Women's Hour

Share on social media:

Originally broadcast on: http://radiosoapbox.com Radio Soapbox

Women's Hour broadcasts live every Sunday at 7:00p.m. uk time. 

Shelley Tasker is hostess of this second episode of woman's hour.


Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of Women's Hour on radiosoapbox.com. This week, we had the pleasure of speaking with two extraordinary women who shared their incredible life stories and insights.

Our first guest, Dee Cope, shared her fascinating journey of living between England and the USA, her experiences with wildfires in Northern California, and her deep belief in naturopathic medicine. Dee's story of survival, resilience, and her alternative approach to her husband's cancer treatment was both riveting and inspiring. She also touched on the importance of gut health and the benefits of natural supplements and a healthy lifestyle.

In the second half of the show, we were joined by Emma, also known as Lowen Moon, who shared her journey of recovery from a severe breakdown and how she found solace in writing and foraging. Emma spoke about her late neighbour, Ray, who taught her about the healing power of plants and the importance of natural remedies. She also read some of her powerful poetry, reflecting her anger and hope.

This episode is a testament to the strength and resilience of women and the incredible journeys they undertake. Tune in to hear these inspiring stories and learn about the power of natural healing and the importance of gut health.

[00:00:02] Unknown:

Right. Where's the music?   Right. I'll just bear with me. I'll speak to you in a second, my lovely. Okay?  

[00:00:08] Unknown:

Okay.   Here we go.  

[00:01:09] Unknown:

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Women's   hour coming out of radiosoapbox.com.   It's good to have you come for me. Today's date is Sunday 23rd June 2024.   I hope you've had a awesome week,   and I'm glad to be back here for the 2nd week. And, again, I've got 2 awesome women   that I've met in my journeys.   My first guest, this is this is one of those random moments when you meet people.   You just, I think she was talking about hooping cough, and I buttered in and started talking about hooping cough.   We just had an amazing conversation, and within 10 minutes, I was was like, I need to talk to you. You're extraordinary, and you're so interesting.  

Anyway, without further ado, I'd like to welcome Dee Cope to the show. Good evening, Dee.  

[00:01:57] Unknown:

Hello, Shelley.  

[00:01:59] Unknown:

How are you doing?  

[00:02:00] Unknown:

I'm fine,  

[00:02:02] Unknown:

and, looking forward to a chat. Good. Yeah. You're not feeling too nervous?  

[00:02:06] Unknown:

Well, I am, but hey ho.  

[00:02:09] Unknown:

Hey ho. They can't see your face, and they they don't know who you are, so don't worry. We'll just have a little chat like we did on the road that day.   Mhmm.   Yeah.   So moving along, give us a little bit background information about your life.  

[00:02:25] Unknown:

Well,   I   I have a foot in 2 countries because I was born in England,   to an American father and a British mother,   both of whom served in World War II. And then when I was a year old, I went to live in Pennsylvania   with my parents. So I grew up in Pennsylvania   and went to school there. But then when my parents divorced, I came back to live in London   for 32 years or so.   Married,   had 2 children,   divorced,   and then remarried happily.   And always wanted to go back to what I thought was my home in the USA.   And, of course, everything had changed over the decades, but we we ended up living in Northern California,   my second husband and I.  

Lovely, lovely place.   Northern California is beautiful.   Go and stay in a state park or a national park, and just enjoy that lovely Northern California coast in the redwoods.   I took a degree in England in   English and Philosophy,   and then I did   a library qualification, so I was an academic librarian   at Middlesex   University.   And, well,   you and I mentioned the wild fire. So that that was Yes. Tell us about that. That was fascinating.  

[00:03:48] Unknown:

Sorry. I like stories like that. Yeah.  

[00:03:52] Unknown:

Fascinating is an interesting word.   It was horrific. Yeah. I imagine. You know, I   I'd lost my dear husband a few years previously,   and,   I had a knock on the door in the middle of the night, and it was my lovely neighbor,   Katrina. And I said, what are you doing here? Because she woke me up.   And she she was just sort of petrified, and she's she pointed to the mountainside,   and there was a fire raging down the hill. I looked at the fire. I turned around, and she was gone because she'd gone to wake up some of the other people   in our neighborhood, she and her husband. And they saved many lives.  

Wow. And so I started, well, I started dithering, getting   I was in my underwear, and another neighbor pushed me out the door because if I hadn't, if he hadn't pushed me out the door, I wouldn't be here.   And,   the electricity went off, but the garage door opened. I got in the car.   And   the noise and the ferocity of the wildfire   is unbelievable.   And I drove through   burning falling branches   following the taillights of the car in front of me. I still don't know who it was, but the smoke was so thick that sometimes   I couldn't see even   the car lights. But we managed to get to a place of safety, and nobody said very much.  

Met up with a neighbor who I knew, and she and I spent a night in a hotel.  

[00:05:23] Unknown:

And was your house in ruins?  

[00:05:26] Unknown:

Yes.   I have some photos.   It's dreadful   to go back and see your home just ashes.   And because,   there there is, some,   oh, toxins   still left. You have to have special clearance to have it all cleared away. They had a geologist there. I kept going back to see it.   And finally, there was a huge digger, and it just scooted   everything that belonged to me   up and put it on a truck and took it away.   And, you know, my neighbors were in the same boat. Heartbreaking.  

[00:06:06] Unknown:

Heartbreaking. Yeah.  

[00:06:08] Unknown:

Actually, I want to thank Redwood Credit Union, my credit union.   They gave every person who'd lost their home, they gave them a $1,000.   Bank of America didn't give a thing,   and other banks who were far wealthier than little old Redwood Credit Union,   They didn't they didn't help us,   but Redwood Credit Union did.   And well, I,   I've been associated with a Buddhist monastery   in Redwood Valley where the fire took place. And,   after we left the hotel the next day,   the monks,   the firemen were fighting the fire because it was very near the monastery, so they were trying to protect the monastery as well.   And it actually didn't burn down, but we were evacuated because the fire burned for about 4 weeks. It just burned mountainsides.  

I think   400,000 acres   burned. And for a week, we watched it on television with the computer simulations   showing you where the fire was going.   I later spoke to   a lovely fireman who'd been   detailed to try and stop the fire burning down the monastery.   And he was fighting it and he said the fire was coming right up to the monastery boundaries and all of a sudden the wind changed direction   and it went back. Oh, I know. And he said the stair   yeah. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Yeah. He'd never seen anything like that. It's just that we let my hairs go all funny, actually.   Yeah. Sorry. Go ahead. It was just it was just so the monastery was saved,   but we were all still evacuated   because, you know, the fire carried on raging.  

They they, they saved   what people's homes they could, but there weren't enough   people to to to stop the fire   going all over these mountainsides.   You'd see helicopters flying over with big buckets, and they would they would dip their buckets into people's swimming pools and take the water   and dump it on the fire.   So   it it   the the the ferocity of the fire, the noise of the fire,   the energy that a fire has,   you   just, unless you're in it. And I was just driving out saying, please, God, let me live.  

[00:08:31] Unknown:

And I did. So here I am. And here you are telling the story, and it is a riveting story. I mean, I could see you just now and before   when you're driving and you've got all that burning flames and see, I love an action movie, and I know this is your life and not a movie. And so I felt a bit mean getting excited, but then, like, you know, when you when you actually get down to the point that you lost everything,   that's Yeah. That's bloody heartbreaking.  

[00:08:55] Unknown:

So Well and, you know, all all the, sentimental stuff, my husband's   photographs that we had, books that he'd, he'd write in the book,   children's photographs, all of that Yeah. Went. So,   well, for an action story,   I got a a fairly new, Subaru Crosstrek because our old Subaru   was 22 years old, and I was told it was time to get a new one. So I had this wonderful Subaru Crosstrek,   and I was trying to drive out in the middle of the night with a fire raging.   And   Subaru Crosstrek has one of these things that if it sees an obstacle,   it stops the car. Oh, wow. Well, it did see an obstacle. It was a burning   fallen branch,   and I had to get round that obstacle.  

And I'm going, the car stopped. Anyway, I I I don't know how I got it started again, but I went round.   So I did have a little word with Subaru, and they were very sorry about that. But   it's a safety feature, you know? Yeah.  

[00:09:56] Unknown:

Yeah. But you rather needed it to work.   Yes. Oh, bless you.   So tell us a little bit. I know, when we were in conversation, you were telling me that your husband was very poorly, and you nursed him   against other people's wishes, against the system's wishes. You did it your way.   Can you tell us a little bit about Yeah.  

[00:10:16] Unknown:

I I had a part time job as a medical secretary in a in a big NHS hospital in in North London when I when my children were young. And I learned a lot about allopathic medicine, and I kept my eyes and ears open and read the notes and the medical stuff. And I thought, I don't I I kept seeing people coming back. You know? They'd they'd be   given medicine and then it didn't work or they had something else wrong with them. So I gradually   started researching   naturopathic medicine and other modalities as well as good nutrition,   which I think is so important and a healthy lifestyle.  

So   and my husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer   following   30 years earlier.   He'd had   a   very   non useful   treatment with radiation   for   arthritis of the spine, ankylosing spondylosis. And they got the decimal point wrong, and they gave him 10 times the dose he should have received.   And he got radiation   poisoning, but he recovered.   And,   30 years later,   it turned into pancreatic cancer.   And we were offered,   when he the cancer was diagnosed, we were offered chemo. And both of us   said no, we wouldn't have chemo.   And we were using a Chinese   herbal medicine, a Chinese doctor in Oakland who was very, very good.  

And, we ended up going to a special clinic in Los Angeles,   actually,   run by 2 Iranian   doctors, doctors, women doctors.   She had lost her husband to cancer,   and she was the one who was researching   so called alternative, I like complementary,   treatments.   And,   he had been given 2 to 3 months to live by the, oncologist.   And he lived for 16 months. So every day was a blessing.   And we had, oh, vitamin   C,   glutathione,   all sorts of,   intravenous   supplements, nutrients,   and, a very a very good diet. And he was there for we were there for 5 weeks at huge expense   and came back and he did he did slowly deteriorate.  

But,   you know, 2 to 3 months in when   the Western doctors had said he'd be dead,   his 2 of his very best friends from England came out to see him. And he was able to drive to San Francisco and show them around San Francisco and   San Quentin. And,   he couldn't drink alcohol, but they they wanted to try all the different beers in   in California and the wine so he would go and have non alcoholic drinks with them.   And they expected to see him at their store, and here he was walking, talking, and laughing. And so pleased to see them.   So,   yeah, and so he did he lived for 16 months.  

There was pain at the end. We refused hospice care.   He was home. He died. I was holding one hand and my son was holding the other.   So  

[00:13:38] Unknown:

you. Yeah. It's And I'm I'm and in fact yeah. Sorry. I'm presuming that if you'd carried on with the non allopathic   route, the with all the drugs that they would have prescribed and stuff that   his life would have been over a lot sooner.  

[00:13:53] Unknown:

I believe so. We did go to see the top,   cancer specialist in San Francisco, a very charming woman,   because I thought, well, she must have something up her sleeve, something,   you know, extra.   And, we talked to her for half an hour. And I said, well, you know, chemo was developed from World War 1. It's mustard gas. And she said yes.   Oh, I didn't hear that. Yeah. Yes. It it was developed from mustard gas in   World War 1.   Wow.   And,   I said,   well, we don't really want   we don't want chemo. Haven't you got anything else?   And she said, well, no. I I can I can make his life more comfortable?  

She didn't say she could prolong it. She said she can which I didn't believe and neither did he because chemo   does nasty things to you.   And after half an hour more chat, she graciously said, well,   I can see that I can't really offer you anything, so I really need to go and and see other people.   So we left it, and, you know, we were on our own. But,   again, the the,   the offer of this clinic in in Los Angeles,   which was very, very good. And I learned a lot   about natural supplements,   health, diet,   because they they also treated   the spouse. You know, if a couple went,   so one had cancer   and the other didn't. I think they said I had some liver problems. Well, the liver is associated   with anger apparently, and I think I was very angry.  



[00:15:30] Unknown:

I should imagine you because.  

[00:15:33] Unknown:

Yeah. So   so I'm I'm a great believer in   naturopathic.   I don't know a lot about homeopathic.   Osteopathic,   he had a very good,   a lovely   woman who who was his osteopath because of his arthritis   in the spine, and she could actually feel the tumor.   And, she was able to give him some relief.   So, you know, there are good people out there, and they really want to help.  

[00:16:07] Unknown:

And, Definitely.   Oh, bless you.   And how was he was he like your mindset? I should imagine as well. He didn't want the chemo. And was he happy? Did he play a part in choosing medication, or was it like you kind of No. He was he was  

[00:16:22] Unknown:

that's what was lucky because if you have a couple and one wants one thing and one wants the other, which has probably happened in some of the COVID   fiasco we've gone through,   you know, then there's going to be conflict. But we both   we both felt the same way.   So,   we had a lot of broccoli. I do not want to eat any more broccoli.  

[00:16:43] Unknown:

Broccoli is very good for you. Oh, I don't particularly like broccoli. So what does what does it do for you then?  

[00:16:51] Unknown:

I I think it's it's good to help the cancer.   You avoid all sugar Yes. Because the   cancer cells mutate to a a an earlier state.   Our cells are   they're called prokaryotic.   And cancer cells   degenerate, and they go back to a a kind of almost prehistoric   state, and they use   3 or 4 times as much energy   to metabolize.   And that's why people with cancer get very, very thin.   And, of course, the cancer cells grab onto the sugar because it gives them energy immediately.  

[00:17:28] Unknown:

So in in effect, the sugar feeds the cancer.   Yes. It does. It does. I think I said to you, like, when I used to work on,   the cancer ward at the hospital,   it would be quite frustrating   because   you would see family coming in with,   cakes and things. You know, they wanted to build their loved ones up, which I understand, and hospital food is just dire.   But on the other hand,   how how do you say, you know, really should be eating that? Can I tell you this? Can I drop you a little, you know? There was one person I did kind of tell him about a movie to watch. Watch. I can't remember what it was now, but I thought I'm gonna get in trouble here if I keep telling people this. But, genuinely, you want people to know about these things that you know about, but they probably think you're nuts anyway   because why won't you Yeah.  



[00:18:15] Unknown:

Who Well, you and I are nuts. Yeah. That's alright.  

[00:18:18] Unknown:

Yeah. Yeah.  

[00:18:20] Unknown:

And it was you know, Steven was was yeah. We were right together on that. But I was I was the one who was dealing with his his   the the nutrition   and the diet and the medications and   and just encouraging him.   He was very, very strong and he very much wanted to live. And and, you know, when we realized that the the   radiation dose had probably given him the cancer,   I was very, very upset. And he just said, well, it's done. It's, you know, it's there's nothing you can do now.   It's it's over. But I think   until you have things like that happen to you personally,   you tend to take,   you you tend to accept whatever the doctors tell you because they're the ones that are professionals and in the right. It's when you know a little bit more. You know, if you you've been a nurse or, you know, dealt with cancer patients, you know a little bit more of the other side to the story.  



[00:19:19] Unknown:

Yeah. Well, it's a hard one because I think anything I hear about, I always seek an an alternative treatment, an an alternative remedy. Yeah. I find  

[00:19:25] Unknown:

it alternative treatment,   an an alternative remedy. Yeah. I find it fascinating. And, realistically,   lots of these, you know, all of these medications, they come from plants.   Anyway, they're derived from plants, but it's all the added chemicals. Why can't we just use the plants without the chemicals? But then we know it's all about money. So Yes. They can't they they cannot  

[00:19:47] Unknown:

cannot get a patent   No. Exactly. On a on a plant.  

[00:19:52] Unknown:

Excuse me. No. That's alright. And,   see, I told you it would fly by. We've done 20 minutes. We've got another 10 minutes,   and And it's like, where to go? Because there's so many things I could talk to you about. And I know when we chatted,   we we touched briefly. You've sent me a few emails about,   gut health, and this absolutely fascinates me at the moment because   over the years, I've noticed in supermarkets, you know, and I know they're not the real thing, but the Greek yoghurts coming out, the   for your bacteria   and stuff like that,   more and more, it's becoming more obvious.  

And,   I found out about it, I suppose, a few years ago, more of it now. But we were having a conversation about gut health, and you you're quite into that, aren't you?  

[00:20:36] Unknown:

Well, yeah.   There's,   £7   of,   I'm not sure if it's bacteria. In your gut, you have £7   of bacteria.   And when you look at a very expensive pro probiotic   biotic that you buy that says it has   3,000,000,   you know, whatever cells,   it's it's it's nothing to the amount of of, bacteria that that are working in the gut. The gut   thinks. The gut knows when people say say, I feel it in my gut, my gut reaction.   It's true. The gut does   have   reactions and does understand.   But,   I like to make my own sauerkraut,   because then you get all the fermented, the good gut bacteria, so you're putting that back into your gut.   Antibiotics,   they are what they say. They are antibacteria.  

They're anti the good bacteria   as well as the bad bacteria.   So when you take a course of antibiotics,   your good bacteria are destroyed, and that that allows   some of the body stuff to get in. And then you have to take, you know, lots of sauerkraut or or whatever,   which is I quite like. I mean, sauerkraut is just   cabbage   and salt,   and it makes lactic acid, and it ferments, and it's really good for your gut.   And there's other things as well.  

[00:22:08] Unknown:

Yeah. It's just a whole another subject, isn't it? Because you've sent me these links, and, there's quite a big thing lately. You hear about raw milk and stuff like that.   And I've I've been looking into the sauerkraut because you mentioned it, and I've been to Holland and Barrett today chatting to my cousin that works there, actually.   But, yeah, fascinating   because every health problem is related to the gut, really, isn't it?  

[00:22:32] Unknown:

Yes. And they're only western medicine is only just   realizing   how important   the microbiome   is. So I've I've mentioned to my GP about microbiome, and and biome has just gone straight over his head. You know?   Not nothing. They're not   GPs are given 3 hour   hours of training   in nutrition.   That's all.   And nutrition plays such an important part in our health.  

[00:23:00] Unknown:

And I think that's why we've got so many unhealthy people and overweight people now. All of the processed foods and   Yeah. Yeah. People don't understand   it, do they?  

[00:23:11] Unknown:

Yeah. I feel sorry for overweight people because they're actually malnourished.   They're eating junk food,   and the body is saying to them, feed me feed me real food.   So they're still hungry. Alright. Well, we'll grab some more crisps and some more biscuits and some more cakes,   satisfy the hunger. And the body's still saying, feed me. So they get fat. They're they're,   sort of ostracized   for being   overweight.   They probably don't don't have a really good feeling about themselves.   But it's because they don't know what to eat. And you go in a supermarket,   and if I had my way, I would clear   50% of the supermarket shelves probably.  



[00:23:53] Unknown:

Yes. I read somewhere that they only need, like, 2 aisles, basically,   of real food. Yeah.   But it's all processed stuff. And I try to eat healthier.   I was to shame, actually, in the local supermarket   last week. Once a week, on a Wednesday, when I do a radio show, I I buy a premade   meal just for convenience,   and the guy is quite awake and stuff. And at the checkout, we were talking about it, and he said, I wouldn't eat that, not if you paid me.   I looked at the date, and I thought it's got a 3 week date on it, actually. So what have they put in it? Anyway, I said to my partner, I said, we bought it. It's really tasty. I said, but this is the last time because, actually,   even though it's a quick meal, a baked potato is a quick meal. Beans on toast is a healthier meal than a processed meal.  

Oh. Full of stuff.   So Yeah.  

[00:24:41] Unknown:

Yeah. Well well, my husband was having raw milk. And in California,   the the federal   agents are trying to shut down farmers who produce raw milk. I had to buy a cow share. And when I had a a share in a cow,   I could have some of its milk.   And the farmer who had the cow said to me,   my wife's Canadian, and if the feds come after me for selling raw milk, I'm off   to Canada. That that's   that's how bad the situation is   because   milk that has been boiled, pasteurized,   all the goodness has gone from it. And in the good old days, doctors would actually prescribe   raw milk.  

So there we are. You know, we we've got we've got to hand. We've got the things that are good for us.   We've just lost sight of what they are, and, hopefully,   we'll get back to it.  

[00:25:35] Unknown:

I think we are. I think there's a lot of people   opening up to these ideas and they know what's going on with the gut and what the doctors say in seeking alternative remedies. But I was talking to a farmer about the raw milk situation, an elderly man that's in the nursing home I work at, and he was saying that he was bought up on it. And I think these days, they're trying to make us so clean.   It's like they don't want us to have any bad bacteria, which we actually need bad bacteria to build our immune system.  

[00:26:03] Unknown:

Well, they they they pasteurize the milk to stop it going off, but they don't use really clean, healthy practices. And and they use such giant   operations.   You know, a small farmer   who who really knows his cows, keeps his farm clean,   can offer raw milk. But the bigger operations, they just, oh, no. We'll we'll boil it all. And that'll that'll, make it safe. It won't it won't generate any bacteria,   which is true, but it doesn't generate any goodness for the drinker.  

[00:26:37] Unknown:

No. And I'm presuming that's even calcium.   Would it would it, like, have a normal effect on that?   Because that's what lots of people drink milk for, don't they? Calcium, I know they say to have the full fat milk, but is it Well, vitamins a and d.  

[00:26:53] Unknown:

In the states, when you buy milk,   at a supermarket, it says with added vitamins a and d.   And the reason that they say added vitamins a and d is because after they've pasteurized them, well, they have to add back   vitamins a and d.  

[00:27:10] Unknown:

That's crazy.   Crazy.  

[00:27:13] Unknown:

Yeah. We live in a crazy world, don't we? We do. We do.  

[00:27:17] Unknown:

Oh, it is so fascinating chatting to you, and we've only got a few minutes left.   Could you reach on a little bit about your you're a Buddhist, aren't you?  

[00:27:26] Unknown:

Yes. And I sort of fell into that.   I, I was a journal's librarian, so I had lovely   400 journals to look at. And one of the journals had a very long   piece about a Buddhist monk who's coming   to Great Gadsden and then,   Hertfordshire,   and you could go and and meditate   free of charge. So So I thought, well, I'm interested in meditation because I've done a bit of yoga.   And I went along,   and I felt highly embarrassed because I I got lost, and I came in late, and I joined them. They've been out walking in the field,   and I went back in. And at the end, the monk looked and said, Is there anybody new here? And I'm trying to hide at the back.  

And so I put up my hand and,   and I gave my my Christian name as Deirdre.   It's not de,   my proper Christian name. So he knew me forever afterwards   as as Deirdre.   And,   that monk   is now the abbot of the monastery   in   Great Gadsden.   He was the abbot of the monastery at Abiakiri in Northern California.   They took in my husband when he was dying and let us stay there.   And now he's back   in, England and so am I. It seems we followed each other from one constant to the next.   And they're just lovely people. You know, I went along, I slept better after doing some meditation.   I went back the next week, had a cup of tea.  

They needed help with their books,   so I helped with the books.   I was useful. I had no money. I I put in a pound.   There was no money asked for.   And they're very special people.   They're   they   they've worked through   fear   and loss,   and they have such a happy attitude.   And, you know, to look after someone who is dying and take that on with a do not resuscitate   notice.   And the counts, they didn't like these weirdo Buddhists coming amongst them in Northern California,   although now they know that   they are impeccable, they act with integrity, but it was hard going at the beginning. And I thought they were very brave. They had to ask every member of the monastery, you know, 30 or 40 people, would you allow   Dee and Steven to come and stay? And they knew he was dying, And they said yes.  

So I'm forever grateful.  

[00:29:58] Unknown:

Oh, you you have had such an interesting   life. And   I I said to you earlier, you'll have to come back again, and we'll chat some more because that's been the most fascinating half an hour in ages.   So thank you so much, Dee, and, you know, I hope your listeners have enjoyed that.   And if anybody would like to contact Dee, if you would like to email me, I can pass your details on to Dee.   My Internet address,   email address, sorry, is [email protected].   So I'm gonna have to let you go now, Dee.  

[00:30:33] Unknown:

Well, thank you, Shelley. It's been a joy, and I really wish you well.  

[00:30:39] Unknown:

You too. And it goes to show the people you meet on the side of a road and have a chat to, doesn't it?   I love it. I love things like that. Well, you take care, my darling, and I'll be in touch with you again soon. Okay. All the best then. Bye, Tina. Thank you very much.   Bye. Bye.   What a lovely lady. Like I say, just making conversation with strangers on the side of the road.   The people you meet is wonderful.   So moving on, we've got half an hour left.   I've gotta do this week's top tip life hack before we bring our second guest in.   So if you know any inspirational women out there who've got stories to tell,   if you've got a life hack, I would love a voice note.  

People have been sending them in, but they would rather, well, not say it.   Come on. Be brave. Leave me a voice note.   Anything, any life hack, cleaning, life skills,   cookery,  

[00:31:36] Unknown:

relationship, you name it. So hi. I'm Lisa and I'm from Cambourne.   I bulk cook at the weekends for meals during the week   as I find this works well for my family.   I fry off mince,   with some onion and the seasoning,   And then once cooked and chilled, I then put it in bags and freeze until I need it. And then I then use that for spaghetti bolognese,   a chilli, lasagna,   cottage pie. Then that way, it's quick and easy so that when I get in from work,   I'll get in from the school run or after school club,   it doesn't take so long to prepare a meal.   Also on a Sunday   when I cook a roast, I also bake some potatoes.  

And then when I need them, I freeze them. And then when I need them, I defrost them, and then I rebake them in the air fryer. I find that meal planning for the week is the way forward for me and my family.   I tend to do my washing at night.   I put that on the airr,   and if it's dry in the morning, I sometimes pin it out.   In regards to housework, I try to tidy the house,   before I go to bed,   and then I'll hoover and mop   before the school run. If I don't have time before the school run then I'll do that when I go home after the school run   and   then I go about my day.  



[00:33:08] Unknown:

Thank you, Lisa.   And do you know what? I've done that today. I've cooked up 2 batches of mince   so I've got a shepherd's pie ready for 2 meals this week a chilli a lot of mincemeat probably shouldn't be eating that much fried meat But, anyway, I feel prepared and organized for the week. So if you've got a life hack, send it my way, please.   So give a give a quick shout out. This could become a regular thing to Patrick's mom, Nancy. Hi, Nancy, and thank you for the ones that you sent me.   I hope you're gonna be brave and let Patrick record those. Anyway,   moving on to our next guest who is   is another random story, really, in the fact of how we met.  

I went to a sound healing bath thing the other week. It was all a bit   surreal and lovely.   I won't go into it because the lady is actually meant to be coming on in the next couple of weeks to talk to us about it. Anyway, I was chatting next to this   lady, and, we exchanged names, and then she went, oh, are you Shelley? And I was like, yeah. And she was like, I'm Emma, low and moon on Facebook. We're friends. I was like, oh, yeah. We've messaged before and had a little bit of a chat here with me via Messenger.   Anyway, another amazing woman. So without further ado, let's get Lowen Moon, real name Emma, but she goes by Lowen.  

Let's get Lowen   on the call, and she can,   share with us some of her stuff. It's about,   healing, writing,   force,   foraging. I'm just a busy lady.   Good evening, Emma. Lowen. Hi,   You alright, my darling?   Yeah. Good. Good. I can't see your faces. Oh, that's alright. You don't wanna see my face.   Okay. Oh, that's okay. So, yeah, I've just given you a brief introduction and just said about how we met and, all the weird and wonderful things that you do. So tell us a little bit about yourself,   Emma.  

[00:35:04] Unknown:

Well,   I was just listening to that interview, by the way, what a lovely lady,   and it really rang true with me. So I think what's happened what's happened to me, I'm a mum. My son's 13 this year.   In 2015,   stroke 16,   I went through a really tough time, I had a breakdown, it's a long story but it started with postnatal   and funny   enough it was triggered by an antibiotic   which is just what you guys were talking about and that was the first episode, the second episode came in 2015   and it was a different situation, I didn't have my partner, we just split up, everything went wrong, so I was sitting in a building site with a 3 year old   and basically I just started to feel the anxiety again.  

And I do believe it was a weakness in my gut as well that had been triggered from the first instant.   Now I've never experienced   really bad poor mental health like that before and, yeah, I went into severe anxiety and that did last for a total of 2 years, which is hard to get your head round really sometimes because it was it was like being on a bad trip every day, if you know what I mean. I'm from the nineties. So   I lost a lot, I lost friends, I lost,   everything really and I became everything that I'm not because I am very into alternative   medicine.  

And I was what what happened is the doctors then put me on the antidepressants and and the,   the benzos that they've given me during postnatal   and they went terribly wrong. I got addicted to the   benzos this time. They were like the razepamza hardcore stuff,   and the antidepressants   were sending train tracks through my head. And what was really frightening was the whole,   medical profession,   being a victim of it and seeing how bad the mental health services are.   So it's kind of like  

[00:37:09] Unknown:

Hello. Hello.   If you turn your video   off, Emma,   it might help with the bandwidth.   I think, actually, we all bleeped out because my Internet connection went then.   Oh, sorry. The stream stopped, so it must be something that's happened somewhere. Anyway Where did you get You were in full flow. You were in full flow.  

[00:37:31] Unknown:

Oh, I know. I was just talking to myself. Where did we get to? We got to,  

[00:37:36] Unknown:

you   oh my goodness.   It sounds like I haven't been listening.  

[00:37:43] Unknown:

I know it's no. It's fine. I know it's a long it was a long story. So, no, I had a breakdown. You had a breakdown. Yeah. Did.   Yeah. And you were given Benziles and stuff like that and Oh, yes. I was addicted to that. So this time it was horrific and   they were putting me on   and they were making me suicidal. And and then the psychiatrist wouldn't take me off them. It's a it's a long story, but, this amazing woman came in, and and this is what happened. I've got these amazing souls, and I've got these amazing souls.   This amazing woman came in, and and this is what happened. I've got these amazing souls that just came in. One of them I've lost recently, Simon Wolf, and they were just prepared to kind of sit with me. But   also some, there was a woman that sort of got me a new psychiatrist appointment, and he just looked at me and done like the other psychiatrist told the truth. So this woman's a mesh. She's like skinny. You know, I was like 20 k,   kilograms lighter than I am now. Need to lose a bit now, but,   anyway, so   that that was the start, and he changed my medication.  

To put a long story short, I got on some medication that worked,   and I was able to set a platform and and, you know, what are we 8 years later, I'm not on any medication.   No. But but in my recovery, what happened was,   2 well, 2 things happened is because I think it breaks your ego, doesn't it, when you go through that a little bit? Definitely.   Yeah, I was a different person when I came out. And,   I started writing, and I started writing about my experience   and that that it took 5 years because I kept writing bits, and I   crap either because, you know, when you've lost everything, that it's like I was rebuilding myself, and that that was kind of a therapy. So I produced a book, called the breakdown that made me that's on Amazon. And that was all about and it's all about the medication side as well and how to come off benzos. There's a lot of practical advice.  

But the other side effect, nice side effect of that recovery was I my neighbor at number 4,   knocked on my door and said, do you wanna learn about plants?   Like, every week. And so that he used to come around every week. He's like, we lost him this year, he's 87,   and yeah, he died in January sadly.   But he we spent like so we spent 8 years and him coming around especially now it was 2 hours, 3 hours and we were just like the best of friends you know and he we had I used to make cakes and we had coffee and he just taught me so much about   foraging and plants, but not just that. He taught me about the chemical world, the big pharma,   you know, the books the the array of books that he I've got he left me his books.  



[00:40:11] Unknown:

Wow.   Lucky girl.  

[00:40:14] Unknown:

I am lucky. I've got and I am a slow reader, actually, but I've got a whole pile of books. But,   because when he when he died, what happened is it was a sudden death,   like Semenyar   at St. Amor,   but basically,   I I started to we we played at this war, so I started to write about this walk, but obviously, it turned into another book. So   this is like I've also written a poetry book within that time. It was kind of about COVID and all the craziness of that.   And that's quite it that's quite an angry book. I was gonna read you a poem after listening to that last woman.   She she's just she was so chill. I thought I can't read an angry poem. You can you can read whatever you like, my lovely.  



[00:40:56] Unknown:

And I know you said they're a bit sweary, didn't you? You got a couple of bad swear words in there, but   you were angry. Yeah. And sometimes parents need to express that anger, don't they? So  

[00:41:06] Unknown:

Absolutely. I think there was 2 sides. So there was a lovely foraging side on the plant side I was learning with, but also I woke up to a different world. So I I got into   my head was so so different, and I got into politics at that point, and I was trying to support, Jeremy Corbyn, and and he didn't get in. And then after that and all the COVID, so I felt very disillusioned, and Ray was kind of my little ray of sunshine. He's come out every Sunday, and he kind of was so gentle   and beautiful, a bit like the last lady who's speaking, that soft voice, and   he was my my calming influence. So that so after he died, I think what happened is I put together a book and a walk for him because I wanted to pass on that was he was so well read. It was embarrassing because he used to read, like, 2 books a week and it would take me, like, you know, 2 months to read 1.  

So that that sort of progressed for that and and what was interesting, you guys were just talking about cancer and stuff. And when I've had to go over these plants that I was,   presenting on this walk, there's so many plants that they've done like cancer studies on that have helped cancer like seed beads,   cleavers.   You know, their plants are so powerful, and I think that's what my next phase in life is is actually passing on raised knowledge.   So yeah.  

[00:42:19] Unknown:

So you now organize,   like, a walk in circle, don't you?  

[00:42:25] Unknown:

Yeah. It's it's kinda not what I've done is I've set up it's called a walk for rare, just in a charity walk, and it's down at Marazan because he really loved that area.   And it because it was called the fertile mile. So if you start at Long Rock, it's only a short walk and obviously it's wheelchair accessible, which is nice, and we walked through all this cafe.   And within that particularly in spring   there's just such a beautiful array of plants that you can show people   and my role I think and also I talk about the philosophies of Ray like the the power of the sea and the minerals in the sea.   He wrote a lot about grass and sea because they can pick up the most elements.  

You know, grass juice has been used by a woman called Anne Wigmore who and she   saved loads of lives of cancer patients and things like that so What by giving them grass?   Yes sorry yeah with grass a woman called Anne Wigmore who says it's a Hippocrates,   in America the alternative   movement, she was born in Lithuania in 1916, fascinating   story. She was herding sheep at 7 which was an incredibly dangerous job. It it was such a harsh environment and she kind of connected with all the animals   and she obviously learned from her grandmother. Her grandmother was a healer and they used to, like, wrap fevers. They used to wrap   people in sheepskins and and put sheepskin oil on them. It's really fascinating, all the healing techniques.  

And she eventually got America at 16 and she took all that knowledge with   her but when she got to America she was shocked at the amount of disease she found   yeah so but and then basically so her parents when she met them in America weren't very forthcoming they weren't not that your dad was a nice person   and she had a wheel,   she had an accident in a cart because it was the motor the motorized   era was coming through and a motor car ran into her car and she had a gangrene leg,  

[00:44:20] Unknown:

and they wanted to amputate it because she knew what her grandmother had told her. She refused and she got  

[00:44:28] Unknown:

just just ate plants and recovered and she had a puppy that used to make her wounds, quite disgusted.   And she she   she went went through a horrible marriage but then she eventually did what she was really fit and strong, she was running in marathons in Boston and she disguised herself as a   bloke so she'd get in these marathons.   She set up with Hippocrates but she set up this institution, she knew the one plant that she'd like to use was the one plant that had the most nutrition, which is grass. So I don't know whether you remember the big phase with grass juice in the   health shops. No. Awesome.  

Yeah. Well well, they've used wheatgrass. I don't know whether you've you can get a wheatgrass shot. We they use wheatgrass because it grows quickly, I think.   But all grass is amazing. It's, you know, it's phenomenal. There's so many species of grass, but if you can get the juice out of grass, it's life saving, really. So just things like that and and we don't   I don't think we're kind of encouraged to know this. Does that make sense?  

[00:45:28] Unknown:

Yeah. Definitely. You you've just brought me back to, like, the days when you were younger, if you fell over and you got stung by stinging nestles, and you were always told to use a dot leaf.   Yeah. Now I don't know if that now did that actually have healing properties,   or was that just a saying?  

[00:45:45] Unknown:

Because it does kinda make sense, doesn't it?   Actually,   well, there is a there is a little bit of truth in that. It's at the bottom of the stem, but but docleys themselves   are phenomenal tough plants and you but you can use them like spinach in lasagna but they're full of iron, they've got loads of, minerals in,   it's a it's a bit of a bitter plant so some foragers don't like it but actually the real   plant for bites and stings is plantain. Do you know plantain?  

[00:46:14] Unknown:

Never heard of it. I I'm not very familiar with plants, so there's a certain few.  

[00:46:20] Unknown:

If you look out in your garden, you'll have it. So it's so it plantain's got like it's like an oval long leaf. It's got ribs on it.   There's different sorts, but that's the rib water. That's the most common. You'll see it growing out the pavement.   I see it everywhere now. And that's I'll I'll Google that in a minute. That you use. Yeah. And it that's amazing and it and its seeds can be used. You can fry the seeds like mushrooms and they're live can flat seeds so they're they're good for constipation, things like that. So these are kind of all the things I'm teaching so it's yeah it's a little bit of an old wives tell about the doc but it is it's a great,   soother and it's good you can use it as a bandage   So and then, yeah, there's some great little stories about plants. I mean, I put as I say, I wrote this book. I did it, like, super fast because it was it was like it took me 5 years to write my first book, and then I was 3 years to write a poetry book about how angry I  

[00:47:09] Unknown:

From   anger to plants.  

[00:47:12] Unknown:

Yeah. And now this this is the and this one just took 5 months because it I just felt like it was how I had to get over Ray, and I I he told me so many things, and I just sort of gotta get them down on paper. So it kind of what it does is it gives people gives his articles, and it just gives lots of,   insights into amazing people like Anne Wigmore. And,   you know, there there's people like Rachel Carson   who wrote Silent Spring. Have you heard of that one? No.  

[00:47:38] Unknown:

I want to go home and visit your bookshelf.  

[00:47:41] Unknown:

I know. I know that well, this is it. So so, Rachel, because he funnily enough, I was looking today for your women's hour, and I just looked at my extraordinary people in plant world, and 60 to 70 percent of them were women and I thought, isn't that amazing?   And one of those women is a woman called Rachel Carson and she wrote Silent Spring. Does that ring any bells? No. So   okay so she was a biologist   and she wrote Silent Spring was all about it's our first   introduction to   someone actually saying we have a right not to be poisoned by chemicals from industry. And she wrote about DDT, which I think was a pop spray. I'm not sure whether they still use that, but they use all sorts of I mean, they use Roundup, which is hard, you know, cancer causing, you know that.   And because she was in her book, she's like an Einstein because her writing is just so stunning. So she wrote kind of almost she could do art and science together.  

But because she was a woman in, I think, it was the fifties or the come in thirties or fifties, sorry about that. We've got on the date. But she got absolutely   because she was a threat. I mean, we know now that, you know, they're pushing chemicals everywhere. Right?   So she was at the forefront of that, and that she got so much so much grief for that. Unbelievable,   really. It's particularly because she was a woman,   and she was followed up by a woman called Theo Colburn who died in the nineties, and she was talking about plastics, microplastics.   She said processed food,   produces, makes body wrap which called an EDC, which is endocrine disruptive chemicals,   and it messes up your whole endocrine system, which is your hormones. So you you think about the thyroid issues you get. So these were women that already, you know, they were pioneers really and heroes. There there were so many. So,   you know, this is all the stuff that Ray   taught me about, and I've got I've got a bookshop. So I wrote the book just to give, like, just have a look at these people because they're really important now, I think. You know? Absolutely. I love books like that. That's what I mean, and you're not too far from me. And you said earlier, let's get together for a coffee. I'll I'll be hitting your bookshelf.  

Yeah. I know. Yeah. I know. And also I've got so many, and I don't mind if people buy books because I can bring them back. But As long as they bring them back. I love books. Absolutely love them. My favorite. Yeah. So what is the  

[00:49:59] Unknown:

no. Not overly no. You're right. Not overly fast. It depends what I'm reading, but I tend to to read more, like, kind of,   I wouldn't say self help books, but all positive sort of things, learning stuff, you know, psychology and bits like that. Whatever's going on in my life, I'll I'll, like, oh, I need to find a book about that.   And yeah. But what's your latest book then? What's the title?  

[00:50:22] Unknown:

So the the title is A Walk for Ray, and it's it says get happy using a headroom, clothes, food, and medicine, and let me take a walk for Ray. And it says celebrate the life of one of Paul's most treasured pioneers of foraging because he was. I mean a lot of people knew him in the gardening world.   He had he's got his own forest garden so he lives at number 4 where I live,   and he's just yeah. So he's a pioneer in lots of ways and it just takes you on but it focuses on that particular walk but it doesn't matter if you don't go on the walk it just focuses on that particular walk.  

[00:50:53] Unknown:

That sounds like a lovely gift for someone, actually. I'm not trying to push it for you, but any, you know, any of my family listening, I would like a book like that.  

[00:51:03] Unknown:

Oh, thank you. Well, I just put it out there on Monday. And as I was saying, I was driving up yesterday no. Not Monday. I'm so sorry.   I was driving up to a little festival, and I was looking for the book. I still kept spotting this. It's like, oh, it's really hot. It's really hard to do in a book. It's it's a love, I think. You know, you're not most authors aren't gonna get millions sold,  

[00:51:26] Unknown:

but for me, it's like the people that buy it will appreciate. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. Because there's no there's no ego involved. The people that need to read it will read it. And I think when you get that out of anything now selling, like, millions of copies or being the best at this, as long as you're doing what you're doing from the heart, I think that's all that matters. I mean, it it does. It reaches the right people.  

[00:51:48] Unknown:

Yeah. I totally agree, and I've met a couple of authors. I mean, I do read some of my poetry because I know I can't. I'm very comfortable at the Eco Park and I read my poems up there. But, you know, a lot of my poems are quite sort of off off the edge. That that's not the book that you're buying, but, the other one, how how the f Are you gonna read one of your poems, Emma?   If you want me to, please. Yeah. Absolutely. Read an angry poem, or should I read a little poem about? Read a little poem about rights? Up to you, you  

[00:52:11] Unknown:

2. Oh. Shall I read the angry one or the 2 Oh, just read them both. Read them both.  

[00:52:18] Unknown:

Read them both. Okay. Well, I'll do the I'll maybe next time, I'll do the big long one I wrote about, which is lovely. It's all about the plant. So this is about so the sorry. This is Wim Dove. It's about Fiona Bruce. And it's not really Fiona Bruce. It's what she represents. So this is from that book who Fiona Bruce is for those that aren't aware?   So Fiona Bruce is a BBC presenter, and she presents,   question time   on the BBC.   And part of my, like, coming out of my breakdown, I'm awakened to all the corruption in the world. So this isn't really   a direct dig at her, although it sounds like it. It's actually,   dig at the system and all the people   that rep this is a shame when women are like part of that system as well.  

It's when you can see it for what it is Yeah. Which I think a lot of people that listen to you, Shelley a lot of the gist. Yeah.   And this is what's been so lovely about, like, meeting you in person because you we've all got friends. We've met on Facebook because of all of, you know, what we think and Yeah. All the high minded people.   Yeah. Yeah.   So this this is basically about Fiona Group. Well, it's what she represents, as I say, so please don't think I'm I'm, like, being really nasty towards you. Kind of so it's got a couple of swear words in which I'm gonna make you guess because we discussed the seller we're gonna keep it clean.   So it's called question time for Fiona.  

If Fiona Bruce was a recluse, it'd be good for humanity along with all the Boris crew and the lying profanity of fibs and ad libs,   whispers through earpieces   of what not to say to keep the truth away, pushing down each day a bubbling brook of narcissistic people who don't give up,   rewarding themselves meal tickets are gluttony, not in any way done subtly.   What so is that serve their champagne   and heal their gout cannot eat and are left out. Those most needed made to feel helpless, hungry and cold, dying alone, breathless.   While they pull off some more disabling political stunts and make the meek feel like they need these,   The polluters, the murderers, the child traffickers, all in our minor suits with the big corporation backers.  

If I were Fiona Bruce after supporting this, I would become a recluse.  

[00:54:22] Unknown:

Oh, I love it. Wow.  

[00:54:25] Unknown:

I like that. I like the swear words. So here's a little one.   Well, you know, someone said to me, oh, your your book's really angry. And I thought, well, do you know what? It's fine for a woman to be angry. And it I was   joyous that I've managed to recover.   And anger's okay. I think it's fine, but I think it's more important   that you get it on paper in words or you do something with it. You can't you know, when you hold anger, it's not good. And that was part of my way of going, this world's nuts, you know. I mean Yeah. You know, I've had to switch off the news. Otherwise,   I will go I will go mad. You know? It's a healing process that you're writing.  



[00:55:00] Unknown:

Yeah. So so come on then. Read us the nice one now.  

[00:55:04] Unknown:

This is the this is only a little one. I'll read the long one maybe next time, but this is about let me just find it. This is about Ray. Just,   it's a very short one about how he built his forest garden.   Ray, my Ray, my dear Ray has gone away. It only seems like yesterday when his soft tones filled room and granite, a message of hope about our planet.   A man bright with stories and kindness now rarely seen, a briefcase of books in himself, no Wi Fi, mobile, or any screen.   For Ray, he loved the corn share, the rich minerals of the sea, the hedgerow plants, or food to share. In his younger days, he pushed weed at sea in his barrow. He knew it was no weed. It built his soil and grew his marrow.   From sand to dirt, he planted plants and trees from around the world, and gardeners would gather in his space to hear his words. And there his message was beautiful and clear. We can build this earth again so we have everything here.  



[00:55:57] Unknown:

Oh, that's beautiful. Yeah. I loved it.   Really lovely.  

[00:56:01] Unknown:

Yeah. You're a brilliant ricer. Really good. Oh, but some of my clothes. But   but I I think that's what I do, and I think that's Ray. You know, in a world of darkness, he was this little he was a Ray.  

[00:56:13] Unknown:

Yeah. Bless him. Bless him. So I've gotta keep that. Definitely. Definitely.   Where can people find you if they wanna get in touch, Emma?  

[00:56:23] Unknown:

Well, I might so if you want to message me on my Facebook which is low low and moon if you want to find out about I can do walks at weekends,   and   yeah, I think that's it. Just I'm on I'm low and noon on Facebook. I'm actually Emma, with it. Yeah. Well, I know you've called me Emma, but I'm low and noon on Facebook. I don't know why I do that, but,  

[00:56:43] Unknown:

yeah, just give me a message. I'm also on Event Bray Brighton. It's called a walk with Ray. And if you wanna just ask me any questions, just go ahead and message me. In fact, thanks for that, Shelley. That's really kind. No. No. That's fine. That's fine. It's lovely to talk to you. And it's funny how, like we say, the universe works, isn't it? I turn up at that session. You're next to me, and it's like, oh, hi. And it's just I know you. Yeah. I know you, and it's great to you know, we all we've all got, I think, this Facebook   family of friends,   and we've all been brought together, I believe, because of COVID.  

You know, I would know half the people I know if it   Sorry, Carrie. No. No. No. I just got to say, like, with the plant stuff, I do think, like,   like Dee was saying just now about the the importance and all the science stuff now coming forward about your gut health and stuff. It's the same with plants. More and more people are   open to it. And just a new chef at work the other day, he was soaking stinging nettles,   and he was using the stinging nettles for a soup as well. And I was like, wow. This is wonderful. And, I mean, I remember soaking stinging nettles because a horse that I used to have used to have terrible itching problems,   and I would soak the stinging nettles overnight   and then use the water   in her feed. Do you know what? Within about 3 days, it just stopped.  



[00:58:06] Unknown:

Right. That's amazing. We use,   comfrey on my dog's tail because he broke his tail.   And,   vets are always used to use it. And in the 1930s before see everything flipped in the 1930s and it became a sort of chemical world and you know that was backed up by the Rockefellers and all that we know,   But people were putting net nettles in their stew automatically,   you know, so we used to use it naturally.  

[00:58:31] Unknown:

We're just going back to basics, aren't we? That's what it seems.   Everything's doing back to I'm not gonna lie. Everything that we've been taught is wrong.   And I think this new substance is, like, brought in a a great new energy. I feel it anyway.  

[00:58:46] Unknown:

But Yeah. I mean, when when you go into the supermarket, like that last lady said, Dee, and, you   know, you go in and you can't really see anything that's that's worth buying, I think that's when you realize you're really awake. I mean, don't get me wrong. I I eat crap, so does my son sometimes, but, you know, when you can see no nutritional value,   it means, you know, you're deprogramming yourself, lot of fungi, but it's just making people comfortable with the just those   I don't do a lot of fungi, but it's just making people comfortable with the just those hedgerow plants knowing that if there are few food shortages, which there might be, that you've got the access to these wild   plants. You know?  



[00:59:25] Unknown:

Right. Well, I don't think I'm gonna have time for the outro music. I'll never get it quite   right, but that doesn't matter.   But so, Emma, a real pleasure, my lovely, and I know we'll catch up soon.  

[00:59:36] Unknown:

And thank you very much for your time. Take care. Well, thanks for your time too, Shelley. Take care. Everybody.  

[00:59:42] Unknown:

Thank you very much, Emma. Bye. Bye bye. Bye, Shelley. Bye.   And I will be back at the same time next week with another 2 amazing women.   Have an awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome. I'm trying to use up the time.   Have an awesome, awesome, awesome week. Bye.