Since it has been almost a year since I set up the website I feel that it is time for a check-in… and perhaps some evaluation of how I have been doing both on my progress for the diploma but also on the progress of developing this website.
A whole lot of things have happened this year. Firstly my ALP was completed and published here on the website, my one year apprenticeship offer was also published and implemented! Development of the money income flows illustrated in the apprenticeship design were set up, with the help of the apprentice furniture was moved into the seminar house “Ecolodge”, the Ecolodge website was launched and we were in business quite fast however… COVID was at the same time making it’s way and quickly we were faced with challenges like full onsite courses booked and actually having to refund participants who either could no longer make it or due to the restrictions we having to move the courses forward and forward in time until the end of the year when we actually moved them online instead. Lockdown brought with it a lot of challenges but also some clarity for me in terms of what activities I want to continue and some which I was glad were actually truncated for me. I am sure there is a design in there for this.
I don’t want to digress though… designs were happening faster than I could keep up with the documentation on the website so a bit tricky but also because I was busy getting involved with new projects such as the opening of the Rio Laden in the capacity of president, shopkeeper, HR manager, Finance manager, Purchasing manager and anything and everything that needed doing… lots to learn and a lot to digest from that experience too. At the same time I was getting deeper and deeper into the Permaculture CoLab with some funded work to keep me busy and also tons of voluntary work. What I could have done better here is to weave these into my diploma, I would have finished all 10 designs by now if I could get better at doing that. Something for my ALP evaluation perhaps. In the meantime there were some structures set up in order to keep up with the Diploma work… I set up a guild with Peach, Jessie and Amanda in June after having attended the Design Forum sessions organised by Carla Moss. The guild meets weekly, we take it in turns to present to each other in turns what Diploma work we have done in the last week. I must say it really does help to keep the diploma into the forefront of my mindset.
Most weeks I feel guilty that I have done nothing. In any case listening to what others have done and have failed to do helps to keep the Diploma work alive and I am happy to have woven such strong links with these wonderful women.
When the Deisgn Forum sessions by Carla finished I immediately signed up for the monthly version of that. I found that monthly session harder to get into because there is just a chasm of time in between and being one of the last persons in the group to present did not help my motivation, nonetheless I have been trying to attend as many of the sessions as I can when they don’t clash with the Rio Laden work. My turn to present will be in the next months so I would like to finish a design and have something great to present.
Ok so back to design updates… the 3rd Design was Creating a Learning environment, this is mostly completed and implemented but not on this website yet… something to put on the to do list perhaps I can manage it before the end of the year. The 4th Design, increase the functions of the Mandala Garden was started but not finished yet and I am actually tempted to switch it with a design for an introduction to permaculture course that I have developed in the last month, this would mean that I have another completed design that is quite ready with some additional documentation that needs to be written but the bulk of it is done.
Will continue this later…