Our "greenhouse"/ Ships/ etc.

The greenhouse connected to our house at one time was turned into a room; they call it a conservatory.   It has a wood floor, some cabinets, and a sink.  All the windows are single pane, and very loose fitting, so in the winter it is like stepping outside to go in there; but when the sun shines, the glass brings in the warmth of the sun, and it can be quite pleasant inside.  

    It's kind of like our "cultural hall," but since there's no basketball court, we got a ping pong table.
                                 It was a great room for activities during the warmer months.
                 The Elders enjoy it a lot on their P-day.  (They don't mind how cold it is in there)


                   Here is a picture of the ancient wooden warship "Victory" we saw in Portsmouth:

                            We were able to go inside, seeing everything from top to bottom,
                  being instructed about all the details by a navy guide in costume of the era.
                       You have to imagine what it looked like with all it's sails in place.



                                                A model of King Henry VIII

                       



                                      Reed, on the deck of another ship, the Warrior.

This one was a steam powered iron clad warship made in 1860.

  The middle of December I went to a local choir Christmas concert in the St. James church:

It was quite nice, and they invited the audience to sing-a-long with some of the carols.

They sing different words on some of the verses :)

"Tree of light" made on the old ship mast which is in the middle of the 

main round-a-bout in St. Peter Port.

Churches

This is the pretty stone church in the Foulon Cemetery where we held the funeral for Catriona:
                                                                         

The Island of Guernsey has 10 Parishes (cities), with St. Peter Port being the capital and largest with a population of about 15,000.  Two other Parishes have 8,000; the rest are smaller ...and all total  about 65,000 people on the entire island.   Each Parish has an old stone church, with a tall steeple one can see above the trees.

  

This is the Vale Parish Church:

We are told that attendance at these churches has declined over the past few years.  Several of the churches have been turned into other venues ... such as charity shops (used clothing)  or art and homemade crafts shops.  

This one in St. Peter Port - called St. James - has been restored/repaired and is now also used as a concert hall.  Last spring, we attended a performance of  the Messiah there.  The acoustics were great.  It is a favorite place for weddings.

  

House / Church

Having church meetings in the house you live in, is a unique experience.  It requires Saturday nights "quick clean up and vacuum," and Sunday mornings "limit the breakfast mess." :)
         
  This end of the long sitting room is our "chapel."

Our hymn # board is an old chalkboard.  If we could remove the built-in black cabinets on the left side of the room we'd have a bit more space in the isle, but we make do.

                    The partial walls create a divide in the long room; we slide the keyboard toward the middle so the sound can go forward:

Sunday School, and then Priesthood is held in the other end of the room, after

a quick rearrangement of the chairs:

And Relief Society is held in the dining room - with the table pushed to one side

and the chairs in a small semi-circle:

And this room has become the "nursery:"

It's where Elder Dame and I take turns hanging out with Libby and Niclas.

                                There is a multi-shelved library, which has been great to put all the missionary and branch supplies in:

New Members / Celebrations

                 Pictures of the two wonderful new young families that moved to Guernsey this fall:

Amrose and Caleb Holder with their daughter Libby.

He is a lawyer; they moved from Australia.

Daniel and Estrellita Guy with their son  Niclas. 

She was born in the Philippines; Daniel in England.  They had been working in Gibraltar previous

to moving to Guernsey.  

*****

Guernsey celebrates Halloween, too.  Brother Guy gave the Elders pumpkins to carve. So on Halloween - since they aren't to go out proselyting that night - they created their jack-o-lanterns.

November 5th is a unique day in England;  it's called Guy Fawkes Day (also called Bonfire Night).
It's history began with the events of  Nov. 5, 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the "Gunpowder Plot," was arrested while guarding barrels of gunpowder the conspirators had placed in the cellar beneath the Parliament building ...with intent to destroy the King.  Celebrating the fact that King James had been saved from an attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London.  Nov. 5th became an annual day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure, and is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.

Since our Brother Guy grew up in England, he volunteered to organize a branch activity for Bonfire Night.   We had the traditional food: hotdogs, jacket potatoes, baked beans, and parkin (gingerbread). Since our yard is all either grass, shrubs, trees, or laid with brick or stone there's no open space for a real bonfire.  Manuel supplied an old rusty garbage bin which contained a little fire all right.  The Elders created a stuffed "Guy Fawkes" with an old pair of trousers and shirt for the 'burning.'  We warmed up with nontraditional hot chocolate :)  We had no fireworks to lite, but we could see and hear the neighbor's.  It was a fun night, and we had one investigator attend.

England has a day similar to our Veterans Day on November 11th, called Remembrance Day.  On that day precisely at 11:00 o'clock a siren is sounded and everyone pauses for 2 minutes of silence to honor the fallen soldiers from all wars.   The Sunday closest to the 11th, is called Remembrance Sunday, and cities hold wreath laying ceremonies at cemeteries and memorial statues.  The Poole Stake sent us a wreath to be laid at the Guernsey one to represent the church.  One of our members went to the event to lay the wreath, since it took place at 11:00. during our meeting.  He reported that it was very formally organized - with a parade of groups in uniform, representing the different military segments; after they laid their wreaths, then in turn, all other organizations and businesses laid their's on the monument.  Later that week I was in town, and went to take a picture of the display, but the wind had caused havoc so I managed a shot of one of the wreaths still in good condition.

In our kitchen with limited tools, pans, and an undependable oven, our Thanksgiving Dinner was a big job, but we enjoyed it with the Elders, the Holder's and the Guy's.  It's not a holiday celebrated by either England or Australia, so they had their first "American Thanksgiving"  :)

Events

  In September there was an Air Show over Guernsey which was part of "The Battle of Britain week" in England, which is performed in memory of and gives honor to the fighter pilots who flew planes during the war.  The weather was perfect for it.
       It was an amazing display, with many kinds of planes, old and new, flying over St. Peter Port;
we saw wing-walkers, wild aerobatic loop-d'-loops, and quiet motor gliders ... and the ending was the Red Arrows - a team of 9 fast jet planes flying synchronized patterns - which was amazing.

                                                    The Red Arrows:

                                         
                                  On one pass, the vapor trails were red, white, and blue,
                                             and some of the planes were upside down....

During the show, the ferry came into port; it holds hundreds of people, cars

                     and freight vans.  We call this the "fast ferry" as it takes about 3 hours to travel
                                                             to Poole from Guernsey.  

      

                          From out on the pier where we watched the show, this was a nice look
                                        .. over the car park .. toward the seafront buildings:

    The third week of September we flew to London and met Spencer, Keeley and McKenzie !
                 Such a happy time !   So fun spending a few days with them seeing sites.

                       We loved seeing McKenzie smile:

                                               and chase the pigeons ...

 

Island of Sark

                       One of the Channel Islands is Sark.  Less than 400 people live there.
                                No cars are allowed; only horses, bicycles, and tractors.
                  From the pier where the ferry docks, tractors pull unique trailers loaded with tourists                                     up the steep hill to the little town on top of the island.  There are also a few farms                                           using tractors for the crops of hay and feed for livestock.    
                           Horse drawn wagons and carriages are used to give tours around the island;
                                              or tourist can rent bicycles to pedal and tour on their own.
                      There are some camp grounds; we've met people from Guernsey who go to Sark                                        every summer to camp for a week and enjoy the peace and quiet there.

                                       Looking from a high point, down to the ocean:

A quiet narrow lane: 

                                                          Caves at the seashore:

                                                                  The explorer:

A Granite mountain:

The earth is beautiful !

So much variety every where you go.

Guernsey and Greenhouses

                            A lovely decorative floral display by the round-a-bout in St. Peter Port

        We came upon this herd of Guernsey cows one day while driving to an appointment.

In the grocery stores, this is the largest size of milk container available. 

Guernsey milk is the only kind allowed on the island.

There are hundreds of glass green houses on the island.  Most are not used any more.

I copied the following information about them from the internet: 

***

 "Some say it all began with the tomato…Guernsey’s horticultural origins go back over 200 years when the first greenhouses were erected. Locals dabbled in grape growing but it wasn’t until the advent of the humble tomato that things really took off. In the mid 19th Century Guernsey’s growers were quick to respond to news from medical practitioners that the decorative plant was not only edible but good for your health, and by the 1870s the tomato had overtaken the vine in the island’s glass houses.

The ”Guernsey Tom” dominated the island’s growing industry throughout the 20th Century, with special tomato trains laid on at Southampton and Weymouth during peak periods to cope with the influx. Guernsey became a “glass island”, with 7% of its total surface area under green house by 1950. By the 1970s hundreds of acres of glasshouses were dedicated to tomato growing, with nine million trays per annum exported.

 Sadly, increased competition from Dutch producers and changes in the British railway system eventually made the export of the tomato less profitable, and Guernsey growers were forced to diversify." 

                                                                               ***

    A majority of growers turned to growing flowers, which was a profitable export for many years; but eventually that too was effected by competition from European markets. Other than several plant nurseries, and for local floral shops, most green houses are not in use.  Some people still use theirs to grow fruits and vegetables and some sell their produce at small roadside stands; but most green houses are totally abandoned to the foliage - inside and out: 

Guernsey activity

    The beach Regatta ....  fun on the sand at low tide.

 \

  E.Dame, E.Foster, E.Hardy...and Harrison -son of our friend James, who is being taught the gospel.                   

Some interesting fruit and veggie creations at the "Shows"...

A couple of cute tissue paper flower floats in the parade....

This is a real flower float, from movie Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang ......

It's small, but you see this one with real flowers is from the movie, "UP"....

.... frame built over a 4-wheeler :)