Rekindling Abundance

21/07/2025

Signing off these apps that contribute to and also take me away from my present day and the ones I love...

I could really do with doing more marketing etc as a few more bookings would be more than good but I haven't got round to scheduling posts yet and although the algorithm will probably punish me for it I'm going to switch off regardless...

There's more to life.

I'll be back in September (or late August)

You can still email me or if you have my number call or text me!

With love,
Hannah

✔️

17/07/2025

Happy place and happy face 😄

With one of my fave plants gifted by the lovely . Guess which one I'm talking about in the comments!

That's a wrap for the summer.

4 seasons of Herbs 🎼 Harmony. Can't believe it.

Tomorrow the summer holidays begin...

Thanks for the 📸

15/07/2025

😞I'm going to miss my weekly dose of song!

It was our last session last night until a couple of informal meet-ups in August and term begins again in September

We've officially been singing together as this group since February and I'm pretty proud of the sound we are creating together each week as well as the friendships.

We had to sing outside as our usual room was a bit loud with a disco going on downstairs which many of us were tempted to join after! But the blue sky seemed very fitting for this song!

Thanks to for this gem of a song, and for the arrangement!

And thanks to the for always welcoming us 🙏

Have a great summer singers!

30/06/2025

💚To my daughter...

My daughter brought my voice back to me, she allowed me to find it again, share it and build my livelihood around it.

Without her, I'm not sure I would have found my way to which opened up a whole lot of creativity as well as community.

I hope I don't forget to tell her just how instrumental she was in this (pun intended!) when she can understand more of this strange world we live in.

💚And to the women who sing with me every week in and the women who have yet to have found us...

What courage it takes to stand up and lift our voices and what joy it is to be part of this bunch of women building community with every song sung and every conversation shared.

I couldn't not share this photo and video that husband Jon took as soon as I saw it. Too moving for me to see our group singing with children running in and out at Rusthall Village Fete this weekend.

If you are near Tunbridge Wells, are a woman and you want to be part of this group, there is space for you! Join us!

🎼Singing here - We Shall be Known by

19/06/2025

💚🌿Waxing lyrical about plants

Maybe you have just seen my stories today about how I think improv can change our world and our communities. It's a bold statement! 💪

Well I also think building relationship with nature, particularly traditional medicinal herbs, is another key part in building a better world. A world where we welcome difference, we honour each other and we reflect on our powers to create - together.

This is an intimate group - no more than 16 and it would be lovely to have you there. Feel free to message any questions!

05/06/2025

How often do you step out of your comfort zone?

I have been reflecting on this - particularly when it comes to communal acts like eating or singing.

I'm currently in Marseille. My friend .webster.health is attending a conference, so while she's busy being nerdy, I've been exploring solo: wandering the streets, trying new places to eat, and sometimes working (or napping) in the quiet cocoon of a hotel room.

Last night Jo was busy and I wanted to try an African restaurant that I'd read about on lonely planet - it didn't say which particular African cuisine it was. I went to find it and then felt nervous as I walked past, it didn't have a terrace so I couldn't really tell what it was like inside or if there was space. It had a very local vibe as the only resturant on that street. I could just about see a big tv on the wall through the glass door with afrobeats music videos on. I kept walking and then stopped. Took a breath. Got cash out (just in case). And put on my proverbial big girl knickers.

I returned to the glass door and stepped inside, nervous about my terrible French, unsure what to order, unsure how to eat it etc.

I managed to order some food without any real idea what would be coming other than the chicken. I ordered fufu because I'd heard about it in a Yemi Alade song! And then when the food came an older man next to me said "bon appétit" and I asked in my broken French if I was supposed to eat with my hands, he nodded.

It was delicious, real homemade food, an okra stew - Gombo - with chicken and pounded yam (I think!).

Why am I telling you this?

Because eating another cultures food, especially when unfamiliar can feel scary but for me its also a commitment to connection. When we eat the food of another we are in some way saying I appreciate you, your culture and want to share your joy and customs.

It reminds me of singing, especially group singing, if you've never done it, it can feel scary. But at its heart, it's the same thing. A shared human ritual that connects us.

It's hard to know what the edge is between healthy discomfort and "not for me". But I am glad that I stepped into the fear yesterday.

02/06/2025

Singing Mamas Ashurst is now closed 😢

Despite mine and my groups best efforts we just didn't manage to make this group viable financially. And in it is just so difficult to find a venue that is available and affordable so for now we are no longer running.

Since September we really have built a wonderful community. Something that in this modern world is ever so lacking. Some women in this picture have been with me since my first session and some also sing in my evening group now too.

Over the past 10 months tears have been shed, laughter has resounded in the hall and women have heard each others reality through song and shared experience. Maybe not even really saying what's going on but being with each other. Drinking tea, eating cake/biscuits and watching each others children.

This is what community is about for me. Doing something together that is beautiful and couldn't exist without each other.

We all have something magical to bring be that the loudest voice, the warmest smile or the kindest words.

These women are the best 💚

And my Monday mornings won't be the same.

❤️

27/05/2025

"My husband's hands are ingrained with dirt.

Every crevice holds fragments of the land he has tended over the years.

Each scar holds a story of a rose that needed pruning, a bramble being uprooted or of a hogweed burn surprising him yet again.

He has to have his hands in the soil, he tells me, "no gloves!"

He says he needs to feel it to understand what it needs. I am lucky to know that touch too.

His skin is freckled and the cracks that wrinkle upon his face whisper memories of laughter, of squinting against the rain and the wind and of deep observation and contemplation.

He has tended the land as he has tended our little family.

Patiently, with care and commitment and sometimes in a rush of frustration but always with a loving intention. 

His scarred and hardened hands have held me in my pain, in childbirth, in joy and in love. 

Sometimes, I think of his hands as an extension of his heart. He shows his love in what he does with his hands. 

It is different to how I love. 

His hands and his heart are different to mine.

I study them when I can. Knowing that they are not mine and that one day will be the last day that they hold me and that I hold them.

Love your hands and the hands that hold you. For maybe they really are just extensions of the heart."

You may not realise who you you are holding with the work of your hands...

📸

25/05/2025

Wonderful to receive these words from Sabina, a recent attendee at Herbs 🎼 Harmony Spring series.

I really enjoyed the last series, we were a small group but somehow this allowed us to try out different forms of improvising with little pressure and meet the plants in close, intimate ways.

It was amazing to witness the confidence grow in each attendee and myself! Blending our voices and imaginations together.

I love how this course changes and adjusts with the seasons and the people who come and the plants we meet.

Looking forward to Summer series, you coming? ☀️


-for-connection

23/05/2025

Saying thank you...💚

Sometimes I find it hard when people say thank you to me, I don't know what to say, I don't want attention on myself and feel I dont deserve this thanks...what about you, how does thank you land in your heart when someone says it?

Having said that, when someone says thank you to me I also start to feel a warm glow in my belly and heart. A feeling that something I have done or said has had some positive impact on someone else. And there is no price that we can put on that.

I've had a busy few days, maybe months really and the photo is of some beautiful flowers given to me by and her group of women who I have been leading in song for the past few months. The truth is that singing with them every week has been something I am truly grateful for too, I've developed my skills, met new smiling babies and women and got to see my friend and her newborn every week.

Perhaps a thank you is only truly fulfilled when it is felt mutually?

I just got off the phone with my sister, we were having a good chat as I washed up. Talking about how not to be a t**t basically 😅 and it got me thinking about things...

So here is a post in gratitude to all those people, places. songs and stories that in the last few months have brought me purpose, joy and a reason to be alive. I hope you know who you are. I'll try and tell you next time I see you or interact virtually 😀

01/04/2025

25/03/2025

A Tuesday morning pondering...what do you think?

I know for sure that the more I sing, the more I feel and the more I feel, the more I get to know myself and the more I build community. It is everyday magic.