Alison Campbell

@acampbelteacher

Biology educator, science communicator (I'm retired but still doing both!), foodie, dog-lover, avid reader, & somewhat addicted to cycling for pleasure. Occasional blogger:

785 Folgt1.085 Follower5.068 Posts

Website Website Bluesky

education science

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Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jul 10

Will someone please tell Luxon to get a new suit? (Or a new tailor. Or restrict his grocery spend to $60/week.)

Prime Minister Christohper Luxon (in a blue suit with a single button straining to hold it even remotely closed) welcoming the Indian PM, Narendra Modi (in a nice brown coat) to Auckland on Friday.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jun 25

This is our 9-month-old cavoodle, Beau.

This is Beau, a golden-brown cavoodle. Beau was caught eating the top layer of a spicy apple cake. Beau is trying to look innocent & contrite at the same time, & not really succeeding at either.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· May 27

My old golden lab, Bella, back in 2004 when she was 10 years old.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Apr 16

What is it with Bluesky right now?

Notifications page with a red-line announcement that it's "!forbidden" to see the 2 notifications that are nominally there, and the cheery message that "there are no notifications yet"

Wtaf?

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Apr 15

If Government spending is higher now than it was at the last election, along with debt, unemployment, business liquidations, power bills, rates, grocery bills, insurance and the rate of people leaving the country, then what exactly are the basics that have been fixed?

Take all the time you need.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Apr 1

She was useless in her previous roles. Why on earth has Luxon done this? Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announces election-year Cabinet reshuffle www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Simmonds takes up Reti's science, innovation, and technology portfolio, and his universities role has been disestablished to make Simmonds the minister for tertiary education.

She had previously been minister for vocational education, as well as environment. The latter has been given to Nicola Grigg, who remains outside Cabinet.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Mar 30

He's either joking or thinks we're all fools.

Screenshot from RNZ web page. Caption says "Fuel crisis: Govt in 'a much more aggressive, assertive position', says Luxon.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Mar 13

One of the sickest, most repulsive things to come out of his mouth. Trump calls Iran leaders ‘deranged scumbags’ as Middle East violence spirals www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

In a post on social media, Trump wrote: “Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today … They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them. What a great honor it is to do so!”

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Mar 9

And how long do we think this arrangement woukd last when those other countries' own supplies start running short? How much fuel does NZ have - and what happens if we run out? www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...

International Energy Agency (IEA) may intervene through collective actions like coordinating release of strategic oil reserves by their member states. This happened when Russia invaded Ukraine. The New Zealand Government has agreements with governments from the USA, United Kingdom and Japan to enable ticket contracts or stocks to be held in those countries count toward our emergency oil reserves.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Mar 5

Doing his best regal look ❤️

Beau the golden-brown cavoodle puppy modelling his pale blue harness & seatbelt tether while seated on a red & gold tartan rug on the back seat of the car.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Mar 5

Hes a handsome lad.

Beau the golden-brown cavoodle puppy has just had a haircut. Now he's wearing his smart blue harness** in readiness for a car trip to the park.

** made by Arctic Sammy, a little Christchurch company. I 100% recommend their gear.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Feb 27

Post a Pic you took, no context, to bring some zen to your feed.

A globe artichoke flower head against a cloudy sky.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Feb 18

Climate change is here. NZ isn't ready newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/18/c...

Finally, there is an increasing tendency to say the scale of these threats is so large that all of our climate resource should be dedicated to resilience and adaptation. This call is particularly strong from those who, before this decade, spent years downplaying the seriousness (or even reality) of climate change.

However, as the IPCC has noted, there are “hard limits” to adaptation. Some coming climate impacts will be so significant that we will be powerless to stop them. No floodwall can keep the Kāpiti Coast dry when three metres of sea-level rise come knocking.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Feb 13

And here's how the cake turned out.

Cupcakes arranged to form a tree. Trunk & branches have a chocolate frosting + sprinkles. The foliage is made of green-iced cupcakes, with sprinkles + leaves of coloured royal icing.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Feb 13

Some of the 36 cupcakes I've just finished icing for the 3rd birthday of a little boy who's obsessed with trees & leaves. (No fancy frills, but I'm pleased with them.)

12 cupcakes (vanilla) covered with green icing, sprinkles, & leaves in varying shades of green (made from royal icing).

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Feb 9

Ok, so we might have planted a few too many beans...

A pile of green beans in a pan on my (old) kitchen scales. The day's harvest weighed in at 1.15kg.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Feb 9

In which Beau discovers the river.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jan 28

She has "other priorities"... Watch live: National and Labour MPs team up to get slavery bill heard www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

ACT minister refused to support in Cabinet
Van Velden had previously said modern slavery legislation was not a priority for her, and the government in May 2024 disbanded a leadership group that had been set up to provide advice on developing such a law.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jan 21

Neighbourhood watch is watching 😁❤️

Brown puppy standing on his hind legs to see What The Neighbours Are Doing. In the foreground is a table with the red & yellow tubes of 2 kaleidoscope, a family photo, & a white artificial orchid.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jan 21

I love sunflowers. My favourite summer bloom. We grow them every year, in among the veges.

A sunflower, petals shading from yellow to gold, lifting its face to the sun.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jan 21

Jeremy IS on a diet - at our place. Somewhere, at least one neighbour's cat is getting thinner.

This is Jeremy, a very large tabby cat. 8kg of kitty. Oh Lord He Coming phase.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jan 18

All worn out.

Fluffy brown puppy lying over the side wall of his blue-&-white striped bed, underneath a low table. Too tired to go further ❤️

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jan 17

Barry grew some very similar blooms this season.

Several dahlia blooms - petals are white at the tips buy grade to a very deep purpley-red.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jan 16

But it's crickets from him about the US... New Zealand vacates embassy in Iran as threat of violence escalates www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...

Text reads:

On Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said New Zealand was "appalled" by an escalation of violence and repression.

"We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran's security forces, including the killing of protesters," Peters said.

"Iranians have the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and access to information - and that right is currently being brutally repressed."

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jan 9

The man sees himself as a global dictator. January 8, 2026 open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

And Trump told New York Times reporters David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager, Katie Rogers, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs that as commander-in-chief, he has only one limit on his power: “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” He claimed he gets to determine what is legal under international law, and seemed to stretch that authority to domestic affairs, too, saying that he was already considering getting around a possible decision by the Supreme Court that his tariffs were unconstitutional by simply calling them licensing fees and that he could invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy troops in the U.S. if he “felt the need to do it.”

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jan 8

The "after" photos.

Brown cavoodle puppy looking pensive after his first proper haircut

Brown cavoodle puppy after his first proper hairdo, sporting his flash blue harness with red tag.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Jan 7

Beau sporting his home-salon "do" - off to the groomer tomorrow for a much more professional cut.

Brown 16-week-old cavoodle puppy doing his best to imitate a fluffy toy. (He was very resistant to having his front legs trimmed!)

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Dec 22

No, we did not shrink the dog!

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Dec 14

Individual dephinium flower buds look a little like Predator heads... (second pic shows the whole inflorescence).

Three individual delphinium flower buds joined by long stalks to the stem of the inflorescence (running vertically at the left of the image). In the background are a couple of very large pink dahlias.

Image shows the long pale green flower spike aka inflorescence of a delphinium in the foreground, & behind it multiple blooms on a large-flowered pink dahlia.

The rather scrappy fencing is to keep the puppy out of the flower bed.

Alison Campbell@acampbelteacher· Dec 8

He does like playing in the water.