That’s for taking an internal policy of limiting the age of purchase to twenty one for buying an assault rifle. There will be a backlash from the gun mad group.

​Its the right thing to do, and it’s a start. Well done you guys.

Well done the youngsters. We aren’t hearing much about your protests on this side of the Atlantic, but you must have already put up a good account of yourselves to get this result. Keep going... for as long as it takes.

​Young people have nothing to lose and everything to gain, it’s going to be your world the moment you have the vote. Perhaps you could put your own candidates forward to vote for. It would only be a question of time before you change the wallpaper, the carpet, and redecorated the Oval Office.

I think you might be getting the hang of real democracy too. It’s not about what people do in parliaments that affect people’s lives, and they don’t really know what’s going on so they don’t actually get a say in the decisions their country takes.

Real democracy is when the Government listens to the majority, not a minority who seem to have excess sway or power for some ‘politically correct’ reason. That’s why referendums are important now and again. Look at Brexit. That was a surprise result, The reality of trying to leave the EU is a bit of a joke. However, the Brits voted out, so other than walking around with a placard saying Brexit not a lot has happened except selling a lot of newspapers, and a lot of daft discussions on TV. The politicians are only just beginning to get to grips with the ramifications of calling the referendum.

This is just how it is in politics. However when people themselves decide to change, and to simply stop doing something like buying guns, the problem and the difficult politics is irrelevant.

At the moment in Europe, the Dutch are bringing in plastic free isles in one of their supermarket chains. As a matter of conscience. Well done the Dutch Supermarket. Very forward thinking. They have got biodegradable plastic trays that can go on the compost heap, just the thing to plant my spring seeds in next year if everyone rolls them out.

​Its not legislation that people follow willingly. It’s a general opinion that something is good, and it benefits them, their families, and the planet. People are doing a great job. We don’t really want to leave our children and their children a trashed world.

I simply can’t believe it’s Peanut Butter. Not as we know it though. Dreadful.

I came in from walking the dog and needed a snack. Having spotted a jar of Peanut Butter in the Larder, I fancied a little bit of homemade bread with a big spread of peanut butter on it. What’s wrong with this? I thought. 

I did did manage to eat what I had given myself, and within ten minutes had a sugar low for twenty minutes and had to sit down as I felt dizzy. You guessed, I got the jar out again and had a look. It was called super snack Crunchy Peanut Butter.

Peanuts 90.2%
Sugar, Emulsifier E471, Hydrogenated Soyabean Oil. And salt.

On the Nutritional information it lists 10g of sugar per 100g product. That’s two heaped spoonfuls.

What was also interesting that after I had some homemade duck soup for lunch, I felt I really needed something sweet again and ended up eating four of my Medjoul dates. Sugar is addictive in foods. There is no doubt in my mind about it. It’s an instant addiction as well, worse than Smoking I expect.

The British government keep sounding off how everyone is obese, and it is affecting the NHS. That children are getting diabetes, and they are all overweight. How is it that a childhood staple, (so long as you don’t have a peanut allergy), is allowed to contain so much sugar.

I have just had a full Health MOT. I smoke and do very little exercise. The results were staggering.

All functions normal. Blood pressure 107/62. Total Cholesterol HDL ratio 2.4  LDL 2.3
QRISK 6.3 % (likelihood of heat attack or stroke) Diabetes risk 5%

However I smoke a 25 g packet of tobacco a week, and probably drink right on the 14 units of alcohol possibly a bit more. Red wine is known to be good for your Heart! Oh and I don’t do any excercise to speak of. Just a meander with an aged dog.

I also eat a huge amount of Butter and fat. For instance that Bean Crock has all the fatty skin cut up and put back in it. I usually eat marmite or vegemite on a lot of butter. Sometimes I manage to find the bit of bread I started with... I am sixty and on the plump side of not actually being overweight. I know I have fairly good bone density.

What I don’t do is eat Sugary foods or add sugar to my diet. Eating the peanut butter with sugar in  gave me a funny turn. My husband suggested mixing it into the next batch of bird food I make.
I wouldn’t give it to the dog, so I don’t think I will give it to the birds. I can’t take it back because I opened it.

​I have asked my Husband to take reading glasses with him when He is shopping. He says He prefers to do the shopping, He loves the Supermarket. I tend to just go and buy what I need, He likes to browse around. I hate wasting food, I just don’t know what to do with this Peanut Butter.

Another thing I may as well make from scratch.

What did turn up from my health MOT was being low in vitamin D. I have to go back and talk to the doctor. Somehow I doubt the follow up visit to the £190 will be included. I get my car serviced every year, I thought it was about time I booked for one each year. The Westfield Health top up policy my Husband and I subscribe to is excellent value, and they now offer a lump sum annually for an MOT.

The general symptoms of low vitamin D fit my rather obscure symptoms well. Fatigue, aches and pains, especially lower back pain. And guess what, very high incidence of depression. So yours truly will have to go Herring fishing. That’s the best source of vitamin. D in food. 

We were all given rose hip hip syrup as kids during the winter. It was cheap back then. Now the pharmaceutical companies have hijacked it as a supplement for arthritis and put the price up 1000%.
I will make my own rose hip syrup with honey instead of sugar for next winter. It might be worth looking to see if there are any rose hips about still, as they are better after a frost.

Its a good thing I like Herring! I don’t think my husband does. I must check how much anchovies in oil have vitimin D, as they are delicious. The Medjoul dates have the minerals that help to assimilate vitamin D, so that’s probably why I am craving them. The Dates, Honey and maple syrup are not a problem in small quantities for me. I have a little dribble of maple syrup on porridge in the morning.

No wonder I was raving about the quality of the smoked fish in Russia when we visited. There were little bits on the breakfast buffet. It’s interesting that farmed salmon only contains a third of the
vitamin D of wild salmon, so no point in laying in a stock of smoked salmon. I wouldn’t be able to afford the wild stuff!

Vitimin D is very good for people that get SAD syndrome, like me. The winter blues. It’s
understandable that the Scandinavians, Russians and Canadians who all get very dark winters eat lots of Herring and oily fish it’s full of vitimin D. 

​Probably the the cheapest way to get my dose is order the vitimin D salmon oil for the dog, and we can share it. Apparently it’s brilliant for their coats, and stops them going senile. Perhaps it will do the same for me. I think I might order Her some later!

This is the other Local name for our delicious local potatoes. Mmm... the season is beginning.

It was called a Fluke, because there were ordinary potatoes in this field in St Ouen, and the potatoes just turned out like this. They weren’t special bred, they just happened. Perhaps the conditions made them change. Anyway the first ones began to multiply, and everyone liked them so they became the main attraction in the potato world!

The season is getting off to a slow start though. This is where Brexit is biting us like this cold snap we are getting at the moment. We normally draft in seasonal workers to help plant and lift this crop.

It is backbreaking work, as the best fields are cotils. Steep small fields on hillsides facing the sun. These are the fields planted first, then they are wrapped in plastic sheeting to keep them warmer. The plastic sheeting is used over and again and then disposed of safely.

This is a hand planted crop, and hand lifted so that the beautiful little potatoes are not damaged by machinery and forks. Our ground is rich and fertile. The farmers are taking special care with every seed potato planted. Each one is given fertiliser right in the planting hole. This saves on fertiliser and cuts down on blanketing the fields with it and causing large run off into the water table.

In the old days they were fertilised with sandy seaweed. Many fields are still given this treat. It is all labour intensive. There were pictures in our local paper at the end of the summer last year showing an old vraicing cart being pulled by a dray collecting seaweed. This is how it was done before tractors. 

All the slipways on our island have a special surface laid so that the dray horses could get a grip on the slope. The stones are laid so that the edge is raised up where the horse can brace itself against the stones to pull the cart up the slope. There are wonderful old lithographs and pictures by Blampied of the Farmers collecting vraic, which is the local name for bladderwrack seaweed.

Anyway a supermarket in the UK was pulled up last week for selling potatoes packaged as Jersey Royals. So beware, there is only one real Jersey Fluke.

This is a very tasty, nutty flavoured little potato. It is kidney shaped, has a very delicate skin when it is new and just lifted. It Can be easily bruised and damaged. It needs cosseting from the time the seed potatoes are hand chitted. This is where the seed potato is lifted and then put in special Jersey wooden trays with a handle, and stored in lit sheds over winter. They are stood upright by hand to make them sprout from their eyes, these are the little roots that form in a deep purple colour. These are very delicate and have to be handled with care.

Our problem now, with the poor exchange rate for the British Pound, is that our traditional seasonal workers from Europe don’t find they make enough money to make it worthwhile coming here in the early February days, to work in the open in the cold, in backbreaking work to plant these gems.

We have Romanians this year for the first time, but the news is that out of 60 employed by one farm, only 15 remain. The work is too hard. They are not going to make enough money doing it because the exchange rate has stayed so low. They have gone home.

We are going to have Flukegate on our hands if we can’t get these little treasures in the ground. Our farmers are delayed anyway, as the ground was very wet, now this week it is going to be frozen. So the early crop will be at a premium. These are the very small exquisite potatoes for the Easter feast.

I am going to go and get a half tray this week and plant them in a potato growing bag, if the field grown ones are possibly going to be late, and at a huge premium even locally, It is a good idea to grow enough for the traditional Easter treat in a small spot in the garden.

We have a competition in the schools too. It is growing the potatoes in a bucket. The young children enter the growing competition, then on a chosen day everyone’s bucket is emptied and the new potatoes weighed. The winner of course is the one with the most weight of Jersey Flukes! It is on the radio all day while the weighing is going on. This is a bigger event than a big Horticultural show. It’s delightful.

The only comparable potato is the French Noirmoutier potato. These are good. They aren’t Jersey Royals though. They are not kidney shaped, waxy, and they don’t have the nutty flavour.

So if you are looking to buy this delicacy this year, make sure you cook it like we do. We give ours a light wash, but keep the skins on. You should be able to rub the skin off easily if it is rubbed, but we leave ours on. Just bring them to the boil and turn down immediately to a simmer for about ten minutes.

These potatoes are expensive in the first lifting, so if it’s your first time cooking them, just cook one so you get an idea how long to cook it for. This is the chefs perks of course. Just strain the potatoes in to a very warm but not scalding little dish and lavish them with good butter. Jersey butter just tastes best on them. The very yellow local butter from our Jersey Cows.

Do not put mint in with them! It is sacrilege. You want to taste this little potato, not a scraggy bit of mint. Put the mint on the spring Lamb you are going to eat the Jersey Royal Fluke with.

And enjoy the most wonderful taste trip. They are worth every penny to have this traditional taste of Spring food. The first real Spring crop. And make sure you are getting the real thing. Not some imported lookalike that wasn’t grown in good Jersey soil.

They are really meant to have a bit of ground on them, it keeps the flavour. We have to wash and pack them here as British housewives don’t want to buy our bit of dirt. Anyway if we wash it off, we can keep it, we don’t want to add value to your potatoes with our bit of prize ground!

My Husband bought us an Indian takeaway meal from Iceland. It was the Mumbai range. I think it’s because He likes to think I have a night off from cooking. He prepared it.

We don’t use a microwave, and I have asked Him in the past to take meals like this out of the plastic trays and cook them in glass dishes as I can definitely taste plastic. People think I am being picky but I am not.

I am as blind as a bat, but my hearing is above average, and because I rarely eat artificially sweetened food, even though I smoke, I have very acute sense of taste. I managed three mouthfuls of food before saying I was sorry but couldn’t eat it.

I got the packaging out and totalled the weight of the sugar in these dishes. It came to over 40g.
I never put sugar in home made curries.

I can understand the Royal Pilaf having a high sugar content as it has dried fruit in it, but this still adds to my sugar consumption. I save myself for a date. Now I have got over having them I am only needing one a day. There must be something in Dates my body needs. 

In trying to explain how much sugar there was in this food, I got the scales out and measured out 40g of castor sugar for Him. He was shocked. He said no wonder people have an obesity problem.

I don’t eat a lot of processed foods and sugars for a few reasons. The first is sugar makes me go high. I am Bi-Polar. I do not want mood swings. 

Another reason is the Candida fungus. I believe that cancer grows in our bodies when Candida proliferates and gets outside our gut. You can get filaments of it in your brain even. It feeds on sugars.
I think the real root of the explosion in cancer in our current age is this combination of plastic and sugar. The sugar in foods that are processed makes the food hotter. When they are reheated in plastic, the plastic can buckle, this is melting plastic.

Then the plastic leaches into our food. We eat the food too hot because it is like a jam heat. The food is hotter than it normally would be without sugar. People don’t let this sort of food cool long enough before eating it, so there is a risk of damaging our aesophogus as well.

Have you ever noticed how tomatoes always get very hot when they are cooked in something. It’s because they naturally have a high sugar content. If I cook a dish with tomatoes in it, like lasagna for instance, I leave it to cool for 15 minutes before serving it. It tastes better anyway.

I asked my Husband why He wouldn’t ask me to make Him a Thali meal? He just said he wanted me to have a night off from cooking. I feel mean not eating the food. He ate it and enjoyed my portion. However He has promised to look at the packaging and check the sugar, and if He decides to buy this sort of food again, that he will transfer it to glass dishes to warm it up.

My main concern is managing my mental health issues. But I don’t want to compromise my body either. My Husband seems to think that if a processed food is sold in a shop, or freezer cabinet it will be safe. It might be OK for Him to eat ice cream, and sugary Indian take away type food, but I don’t want to go High, then suffer a low, or end up eventually needing to go into Hospital and being put back on mood stabilisers.

I am not even hungry. Those few mouthfuls have disrupted my Leptin response. I feel full which is wrong, because I was beginning to feel hungry before we sat down to eat.

I have said to my Husband I would be more than happy to research all the dishes he bought and make them. I am sure I would enjoy them if they were authentic, and made from fresh ingredients that day.

I decided to start a stamp collection. I bought a couple of albums of first day covers at our local Auction house. Now there is something very Jersey. We have a weekly auction. It is an amazing experience to turn up and have a browse and decide to buy something. Sometimes we go to bid for the fun of it. They have a great burger van. It’s the only time I would eat a burger or a bacon roll.

Often I put in a bid and let the auction house bid on my behalf. I decide on my top price and leave them to it. Then I am not tempted to bid over value for something. Anyway I got the two stamp books I chose. I liked the dinosaur stamps.

Well a few days before Valentine’s Day someone put a plastic bag through our letter box with some stamps in it. Our local stamps. The ones from the Norman series with the first day cover with the William the Conquerer seal on it.

My Husband said I had to open them, but because they were not from anyone, there was no note with them I didn’t feel comfortable with that. Anyway He told me to open them. They are lovely Stamps. I have put them in the stamp album I bought so I know where they are.

Anyway, no one has come to our house to ask for them back. I am going to ask the neighbours if they were expecting them. I did ask my Husband if they were a Valentines present from Him, He says no.
Anyway I think He might have wrapped them or something. I have asked people I know I mentioned that I was starting to think about collecting stamps.

Today a lovely stamp of the Jersey King George V1 series came on an A4 letter to my Husband. I asked Him if I could have the Stamp. I will keep the whole envelope as it is addressed to Him.

Its strange how something suddenly becomes interesting. I like the history and stories stamps tell. They are beautiful little things. I suppose if I want more stamps I ought to write to people more often. I can’t remember the last time I simply wrote a letter to a friend or family member. 

I think its a lovely way to keep cherished memories. I have letters from my parents. Treasures I get out every now and again and read. It’s surprising how much reading a letter evokes a sense of that person being with you. Very nostalgic perhaps.

Sometimes with modern technology perhaps we lose the tactile sense of presence, and the emotions reading someone’s handwriting gives us. The way they flourish some letters, or their writing becomes slightly changed as they tell you a story about something, as though they can’t wait to tell you. A letter seems to span time. It’s as though you are reading it with the writer, as they write it. I think letters are very intimate and personal.

Another nice stamp for my collection. I think George V1 had a stamp collection. It was the drain company that sent it with their bill! Wouldn’t it be nice if we got our bills with nice stamps instead of franking machines. I would like that.

I went and bought an analysis pad yesterday, ready to start doing manual accounts. The stationary shop did not have the old red accounting ledgers, I suppose no one uses them.

I was having my usual mulling moment with big G this morning, and He suggested I tried learning Exel. Why I hadn’t thought of that I don’t know. I just had a bit of ribbing about thinking God wanted me to be a Luddite.

Obviously using the paper to get set up in my mind what information I want is a good idea, then I probably would understand better how to set up the spreadsheets. I like a challenge. I am pretty sure I have got Exel. I am not even sure if that is how it is spelt.

Anyway I am better with a book on something like that, so I will have a look round the charity shops first. I can imagine it’s the sort of thing people buy, then when they understand it, they give the book away. If not I will have to go to a bookshop. Sweet. Another job I can learn with my pal Big G.

I am cleaning my lovely oven this morning. I have been saving this job, as we planned to try out crispy Chinese duck. I did it the first time last night. I will make some modifications to the process next time. Still, cooking Duck makes a mess of anyone’s oven. It was delicious though. I am going to make duck soup with the carcass.

When I was speaking to kitchen designers about my kitchen, you have no Idea how I was pressured to have two ovens. Nope I said. I want just one, all singing all dancing pyrolytic oven (Or paralitic as my Husband keeps calling it). I just want the one oven that has a cleaning function.

Now it is a joy to cook really messy fatty things like duck, and know that with a small amount of Tender care, one drop of washing up liquid, and 400ml of water the oven can be pre cleaned effortlessly. If it did need a fat burn off, which it will do today, a light setting on the pyrolitic self clean seems enough. And not a nasty chemical in sight. It only seems to need a clean after a heavy roasting session, and the pre clean is enough mostly. Deep joy. 

The other benefit is it is how much nicer I am on oven cleaning duty. I used to hate doing it. No more nagging my husband about spilling things in the oven and not wiping off before they burn on. He loves cooking, but boy could He trash the oven. So worth every penny as far as I am concerned. I waited nearly four years to get the kitchen done so we could afford what I really wanted. 

The great part of saving up, is knowing you really do want something. You wouldn’t bother setting aside, and having a good scrimp without having a project up your sleeve. 

Ha, I am still smiling over the Exel spreadsheets. I guess God likes a good set of visual graphs and pie charts as well. I was wondering how I was going to cope without having a spreadsheet. I was having withdrawal symptoms.

Another nice project Big G is lining me up For is recovering my Bible. I have an NIV study Bible. It is falling to bits. I did recover it a few years ago. I think I described it before. Anyway for some reason I felt I had to rip off the cover I made for it. I had a gold thread going through the map of the world through Jerusalem.

Anyway I was just mulling over doing this job. Big G wants me to make a much more flexible cover for it. The one I did before was quite stiff, and it wasn’t giving at all. It was also covered in faux ostrich skin. I liked the idea of burying my head in it I suppose. Anyway, that wasn’t right either. Sand is suffocating, so was the inflexible cover. 

I am sort of getting the idea idea of how to cover it. All the pages are coming loose. If I handle it much more, I may as well turn it into a scroll! I do t think Big G wants me to think of His word as being inflexible. It is succinct and full of inspiration for our lives. It is easy to turn it into a rule book though.

I think God reinvents His presence to every Generation. He doesn’t change. He isn’t fashionable in the sense of a fad or transient whim. He does evolve His way of communicating with us in every season of our lives though. It’s a journey. Sometimes we are in the mountains, sometimes by the lakes and streams. Sometimes in the desert, and we definitely go through wilderness years.

​In all these places in our lives God has a special relationship with us. He brings us through these places as our guide. He is my guide to the galaxy as well I suppose. I saw a shooting star yesterday morning. I was going to look for that Earth Star, but the sky clouded over. I got the real thing whizzing past earlier!

I do have deep concerns about the impending severance from the EU. As I keep saying, I didn’t get a vote, and it’s going to affect the Channel Islands, all the overseas territories and all the expats living in Europe. It is also going to affect all the European people who have made their homes in the UK and contribute to society there.

What concerns me more, is the impending trade deals with the USA that will undermine the satandards of care, and food security of the people on the mainland. I just would not buy chicken that has been bleached, or milk that does not meet the high standards we have developed. How will we know what products contain milk that has been allowed into the food chain from cows with udder infections. Good grief, do the people in the USA drink this milk? It’s just wrong to have antibiotics in the food chain. We are trying to combat MRSA. What’s the point of limiting antibiotic use for Humans, and allowing them in the food chain.

Its wrong both morrally and hygenically to have a cow in pain with an udder infection not being treated. Our milk standards in Europe are very high. Our animal welfare not perfect, but very good.

Don’t ask me about the transport of live animals. That does upset me very much. It’s an area of European legislation that needs addressing. Why transport live animals when we have refrigerated trucks, and you can transport more meat in a refrigerated truck than jamming live sentient animals in cattle trucks and subjecting them to awful conditions for hours in the heat on motorways.

It was an awful image I took away from a visit to Italy last year. We took a day trip to Venice, and seeing live animals being transported on the motorways was heartbreaking. They were abject. It is quite unnecessary.

I am a meat eater. I am increasingly feeling that the less meat I eat the better it will be for animal welfare. We ordered a Chinese take away on Saturday night. I won’t suggest it again. It didn’t occur to me about the meat, nor the ingredients. It was all sweetened. The takeaway for two was enough for four meals, so we finished it last night. I will teach myself to make the Chinese food from now on. Obviously Chinese food is sweet and sour, but I think I need to experiment.

I digress. A lot of that antibiotic contaminated milk will probably end up as baby food, also dried milk additives, or creamer for coffee machines. Biscuits, pre made custard, rice pudding, the list is endless. 

The UK government are trying to get a trade deal with the USA, and on this issue alone, accepting dairy products that do not conform to our standards is frightening. The long term health risk unimaginable. Can anyone needing surgery for a hip replacement, or a heart operation imagine what the world will be like when we can no longer use antibiotics.

The other issue is the animal welfare that allows this contamination of the milk to be allowed. The cow should be on antibiotics, in which case the milk should not be used. We are trying to battle MRSA, not invite it through the front door.

No animal that has been given antibiotics should be in the food chain for a quarantine period after administration. It is appalling that animals are given antibiotics to fatten them up. I have my dog on antibiotics at the moment. She had a nasty cough. We took her back to the Vet after four days on antibiotics, so the vet could see if she was responding, or still had the infection. It was still bad, so she decided to continue the course to ten days. Her tummy is all tight.

The dog is suffering from the antibiotics. She is well enough in herself, but her coat isn’t right. She is playful, and eating well, but I can tell. She gets a little buttermilk with each meal for the culture. At least we know we are doing the best we can for her. As I keep saying our family pet gets better treatment than the millions of people denied medical care. It’s a scandal.

Losing free movement of people will be a disaster. If we have to get visas to travel in Europe, I think I would find out how to sue the British Government. It’s a loss of my personal freedom. You can’t have Free movement of people, and then take this privilege away.

What is the point of leaving the customs union? Somebody explain this to me in language I can understand. Why would you want to make it more difficult to transport goods and services throughout Europe? This was the reason we worked towards these initiatives. It will increase the cost of imports drastically. You will have lorry drivers sitting for hours while their goods are processed through multiple borders. You have to pay the lorry drivers, you will need more trucks in transit. It’s mad. Why are the UK government pushing for this?

What did people think they were voting for when they voted to leave the EU? To take back control of their laws? Say goodbye to the hard fought for employment protections the EU has developed. Expect the welfare system to collapse any time soon, and the USA to annex everything from the National Health Service, and sue every company that contravenes their competition Laws.

Expect a corporate raid from the USA if you lot leave the EU. No wonder they are fed up with you lot in the European Parliament, fancy allowing Nigel Farage to represent your interests abroad. His one agenda has been to get the UK out of the EU so the USA can send a raiding party to an exposed shoreline somewhere near you. Remember the Vikings, expect worse. This will be corporate rape and pillage.

I hope the British Farmers get mobilised. They have a lady as President of the Farmers now. The French Farmers are very good at getting their point across, perhaps some rather extreme methods, but they are effective. A pile of Cow manure outside No10 Downing St, would catch a headline.

Perhaps Horse manure would be a better statement. The UK is being flogged to death, and traded for horsemeat. Expect that in your beefburgers if you leave the EU.

Its almost 5am. I am going to get my accounts up to date and finish my tax return. I may not pay a lot of tax, but I pay mine on time. We get a ten percent discount if we pay on time. What’s the point of delaying the payment and then getting a 10% fine for late payment. I would slap that on the corporations who haven’t paid their tax on time as well. If I have a moral duty to pay my tax on time, and don’t deem it neccassary to add a further ten percent to my governments coffers, it leaves me that ten percent to give to charity. Now that I am going to Church again, it covers my weekly donation. 

I might just just look into tithing it annually soon, as the Church should be able to claim any tax back.
God is very good at accounts. I am going to ask Him to help me do them. He likes the maths! Also we get to negotiate our budgets, and account for the use of our money. I like the idea that God is generous. We get to keep nine tenths of our money, it is blessed and multiplied in effectiveness. Don’t ask me how it works, it’s just a side benefit. I suppose like getting loyalty points, special deals, and air miles. He is very strong on not having any debt either.

He can’t bless our money if we have debt. God doesn’t compromise His own laws. He can make special dispensations and be merciful when we get things wrong thankfully. But standards are standards. God hates the bondage debt places on people. If I take any loan out that involves paying interest, the blessing I get for my money will go out of the window. I have learned my lesson on that one.

​Even I got tempted the other day. Then I suddenly realised what I was thinking. Yikes, so easy to get trapped these days. I like to save up for things. When I get them I enjoy them more. It also means I have plenty of time to change my mind before buying something. Right gird up the loins of your mind girl, and get that paperwork out!

There, I spent twenty minutes looking for the connector to the transformer to my laptop and couldn’t find it. I think it is in the bedroom with the camera charger. I am not going to wake my Husband up trying to find it. That’s a bit of quid pro quo for being rude to Him when He couldn’t find the part for His car the other day!

In the meantime I have made some bread, and got a duck ready to cook tonight. We fancy trying crispy Peking Style duck ourselves. I had t realised we would be eating Chinese style for three days when we got the duck out to thaw. We wanted to try it out ourselves to see if we could serve it to friends, so this is a practice. Everyone likes pancakes and crispy duck hopefully.

In the meantime I was mentally girding my loins for the bookwork. My old laptop is on its last legs, and I have a sneaky suspicion it will simply die of old age soon. I am being challenged by God to do my accounts manually. Two main reasons, the first is that I object to paying a monthly subscription to use quicken, and have my stuff stored on the cloud. The second is that I don’t want to pay for that either.

I can surely go back to manual. I won’t get the instant reports, but if I just do it weekly instead of monthly it’s less of a chore. It is easier just to have a book to do it in and simplify the process. My Husband is very helpful in that he writes down all the expenditure in a big A4 notepad. Then He staples all the receipts on each page. A page to a month. Then I can tally that with the statements.

The thing is, I am six months behind with entering into the laptop, because we had a huge house upheaval having some building work done and a new kitchen put in. Hence the loin girding to tackle it. 

Big G is suggesting I do it manually and to simplify the process. Then I won’t think of buying another laptop when this one crashes, and I can do whatever needs entering as it arrives. I also won’t have to bother with buying a subscription for an accounts package and pay for data storage. Big G also says it will do my brain good to get a bit more exercise. We can do it together, because He likes the Maths!

Well that’s a weight off my mind. I will get another scrapbook today. I might even check to see if I have an old ledger from my business days. At least I won’t have to worry about data security or pay for that either. The Tax office can always check the hard copy if I take the ledger in. 

So that’s Four savings.
No potential new laptop.
No subscription to an accounts program,
No subscription to data storage,
and no subscription to internet security for the laptop.
I am not even going to bother pricing up what God just saved me in cash. Plus it’s more accessible to me. I won’t have to sit in the office to do it. It’s a nice view, but it’s a cold room in the winter. I would rather sit by the fire and keep it up to date.

Another word from God on that sheet I got yesterday...

For I am your best counsellor says the Lord. Therefore, bring all your concerns, bring all your worries to me. And I will advise you.

Its great advice thanks God! I shall be looking forward to doing this job with you as well. Another little snippet from my daily word from God book, which is probably about 70years old, is;

Doing any kind of work unwillingly, fretfully, with complaint and murmuring, hurts the life.

Not just our own life, and our relationship with God, but everyone else around us. Tutting over things all the time isn’t very gracious I suppose! No I am not aware of doing it, but I do notice when other people do.Still, life can be irksome sometimes. Like not being able to find things.

What a joyful service. The New Life Fellowship at Communicare. Believe it or not, we’ll just believe it, the message the preacher gave us was exactly what God called me up on this morning. 

There is is only one Standard, and that is The Holy Word of God revealed to us in His Bible.

I don’t acknowledge Jesus enough. Jesus saved me. Jesus bought my life with His own at Calvary. He died horribly on a Cross, having been mercilessly beaten up, whipped to within an inch of His life, Scorned, disowned, and had his beard pulled out, and a Crown of thorns forced into his skull. The most gruesome appalling death over a prolonged period of abject mutilation.

It is not a death to be taken lightly, or airbrushed out of our thoughts with constant platitudes and sugar coated pills of forgetfulness.

It cost God everything to sacrifice His own Child, Jesus Christ so that I might be saved. Not just saved, saved to Eternal Life. To live a life set apart from the World. To live a Holy life. Because God says ‘Be thou Holy, asI am Holy’.

I have a lot of faults. I am a sinful person. The Bible says we all fall short, and are sinners. There is nothing different about my sinful nature to everyone else’s. What God does promis us, is that through believing in Jesus Christ we are saved from that sinful life. In believing in Jesus we are a new creation. That we ask for God to put His Holy Spirit within us and bring us to the Perfection that is Jesus Christ.

Well I am off to walk the dog with my Husband. I have a page of wonderful prophesies that have been given in this little church. I am promised that I will be given some backdated ones. 

Here is one one from the 21st of January.

’Yes I have councilled you.
I have instructed you in the way.
You know my voice.
You know when I lead and direct.
Rejoice, because you know me.
As you know me, you can follow me, and hear what I have to say.
My instructions can become more explicit, as you spend time in my presence.
For I delight to be with you.
I delight to see you.
I delight, My eyes light up, and a smile comes to my lips
because you are here and I am beholding you.

I never expected to come away with such a specific affirmation for God. I feel like a deer leaping on the mountains. There are lots more. This is the affirmation every Christian receives from God. 

Brilliant. Thanks God. Keep me on the straight and narrow way, I can’t think of anything I fancy doing more today than cleaning the car with you!

I wake up at some unearthly hour in the morning, like this morning with a very clear phrase in my head. Not every morning, sometimes I sleep through. It’s as though I wake up more wide awake than normal, with a sense I must write it down before I forget. So I come here now and just try to get my thoughts down.

This morning it is just that phrase. ‘No more double standards’.

I try to examine myself first. Does this mean I am living by double standards? I suppose we all do. We are human. We all condemn others for the very things we are blind to in our own repetoir of faults and shortcomings. 

I do do find myself having a moan quite often. Perhaps God is saying to me that I should examine myself when I am having a gripe about something. I find it difficult to understand other people and the things they do. Or don’t do! I think I lack empathy with people who don’t see their own shortcomings. Who moan about their situation without wondering why they are in it. I also don’t tend to want the company of other people. I am quite insular. However I do enjoy going out and socialising to a degree. I was invited to lunch the other day and had a wonderful time and laughed so much.

Unbeknown to me I had been invited to lunch by a group of Christians. We spent the whole lunchtime talking about our faith. It was as though there was a Holy bubble around our table. We had lovely food. The real banquet was the conversation. Anyway I have decided I want to go and worship with them today. 

Perhaps God is saying to me, ‘You can’t call yourself a Christian and not go to Church’.

I also felt when I first woke up, that this ‘No more double standards’, was to do with politics. Specifically foreign policy. It does strike me that imposing an ideology such as democracy on other people, while not actually having a functioning representative democracy in ones own country rather a double standard. The pot kettle black type of politics.

The sort that says it can interfere in other countries affairs, when your own are not in order. When glaring injustice is rife in your own country, and you accuse another country of having a despot leader. Or not having democracy, and having poor human rights when you have people homeless on your own streets. When you have people living in abject poverty, and not giving them the help they need to become independent, and capable of managing the demands society places on us all.

To send bailiffs after debtors and imprison them, when the country is in terrible debt. To be a lawless, corrupted leader, or politician and expect the general public to live within the law and pay their taxes, and be model citizens.

To give tax breaks to people who are already unimaginably wealthy, and leave the poor to scavenge in bins to try to find their next meal. To waste taxpayers money, not account for it, and then say there is no money for Health and social services. Or to repair roads, or build good social housing and keep it maintained to a high standard.

To go and destroy the infrastructure in someone else’s country, make millions homeless and flee for their lives, when your own internal policies do not allow for those people to be given refuge with dignity.

It isn’t just corruption, it is collusion as well. When political policies are formed to suit major corporations, or lobbies. When those policies only serve a minority, yet the majority have to live by new laws that undermine the very fabric of society. Then complain that there are riots, and the electorate are campaigning against your self preservationist agendas.

One of the subjects that came up over lunch was the right of same sex couples to get married in Church. I find this an interesting subject. In my Bible, and the definition in the Liturgy of Christian Marriage, God says He will Bless the union of a Christian marriage. Defined as the Spiritual joining of one Man and one Woman in the estate of Holy Matrimony expressly for the procreation of children.

I have no problem with anyone getting married in church. Male couples or Female couples, Or any other gender preference the people getting married are. It is wonderful that God is part of their lives, and that they are Christians.

I explained it like this, as there was a banker present. If you apply for a credit or debit card, you will probably get vetted before it’s sent out. If you qualify for one, the bank sends it, then you get your PIN number separately. However you can’t use it until you phone up the Bank and get it endorsed.

The Holy Estate of Matrimony as described by God is quite specific. If you do not have the right criteria, how can God endorse the Marriage? We can go through all the ceremony of all of the Sacraments. Not just Marriage. There are seven of them. If we do not meet the criteria for those Sacraments, I am not sure how God can endorse them. After all, you wouldn’t have your own funeral while you are alive... I am quite happy to wait for mine.

Perhaps I am on the Autistic spectrum or something. It seems pretty clear to me. I don’t have a problem with anyone getting married in Church. It is up to God to bless the Union, not me or anyone else. The same as taking the Sacrament of Communion. If I am not right with God and my Neigbour, how can God bless this Sacrament to me. I must come to God knowing I have done all I can to present myself as an offering to Him. The wonderful thing is, when we come knowing how far short we fall of being right with Him, knowing that we are indeed a sinful person, He graciously accepts us just as we are.

So yes, I have been called up this morning to make myself aware of just how much I condemn other people for falling short, and not realising I am living by a double standard. I am a sinner. I am a complainer. And with a jab in the ribs, God just told me I don’t respect my Husband enough.

Its all true... I need to do something about this.

Husbands are charged by God to love their wives. My Husband unquestionably loves me.

Wives are charged by God to respect their Husbands. I am coming up Well short of fully respecting Him. If I don’t show Him the respect He deserves, I am also disrespecting God, and the Holy estate of my Marriage. I am also disrespecting myself. Because we are One Flesh.

​I deserved a wake up call. Thank you God. I am definitely going to Church today, and expect to hear a specific message to me. Something I can take away and mull over. Something that will enrich me as a person and make our lives better together. God promises blessings that are overflowing when we allow ourselves to fall in line with the way He sees things. I need to fall in line a bit more often!

Sheesh. God says I have to clean My Husbands Car! I am not going to fall into the same trap the Disciples did and ask how many times! That will teach me a lesson. I am already looking forward to it. Whenever God tells me to do something He hangs out with me while I am doing it!

Ha! I was coveting the very nice cleaning kit in the blue suitcase that came with the car. I hope I don’t get an allergic reaction to the products. If I don’t, I am going to ask the Garage if I can buy another one to keep in my car. The her and her’s cleaning kits has a very nice ring to it. The wedding band that has survived the test of time!

Sheesh and double Sheesh! I heard Himself getting up so put a pot of coffee on for Him. After morning pleasantries I informed Him God had told me to clean His car. He asked how often, so I said for good. The downside was that I now owned the car cleaning kit. 

Believe it it or not He has just happily polished the Hob, as well as emptying the dishwasher. (He loves the dishwasher). The Hob wasn’t dirty, but He was happily polishing it! Perhaps He just can’t see the car is dirty. It’s just as well He has selective sight, He obviously doesn’t see my shortcomings very often!

I have given myself a headache. Sometimes I think it’s quite useful to be thoughtless in our choices. It seems this doesn’t last very long in my own experience.

I love dates. I don’t normally eat dessert or cakes. I rarely eat ice cream. I don’t eat anything sweet really except dates. I don’t even want chocolate. I prefer not to eat anything sweet... except dates. Oh and ripe figs if they grow on my fig tree. Delicious.

I decided that if I wanted dates to eat I should buy medjoul dates. The deglet dates we can buy are so often dried and then reconstituted with glycerine. This is not the same.

I get stomach ache when I eat sweet foods. I ate two mini mince pies last Christmas, then suffered for hours after. I don’t have a problem with Dates though, I thoroughly enjoy them.

I decided to buy my first box of Medjoul dates the other day off Amazon. I suppose with postage it came to about £11 for a kilo. My treat I thought. Make them last a few weeks. They are delicious.

I didn’t think too much about where they came from, but decided I wanted dates from Jericho. The City of Dates. I loved the idea of this being one of the oldest inhabited settlements. The Biblical connotations and stories and history of Jericho. The dates arrived yesterday, and I must have eaten five of them. So deliciously toffee flavoured, and not the artificial sweetness of the reconstituted deglet Dates.

Then this morning I felt low and miserable. I suddenly felt I had to look up the political situation, as these are Palestinian Dates. I ended up reading quite a bit about Hamas, and about the political background of the Palestinian viewpoint. 

Yes I do understand the background. I will probably read more about it. Try to understand it all better. The newspapers do not give a true picture for the casual reader of the background to these issues.

I have agonised over whether I should have bought my dates from Jericho.  I have spent a lot of my day mulling over this.

I have decided that I do want the dates. They are the one thing I truly enjoy. I have decided that I am buying my dates from Jericho for the reason that it is The City of Dates. I just want to enjoy my one sweet treat without a guilty sense of not understanding the Palestinian situation.

​As far as I am concerned, all farmers and food producers all over the world deserve good money for their produce. So I am just supporting people who grow Dates.