Here is a little update about events I am participating in over the next few weeks 

I’m so pleased to be participating in the above creative events this month, all of which are within a ten minute walk from my house. I’ll be selling my cards, prints and zines  along with permaculture books and other resources  by Graham Burnett, Pippa Chapman, Twigs Magazine and (free copies!) of Permaculture Magazine. As always I’ll also be happy to chat about most things permaculture related! 

Thriving With Principles is a design that Diploma apprentice, Kate Dickinson and I are collaborating on. Its a design about sharing and celebrating the voices, knowledge and experiences of permaculture designers using permaculture theory and practice to thrive while living with disabilities from chronic illness. We are at the stage of evaluating the first part of the design and are getting excited about where this will lead in the months ahead.  

Check out Kate’s Instagram space for more of their creativity and wisdom 

​We are inviting participants to share experiences they have had or ideas about, using the Holmgren Permaculture Principles in managing their disabilities and/or CI/LTHI and/or supporting someone else with disabilities and/or CI/LTHI.

This link features more information about each of the 12 principles

Permacultureprinciples.com

Ways of sharing these experiences and ideas with others in the session might include -

Talking
Sharing an image (photo, doodle, illustration, mind map) 
Written/typed so that Kate or Kt can share on your behalf 

Participants will also be encouraged to discuss these experiences and ideas in the sessions. There is no pressure to either share or discuss in the sessions. People who want to attend the sessions and just listen in are very welcomed.

The Zoom sessions will be recorded and then the content shared about experiences and ideas will be collated and used to create a zine which will be available to others as a resource. The zine will be available in both electronic and paper versions. 

The zine content can be anonymous or participants can be named and attributed to their experiences and ideas - either preference is great. 

​In the week after the Zoom sessions finish, you will be asked to complete a short evaluation tool so that we can learn from the experiences of participants and plan future events accordingly. 

We will be sharing information about this project on social media and on Kt’s blog and newsletter 
​
Please email Kt if you would like to take part in this project - remember it’s totally fine and very welcomed to just listen in to the ideas sharing and discussion. Also, feel free to email me with any questions you may have. 

Katie@ktshepherdpermaculture.com 

If you have already attended the initial sessions I will automatically be sending you an email with the link for the Zoom sessions.

We are inviting participants to share experiences they have had or ideas about, using the Holmgren Permaculture Principles in managing their disabilities and/or CI/LTHI and/or supporting someone else with disabilities and/or CI/LTHI ​

​This link features more information about each of the 12 principles

Permacultureprinciples.com

Ways of sharing these experiences and ideas with others in the session might include -

Talking
Sharing an image (photo, doodle, illustration, mind map) 
Written/typed so that Kate or Kt can share on your behalf 

Participants will also be encouraged to discuss these experiences and ideas in the sessions. There is no pressure to either share or discuss in the sessions. People who want to attend the sessions and just listen in are very welcomed

The Zoom sessions will be recorded and then the content shared about experiences and ideas will be collated and used to create a zine which will be available to others as a resource. The zine will be available in both electronic and paper versions. 

The zine content can be anonymous or participants can be named and attributed to their experiences and ideas - either preference is great. 

​In the week after the Zoom sessions you will be asked to complete a short evaluation tool so that we can learn from the experiences of participants and plan future events accordingly. 

We will be sharing information about this project on social media, on Kt’s blog and via the Permaculture Association’s website events notice board 
​
Please email Kt if you would like to take part in this project - remember it’s totally fine and very welcomed to just listen in to the ideas sharing and discussion. Also, feel free to email me with any questions you may have. 

Katie@ktshepherdpermaculture.com 

Recently I created a new goal setting tool for a  current project design I’m working on.

S.H.M.A.R.T.E.R

Specific
Healthy
Measurable 
Achievable 
Relevant 
Timebound
Ethical
Rewarding 

S.H.M.A.R.T.E.R has influences from both Heather Jo Flores and Leonie Dawson goal setting work and is aimed at being used in people focused projects. It’s already  proving to be a super useful core tool in my 2022 Permaculture Educator design and I will share more about this here as the design progresses.

Please feel free to use it in your own life/work designs - I have created a PDF for the S.H.M.A.R.T.E.R tool for you to download here 

Also, check out my shop where I sell prints and cards of some of my favourite illustrations. You can also access free (or pay as you feel) digital versions of my  illustrations here 

Creative Dying - Resources and tools for designing our own death and dying is one of the designs in my portfolio for my Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design. I started this design in 2013 and it’s had several incremental changes over the years since. You can read more about Creative Dying and how permaculture can improve how we die, in a previous article I wrote here . The online resource I created then has now being archived and I’m currently in the process of designing the next steps of the project.

Triggered by several major life changing events, including serious illness, I have recently been updating my When I Die plan, which was part of the initial Creative Dying design. I’ve not explicitly named the permaculture principles used throughout my plan, but see how many you can identify as you read through. Could the same principles help to shape your own Creative Dying related design?

(The information shared in this blog relates to death, dying and bereavement in the UK)

The functions of my When I Die plan are

• To support friends or family who are alongside me as I come to the end of my life. Knowing what my wishes are will hopefully help them in decision making and then how they grieve during my illness (if I die because of illness) and following my death.
  
• For me to be able to have some control over the way I die and care following my death if possible.
  
• For my death to have as beneficial environmental impact as possible. Or at least as less damaging environmental impact as possible.
• For others to be able to be inspired and motivated to use a personalised version of my When I Die plan in their own lives.

My When I Die plan consists of three sections

• Before I die
  
• As I die
  
• After I die

The Before I die and As I die sections of my plan contain personal information that isn’t appropriate to share in this blog, but the information can be categorised under the following headings -

• Place - Where I want to die
  
• People - Who I want to be present before and when I die
  
• Care - What kind of medical or nursing care I want to have before and as I die
  
• Activities - What kind of activities I want to engage in , for example listening to music, connecting with nature
  
• Alternative plans - I have listed alternative ideas for in the event of any aspect of my When I Die plan not being able to be implemented
  

Through both my work as a palliative care nurse and as a Carer for various family members, I am aware of some of the difficulties in meeting the wants and expectations of a person approaching the end of their life. These include -

• The availability of resources (financial, nursing/care, equipment, safe environment)
  
• Sudden deterioration of condition or sudden death
  
• Symptom/medical management needs
  
• The needs of family and friends

Not being able to meet the exact expectations of a person who is dying can be a significant burden for friends and family which can in turn impact on their bereavement. So including various options in an advanced care plan can be really useful for everyone concerned.

The third section of my When I Die plan, After I die, is typically the aspect of dying that most people planning for their death, focus on. It’s something which I am very happy to share the main elements here -

• Place - I don’t have any specific needs about where my body is held after my death
  
• I dont have specific needs about whether my body is washed or dressed in my own clothes
  

• If not distressing or difficult for the people close to me, I would like to avoid the use of a funeral director.
  
• If a funeral director is needed, then I have named one that I would like to be used
  
• I do not wish to be embalmed

My first choice for the placement of my body after my death, if available in the UK or other country where I die, is to be composted. Recompose are an amazing organisation founded by Katrina Spade, a permaculture designer and architect, in the US, who are pioneering the composting of human bodies. It’s a process that is already legal in several states and one if the aims of Recompose is to enable organisations in other countries to create similar systems.

If human body composting is not not possible, including because of the wellbeing of people close to me, then I would like to be buried in a woodland burial site nearest to the address where I am living when I die. Ideally I would like to be buried in this blanket that I have made from felted knitted squares of natural coloured wool, (wool which is produced and sold directly from small farms in the UK).

If burial in my blanket is not possible, including because of the wellbeing of people close to me, then I would like to be buried in the coffin I have already designed and purchased. This is in use as a book shelves and (the lid) as a notice board in my house.

If I die outside the UK then I would like my body to be treated and placed as local custom, with my ideal choice always being burial. I would not want my body to be transported back to the UK.

I have no fixed ideas or needs for those around me to celebrate my life and say goodbye after I die. Here is a list of some ideas I have that might assist people close to me involved in my after death care -

• Pagan related rituals , see for example - The Pagan Book of Living and Dying by Starhawk , Sacred Earth Celebrations by Glennie Kindred (Both available on my book shelves)
  
• An online as well as physical event/celebration so that folk don’t have to travel
  
• Sharing of food
  
• Playing my favourite music
  
• Having a gathering round a fire
  
• Asking people to plant a tree - making trees available for people attending an event to take away

I have listed friends who are celebrants of various kinds and might be available to facilitate an event

A really important part of the update of my When I Die plan has been getting some of the legal aspects of the project completed. I got both Lasting Power of Attorney, Health and Welfare and Property and Financial Affairs, documents arranged, meaning that a close friend of mine can act on my behalf if I am too unwell to make decisions for myself and my own needs known. At the same time, with the same local solicitor, I wrote my Will which means that when I die my wishes for any belongings and/or financial assets that I own will be carried out.

These documents took a bit longer to process than anticipated as they had just got into the legal system as the first lockdown for the COVID 19 pandemic commenced in the UK. However, they are complete now and the details in them will be honoured for the rest of my life. I can also change the content of any of these documents at any time, should I want too. A copy of my When I Die plan, while not legally binding, also sits with the Power Of Attorney documents and Will, both with my solicitor and in my paperwork at home. Two close friends have also got a copy of my When I Die document.

These books are some of my current favourite resources for making plans for dying.

The following list is a selection of my current favourite online resources -

Dying Matters
Life. Death. Whatever
The Digital Legacy Association
The Good Grief Project
End Of Life Care - LGBTQ Route To Success - Macmillan Cancer Support
Anti-Racism: The Outer and Inner Work - End Of Life University Podcast
How To Have An Environmentally Responsible Death - Marie Curie
https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney
A Greener Way To Go, What’s The Most Eco Friendly Way To Dispose Of A Body - The Guardian
Eco Friendly Funerals - Green Eco Friend
The Natural Death Centre

Whether for your own death plan, or someone close to you, I hope its been useful to read about my own When I Die plan. I have other other new elements of Creative Dying planned over the next few months, sign up to my monthly newsletter to access them when available.

Apologies. I’ve definitely been a bit A.W.O.L. In recent months, both from my blog and Full Moon newsletters. At the end of last year I outgrew my marketing package from Weebly, my website host and decided that while I upgraded I would take the opportunity to give my website a much needed update too. Living with a chronic illness means that unplanned times of rest are often a thing and none essential activities can get delayed in a big way, which is what happened with me. However, here I am again with my website updated, a new blog/newsletter design underway and some great plans for my online spaces over the next few months. Here is a little overview of what you can find on my website now: -

An overview of my different Permaculture Educator projects: - Permaculture Illustrations, Blog,  Permaculture Diploma Tutoring,  Accessing Permaculture, Permaculture Resources and Social Media 

Details about my Free To Use illustrations, examples of some of the recent commissions I have undertaken and a link to my Etsy shop where some of my older Illustrations are available as cards and prints. Over the next few weeks I will be opening a new shop for cards and prints of my illustrations on my website. Sign up to my full moon news letter and connect with my social media spaces for updates on this 

Everyday examples of how permaculture can provide healing and regeneration for ourselves, our communities and our planet.

Information about my work as a tutor for the Permaculture Association (UK) Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design 

Some resources designed to help and support improving access to Permaculture, (and other activism type work/events), for people with chronic illness and/or disability. 

Some of my favourite permaculture related resources : - websites, blogs, podcasts, books and videos

To keep up to date with my various Permaculture Educator projects then sign up to my Full Moon newsletter and connect with my social media spaces 

For many people the sudden arrival of the Coronavirus Pandemic has meant significant changes in how we live our lives. As the weeks pass it is becoming more evident that in the UK, as in many other places in the world that we will be living with some level of “lockdown” situation for many more months, possibly longer.
 
From my own observations and listening to the stories of others, there are many similarities and parallels about life respecting the lockdown rules and managing the impacts of the overwhelming loss related to the pandemic, and my experience of being mainly housebound while living with long term illness over the last few years.
 
In the early months of my diagnosis with late stage Lyme Disease I used aspects of permaculture design to create a life that, although very different from my life prior to becoming seriously unwell, I could continue to thrive in. I have now easily been able to adapt these ideas to both enhancing my own experience of lockdown and also supporting others around me to be able to adapt as well as possible.
 
Here I share some of those ideas.
 
●      I use The Design Web by Looby Macnamara from her book People and Permaculture (2012) to design the pattern of my days. I can really recommend spending some time on creating a template for this, which can then be used as the structure for each day to add detail to according to the different activities and priorities of each individual day.
 
●      I spend time on a regular basis acknowledging the loss, grief and various emotional states associated with this, relating to how Covid 19 is impacting on our lives. Also how this can compound other loss in my life too. Gently accepting and reminding myself about the fact that fast changing sways of emotion are in fact grief and connecting with others about this can mean that the emotions don’t become overwhelming as often.
 
●      Connection and integration with other people, (while physically distancing, but demonstrating social solidarity!) to support each other through the Pandemic, but just as importantly to focus and talk about other meaningful topics again to avoid being emotionally overwhelmed, is also a valuable tool.
 
●      I use reflection a lot - a mini reflection at the end of each day, a more detailed one at the end of each week and then an in-depth time of reflection at each Earth festival. It really helps to have these periods of reflection with other people who know me well too, a bit like “life supervision”. Referring back to the daily pattern template above during the reflective time means that I can creatively make changes as needed on a regular basis. Regular reflection helps me to value my achievements however small, even on the most difficult days. Being able to identify potential for new projects or positive habits enables more flow and growth in my life too.
 
●      Creating a journaling tool to record ideas, gratitude and event memories is a really positive strategy. The fast changing pace of the changes involved with the Coronavirus situation and the media responses, means that it can be difficult to focus on aspects of life not related to the crisis and this in turn can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed and potential burnout. Using the permaculture principle of catch and store energy, in making a physical space to record actions and thoughts really helps to focus on solutions and regenerative ways forward.
 
●      I use the permaculture tool of Zoning to help to connect with the things in life which give me meaning, even though the ways I can do this are often very different from before. This means that I can decide on an activity based on any limitations that the effects of the Coronavirus lockdown are having on my life at any particular time. For example – one of my main projects on the go is the design and creation of a new edible garden. Zone 0 activity related to it is to have dedicated thinking/daydreaming/mind mapping time, Zone 1 to listen to a podcast or audiobook about edible gardening, Zone 2  to read a book or watch a video about edible gardening, Zone 3 to chat to a friend or on a forum about gardening, Zone 4 to actually spend some time on practical gardening activities and Zone 5 to visit other edible gardens/allotments in my local community.
 
●      Over recent years there has been many studies demonstrating about how beneficial nature connection is to our physical, emotional and spiritual health. I designed ways in which I could connect with nature when my health was at its most difficult and I spent many months in bed. One of the most effective ways I maintained this essential part of my life was to create a space in my bedroom to display objects and other representations of patterns in nature. I wrote in more depth about this in this here . Although now, through significant improvements in my health, I have the privilege of being able to spend time in my garden and enjoy daily walks in my local park, I realise that not everyone has access to this either geographically and/or because of needing to self-isolate or shield because of Covid 19. Having an inside space dedicated to connection with nature, continues to be a constant vital aspect to my holistic wellbeing.
 
●      Growing food is also something that gives me and many other permaculture practitioners really significant meaning in life  – I’m really lucky to have the space and health to be able grow food in my garden now and as the Coronavirus lockdown commenced in March I started a design for my edible garden. Throughout the difficult times of my illness I was able to grow food on windowsills in the house – sprouted seeds and pulses, herbs and chilli plants – and I still do as these ways of growing give me fresh home grown food each day of the year which is hugely impactful to my holistic wellbeing.
 
●      I timetable a regular space in each day to intentionally “pause” and take a break from whatever else is going on in the day. For me this means 10-15 minutes of grounding, through awareness of my senses and purposefully connecting to Earth – I also found this tool really useful to use at any time that feels overwhelming too.  This short time away from whatever else is happening in my day nearly always enables me to regain a healthy sense of control and is helpful when changes are happening quickly, such has been the case with the Coronavirus crisis.
 
These are some of the life tools, inspired by permaculture, I have been using and adapting over the past few years to stay as holistically healthy as possible. I hope that you have found some inspiration here in my ideas for your own self-care in these times of Covid 19.

An edited version of this article also appears in Permaculture Magazine Autumn 2020 (No. 105) - If you have the financial means I can strongly recommend subscribing to this wonderful quarterly publication. As well as the magazine, Permaculture Magazine website has masses of free permaculture related content plus a wonderful YouTube channel  
 ​

A few months ago I started a new blog series to run alongside a year long design process I had started for the garden at my new home. Then the Coronavirus Pandemic became a very real thing and realising the scale of changes we were urgently going to have to make to our lives, I decided to make an edible garden ASAP. My main reasons for creating this garden at this time rather than continuing with the long term period of observation I was part way through, was to give myself an immediate project which I know from past experience would hugely benefit my holistic health and well-being, at a time of probably prolonged changes, uncertainty and grief. Given my existing health limitations plus the limitations of the pandemic “lockdown”, I designed my new garden to be as simple as possible to implement and to use as few bought in components as possible. In addition, this design aims to be easily changed or adapted for the long term when more time has been spent as planned on the observation and analysis phases of my original project.
 
Here is a photo journey of my lockdown Edible Garden so far : -

(PS - sign up to get my monthly newsletter to read more instalments about this garden design)

The Climate Change Garden published just last year, is my first complete read of 2020 and part of the research planned for my new garden design.

As well as being an author of a wide range of books, Sally Morgan is also the editor of the Soil Association's Organic Farming magazine. Kim Stoddart runs climate change gardening courses, is a gardening journalist and the editor of  The Organic Way magazine. The two authors clearly have a great wealth of knowledge and experience in all matters relating to garden design with our rapidly changing climate in mind.

Overall The Climate Change Garden is a comprehensive and engaging overview of some of the main ways that climate change is, and will continue, to influence how we garden in the UK. The book has lots of inspiring photos to back up the very accessible format text. The key topics each have their own chapter; Too much water; Heat and drought; Wind, frost and snow; A healthy soil; Design Ideas; Working with wildlife; The veg patch; In the orchard; Trees for the future; The flower garden - and there is a useful appendix of extra resources. Each chapter contains relevant background and history alongside many ideas for garden design choices and plans. In my opinion, The Climate Change Garden is a great book for folk new to gardening as well as others who would welcome a reminder about some of the key issues relating to climate challenges in the designs and creations of our growing spaces. While the book isn't an in depth "how to garden" book, it firmly plants many specialist seeds of inspiration to be furthered by accessing additional resources. The Climate Change Garden is  a very welcome addition to my land based permaculture tool box and already a central part of the first steps of my new garden design. 

My Permaculture Illustrations on this new page on my site are offered free of financial cost, to use digitally in any regenerative change event or resource materials and marketing. Please just include a reference to my website with any use. 

Click here to learn more and access over 30 other free to use "everyday" Permaculture illustrations. I'll be adding more of my creative work to this resource over the coming months. To get reminders about this, sign up here to my monthly newsletter.