Giving Value...

As I write this, I am on my way to Mexico and back to my beloved, all being well... :)
Today I packed down and cleaned house again for the...Xth...time this year. As I mentioned recently, I’ve been house–sitting at my parents’ place in England these last couple of weeks and simultaneously clearing out masses of physical STUFF from my past :) FUN :) On Thursday night we had an amazingly lovely raw girlie giveaway potluck and I happily released a great deal of old belongings (as well as very happily becoming the proud owner of some sweet new clothes from some yummy raw si*stars*). Today felt really momentous to me as I stood in my parents’ attic looking at the little pile of ‘stuff’ that remains now, that is connected to me. All stacked together, it fills a space of perhaps 3 large cardboard boxes sat next to each other...I stood and looked at it for quite a while, feeling intrigued to see SO clearly the stuff that is related to me. I don’t imagine many people often see all their physical belongings packed so clearly into a space together – things are usually spread out all over the place in houses and so on – I just found it really interesting to look at this pile of stuff and know that this is now all there is. Or at least, those are the things that are staying there in the UK for now ;) With me on this journey now I have clothes, computer, books and some foods...and well, perhaps when next I find myself in the UK and look at those objects remaining in the attic, I’ll find the impulse to release even more of them – we’ll see ;) For now I’m very happy with the point things have come to and am happy to be moving on again with such clarity...and in the direction of the Monarch and coconuts ;) lol...YAY :)

on November the 27th I had:

1 quart water
little mug of rooibus tea
2 cups veggie juice: celery, spinach, kale, carrot, Jersusalam artichoke, ginger
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra, followed by goji/carob yumballs
3 cups water
2 cups veggie juice: celery, spinach, kale, carrot, Jersusalam artichoke, ginger
cup of ‘wild power’ tea
plate of raw potluck food: greeeen/sprout salad with dips, followed by chia/pomegranate pudding and chocolate treats – yummmm :)
cup of rooibus tea
3 cups water

OooOooooo, here’s a yummy little news nugget I saw recently in Brighton’s Wave magazine: the UK Environment Agency has created a help pack to encourage and help people in London to create green roofs on buildings. LOVE IT :) I first consciously encountered green/living roofs when I lived at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales. For anyone who isn’t familiar with them, it basically means creating a living, breathing, thriving, grassy community on your rooftop :) It’s a way of adding masses of extra greeeeeen space into communities, more space for bugs and other tiny people to live and commune, more places to lay in the grass in the sun, more insulation for buildings, more space for pretty flowers to grow and so on...yummy. For more info on creating such a space, visit the Environment Agency site here:
www.environment–agency.gov.uk/greenroofs
We would LOVE to see pictures of your thriving green roofs, if you have any to share ;)


on November the 28th I had:

1 quart water
little mug of rooibus tea
2 cups energy soup with crackers on the side, followed by a little leftover goji/pomegranate pudding
little mug of rooibus tea
1 quart water
1 quart veggie juice – celery, cucumber, kale, fennel, ginger, endive, carrot
2 fuyu persimmons
2 cups water

on November the 29th I had:

1 quart water
little mug of rooibus tea
1.5 quarts veggie juice: celery, cucumber, kale, fennel, ginger, endive, carrot
1 tsp wheatgrass powder
mug of rooibus tea
1.5 cups greeeen veggie juice
yummy raw meal at Manna in Brighton – raw ‘tortilla’ with salad & guacamole, followed by raw chocolate cake and ice cream – YUMM
3 cups water


OOoOooooo, did you hear the interview Kevin Gianni recently put up with Steve Pavlina? LOVE IT :) Awwwwww, two such kind, open–hearted, healthy, loving men sharing an hour’s discussion on self–development and finding/enjoying your life path – I thought it was very yummy...and SO insightful too. I just LOVE the way Steve’s logic seems to work, while at the same time his heart seems totally engaged. He is so SO clear – it’s like truth, simplicity and clarity seem to just effortlessly flow through him and out into the world... He has some outstanding info to share in this interview about offering VALUE to other people, while doing smthg that you love. I think that’s so beautiful...it’s not abt focusing on how to make MONEY from doing smthg you love – rather how to offer true VALUE to other people, then the money just flows, like any energy...I love that...you can listen to the interview on Kevin’s site HERE. THANKS, guys, for sharing this lovely info... Steve just finished a 30–Day Juice Feast too – WOW – go Steve :) He had a pretty intense journey with it, mostly emotionally – you can read his recent summary of that on his blog HERE.
ENJOY :)
All love,
Angela. xxx

With Gratitude

Mmmmmm, so...Thanksgiving tomorrow in the US...for those of you reading this who are celebrating this Holiday – ENJOY :) I hope you’re having a WONDERFUL time with loved ones, yummy delights and muchos gratitude flowing...
This seems to me like an ideal opportunity to share a few things I’m grateful for today...I’ll go for three things, as that’s the number I seem to most resonate with...
I’ll start with CLEARING :) As I mentioned recently, I’m in a major phase of physical clearing right now in my life – I currently have an enormous pile of accumulated stuff ready to give away – clothes, books, ornaments etc etc (including old coins from 30 different countries - hmmmm, what am I going to do with those...?)
I am SOOO excited to release all these things to whoever would love to receive them...and tomorrow night we’re actually going to have a girlie raw food potluck giveaway gathering, to give away/swap with each other whatever seems to want to flow onwards...and it’s a new moon in Sagittarius by the way tomorrow tooooooo – yummy time to connect with our si*stars* and release – I’m looking forward to it – and also to seeing the bare space on the floor that remains when all the stuff has moved on ;) FUN :)

on November the 25th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, parsley, endive, fennel, ginger, lime
1 outrageously enormous and delicious hachiya persimmon
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by goji/carob yumballs
little mug of rooibus tea
3 cups water
1.5 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, parsley, endive, fennel, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by goji/carob yumballs
little mug of rooibus tea
3 cups water

Lalaalalalalalaaaaaa...
I am REALLY grateful that I’m soon going to be back in the arms of Mr. M, all being well :)
I have a ticket to take me to Mexico this Sunday, where the Monarch and I plan to find a little place to enjoy for the winter, or at least until we hear anything more abt my visa for the US... ;)
I’m visualising sun, beach, hammocks, coconuts, cucumbers, avocadoes, pineapples and papaya, thank you... :) FUN :)
Hmmmm, now where did I put the part of my brain that can speak Spanish...??? ;)

on November the 26th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, parsley, endive, fennel, ginger, lime
15 spirulina ‘nuts’
1 persimmon and a chunk of gorgeous pineapple
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by goji/carob yumballs
little mug of rooibus tea
1 quart water
mug of rooibus tea

OOooOooOoo, I am VERY grateful for this video on Ted.com from school lunch chef Ann Cooper in California. WOW – this woman is AMAZING :) She is PASSSssSssSSsSssionate about feeding kids healthy food and she is making a HUGE impact on the way schools feed children in the Berkeley area. She makes food for over 7000 children a day, getting up at 4am to do so, all from scratch (with a team of course ;) She has brought in salad bars, ‘real cooking’, organic growing, composting, local food sourcing and so much more to the schools she works in...she has SO much info to share in this video – I’d really recommend it...it might not be an all–raw menu ;) – it is a MAJOR improvement though on what most kids seem to eat...
You can see the 20–minute video HERE.

ENJOY and happy waves of gratitude to all... :)
One love,
Angela. xxx


P.S. OOoo, by the way, I know some of you had issues with the link not working when you tried to sign up for a free account at PhilosophersNotes.com. Here is that link again:

http://philosophersnotes.com/rawreform

Hope that works dandy-ily for you now - mmmmm, another WONDERFUL free gift to give gratitude for... We are SO blessed... :)

On Philosophy and Freedom...

OOOooOOoooo LA LA...I have a VERY exciting opportunity for you yumsters today...
How about a FREE subscription to PhilosophersNotes.com? WOW, yummy...and not just for you – for ANYONE you’d care to share this with...now THAT’S a pretty generous offer :)
Brian Johnson, the creator of PhilosophersNotes.com has obviously donned the largest ‘philanthropist’ hat he could find and in his revelry, decided to GIVE AWAY at least 1,000,000 free subscriptions to PhilosophersNotes.com by the end of 2008. FUN :)
Personally, I’m very excited to see the impact this will have on the world, as I know for MYSELF that the PN.com download-able files have been SUCH a gift these last months in terms of inspiration and motivation.
If you’re not familiar with the site yet (I’ve mentioned it a few times before) – basically, Brian reads ‘self–development’ books and then makes ‘mini–CliffsNotes’ for them, to share on the site in both PDF format and as MP3s that you can download and listen to. Think titles like ‘The Power of Intention’, ‘A New Earth’ and ‘The Four–Hour Work Week’ – all those books that you might have been intending to read (plus others that might have slipped by you ;) and never QUITE got round to it... Now you can listen to a 20 minute summary, or read through a PDF file and get ALL the key ‘Big Ideas’ of that book quickly and directly (then maybe go and get the WHOLE book to enjoy afterwards, if you liked the sound of it ;)
I’ve been taking a lot of bus journeys recently and have got into the habit of downloading a few files from PN.com onto my iPod before I go out, then I listen to them on the way. I LOVE it :) My favourite piece of guidance that I picked up from the recordings recently was from the audio file on the book ‘The Other 90%’ (which I’d never heard of before). The idea was this: periodically, ask yourself if the point that you are at right NOW is nearer to your optimal vision for your life than the point you were at 30 minutes ago. In the last 30 minutes, what have you done to help yourself get nearer your ideal? (Or, what have you procrastinated? ;) I find this REALLY motivating. If I find myself drifting in my work day now, I just ask myself these Qs and it really helps ME feel more motivated to get back on with things ;)
SO, I would LOVE for you to enjoy a FREE subscription to this wonderful service too. You can CLICK HERE to sign up for free and get instant access to the Top 25 most popular notes. You can also send an invitation to ANYONE you like to enjoy it for free too – spread the love around :) TIP: Maybe try downloading just one or two files at first and see how you get on with them – don’t get overwhelmed by how many are on offer ;)

Click HERE to get your FREE Philosopher’s Notes account – it takes abt 30 seconds to sign up ;)
ENJOY :)

on November the 22nd I had:

1 quart water
little mug of rooibus tea
double shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by goji/carob yumballs
little mug of rooibus tea
3 cups water
2 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, endive, fennel, spinach, kale, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by goji/carob yumballs and a slice of the most AMAZING raw chocolate cake I’ve ever had ;O
3 cups water

So, quite a few of you have been writing in recently to ask “What are ‘spirulina nuts?’’, so I thought I’d explain here, so that everyone can see the answer at the same time ;)
The 'spirulina nuts' are simply tablets of pressed spirulina powder – you can see them on the RawReform Store HERE. They’re really crunchy and chewy – Mr. Monarch started calling them 'nuts' because that's what Dr. Fred Bisci calls them and...it kind of stuck ;) You can chew on them, just like nuts. To my taste buds, the spirulina ones are good - the CHLORELLA ‘nuts’, however are AMAZING - soooooooo tasty - and I'm not usually into chlorella at all...I used to find it 'disgusting' in fact, lol ;) I think I love them so much because they're so CRUNCHY – which is rare to find in raw foods. I love them – I could literally just sit and eat them from the bag like popcorn ;) You can see the 'chlorella nuts' HERE.
Hope that helps...


on November the 23rd I had:

1 quart water
little mug of rooibus tea
1 cup greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, endive, fennel, spinach, kale, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by goji/carob yumballs
little mug of rooibus tea
1 quart water
a delicious persimmon
2 cups green juice: celery, cucumber, endive, fennel, spinach, kale, ginger, lime
2 cups water


on November the 24th I had:

1 quart water
little mug of of rooibus tea
2 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, endive, fennel, spinach, kale, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by goji/carob yumballs
little mug of rooibus tea
1 quart water
1 cup greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, endive, fennel, spinach, kale, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by goji/carob yumballs
little mug of rooibus tea
3 cups water

Awwww, I felt really moved to share this set of raw food videos I found on Google Vids yesterday, featuring a young man called Andrew Michell. I found Andrew’s story of ‘recovery’ with raw foods to be as compelling as it is unusual.
Andrew was imprisoned in solitary confinement at the age of 16 in the US, for a trail of crimes he’d committed ranging from thefts to vandalism to burglaries to kidnappings. He was in solitary confinement for 2 YEARS and then continued to spend another 8 years after that in prison. What impressed me so much about Andrew’s story was that during all that time in prison, he did everything he could in the way of ‘self–development’, including fasting, courses, reading, praying etc. In fact, in these videos, he states that those 2 years in solitary confinement were the BEST 2 years of his life, as he learnt SO much.
When he got out of prison, understandably, he felt like a bit of an ‘alien’ in the ‘free world’, after having been inside for so long, during some of the most formative years of his life. He was unclear what to do next and even what to eat. He knew that when he FASTED (on water or juice) that he felt great...and he could see that if he ate the kinds of store–bought, ‘SAD’ foods he was raised on, he felt extremely ill. He didn’t yet know what the middle ground was. He would wander around in supermarkets feeling like everything in there was crazy (I can SOOO relate ;). In the end, after a lot of reading and research, he realised that he could eat raw plant foods. Now he's spreading his message of AMAZING recovery from his violent, criminal, painful, destructive past into a life of raw food, self–discovery and PASSION to share this message.
I found his presentation on Google Vids very endearing – he clearly has SO much genuine drive and desire to share this info. It seems he put a lot of love, energy and work into this. There are 3 parts and I guess it comes to around 49 minutes or so in length for the whole speech – maybe you could watch it while making some juice or smthg ;) Thank you, Andrew for sharing your story. I still have a LOT of enthusiasm for getting raw foods into prison systems and your story inspires me even more on that mission ;)
Check out Andrew’s videos here:

Part 1: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7355688049763149472&hl=en

Part 2: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6977856949224265303&hl=en

Part 3: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7136582618064145495&hl=en

All love,
Angela. xxx

Out with the Old, In with the New :)

If you’re on the main RawReform newsletter list, you’ll know already that there is a new RawReform Giveaway Contest underway - and it's all about creating the ULTIMATE Raw Food Kitchen :))) FUN :)))...here’s the info for it:

This month's RawReform Giveaway Contest is smthg I've actually been intending to put 'out there' for a very long time and...well, now feels like the time for it ;) I'm EXCITED to see the entries that come in for this...
The contest this time round involves designing YOUR 'ultimate' raw food kitchen space :))) Ideally we'd love to see drawings, if you're able to scan smthg and email it in; you could also DESCRIBE your ideal raw kitchen space, or I'm sure there must also be online programmes somewhere that let you design house spaces (oooo, HERE is one, for example)...however you're able to transmit your ideas to us, we're excited to see your input...
Please let your raw imaginations expand on this one ;) Most of us do NOT live in spaces that were designed with raw foodists in mind - so, forget tiny drying rack spaces and boarded over ovens - how would you create the ULTIMATE raw kitchen space, if you were starting with a blank canvas?
We very much look forward to seeing your ideas - please submit them to angela@rawreform.com before December the 20th.
The winner will be whichever design we feel resonates most as an 'ideal' raw food kitchen environment...and the prize will be either a $50 gift voucher for use towards any of the kitchen appliances in the RawReform Store OR a kitchen gift package of a spiral slicer, one of our amazing nut milk bags and a 'Raw Kitchen' permachart.
SO, get your pencils out and get scribbling, friends :)
FUN :)

(BTW – if you’re NOT on the main RawReform mailing list yet and would like to receive our (roughly monthly) newsletters, you can sign up HERE. :)


on November the 19th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups greeeeen juice: spinach, kale, Jerusalem artichoke, fennel, endive, celery, cucumber, ginger, lime
15 spirulina ‘nuts’
2 cups water
1 persimmon
2 cups energy soup with okra and flax crackers on the side, followed by a few yummy goji yumballs
little mug of rooibus tea
2 cups water
double shot of wheatgrass juice
a tasty apple
meal of flax crackers, tahini dip and veggie crudités with veggie-stuffed nori rolls, followed by a little raw chocolate spread on sweet flax crackers
3 cups water

Mmmmmmm, I'm going through a BIG stage of physical clearing right now. I find myself house-sitting alone in my parents' house in England. An opportune time indeed to lovingly cleanse out some of the antiquities of my youth ;) My parents moved to this house about 7 years ago, from the house where I'd grown up. I was living in Iceland at the time they moved and as I wasn't around, they simply packed up and brought ALL of my accumulated 'stuff' from that house to this. Eeeeeek ;) Now, I was quite a hoarder extraordinaire...even though my bedroom as a child was rather petite, it was PACKED to the max with stuff. Yesterday and today I have been delving into the process of working through all that stuff and releasing the majority of it.
It's so interesting to me to observe things now, as a 30-year-old, about the choices I made back then as a child/teenager. My book collection from back then, for example, is a peculiar mixture of girlie tales, murder stories, books on the 'paranormal'/after-life/ghosts, comedy books, pasta cookbooks, biographies of my 'heroes' (I doubt anyone could guess who is on that list - I'll give you one clue though - one of them was the English footballer 'Gazza' - LOL ;), travel guides, 'classics' like Jane Eyre and...Mills & Boon novels (??? what are they doing in there, I don't remember ever reading them - I guess I thought they were 'romantic' or smthg... ;)
As you might imagine, the vast majority of that book collection is on its way out of the door now ;) I do find it perturbing though to consider that this strange concoction was what I was 'feeding' my developing consciousness with back then...I'm not sure there was a single book I sorted through today that I would want to encourage any child/teenager to read... ;)
It was also very eye-opening (literally) to find a stack of postcards I used to have up on my bedroom walls - they were an equally bizarre collection of Salvador Dali landscapes, a child crying, pictures of old paintings - a battle scene with someone's head cut off, biblical scenes, people in stiff old clothes, looking rigid for portrait sittings and so on...very odd for me to think that those are the images I was feeding myself daily... ;)
Well, I am LOVING this process as it unfolds - so much to discover and release and enjoy...now, what to do with ALL my old childhood schoolwork - that's my next big question...


on November the 20th I had:

1 quart water
mug of rooibus tea
cup of greeeeen juice – celery, cucumber, cauliflower leaves, watercress, lettuces, lemon
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by some new goji yumballs, rolled in CAROB powder – YUMMMMMM :)
little cup of rooibus tea
1.5 quarts water (VERY thirsty today...)
2 cups green juice: celery, cucumber, lettuce, spinach, kale, Jerusalem artichoke, ginger, lime
2 cups green juice with apple: celery, cucumber, lettuce, apple
2 cups water


on November the 21st I had:

1 quart water
2 cups green juice: celery, cucumber, lettuce, spinach, kale, Jerusalem artichoke, ginger, lime
1.5 cups water
1 HUGE hachiya persimmon – DIVIIIIINE
1 cup water
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by some new goji yumballs, rolled in CAROB powder – YUMMMMMM :)
little cup of rooibus tea
1 quart water
1 cup green juice: celery, cucumber, lettuce, spinach, kale, Jerusalem artichoke, ginger, lime
1 pomegranate and 1/2 a mango
1 cup water

...and if you didn't see this in my newsletter too, there is also currently a new '15 for 15' Sale on at the RawReform Store right now...you can get 15 fun products for 15% off - here's the scoop:

I decided to pick 15 of our products that are either new and shiny OR that I feel would make great Holiday gifts - and we've put them all at 15% off for you... :)

Here's the list of what's on offer (in no particular order):

'Anastasia' book set
Lucuma powder
Dry skin brush
4-quart enema bag
Raw Foods for Busy People 2 - Green Magic
Sprouted cinnamon cereal
Macaforce vanilla spice
Hemp protein 50%
Luna nori crackers
Wild Power tea
Sproutein
Chia moon drops
Brazil nut protein powder
'Birth as we Know It' DVD
The Raw Revolution Diet book

I hope you stack up on any of those that sound yummy to you and ENJOY :)

CLICK HERE for the 15 FOR 15 Sale

MUAH,
All love and shiny cornerstones of joy to you...
Angelaalalaabababaabllalllaa. xxx

Happy Anniversaries :)

Tomorrow – November the 19th – this blog will be 2 years old :) I started writing on Nov 19th 2006, the night before I started my 92-day Juice Feast in Costa Rica. You can check out my first ever blog post HERE if you like ;) (To the right is a picture of me having my 'final supper' before feasting...wow, my hair is abt half the length there that it is now... ;) Happy Anniversary, dear blog :)
I was very unsure about blogging at first, yet soon fell in love with this medium of communicating – it feels like ‘writing an email to the world’ to me and in the last 2 years I’ve gone on to write around 400 posts...
Massive thanks and gratitude to all of you who have been along for the ride – for all the encouragement, comments, feedback, suggestions, support and LOVE :) It is all appreciated...

on November the 17th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups greeeeen juice: spinach, kale, endive, fennel, cucumber, celery, ginger, lime
2 cups water
1 persimmon
15 spirulina ‘nuts’
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra on the side, followed by goji YUMBALLS ;)
little cup of spicy tea
3 cups water
double shot of wheatgrass juice
bowl of grawnola from Shellbel with pumpkin seed milk – yummmmmmmm
2 cups water

Well, 2 years since my Juice Feast started, eh? Would I do it again? SURE...I’m always up for some more detox...lol...(well, I did used to be morbidly obese, remember... ;)
There actually seem to be rather a lot of people Juice Feasting at the moment from what I’m noticing – I keep getting emails about Feasting as well as meeting people in person with those tell-tale shiny eyes and skin ;) One current Juice Feaster is Steve Pavlina – he’s on day 25 as I write this – yay, Steve :)
He seems to be having a very ‘interesting’ time of it, as you can read if you head over to his wonderfully honest, insightful blog HERE.
It seems reading about Steve’s current juicy lifestyle has been pressing the buttons of some of his regular readers, who have been writing to him concerned about his health and encouraging him to stop feasting, labelling Juice Feasting as ‘fanatical’ – lol...beautiful ;) I LOVE the response Steve wrote up about this on his blog, which you can read HERE. The labelling of healthy things as ‘fanatical’ has long fascinated me – for example, someone who eats raw might be called a ‘health nut’, ‘health freak’ or ‘health food fanatic’ and yet I have never encountered someone who eats mostly from fast food restaurants being called a ‘fast food fanatic’ or a ‘trans-fat nut’... ;)
Here’s a little excerpt from Steve’s response that I love:

“I don’t take on challenges like a juice feast with the naive expectation that it’s going to be smooth sailing the whole way. What would be the reward in that? That would be like going to the gym and doing my workout on a machine set at level 1. I’d just be wasting my time.
The goals that interest me most are the ones that cause me to say to myself, “Wow… I’m really not sure if I’m cut out for this. This looks pretty damned tough. I’m going to have to push myself to a whole new level in order to make it to the end. I honestly don’t know if I’ll be able to pull this off.”
But then I think to myself, “What if I fail? No big deal. At least I’ll know where my limits are. But what if I succeed? How awesome would that be? I’d gain an incredible new reference experience for the rest of my life. I’d have an amazing experience to share with others. And what new challenges might I tackle beyond this one?” That’s the kind of thinking that excites me.”

I hope you treat yourself to reading the whole thing over HERE – there are some GREAT thoughts in there about challenges, goals, ‘fanatacism’, boundaries and more...ENJOY :)


on November the 18th I had:

1 quart water
little cup of spicy tea
triple shot of wheatgrass (eeeeeeeek ;)
2 cups of energy soup with okra and flax crackers on the side, followed by goji yumballs,
little cup of spicy tea
3 cups water
1.5 cups greeeen juice: spinach, kale, endive, fennel, cucumber, celery, Jerusalem artichoke, ginger, lime
2 cups of energy soup with flax crackers on the side, followed by goji yumballs,
little cup of spicy tea
2 cups water

Do you know what? Today is a very special day to me for another reason too. I hope he won’t mind me sharing this with you...I am feeling rosy right now, as it is precisely three years today since I sent the first email to Mr. M that sparked the flame that burst into the roaring fire of our relationship ;) lol... For those of you who don’t know the story of how we first connected, back on November the 18th, 2005, a certain Stokes sent an email to an American raw foodist called Matthew Monarch. The Stokes had her first e-book out and was curious if the Monarch would like to sell it in his big shiny American raw food online store ;) He did not want to. Hmmmm... HOWEVER, he did like the look of the aforementioned Stokes and after a number of emails back and forth, those flames were starting to spark up...when huge bouquets of roses began arriving at her door, along with dozens of balloons, it was clear to Stokes that she was getting more than she’d bargained for from sending out her little email ;) After 4 months the two met in person...and well, now here we are, 3 years later, unfortunately thousands of miles apart again and yet, together... The journey has not always been smooth, we are in this together though and feel very fortunate to have each other...I’m excited to see what the next 3 years bring :) Happy Anniversary, Mr. M ;)
What about you? Have you found a yummy soul-mate to play with? Looking for someone? Someone particular in mind...? If so, how might it feel to send that certain person an email today, to let them know you’re interested? If not, how about taking a visit to a yummy raw social site like GiveItToMeRaw and seeing who’s around? Or if you’re already in a relationship, what might you be able to do today to help that person know you love them, appreciate them and care for them?
MUAH :) ENJOY :)

We love you all,
Miss Stokes (and the Monarch) xxx

How much JOY can you handle...??? ;)

OoOoooOoohhhh, I have so many YUMMY things to share with you at the moment that I’m not sure where to start... ;) Ok, I’m going to dive over to Raw Fu first, to tell you about the AMAZING ‘Holiday Craft Fair’ that Bunny Berry has put together over there :)))) I LOVE Bunny – I think she is just SUCH a blessing in this community :) She has put together a list of all the members on Raw Fu who make crafts, handmade items and so on, into a ‘Holiday Fair’, so that we can all invest in lovingly made, raw-powered, creative, inspiring, unique gifts for our loved ones this season, if we choose to give gifts. :) I think this is just WONDERFUL :) Thank you so much, Bunny, for putting this list together. There are links to various gorgeous items made by raw foodies all over the world – jewellry, bags, clothes, books, knitted goodies, handmade skin care, ceramics, paintings, blankets, CDs and more...
You can see the beautiful craft list on the right-side of the page over at RawFu.com (I think you might need to sign up for the site first to get full access – not sure – in any case, registration is FREE and the community has just started a 40-day ‘Holiday Season’ raw food challenge, so maybe you’d like to join in...? ;)
ENJOY :)

on November the 14th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1 cup celery, carrot, endive, spinach juice
2 persimmons and 1.5 pomegranates
10 spirulina ‘nuts’
1.5 cups greeeeen juice with lemon
2 cups water
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers, followed by a few Monarch goji yumballs
little cup of rooibus tea
3 cups water
tsp of wheatgrass powder


Oooo, more excitement – I just saw a trailer today for the new documentary from the Dervaes family – remember them? The ‘Urban Homesteaders’ in Pasadena, California. I wrote a few months ago about their INCREDIBLE edible food garden on a suburban plot in Cali – you can see that write-up HERE if you like. Well, the exciting news is that they now have a FILM out about their simple way of life – called ‘Homegrown Revolution’ - which is being shown at film festivals all over the place, helping people to realise how easy it really can be to start growing your OWN food and feeling more on top of the safety of your food supply chain. You can see the 2-minute trailer for their film HERE on YouTube. I LOVE this quote in the trailer from the dad of the Dervaes family:

“...if you can grow food, it’s empowering.
In fact, I believe growing food is one of the most dangerous occupations on the face of this Earth, because you’re in danger of becoming free!”

The Dervaes family report that they grow 6000lbs of food a year on 1/10th of an acre of cultivated land...WOW...this is the future of raw foodism, folks – spade in hand – DIG FOR VICTORY ;)
Yeeeeeeeeeeeee-HAH :) THANK YOU, beautiful Dervaes family, for sharing your experiences – I hope to see this documentary soon...

on November the 15th I had:

1 quart water
big double shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups water
1 persimmon
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers, followed by the last few Monarch yumballs ;(
little cup of rooibus tea
3 cups water
½ cup carrot/beet juice
1 cup greeeen juice: kale, spinach, cabbage, endive, parsley, mixed sprouts, ginger, lime
little bowl of condensed yum: mixed together goji berries, lucuma powder, yacon powder, maca, carob, cinnamon, buckwheaties, water
3 cups water

on November the 16th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups greeeen juice: kale, spinach, cabbage, endive, parsley, mixed sprouts, ginger, lime
2 cups water
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra, followed by a little yumbowl of hazelnut butter mixed with lucuma powder, cinnamon, maca, carob powder, buckwheaties
little mug of ‘choco’ tea
2 cups water
2 cups greeeen juice: kale, spinach, endive, parsley, celery, cucumber, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers and okra, followed by a few of my FIRST batch of self-made yumballs since the departure of the Monarch (they were yummy – I used soaked gojis, almond butter, lucuma, cinnamon, buckwheaties, then rolled them in a mixture of hemp protein 50% and lucuma – yummmmmmm)
little mug of spicy tea
2 cups water

My goodness, can you TAKE much more excitement and yumminess today? Well, I hope so, because I’d love to share the link to a GORGEOUS little recent article from The Guardian newspaper in the UK about the ext-RAW-dinary exploits of 67-year-old Joan Pick of Croydon. It seems Joan has been eating raw for over 35 years...she hasn’t driven a car since 1973, runs everywhere that she wants to go and enjoys hula-hooping in her living room. She does not use heating in her house (I know where I’ll be referring people in the future who ask how to keep warm in the winter as raw foodists ;) and she only uses electricity to heat water for tea or light her room. Check out this picture of Joan from The Guardian article – she is GLOWING with radiant, delightful raw energy – what a WONDERFUL, inspiring life... :) You can read the whole story HERE. (Thanks to Sue too, for the nudge to read and share this article :)

All love, joy and passion,
Miss Angela Stokes. xxx

Diabetes, Discussions and Yumballs... ;)

OOoooo, greens at the ready, it’s World Diabetes Day today, Friday the 14th of November :)
To mark the occasion, over 700 monuments around the world are being lit up with blue lights, including the Empire State Building in NYC and the London Eye in England. Perhaps you’d like to join in the celebration by pinning blue lights on your roof...? Or perhaps a more exciting way to celebrate on this day is to invest in a copy of the life-changing raw food documentary on reversing diabetes naturally, called Simply Raw? Mmmm, I think I know which I’d choose... ;)
Ext-RAW-dinarily, there will be diabetes-related events kicking off ALL over the world on this day and yet information about how to naturally reverse this condition does not seem to be actively embraced or encouraged by the World Diabetes Day team. (In fact, the WDD website/organisation has gone so far as to remove any mentions of the Simply Raw film posted to its website by users...hmmmm...interesting policy methinks... ;)
SO, in honour of the multiplying multitudes of our brothers and sisters worldwide who are living with diabetes and simply not receiving the message that they can heal naturally, myself, the Monarch and over a dozen other raw food renegades have come together to create a super-package of giveaways, to support the ‘Simply Raw’ documentary team’s mission to spread the truth.
You can see the details of this giveaway HERE – there are STACKS of generous goodies to get your mittens on – e-books, discount packages, interviews etc - for anyone who orders a copy of the Simply Raw DVD before November the 21st. (There are truly some amazing gifts in there, including the whole of Mr. M’s “Raw Success” e-book, my ‘Revealing the Physical Changes’ e-book, a whole CD recording from Wolfie, 2 free e-books on raising raw children from Storm and Jinjee, a 50% off scholarship for courses at Brenda Cobb’s living foods centre and...a free toe-nail clipping for every customer, from Gabriel Cousens (I made the last one up – he’s actually offering a chapter from his latest book ;) ...and the DVD is only a $29.95 investment - wow, it’s like Christmas come early ;) You might consider hosting a showing of this film in YOUR area, or at a potluck, or sharing it with anyone you know who is (pre-)diabetic (I wonder how many people these days DON’T know someone who is diabetic...???)
If you’ve been reading here for a while, you might remember that I watched this documentary a couple of months back (after excitedly waiting around 3 years for it to be completed ;) – I LOVED it – you can see my write-up on it HERE. You can also see the trailer for the film HERE.

ENJOY :)

on November the 12th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1.5 cups green juice: celery, cucumber, fennel, endive, spinach, kale, cabbage, ginger, lime
1 persimmon
2 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by a few amazing little raw goji yumballs made by the Monarch
little cup of rooibus tea
2 cups water
1.5 cups yummy veggie juice: carrot/fennel/romaine
1 cup energy soup with okra on the side, followed by a little bowl of chia/pomegranate pudding
little cup of rooibus tea
2 cups water

Ho-hummmmmm...Mr. Monarch left for the US again today = me sad again... ;(
Yes, the US-visa-waiting saga continues...he’s going back to take care of some business, while I continue to breathe deeply here in the UK for now...hmmmmm...well, in the meantime, if you’d like to hear the Monarch’s musings on travel as a raw foodist, along with discussions about being 100% raw or not, overeating, dwindling bee populations and more, he and two of those ever-lovely goddesses of raw, Victoria Boutenko and Laura Fox, had a mighty chin-wag about all that on Wednesday night on Raw Inspirations Radio, that you can listen to HERE, if it would delight you to do so...(you might even notice a sneaky cameo from a certain Stokes too, if you listen carefully... ;)


on November the 13th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1 cup orange/pomegranate juice
1 persimmon
1.5 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, fennel, endive, spinach, kale, cabbage, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by some Monarch yumball concoctions
little mug of rooibus tea
2 cups water
1.5 cups veggie juice: celery, spinach, endive, carrot
little bowl of yummy kale salad with lime juice, avo, apple and nori strips (using up leftovers – worked GREAT :), followed by some Monarch yumballs
little cup of rooibus tea
2 cups water


Well, before he left, Mr. Monarch fortunately relayed the recipe to me for the current batches of low-glycemic ‘yumballs’, so that I can make them for myself now... ;) Each batch has been a little different so far – they all follow the same kind of pattern though and they’re YUMMMMMMY, so I’ll try to summarise in a way that will get you the taste, with space to play around with the exact ingredients you choose to include...
Ok, so, here are the important elements:

1 cup goji berries
water
2.5 tbsp nut butter
3-7 tbsp sweet raw powder (might be yacon powder, lucuma powder, or the most recent batch he made had the new 50% Hemp Protein Powder from Nutiva and is soooooooooooooooo good – this new HPP tastes like WEETABIX (for those of you in the UK) or WHEAT CHEX (for those in N. America - I think that's what Mr. M said the name was ;) – WOW)

Directions:
First you soak the gojis in water, for at least 3 hours or so, until soft. Do not use much water – barely cover the gojis in fact with water – it is ok if some on the top are hardly touching water. Once the gojis are softened, pour them with the soak water into a food processor with the S-blade in place. Add in 2.5 tbsp of whichever nut butter you desire (me like almond butter) and a big whack of whichever powder you’re using (at least 3 tbsp – use more if you used more water). Process that all together into a yummy smooth consistency. If it looks very loose, keep adding in more powder until it stiffens up more. In a little bowl, sprinkle some more powder. Take little balls of the goji mixture in your hands and roll them in the powder in the bowl, before placing them in a 'Tupperware box' for storage in the fridge. Mr. M thinks they have the consistency of marshmallows ;) They are VERRRRY yummy – soaking the gojis seems to make a huge difference.
Other variations we’ve tried out include adding a little stevia powder and cinnamon to the mix, to make it sweeter, sprouted/dehydrated buckwheaties to add more crunch or maca to the powder that goes on the outside of the balls, for some extra OOOMPH ;) ENJOY :)

We love you,
Angelalalaalaaaaaaaaa. xxx

Giving Thanks...

Mmmmmm, seems like Thanksgiving is coming up soon in the US then...I’ve been getting notification of various yummy things in relation to this celebration, which you might enjoy...here are a few to contemplate:

*Heidi and Justin at RawFoodRightNow have a very popular raw Thanksgiving recipe e-book to share, which they’ve had on the market for a couple of years now – see HERE. (They actually also have a Christmas raw recipe book AND an Easter e-book too and say there are many more to come – WOW – they’re very productive those Ohlanders, aren’t they? ;)


*Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo also has some marvellous Holiday-time products to share – see HERE for her ‘Thanksgiving Feast’ raw recipe book, along with her wonderfully-titled ‘Indulge without the Bulge’ DVD, which has demos of some of the recipes and tips for thriving in the Holiday season as a healthy, happy raw foodie ;) ENJOY :)


*OoOOooo, FUN – the next round of the RawFu challenge kicks off very soon – on November the 15th to be exact, this Saturday. This coming session is a ‘Holiday mini-challenge’, following the recent 100-day raw food challenge hosted there by the uberlicious Bunny Berry. This Holiday Challenge will run from Nov. 15th to December the 24th. Registration is free, everyone is welcome and there will be masses of yummy mutual support, fun little contests, daily inspirations and so on along the way – read more HERE.



on November the 9th I had:

1.5 quarts water
2 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, fennel, endive, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by some outrageously yummy new Monarch yumball creations (containing soaked goji berries, almond butter, cinnamon, yacon powder and maca)
little mug of rooibus tea
1 persimmon
2 cups water
2 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by some outrageously yummy new Monarch yumball creations (containing soaked goji berries, almond butter, cinnamon, yacon powder and maca)
little mug of rooibus tea
2 cups water

Meanwhile, for those of you in the UK, here’s some yummy raw news for YOU to chew on too ;)
Jennifer is still looking for someone to join the team at the GORGEOUS Mistletoe Meadows estate, to help out with raw food prep and weekly massages in return for staying in the beautiful buildings there. (We actually visited the estate last week and WOW – what an incredible space. Parts of the main house date from the 1600s, there’s 8 acres of organic land to play on, a swimming pool, a trampoline, huuuuuuge studio spaces for yoga classes, meditation and so on, massive cozy fireplaces, musical instruments, a fully-equipped raw food kitchen and more...an AMAZING opportunity for someone out there...;) If you think you might be interested, you can contact Jennifer on: dragonfly229 (at) hotmail.com (replace ‘at’ with the @ symbol), being sure to write ‘Community Retreat Project’ in the subject title, please.

If you’re inclined a little more towards the north of England, dearest musical fairy pixie Cathie would also like to declare that she has a room available for rent from January 2009 in a raw/veggie house in Manchester. She can be contacted at cathiepixie (at) lycos.com (replace ‘at’ with the @ symbol) – you can also listen to her BEAUTIFUL music on her MySpace page HERE if you like :) (the first song on her profile - ‘Astonishing Light’ - is one of my favourite songs – soooooo sweetly beautiful...)

on November the 10th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1.5 cups watermelon/orange/pomegranate juice
1 persimmon
double shot of wheatgrass juice
2 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by Monarch yumball creations (see above)
little cup of rooibus tea
2 cups water
2 cups greeeen juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, parsley, Jerusalem artichokes, ginger, lime
2 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by Monarch yumball creations (see above)
little cup of rooibus tea
2 cups water


on November the 11th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1 persimmon
double shot of wheatgrass juice with a little carrot juice
2 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by Monarch yumball creations (see above)
little cup of rooibus tea
2 cups water
a DELICIOUS little raw chocolate brownie (eeek ;)
1 cup grrrrrrreeeeen juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, parsley, Jerusalem artichokes, ginger, lime
1.5 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by Monarch yumball creations (see above)
little cup of rooibus tea
2 cups water

Coming back to Thanksgiving again, here is a YUMMY-sounding raw Pecan pie recipe that was lovingly sent out for sharing by those yumsters at the Blossoming Lotus café on Kauai (who produced the new ‘Complete Idiots Guide to Raw Food’)
This pie sounds GORGEOUS – enjoy :)

Pecan Pie
If you're a fan of pecan pie, this recipe is bound to satisfy as it bears a striking similarity to the flavor you love without all the refined ingredients.

Yield: 1 (8-in.) pie
Prep Time: 20 minutes

3 1/2 cups pecans
3 1/2 cups pitted dates
1/2 cup raisins, soaked
2 cups filtered water
1/4 cup date/raisin soak water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup agave nectar

1. Place 3 cups pecans and 1 1/2 cups dates in a food processor fitted with an S-shaped blade. Blend on high speed for 30 to 40 seconds or until mixture sticks together and runs up the sides without falling into the center. You may need to add more dates.
2. Press crust into a pie pan, making a layer around the bottom and sides at least 1/4-inch thick. (No need to oil the pan.)
3. Place 1 cup dates and raisins in a small bowl with filtered water. Allow to soak for at least 20 minutes.
4. Place remaining 1 cup dates, soaked dates, raisins, 1/4 cup soak water, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and agave nectar in a blender and blend on high speed until a thick, relatively smooth mixture forms.
5. Pour mixture into the piecrust and layer the top with remaining 1/2 cup pecans. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You want pie chilled so it keeps its form when sliced.

All love, juiciness, caterpillar dreams and metamorphic, holographic, expanding trails of gorgeous expansion to ye…
Angelalalalalalaaaaaaa. xxx

Compulsion

MMmMMmMmmm, well, remarkably, the final stages of editing ‘Raw Emotions’ for print are underway ;) Printing a book is such a looooooooooong process...I am still armpit-deep in comma-straightening, page re-shuffling and so on at present – it’s going to be SO wonderful when it’s ready to share in the PHYSICAL...in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy to read a little excerpt from it today, about compulsion – the following is a personal anecdote about my relationship with food prior to working on my emotional connection with it – ENJOY ;)

---------

The Absurd Dance of Compulsion
Before I started to work on my emotional transformation, my compulsive behaviour with food was quite remarkable. For example, before Christmas in Iceland (where I used to live), stores usually put out cookies, cakes and candy for customers to enjoy. I would find myself cycling all over the city, from store to store, just to eat the treats on offer. I didn’t actually need anything in the stores, yet in the midst of a cold Icelandic winter, I was willing to bicycle through ice and snow for hours just to eat ‘treats’. Similarly, I used to love going to the bank in Iceland, as they give free hot chocolate. Whenever my partner at the time would say he was going to the bank, I’d excitedly ask, ‘Can I come?’, to his bemusement. I was in the grip of compulsion and food was my focus.
My compulsive behaviour with food probably reached its peak of insanity when I began working in a mainstream café where the staff were permitted to eat whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted…an overeater’s paradise and worst nightmare, rolled into one. Every day I worked there, I ate much more than I physically needed to, time and time again finding myself eating things that caused me physical pain and emotional turmoil. Bread, ice cream, cakes, chips…
For weeks at a time I’d battle my compulsion to overeat, stuffing lump after lump of cake into my mouth. At times, my willpower to stop would win over and I’d be able to halt the madness for some days or even weeks. Overall, however, I was really out of balance. Looking back, I can see how I treated my body like a waste disposal system. I had no sense of honouring my self or making healthy choices about what I consumed. I couldn’t bear to see food ‘go to waste’, so on top of my own multiple meals, I would gobble down leftovers from customers’ plates. It seems insane now, but that was my reality then.
I was actually very ill with a candida overgrowth at that point and ironically, though I’d taken myself off all fruit ‘for health reasons’, I was simultaneously filling myself compulsively with toxic refined sugars. Such is the absurd ‘logic’ of compulsion. I felt very ashamed, hiding my binges from co-workers and it took me a long time to find the courage to even tell my partner about what I was doing.

----------------

If you’d love to read more, ‘Raw Emotions’ can already be purchased in e-book format HERE (printed copy sooooooon, all being well ;)

on November the 7th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1 quart veggie juice: celery, cucumber, Jerusalem artichoke, endive, fennel, spinach, kale, carrot, ginger
2 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by a little hand-blended yumpot of hazelnut butter with lucuma powder, buckwheaties, maca powder and carob powder
3 cups water
2 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, Jerusalem artichoke, endive, fennel, spinach, kale, carrot, ginger
2 GORGEOUS persimmons
bowl of chia/pomegranate pudding, soaked in cinnamon/almond milk – YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM :)
2 cups water

Mr Monarch has a novel request. He’s interested to know if there’s anyone out there who would be interested to drive his car some day in the coming week from Brighton, Michigan to Chicago, IL, where he will meet up with them. He could then drive the helper back to MI if desired, or onwards to California, or anywhere along the way...if this sounds like an opportunity that YOU would be excited to explore, please feel free to email us at angela@rawreform.com and we’ll get you set up with details...THANKS :)

on November the 8th I had:

1.5 quarts water
shot of wheatgrass juice
bowl of Shellbel’s grawnola with almond/pumpkin seed milk
mug of rooibus tea
3 cups water
1.5 cups greeeeeeen veggie juice: celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, fennel, endive, ginger, lime
3 little new “yumballs” made by the Monarch using soaked goji berries, yacon powder, stevia, maca and brazil nut butter – YUM
2 cups water

I LOVE this hilarious YouTube video sent to us recently via our friend John Roulac of Nutiva. It’s a tongue-in-cheek song called ‘The Man from Marin’ sung by ‘Vir McCoy’ and his two charming chorus girls...lots of raw food references...very amusing methinks ;) So animated, great energy flowing – thanks for sharing, guys :) Check it out at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQUUFg6p0aE


ENJOY,
All love, bright blessings and deeeeeep breaths into the depths...
Angela. xxx

Flowing Realities...

WOW – today I finally got around to watching the Jill Bolte-Taylor video on Ted.com, about the left and right hemispheres of the brain – have you seen it? AMAZING...Mr. M told me about this video many many months ago and it somehow evaded me until now...in this speech, brain researcher Jill explains how she had the extraordinary experience of personally living through a stroke, analysing the situation as her brain and body slowly shut down. Her eloquent and PASSIONATE tale of the differences she perceived as her brain function slowly teetered between the left and right hemispheres and then out into the great abyss is just AMAZING...wonderful story-telling...(and it all actually reminds me clearly of an out-of-body experience I once had after doing a wheatgrass implant - lol ;) You can watch Jill's speech for free (along with HUNDREDS of other amazing, inspiring videos) on Ted.com HERE – enjoy :)
(Thank you Mr. Monarch for the link :)


on November the 4th I had:

2 quarts water
1.5 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, cabbage, carrot, ginger
2 cups energy soup with okra and flax crackers, followed by goji berry powder
little cup of rooibus tea
3 cups water
1.5 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, cabbage, carrot, ginger
1.5 cups energy soup with okra and flax crackers on the side, followed by a yumball of new sweet gloop made by Mr. M – containing papaya, chia flour, lucuma powder, coconut flakes
3 cups water

Oooohhhhh, I love Iceland...did I ever mention that before??? ;)
Hmmmm, so dear Iceland seems to be in a VERY interesting stage of transition right now, after some pretty dramatic recent financial rumblings up there...I’m getting some incredible emails from friends there about how the whole nature and structure of life in Iceland seems to be shifting now – one friend mentioned that there are a lot of public meetings with people gathering to work out what they want to do next, now that the old system seems to be crunched into rubble...WOW...intense times – many people have seen all their savings wiped out, there seems to be huge upheaval and at the same time, so many possibilities... I am VERY excited to see what comes out of these discussions and how they move forward...my friend mentioned that next time I see the place, I will very likely see a VERY different country than the one I have known...I don’t really know what that will mean...I am curious to see though...and I will choose to visualise it involving greenhouses, lots of leafy greens and smiling faces ;)
One of the things I appreciate the most about Iceland is that because the population is so petite (around 300,000 people), things can move through the collective conscious so much more swiftly than in other places (if wanted). I sense that the Icelanders have an incredible opportunity to rise like a phoenix now...and I’m glad to see that at least some are maintaining a sense of humour through this experience: one photographer, Thorkell Thorkelsson decided to highlight the absurdity of the anti-terrorism legislation that was recently used by the British government against Iceland, by putting together a photo exhibition called ‘Icelandic Terrorists’. For this series of photos, Thorkell invited all Icelanders to come along to a photo session, bringing their ‘weapon’ of choice – lol – people turned up with varying objects, from snowballs to pens to pacifiers ;) You can read about that exhibition on the wonderful 'Iceland Review' site HERE and HERE is a recent, very thorough write-up from The Guardian on the current situation in Iceland.
Mmmm, sending love, light and healing to our friends and loved ones in the North...


on November the 5th I had:

1 quart water
1.5 cups watermelon/orange juice
2 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, cabbage, carrot, ginger
plate of delicious salads – greens, raw waldorf salad, coleslaw mix, red cabbage soup with flax crackers, followed by some little sweet yumballs
2 cups herbal teas
2 cups water
1.5 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, cabbage, carrot, ginger
1.5 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by more sweet yumballs (lucuma, chia flour, goji berries, maca powder, etc)
3 cups water


on November the 6th I had:

1.5 quarts water
1 gorgeous persimmon
2 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, kale, carrot, endive, fennel
2 cups energy soup with okra on the side, followed by a little yumpot of hazelnut butter mixed with lucuma powder, maca powder, carob powder and water
little cup of rooibus tea
3 cups water
1.5 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, kale, carrot, endive, fennel
bowl of Shellbel yummy grawnola
little cup of rooibus tea
2 cups water


I’ve been noticing a lot recently about the amount of water I use in the mornings...it seems like a very H20 intense time of day to me – does anyone else notice that? Here are some of the water-based activities I usually perform daily, immediately upon waking:

*flushing the toilet
*drinking water (at least a quart/litre usually)
*boiling the kettle (usually has at least 2 cups of water in it)
*filling a neti pot to rinse out my nose (with around 1 cup salt water – part cold, part hot)
*rinsing off sprouts (usually around 2 cups of water to get round them all)
*making a cup of herbal tea

Add to that during the course of a day showering, washing dishes, washing hands, drinking at least another 2 quarts of water, adding water to energy soup, more toilet flushes, rinsing sprouts again and possibly washing clothes/watering plants etc too and that all adds up to quite a watery footprint, methinks ;) We are SO reliant on water and yet so much of it worldwide seems insanely polluted...I am so excited to settle on a piece of land where we can have an abundant, clean source of water to enjoy...mmmm, holding that vision ;)
Incidentally, I recently came across some of the notes I made whilst living at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales a few years back...there were some interesting watery facts in there, such as that back then (2004), the average UK household used around 150 litres (about 40 gallons) of water a day and the average US household used around 400 litres (approx. 105 gallons) a day, whereas the average African household used around 10 litres a day (approx. 2.5 gallons) - :O wow... I wonder if those stats have shifted much in the last 4 years...
Here are three user-friendly sites with some great ideas around water conservation, for anyone who’d love to curb their current contribution to intense water-cleaning processes...:

*Fema – US Govt site with a good list of general tips.

*Planet Green - watery tips from a big online eco-friendly source.

*Water, Use It Wisely - US site that offers 100 different tips, depending on location.


ENJOY :)
With a watery wink and a shiny shimmy,
Angelaalalalaaaaaaaa. xxx