Welcome everyone to 2024, the year of positive change and amazing happenings...let the (life) force be with you!

It is currently (day of typing) Tuesday 30th January and this January newsletter will be finished tonight, otherwise i might have to amend this slightly, but you will be none the wiser either way ha ha.

This month has been cold and a bit like walking through jelly, sticky and slightly frustrating, maybe it was something to do with the stars/moon but something has changed now for me anyway and now life is starting to flow hence i have got round to this first newsletter... the weather is warming (for now anyway) the bulbs are beginning to emerge from the deep bed of fallen leaves and humous left by the autumn and the birds seem busy getting ready for spring and babies, their woodland song keep Brucy (the dog) and i company on our morning woodland walks...Did you know that by listening to the birdsong in the morning and at night it helps to balance your circadian rhythms, helping you sleep better among other things ...and enjoying the sun on the face this time of year, helps to top up our vitamin D levels and stimulate our immune system, sunlight on your skin converts cholesterol just under your skin to vitamin D and with not much sun about now grab it while you can. There is nothing 'wierdo' about sitting on your own with the dog at Keston Common just facing the sun, gazing, taking it all in...ah so lovely, oneday it was literally freezing or below but the sun was so strong and the warmth so lovely I did not want to leave.

So I said to myself around November that I would finish the book below, a book that found me in the charity shop about 2 years ago, I flicked through but never really gave it my time, so promised myself i would read it, think about it and take from it what i felt right. David 'Avocado' Wolfe is the Author of the book below and visionary of the Sunfood diet which in a nutshell is a raw vegan diet incorporating wild plants. Raw and vegan don't really inspire much enthusiasm in me, I mean I like a salad when its hot but really dodge fruit in favour of cook vegetables in things like stir fries and stews this time of year.

Now David Wolfe lives abroad in a warm country probably with an abundance to fruit all year round, we hear in the U.K. are looking at apples and pears without relying on imported produce. Nowt wrong with either of those but we are more limited than our sunny sisters. He has a theory that cooking kills a lot of nutrients in food and if we think about it we are the only species to do it...yeah I know because we have become evolved, clever with our inventions but maybe the animals have got it right? So I have been trying to eat more raw food and I like it. A new one for me is raw sweet potato which is lovely better in my opinion than carrot!

So I will set myself a challenge around the full moon in February, around the time of lent, 24/2/24 to be exact for 28 days... It goes like this...

Do eat...

Eat 7 portions of fruit and vegetable a day (5 being raw)

Eat a salad everyday

(which could include all 5 with some wild greens)

Eat 1 x portion of bread a day

(sourdough, organic, rye ideally)

Eat nuts, avocado, raisins and seeds as snacks

Eat meat but not processed

(ham, bacon, sausage :()

Drink plenty of lemon water 2L minimum

Allow 1 x caffeinated drink a day

Exercise everyday outside

Don't eat...

Refined sugar (cakes, biscuits, etc.)

Artificial sugar (fizzy drinks)

Processed foods

(i.e. foods that you have not made yourself)

Alcohol

Chocolate

Dairy products

But have 1 x treat a day yay!...anything but just one, not like a whole package of jammy doggers

(just one) and when you eat that treat, savour it, enjoy it, eat it slowly, like we should do with all foods. Chewing is our first point of digestion, apparently 45 times is optimum!

This is the time of year when we could have been less mindful of food choices, less active because of bad weather or busy lives and happy just comforting ourselves with box sets and stillness...now nature is waking up and so should we! Shake ourselves off, shed our outer layer and prepare for the sun, warm weather and days out.

Will you join me for this challenge?

If you are interested please reply via email. I am going to get a little WhatsApp group going so we can cheer each other along and motivate each other for the course of the month, we can share recipes and healthy living ideas.

This brings me on to my first Nature Walk of 2024. 'Spring Cleanse' Foraging walk

Thursday 22nd February

11am-1pm,

The aim to find, forage and learn about how natures seasonal wild plants can aid our new year cleanse. We will learn ways to use these plants, where to find, and how to harvest. The circular walk will be about an hour, we will then head back to the shack with our goodies to take home along with a head full of ideas for a warming cuppa, chat and seasonal snack. £15 per person, cash on the day please. Please reply to this email if your interested.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

22/2/24 'SPRING CLEANSE' FORAGING WALK

24/2/24 START 28 DAY SPRING CLEANSE

30/3/24 EASTER EGG HUNT AND NATURE TRAIL

20/4/24 'NATURAL FIRST AID' FORAGING WALK

22/5/24 BALM MAKING DEMO AND FORAGE

Shareable posters to follow.

SOME SMALL BUSINESSES I LIKE TO PROMOTE...

'Holmwood Farm' - The butcher there is really nice and has a great grass fed beef dripping which is really lovely, he is very friendly and has a great range of meat.

luxurymoon.co.uk - re-usable/washable menstrual goodies.

www.retreatanimalrescue.org.uk - Lovely animal sanctuary in Kent, nice shop and cafe selling no animal products and you must leave your ham sandwiches at home if taking a picnic.

Porters produce - Greengrocer at Green st Green, lovely produce at reasonable prices, minimal packaging and as much local produce as he can find. New to me but he has been there for years, very knowledgeable about traceability and will answer questions about sourcing, we even had a conversation about pesticides! Open everyday except Monday and Sunday.

Me and my friend the giant oak. Observation [oak trees and holly are friends i think as i see them frequently growing together.]

The visionary - by David Wolfe

The beauty of the world

under sunshine, mist, snow

settles upon dreams which nestle and grow

in slumbering visions

of the secret and wild

the supernal gods in the feral child.

Vision - the strength, it shapes and seeks

the glide of the pen, and the voice who speaks

to the mass of minds or a single face

with eloquent astral, eternal grace.

Your vision is the promise you shall one day be

your ideal is the prophecy

you shall one day see

Nourished by seeds of

divine inspirations

you become as great as the finest creation.

That which you love shall come upon you

That which you need shall find its way too.

Vision - the master it guides and creates

it plans for perfection and clearly states

"The dreamers are the saviours of the world"

Those who cherish a beautiful vision

a lofty ideal have but one decision

Inspire the dream to expand and rise

nourish that truth without

compromise

For those with visions of truth and right

even alone have strength and might

with a cluster of sparks

the air of 'rudition' that which is nourished will

come to fruition

Vision - the power, it moulds and makes

hold it true so long

and evermore it shapes

the reasons, minds, and the wills

calling forth a thousand joys

disposing of a thousand ills.

Cherished in secret yet coming to pass

Vision - the calm in the pool of glass

Tempest tossed souls, wherever you be

rest under the wing of the visionary

In the ocean of life, isles of bliss

lay smiling, the sunny shore of your ideal

awaits your arriving

Keep your hand firmly poised

upon the helm of thought.

Hold true to the vision

and you'll find what you have sought.