shops to avoid.

The Sunday Times has listed the shops to avoid/use depending on fairness of tax paid:
Coffee; Avoid Starbucks, shop Costa
Books: Avoid amazon, shop WHSmiths
Clothes: Avoid Topshop, Miss Selfridge, BHS, shop John Lewis
Selling:Avoid e bay, shop Freecycle
Computer search engines: Avoid Google, shop Wikipedia.

I'm safe on all counts apart from Google - don't know how to avoid.

Lovely day today, once the hard frost went - hedge cut & cleared, half-way up the garden.

Well I voted!

Along with 59 other people in Shustoke - a good turnout compared with the rest of the country.
One Polling Station in Wales had no voters, the average turnout was a mere 15% countrywide.
I believe that the turnout for the 3 bi-elections wasn't a great deal higher - Labour won all 3 .
Well done Ed.
Possibly the most satisfying result was the rejection of the day was that of John Prescott, not the Police Commissioner in Humberside.
One gravy boat he won't be in!
Yes!

Totally political tonight - I urge everyone to boycott Amazon & Starbucks until they start to pay the taxes due on the large profits they make in this country.
I don't go to Starbucks but boycotting Amazon, especially at Christmas will be a nuisance but I really do enjoy Waterstones & they have excellent staff who do know what they are talking about.

Good news - we had an egg today - the first for 3 weeks.
The less good news - winter arrived today - cold & damp, colder than CPH.
The bad news - Hamas & Israel are blasting rockets at each other & a ground invasion is on the cards.

I have a sermon to complete on Mark 13, 1 - 10 - a gift as it is set/refers to the very spot that we visited last week - the temple in Jerusalem & the Mount of Olives, just across the valley.
JC predicts that "not one stone of the temple will remain".
He was right - only the steps remain - see photos posted yesterday. & read it, if you have time.

Polling Day - time for photos!

We have done our bit & voted for the Commissioner of Police for Warks or some larger area.
We have had no information on which to base our choice apart from a phone call from the Tory Party!
Why is the appointment political?
Surely it should be the best wo/man for the job.
I was tempted to take the advice heard on Radio 4 - veto the vote.
We were voters  no 15 & 16 at midday, so no great rush on.

Cold & foggy this morning, now just cold & damp, so not a garden day - the chickens were all perching on the branches of the large shrub by the front gate - entrance really since the gate went  over 30 years ago, quickly followed by the brick gateposts, as one was "Pisa like".
A domestic day - I'm on the third load of washing - everything not nailed down!
E mails to do & a sermon to start, which I can finish tomorrow morning whilst serving in the village shop.

Israel trip seems to have been just in time - the troubles are escalating sharply after 4 years of peace.
A selection of our photos - hope they are of interest.

 Me, photographing jerusalem of Christ's day - the cardo.

 Old Jerusalem - following the Stations of the Cross.

 The Western /wailing wall - mens' end!
 Prayers are written & pushed into the gaps in the wall, removed regularly & buried on the Mount of Olives.

 Drink pomegranite juice - live forever!.

 Locals in Jerusalem.

 Jan at theEighth station of the Cross, where Jesus consoled the women of Jerusalem -
"Weep not for me. Weep rather for yourselves & your children".

 Me, in blue, to celebrate the Obama victory, in Manger Square, Bethlehem.

 The marble slab, similar to the one on which Christ was laid, in the Church of the Sepulchre,Jerusalem,yards from the site of the cross & the tomb of Christ.

 The El Aqsa Mosque on the temple Mount in Jerusalem.

 Rules for church entry in Jerusalem!

 Looking over Jerusalem, when not posing!  Note G's new T-shirt & my camera.

 Nazareth - the Cave of the Annunciation where Gabriel appeared to Mary, in the crypt of the Basilica of the Annunciation.

 Hotel room with mezuzah - prayer holder, by door.

 New York...........

 Church of the Beatitudes on lake Galilee - site of the Sermon on the Mount.

 Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven - start of the Beatitudes.

 Sailing on the Sea of Galilee in a deluge - Brian, Steve & Keith.

 The storm brewing....

 Total immersion ceremony in the Jordan.

 War memorial  in the Golan Heights.

 Haifa -  The baha'i Shrine & gardens.

 The Roman aquaduct near Caesarea - 11 miles long, some buried in sand.

 

The river Jordan for a paddle & communal blessing of each other.
 

Leaves away.

It has been a glorious day today, perfect for gardening!
We went out & cleared leaves for a couple of hours,I tackled some of the prize nettles from the top of the field, whilst G put right the damage done by Bostock's cows along the verge outside.
After showering & ham rolls we went to Solihull, had a potter, a cup of tea/coffee in M&S, courtesy of aj tokens, then on to see "Skyfall" at 5.45pm - home in good time for dinner & bed!
The film was really good, with some brilliant vintage Bond bits.
Home for Vienna schnitzels & julienne veg - all cooked & served in 4 minutes!
We've watched some TV, by a nice fire - Michael Palin in Brazil - a remarkable likeness to G, only more wrinkled/older??

I phoned the new wedding venue in the village (crippsshustoke.com, if you're interested) this morning. We went to look at the barns yesterday - only shells at the moment, they open for business next July.
I hope that they may agree to host a church do as a trial run & do some good public relations.
Fingers crossed.

Thanks for statin comments - research to be done.

Bother.

Today has had it's highs & it's lows.
After an early start, a lie in & a bath, we did the DT crossword (easy), then I wrote an account of our Holy land trip for the parish Magazine, The tidings.
G typed it up in the correct format & sent it off, whilst I went shopping, via Coleshill.
I collected G's prescription from the doctors, they had my blood test results & a cancellation at 2.50pm, so I did an economic drive to Ventura Park (45 miles to empty), shopped at M&S, had a large skinny, decaf cappuccino, courtesy of aj's premier club tokens - still 4 to us by 15 Nov - filled the tank at JS, then went back to the doctors.
I went in feeling young & fit - I was told that my cholesterol level was 6.9 (high), having risen gradually from 4.7 in 2001!  HDL is 1.7, not good enough to cancel out the bad?
This, combined with my BP, Mum's demise at 59 with a coronary thrombosis, my weight (73kg), gave me a heart age of 71!!!  CVD risk in 10 yrs, 17%.
We agreed that I was not going to take statins at the moment (be it on my own head), but would have another test at the end of January to see if it would go down with diet & exercise.
Any advice?

A little light relief - "Flog It" (recorded this pm, as usual, to watch later) came from Coventry, with the auction sale at Bigwoods in Stratford - the sale that G & I went to, when some of our things were sold,
We featured quite widely, me wearing a rather eye-catching sugar-bag pink gillet.
There was even a full screen close up of me, smiling.
Of course, this was before I knew how old my heart was.

An enormous hornet did a few circles of the lounge, having stowed away in the log basket.
Scary.
It went outside again, trapped in a coffee cup. 

Home again

We returned home from the Holy Land yesterday  in time for a nice cup of tea.
A party of 16 of us flew out to Tel Aviv last Sunday & have visited Masada, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Sea of Galilee, the River Jordan & the site of Jericho.
It has been a wonderful experience & the group, joined by  ten others, has been supportive & fun.
We have lots of photos - some to follow.
Now to lose the weight gained......

Recovered.

We woke up at 8.30am this morning!
Steve had already freed the chickens, who now rush to the back door as soon as they hear us about, led by their stomachs, not their hearts, I'm sure.
J & Th have entertained us today - we went to Solihull after lunch as G had a battery to collect, for his camera.
We had a potter & went to JL to the toy dept & then met up at McD - Th being hungry as it was at least two hours since lunch!
Back home for J & Th, who were going to a firework party -flash, bang, wallop.
G bought fireworks to put down the mole runs on the lawn - hate them to miss out on the celebrations!OW, LM & ?

Hope you could place some of the photos.