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    • Flower Beds
      • Recently I was criticised for supporting replacing all but eleven of the cities bedding gardens containing flowering annuals. Our bedding gardens are in a bad way.  Many are overgrown with oxalis and other weeds or fungus infestations.  Some are prone to flooding.  They may be situated badly with manhole covers or lampposts in the way, [...]

    • Flower Beds
      • Recently I was criticised for supporting replacing all but eleven of the cities bedding gardens containing flowering annuals. Our bedding gardens are in a bad way.  Many are overgrown with oxalis and other weeds or fungus infestations.  Some are prone to flooding.  They may be situated badly with manhole covers or lampposts in the way, or behind parked cars. On top of that, the council only has so much money to spend.  To improve the condition of the current gardens in some cases would require all the soil to be replaced every couple of years.  To do that just isn’t sustainable or financially sensible.  The increased cost would be an unreasonable burden to place on ratepayers. A much better option is to replace those gardens that aren’t performing well or are poorly placed with flowering shrubs and trees.  This can give a better result with more colour and shape.  Flowering shrubs and trees are better able to hide manhole covers and be seen behind parked cars than low-lying annuals. I believe that what was agreed will give us a better result with more colour, and will actually save the council money as well. For more including see Hutt City’s Website

    • Day 5 – just because you can live on $2.25 a day doesn’t mean you should
      • Day 5, and I am glad it is almost over. Lesson for today, just because you can live on $2.25 a day, doesn’t mean you should. I have lost 3 kilos that I didn’t want to lose. I thought I had been eating relatively well, with a reasonably balanced, if bland, diet. But still, the weight has come off. I hate to think how difficult this would be living on this little for longer, or if I was doing a physical job, or if I was sick.  But I am not.  I’m going shopping this afternoon for some cheese, wine, eggs, garlic bread, pasta and a creamy mushroom sauce, a few treats for tomorrow. I am glad that I have the choice to be able to do that. Many in real poverty don’t have any choices. The game is almost over for me. While I don’t intend to carry on living on this little from now on, I do plan on cutting back some. $2.25 may be too low for me, but if I cut back a little, I could help just one person. I already sponsor two children. Maybe I can afford to sponsor one more. I challenge you to look at how much you are spending. Maybe you too could afford to donate a little more.

    • Warning – open at your own risk … may contain food porn and excessive salivating
      • Day 3.  Over half way there.  Thank you to all who have helped me get to the top 10 fundraisers in NZ I know others are struggling giving up meat, or coffee or chocolate.  While that hasn’t been an issue for me, oh how I long for some butter.  Cheese.  Eggs.  Herbs and spices.  Oh and peanut butter.  Owww, I want to slather some butter and peanut butter on some bread and feel the butter melting in my mouth …. drwwwlll. Excuse me for a second while I go wipe the dribble off my chin. But at least while I am eating my 50 ways with cabbage, I am sitting in a warm and dry house.  I have cooked it on a modern stove with clean water.  I don’t have to sacrifice my food to make sure my children have enough to eat.  This has been a choice for me.  It is really just been a game. For millions of people in the world it is no game.  Thanks to all who have donated to help others improve their lot.

    • Day 2 – cabbage, cabbage and more cabbage
      • Dinner on day 1 filled a gap.  Had a pumpkin dahl with rice.  Added a couple of curry leaves out of the pantry that would have cost around 3c, so have added that to my total for the week. I overestimated how much rice I would eat, so had left overs for today – yah.  [...]

    • Day 2 – cabbage, cabbage and more cabbage
      • Dinner on day 1 filled a gap.  Had a pumpkin dahl with rice.  Added a couple of curry leaves out of the pantry that would have cost around 3c, so have added that to my total for the week. I overestimated how much rice I would eat, so had left overs for today – yah.  They came in really handy for the day two and the mid-afternoon munchies.  Along with some dry roasted pumpkin seeds for snacks, today has been alot more filling.  But I am starting to get sick of the site of cabbage, and would love to have things with a bit more flavour, or a rich creamy sauce. Ummm, cream.  Right, need to stop dreaming now, it’s making me hungry again.  So glad this is only for 5 days, and I don’t need to live like this everyday. Yesterday I made the top 10 fundraisers, with $800 donated to Oxfam.  Thank you everyone who has donated so far, to make it easier for those who live below the line all the time.  If you haven’t got around to it yet, there is still time.  Just go to http://fundraise.livebelowtheline.co.nz/lisa_bridson.

    • Day 1 and hungry already
      • Breakfast wasn’t too bad.  I had porridge, with stewed apple and milk powder milk.  And at 29c, it might not taste as good as my usual porridge with cinnamon and yoghurt, but nice and cheap and it certainly filled me up for the morning.  The kids having left over chicken stew didn’t even make me [...]

    • Day 1 and hungry already
      • Porridge and apple Breakfast wasn’t too bad.  I had porridge, with stewed apple and milk powder milk.  And at 29c, it might not taste as good as my usual porridge with cinnamon and yoghurt, but nice and cheap and it certainly filled me up for the morning.  The kids having left over chicken stew didn’t even make me jealous. 48 cent soup and bread Lunch, on the other hand, while it tasted OK, and was cheap, “please sir, can I have some more?”.  Maybe it is just being on the challenge that I am food obsessed, although to be fair I am usually food obsessed, but still hungry this afternoon.  For lunch I made a cabbage soup with ¼ cabbage, ½ potato, ½ onion, ½ cup split peas, ½ t celery salt and some water.  It cost around 90c, but I only ate 1/3.  And with a couple of slices of my French stick, it wasn’t too bad.  It would have been nicer to have some butter on the bread, but that was a luxury I couldn’t afford this week. Plans for dinner are a pumpkin dhal with rice, minus the spices.  And for snacks, dry roasted pumpkin seeds, and some slices of white bread minus the butter.  Bet you are all jealous!!  Not!!

    • Any last requests?
      • Final night before I cut back on my eating habits to #livebelow. Have had a real good nosh up with a lovely, tasty, creamy sauce, and a glass of wine on the side.  Feels a bit like my last meal before I get hung.  Think I am all ready. Shopping done.  Check. Bread sliced and [...]

    • Any last requests?
      • Final night before I cut back on my eating habits to #livebelow. Have had a real good nosh up with a lovely, tasty, creamy sauce, and a glass of wine on the side.  Feels a bit like my last meal before I get hung.  Think I am all ready. Shopping done.  Check. Bread sliced and frozen.  Check. Pumpkin seeds roasted.  Check. Stomach full.  Check. OK, now just need to wait now till the morning.  A bit apprehensive, but sure it will be fine … I hope. Don’t forget to sponsor me, if you haven’t already. http://fundraise.livebelowtheline.co.nz/lisa_bridson.  It is for a great cause.

    • Below the line – shopping day
      • Shopping all done, and even have $2.15 left to spend! First stop was the riverbank market to get my fruit and vege.  Rachel suggested I get a cabbage to make cabbage soup.  After all, that was what Charlie’s family ate, from Charlie and the chocolate factory.  And apparently the thing that goes best with cabbage [...]

    • Below the line – shopping day
      • Shopping all done, and even have $2.15 left to spend! First stop was the riverbank market to get my fruit and vege.  Rachel suggested I get a cabbage to make cabbage soup.  After all, that was what Charlie’s family ate, from Charlie and the chocolate factory.  And apparently the thing that goes best with cabbage soup is a cabbage.  Other bargains were some apples and potatoes that had blemishes, and pumpkin which is in abundance at this time of year. Thanks Ana, for the suggestion of Bin Inn.  I was able to get small quantities of milk powder and celery salt, which should make the week more bearable. Shopping Bin Inn Chickpeas  75g          $0.52 Rice             500g        $1.20 Oats             150g        $0.44 Milk Powder   20g       $0.26 Celery Salt      10g      $0.24 Market Apples             550g     $0.50 Kiwifruit           300g    $0.25 Potato (past it’s best) $0.05 Cabbage                       $1.00 Pumpkin                         $0.90 Onion                               $0.10 New World French Stick                   $1.79 Tin tomatoes                   $0.99 Split Peas     500g         $1.86 Total                              $10.10 Off now to slice and freeze my french stick.  Sure that will go great with my gruel. L :-)

    • Below the line – starts in 3 days
      • #LiveBelow From 22 – 26 August 2011, I will be living on $2.25 a day of food and drink to get a better understanding of the challenges faced by people who live in extreme poverty.   I am trying to raise as much money as I can for Oxfam by participating in the Live Below the [...]

    • Below the line – starts in 3 days
      • #LiveBelow From 22 – 26 August 2011, I will be living on $2.25 a day of food and drink to get a better understanding of the challenges faced by people who live in extreme poverty.   I am trying to raise as much money as I can for Oxfam by participating in the Live Below the Line Challenge. Just to be clear on the rules, everything I eat or drink has to cost under $12.25 total for the five days.  I can’t eat free food, so nothing out of the garden, no free council food, no supermarket samples. I know my supermarket bill is nothing like that now.  The challenge on Campbell Live this week is for a family of four to live on $100 for a week; that is less than my usual bill but about DOUBLE what I will have. The first thing I think I need to do is some planning.  The last thing I want to do is run out of food with time to go. I have done a recky of the supermarkets.  I had wondered if I could do this organically, but that would just be too difficult.  But in saying that, there is some organic produce that is cheaper, so I will be using some. In putting my menu together I am thinking porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch and rice and lentils for dinner.  Lucky I like porridge, but not sure I can afford milk to go with it, which doesn’t sound so appealing.  If I use seasonal veges and split peas, I should be able to make a good soup, so I am going to hit the markets tomorrow morning.  Dinner of rice and lentils will be OK, but without money for seasoning or spices it might be a bit bland.  I have wondered about getting a couple of instant noodle packets and using some of the seasoning in my dinners and soup.  I will see once I start crunching number.  It isn’t going to be easy.  But I don’t think it will be impossible either. I have around $500 raised so far for charity.  Please click on this link to visit my very own fundraising page to find out all about it. Please dig deep to sponsor me. It only takes a few seconds. Spread the word and send to as many people as possible.  I will try and post daily posts to let you know how it is going. You can visit my fundraising page at http://fundraise.livebelowtheline.co.nz/lisa_bridson

    • New councillor says: bike to the future
      • Hutt City's new Councillor, Lisa Bridson puts her bike where her mouth is. Arriving at her first Council meeting by bicycle, she says she plans to work hard for better walking and cycling in the Hutt. "I'm a big fan of walking and cycling as affordable, convenient and sustainable ways to get around."

    • New councillor says: bike to the future
      • Hutt City’s new Councillor, Lisa Bridson puts her bike where her mouth is.  Arriving at her first Council meeting by bicycle, she says she plans to work hard for better walking and cycling in the Hutt. “I’m a big fan of walking and cycling as affordable, convenient and sustainable ways to get around.” “With 2/3 of trips shorter than 6km, and 1/3 less than 2km, we could lower our fuel bills, relieve traffic congestion, and even get fitter by making more trips by foot or bike.” “Much of the Hutt is flat and compact, so it well-suited to walking and cycling.” Cr Bridson plans on walking or cycling to most of her meetings.  “Living in Waterloo, the council office is only 2 km away, so most of the time taking the car seems silly.” As the coordinator of Living Streets Lower Hutt, Cr Bridson has advocated for more walkable streets, and is now keen to work with her Council colleagues, staff and the community on promoting affordable transport choices. “With petrol headed up towards $2 again, I predict more people will be pulling their bikes out of the shed and giving it a go.” “Our Hutt River Trail and the Petone foreshore are great places to ride, and I’m keen to work with Council to improve the network to get safe, attractive routes for day-to-day trips such as shopping and getting to work.” Cr Bridson was riding a second-hand Japanese ‘Mamachari’ bike. Mamachari (an endearing Japanese term that means mother chariot) are stylish, upright bicycles beautifully restored in Wellington, and perfect for urban riding.  “Being upright, they are also more modest when wearing a skirt, and the mud guards and chain guard are great for keeping your clothes clean”.

    • Opposing Balgownie Development
      • I applaud Cr Barbara Branch for saying she now supports residents wanting to stop development in the hills above Waddington Drive, Balgownie Grove and Waiwhetu Stream. This is in opposition to her fellow City Vision teams plan to develop reserve land. However it is a pity that she has not taken earlier opportunities to fight against this proposed development.

    • Opposing Balgownie Development
      • I applaud Cr Barbara Branch for saying she now supports residents wanting to stop development in the hills above Waddington Drive, Balgownie Grove and Waiwhetu Stream. This is in opposition to her fellow City Vision teams plan to develop reserve land. However it is a pity that she has not taken earlier opportunities to fight against this proposed development. Cr Branch made this stand at a Grey Power meeting when residents questioned the Mayoral candidates on a possible large development on the hills above Balgownie Grove. The possibility of this development first started back in 2005 when Cr Roger Styles proposed that as part of the review of reserve land, development potential would also be assessed (ie Option 2). This happened with the support of Mayor Odgen, Crs Styles, Hislop and Milne. When the Eastern Hills was reviewed, 19 areas were identified that could be developed. The public notification resulted in 61 submissions, including my own as part of the Waiwhetu Stream Working Group, mostly strongly opposing any development. Putting more development on the Eastern Hills makes no sense. It will increase sedimentation and run off, and therefore flooding on Waiwhetu Stream. Instead of having a reserve as neighbours, residents will have houses overlooking their back gardens. There will be more traffic on currently quiet dead-end streets. The water pressure may struggle with extra demand. However despite public opposition, the land behind Balgownie Grove (areas 3 and 8 ) was put forward for further investigation because it had the highest development potential. While it is good that Cr Branch is now saying she opposes the development it is a pity that she hasn’t spoken up at earlier meetings (SP 15 Oct 2009, CCL 15 Dec 2009), possibly saving the estimated $40,000 to further review those two pieces of land. I have been opposing it all along, and will continue to do so.

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