First there was the learning, the intense study; the rote memorisation; the collecting and detailed labelling; the crushing and mixing; the separating and boiling; followed by the endless hours of observation and documentation…then came the practice: the endless haggling, the monotony of making the mundane dyes and material treatments. A banality alleviated only by the occasional request for tincture, salve, ointment or ever so rarely, a remedy for a complex affliction - so called lost crafts in much of the world- in reality, an inconsequential procedure for an educated and inquisitive mind…yet underneath it all was the eternal sand and the memories of a semi-nomadic youth.

Then came the darkness. The ‘war’ that tore societal routine asunder. The destruction and desolation compounded by the necessity to learn to survive and overcome. This time was fraught with anguish and suffereing, punctuated by the frantic search for new compounds and alchemicals; remedies to battle the ills of the darkness. The countryside laid waste, society in ruins, one where the darkness, even after its disappearance, had fundamentally altered the flavour of the land and the humour of its people. Therein was born the years of wandering, a new start, a search for freedom from the pain and suffering, an the attempt to eek out a living wandering the desert,the search for peace and uniqueness again, and above all knowledge and answers…