So here we are on the last day of 2013 how has the year been for you?
I've been doing bit of a review of
my year. This is the first time I've really done something like this. It’s been
a mixed bag to be honest and I've learnt loads. So what’s been
great and also what’s not been so good? Personally
I think its important to celebrate ALL of that. Even though at times things
have been pretty sh*t! It all adds to the rich tapestry and as a result I've learnt
more about myself.
So here’s a list of what 2013 has held for me – good and bad!
It is rather a long post and really is more for my benefit to say goodbye to
2013 and to welcome in 2014 with my arms wide open. ;-) If you do want to read it all - I'd suggest getting yourself a drink first. ;-)
Here we go pretty much in month order...(how organised!)
Learnt how to make bread.
I went on an evening workshop with The Square Food Foundation in Bristol
Started Taste The World - A Culinary Adventure
Throughout
the year we, along with a merry band of folk who joined us, cooked our
way through 12 countries learning new recipes and flavour combinations as we went. We even cooked food from Narnia in April. If you fancy joining for 2014 - you can join the group here ;-)
 |
| Ingredients to make a Malay curry - January's Country |
Went to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first
time!
I LOVE going to the theatre. (Nope that isn't my real hair..!)
Went to Panto for the first time in YEARS with my good friend Gaynor.
Was such good fun
Had a photo book made of my Bags of Love for Bristol project
Played in the snow!
Launched The Supermarket Free Challenge for The CommunityFarm
- who I volunteered for as their Social Media & Marketing person for 6
months.
They deliver great veg boxes by the way...
They deliver great veg boxes by the way...
Interviewed on the radio
BBC Bristol and Local BCFM
about the Supermarket Free Challenge
Saw The Adrian Utley Guitar Orchestra Live - Beautiful
Had my colours done by the lovely Hazel which I wrote about here
Went to see Oliver!
Had a stand at Bristol City Hall the day after having branding
issues with Bags of Love - that really threw me and knocked my confidence. I
took advice from an Intellectual Property Rights Lawyer and did resolve the
issue but it took me a while to recover and pick myself up from that
blow. Looking back on that now I know that experience has made me feel stronger.
Went to Longleat! Yeah!
Took part in my second 30 Day Challenge run by John Williams & Selina Baker.
This time I created a series of artworks using
the elements - Air, Water, Fire & Earth which I wrote about here. I also made four films to accompany the artworks. First time I've made some short films like this. Have made more as result.
Was involved in the New River Cottage opening in Bristol.
Sadly Hugh FW wasn’t there. I’m a fan of his.
This was as part of my time with The Community Farm.
Went to see the Theatre group Living Spit at local pub –
These guys are fantastic!
Saw Skunk Anansie LIVE – WOW she is one amazing lady!
We
were standing next to one of the band members parents. That was until we were
asked to move by a burly security guard from the cordoned off area!
Tried a local yoga class - but it was too fast for me and
more like an aerobics class so stopped going after one season. Am looking for a
class now for 2014
Picked wild garlic. Made lots of wild garlic type products.
Yum
Saw Beth Orton Live. She’s cool
Saw Ludovico Einaudi live – one of the highlights of the
year.
We managed to get tickets on the day of the performance at what was a
sold out concert.
It was an amazing experience.
Got Chickens!
Answered an online ad offering Chickens to a good
home as the lady who had them was moving to Scotland. They are a great source
of fun and are great characters ;-) We started with four chickens and a bantam
we called Louie. Sadly later in the year two of our hens died. Not due to any
fox activity, rather old age – as the vet told us. RIP Princess Leia and Janet.
Ran a workshop for Thornbury Craft Club
First time I’d
done something like this. Theme was ‘how many things can you make from a Man’s
Shirt’. Was a good evening and I learnt lots too.
Feeling a bit unsure of where I was going I put together a Finding
My Value survey.
Was HUGELY helpful.
Went on a two day Permaculture Workshop which I wrote about
here.
REALLY interesting and is so the
way forward (I think)
 |
| pigs are natural rotovators |
Saw the band Low live and wore my first handmade top out to
the gig.
They were fantastic live. Really chilled. I am looking pensive though!
In May I finished my 6 month volunteer post with The
Community Farm
I took part in Laura Hollicks - International Soul Art Day
and had my artwork featured on her site along with those who also took part
from around the world. I wrote about that here
Having days when I didn’t want to get out of bed and just wanted
to hide away under the duvet
Walked barefoot for 6 weeks
This came about after doing
the soul art with Laura Hollick. There were some magical moments during this 6
weeks. My fav was being out dancing in the rain!
Inspired by watching interviews on The Good Life Project
Went on a super fun soundmapping adventure with my crazy creative friend Jen
Jumped
Discovered Cranmore Tower.
A magical secret in the
woods.
I’ll be running a workshop here in 2014.
Saw Nosfartu at Arnos Vale Cemetery
That was a great night out! Never seen the film before so seeing it in these surrounding
made it very exciting and eerie...
Went to my first ever Steam Punk Fair
met some great people including this super smartly dressed chap.
Made a short film about a walk I took to Blagdon lake. Watch here
Celebrated nature on a muse walk as part of the Bristol
Walking Festival. Made green crowns for the May Queen and the Green man. That's me in the bright green scarf. ;-)
Went to see a Play about Stroke written by Everyman Theatre Cheltenham that I'd contributed to about my own experience of having a brain Haemorrhage (a type of stroke) when I was 12. The play was touring schools and highlighting the fact that stroke doesn't just happen to old people. In fact Stroke amongst young people is on the increase.
Went to see Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty with Alison (Bod) – who I
actually met as a result of my Bags of Love For Bristol project! Wow-ee wow
that was some ballet!
Set up mailchimp and created my first ‘playletter’ – am gradually
growing my subscribers. Thank YOU to everyone who has joined so far.
Saw Philip Glass live. Inspirational
Tried out some 'creative marketing' coaching sessions with a
client. Enjoyed this and will develop this offering further in 2014
Tried Biodanza. Not sure about that. I enjoyed the freedom
of movement to music but felt uncomfortable with some of it. Could warrant investigation
into why that was?
Got the Job! Working with John-Paul Flintoff
WHOOP WHOOP. Mega excitement as I read one of his books 'Sew Your Own' in 2009 which partly inspired my Love WhatYou Wear project! He has also written 'How To Change The World', teaches at The School of Life and writes for The Guardian. He's a busy guy full to the brim with ideas. I have huge respect for this man. Read what he's up to here
WHOOP WHOOP. Mega excitement as I read one of his books 'Sew Your Own' in 2009 which partly inspired my Love WhatYou Wear project! He has also written 'How To Change The World', teaches at The School of Life and writes for The Guardian. He's a busy guy full to the brim with ideas. I have huge respect for this man. Read what he's up to here
Took an art in nature course at Chalice Well, Glastonbury –
which was fabulous. I felt free to experimented and created artwork with the
water of the well. Read more about Chalice Well.
Made butter and yoghurt for the first time!
Couldn't believe
how easy it was! Wrote about making butter here
Went to Cornwall with friends Cress & Rob and spent time with family.
That was
fantastic. Discovered Kynance Cove where I collected some Cornish Serpentine.
The only place in Britain you can find this beautiful stone. Walked barefoot around Tintagel and saw Waiting for Godot at the Minack Theatre. Although had no idea what was going on for most of that play the view is fantastic...
Went to a talk at Bristol Big Green Week that I’d
help organise for The Community Farm. Jo O’Connell from The Guardian who’d been
living Supermarket Free and blogging about it came to give a talk with Angela
Raffle, one of the founders of The Community Farm.
Won prizes at the local fete!
Discovered an overgrown Secret Orchard!
Was SO excited by
this. Discovered from the farmer that the orchard has been here since 1912 and
that most of the cider apples were grafted by the Land Girls during the second
world war. Was also shown the ‘village’ cider press as at one time they used to
press apples for all the villagers. Would be wonderful to bring that back. I
did ask if they wanted to sell the orchard to me – but they weren't keen . ;-)
Went to a wonderful workshop run by Here Today Here Tomorrow
in London called Dinner to Dye for & visited the Museum of Childhood which I wrote about here
Spent a delicious afternoon with my friend Alison (Bod) at Saltford
Marina on her boat before she sold it and moved into bricks and mortor.
Saw The ukulele orchestra of great Britain live for the
second time. These guys ROCK!
Made elderflower cordial. Tasty
Had my laugh recorded for a play as part of the Shakespeare festival!!
That was fun. A group of us were given voice exercises as we had to ‘laugh
like Americians’ Who, according to the voice coach, laugh from the back of
their throats.
Met up with 30DC and P2W folk
Has been great being part of
this community. So supportive. Thank YOU
Saw Sheep having their haircut and now have 8 fleeces to
turn in to lovely things – next to find a weaving club or someone to help me
process it all! Wrote about that here
Got a puppy!
Wow - Tristan & Yseult by Kneehigh Theatre
AMAZING!
Never seen anything like it. They’re a Cornish theatre group and well worth
looking out for. My Aunt told me about them then the next day I received an email to say they were coming to Bristol! Synchronicity.
Saw The Wurzels in a muddy field
in the rain.
Was a good fun night out. Am working though my ‘things to
do if living in the country' list and this was one of them
Experienced a sweat lodge.
Sang in front of the group of ladies
in the lodge. Thankfully it was dark inside the lodge as I've never sung in front
of anyone before which was pretty nerve racking. Especially as I didn't know
any earth or goddess celebration songs – which the other women there seemed to
know. So as the drum made its way to me I was wracking my brains as to what to
sing. I had three options. 1 I am a Cider Drinker - the Wurzels, 2 Paradise
City – Guns n’Roses or 3. Roam – B52s. I went with Roam. and they liked it! A
VERY interesting day that was.
Heard Satish Kumar speak and met him afterwards
what an
inspiring and lovely man. I also bought one of his books, which he signed for me – but must confess to not
having read it yet.
Created and ran the first Connect 2 Nature Connect 2 Self course with the
fabulous Artist, Jeweller and Coach – Jaimie MacDonald.
This came about as a result
of me putting that ‘Finding my Value’ survey out there. It was a fabulous and
enriching experience. It was also hard work and I so enjoyed collaborating.
We’ll be running the course again in March2014.
Went to the Bristol balloon fiesta with friends Gaynor &
Mike which was stunning. I love the night glow. Sadly at the same event – Henry, my car had his wing mirror smashed by
someone so I was not a happy bunny ;-(
Drove a tractor!
That was brilliant – until Ian
suggested I reverse the tractor which all went horribly wrong. No one was hurt
thankfully, but their trailer got damaged. ;-( ;-(
Discovered Barrow Beach.
A fantastic place to walk and look
out to sea. Beware of the quick sand though.
Walked up Glastonbury Tor
Spent an afternoon at the Glastonbury Goddess Conference.
Wasn't quite sure what to make of that to be honest as it was the first time I’d
been. I went to see The Dance of The Minoan Snake Goddess (as earlier in the
year when doing a visualisation to connect with my inner wisdom – the vision
that appeared was holding snakes) so was intrigued. After the dance I attended a healing through nature
workshop with Ella Hope.
At one point during that workshop, the point when we were hanging onto trees in the park and making loud woozing noises through our throats, I just burst out laughing and then couldn't stop! Thankfully Ella, who was running the course, could also see the
funny side.
Had some of my workshop ideas used by others and not
credited ;-( I’ve had really mixed
emotions about this to be honest as on the one hand it could be seen as being faltering
that they think it is worth using – but on the other I felt angry and disappointed. ;-(
For every person who took our Connect to Nature course, we
had a tree planted for them in the Calidonian Forest, Scotland.
I really wanted
to visit the site and see where the trees would be planted, so last minute decision
I went up to stay with Jaimie in Edinburgh and then we went to the forest together.
It was FANTASTIC! After working together so closely
online over skype it was great to spend some time together in person. ;-)
Visiting
the forest was wonderful and we made a film about it here:
As a result of the courses created by myself and with Jaimie
and run in 2013 - 22 trees were planted in the Calidonian Forest!
That feels
GREAT! Here's to MORE being planted in 2014!
Visited Findhorn
Going to the Caledonian Forest also meant I was able to
include a visit to Findhorn. Findhorn is some where I’d read about a few years
ago and it really captured my imagination. Tales of magical events and produce
being grown in the thinnest of soil. My vision of everyone there wearing yellow
and skipping about was very far from the truth and I discovered it was not the
place I had expected. (Expectations getting in the way?) It was however a
fascinating trip for that reason in itself.
I also met Dorothy Maclean, one of the founding members who is now well into
her 90s. Dorothy still lives there and attends the daily meditations.
Saw Steve Vai Live!
OMG I’ve had a passion for Steve Vai
since I was about 17. I even designed a chair inspired by him for an A Level
CDT project. And to finally see him live and be right at the front of the stage
was magical! It was pretty special. I even managed to get his song listing for
the gig!
Ran a workshop at The community farm as part of their
harvest festival
Interviewed for Evolve & Emerge Magazine
Took Cerys puppy to puppy classes - Hilarious!
Saw a pug puppy for the first time. Cute yet funny
Lunched with my friend Amanda and her new baby boy Lisle
awww
Started one2one coaching as part of my diploma
Submitted artwork to the RWA open exhibition. Was very
chuffed to have one of my submissions be selected to round two. However it didn't make it to the final hanging in the exhibition. Was disappointed about that –
but was mainly excited and pleased I’d actually submitted anything at all
rather than just ‘thinking’ about doing it!
Created and ran my first repurposed book/repurposed you online course which I really enjoyed. It was fabulous seeing those taking part interpret the content into their own style. And to see the progress they’ve made since completing
the course too. I’m running this course again – with a new name starting 11
January. They inspired me! Join up here
 |
| Pages from my own re-purposed book |
Interviewed Mr. Benn. Yep the children’s TV character. Whilst
creating some of the content for my course I realised that Mr Benn was actually
a perfect way to explain one of the themes. So after a quick google I discovered
he was on twitter. So I tweeted him and asked for an interview. Which he said
yes to!
The REAL live Mr. Benn is travelling around the world doing Mr. Benn type activities and is working for David McKee - Mr.Benns creator. If you want to read this interview – you’ll need to be signed up for my course! ;-0
The REAL live Mr. Benn is travelling around the world doing Mr. Benn type activities and is working for David McKee - Mr.Benns creator. If you want to read this interview – you’ll need to be signed up for my course! ;-0
Not feeling that my personal relationship with my partner is
always flourishing as I would like it to and sometimes feeling really unconnected. This makes me feel very sad and actually rather lonely at times. So there
is a real conflict going on between feeling amazing and being excited to
feeling flat and alone. Something I’m paying more attention to.
Got lost in the woods. After dropping off Henry for his MOT
I decided to walk back home through a wooded route (I could have just walked
down the road). I got lost and ended up hanging out with some sheep and
climbing over barber wire fences. Nothing like a bit of an adventure!
Went to the Celebrating Women in Textiles exhibition in
St.Ives Cornwall and met some women who’d worked with my mum. That was very
special. My mum died of cancer when I was 15, so meeting women who’d know her
as a young woman was truly special.
This
event had actually come about as a result of my Love What You Wear project –
which had sparked me wanting to know more about where my mum had worked before
getting married. This led me to the St. Ives archives who were inspired by my
queries and the event was then created by the archive along with support from
History 51.
A special Day. I wrote about that here
Saw Reg D Hunter live – hmmm didn’t really enjoy that. He
didn’t really seem himself.
Not always being kind to myself when feelings from previous situations resurfacing and cause me upset and pain.
Booked Burgh Island for my BIG birthday in 2014!!
After
working out I’d only spent £124 over the past year on clothes I thought – you know
what I’m totally going to book to go to Burgh Island. First time I’ve EVER
booked something so far in advance!! Wrote about that here
Have not been so good at valuing and always looking after myself – e.g a tendency for overeating and not taking enough exercise.
Saw Milton Jones Live – funny fellow
Met up with some peeps from the Great Escape Artists group.
Fabulous!
Whilst in Cornwall for the Celebrating Women in Textiles
exhibition I took the opportunity to visit Penlee House in Penzance to see the
Crysede silk collection.
Am currently looking to see if there is a link to an
Emily Woolcock who worked there in the 1930s. Wrote about that here
Went to Morocco!
I’ve wanted to go to Morocco for a long
time. We took the long way – travelling there by bus to London, train to Paris then to Madrid and Algercias, boat to Tangier – and yes
Camels were also involved. It was a brilliant trip and there was so much that
happened is hard to put it all into a few sentences. the ManinSeat61 was invaluable!
Turned 39 whist in Morocco. Went for a special Hamman at Palais Amani
where I
was bathed and massaged and scrubbed to with in an inch of my life. Felt GOOD
though. Then went for a superb dinner at Dar Romana. ahhhh lovely
Completed Love What You Wear project!
One whole year of not
buying any new clothes. Rather making, upcycling and buying from charity shops.
Ran workshop for Bath Carers Support Group all around
setting goals for 2014 – based on my online course I ran in October.
Went on my first Coaching Academy Diploma Accelerator day
all about DISC profiling. I’m an I type. ;-)
Spent a day at Clothes Show Live with Pretty Nostalgic
Magazine on their customisation station in aid of Cancer Research. Met Joelle –
one of the ladies who’d joined my LWYW project. ;-)
Made our Christmas Tree this year. Am rather pleased with it!
Have suffered BIG energy slumps. I put so much energy into everything
I do that I tend to end up having days when I have no energy at all and just
want to sleep. So that’s something I will be taking better care of in 2014
Christmas day was actually really Odd this year and I don’t really
know why something just felt out of sorts. ;-( Am wondering if its the time of year and well frankly have just run out of steam! Now is a good time to rest and rejuvenate.
Went to see a Tibetan Doctor for the first time. Was a fascinating visit and I've been given some nutritional advice (avoid pork and acid foods, drink plenty of hot water and eat locally grown/sourced food especially green vegetables) as well as breathing exercises and some herbs to take. Amchi Tetsan said I would feel Lighter as a result and clearer of mind. Which is just what I'm after.
I hadn't actually chosen a word for 2013 – but one word that
has cropped up quite a lot during the writing of this post is magical so I
think for me 2013 held some really magical moments.
Phew! That actually feels like a rather EPIC and also rather therapeutic post and am now happy to light a candle and let go of 2013. Hello 2014. I'm READY!
How about You?
How about You?
What do you want to celebrate about your 2013?
What has stood out for you as your magical moments?
And what things made your heart sing in 2013?
What do you want more of in 2014?
I have chosen a word for 2014. Exuberant.
And my colour for 2014 is: Gold
And my colour for 2014 is: Gold
There were a few words rolling around in my head – and it
was after reading a passage in the book Simple Abundance that word - Exuberant - jumped out at me. On further investigation this really summed up all the other
words I’d been thinking so that was it. Perfect.
So I’ve started a pinterest board for inspiration. Perhaps you might like to do the same?
Happy New year to YOU and here’s to an Exuberant and
Abundant 2014
Love Morwhenna
xxx
ps – last chance to join my course for £44 today – would love
to have you start 2014 with me. ;-)
