Bess Does Many Things

Some of the very few photos from the first two autumn meet ups of Q***r Nature Family Club. It's been lush. Exploring the site, sharing some seasonal firefood and crafty joys.

My friend Em approached me to support these Sunday afternoon informal sessions, hoping for a space that gives some consistent community and enables relationships to develop, and it feels like this is happening for all the ages, young people and adults, who are coming.

We'll hope to continue through the year, after our November session, in sets of three sessions - email [email protected] for dates and details!

Shana tova 🍏 🍯 🌑

It's been a year!

This year the idea of accountability as love resonated with me, as one of the many forms of care that can weave us into closer community and relationship. Supporting ourselves and each other to be accountable to our best selves, to those we are in relationship with in all forms, and to our belief that we can impact the world transformatively, not only maintain and reproduce it in all its grotesque failings.

I believe this can be done celebrating interdependence, centring permission, creating space for flourishing and avoiding individualistic disciplines of self improvement. I hope.

We also leant heavily into rest, and puns about how the head of garlic will give us teeth to bite into patriarchy and gnaw away at oppressive structures. Thanks .cini! 💚

I'm excited to be going into a second year based at The Garden! It's a beautiful space, and it's also a resource for other groups outside the Tues-Thurs learning community seasons... we're setting up this group for those who don't like receiving news through fb to keep in touch:

Friends of The Garden WhatsApp Group Invite

Q***r Nature Family Club Autumn dates:

:25 September - Sunday 2-4pm (previously planned for the 18th - please update!)
16 October -Sunday 2-4pm
20 November - Sunday 2-4pm

Would you like to spend regular time outdoors in a space that is centred on q***rs, welcoming all ages (focused on young people aged 2-10) with a gentle structure, and some supported nature-based activities?

Contact me on [email protected] for more details about the Q***r Nature Family Club that Em and I have got plans for - our one-off July session was a delight, and we're looking forward to the autumn. Blackberries, fire cooked snacks, autumn leaves, games, chats, and whatever we dream up with the people who come!

Although I've made this page specifically to be able to reach out to people beyond my personal friends with events etc, I've shared a update about a bereavement on my public instagram account, which I'll share here too:

Cn su***de.

I might have made this image as a birthday gift for my friend Sovereign. They liked the photo I took of them in this huge forked oak in 2020, and the four elements in the corners represent a song that we first sung together last autumn, outside a cave on my birthday walk.

Instead, I made this screen print to honour them, and offer as a gift to others in the community of grief. An image to remember them at ease in their body, and peaceful in their mind.

Grieving Sovereign, along with other losses which have touched my community, has been a current alongside all the things which have been OK, even flourishing, in my life these last months.

As well as the loss of a friend, there's a grief for how hard it is, under our contemporary capitalism, to live with true humanity, that is to be open to all that touches you, and also to exist in an economic niche. Being a professional therapist was for Sovereign as being a teacher in mainstream education for me. Potentially possible, but full of contradictions that are painful to live with. Something that could benefit from our skills, values and dedication, but isn't an easy path.

It's brought up this grief, the last weeks, to celebrate having paid work which is easeful, purposeful and supports my mental wellbeing.

I want to avenge Sovereign through supporting and caring for my loved ones who strive to live their values fully in the face of a world that isn't set up for this, and to struggle to make more space for life and freedom by all means and tactics available.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgG7ZC9Mirr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Sovereign Jones, 7 June 1988 - 28 April 2022. Cn su***de. I might have made this image as a birthday gift for my friend Sovereign. They liked the photo I took of them in this huge forked oak in 2020, and the four elements in the corners represent a song that we first sung together last autumn, outside a cave on my birthday walk. Instead, I made this screen print to honour them, and offer as a gift to others in the community of grief. An image to remember them at ease in their body, and peaceful in their mind. Grieving Sovereign, along with other losses which have touched my community, has been a current alongside all the things which have been OK, even flourishing, in my life these last months. As well as the loss of a friend, there's a grief for how hard it is, under our contemporary capitalism, to live with true humanity, that is to be open to all that touches you, and also to exist in an economic niche. Being a professional therapist was for Sovereign as being a teacher in mainstream education for me. Potentially possible, but full of contradictions that are painful to live with. Something that could benefit from our skills, values and dedication, but isn't an easy path. It's brought up this grief, the last weeks, to celebrate having paid work which is easeful, purposeful and supports my mental wellbeing. I want to avenge Sovereign through supporting and caring for my loved ones who strive to live their values fully in the face of a world that isn't set up for this, and to struggle to make more space for life and freedom by all means and tactics available.

Well, last Sunday's first Q***r Family Nature Club was lovely! We slowed down for the heat, settled into the space and explored the shade, had a later opening circle than we might have done as everyone was just enjoying getting on with greeting each other, played with cork boats in the river, and roasted some fruit skewers with sweet chilli miso & sesame drizzle for those that fancied, while others just kept the fruit raw and dipped it in cinnamon sugar.

Did not take any photos myself - so here's a robin from a different day. Please contact on [email protected] if you want to hear full details for the autumn - will be sending dates & info around on Monday. 🌳🌿🔥🌈💚

NATURE CLUB FOR Q***R FAMILIES
so excited to share this collaboration with Williams, q***r solo-by-choice parent and all round wonder.

* What is this?
A monthly get together in nature for q***r families (and friends - q***r aunts, uncles, axles, odd-parents, guide-parents and other adults are all welcome to bring the children in their life along!)
Activities will be oriented towards children from 2 - 10yrs old, with something for the adults as well. Older and younger children also welcome.
Adult parents/carers must remain present and responsible for their children at all times.

Our facilitator, Bess, loves sharing their passion and knowledge of nature with folks of all ages. They're a forest school leader, work in a consent-based learning community, also lead adult nature connection sessions and they're into community care. They will structure the sessions to offer some games and activities that build our connection to the place, such as foraging, bushcraft, and sensory connection with the more than human. There will also be plenty of space for children's play and emergent ideas to flourish! We'll end with a circle, sometimes around a fire, sharing a wild tea/infusion drink and/or snack.

* Why Q***r families?
We use q***r as an inclusive term for LGBTQIA+ folks. It’s easy to find q***r events for adults, but child-inclusive q***r spaces are few. We hope this will be a place for q***r adults who look after children to be in community together - among other adults raising children in non-gender/hetero-normative contexts.
* Payment:
Sliding scale
£5/ £10/ £15 for one young person & one adult.
Please pay an additional £2/£5 for each additional person:child or adult.
We want this to be financially accessible for folks with low incomes, particularly single parents. We also want to pay our facilitator, Bess, a living wage for their time and cover resources. Charging a flat rate would mean some people are choosing between paying for this and paying for other basic expenses, while others experience this as a 'bargain' activity. We don't think this is the fairest way - which is why we’ve chosen a sliding scale trust economy.
Please pay what you can afford:
-if you struggle to afford monthly living expenses pay at the lowest level - and know that you wouldn’t be turned away for lack of funds if it’s more than you can afford one month.
- if you typically pay for a range of educational/entertainment activities, buying treats when you're out pay on the middle level, which covers your share of costs,
- if you can do so comfortably (e.g you may own your home, you may drive a vehicle without worrying about fuel costs, you access activities without worrying about expense), pay at the higher level - which subsidises the sliding scale.
* When?
Trial session - Sunday July 10, 2-4pm
Theme: Meet each other, meet the place & its plants and creatures.
This session will be a chance to shape the format of future groups!
Sessions will then run as a termly block (3 sessions) from September, payable in advance on the third Sunday of each month, 2-4pm.
* Where?
Oldbury Court Park, BS16 (exact location will be sent upon receipt of payment).
* How do I secure a place?
Please email Bess at [email protected] expressing your interest and state the names, pronouns and ages of all in your group.
Please provide a brief description of any additional needs that your children may have that might impact on their ability to engage in sessions.
You will be instructed as to how to pay upon receipt.
We look forward to meeting you.
Bess (facilitator) and Em (organiser)

SPACES still available -- do you want some time to appreciate the woods firmly booked into your September?? Discount code ACCESSTONATURE available - enter it at checkout if it would enable you to attend!
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This end of summer, still warm time, is a fungal fest. I've been up in Scotland, where there's enough dampness that the woods are alive with these emergent forms. Down here we'll see more after a decent dose of rain! Discovering fungi emerging brings me into humble curiosity - my familiar species are expanding at the moment, and coming back into a learning curve shows me how much more I want to understand... This was a tasty slimy Larch Bolete which is suillus species, not a true bolete! A few days later I saw one of these before looking up to see its larch symbiotic tree in the beech woods...

I listened to this podcast episode with Dr Denise Mittens driving back down south, and it was another affirmation on the need for relationship with nature - her comparisons between human relationship needing curiosity rather than complacency to thrive resonated strongly!
It brought me thinking about how in these sessions I am using both structures and spaciousness to lead us as adults into noticing, curiosity, exploring and to connection with the woods, and how this can take us out of patterns of experiencing the woods as background towards a more live experience of them as more than human community...
Do have a listen if you want some inspiration!
https://thewildernessandwellnesspodcast.buzzsprout.com/...

Elderberries are colouring up already, and we've not got those June late sunny evenings anymore... these sessions will keep you enjoying the woodland at the time when it can be easy to turn yo the indoors and miss summer!

Please email [email protected] to request a discount code!

Autumn Twilight Woodland Immersion Join us in the autumnal twilight to gain a fresh peaceful appreciation of woodland!

After finishing term, I've had a couple of weeks of summery on/off work with holiday clubs, some co-vid contact self isolations, a whole lot of foraging, and some time to hang out and doodle on fungi.

And, exciting news, that I'm going to be part of the team at The Garden, a self-directed education community, from September!

I'm just getting into gear to choose what to commit to in the autumn alongside it, and I'd love to run another set of nature connection sessions... on Thursday evenings, at a time that will be increasingly dusky twilight. Thinking a season ahead doesn't come naturally to me, but I'll have to get the word out sharpish...

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSSCfrZjR5j/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Conk* monster! With a beautiful snippet of background singing. Drawing in situ, the lines will fade as the fungus continues to grow and renew itself over a few days to weeks, depending on the growth stage. Magic. *Artist's Conk/ Artist's Bracket, Ganoderma applanatum #fungus #art #naturesketch

When the New Economics Foundation published '21 hours' in 2010, myself and a few pals really focussed in on the power of this simple proposal, as something which is both realistic and ambitious, and carries transformative potential.

What would our society look like if we were all more time rich? What would we do with our increased capacity for lifelong learning, creativity, caring, organising beyond our waged hours?

This past year, so many of us have had capitalist work routines disrupted, and been able to redirect energy for mutual aid, for creative projects, for personal survival, for political engagement. There has been entrenchment of inequality, and the suffering has affected our communities unevenly, hitting the isolated, the vulnerable, the precarious, hardest. But it's times of learning and possibility.

https://neweconomics.org/2014/07/10-reasons-for-a-shorter-working-week

Four-day week 'an overwhelming success' in Iceland The majority of workers in Iceland now look set to move to shorter hours for the same pay.