Home Is Where Our Heart Is

Three years have now passed since we got married in a small church ⛪ In a tiny town 💐 The bells that rang out that day are now a distant sound 🔔

We officially became the De Luca Mulandiees!

Oh what a joy 💚

Since then we've embraced the rain, sunshine and through it all always found joy 🌞

We met at school when we were 11.

This year we said goodbye to being 37!

From mohawks and skateboards to quiet herbal teas.

To lean into love is where we found our destiny.

As the world changes know that our love, unlike our hair, will never fade. And to everyone reading this, know that what we stand for will never change.

Love 💚

Joy 😊

Peace ✌️

Patience 😌

Kindness 💐

Goodness 🍎

Faithfulness 🙏

Gentleness 🫂

and self-control 🏡

#weddinganniversary

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,095

Home Is Where Our Heart Is

“Nobody is going to send you to a spa.”

My sister-in-law said this to me recently, and it has really stayed with me.

She’s right. Most of the time, nobody is going to come along and tell us to stop, take a break and look after ourselves. We have to give ourselves permission.

We have to carve out those precious little moments of peace and quiet so that we can return ready to play, laugh and enjoy our children again and, perhaps most importantly, show them that it is okay to rest too.

So, while we were camping at Wowo, I escaped family life for a little while and disappeared into Wowo Wild Spa.

No children. Nobody asking me for a snack. Just saunas, birdsong and the breeze moving through the trees! 😂🌿

Hidden beneath the trees are three very different saunas. A dry sauna, a rainforest sauna and a clay sauna, alongside an outdoor shower, cold plunge and a lovely newly installed warm hot tub.

But what I enjoyed most was simply how close to nature everything felt.

I could sit beneath the trees, listen to the birds singing and feel the breeze around me. For a little while, there was absolutely nowhere else I needed to be.

A rested parent is a better parent. I forget this. All. The. Time.

Of course, I couldn’t visit without doing a little foraging! I gathered some of the Himalayan balsam flowers growing around the spa and made myself a beautiful pink flower tea to enjoy in the sauna. 🌸

I returned to camp feeling peaceful, refreshed and ready to play again!

Thank you for having me Wild Spa WoWo

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1 month ago | [YT] | 300

Home Is Where Our Heart Is

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone! How blessed I am to receive so many kind words!

But!!!

I would just like to also take this opportunity to say.

I am not perfect!

Never was. Never will be.

Our nice photos are taken amongst the flowers which bring us happiness, yes, but they are also taken within the trials and tribulations of life too.

Everyone carries more than the world would ever know.

So please don't look at me and think he's got it all together. Because I don't 🤣

Life is messy.

Human beings are far from perfect creatures. And it's within the acceptance of this imperfectness, this chaos we call life can we find peace.

Joy and sadness.
Hope and pain.
Sunshine and rain.

Nobody lives in perfect bliss. These things are part of every human life. As natural as the flowers themselves.

May God bless you all 🌸

1 month ago | [YT] | 597

Home Is Where Our Heart Is

Happy Birthday Dane 🥳

I am so blessed to be celebrating another year around the sun with you.

This past year you have been such a great dad, navigating our teenagers and with grace and joy. The teenage years are something both of us were not prepared for but you have been incredible. Showing love and meeting them where they need you to be by finding the things they love and joining them there. Watching you have a guitar play off, encouraging them to grow veggies or helping them navigate big emotions has been such an inspiration. You have truly stepped up and they both love spending time with you.

Equally, your fun knows no boundaries with the younger boys. Your creativity inspires me all the time. Today you made home made squishy dumplings and morph fimo characters with them. Taking the time to be creative and play with them. They love you to the moon and back.

Happiest of birthdays my love. I can't wait to see what the next year brings. I love working with you, seeing what inspires us and what we might create together is so exciting.

Here's to another year round the sun. Keep on being you. We love you SO much, Stelly X

1 month ago | [YT] | 834

Home Is Where Our Heart Is

Introducing our newest family member... Mr Pickles! 🐶

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1 month ago | [YT] | 423

Home Is Where Our Heart Is

Find out why Britain's Rivers are turning PINK! 🌸

1 month ago | [YT] | 38

Home Is Where Our Heart Is

Mission almost complete! 🇬🇧📚

When we first began writing World War Foraging, we had one simple dream in mind...

To preserve an incredible chapter of history we felt was being forgotten.

Why?

Because this chapter has so much more heart than many realise! 💚

The knowledge of wild food and medicine isn't just educational.

It is the wisdom of our nation’s grandparents.

The memories cherished by those of us lucky enough to have heard these stories while walking hedgerows, tending allotments or sitting beside a warm fire.

👴 A berry nibbled beneath a flat cap to soothe a tooth.

The numbing of a root held by an aging hand 🫚

👵 A belly full of blackberry jelly served by your nan.

Apples all year round stored in a musky old shed 🍎

Stings soothed. Tears wiped away. Wild greens gathered for supper. Hearty roots stretching meals and helping nourish families through difficult times.

This knowledge wasn't just a single page in one of Britain's darkest chapters in history.

It's worthy of an entire book!

So we wrote it 📗

And today, that dream reached a very special new milestone. We visited Newhaven Fort. A museum dedicated to the preservation of the history of WW1 & WW2 to discuss putting our book on the museum shelf!

To have our book being considered to have it's own space in a place devoted to preserving wartime history is one of our proudest moments.

Because we aren’t only trying to preserve this important knowledge. We want to place it back into the hands of ordinary families, so that one day we too may have the opportunity to be remembered for muttering to our grandchildren with a mouthful of mint about all the wild and free gifts waiting for those who take the time to learn about the land.

Thanks for the opportunity Newhaven Fort!

Please like, comment and share to show how many people believe this forgotten knowledge deserves a place on museum shelves.

Our first mission was to get this knowledge preserved and back into the hands of ordinary people.

Our next mission? To see Britain's wartime foraging history recognised with its very own displays in museums across the UK.

Can we achieve it?

Watch this space...

Peace be with you all
Dane and Stelly 💚

#history #historymatters #historyinthemaking

1 month ago | [YT] | 517

Home Is Where Our Heart Is

🌸 Why are Britain's rivers turning pink?

At first glance, it's one of the most beautiful sights you'll ever see...

Millions of vibrant flowers transforming rivers and streams into ribbons of pink.

But this stunning wildflower has divided opinions for generations.

Some call it a beautiful blessing 🙏

Others call it one of Britain's most destructive invasive plants. ☠️

So... who's right?

Today we're setting out to uncover the fascinating story of Himalayan balsam. From its journey from the foothills of the Himalayas to the British countryside, to its impact on wildlife, its surprising edible uses, and whether this controversial plant deserves its reputation.

🌿 Come and join us on another wild adventure!

If you enjoy the video, we'd be incredibly grateful if you could like, comment, and share it with someone who loves nature. Every interaction helps us continue making these films and inspires more people to connect with the natural world.

Peace be with you all. 💚

— Dane & Stelly

#HimalayanBalsam

1 month ago | [YT] | 59

Home Is Where Our Heart Is

Get your veggies out! 🤣 What homegrown goodness have you been growing this year? 🍅🥦🍆🌽🥒

#HomegrownGoodness

2 months ago | [YT] | 410

Home Is Where Our Heart Is

Once you realise you're just as much a part of this world as the flowers, you'll find that little bit of peace you've been looking for. 🌸

Every bird 🐦

Every bee 🐝

Every tree 🌳

Every person 👫

We all belong here 🌍

Remember that. 💚

2 months ago | [YT] | 408