092: What I learned from meeting Fearne Cotton

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Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Canny Crystals, the podcast. As you know by now, my name is Mart, I am your host, and I've had such a wholesome weekend. Yes, this weekend myself, Francesca Amber, and Emma Mumford, we all went to Happy Place Festival, which if you don't know, it's Fern Cotton's kind of like well-being spirituality festival. Oh, it was just absolutely amazing. So to start off the weekend. Obviously I had to make my way to London because that's where it is. And I got there, Fran changed her mind about coming to meet us, and rightly so, because my train was getting us into King's Cross at like half one, and Emma was like going to be about 10 minutes before me. So we're gonna go to the hotel to drop our bags off, and then we'd planned to go back to the Barbican to meet Fran. And then Fran was like, well, no, I'll come with you to the hotel. And then she realized where the hotel was. So the hotel's in Chiswick. If you know London, you'll know it's like far out west. Way far out. So anyway, I was like, we've got 3 hours or something before we have to be at the Barbican, so we've got loads of time. And Fran was like, nah, I ain't doing it. Um, so she basically said, you know, I'll just meet you at the Barbican, be there for half 4, but trust me, you will not be on time. And me and Emma were like, of course we'll be on time. So anyway, by the time we got out at Chiswick tube station, we realized that we had a good 20-25 minute walk to our hotel. Couldn't get a taxi for love nor money because it was absolutely pouring down. I think everyone must have just been getting taxis. It was late Friday afternoon, so everyone had been finishing work. It was rush hour. And I just said, "Emma, this taxi app is just going round and round." She was trying hers, hers couldn't get it, and we ended up walking. By the time we got to the hotel, we were drenched through, and I mean drenched through. So I'd ordered, um, a quad room, and if you're like me, you would probably assume that quad means 4. That's what it meant to me. So when you Google quad room, for example, it comes up, you know, like 2 beds and 2 couch sofa things. No. We turned up, there was 1 bed and 1 couch, and the bed was made, the couch didn't have a duvet, there was 2 pillows, and we were like, what? Obviously myself, Emma, and Fran were all going to be staying in the same room, But like, where were we going to stay? So I tried to dry myself off with the hair dryer purely because I had to now make my way back over the other side of London from eating at the Barbican. By this point it was 3 PM, I had an hour and a half to go. And I went to put the hair dryer on and the hair dryer just went "pfft" and like spat out this like little noise and didn't do anything. So I was like, "Emma, please can you go to reception and deal with this and try and get us moved while I go back to the tube station and make my way back to the Barbican." So I've got this app on me phone, like, it's like a tube app. It basically tells you, you know, what station you have to get on, what side you have to get on, that kind of thing, and how long it'll take. And it said that it was going to take an hour and 20 minutes on the tube to get to the Barbican. So I was cutting it fine. So I just had to leave Emma. I rang a taxi. I'd stood outside of the hotel for a taxi for about 15 minutes, and I was like, fuck this, I'm going to have to run. I had to run. I had to run to Chiswick tube station from the hotel that we were staying in, which took me about 10-15 minutes. I didn't have my inhaler. It was pouring down with rain. Didn't have an umbrella. By the time I got to the tube station, I mean, I took a photo of this and I sent it to Fran. My t-shirt was literally stuck to me. Stuck. And I mean stuck. I had to take my jacket off to try and air dry out a bit. So anyway, I got on the tube and I think I arrived at the Barbican at like 4:31. What a bloody trek it was. Anyway, so anyway, I got there just on time. We went in and we saw the Barbican. Which is where we are basically having our event on September 26th. Tickets are available in my bio if you don't have them already. And it was just amazing because me and Fran booked this venue, spent 10 grand of our own money each, not even seeing the venue. So we didn't know what to expect, but we were shown around by the lovely Lisa, who's our events manager, and she basically showed us, you know, like all the doors and the entrances and things. There's 20 entrances to this bloody hall, but she showed us the, the bit of the venue that we're going to have that we've bought for the evening. And just as she was showing us around, there was a— they were basically packing away from a graduation that had been happening that day. And there was this man and he was stood there, and it was one of those— you'll have seen them, they go to weddings and stuff like that. It's like a platform and you stand on it and you dance, and his phone kind of spins around you in 360. But as it does, you just dance or do whatever, and it kind of puts you in slow motion. Well, Fran just broke off from me and Lisa and just went, come on, we're going to go and do this. And I was like, what? We're here to see The Barbican. And she was like, this would be good for our event. Anyway, we've got this really slow-mo video of me and Fran dancing. Eh, my God, I'm drenched. She doesn't know what she's doing. Eh, we just look like a right pair. Anyway, back to The Barbican. We went in, we stood on the stage, and we were looking up, and it was so far up for the balconies. Like it was, I don't know, it just didn't seem as intimate as I thought it would be. So myself and Fran made the executive decision there and then to cap it, and to cap it at just the stalls, which is all the seating on the floor basically. So it means that nobody will be up a height on their own. It'll mean that nobody will be up in the nosebleeds, do you know what I mean, right the way up the top. And it just means that we're going to have a much more intimate experience. So, with that being said, that means that there are now less than 100 tickets for sale. So, if you're on the fence about coming to this event, or, you know, you've thought, "Hmm, I don't know if I could go on my own," please, please come because there are less than 100 tickets available now. Like I said, the ticket link is available in my bio. I'm really, really excited for the night. We've got some amazing surprises, we've got some amazing talks. I just can't wait to talk about everything that we're going to talk about and see you all there and meet you all there. It's just going to be absolutely incredible. So yeah, so we're capping it basically at the 850 seats, which are the 850 seats on the floor. The front row, when Fran was sat there, she was like, I've got a neck ache and I've only been here 5 minutes. So we've decided to not even put tickets on the front row. So if you had VIP, you can choose to sit there if you wanted to, but we're going to do the second and the third row for the VIPs because they're still going to be the first two rows. But that very, very first row, it's just so close to the stage, it would mean that you, you know, you'd be putting your head right the way up and it really, really hurts your neck. So it's a lot more comfortable sat in the second and the third row. So VIPs will be sat there. Everyone else can sit wherever you like. Over half of the tickets— I think it's something like 56% of the tickets that have been sold so far have been sold to people that are coming on their own. And I think that's amazing because it means that you lot are going to come to network, you're going to come to meet each other. And the seating is unreserved as well, so it means that you can sit wherever you like. So really, really excited about that. Um, We also wanted like a huge projector screen kind of thing in the background to play like a video and have slides on and stuff like that, and to basically talk about our journeys, show some photos, that kind of thing. And they were like, oh yeah, that's not included in the price. And Fran was like, you fucking what? We spent 20 grand and yeah, it's not included in the price, so we're having to pay an extra 2 grand plus VAT just for that. And then on top of that, the microphones aren't included, so we have to pay £50 per microphone. So that's fun as well. So we need a microphone for me, Fran, and Haley, who was hosting. So we've still got quite a lot to pay off for this event, so please buy your tickets, support a bitch, please, I'm begging of you. So anyway, on the Friday night we went out for this lovely little meal that I booked, and I just booked restaurants that were close by to the hotel. So there was this one called Villa de Gaggiano, I think it is. I can't pronounce Italian. But we turned up and it was very fancy. I didn't book it with that intention. I booked it because it's an Italian and I thought, oh well, it's fine, Fran can get a steak, me and Emma could get pizza or pasta. Fran always wants bloody steak. But yeah, it was a beautiful restaurant and they seated us at the back in this private room that they basically said was for private diners, but in actual fact we just think we were riffraff compared to everyone else. So anyway, they sat us down and Fran has got this bloody obsession with béarnaise sauce. Please, if Waitrose or M&S or Tesco or anyone like that are listening to this and they want to sponsor Fran, go and sponsor her because she is obsessed with friggin béarnaise sauce. So she asked the Italian waiter if she could have the steak, but rather than get the peppercorn sauce, could she get the béarnaise sauce? So he didn't understand what she was saying, so she was going, "Béarnaise, béarnaise," and he turned round to her. He turned round to her and he went, "Madame, in Italy we call that ragu," and walked off. And we were like, "Fran, you're gonna have to catch him. He thinks that you want Bolognese sauce on your steak." Honestly, we had such a laugh. Emma wanted some, you know, like bread to dip in with like oil and stuff like that, and she was calling it dippy bread. My God, they must have thought we were right clampets. But anyway, the food that we had was absolutely unreal, so much so that Fran talked about it all day Saturday, and she actually wanted to go back again on Saturday night. So once Emma left, me and Fran actually went back again. And so went the same restaurant two nights in a row, and they were just looking at us as if to say like, haven't we already seen you last night? But yeah, so anyway, we all had an amazing night. We went back to the hotel, we were just chatting for ages. Fran fell asleep while I was telling ghost stories with Emma. Um, we were just mid-conversation, I was like, is she asleep? And she just totally zonked. So anyway, woke up the next day, the Saturday morning, it had been raining, it was slightly spitting on, but it was like a 10-minute walk to Happy Place Festival. We got in there and it was so weird because as soon as I walked through, um, the entrance gate, we were just taking some content and I saw my bloody best friend Josie. Um, she was doing the yoga and the meditation, so went and talked to her for a bit, and then the heavens opened, didn't it? It started pouring down. We were like, oh no, we need to manifest some sunshine here. And all three of us were just trying to manifest this sunshine, just wasn't working. We were sat underneath this little umbrella. Oh my God, the heavens didn't half open. And every time a plane went over, Fran was just going, is that thunder? Is that thunder? And we're like, no, Fran, we're right next to bloody Heathrow. So, um, at about 10 o'clock, we were told to go to the VIP section because we had a Q&A planned with Fern Cotton, who everyone knows Fern Cotton, don't they? Radio, um, radio presenter, TV presenter, talk show host. She's got her own podcast. Everyone knows Fern. So I had a Q&A with Fern, and then we're all going to go in and meet her as well. So when we went in to actually meet Fern, we were just sat in this room that kind of looked a bit like a museum. It was very well kept and stuff, and we all sat there on these chairs and It was just an amazing experience. Like, she came out and people were just putting their hands up. I think it went on for about half an hour, but each question that she was answering took maybe 5 minutes or so. And I was just manifesting that she would answer my question, and I was just sat there. Like, I even sat there while she was answering someone else's question. I sat there with my eyes closed visualizing that she would answer my question, and guess what? She answered my question about crystals. So I don't know if I need her permission to add this into the podcast, but I'm going to add it in anyway. If Fern's team are listening to this, which I very much highly doubt they will be, if you want me to remove this, please say so. But this is my little interaction that I had with Fern that Emma kindly recorded on her phone. Here it is.

How are you?

I'm very good, how are you?

Yeah, great, good.

So, um, my spiritual journey started in 2019. So I've worked for the NHS for 15 years in mental health and my granddad passed away suddenly. He wasn't ill or anything, he just got took to hospital and died. And, um, my world fell apart. And the only thing that I kind of got back on track with my mental health was by— through finding crystals. And subsequently I kept on buying them because they were obviously helping me with my own mental health. And at one point I had about 200 of them spread around my house. I spent an absolute fortune. And then I thought, I know, I'm going to start a little business here, like on the side hustle. So last March I actually quit the NHS because I earned more in a month than I did in a year.

Yes.

Um, so since then my podcast went to number 1 for spirituality in the UK alongside, alongside these two guys. I've had people on like Poppy Dalbridge, Kirstie Gallagher.

They're both here today.

Yeah, no, I'm going to meet them there. And so I think that crystals has really, really changed my life and turned it around for the better. And from where I was at the depths of despair to where I am now, I'm like 100 times better. So I want to know, like, what crystals do you incorporate into your daily life and how have they managed to help you?

That's so wonderful. Gemma, we've got really beautiful crystals in the shop. Yeah, that's why she's got the most sensational display. Yeah, crystals I love. My mum, who is— I haven't seen her yet, but she's somewhere. She'd probably buy that bloody crystal store at the moment, actually. I very much grew up with like a lot of crystals in the house and, you know, very open-minded to all sorts of things, which I think was a good entry level as a kid to get into what I'm interested in today. And I do love crystals. I think sometimes I do incorporate them into the more sort of ritualistic stuff that I might do, um, if I'm doing perhaps a meditation, or sometimes even if I just want to do a little ritual ritual, and I have to really watch the tipping point from ritual into being superstitious about things, because this morning I had great plans to come and do this little offering to the land at Chiswick House to sort of say thank you for letting me be here today. I did it last year. It was a practice taught to me by an amazing lady called Alex Bedoya, who's here today as well, and I didn't get time because I just started filming straight away, and I was like, I'm not gonna get get superstitious about that. I will find the time at some point in the next 2 days to still do that, and it will happen. So I do like to involve crystals, or like with that particular one, Alex taught me about offering the land. She's lived in, um, a lot of Mexican— with Mexican elders, um, and learned a lot of rituals from them. So we— I've got cacao that I offer, which is the sweetness, and flowers, which is the beauty, and pick— that could be anything, seeds, crystals, whatever, and make a little kind of scene, and then, you know, say whatever you want to say. So I do love crystals. I was actually told by Donna Lancaster, who's here as well today, to buy a particular crystal that I can't remember the bloody name of now, but to put it behind me. It might have even just been amethyst, but to put it behind me when I'm doing podcasts so that that's kind of got my back whilst I'm doing, especially is quite a challenging conversation. So I've got some new crystals in my studio at home now that I've got there. I've got a few on the desk. Um, I'm usually drawn to amethyst and rose quartz. I love this one, I've got that by the bed. Um, but I, I need to learn a lot more, certainly.

You should try moldavite, seriously. It changed my life.

Really?

Why? What's the—

it's supposed to— it's very like time accelerating. And transformative. So it's supposed to bring everything that you're going to go through in life in like the next few years, it'll transform it in like a couple of months. And I feel like since I worked with Moldavite, my business went— Really? Yeah. You've got tiny crystals stuck under your beard, don't they?

Correct, it'll be on their later list if you don't mind. We have such a good team, I love that. This is a subject I need to learn more about, so thank you so much for that.

Sorry if the sound quality there wasn't great, but you get the gist of the conversation. It was just so nice to chat with Fern about crystals and things like that. And so many people came up to me afterwards and I was handing out my little business cards because they were all like, where can I buy some of that moldavite? Where can I buy some of that moldavite? I've actually like done a restock this week as well, so there's tons more moldavite on the website. Had a bit of a website meltdown as it happened. I think so many of you were ordering at the same time. But yeah, there's so many more pieces of moldavite on there right now. But like I said in that little Q&A session, moldavite has really, really helped transform my life. And I think even Fran wants me to send her some moldavite because she's ready. She's seen what it's done for me, she's seen what it's done for Emma. And the more that we spoke about it in the hotel, the more she kind of thought, um, maybe I have been a bit presumptuous about it, and maybe I have been a bit too fearful of it. And I think she's ready for it. So Fran's even going to try some moldavite 10 now. But yeah, I got so much out of the Q&A with Fearne because meeting Fearne, obviously she's quite, you know, she's quite a vibrant personality. She does thought-provoking interviews on her podcast and things like that, but she's really authentic and she's really quite a vulnerable person. So she has the ability to kind of be authentic and vulnerable in her interactions with other people, and that leaves a lasting impression on me because through her work she kind of emphasizes the importance of, you know, embracing our true selves and opening up about our vulnerabilities. Like what she was saying there about doing the offering to the earth, that's kind of a witchy ritual, but some people might think, oh, what a nut job, or something like that, you know what I mean? But her willingness to share her own struggles and her challenges, that encouraged me to acknowledge my own imperfections as well, and that helped me to kind of foster a greater sense of self-acceptance and compassion. And just being there at that festival, I felt like I was surrounded by so many like-minded people. It just felt so wholesome. Like, Emma said the word wholesome and I was like, yes, that is exactly what this event has been like. It has been so wholesome. People around us doing exactly the same thing. Um, there was lots of food vans and drink vans and stuff like that, but all the food was vegan and all of the drinks were non-alcoholic. So it was just kind of a nice vibe and it was like a a healthy thing. And Fearne obviously has— she's quite a big advocate for, you know, mental health, and she's quite passionate about that. And if you download the Happy Place app, there are so many mental health resources on there. But she has a lot of mental health awareness, and she's trying to destigmatize mental health. And that's truly inspiring to me because obviously I've worked in mental health for 15 years in the NHS. So meeting her kind of reinforced the significance of prioritizing mental well-being and kind of seeking help when needed, because her dedication to raise an awareness about mental health issues. That encouraged me to engage in open conversations, promote empathy, and support those around me who also might be going through similar struggles. And it even kind of opted for me to— when I got home, I went on to my, uh, Manifest with Mart Tweedy community on the app, and I was thinking, what's missing from this? What would bring it all together? And it was the fact that I didn't have a health and well-being section. So, you know, we've got sections in there for book recommendations, for self-development, um, there's a thing on crystals, there's EFT, there's lunar cycles, there's like a general, um, thing where people can just put if they want like life coaching advice kind of thing. There's a chat room on there. But I just thought to myself, what's missing? And it was the fact that I had nothing to do with mental health and well-being. So because of Fern and because of that conversation that she had with someone else in the Q&A, I've since added in a health and well-being section into the Manifest with Mart app. And I'm just going to drop in some, you know, mental health resources and some, um, journal prompts and things like that just to get the group really thinking about their mental health. Because I do think that mental health manifesting—

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Keeping your vibes as high as they possibly can. They all come hand in hand. And by having that self-acceptance and that compassion for ourselves, it will help us manifest more in our life. Now, Fern also has quite a good talent for active listening as well, because she was listening to everyone's questions and really empathizing with people's journeys and things like that. And she demonstrated quite a genuine interest in the perspectives and stories of others. To the point that even when I was getting my photo with her, she was asking about crystals and she was asking about my journey in the NHS. And that just kind of creates that safe and nurturing space for meaningful dialogue. And what she was saying, she was saying in one of them is that, you know, just by being around like-minded people, even if you're just doing something like crafting— because there was a craft tent there, for example, and all they were doing is one of them was making dream catchers, one of them was flower arranging— and they're just simple little exercises, but being around like-minded people just opens those paths of communication. And I'll come on to that again later in the episode because I want to talk to you about the women's circle that I went to as well. But yeah, just her career trajectory, when you think about it, she was talking about how when she worked for Radio 1, she had her baby boy Rex. She took 6 months, um, maternity leave, whereas now she's the director of this huge company. She doesn't get like a maternity leave as such. So she was talking about, you know, following her heart and exploring the diverse professional avenues. Because she's now become a multi-talented individual. Yeah, and witnessing her journey kind of reminded me of the importance of the need to align our careers with our passions and nurturing our creative instincts and taking risks to pursue personal fulfillment and growth. And her emphasis on, you know, finding balance and prioritizing self-care, that, that just really rang bells with me. It was so in alignment with me because in a world that often, you know, glorifies busyness She emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries and practicing that self-compassion and that self-love and engaging in activities that nourish the mind, like I say, like crafts and things like that, but even just being outdoors because that nourishes the mind, body, and soul. And her advocacy for, you know, mindfulness and holistic well-being, that kind of reinforced the need for self-reflection and rest and rejuvenation in all of our daily lives. So it was a really, really amazing experience. And from meeting Fern, we got photos, um, and then we went to her book signing. So I took a copy of her book, uh, Bigger Than Us, and when she went to sign it, realized that I'd actually bought the signed edition, so it already had a signature inside of it. So we were laughing about that. Got a lovely photo with her there again. And then we went for lunch and met loads of you listeners. There was so many of you there. There was so many Book Club Bitches as well there, Fran's Book Club. There was so many of Emma's community there, and we just kept getting recognized. I felt like a little Z-lister. It was so nice that we were able to interact with all these other people. We were able to meet like other podcasters and things like that there. It was just such a lovely atmosphere. So we went past this little stall, and big shout out because I know she listens, but we went past the Fourth House Candle Company, and she dropped me a message the night before saying that she was going to be at the festival, would I swing by her a little stall and things like that where she was selling her candles. And honestly, she was like, oh my God, you've made my day. All three of us got photos with her. Like, she was such— it was just so amazing to like, you know, give something back to you lot. And that's what I can't wait to do on 26th of September at the Barbican as well with Fran. It was just such a lovely day. Um, after that there was a stall and it basically said about energy healing, and I was like, oh, this looks interesting. So went over to it and we booked in for this 20-minute energy healing session. So they asked us to lie on our backs. Me, Emma, and Fran all got done at the same time, and these practitioners held their hands over us. It was a little bit like Reiki, but they actually pressed on us, and they were like pressing up and down as if they were doing kind of CPR. It was really weird, but they were making this weird noise at the same time, like a— like a sucking in, as if they were sucking our energies. It felt so weird. But they picked up on Fran's lower back pain, they picked up on some trauma that Emma I was talking about. They picked up on quite a few things, um, that I'm not happy with my body. And we just felt so rejuvenated afterwards. And I was like, that was just so— it was such an amazing experience. And then from there we had lunch, we went to a belief cording workshop, which was really good as well, drank some cacao, opened up the heart chakra, did a little bit of meditation. And we went over and did this huge rapid tapping workshop with Poppy Delbridge as well, which was absolutely amazing. It was so rejuvenating. We took our socks and shoes off. We were grounded in the park itself. We were looking up at the sky. We were tapping using like EFT methodology. Oh my God, afterwards we said to Poppy at the book signing, like, we just felt so rejuvenated, so full of life, so full of energy. It was such an amazing experience. And I know Poppy's been on the show before, but I'm gonna have to get her to come back on at some point to, you know, go through some more rapid tapping because course, that little workshop itself, it was only on for about half an hour, but we were dancing around to the music and we just all felt so connected to nature. And it was so weird afterwards, myself, Fran, and Emma all said to each other, I want to do more of this, I want to do more of, you know, being out in nature and connecting with the Earth itself. And then we walked back. Oh my God, I need to tell you about the lizard. So With us being VIP, we got given these tote bags, and these tote bags had loads of like beautiful things inside. Like, so we got, um, you know, like bath bombs from Lush, um, shower gels, shampoos, tea bags. Like, all these different companies had put all of their little bits into this bag. So when we got back to the hotel after the festival, um, we were basically like unpacking our bags and seeing what we got, and there was like water bottles and everything else. And Fran literally made the loudest shriek I have ever known a man. She jumped up onto her feet on the bed, jumped across onto my bed, screamed, was hanging off me neck. And I was like saying, what, what? And she started crying and she was like, oh my God, it's a lizard. And I was like, a lizard, what? And I thought it must have been like, you know, a bit of grass or a spider or something like that. She was screaming, she was absolutely hysterical. And me and Emma were just stood there as if to I was like, what's going on? So anyway, I had a look inside of a bag and there was a dead lizard in the bottom, and I felt so sorry for it because it had obviously been in the bag or crawled in the bag, and then all the products have just squashed it. And I mean, it was tiny, it was like probably about the same size as my thumbnail, it was absolutely tiny. But Fran was absolutely hysterical, so we had a little lizard burial, we flushed it down the toilet. Rest in peace, Mr. Lizard. Um, Oh my God, it was just so dramatic. It was very, very dramatic. And then Emma went. Me and Fran, um, we did a little bit more work, a bit more planning for our event. And then me and Fran went back to that restaurant, as I mentioned. And then we got up nice and early on Sunday morning because Sunday morning Fran had been invited to a woman's circle, which was like a mother circle basically, at Shoreditch House. And Fran did a talk there a couple of months ago, I think it was.. And the lovely Linda— hi Linda, if you're listening— um, the lovely Linda kindly invited me as well. And I did feel a little bit awkward, especially going into Shoreditch House in the first place, because when we were in the lift on the way up there, I kept saying to Fran, I was like, I don't know how other mothers and other women are going to feel, because that's obviously a safe space for women, and it's a safe space for mothers, you know, to talk about anything that they want to do. And they might not feel as comfortable doing that in front of a man, even though I am gay. It just might not feel as comfortable. So anyway, I walked in. You know how I can feel energy? As soon as Linda literally gave me that hug, it was like everything just dissolved, and I felt so at ease. And she was just such a beautiful, loving, kind, calming energy. And there was like pain au chocolat and pastries and teas and coffees, and I just got one. I just sat down and I thought, I'll gauge the reaction of people as they walk in, because we were pretty much the first people there. And everyone walked in and they kind of like second glanced, kind of thing, like as if to say like, oh, there's a man here. But no one said anything, and everyone was really lovely, and everyone was really smiley and things like that. And we got sat down next to a couple of mothers, and as soon as I mentioned to them, you know, I'm going to be an adoptive parent soon, they were all like, oh my God, amazing! And they were hanging off my every word. And it was so nice to talk with other mothers and people that have like that are aware of the adoption process, all that jazz. It was just such a lovely time. And the 2 hours that we were there, we did a little meditation to welcome us all into the room, and it was just so relaxing. I felt so present, so mindful. I was just there in the moment. And then there was, um, a woman— I can't remember her name, I'm so sorry if you listen, I can't remember her name— she had a florist called Kanku. And she started that during the pandemic. And she was spotted basically by Vogue magazine, and Vogue messaged her and asked if she would do some flower arranging for them for the background of one of their photo shoots. So she had such an amazing story because she only went on this floristry course, um, as part of like lockdown boredom, I think it was that she was saying. But she is so talented. So she brought loads of flowers and we were going to do flower arranging. And I said to Fran, I was like, isn't this amazing that this is exactly what Fern Cotton was talking about yesterday, how just by doing a little activity like this, people engage in conversations that they probably wouldn't have had any other time. So me and Fran, you know, we did our amazing little bouquets. They were beautiful. They were such beautiful flowers. And at the same time, we were talking to the other mothers about adoption, about birth. Fran was talking about her twins, that kind of thing. I was saying about how I've opted for twins. They were all warning me against it heavily, but it was just such a beautiful morning. Honestly, I couldn't have wished for a better Sunday morning. I just feel like the whole weekend itself was just really, really— it— I really started feeling emotional on the train on the way home because I said to Fran, I was like, I've just had such a bloody amazing weekend. So after that Women's Circle, we, we went up to Shoreditch House restaurant. We had some Sunday dinner, which was which was gorgeous, by the way. Um, and then we went down for a walk on Brick Lane, which is just like a little market outside of Shoreditch House. And I said to Fran, I was like, you know what, I can't— I can't take these flowers on the train with me. And she said, why? And I said, it's just too much to carry. I've already got my VIP goodie bag, my suitcase, my backpack, my laptop. Everything was just weighing me down. And I was like, I'm not going to be able to get on a train with all of this and get these flowers back to Newcastle in one place. So this woman came up to me at one point and she just went, 'Excuse me,' and she had like, um, a husband there with her and the kid on his shoulders. And she just said, 'I was just wondering, do you know where you got them flowers from, please? They're beautiful.' And Fran looked at me and just like kind of gave me the eyes. And I went, 'Oh well, if you want them,' I was like, 'I'm not going to be able to travel back to Newcastle with them, so you're more than welcome to take them.' And she was like, 'Oh no, I couldn't possibly.' And I was like, 'No, seriously, I've just got them for free.' we've, we've been making them at a women's circle. And she was so appreciative, and it felt so nice giving it to someone that was truly grateful and truly appreciative of getting them. And she said that I'd made her day, and I'd felt really, really— oh, I just felt so good for that. So I got in a taxi back to King's Cross and got on my train. My train was nearly 2 hours delayed back into Newcastle, and as soon as I got off the train, I had an email to say— it was called LNER Delay/Repair, I think it was— an email off them saying, "We're so sorry that your train has been delayed. Fill this form in and you will basically get a refund." They've given me a bloody refund for the train! Can't believe it. So I got my £100 back for the train, which I was absolutely flabbergasted with, but I loved it. And I honestly think that was the universe giving me that money back because I'd done something nice for someone else. I'd given that woman her flowers and the universe giving me something back in return, give me £100 back. So yeah, that was my weekend in a nutshell. I honestly can't wait to do something like that again because like I said, just— I feel— I've mentioned this in past episodes and it does get me quite down sometimes, but I feel so spiritually alone. Like, it's just so weird because none of my friends are into spirituality. They're not into manifesting, they're not into crystals, not into the law of attraction. And I just find it weird that, you know, like, I'm having all this success doing all of these amazing things, and no one's— none of my friends are really, really interested in learning how. I've got one best friend, Nikki, um, who listens to the pod sporadically, who comes with me now and again to events, that kind of thing, and she's interested, but none of my other friends are really interested. So I do feel spiritually alone. So it was just so nice to connect with like-minded people and to share the weekend with Emma and Fran and to talk through our experiences. And for them to be at the same stage of their lives as pretty much I am as well, it just felt so, so nice. So I'm so happy with that. But one thing that I did want to mention as well is because I've been so stressed and stuff lately, I've picked up a bit of a dirty habit. I picked it up about a week before we went on this cruise. So as you know, well, you probably know if you listen to the past podcast episodes, I smoked for Oh, it must have been about 10 years, and I quit in 2013. I've never had a cigarette since, never vaped or anything since, and for the last 10 years I've not smoked. So I've been 10 years off cigarettes. For some reason, a week before we went on holiday, I picked up a vape and thought, hmm, I'm gonna vape. And I took one away on holiday with us. I bought some more while we were out there. I've not been able to quit vaping since I got back. And it's getting to the point now where, you know, out of sheer boredom, I just want to pick up a vape and start vaping. And what I've been doing the past couple of nights is I have been listening, because it just suddenly came to me, I was like, why don't you listen to your subliminal? My own bloody subliminal for stop smoking, stop vaping. Because at the minute I've been listening to Boost Your Luck, um, Wealth and Abundance, and Lose Weight, because I'm desperate to lose weight. I've put so much bloody weight on since I stopped going to the gym. And, and it's just so weird that today, like, it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon as I record this, and I haven't thought about vaping all day. And I've only been listening to my stop smoking and vaping subliminal for the last 2 nights. But yeah, I think it's clearly working. So I'm gonna stick with that because it is an addiction, and I don't know why I started vaping again, and I really don't want to get back down that rabbit hole. So I'm gonna stick with my stop vaping and stop smoking subliminal and see how that works out for me because it's working wonders at the minute. It. The only other thing that I had to mention this week— well, there's a couple of things I have to mention— is that I am going to Northern Ireland next week. But I don't want you to worry if you see us like on my stories, you know, in Northern Ireland, that kind of thing. Jade will still be coming in the office, so Jade will still be in the office like through the week. So she will be packing all the beautiful orders that you, you guys make. Um, it just means that, you know, I'll be answering admin and emails and DMs and everything like that and recording the podcast from Northern Ireland. It's no different, honestly. Um, but yeah, it just means that I won't be in the office as such, but I will still be working while I'm away. It's just that we're going over to see Johnny's dad for a week, just for a break. So we are driving to— well, I'm driving, should I say, because Johnny's crap on the roads. I'm driving to Stranraer, which is in Scotland, and then— is it? Because you go across to Cairnryan. I can't remember. It's one way or the other. It's Stranraer to Cairnryan or Cairnryan to Stranraer. But you go from Scotland to, uh, Northern Ireland. So it's like a 4-hour drive up to Scotland to the port, 2 hours crossing, and then an hour down to Belfast. So yeah, that is my Sunday taken up. And then we're basically staying with Johnny's dad for a week, and then I'll be back a week on Sunday. So next week's episode, I'll be coming live and direct from Belfast in Northern Ireland. But yes, if you have enjoyed this episode, please feel free to leave a review rate, subscribe, do what you gotta do. Honestly, it pushes me up the charts so, so much. And every time a review pops on, it like pushes me up a place or so in the charts. And I think last week I was at number 1, the next day I went down to number 5, someone left a review and I had something like 3,000 listens in a day, and I went straight back to number 1 the day after. It's just amazing what comments and subscribes and rates and reviews do for the podcast. So thank you all so much. If you've done that already. Don't forget that you can use the word podcast for 10% across both sites, across cannycrystals.co.uk and cannycrystalsacademy.co.uk. You can get 10% off both sites now. The word is podcast. And I will see you all next Friday for another episode of Canny Crystals the Podcast. Thanks very much for listening, guys. Bye!

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