Toko -Pa Surrender Your Silence - you can read this powerful post about grief and the darkness of mid-winter here 

A few weeks ago, I started drinking a glass of water with freshly squeezed lemon juice in it first thing in the morning. I also drink hot water with lemon slices, plus fresh ginger in it throughout the day too. There have been lots of articles written about the positive outcomes of drinking lemon water over the past year or so. One of my favourite articles,  with quite a few evidenced based links, including protecting your teeth from any harmful effects from drinking lemon juice,  is here . 

Here in our new edible garden we have planted a beautiful lemon tree, though its too young to fruit yet. Our neighbours however have a great tree,  producing a huge abundance of wonderfully smelling lemons, and the fruits have just started to fall from the tree, indicating they are ripe enough to eat. A post I read recently suggested freezing freshly squeezed juice in ice-cube trays, making it super easy to create lemon water on busy mornings, but it also sounds like a good way here for preserving the harvest too.

I reckon its too early to know whether or not drinking lemon water each day improving my health and well being, but I'm certainly drinking less caffeine and more water because of it, and in the last few mornings have woken up really looking forward to its sour, floral, citrusy taste...will keep you posted 

I've found myself becoming overwhelmed with the desperate state of our world and communities recently...the nagging spiral of erosive thinking ' can what I do really make any difference?' getting louder and louder...need to refocus and reground again...and in perfect timing, my 2016 Leonie Dawson workbooks arrived in the post. A quick flick through revealed heaps of relevant positive motivation for me - so looking forward to spending time in the next few weeks designing for the months ahead with them.

​Loving this Maya Angelou quote too 

​Last month I completed a 10-day residential course ‘ People and Permaculture Facilitator Training (FiT)’ run by Looby McNamara and Peter Cow, at Ragman’s Farm in the Forest of Dean. I only heard about the course a few weeks before it was due to commence, but the timing and content seemed to fit perfectly with everything else in my life.
 
Being back at Ragman’s was really special for me. This was the amazing permaculture site where I spent time learning much of my core permaculture knowledge from Patrick Whitefield on his PDC in June 2011,  and then again for a weeks course in Organic Horticulture the following January.
 
The whole FiT course was an incredibly special experience, and perfectly timed to coincide with thinking about my next steps as a permaculture designer.

Here is a summary of some of the many positive outcomes of the training  for me: -
 
Spending the duration of the course getting to know the most fantastic group of social permaculture/people centred  designers and facilitators from all over world – being really motivated by the prospect of continued learning and growing alongside them over the next year, and hopefully much further ahead, through regular online meetings and connections.

The FiT training was a very different style and aspect of permaculture learning from Patrick’s courses. Being there in the same landscape with those connected  experiences  enabled me to further widen understanding I had built up in my Diploma, about the importance of putting people care at the core of any permaculture design, for a design to be be resilient and successful. 

A much more detailed and in-depth understanding of using the Design Web as an intentional process for Social Permaculture/People centred permaculture design.
 
Developing skills, confidence and  knowledge in facilitation – exploring the ability to see how this can be applied to and transferred to work and life situations beyond permaculture focused settings.
 
The creation of the first phase of my  Facilitators/Right Livelihood Pathway as an umbrella design to incorporate several other smaller designs.

The FiT course will run again in November 2016 at Ragmans Farm. See the Thriving Ways website for further links and contact.

Last month I spent a wonderful 10 days on a residential course learning about facilitation of social permaculture courses…to fuel us through our long, productive days of learning, Rebecca, the cook for the course,  created some amazing meals.
 
​With a variety of diets (including vegan, high protein, gluten free, allium free!) to cater for, our lunches and dinners often included a variety of delicious toppings and accompaniments (toasted seeds with tamari, sprouted pulses, various seed/pulse ‘dips’, cheeses, eggs, salad leaves) to meet our diverse needs.
 
Back at home now, and feeling inspired by our course meal, I have started making a lot more yummy healthy plant based additions to our main dishes of the day, and snacks  …first up,  ensuring we grow a continuous supply of sprouted seeds and pulses, and toasting pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds each day.

Also posted in Nomadic Food Divas