Look after yourself. Don't forget the 'Deep blue'!!

Last week seemed tougher than previous weeks this year. Nothing major happened (although it was the anniversary of my Dad's Memorial / Thanksgiving service at York Minster) but I was aware that I was a little more tired than usual, a little less motivated, a little more distracted, etc and I was not taking the time to slow down or look after myself. There were signs and thoughts that were hinting that this was going to be a problem but I still ignored it.

I forgot to take my vitamins, omegas and cellular support pills; I wasn't quite so proactive with my emotional oils and my muscle rub (doTERRA's deep blue ointment), which keeps my back healthy, got misplaced. I usually apply it morning and night at the very least but I kept forgetting to find my tube and so didn't stick to my usual routine.

Fast forward to Friday and my back 'went'. I am standing straight in this photo and you can see that I am very wonky and my hips are out of alignment. 

This hasn't happened for at least 2 years (probably more) because I had been methodical with my essential oil use and other beneficial stuff for my body generally. It was so strange to be reminded of how awful this made me feel and I started out very annoyed with myself.

• How could I be so stupid to forget to use my muscle rub?
• Why didn't I just find the tube and put it where it needed to be?
• Why didn't I pay attention to the signs of my brain telling me, via my body, to slow down?

And various other questions! All valid but ultimately unhelpful. 

The problem is that once my back has gone into spasm it's a lot more difficult to get out of it. Prevention is definitely better than cure in this scenario. Once I have lost the ability to stand or walk safely it is problematic.

Luckily helping out a friend a week ago with some essential oils information meant that I found a helpful reference section in my Medicinal Essential Oils book. I looked up antispasmodic and found these 2 pages of oils that I could use and there were loads of them! I already knew about marjoram having used that before at any hint of back spasm issues. 

But how amazing that bergamot mint (from the doTERRA Spring Exclusives kit) had arrived that very morning. Are doTERRA wizards? How did they know? It was a sign to me and this little ray of hope turned my questions and mind chatter around.

How can I help myself now I am in this situation?
What can I do to support myself with my natural health solution knowledge and supplies?
What could I do now to pay attention to my brain's messages to slow down and find a positive in that?

And various other helpful questions! 

I even gave myself a target that if I couldn't fix this by Monday I would have to resort to going to the doctors and getting myself pills - which I hate and have made me feel shite in the past. This was very motivating and so with this in mind I got to action (in a very slow, deliberate, painful way!!!!)

1. I took my pills and set an alarm to remind myself to take them daily
2. I found my deep blue rub (3 tubes) and strategically placed them around the house (including one back on my chest of drawers for before bed and after waking application!) 
3. I used the deep blue rub and layered it with copaiba essential oil and my forgive / frankincense blend on my back
4. I took and then placed my antispasmodic oils on my chest of drawers - marjoram, bergamot mint, rosemary and a few others with capsules ready to take every 4 hours
5. I did some spinal twists to get my spine back in place
6. I had a hot bath and did some cold therapy too
7. I checked how my energy body was doing and found out what was going on in my lower chakras paying particular attention to my sacral chakra (something I do as part of my spiritual / energy / shamanic work)
8. I did some writing / journaling about what I found during my energy body scan and how I was feeling generally

I woke up Saturday morning and felt so much straighter.  I planned to use the antispasmodic oils and deep blue rub every few hours throughout the day which gave me a reason to move often throughout the day which was important for my back and for me to check my progress.

I could still feel the tension in my back. I was still worried so I added in some emotional oils on pulse points and I continued to journal my feelings, noted down this plan of action (and noted down some more antispasmodic oils) and had a plan for later in the day if things went in the right direction.

I have been walking most days at lunch with my DH who is working from home. Over the weekend we often do a longer walk or a bike ride but on Saturday I was concerned about any activity. My plan was to go for a walk if I could really feel that it would be ok for my back. Again this was a great motivator to use the oils, rest, look after myself and really tap into how my body was feeling and if it was realigning itself. 

I made it and it was so great to go out with DH, DS on a lovely late afternoon walk.

So my message to you is:

1. Make sure that your self care is foremost in your mind ALL THE TIME or at least most of the time
2. If your brain is telling you to remember to 
•     take your pills
•     use your essential oils
•     take a break
•     use whatever is your go-to thing to support your health and wellbeing, LISTEN TO YOURSELF
3. PAY ATTENTION if you are:
•     feeling a bit low 
•     a bit demotivated 
•     tired
•     feeling something that might be telling you to slow down
4. Take a BREAK when you need to and do something JOYFUL
5. Take a bath - do some hot / cold therapy 
6. 
   Go for a gentle walk - notice at least 3 things in nature
7. Lie on the floor with your feet and legs up against a wall and listen to some fab music
8. Check your chakras and see if anything is going awry (I can help with this if you want to know more)
9. Listen to your intuition or gut as to what you need to do
10. Be your own cheerleader for looking after yourself
11. Have some fun (like I did with Snapchat on my walk!)
    

If you want to know how to use essential oils, essential oil-infused supplements, energy body clearing or anything I have talked about here, please book a FREE spiritual / essential oil health check with me. I'm here to help you be the HERO of your HEALTH.

If you want to see what Kevin Hart thinks about doTERRA's Deep Blue rub watch here.

How to never feel imposter syndrome (or never again)

Imposter syndrome is the belief that you aren't as competent as others perceive you to be despite external evidence to the contrary. It also includes the fear of being found out as a fraud. But it seems that actually, pretty much everyone feels like that regardless of whether we are talented, experienced, a newbie or a seasoned veteran. Either that or they hide it well OR maybe there are actually people out there who don't care and get on with what they are doing regardless.

To be honest, I don't mind if you are actually an imposter in some ways - so what if you are pretending that you know more than they do, so what if you are winging it or slightly faking it to get ahead. I don't mean actual fraud or deception tor fraudulent gain or conning people. I mean slightly bending the truth ("I passed my Maths GCSE!") to get ahead in something you love so that you can learn on the job or get that step up that you need to prove or improve yourself.

Good for you for having a go. If the vast majority of people are feeling like they are imposters then we can all join the party and be in it together and if there are people who are faking it because they love what they do good for them. I'd rather be an imposter in something I love doing than a veteran in someone I hate doing, as long as I am not hurting anyone. 

So what if you know less than the next person? How do we even measure this?

So what if there are people out there who know more than you? They aren't you and the way they implement their knowledge may be very different to you!

So what if you have less experience, so what if you are a newbie? Everyone has to start somewhere before they can become competent.

Here's the 'live' I did on Facebook about this subject - https://youtu.be/BPiT4Dz9jfY. I start most of my 'lives' on Facebook with "hello beautiful people" and I finish most of my lives with something along the lines of "remember you are an amazing, unique person and there is no-one else like you." because both of those statements are true. I am not talking about external beauty although I believe that everyone is externally beautiful! I am talking about the amazing, beautiful, unique people we all are. There is no-one else with your brain, your talents, your skills, your thoughts, etc in the way that they are arranged in you. 

So really you are an expert and uniquely qualified for at least one very important task. 

Being you

So let's forget about imposter syndrome, let's forget about competency, let's forget about what others think about you. 

If you are doing something that brings your joy and adds value to one other person's life even indirectly, brilliant. What others think about that is irrelevant and what you think about what other's think about you is also irrelevant and is also frankly a waste of time because they are too busy worrying about whether you have noticed that they are imposters or they haven't even noticed you at all.

Be you, be unashamedly you, be successfully you, be effectively you and by default you will be competently you and as Yoda would say "you an imposter cannot be!"

PS. If you would like some help accessing or exploring your personal power or are inquisitive about how you let allow outside factors influence your wellbeing arrange a call with me where I can tell you how I could help as a core shamanic practitioner. Book a call with me.

If you are into essential oils spearmint and bergamot are just two oils that can help you find your true voice, confidence and allow you to embrace your fabulous awesomeness. Arrange a call if you would like further information (use the button above.)

PPS. I have added my logo to this post because it was designed from a doodle I did after a shamanic journey I went on about my business. If you look at the way that it has been drawn it spells B ME with a backward B. This is the basis of my Essentially Shamanic business. I want everyone (including myself) to be truly themselves. 

Some of my Shamanism back story

It was an interesting set of events that led to me becoming a shamanic practitioner
after my religious upbringing. After having my 2 amazing children, with a molar pregnancy
miscarriage at 19 weeks pregnant in between, I felt that my emotions were hindering my
desire and ability to home educate my children. As a successful IT programmer, turned
stay-at-home-parent, I didn’t want to be an angry or resentful person around my children.

Having tried weekly therapy for about a year, I felt I needed more and so in 2009, I attended
the Hoffman Process - a 7-day residential course to change any inherited behavioural patterns
that prevent you from feeling fully alive. During this process, you learn to identify and honour
your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual sides (your quadrinity.) It was during this time of
transformational work that I started wondering about my Christian upbringing and how I was going
to honour my spiritual side without any hierarchical religious involvement. 

It was, strangely enough, my Dad (a Church of England Priest) who facilitated me finding the
answer because he had visited a shamanic practitioner a few years before to discuss the
idea of Jesus being a Shaman. He had bought a copy of the practitioner’s book ‘The Spirits
Are Always with Me’ (Jane Shutt.) I had mentioned how some of the exercises during the
Hoffman Process had felt very tribal and so he had given me the book to read. I had an
epiphany moment during one of the chapters where it talked about ‘The Void’ (a place souls
get stuck) and ‘soul retrievals.’ It talked about how we can ‘lose’ bits of ourselves and I knew
that I had lost bits of myself through repeated bullying at school, the miscarriage and the
horrendous way I was treated in hospital during my subsequent termination procedure,
the death of loved ones, even being dyslexic at school, to name just a few thoughts that
popped into my head as I read.

I put the book down immediately, got on the internet, found Jane and booked an
appointment (luckily at the time she lived in Scarborough as I lived in York.) At the appointment,
I got my power animal (my personal spirit helper to empower me in everyday life) and I did
indeed receive 2 soul parts back (one that was stuck in The Void.) It was an enlightening
experience because I hadn’t mentioned my fears to Jane about being down The Void but
also to find out why those parts had left in the first place. 

Being a course junkie at that time I was excited to learn more and book on the Introduction
to Shamanism as well as the year-long Deepening Your Connection course with Jane and
her partner Christine. I learnt to ‘journey’ to the spirit world for power, knowledge, to bring
back healing, etc. This is the primary way that Native Shamans around the world go to the
spirit world either via a drumbeat or through rhythmic rattling. It was exciting, scary and
during my training, I was beginning to recognise the many subtle positive changes in my
emotions, my levels of stress, my relationships with others and it felt like I could fully put
into practice what I had learnt on the Hoffman Process. I had often felt pressure and overwhelm
before but with my power animal and the other spirit teachers I was finding as part of my training
and as I was learning more about shamanic healing techniques it felt like I had graduated from a
3 geared bike to a 10 geared bike: everything was just easier and more fluid.

I didn’t feel the need to find the next course that would change my life or fix whatever was
‘wrong’ with me. It was such a relief to me (and my bank balance) as I had already trained in
EFT, NLP, Silva Method, Reiki, started a hypnotherapy course, done an introduction to counselling
and although I had learnt a lot there just wasn’t that feeling of empowerment or grace that
I was getting now I was learning the ancient skills of shamanism. Instead, I enrolled (for personal
development reasons only) on the 3 years Core Shamanic Practitioner training - ‘Healing the
Fractured Soul.’ I learnt to conduct soul retrievals, power animal retrievals, blessings, a stone
divination technique which I call Guided Pictures in the Stone (GPS); psychopomping (making
sure people who have dies get to the Land of the Dead for healing) as well as other shamanic
techniques to bring back power, balance and healing. 

It wasn’t always easy, I often felt like a fraud as it was so far removed from my Christian
upbringing but it was liberating, powerful and I received at least 10 soul parts back. I got to
know my spirit teachers and guides and my power animal so well that they are like my own
personal advisory board with my best interest at heart, there when I need support, advice,
power or protection.

It was during my 3rd year of training that I knew that  I couldn’t keep what I was learning to
myself - I had to let other people experience the subtle, exponential power and clarity
shamanic healing or a GPS session can give you. Once I finished training I offered sessions
to anyone who was referred to me by my teachers (who had moved to Wales at this point)
or if anyone felt drawn to me when I discussed my shamanic belief system. However at the
Autumnal Equinox 2019, to fit around home educating my children, I officially opened my doors
as Essentially Shamanic (incorporating my shamanic and spiritual essential oil work.)

Things were going really well when I was involved in a car accident on election day last year.
Although only mildly injured I was left with some knee and upper back issues which meant
I needed to recuperate and couldn’t easily practice shamanic healing which involves kneeling
and quite a lot of movement. A journey to my spirits led me to take my business online which
is how I am now able to offer 90+ minute sessions via zoom and distance healing to anyone
who wants a session.

If, like me, you have experienced the loss of a loved one, a relationship breakup, an
accident, bullying or any life transition (menopause, children leaving home, moving house
children changing schools, etc,) where you feel that maybe you have lost a bit of
your ‘spark’ or haven’t felt the same since then I can help.

I can honestly say that until I experienced my first few soul retrievals, I hadn’t realised that I was working on ‘half batteries’ as I call it. I now feel more peaceful, content, able to accept lives stresses more easily than I used to. I accept who I am more easily without needing the external validation I always craved. Don’t get my wrong, life is still stressful, I like getting external validation, things are not ‘perfect’ but shamanism has changed who I am, how I feel and how I conduct my business.

Home educated to college

I've been meaning to write about this for a long time now but just didn't ever seem to be able to find the words.

When you start on a rather odd path like home educating, especially a free-range, autocratic, child-led home education, college or structured education seems a long, long way off and for some it never comes at all. But like all things, if and when it does creep up on you, it can be a shock or at least for me it was. I started recording Facebook 'lives' last year and my August / September ones were all tinged with an air of sadness and the emotional-ness of the loss I was feeling over my eldest going off to college after 12 years of not being at school and 17 years of being with me pretty much 24/7. Don't get me wrong, I was excited as well but it was a big change for the whole family and I really had no idea how he was going to emotionally cope with the environment of a college with over 4,000 students (I wasn't bothered about the academic side).

Anyway off he went, my gorgeous, sensitive, free-range child and we were blessed to have him looked after, nurtured and cared for by total strangers. There were ups and downs of going from no academic study to 3 days a week of Maths, English and a level 2 Games Design course plus the fact that the college only catered for people re-taking Maths and English GCSE not those who had never even studied Maths or English GCSE. But the staff were absolutely amazing - DS was given extra work to do and was helped in every way possible.

DS has never been diagnosed with dyslexia but when he started trying to read when his sister was teaching herself at age 4 (DS was 7) he showed classic signs of it. I am dyslexic so knew what to look for. At that point I asked if he wanted to read and he said no so I told him to stop - he was only doing it because his sister was. We always brought our kids up to play to their strengths and at that age his strengths were climbing trees, drawing maps, playing computer games and mental arithmetic so why learn to read when you don't want to or need to - that was our philosophy. Left to his own devices, he eventually taught himself to read some time between the ages of 11 and 12 with no issues at all.

At college he was supported by the learning support team and assessed with additional needs due to his dyslexic symptoms and at times he availed himself of the mental health services when he felt overwhelmed or needed some time out. All this was done with no judgment or stigma, as I feel it should be. We all have mental health and need support from time to time and the same with a helping hand with academic work.

Anyway, I'm here to let you know that all went well. He coped, he passed all his courses with the best mark he could get and he managed that all in 8 months from an academic standing start. He started the equivalent level 3 course yesterday.

Why am I telling you this though? Am I just wanting to blow my own trumpet on how amazing I am as a mother and educator!! Nope. Instead, I want to remind everyone out there that there are alternatives to mainstream education that don't need you, as a parent, to be a teacher or amazing at imparting knowledge to your children. When my DH and I decided that DS was not going to school because we didn't want him to be taught to read or anything until he was ready, we decided that as the main stay at home parent, I was there to parent my children with guidance and love, not educate them in the ways of Maths, English or anything else.

Although I have helped other people's children pass GCSE Maths (I am a geek who LOVES maths) I am appalling at imparting my mathematical wizardry to my own children. I am mean, short-tempered, have no patience and become possessed by the worse teacher you can imagine. Not at all Mum of the Year material!! In contrast, I am their Mum, I am their taxi driver, I am their confidante (if needed) to name just a few but I am not their academic teacher and I don't need to be. Most of their 'education' from me has been around emotions - trying to have empathy for where someone else might be coming from if they act in a certain way that causes upset; not taking offense (as it is pointless - read my post here); holding your boundaries whilst being kind; not labeling someone as something but rather labeling the behaviour; the 5 languages of love, etc.

All the academic stuff is better taught by teachers and that seems to have been borne out by DS's experience. I am hoping that the emotional resilience he showed over the last year is due to my DH and my nurturing of him and his sister over their lifetime but I can tell you that his academic prowess is all his to congratulate himself on as well as the college staff who facilitated his learning.

So remember:

1. there are alternatives to our education system
2. you don't have to be a teacher to home educate - you just have to care about your kids :-)
3. children DO NOT have to follow the national curriculum
4. it does NOT have to be expensive to home educate
5. it is possible to pass Maths and English GCSE in 8 months having never seen the curriculum before (3 hrs a week per subject whilst doing another course)
6. you can get a job without any qualifications - just thought I would throw that in there in case you are still reading!
7. if you are MY child, don't ask me to teach you Maths unless you want to see my Mrs Trunchbull impersonation!! In fact, don't ask me to teach you any academic subject
8. MOST IMPORTANT - you are all unique and AMAZING (watch my FB 'live' to really instil that in you) 

If you would like further information about home educating please feel free to get in touch.

Ah Permaculture Diploma / New Year - where am I going?

I suppose it is always around this time of year that I contemplate where I am going in the upcoming year. I find January is a time of reflection for me as my birthday falls near the beginning of January as well as being the actual start of a new year.

Well, I got a great surprise in that one of my diploma projects got signed off in January with another one nearing being signed off. I have nearly finished writing up my wonderful collaborative Introduction to Permaculture course design that culminated in York's Introduction to Permaculture course run by 2 other permaculture diploma apprentices and myself back in November.

All very exciting but the diploma is also taking a lot of my time and that is something that I do not have a lot of. So the time has come to re-evaluate.

Something I always thought near the beginning of my diploma journey was using the permaculture principle of designing from patterns to details to concentrate, via my projects, on the circles of my life split up as follows:

1. my house
2. my street
3. my easily walkable neighbourhood
4. my walkable area (within 30 minutes)
5. my locality
6. my city
7. everything else needed to create community / remain connected to everything

with more effort put into 1 through to a lot less effort for no 6 and a weird amount of effort for 7 due to wanting to reclaim entertainment tasks from the economy such as cooking, childcare and fun. Across all the circles there is a need to connect with people, nature and myself and then contribute to the communities in those areas.

I also wanted to honour my quadrinity, as taught in the Hoffman Process, of intellect, spirit, emotion and physical body.

This is not something that I have touched on explicitly so far in any of the 10 designs but they are always in the back of my mind. However all these 11 areas are very important to me in different ways but how do I deal with them all in a way that is understandable? This is something that I have struggled with a lot whilst doing the permaculture diploma. Being dyslexic I tend to think big and assume that everyone is going to get where I am coming from. They don't!!!

All you need to do is look at the number of spreadsheets in my diploma journey planning, logging, documenting project plan here. It makes perfect sense to me but it isn't that easy to follow without some sort of explanation. And therein lies a problem because when it comes down to it I really cannot be bothered to explain all the many small details of my inter-connected way of thinking. I don't have the time and even if I did it would be taking me away from doing all the fab things I get to do. So what do I do now? I don't really have an answer. So I am going to keep doing the things I have been doing since starting the diploma and I will just see where this year takes me. I am going to stick to my plan as long as it doesn't cause me stress.

And so I am going to start with a re-evaluation of myself:

1. I am more than a someone doing a diploma in permaculture, I am more than someone who home educates their children, I am more than a wife, a daughter, a sister, a volunteer at my local community hub, more than a self-employed IT / PA / social media person, more than a friend, more than my jobs, more than my relationships. I am all those things and more.

I am the embodiment of all my relationships / all my connections with the world.

2. What I do does not need to be measured to be valued (do not mistake measurement for value eg. salary, school grades, etc) whether it be via salary, signed off diploma projects or whatever.

3. When I forget who I am and I become disconnected - I need to be aware eg. shopping for stuff I don't need, eating stuff that doesn't fuel my body properly, etc

and then:

4. Celebrate the connections in my life and build more:
i. honour the space I live in eg. declutter (minimalist month), use the space in a conducive manner
ii. continue making cider with people on the street every year, connect with my neighbours in other ways, help-yourself front garden
iii.working at the local community cafe & volunteering at the local youth club
iv. regular walks - health and wellbeing and awareness of my neighbourhood & member of my local Timebank
v. use my local shops eg. greengrocers - local produce, local businesses, local market
vi. walk/cycle as much as possible
vii. grow the great connections I have with my friends and with nature

Intellect
Admit my dysfunctionality
Recognise it = awareness
Confront it = will
Move on = take action

Emotion
Recognise the need to listen (observe)
Recognise the need to be heard
Enlightenment is a group effort or Charles Einstein's idea of us being inter-beings

Spirit
Honour the fact that I am part of nature

Body
Just do stuff and find positive body issues

These are just ramblings that I have written as they have occurred to me against the backdrop of the 11 areas mentioned above. A journalution of sorts (click on the link to find out more about journaling) and there is so much more I could write because working on myself and my place in this amazing universe is never going to end. The universe at present seems to be presenting me with many amazing opportunities to help people get the word out about brilliant courses, fantastic services that will help people find themselves or great products that honour the planet.

I get to continue honouring my planet by being part of the lives of the wonderful natural resources that are a whole host of amazing home educated children (including my own.) The next creative generation!! Every day I get to be part of that. It really needs to be celebrated.

So whether I take a pause from my diploma, give it up, keep working on it - it doesn't actually matter because those 11 areas mentioned above (and so many more) are always in the back of my mind along with the need to looking after the planet I live with.

#30dayswild day 29 - keep trying

Today was all about confidence and to keep trying and learning more. I have discovered over the last month is that perseverance is key whether it be with taking photos, drawing, gardening, trying to become more observant in this massively busy world or whatever else.

I have taken photo after photo; spent hours trying to video bees, birds, insects, etc.; tried sketching, tried sketching again.

My husband has set up his time lapse camera in our woodland so many times with no result but he keeps trying just in case he gets that magical shot.


For example, this photo of the York railway station framed by trees was the 3rd photo I took because I wanted to get the clock visible through the trees but the wind kept blowing!!

I took a landscape of the water on spider's web but it didn't show the water as well as the one above in portrait. As long as you are enjoying yourself or are getting something out of the experience it is worth it. All the 'failures' are worth it because you might get that magical shot or you learn something about yourself. I have discovered that my phone camera and camera have features on them that I wasn't even aware of before this challenge started.

I gave myself permission to experiment.
I gave myself the time to explore what I like about photos.
I gave myself time to find out more about the equipment I use for photos.
I decided to stop comparing myself to others - I don't have a fancy camera and, to be honest, if I did I am not going to take in on walks to work or taking my children to activities: I am just going to use my phone. My phone has limits so I worked with that.
I gave myself permission to take a little more time over observing my surroundings.
I gave myself permission to take a little more time to walk somewhere so I could observe and take photos or videos.
I took the time to explore different routes to places so I could explore more of the wonderful city in which I live.
I pushed beyond my comfort zone to try my hand at sketching.

I am sure there are many other things but these are the ones I can think of right now.


So today when I got home from town I got my lovely Caran d'Ache pencils, a 'how to draw insects' book and headed off to my friend's house to try my hand at drawing in colour.

It seems weird but I was more worried about the colouring than the sketching because whenever I have done any drawing it has usually been sketching in pencil or pen. I always feel I should leave a picture there and not 'ruin' it.

However the #30dayswild community on facebook gave me the boost I needed to give it a go and here is the result!! It's not perfect but it is mine and it has inspired me to keep having a go.

#30dayswild - days 27-28 - drawing, open door theatre, edible plants and bees again

Well, who would have thought it? Because of the #30dayswild challenge, I decided to have a go at drawing again. I have done some in the past but there has always been that nagging voice in the background: that voice from my art teachers at school: that voice that told me I couldn't draw. I did have one art teacher who told me I was ok because she taught a type of doodly art like this> and I really, really liked doing it but I also really liked the idea of sketching and I was definitely put off that at school.














In later life, I tried my hand at zentangle and again enjoyed that very much but I always wanted to sketch, draw and maybe even do a bit of coloured drawing!!















So thanks again #30dayswild challenge because day 27 I picked up a pen and had a go at sketching. I then posted the pictures to the facebook page to see what people thought and I have been blown away by the response!!


To date, I have 175 likes/loves and loads and loads of fantastic comments. I will be trying my hand at more sketching tomorrow as I am off to an arty friends house for the day and it will be #30dayswild inspired art!!!

Day 29
Today couldn't help but be a nature inspired day because my dd's home education theatre group performed a short version of Midsummer Night's Dream in the York Museum Gardens. The weather didn't hold up which was a shame but luckily we were under trees and nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of the children or all the adults watching. It was fantastic and such a fantastic city center venue in which to perform!!

Another great thing that happened today was that the York Press did a great double-spread piece about home educating in York which featured some of the performers in the play. You can read it here.

One of the reasons I home-educate is because I think children should spend more time in nature. It seemed pertinent to the #30dayswild challenge.

My dh had never been through the relatively new edible wood mentioned in #30daywild blogs here and here so before the performance, we took him there so he could have a look.

I got to take some more photos and try some plants!!

I am hoping to get my hands on some of these types of plants for my garden and I might well be getting an edible daylily from my arty friend tomorrow which I am very excited about.
I love eating daylily nearly as much as nasturtiums.


I also tried to get some pictures and videos of the bees on the lavender but again didn't do too well. I do love the sounds in the background of the video of children in nature and this bee picture didn't turn out to badly.

#30dayswild days 24-25

Day 24

I was working all day so during my lunch break I decided to do a bit of clearing up at the back of  my work. I took all the recyclables home and binned the rest.

Then I did my usual walk but decided to take crazy pictures of nature breaking through pavements, walls and other spaces. I didn't want to do my usual collage so I tested out a new thing for showing pictures. I got it by using this website here and I quite like it.
Unfortunately the website in question deleted my photos when my free trial ran out so you cannot see the photos anymore. Here's a different one!!

Later on I went for a walk with my gorgeous dh and couldn't resist the usual sunset photos on the way to the shops and then again on the way back.

Day 25

Another day at work and I didn't want to do the usual walk at lunch time around the fab York City Walls so I decided to walk down by the river. Having done the plants through pavements photos yesterday I noticed the plants growing through the walls along the riverside. I took some photos and thought I would display these scrolling gallery style (again using the cincopa website.) Again the website in question deleted my photos.

There was a family of geese near where I was so I got photos of them too!! You can scroll through the photos to see them.

I found a feather by the front door of work when I got back as well as 2 on the way back which I created worktop desk art with!!

It was fun working next to feathers for the rest of the afternoon.

I then got this lovely picture from the back of where I work on the way home.

Walking home I really appreciated walking through the Poppy Fields that I blogged about here. And then was really pleased when even though it looked like it was going to rain (see below), it didn't and I got to take this picture of starlings.

Before this #30dayswild challenge I wouldn't have even noticed the birds, let alone have known what type of bird they were!!!

#30dayswild days 21-23 - walking around York

The last 3 days of the #30dayswild challenge has been mostly about noticing more of the nature around my home city of York. I have found that since starting this challenge I am more aware of the green that we are lucky enough to have around the city which maybe I hadn't really noticed before.

I have been trying to tweet via instagram as I have gone along but I thought I would also get my pictures logged here as well!!

Day 21

The pictures below are from my walk around York City on the North West side.

Day 22

Walking into town again along the river when we witnessed a huge branch breaking off a tree.


The noise it made as it broke was amazing!!

This picture shows the gap and the hanging branch.

We then spent 2 hours in the fantastic Museum Gardens which I have mentioned before in my #30dayswild blog here watching my dd play in nature with her friends!!

I snapped a picture of this squirrel but mostly just enjoyed the sun and chatting with my friends!!


Day 23

Whilst my kids were at their weekly Parkour class I took the opportunity to explore the natural wonders of my local business park and was surprised to find 2 ponds which I didn't even know were there. I also collected 3 feathers on my walk and made natural art!!

For the 3rd time in 3 days I needed to walk into town to watch my kids collect their certificates at the Children's University Summer Festival. This celebration has been planned for a few months now so I decided to take the #30dayswild challenge into account and parked up at a friends and walked into town from her and her kids.

This meant that my children and I got to experience a different part of York - photographed below - and I got to eat lunch in her garden (top left.) My friend thinks the big blue tube is something to do with gas. Her daughter thinks it is excellent to climb and I thought it made a great urban-meets-nature photo.

We then came home to another fantastic sunset (with added balloon) 

AND I managed to do 14 out of 14 hours of over 250 steps on my fitbit. 

#30dayswild - day 19 - a day at the woods

Today I invited loads of friends to my woods. It is something that I have been planning for ages but had never managed to get around to it. Until now!!  I am hoping it is going to be something that will happen quite often and was really pleased that 8 families made it along today and we had a great time.

I am hoping that a fellow #30dayswild-er will share some fab photos that see took via her blog here. Jenny's Gecko Wood post is here.

Any way we had a great time at the woods and as part of the #30dayswild. I had decided beforehand that I would do the following:

Today, I chose to lift up a log #30DaysWild pic.twitter.com/H6rg9Wjj6R — Viv (@vckidd) June 19, 2016

and

Today, I chose to learn who sings a favourite song #30DaysWild pic.twitter.com/l4jsfxbv0f

— Viv (@vckidd) June 19, 2016

So I learnt the descending whistle of the Willow Warbler and when I lifted a log in the woods discovered woodlice!!

As part of looking for interesting things a casing was found (which I am holding in my hand in the collage above). We thought it may be the outer casing of a stinkhorn mushroom.

There was also an egg (we think pigeon) and a stinkhorn mushroom.

I showed people around the woodland and we ate some wood sorrell and identified wild strawberries. We discovered that the area of the woods in which we want to make a pond is still boggy (top left photo) and therefore definitely does seem like a good area to make a pond in the future.

We saw loads of blackberry bushes (bottom left) which are going to be great fun to pick in Autumn.

My dd and Jenny made a den (hence the fact I will add a link to her blog post because she took loads of great photos of the transformation.) And a carved The Den sign was made (spot the associated photos).

People had a go at archery, on the zip wire, and on the slack line.

We then discovered an actually living stinkhorn (middle.) Dh had some help planting some trees that had been donated to us and harvested some elderflowers (top right.)

As well as all that there were fires, food cooked on fires, fun, and friendship. Who could ask for more?