sometime in the early 1970's Families are wonderful and so varied and complex.  We all come from diverse experiences and backgrounds that have shaped our views of the world.  I grew up in London, my parents split when I was very young.  Mum remarried and this new relationship brought my sister and I a step sister the same age as me and later, two younger 'half' brothers.  Dad also went on to a new relationship and a 'half' sister entered our family from this side too.  I never usually refer to any of my siblings as half or step, we are all just part of a large, blended family.  Those terms are only ever used to explain the relationships to others. I moved to Dunedin as a 13 year old with Mum and my step dad Paul, along with my older sister and two younger brothers.  A huge split in relationships for Dad and my other two sisters and of course for those of us who moved. Dad passed away ...