We bought a new lounge sofa and two chairs at an auction on Wednesday. The lounge suite we had was very good, and has served us well for about ten years. It was leather, very large and comfortable.

The problem is that we moved to a modern house, and the suite was just too large. It was easy to keep clean though, and although the sofa seat had come unstitched, I sewed it back up with a curved needle so it still has lots of life left in it. 

The delivery men men came yesterday with our new purchase, so I spent all yesterday afternoon vacuuming it very thoroughly. Now it is in situ, it is perfect. The sofa is bigger, but fits perfectly along the wall, but the chairs are smaller and lighter. It is wonderful and exactly what I wanted.

I hope our old sofa and chairs, which have gone to the auction house get a good home too. Perhaps if it goes for the same sort of money as we bought this one, we will have just swapped, and given the auction house their business cut.

I also bought 15m of fabric to cover the new sofa and chairs. This was half price down from £40 to £20 per meter, and it is Italian cloth from Laura Ashley in shades of blue with dragonflies on it.

I Just bought the whole roll, as I will make cushions if there is enough left. The pattern is woven, and it looks beautiful on both sides of the fabric. It reminds me of the weaving of the Curtains that were woven for the Tabernacle, where there was a different pattern either side of the cloth.

Having sat on the chairs last night, I think I will go to see the upholsterer and find out if I can get new foam cut for the cushions. I fancy something that doesn't 'give' so much. These feel lumpy, and as the dog will sleep on them, will need a memory foam topper.

It will be interesting to see what the total cost will come to, less what we get for our sofa. I can't imagine how much a totally custom sofa would cost me to have made.

I just like to find creative ways to save spending lots of money! I might start taking photos of progress, and start another little blog on this site for creative projects.

I love recycling, and renovating.

​Hope you have some great ideas for your day, and your great plans to help the world be a better place come to a reality that exceeds your expectations.

I bought four white climbing roses for my garden a couple of years ago. One is doing OK, the other two not so well because they don't get enough sun. I dug one up and took it to the garden dump, as it just seemed so diseased.

The dog is a digger and digs up my plants. I have one in a corner where it is just surviving. It is fenced off from her, but I know it won't grow well there. I just caught her trying to dig under the little fence I put round it to keep her away from it. I told her off, and now she is sulking in her chair.

She also destroyed all the parsley that was growing around the base of my palm tree. She won't change. I had to take all the white tulip bulbs out of the garden last year because she was digging those up and actually ate one. Another expensive checkup at the vet to see if her bloods were OK, or she had poisoned herself.

I have just decided to move these two white roses completely. I will put one outside my front door, and the other one on the other side of the garden gate. There it will flourish as it will get the sun, and hopefully be beautiful climbing up the fence and over my archway to the garden as I hoped it would.

(I did replant the two roses over the little front door porch to my House. I also took cuttings, and all are shooting, so plenty of hope for roses in future, I tried the rooting in potato method!).

There is a problem with this as it is Parish land, and they don't want flowers or bees and butterfly mix grown along my fence to make it look pretty for walkers passing by. They just want to be able to mow and strip it easily. I can understand their point of view, but I would love to make it pretty.

I am thinking I could use a large container for my rose. I have one. So If I am told to move it again I can just put it somewhere else. 

I am am going to see if I can rescue and re-plant those little parsley plants before it gets too dark.

I just can't help thinking of how this is an analogy to the Israel-Palestine situation right now.

If President Trump can build a big beautiful wall to keep the Mexicans out, and any desperate to escape Americans in, then a proper wall built on the agreed boundaries might be a good start for this ridiculous situation.

All those settlements the Israelis have already built in the formally agreed Palestinian, lands should belong to the Palestinians. (Unless the Palestinians actually want to renegotiate their boundries). I think the Palestinians have been badly treated by everyone in this situation, especially if they had their homes bulldozed and no formal agreement of sale for the homes or land.

​Bulldozer? I think God might be so hopping mad with his chosen people he will send in a wrecking ball of his own to give them a shake up. It might remind them in who's name they are behaving badly.

​The first thing is to get the water and power back on for the Palestinians, it's going to freeze soon.

I began to get vey worried before Christmas about that ice sheet in Antarctica shearing off. I was worried because it would slow down or stop the Atlantic gyre. Also that I have lovingly with Gods help planted and grown Five large olive trees in my garden.

I felt God wanted me to buy these sick and choked up Olive trees, and learn how to get them better, so we can grow our own Olives. I was horrified and have chatted to God a lot about climate change, and then asked him how my trees will survive such harsh winters if the world where I live became so cold in winter.

My Olive trees are doing fine and in faith I have not covered them, nor mulched them up with garedening fleece, as it is costly, and the trees should be fine down to minus 10 degrees without protection. Below that I think I would lose them.

strangely I have self seeded parsley a lovely herb to have in winter self seeded coming up. They did catch a frost some mornings but soon perk up during the day. I used some last night.

I have been watching the weather patterns, they are amazing to say the least. 

I asked God, in the name of Jesus to protect us from harsh weather. I have also asked God in the name of Jesus to rejoin that deep rift in the ice in Antarctica, re-freeze the Arctic, and sort out that permafrost. I thought melting permafrost would release a lot of greenhouse gas.

I want us all to survive. I want us all to value one another and be good neighbours to each other.

I want all of Gods Creation, and his Creative Process to be honoured and valued.

This is my prayer for me, and for you if you are reading.

May you be truly blessed in the knowledge and power of God, 

And come to know a personal relationship with God, through the loving sacrifice that Jesus made, so we could come to our Heavenly Father as co-heirs with Jesus Christ.

May you also be filled with the Spirit of the Living God, Who revealed himself through Jesus and The Prophets, so that you are equipped to live a life that is full of praise and wonderment each day.

For the mighty and wonderful work he does in this world, and in each and every one of us who chooses to follow a path of peace for his names sake.

May you be blessed richly in love and reassurance of His wonderful plan.

I just spent two days doing a meditation and art course. I have enjoyed it although I feel drained. Perhaps that isn't the right word. I completely engaged with it and it was a strenuous exercise.

Today I modelled a rose fully open, like the white climbing roses that grow on my fence. I was going to put the clay back in the bag, but our course leader suggested I use it for a ritual.

I brought it home, I will have to take the board back to the Jersey Arts Center when I have done it.

The clay will just melt away into the soil if it is left in the rain, as it is Jersey Clay.

It's a gritty unpredictable clay, but feels wonderful. I am going to place this rose beneath my white rose climber, and allow the clay to dissolve into the ground around the rose.

In placing it there I shall imagine the Earth healing. Being given back what has been taken from her through unprecedented industrialisation.

Let the Earth heal herself. 

May my little act act of love and devotion to all that God has given us for our sustenance, and for each other's sustainable benefit heal each other as I have begun a healing process this weekend.

With love Joy and peace to you, if you are reading this.

May you be blessed with an enduring sense of God. His presence in your life, and His direction in all your comings and going, thoughts and actions. May each word that you say have an affirming and positive effect in your situation. May you start a positive change from within, as I have begun to change from within and grow into myself, and accept myself more.

May all who seek peace, be resolved to bear with each other's individuality, point of view, and unique perspective. The joy of working with each other, and hearing where we come from in our life stories is liberating.

I felt as though each person I spoke to in the last two days showed me myself, like looking into the mirror of my soul. No wonder I feel a little tired!

​Peace, Love, Joy, and patience with ourselves. Most of all cherish each moment we spend together with our friends.

My New Year resolution.. make new friends!

When I painted this, I was wondering how to manoeuvre the Earth. To slow it down if needed. My mind was full of calculations. I imagined the Tulips as parachutes. These Tulips grew in my garden.

I planted yellow and red, but the hybrid happened all by itself. The painting has seemed to fade since I painted it. The sunshine on the vase is minimal compared to how I painted it originally. It almost took out a third of the vase.

I spent weeks on the painting, and then obliterated the vase in seconds. Now it doesn't look bad at all. It has been in my loft for a few years.

​Well here goes. Let's see if it loads!
​Perhaps I could lift off the rest of the paint, yet the vase does need the sun on it.

​I didn't crop it very well.

I just mess about on an I-pad. I take a few photos of the dog sometimes, and write here, check any e-mails, and that's about it.

This I-pad eats my diary, so I decided to go back to a little diary and a pencil with a rubber on the end.

The other things I have a problem with are web browsers. 

If I look at news on Google the news is totally different to the news on Firefox. 

When you you look at the demographics of Firefox with a very nasty take on the world events and news, it tallies up with countries and places where there is most unrest and racial predgudice.

I don't think this is just a coincidence.

I can't watch video clips with google chrome and go to Firefox to use the video clip player. This means I am being diverted to use Firefox, and being subjected to an alternative world view than I choose to participate in.

This seems to me some kind of subjective programming. I am not happy about it all, and I want to know why this is happening. Our use of the internet is being restricted, and also our world view distorted through what images and ways in which our sensibilities 'pick up' a world view.

I am feeling like I am being manipulated, and I am going requesting a snow bombing for the culprit. I am hoping it isn't my backyard!

I understand many Syrian churches and homes have lost their Icons due to desecration.

I know my Icons are mostly not blessed, except perhaps the first one I did of Mary mother of mercy and tenderness. I can't remember if any others were blessed.

I was thinking that I would like to get back to Icon painting, and would be delighted to send Icons to Christian Orthodox families to replace their Icons.

We have a qualified tutor on our island, I must contact her to see what can be done.

​Anyway, if any Icons on my site are acceptable, I am more than happy for them to be printed off, and blessed by a priest. Just my morning thought on waking up.

Where I live we are blessed to have potable water. 

Yesterday I got annoyed by a tap in a cafe. One of those that you press, and then it lets out a certain amount of water. Only it wouldn't stop flowing.

I think the wall machines our public works uses in public toilets are better, and they are tested. Although when I went to use one the other day, the cleaner had forgotten to switch it back on after cleaning it!

Us locals have to pay by the cubic metre for water, and because we are an island, hopefully everyone is water conscious.

It isn't necessary to wash your hair twice by the way. It's usually clean after one wash. That saves on shampoo and water.

The same goes for flushing the loo. We all use the motto, 'if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down.

I think on an island this is good practice. If I go to the ladies and find a yellow, it doesn't bother me. I just think the last person has been responsible with water usage.

We do have a desalination plant, that can supply half our island water. I wish it could produce hydrogen too, but that's a different subject!

Oh, the other thing was a piece of brownie with walnuts in it. I had a taste of it, and told my husband not to eat the walnuts as they were rancid. Very bad for you rancid nuts.

We get the most beautiful walnuts in France every season. What we buy here are the stale ones from the previous season. I wonder why...

​I explained the problem to our lovely waitress, and she came back to tell me the shelf took the whole tray of brownies off the display. We also weren't charged for the brownie.

I agree that we should control the use of fossil fuels, as we have far more ways to create energy that are sustainable. The Earth can't cope with such high levels of mining. Originally all mines were open cast. Australia removes cavernous amounts of the planet for ore.

The other thing I think causes global warming, and changing weather patterns are huge dam complexes.

​Rivers are supposed to flow as a means of recycling water, minerals and pure water to the lands below them.

There isn't a problem with using the principle. Just smaller catchments and staged levels of water drop to keep the water flowing. During the drop using modern hydro electric turbines, slowing the water with meanders and speeding it up into turbines with gulleys. Then you don't lose the land for a reservoir. 

This was used used in ancient times by the Arabian culture. They obviously used a different technology to harness power from water, but I remember seeing it somewhere. 

I am am sure it was for irrigation. Pumping water.

Horrible that the Jewish community are getting bomb scare calls in America. I have a deep respect for  Judaic thought, culture, and tradition. Pity about the political situation, but the worshippers are not the ones who are making political decisions.

There is a huge disparity between a religion and it's religious leaders, when the leaders say they are making decisions based on religion, and the religious doctrine is at odds with their leaders actions.

I made a very broad sweeping statement in a previous post, which was not thought through. I am still not thinking clearly. 

We we are all compromised by our understanding of the past. The truth comes from individual stories.

I sat with an elderly gentleman today who has dementia. He was as lucid as he has been for a long time apparently. His enduring memories were of his youth plowing three in hand deep ploughing before the Germans occupied Jersey. This was the happiest year of his life.

I don't know if Jersey ever had any reparation for occupation here. There was slave labour used by the Germans, Spanish, Russians, Ukraine, ... and cemented into our island their lives and heritage.

Of note is the German underground hospital, where we tell the realities of this invasion, and remember it. .. Many Islanders put their lives at risk of firing squads, for another woman's son.

Right now we need a new hospital. It is going to cost us about £400, million. If I were to say this was a reparation for our island for what all of our island has remembered every liberation day, it would be a great way to put my own cards down on the who wants what table!

​Not a lot really, considering the impact the occupation has had on the psyche of this island.
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WWe are having Australian Lamb which we bought in France for dinner tonight.

I don't think the French are heavily into sheep farming. People keep sheep, but they don't seem to farm them as much as cows.

The best lamb is salt fed from the estuaries in France though. It is worth paying a huge premium for it. Rather like the Japanese beef.

The UK are farming Japanese style beef now.

The Brits are also making excellent Brie and Camembert type cheese.

Of course there are lots of New World wines out there to try.

We should get some excellent world produce when we are out of the EU.

I grew up when 'Home and Colonial' was the high street supermarket. So much produce, and served from behind the counter.

Perhaps we could have a new version of this and call it 'Home and Commonwealth'.

Nice idea for the day, the weather is glorious, a little chill in the breeze, blue sky, Moon still visible.

​Lovely day for a dog walk.