tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78622492586431493762024-03-13T01:38:16.816+00:00Flower Fairies and Fairy CakesDispatches from the front line in the Button householdElsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.comBlogger326125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-13830630435490677502022-11-10T23:09:00.001+00:002022-11-10T23:38:29.710+00:00Sweet Sixteen<p>I'm up late, teen-proofing our house, ready for Betty's party this Saturday. Thirty teenagers, at large in my house, drinking that revolting kiwi/raspberry/melon cider - currently all lined up beautifuly in the fridge. I was alarmed when Betty told me that I should remove the pictures from the walls. </p><p>I stopped writing this blog for many years but this feels like a very significant time to start again. Up until now, my girls' parties have pretty much been pass-the-parcel, jelly and ice-cream type affairs.</p><p>If I'm really honest, I'm rather excited about the impending party, more so than Betty herself I think. I've enjoyed imagining myself as a sixteen year old again, although sixteen year old me is very different to sixteen year old Betty. I've been reading my old diaries and I'd noted that half a Strongbow at the local disco cost 60p in 1990. Every single week I wrote about a different boy who I was 'madly in luv' with and was 'definitely the one I was going to marry'. Betty is far more sophisticated now than I ever was.</p><p>As I sit here typing this post, everyone else has gone to bed, I'm surrounded by fairy lights of every colour and shape, I've got the disco lamp spinning, the shimmering streamers and bunting, Shakin Stevens playing out of my phone, and I'm eating Jaffa Cakes. This is the best party ever.</p>Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-88507841593146762722016-03-25T16:54:00.001+00:002016-03-25T16:54:15.463+00:00Worlds apart: From one mum to another, on Dunkirk refugee camp<div class="p1">
I am sitting on the floor of a small wooden hut in the new Dunkirk refugee camp with a young mum called Runa. She is a midwife, in her early twenties. We’re drinking sweet black tea and eating bread that she made that morning. I am in awe of this lady, who can find the will and the means to bake bread for her family while living in the horrors of a refugee camp. I can barely bake bread in my clean, warm kitchen, listening to Magic FM, and swigging a glass of wine.</div>
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<span class="s1">The reason I am here is because I wanted to do something practical to help the refugees in Dunkirk. As well as distributing ‘dignity packs’ donated by the kind people of Herefordshire, I came here to take photos, in an attempt to </span>humanise the situation and bring it home. Confronted with the reality of the situation, I feel helpless before the scale of the task. The unendurable pain of what these people have withstood is leaving me feeling inadequate and speechless. </div>
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<span class="s2">A few days ago, Runa, her husband, their eight month old daughter, Amira, and their two year old son, Olan, moved here from the recently d</span>ismantled Dunkirk camp where they’d been living for four months knee deep in mud, human faeces, and rotting debris. I went to the old camp yesterday to take photos, and it was the closest thing to a war zone I’d ever witnessed. </div>
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This time last week 3,000 people were all crammed into this boggy, wooded area right next to a housing estate. Everything is as they left it; tents, clothes, boots, sleeping bags, toys, countless plastic bottles and boxes of urine, and rotting food. As I tiptoed through the carnage, the sun shone, the birds sang, but it felt eerie, even sinister, and the stench of the rotting, wet, dirty remains was unbearable. </div>
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Runa tells me that they lived in the old camp for more than a hundred nights through the winter months, in sub zero temperatures and snow, in a wet, mouldy tent. The closest I’d come to anything like this in my own life was one particularly cold and windy night in a tent in Wales, and I couldn’t find adequate words to respond. What could I possibly say to her? </div>
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It got worse. While living in these conditions, baby Amira had chicken pox, and there was no treatment. She screamed every night, had a high temperature, wouldn’t eat, and scratched so much that she drew blood and her skin became infected. </div>
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When my eldest daughter had chicken pox, she had two weeks off school. I remember feeling really anxious during that time: not only did we have a bad case of chicken pox in the house, I also had a broken wrist, and a birthday party to arrange. By anyone’s standards, that was a tricky situation. However, I was at home, in my own country, I had my belongings with me, I was safe, I had access to medicine and clean water, and my own mother to support me. Runa’s mother is dead. </div>
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I hand Runa a ‘dignity pack’ containing toiletries, a pair of leggings, a couple of t-shirts, pants and a bra. She holds up the tiny pink bra against her large chest, and we both laugh. Amongst the chaos and devastation, she can still see humour in things. I feel another surge of admiration for her. </div>
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In the new camp, where we’re now sitting, living conditions are better, but things are still desperate. The hut, their new home, is a few square metres, and everything I see in that hut, is all they have left in the world. And even these few belongings are unsafe. The future of this camp is uncertain, there is widespread fear of demolition, and the people may be moved on again. </div>
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As we talk, baby Amira wobbles next to the gas stove which sits in the corner. The baby already has a really nasty burn on her hand from sticking it through the bars of the heater and scalding herself yesterday. I get out some bubbles from my bag to distract her away from the gas stove. I am neurotic when it comes to health and safety, at the best of times. When my babies were this age, I wouldn’t allow our woodburner to be lit at all, and even went as far as winding bubblewrap and blankets around the woodburner to prevent them banging their heads on the hard edges. </div>
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Amira is distracted by the bubbles for a while, but she is soon crawling back towards the hot stove. </div>
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Feeling overwhelmed, I step outside the hut to see where two-year-old Olan has gone. Thankfully he is still there, sitting in a dust pile, playing with a broken guitar he has found. </div>
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The sun is beating down, all the wooden huts sit in neat rows, children are playing on donated bikes and scooters, and kicking balls, grown-ups are sitting around fires, washing is hanging out to dry. I see a group of chattering ladies in the communal washing area, which was built yesterday, washing clothes, and pots and pans. For a weird moment it reminds me of a holiday camp, a place where people might have chosen to come to have a good time, and relax with family and friends. A happy place. </div>
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I’m jolted back to reality when a man comes to tell Runa that his wife made it to England last night, but he and his three year old son did not. They were spotted by the police at customs at the ferry port, but his wife (Runa’s friend) was better hidden in the lorry, so she made it to Dover. They don’t know if they will see her again. They behave as though this is good news - it gives them more hope. At least one of the family has made it through. </div>
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‘Coughing and bad headache is no good when hiding in lorry,’ Runa jokes. Coughing and bad headache is no good in a warm, safe bed, I think to myself. She tells me how they tried to get to England two nights ago, hidden in a lorry. She was unwell, and both her children were screaming and crying, while trying to hide and go unnoticed. ‘I was very scared. We got caught. We try again soon,’ she says, almost matter-of-factly, like she’s talking about a stressful trip to the supermarket with a tantruming toddler. This failed attempt at getting to England cost them thousands of pounds. </div>
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The people here are trying to get to the UK because they speak English, or have family and friends here. Runa has an uncle in Manchester. Of all the options available to these people - proud people; people like my friends back home; people who are doctors, lawyers, business owners - the best option open to them is to try and smuggle their families into the UK via a lorry. It is like a surreal, slow-motion war. </div>
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As I finish my tea, Runa, who is now tearful, physically tries to put her baby into my backpack. ‘You take to England with you,’ she keeps pleading. ‘You hide her’. ‘You look after her.’ Olan thinks this is a hilarious game, putting his baby sister in a bag. I cuddle the happy, babbling baby, who is oblivious to the horrors her parents are going through. With my whole heart I want to help, I want to try and help her. But instead I have to tell her: ‘Sorry, I cannot take your baby.’ I try not to cry. I cannot imagine a situation where I would be begging a stranger to take my baby away to a safer place. </div>
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‘More tea?’ Runa asks. She tells me: ‘My country not good, we had to leave. Lots and lots of fighting and bombs. Friends and family dead.’ She then describes their horrific journey from Iraq. She mentions a country I have never heard of. She laughs heartily and tells me my geography is very bad. Still laughing, she gets out her iPhone and points it out on the Maps app.</div>
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Crossing from Turkey to Greece, 140 women, men and children (including elderly people and babies) were squeezed onto a wooden raft in the middle of the night. The crossing took four and half hours on rough freezing cold seas. “There was screaming and crying all the time,” Runa tells me. “Boat almost sank, and we nearly drowned, but Greek police come with big boat and helicopter and help us”. More unimaginable horror. I remember the fear I felt on a boat in Wales with my two precious babies, crossing from Caldey Island back to Tenby on rough seas. Unlike Runa’s journey, however, that was a legal twenty minute boat trip in daylight, and there were plenty of shots of whisky in a friendly pub to get over the shock.</div>
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I learn that traffickers helped her and her family for part of the journey from Greece to France. ‘They treat me very very bad.’ She looks terrified and mentions sexual favours. ‘You take my baby?’ she begs me, again. </div>
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We hug, and I tell her I will get her baby milk and nappies, which feels like a pathetic gesture compared to what she needs, but she thanks me profusely. I tell her that I will see her tomorrow with the supplies. She cheerily waves me off. </div>
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When I say goodbye to Runa and her family on my last day, she asks me for my backpack. ‘Very useful to me,’ she says. She tries to give me the necklace from around her neck as payment. Without thinking, I tell her that I need the bag as I have my things in it. But while sitting on the ferry a few hours later, I realise that, of course, she needs it more than I do. </div>
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The pain and guilt and anger I feel at having to leave Runa and her beautiful children in such squalor and suffering, and being able to simply drive onto the ferry with my British passport - thanks to sheer accident of birthplace - and return to England, just twenty miles away from by the worst human situation I have ever seen, is overwhelming. I don’t know what the solution is for these people, but this situation can be solved, and it must be solved quickly.</div>
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When I get home I’m overjoyed to see my children. I hold them tight, and thank God I am not in Runa’s situation. I am lucky. Wonderful, kind, loving, doting mum Runa. We both want the best for our kids, and care for them the best way we possibly can. We are just the same, with only one real difference: we happened to be born in different parts of the world. </div>
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<i>*Identities have been changed. All photos © Billie Charity</i></div>
Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-76393886946519532392016-03-19T22:02:00.001+00:002016-03-19T22:03:00.943+00:00Refugee camps, Dunkirk - slideshowI have just returned from a week in Dunkirk, visiting the old recently abandoned camp 'the jungle' and the new camp, which is developing at a phenomenal rate. During my time there, I watched the school being built, as well as the adult education centre, kitchens, distribution centres, and numerous other buildings. There are charities doing some amazing work. <br />
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I have put together a slideshow of some of the photos I took. These amazing, kind, brave children, lawyers, teachers, business owners, engineers have lost everything - they are going through unimaginable hell and suffering.<br />
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They need our support.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UcBLrauIpko" width="480"></iframe>Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-53163512525457374732016-01-03T12:55:00.002+00:002022-11-10T23:41:51.611+00:00My new venture! Portraits and reportage...This blog has been neglected during the last year or so. This is because I have been concentrating on my new and exciting venture. As well as writing, I have always been passionate about photography.<br />
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So about a year ago I launched my new business <a href="http://www.billiecharity.com/" target="_blank">Billie Charity Photography</a>, and I am thrilled to say it is going really well. I focus on portraits and reportage photography, and try to use a style that is informal, candid and spontaneous. I am fascinated by real people and their lives and that's what I try to capture in my photos.<br /><br />
<br />Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-44787640255069530732015-09-12T19:59:00.002+01:002015-09-12T19:59:55.842+01:00A car-phobic’s review of the new Ford C-Max<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crashing the new Ford C-Max</td></tr>
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As a person who views a car as a necessary evil - tons of flying metal that people are lucky to get out of alive - I was puzzled about my invitation to test-drive Ford’s new family car, the C-Max. But I was prepared to give it a try, since I had never been to Belgium before. </div>
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<span class="s1">The journey from Brussels station to the hotel was spent in the company of some total petrolheads who were as confused as I was by my presence on the trip. They were discussing things like retuned dampers and new shock absorber valve designs. I was thinking about the hotel pool and whether Belgian gin & tonic was any good. It gave me plenty of time to reflect seriously on what I had let myself in for. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">When we arrived at the hotel a friendly Ford executive greeted me at the hotel with an extended hand; I extended a fist (which he politely shook) so that he wouldn’t know about my sweaty palms. Another manager came up to me and I accidentally shook his hand twice, and it was only when I went in for a third hand-shake that he politely told me to stop shaking his hand. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Having finished with the handshakes, it was time for dinner. Buoyed by two gin and tonics, I decided to share my thoughts. I asked if Ford still had an unexciting reputation; announced that Fords were for the older, less cool driver; and said that the one great car they have produced is the Ford Corvette. (Someone pointed out that Ford didn’t make the Corvette). Next I got quite shirty about the fact that the Capri had been discontinued and asked what they planned to do about it. Then I decided to take photos of my dinner and put them on Facebook. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">When morning arrived I spent some time trying to work out if I could slip back to the Eurostar without anyone noticing. Unfortunately I had no idea whereabouts in Belgium we were, so I had no choice but to go to the test track and hope I wouldn’t make too much of an idiot of myself. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">At the test track's safety zone, I got to wear a pregnancy suit, which I put on back to front. Then the safety man told me lots of important things about child safety in cars which I found highly reassuring. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
It was time to do the actual test-drive, and it turned out that things have come on quite a long way since the Capri. I got behind the wheel, pressed a button on the dashboard, and not only did the car find a suitable parking spot, it also parked the car! All I had to do was use the foot pedals, while the steering wheel took on a mind of its own. I felt like I was in Knightrider or something. <span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Unlike my current people carrier, which turns into a giant ice skate if there are more than about five rain drops on the road, the C-Max can be safely rally-driven to within an inch of its life. And the back seats have this crazy water-repellent covering which liquids sort of float above, like something out of a sci-fi film. My only concern with that feature was that my kids would start deliberately pouring juice all over the back seat, just to watch these futuristic globules appear on the surface. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjYiyfEu8Th6TrgKmu1M2a6k5WvALWxvl_8327vWHrdEmmZImzAmfl2mXgfrrZGpofKS9CosLvtC0cA8m4SkXxTYbZlR6Bb2Y46eCOfJkcDBEYEum-MsUM8xr9p3bt3DGdTH36U1pG0Lu/s1600/ford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="67" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjYiyfEu8Th6TrgKmu1M2a6k5WvALWxvl_8327vWHrdEmmZImzAmfl2mXgfrrZGpofKS9CosLvtC0cA8m4SkXxTYbZlR6Bb2Y46eCOfJkcDBEYEum-MsUM8xr9p3bt3DGdTH36U1pG0Lu/s400/ford.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Futuristic globules</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1">
I also learnt that Ford isn’t an aged company producing boring cars, quite the opposite. The Ford employees are young, and good-looking, and cool, the environment is buzzing and exciting. And the managers also don’t seem to mind too much if you accidentally test-drive one of their cars into the back of another car when testing the automatic braking system. </div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
I still don’t really like cars, but fair play to them, Ford are producing some pretty impressive cars.</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-60749624993239678982015-08-23T09:14:00.001+01:002015-08-23T09:23:47.203+01:00My sat nav is a bastardOur road trip through France:<br />
<br />
After the sat nav playing some sort of sick joke (having already been on the road for seven hours) then for the final leg of the journey taking us for 50km through single track, crumbling, hairpin mountain roads that were seven miles high (according to my eight year old) and not a barrier in sight, and then after two hours of actual tears and near-vomiting, it proudly announcing that we had arrived at our destination - when in actual fact we were at the top of an extremely high, and remote mountain with no sign of life whatsoever and now in the pitch black - we have decided never ever to trust the effing sat nav EVER AGAIN. The bastard.<br />
<br />
And to add insult to injury, we later discovered that there is a perfectly brilliant main road, at ground level that would have taken us to the correct destination in about 10 minutes.Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-15804857899426138562015-04-15T16:07:00.001+01:002015-04-15T16:07:48.998+01:00Hopeless with hamsters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEUI9xqySljw-PHhYCLT_dsSD7QvMcfeFased0QfVrPUKZKbOGPYyjvdikOEMufL-4ZeyPjXViSwcACoFuoMHeBAtQRQvxMY2DBALfOM0cIC3qMDWSY4YD6MV34bMJJHvNFeP66wS56Cy/s1600/IMG_0166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaEUI9xqySljw-PHhYCLT_dsSD7QvMcfeFased0QfVrPUKZKbOGPYyjvdikOEMufL-4ZeyPjXViSwcACoFuoMHeBAtQRQvxMY2DBALfOM0cIC3qMDWSY4YD6MV34bMJJHvNFeP66wS56Cy/s1600/IMG_0166.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
When I was young I had a weird hamster obsession. I kept buying them with any spare pocket money I had, knowing full well that I really didn't like them.<br />
<br />
They kept dying or escaping, or being rescued by friends, but each time I would come back from town on a Saturday afternoon, proudly wielding my latest rodent replacement, much to my mum's exasperation.<br />
<br />
A few weeks ago, desperate to quieten my children about me being 'the worst mum in the whole world' I had a lightbulb moment, and decided we needed a hamster.<br />
<br />
So without telling anyone, I went into town on a mission to buy one. I didn't want my children with me as I wanted the thrill of choosing it myself. But they didn't have any hamsters for sale in Hereford that day, so I ended up driving to the next town to track one down. <br />
<br />
After a nerve-wracking 60 mile round trip, where I was convinced the hamster had broken free from its box and was going to jump on my head and make me crash the car, I arrived home with the newest member of our family. I had such grand plans for our new pet and I was going to try to love it with all my heart.<br />
<br />
The children were thrilled on seeing the hamster, and for a while I became the best mum in the world. But then Betty, my eight-year-old, likened it to a mouse, and the first friend who saw it thought it was a rat. Being a rat/mouse phobic person, my enthusiasm quickly diminished.<br />
<br />
Poor old Hetty the hamster has been in residence for six weeks now, and despite some very tense taming sessions in the first few days, which involved heavy duty gardening gloves, Hetty temporarily getting lost under the sofa, and us Buttons all yelling at each other, with half of us ending up in tears, none of us have even attempted to get her out of the cage (apart from when I have to clean the cage, and then she gets poured into a bucket for the duration).<br />
<br />
Dolly, my five-year-old, is now completely uninterested in her, and Betty talks to her, and feeds her Shreddies through the bars of the cage when she thinks she's looking a bit sad or upset. But when an introduction between Pecky (her chicken) and Hetty didn't go well, her interest waned too.<br />
<br />
So we now have a Hetty that produces a large amount of poo, and noisily tries to make a bid for freedom every night between 10pm and 2am. I am sure that one day she will succeed. And then I'll probably replace her with another one...Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-39050518805622620872015-02-13T17:22:00.000+00:002015-02-13T17:22:07.232+00:00You don't have to be mad to work here <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgozmOIlfQrPdIjuqBOX42bPpDunmkSpDjrMyAzyCz8nhXjLq4L-tdH9Z2bnPHEUKptU2IIgxCPxB04ema7JcQ88W081qbrtNuwMeF59zo8fd2lt57hUkUTcblDGMzFcfMlU9Rk0azOhfaN/s1600/potplant.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgozmOIlfQrPdIjuqBOX42bPpDunmkSpDjrMyAzyCz8nhXjLq4L-tdH9Z2bnPHEUKptU2IIgxCPxB04ema7JcQ88W081qbrtNuwMeF59zo8fd2lt57hUkUTcblDGMzFcfMlU9Rk0azOhfaN/s1600/potplant.png" /></a></div>
<div class="Body">
I recently had an interview with one of the world's biggest
employers. It was my first ever
interview experience (excluding the BBC) with the public sector.</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Before I entered the reception area of the offices situated on
the outskirts of town, I was optimistic, even excited, about the possibilities
that working for this giant might bring. </div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
The reception desk was unmanned, and a scrap of paper stuck
wonkily to the wall read: 'Our receptionist was recently made redundant, please
use the phone on the desk to call the extension number you require and announce
your arrival.'</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
And so in front of an audience of four immaculate but
glum-looking ladies all sitting there in their black suits and manicured nails,
I dialled through to the department who were interviewing me and told them that
I had arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was informed that
they were running very late and to take a seat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I turned to look at the four expressionless ladies and the
penny dropped - they were all waiting for the same interview.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered whether it was appropriate
to talk to the enemies, but in the end we all sat in silence, listening to the
ticking of the clock from 1987 that hung from a nail nearby.</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Having spent the last eight years bringing up my children and
working as a freelance writer, this was my first formal interview for a very
long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it was a massive
deal for me to be here, I was very nervous, and I prayed that the interviewers
would be nice personable people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
envisaged chatting merrily about what I had been doing in the last eight years,
and about my varied work before having children, and sharing my enthusiasm and
excitement about the prospect of working in an office again.</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
After an hour of sitting in the dreary unheated reception area,
watching more and more ladies arrive for the same interview, my enthusiasm
began to wane. After an hour and forty-five minutes, which is when my name was
finally called, it was all I could do not to run screaming from the building.</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Things only went downhill from there. I was ushered into a
windowless box room where the manager, Glenda, and the lady currently doing the
job that had been advertised, Susan, sat with their orange clipboards.</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Without so much as a hello, Glenda said:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'I will ask you a list of questions,
while Susan writes down the answers, and then we're going to swap roles, and
Susan will ask the questions and I will write down your answers,' Glenda
continued. 'It's all very informal.'</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
I began to tell them that this was my first interview in ten
years and that I was quite nervous, but was quickly cut short with:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'Let us begin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are your strengths and
weaknesses?' asked by Glenda in a robotic and unnerving manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Completely floored by her coldness and
the inane-ness of her question, I couldn't think of anything to say other than:
'I love working.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
After several more questions, like: 'What is the importance of
accurate data entry?' and 'How would you prioritise the filing?' I was once
again internally reaching for the gin. (Incidentally, I told them I would
prioritise the filing by doing the most important bits first.)</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Pretty soon, I couldn't summon up enough mental energy to respond
with more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer. <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Unbelievably, there was a wilted pot plant on the desk between us, a
clumsy metaphor for the situation</span>, <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">which I really wanted to point out to them</span>.</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
'Why do you want to work for this organisation'? asked
Susan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told them how wonderful I
thought this institution was and how it offers a fantastic public service, and
how great it would be to be part of such an important service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To which Susan replied (in a very
similar robotic nasally voice to Glenda) 'Yes well you wouldn't think that
after working here for thirty years like we have.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the first time either of them had actually said
anything in response to any of my answers.</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
At one point I tried to engage them in an actual conversation
about my work at the BBC, and LearnDirect, and my writing, and my award-winning
blog, but evidently they didn't want a conversation, or to find out anything
about me, or to employ anyone with a heartbeat, so I dragged my attention back
to the questions on their clipboards.</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
'Imagine you had this job and a parent at your child's school
approached you in the playground and asked you for confidential information
about another child. How would you respond?'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could tell that Susan was really proud of herself for
coming up with this question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'I
would tell the parent that if they slipped me a tenner I would tell them
whatever they wanted to know,' I replied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even this didn't induce any kind of response, apart from a robotically
raised eyebrow or two.</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
We reached the last question, which Glenda dramatically informed
me was a question from the organisation itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drum roll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally something interesting I thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'Do you have anything to declare?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any conflicts of interest, such as convictions or
bankruptcy'?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
I laughed out loud, and told them that I thought it was going to
be something a bit more exciting, perhaps about privatisation of the
organisation, or my views of its constant presence in the news, and the
political war surrounding it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Glenda and Susan just stared at me and waited for my answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What remained of my will to live
stirred up inside me once more, and I considered telling them that I was
actually on the run from the cops, having just robbed a bank, and could they
keep it schtum, but instead I just shook my head with a sigh.</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
'Any questions'?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Glenda said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I turned to
Susan and asked what a typical day in this role might be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Glenda butted in faux-chirpily with:
'No day is ever the same in this office, it's complete madness!'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a pause. I looked at Susan
and waited for her answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'I open
the post,' long pause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'I enter
some data.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She then thought for what
seemed like an eternity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'And I do
lots and lots of filing.'</div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
After the interview finished I went to Tesco and then sat in the
car park and ate a cheese sandwich. </div>
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<br /></div>
Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-33145241294615458802014-12-21T19:03:00.000+00:002014-12-21T19:03:09.251+00:00Happy Christmas!<div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">This year Betty has spent all her spare time cradling Pecky, and declared that chicken could never again be eaten in the house; Elsie had her leg broken by an irate cockerel; Tom was traumatised to discover a drowned hen floating in its outsized water bowl; and Dolly was pecked on the hand, and so ate a chicken nugget in protest.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rwFXcsXNXxy3RlhpWBkDQUVJa90eT0DJO8aC5WBblDRMuLmcZFc55BtiQ-laXJhF30U26Cdgb2rZiqMFnjHJEsCJIOJUGPnFlHbxvlWcskLM1WUOo1h3w2nRIeJ-1jcO16QDzttgvWiV/s640/blogger-image-1033274155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rwFXcsXNXxy3RlhpWBkDQUVJa90eT0DJO8aC5WBblDRMuLmcZFc55BtiQ-laXJhF30U26Cdgb2rZiqMFnjHJEsCJIOJUGPnFlHbxvlWcskLM1WUOo1h3w2nRIeJ-1jcO16QDzttgvWiV/s640/blogger-image-1033274155.jpg" /></a></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<i>With thanks to <a href="http://www.postsnap.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Postsnap</a> for producing our personalised card. The app is clear and simple to use and there are many different styles and designs to choose from for every occasion.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<i>Happy Christmas everyone! xxxx</i></div>
Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-12647911987022538652014-10-14T11:46:00.000+01:002014-10-14T11:46:45.763+01:00The unflappable chicken <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW2uC77s-64RTzcVIHTfln7HDhXQ226bJUr5M6fWhcyHDwxTHCqk268ogb-JS-Zmt2AnlUvDxJNoYg2zmAtBJP8avmx9ApCxIfXr18igbvARhRrE_e0PpUzLR6zh0h3AluGjYt9jGLoAqu/s1600/photo+(19).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW2uC77s-64RTzcVIHTfln7HDhXQ226bJUr5M6fWhcyHDwxTHCqk268ogb-JS-Zmt2AnlUvDxJNoYg2zmAtBJP8avmx9ApCxIfXr18igbvARhRrE_e0PpUzLR6zh0h3AluGjYt9jGLoAqu/s1600/photo+(19).jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An extract from Pecky's portfolio (note the loomband)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Life in the Button household very much revolves around chickens, either because Betty is giving Pecky a cuddle, or Tom is trying to balance Ethel on a rake, or because they are <a href="http://elsiebutton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hospitalised-by-our-pet-cockerel_7.html" target="_blank">breaking my leg</a> etc. For the last week or so, however, things have moved to a whole new level. Tom came back from school the other day mumbling something about having to take a chicken into school for a calendar shoot.<br />
<br />
I asked him what he was talking about, but he was a bit vague. 'Cathy [fellow school parent] said something about needing a prop for a photoshoot. She asked if Pecky might be available.'<br />
<br />
After asking around, I discovered that Cathy's photographer partner was putting together a calendar with themed monthly photos as a fundraiser for the school. April involves a live chicken, for reasons Tom wasn't able to pass on.<br />
<br />
'Apparently there's ninjas as well. but I don't know what month they're for,' said Tom. 'How does Cathy know about Pecky anyway?'<br />
<br />
I told him that there were about three hundred photos of Betty and Pecky on Facebook, as he would know, if he ever felt like lifting his self-imposed ban on all forms of social media,<br />
<br />
I thought no more about Pecky and the photoshoot - consigning it to that black hole part of my brain involving anything chicken related - until we got a call from my friend Sandra.<br />
<br />
Apparently Cathy and Sandra had had a chat that morning, and conversation had inevitably turned to Pecky. Sandra was phoning us to find out from Tom what time Pecky might be available to come into school on Monday. <br />
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Sandra had become involved in the discussion due to the fact that her son Owen had been selected to hold Pecky for the photoshoot. Owen enjoys holding Pecky almost as much as Betty does. He once held our massive <a href="http://elsiebutton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hospitalised-by-our-pet-cockerel_7.html" target="_blank">leg-breaking cockerel</a> upside down by the feet, which is pretty impressive for a seven year old. Tom has been going on about it for months.<br />
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On the day of the photoshoot, and I was woken up by a message from Sandra: 'It's Pecky's big day - hope she's ready!' Poor Betty had a bug, but with her head stuck in a sick bucket, gave careful instructions to Tom on how Pecky should be transported to the school and treated during the shoot. 'Only Owen is allowed to hold my Pecky,' she reminded Tom. It was not a relaxing start to the day.<br />
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After half an hour of increasingly desperate hunting, Tom found a soggy collapsed crisp box for transporting the chicken. I helped him tape it together (while Betty told me that she wanted to be featured in April, and didn't want to dress as Guy Fawkes for November) and off Tom went to the chicken house, while Dolly waited in the car with an inscrutable expression on her face.<br />
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Just then I got an urgent text from Cathy telling me the photoshoot had been postponed due to the bad weather. I yelled to Tom down the driveway: 'NO PECKY', and apparently he got back in the car to a barrage of questions from Dolly about why the chicken was supposed to be coming to school anyway, why her chicken Ethel wasn't involved, and whether Pecky would be coming home on the school bus. But despite the family flapping all around her, Pecky has remained unflustered throughout this whole episode. We all have a lot to learn from that chicken. Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-85583351024518477692014-10-01T12:43:00.000+01:002014-10-01T13:01:21.799+01:00Quiet kitchen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Coleslaw was quite a big part of my upbringing. Admittedly though, it wasn’t until I became a little more mature, that I began to really appreciate the raw shredded cabbage and onion combo that my mum had been producing throughout my childhood.<br />
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In fact, I remember many occasions where I would reject much of her laboured over home-cooking, and instead demand a frozen pizza and a tin of processed peas.<br />
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Children can be a bit blind to culinary efforts, and I now know only too well what a thankless task it is cooking for them. There are few things more annoying than putting your heart and soul into a meal only to have your children announce they don’t like it before they’ve even reached the kitchen. <br />
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Although I loved my mum’s pizzas, and her fry-ups, and her roasts (her ‘white gravy’ was famous), I didn’t fully appreciate at the time what an inventive, and superb cook she was. I reckon these days, I would even relish her lentil stew and dumplings, which, as a child I used to cram unchewed into my mouth and then spit into the toilet.<br />
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Among many other things, like gardening, painting, housework, walking unaided, and shopping, my mum really misses cooking. She now completely relies on others for her every meal - and there are a lot of kind people around - but I’m sure nothing beats being able to do her own cooking.<br />
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Having eaten some shop-bought coleslaw recently, my mum remembered the coleslaw that she used to make. So I offered to make her some. And having never made it before, I thought how hard can it be? <br />
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Very hard, it turns out! I have just delivered my third attempt and I’m waiting anxiously for the verdict. She takes it all with good grace and humour, but I know that my inability to be inventive with nuts and courgettes, frustrates the hell out of her.<br />
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My own children will never experience the joy of being cooked for by my mum, their granny – to sit at her table in her steamy lively happy kitchen and be served up a ‘random seafood pasta thing with egg, mozzarella and tomatoes in a glass bowl’ that my husband remembers with great fondness.<br />
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They do, however, get to sit on her lap and cuddle her, and talk to her, and make her laugh, and bring her immense joy, and for that I am very grateful. </div>
Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-9666968114517645922014-07-29T16:01:00.000+01:002014-07-29T16:01:18.372+01:00Ascot, the giant fancy dress party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The night before we were due to go to Ascot, I completely panicked, and decided that the lack of a suitable hat, and the girls' footwear situation (a choice of flipflops, school shoes or grubby crocs) meant we couldn't possibly go. The clincher was the fact that Tom had recently given his few remaining ties to a charity shop.</div>
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But after pathetically telling a friend we weren't going, she told me: 'Never ever ever let wardrobe considerations stand in the way of experiences. I'M SERIOUS.'</div>
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So with flowers in our hair, the girls' best flip flops, and a tie borrowed from our farmer neighbour, we set out for Ascot at the crack of dawn. Tom moaned about having to wear a tie, and argued that he hadn't even worn one at our wedding. I reminded him of the upset that that had caused, and told him he was bloody well wearing one today.</div>
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It was quite a long walk to the ticket office from the car park, and by the time we got there my shoes - last worn at my wedding - had left my feet black and blue. </div>
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When collecting the tickets there were people on hand dressed in full finery, with top hats and everything, and I started to panic again. But then I noticed there were also ladies not wearing hats (or even flowers), and I even spotted a few in casual summer sandals. So before we were even inside the gates I had swapped my shoes for my trusty Birkenstocks. And I whipped the flower out of my hair and plonked my Asda sunglasses on my head instead.</div>
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What I hadn't realised is that there is a smarter dress code in the boxes, and the more champagne I had, the more I felt the need to explain in great detail to beautifully dressed ladies wearing incredible hats and shoes, why I was wearing Birkenstocks. </div>
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Quick to change the subject, the lovely marketing lady asked me if I liked horses. 'No, I hate them. But I love champagne,' I told her. Dolly, my ever diplomatic five year old, felt the need to explain to her that it wasn't just horses that I don't like, but all animals. And in fact it was because of my hate of animals (a <a href="http://elsiebutton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hospitalised-by-our-pet-cockerel_7.html" target="_blank">cockerel attack, resulting in a broken leg</a>) that I had had to wear Birkenstocks in the first place. </div>
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After a delicious lunch, and more champagne, and meeting really friendly guests and their children sharing the same box as us, we were taken down to meet Ant and Dec, who are Patrons of Ascot’s Colts and Fillies Club for under sixteens, for a questions and answers session. Betty had decided that she was going to ask Ant if he likes ants, and Dolly was going to ask them what their best horse joke was. Some poor bloke wandered past in a large furry horse costume, while next to him a minder hissed ‘Just keep waving,’ and I thanked my lucky stars I wasn’t required to dress as a horse on this hot day.</div>
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I took several pictures of the girls with Ant and Dec, and (insensitively) told them that my girls had no idea who they were, but that I really admired their work. They were such warm funny people and I would have loved to have stolen them for an hour to two to see what they could do. My girls were pretty taken with them too. </div>
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I promptly put the photo I had taken on Facebook, causally mentioning that I was hanging with Ant and Dec at Ascot. I think it caused a lot of confusion with my friends back in Herefordshire.</div>
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Meeting Ant and Dec was a tough act to follow, and the girls seemed less than enthused about meeting Peppa Pig and George, characters who Dolly still absolutely adores, as do the rest of us.</div>
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I was very excited, and bellowed a little too aggressively 'GO ON, CUDDLE GEORGE SO THAT I CAN TAKE A PICTURE' while thrusting Dolly through the crowd of mini fans. Dolly gave George (also extremely hot in a giant padded outfit) such a massive embrace he almost toppled over, and his bodyguard looked a bit worried.</div>
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There were so many things to do, including different fair rides like the big wheel and merry-go-rounds, and various activities including pompom making and feeding meerkats. And everything was free, which is virtually unheard of these days. We had been at a water theme park in Spain just a few days before and were fuming, that after paying a hefty entrance fee, we were charged 5 Euros just to sit on some grass. </div>
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Despite loads of wonderful things to do and see, I was a bit irritated that here we were at Ascot and all my children wanted to do was hang out in the loom band making tent - having spent the last two months hiding under their duvets at night making endless loombands. ‘Please come and say hello to Ben and Holly with me,’ I begged them at one point, pointing to a very jolly-looking pair in their massive costumes. </div>
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A highlight for me was meeting a jockey dressed in full silks, watching him get weighed, and then watching him in several races. I got a photo of him with my children (while he stood on the scales, with a complex expression on his face) and then more pictures of him racing. I felt I knew him pretty well by the end. </div>
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I have never been to the races before and if we hadn't been invited by Ascot to come along to their King George Family Day, I would not have dreamt of going. But we had such a truly wonderful day, and although there were many exciting things going on, the best part for me was actually watching the races. </div>
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And both girls are now seriously into Ant and Dec and are following their career very closely and watching back episodes of I'm a Celebrity and Byker Grove. </div>
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Thank you Ascot for a fabulous day – and I no longer ‘hate’ horses, I bloody love them!</div>
Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-24527622228000998722014-05-01T12:19:00.000+01:002014-05-02T14:20:46.093+01:00Popular names = a quiet life<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sulking</td></tr>
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I once had a run-in with a fellow mum at a play group when my eldest daughter was a baby. She was horrified that I had named my child Betty.<br />
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She asked me if I had considered the bullying that Betty would endure at school because of her 'unusual' name, and had I prepared myself for her hating me for it. </div>
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And she genuinely felt sorry for Betty that she would never find those cheap plastic mugs, and pens, and door plaques, and toothbrushes, with her name emblazoned across them. </div>
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I quietly seethed at her rudeness, and scoffed at the idea of a common, sorry, popular name and marched out of that playgroup and never ever returned. </div>
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Seven years later I am happy to report that Betty hasn't endured any bullying about her name, and has only mentioned a handful of times that she wants to be called Emily instead. And I don't think she has started hating me yet. </div>
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But... in recent weeks, Betty has become obsessed with trying to find one of those garish plastic mugs with her name on it. And despite me telling her that this is a pointless exercise, it hasn't stopped her dragging Tom from one tacky greeting cards shop to the next. </div>
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And while we were away in Pembrokeshire last week she sulked for three days because her name could not be found on any merchandise anywhere. </div>
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As I sat there on a beautiful beach near St David's, gazing out to sea, the wind in my hair, Betty persistently moaned in my left ear about personalised pens with gold lettering. It made me think of that mum at the playgroup all those years ago, and I decided that perhaps she had a point. Chantelle would have been a much easier option, if only to be able to enjoy my holiday in peace...</div>
Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-76423025586347086512014-03-18T13:47:00.000+00:002014-03-18T13:50:47.303+00:00My hate of animals has made me a vegetarian<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have never been a big meat-eater, particularly meats that resemble the actual animal, like joints with bones. A thick slice of bloody beef amongst my roast potatoes and carrots literally turns my stomach. I would find it just as appetising to walk up to a mooing muddy cow standing on the hillside and bite a chunk out of its side.<br />
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My dislike of eating animals isn't because I have any deep affection for them. It’s actually the opposite. I would rather eat food that hasn't scratched or bitten me, or chased me, or barked loudly at me, or broken my leg. Vegetables are much safer by comparison.<br />
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And in the wake of the whole <a href="http://elsiebutton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hospitalised-by-our-pet-cockerel_7.html" target="_blank">cockerel killer-attack incident</a>, I have now gone from avoiding animals to positively disliking them, particularly poultry - I do not want them anywhere near me (certainly not inside me), dead or alive. <br />
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This leaves a bit of a problem, because although we promptly got rid of vicious 'Cocky' (affectionately renamed by Betty when she realised 'Buttercup', her cute fluffy yellow chick, turned out to be a he) we still have four hens left, all of which the other Buttons totally adore. In my rational head I know that they won't attack me, but they still terrify me, so much so that I tried to take one of them on with my crutch the other day when she pecked at some grass a little too close to where I was standing frozen to the spot.<br />
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I later announced that I wanted to move back to London, and my mum told me: 'Your poor children, not having a hardy countryside-loving woman for a mother.'<br />
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In light of my chicken aversion, I did wonder whether Pinterest were having a cruel laugh at my expense recently when they sent me an email entitled: 'Mouth-watering chicken recipes'. UK pinners might be 'cluckers for chicken recipes' but this one ain't. I am actually thrilled that I now genuinely dislike the taste of chicken - it feels like sweet revenge.<br />
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Interestingly, the leg breakage incident has also forced Betty into announcing that she too is now a vegetarian. But for her it's on the grounds that she feels 'so so sorry for cute lovely animals who are killed and then eaten.' <br />
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She blatantly doesn't believe that her cockerel is now living happily on a farm somewhere, and she still eyes me suspiciously while saying 'I would be heartbroken if I ever found out that Cocky was dead.'<br />
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A small part of me feels bad that I got the next door neighbour to kill and eat Betty's pet, particularly when she makes me listen to tortured love songs she has written for him. But then I remember that I am still hobbling around on crutches, I can't drive, it takes me three hours to make lunch, my house is a mess, and I have put on about three stone... and all because of him.<br />
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So Betty and I will continue to reject meat for our opposing reasons, but one thing we do agree on is that our vegetarianism sort of excludes pigs, because as Betty pointed out 'they just taste too nice.' Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-41988072778716291662014-03-11T13:17:00.000+00:002014-03-11T13:17:35.275+00:00A slow but happy existenceIt's been five weeks since Betty's beloved pet chicken tried to kill me. Which means I am now half way to possibly being able to ditch the crutches, drive the car, and resume some sort of normality.<br />
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But actually, the last few weeks, though very unpleasant and frustrating at times, have been far better than I could have ever imagined. </div>
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I have had copious amounts of tea made for me by my lovely visitors, while we sit in my kitchen, eat cake, and I regale them with stories of my vicious fight with the cockerel, and my marriage proposal to the paramedic (who gave me lots of gas and air and morphine), and the fact I now have a metal rod in my leg and feel like a bit of a hero.</div>
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I have been brought homemade cookies, curries, Chocolate Oranges, wine, scones (with jam and cream) olives, ginger cake, laxatives, flowers, biscuits, magazines, Revels, pies, homeopathy remedies, soup, Fruit Pastilles, and lasagnes. </div>
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And the kindness has even extended to friends cleaning my house from top to bottom, while I lay on my bed eating chocolate and watching a rom com on Netflix, being whisked away to Pizza Express, and to the pub.</div>
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Having a broken leg also forces you into a very slow existence, which I'm beginning to think is really rather nice. When else would you get away with taking a blissful hour to have a shower and brush your teeth? </div>
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So although I cannot wait to be able to leave the house at will, and walk down the stairs without fear of breaking my neck, it has most certainly not been all bad...</div>
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Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-61211516099068943982014-02-19T22:42:00.001+00:002014-02-19T22:44:58.854+00:00All About MeOne of my fave bloggers <a href="http://nappyvalleygirl.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Nappy Valley Girl</a> has tagged me to answer some questions about myself. <br>
<br>
Here goes:<br>
<i><br></i>
<i>1. What's for dinner tonight?</i><br>
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Sausage stew, a la Tom Button (currently the one doing everything around here due to my broken leg).<br>
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<i>2. Do you read a daily newspaper?</i><br>
<br>
No, not unless you count Buzzfeed.<br>
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<i>3. If you could take off on a no-expense spared holiday next week, where would you go?</i><br>
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Pretty much anywhere you don't have to wear wellies, and change out of muddy clothes every five seconds, and run away from <a href="http://elsiebutton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/hospitalised-by-our-pet-cockerel_7.html" target="_blank">angry chickens</a>. <br>
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<i>4. What was your favourite book as a child?</i><br>
<br>
The Bears' Picnic, by Jan and Stan Berenstain.<br>
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<i>
5. who is your favourite author as an adult?</i><br>
<br>
David Nicholls, because he wrote the fabulous One Day, and introduced me to the <a href="http://elsiebutton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/dexter-mayhew-crush-and-unbearable.html" target="_blank">gorgeous Dexter Mayhew.</a><br>
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<i>6. Do you buy your underwear at M&S?</i><br>
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Yes - I have a mad splurge in M&S every five years or so.<br>
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<i>7. What's your dream career and do you wish you'd done it?</i><br>
<br>
When a careers advisor came to our school and got us to take a questionnaire to determine our ideal career, mine came up as train driver! However I was adamant I wanted to be a news reader on BBC1 - mainly because my drama teacher told me I had a good speaking voice, and this coupled with the fact that I wanted to be famous, seemed like the obvious choice.<br>
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<i>8. Do you ever google people you meet afterwards? (And not for work reasons).</i><br>
<br>
Yes! I sometimes even start googling them on my phone while still in their company. I was in hospital last week and out of sheer boredom I googled all the other patients on my ward (as their names were written above their heads), and also some of the doctors and nurses.<br>
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<i>9. What was the last thing you saw at the theatre?</i><br>
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Rapunzel, and before that Ben and Holly, and before that Jack and the Beanstalk... (jeez)<br>
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<i>10. Do you use Pinterest, and if so, do you get the point?</i><br>
<br>
I use Pinterest very occasionally, like when my kids set me impossible challenges such as making a multi-coloured, three tier, flashing Disney Princess birthday cake - for this purpose it is very useful to get ideas. Other than that I haven't got a clue what it's for.<br>
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<i>11. What's been your proudest moment as a parent so far?</i><br>
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I'm pretty proud of my girls right now - they are waiting on me hand and foot.<br>
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I am now going to think of some questions of my own and tag some bloggers...<br></div>
Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-74850110126884430912014-02-18T20:23:00.000+00:002014-02-18T20:23:39.214+00:00My husband is SupermanTom is pretty much having to do everything at the moment. It is very frustrating for me and totally knackering for him.<br />
<br />
These are things I have said to him in the last 24 hours:<br />
<ul>
<li>Have you checked the mouse traps?</li>
<li>Are you keeping the surfaces clean?</li>
<li>Please can I have a bowl of Weetabix?</li>
<li>It's so important to stay on top of the washing.</li>
<li>Have I got any clean pyjamas?</li>
<li>Can you switch the telly on for me please?</li>
<li>Shall we write a shopping list together?</li>
<li>Can you carry me up the stairs?</li>
<li>Do you think I've lost weight?</li>
<li>Have the girls brushed their teeth?</li>
<li>When did they last have a bath?</li>
<li>This is delicious.</li>
<li>Are you sure it's cooked properly?</li>
<li>Can you get me a clean towel?</li>
<li>Do you think it's ok to drink gin with morphine?</li>
<li>Shall I teach you how to use the steam mop?</li>
<li>Please can I have a cup of tea?</li>
<li>Can you move that pile of dirty laundry out of my path?</li>
<li>What's that smell?</li>
<li>Would you mind shaving my legs?</li>
<li>Tidy as you go - that's my motto</li>
<li>Don't forget to pick up my prescription from the surgery </li>
<li>Have you checked the post?</li>
<li>Can you buy me some Arnica?</li>
<li>Thanks so much for hoovering</li>
<li>Are you ok?</li>
<li>Can you wrap my leg in clingfilm?</li>
</ul>
He is being absolutely amazing, and hasn't once complained. What a guy!Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-42164943436186339352014-02-16T18:35:00.000+00:002014-02-16T18:35:23.057+00:00Using crutches: it's not all badI am trying to get the hang of my crutches, but it's not coming that naturally. I clumsily topple this way and that, I accidentally forget to keep my broken leg off the ground and wince in pain, and my hands hurt.<br /><br /><div>
But there are some definite advantages to being on crutches:<br /><ul>
<li>You can use them rather effectively to bat away objects left in your path, such as Lego and doll's houses.</li>
<li>Your children stop nagging you for food every five seconds, because they know you're currently pretty useless - you can barely go to the toilet on your own, let alone make them endless snacks.</li>
<li>In fact the children very quickly learn that for anything to happen around here they have to become your slave, and fetch you everything from clean socks, to chocolate, to your next morphine fix.</li>
<li>And they even bring you croissants in bed, occasionally.</li>
<li>Crutches also provide hours of entertainment for the kids who love playing with them. When I was little I always dreamed of breaking a leg so that I could have my own crutches.</li>
<li>You can make the handles look pretty with a huge array of different coloured comfy covers to choose from on eBay. </li>
<li>You build up serious arm muscle and those bingo wings finally become a thing of the past. No more having to half-heartedly weight-lift baked bean tins once a fortnight.</li>
</ul>
If only I'd had them on me when the cockerel decided to attack - bastard wouldn't have stood a chance.<br />
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Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-62771029620245342642014-02-07T22:48:00.001+00:002014-02-16T18:38:36.257+00:00Hospitalised by our pet cockerelAs I walked down our lane to meet my girls from the school bus the other day I was severely attacked by our cockerel. <div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is the cockerel who was lovingly hatched in the girls' playhouse last Summer, and started life as a gorgeous fluffy yellow chick who we all adored, and who has featured many times on my Instagram feed.<br /><div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The attack was so crazed and vicious, I think the bird was intent on actually trying to kill me. He attacked me the entire length of our lane, while I flailed and kicked and screamed blue murder, desperately trying to protect myself.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the struggle, I eventually slipped on some mud and fell back onto my left leg and hit the ground. When I frantically tried to get up I realised the bottom half of my leg was swinging around, completely broken and disconnected from the top half of my leg and the cockerel was now angrily circling me as I lay helpless on the ground. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At that very moment both my husband and my neighbour appeared on the scene, having heard my screams. And the cockerel calmly clucked off as if nothing had happened, happily pecking at some snowdrops as he went, leaving me sitting in mud and chicken shit, in a mangled, traumatised, and excruciatingly painful mess. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At that point the school bus arrived, Betty took in the somewhat tense scene and went over to the cockerel to make sure it was OK.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Next the ambulance arrived and the paramedics gave me reassurances, and held my hand, and cut my clothes and shoes off me. The very funny paramedic kindly pointed out that the shoes were cheap so it didn't really matter. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I got through an entire cylinder of gas and air before they'd even got me into the ambulance. I went from wanting to be shot in the head to stop the pain, to cracking jokes about poultry and roast dinners. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As we pulled away in the ambulance the cockerel saw us off with several chirpy cock-a-doodle-doos, and I sobbed and laughed and swore and then passed out. There was a lot of emotion in that ambulance as we whizzed through the Herefordshire countryside.</div>
<div>
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<div>
The only thing I remember when I arrived at the hospital is one of the porters making a joke about KFC, which made me laugh, and then cry. </div>
<div>
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<div>
The next day I had a lengthy operation to straighten the leg and had metal pins inserted through my bones because it was so mashed up. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
I later asked the farmer who lives next door to us to put the cockerel through a very slow and painful death. He just texted to tell me that the deed has been done and that he tasted delicious. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I am still in hospital and writing this post on my phone. I'm learning how to use crutches, drinking lots of tea, and making the most of the morphine, but am missing my children terribly. </div>
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I just hope they don't give me a hard time about ordering the execution of their beloved pet chicken...</div>
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Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-29579131598400187592014-02-04T14:29:00.001+00:002014-02-04T14:34:43.972+00:00When two dads try to organise a play dateBelow is an email conversation between Tom and another dad at school:<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Other dad</b>: Would Dolly like to come over to play with Jacob after school on Wednesday?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Tom</b>: Dolly would love to, thank you. What time?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Other dad</b>: Great. We will collect her from school and feed her. Can you collect her at 5.45pm? Is there anything she doesn't eat?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Tom</b>: Sounds perfect, thank you! In theory Dolly will eat anything, in practice she eats sausages.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Other dad</b>: Sausages it is then.<br /><br /><i>24 hours later...</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Other dad</b>: Does she eat anything with sausages? Potatoes, carrots, peas, sweet corn etc?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Tom</b>: Dolly should eat pretty much anything that is put in front of her.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Other dad</b>: Ok</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Tom</b>: As long as it's sausages...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Other dad</b>: Should I just give her a plate of sausages then?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Tom</b>: No just kidding! Give her anything. Please don't go to any trouble though - there is a danger she might not eat it and then I would feel awful...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Other dad</b>: What sort of sausages does she like?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
And so it continues...</div>
Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-85090512252261172332014-01-30T12:14:00.001+00:002014-01-30T12:16:50.588+00:00Herefordshire life... and dreaming of those summer daysI have been in bed with flu for the last few days, so what better way to spend my time than hankering after summer days and being a pest on <a href="http://instagram.com/elsiebutton" target="_blank">Instagram</a>...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFT5TFXDlaylqu7pFZMWKvCcJCwb4CYP-nh4zD46zVhYo5X7JUG75YenJfP7RT1mMQRTQ1gMgd-2m0Mh3NqbeqSSkKRVJjha-AD7CbZpeaed-JXjaXVd59sk5sMWhxUU9myBYaKK3W3C7u/s640/blogger-image--697588804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFT5TFXDlaylqu7pFZMWKvCcJCwb4CYP-nh4zD46zVhYo5X7JUG75YenJfP7RT1mMQRTQ1gMgd-2m0Mh3NqbeqSSkKRVJjha-AD7CbZpeaed-JXjaXVd59sk5sMWhxUU9myBYaKK3W3C7u/s1600/blogger-image--697588804.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Betty and Dolly enjoying Herefordshire life</td></tr>
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Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-12599683644094804482014-01-10T21:56:00.000+00:002014-01-10T21:58:40.000+00:00Back down to school with a bump<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">During the holidays any kind of sensible routine went completely out of the window. In fact, the girls bouncing off their bedroom walls and squealing in a Christmas-induced tinsel frenzy til ten o'clock every night seemed a small price to pay for all the blissful lie-ins we were getting.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">However, when it was time to go back to school, they understandably found it hard to settle back into the routine of lights out and sleep at 7.30pm. But when they came home after their first day back and said that they had both been told by teachers that they looked shattered, I decided I needed to take action and forego the lie-ins. Heaven forbid the school thinking that we are awful neglectful parents for having knackered, dopey children, who stay up all night watching Disney films and eating crap.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">So on Tuesday night, at 6pm, I hid the clocks and marched them upstairs telling them it was already practically the middle of the night. 'But we've only just had supper,' they protested. They were tucked up by 6.30pm and as I left the room I told them that if they went straight to sleep without getting out of bed or exchanging insults, they would get a treat in their lunch box the following morning.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">My chocoholic, sugar-addict daughter Betty took this bribe very seriously indeed, and after about two minutes of her gently but intensively persuading Dolly that she must do as I said, they both pretty much went straight to sleep.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">And not only did they sleep all night, but the following morning Betty appeared at my bedside at 7am, fully dressed, bright eyed and bushy tailed and asking: 'So, can I have two treats for being so good?'</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">Dolly was a bit cross that Betty had got dressed so efficiently. In response, Dolly decided to take 20 minutes to get one leg into her tights and then have a meltdown.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">The following night, not long after I had given them the same treat-in-lunchbox bribe and left the room, Dolly called down to me and, proud as can be, she told me that she was already dressed in her uniform and ready for school.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">I had already settled on the sofa with a glass of wine and Alan Partridge on Netflix, and so decided that it probably wouldn't do her any harm to sleep in her school uniform all night, and it would in fact save me a battle in the morning. So I let it go, and carried on with Alan.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">This morning though, Betty was beside herself with annoyance that Dolly had got dressed before her - a whole 12 hours before her in fact. Who would have thought that a miniature imitation Milky Way could hold this much weight? And w</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">ho knows where it will end?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Tahoma, Arial;">In the meantime, my children may now be awake in class but I wonder what the school would have to say about them sleeping in their uniform and eating chocolate from Aldi for lunch every single day?</span>Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-5540027153231389572013-12-02T18:37:00.001+00:002013-12-02T18:37:33.128+00:00Hands off my phone!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwooXuNYX-XN7ZnYNUQJwkYcrWCO-yFVq6TmzVJjdfjSccIWuW2_JsFFmBxINh-C2FBh-8SUTQ5lSb1loIqg-ywIZ0BgqoG-DVUyyM02bwzzhEGrZocPI2CP4WcZHz2_8JqnHdju-DvQEz/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwooXuNYX-XN7ZnYNUQJwkYcrWCO-yFVq6TmzVJjdfjSccIWuW2_JsFFmBxINh-C2FBh-8SUTQ5lSb1loIqg-ywIZ0BgqoG-DVUyyM02bwzzhEGrZocPI2CP4WcZHz2_8JqnHdju-DvQEz/s200/photo.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dolly's Instagram photo</td></tr>
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Recently I have been on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster due to family members borrowing my phone. My beloved phone.<br />
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First off was Tom who, while eating apple cake and custard the other night, inexplicably asked to look at it.<br />
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He never looks at my phone, even when I want him to, so I can only assume that he purposefully borrowed it in order to drop it into his custard (though he claimed later that it was an accident). </div>
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I scooped my terrified phone out of the custard and ran into the bathroom, where I sucked the custard out of the charging sockets and speaker holes – basically performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Fortunately my emergency response was effective and my phone still worked. </div>
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Then the other night it got borrowed again. When I checked my Instagram account the next morning, I noticed a very arty picture of the bedroom that I didn’t remember taking. Intrigued, I scrolled down and there was another picture, this time a nicely-framed shot of Dolly’s rabbit comforter, and I realised who the mystery photographer was. </div>
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Somehow, my four-year-old daughter had taken two photos with my phone and uploaded them to my Instagram account. She’d even added a frame and an effect to one of the photos (above).</div>
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The pictures proved to be popular and they gained several likes, and Dolly even netted me a few extra followers too. No disrespect to Dolly, but it does make one wonder about the judgement of some of my followers...</div>
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Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-84861492119836844932013-12-01T07:09:00.000+00:002013-12-01T07:18:53.127+00:00No to the Cream Horn (poem)Cream horn, cream horn, why are you so bleak?<br>
You think your cream's fantastic, and your cone is really neat<br>
With your faux-French style you believe that you're the best<br>
But every time I see you I start to get depressed.<br>
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You make me sigh so much, you're not even a proper cake:<br>
Your pastry's made from cardboard and your cream is clearly fake.<br>
Everything about you is either dismal or synthetic -<br>
What you need to understand is that, to me, you are pathetic.<br>
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Some might mourn the disappearance of this old-school confection;<br>
Though you can be found in market towns too destitute to mention,<br>
It was so long since I'd seen you that I thought that you were dead;<br>
But one awful day I noticed you on 2 for 1 in Greggs.<br>
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From now on when I see you I'll be sure to cross the road,<br>
And warn the shoppers round me to beware your creamy load.<br>
You think you're like an ice cream, a sweet treat for the thrifty<br>
You should go back to where you came from, back to 1950.<br>
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Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7862249258643149376.post-83810359253207150312013-11-22T13:11:00.000+00:002013-11-22T13:11:43.384+00:00Letter to Grandma<i>This is an open letter to my grandmother, who sadly passed away three weeks ago today.</i><br />
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Dear Grandma<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My amazing grandmother</td></tr>
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Your great granddaughters, Betty and Dolly, are missing you so much. I am too. Dolly has cried a lot and keeps asking to see photos - there are many with you two gazing adoringly at each other. You both had a very special bond, and I know that the fact you always called her a 'little bugger' was a term of great affection.<br />
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Betty is showing her grief in a different way and is trying to be brave. She is concentrating on comforting her little sister. But just before bed the other night, I saw her thoughtfully looking at the candle we have had burning for you, and close to tears, she quietly said 'goodbye grandma.' It broke my heart. You two were also very close - you and granddad were her first visitors at the hospital when she was born, after all. And you both admirably braved the snow and ice to attend her first birthday.<br />
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Both girls always loved coming to visit you. And when we'd arrive you would always have a duster in your hand and the ironing board out, and needless to say, your house was spotless. This made me feel very nervous with two small children in tow. And while I was almost blowing a gasket, I was always amazed at how calm you appeared when the girls dropped cake crumbs throughout your house and then trod them into the carpet, and smeared chocolate into the cushions, and left jam fingerprints on the wall. But you always put me at my ease and refused to let me get the vacuum cleaner out. And then off we'd go, laden with Dolly Mixtures and Turkish Delight in the pink boxes, and you'd tell me off for having a filthy car. I would love to know what you did after we left - I am guessing you were up til midnight straightening things out. As granddad always said: 'If I had a brass button on my bottom she'd polish it.'<br />
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Grandma, you were truly brilliant... when I think of you...<br />
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I think of the lady who made the most perfect Victoria sandwich, and the best roast dinners. I had my first taste of sherry at your house, while you and mum were having a tipple before our roast lamb one day. And after lunch you and I would sit down and excitedly swap our Mills and Boon books with each other. We would talk about our favourite bits, and you would tell me about Rock Hudson. I think I was about eight at the time, and thought you were so cool. And my Sindys were the most well kitted out dolls in the history of mankind, thanks to you.<br />
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The speed at which you would knit while watching the telly was incredible, and you'd stay up all night knitting yourself a cardigan because you wanted to wear it the next day. You once knitted me a school jumper which wasn't quite the regulation shade of bottle green - at first I was mortified about having to wear it, but grew to love it in the end.<br />
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You had a wicked sense of humour, and we would heartily cackle together about the same things. You always looked immaculate, and were Marks and Spencer's best customer. You were fiercely independent, still cleaning your windows and weeding between your paving stones at 93.<br />
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You loved sunbathing, and your figurines, and yellow primroses, and Princess Diana, and Corrie, and you pretended to love cBeebies (for the sake of my children). You got me hooked on Viennetta and mint jelly. You made truly magnificent trifles and mince pies, and regularly force fed me angel cake, but you were a painfully fussy eater, often taking your own cheese sandwiches if we went out for lunch.<br />
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You often remarked on how much Tom looks like Elvis and how I'd got myself a real catch. And you completely adored and doted on Betty and Dolly. And you always asked after my mum who I know you were very close to. When you last saw her your smile lit up the room.<br />
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You were an amazing, funny, kind, loving lady and you touched us all. We all love you so much, and I am so glad that you and I held each other tightly not so long ago and told each other so.<br />
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You were such a big and important part of our lives, and you will be sorely missed. We send love, light and happiness to you always.Elsie Buttonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768998561385293241noreply@blogger.com6