It’s been a while since I have brought you up to speed on the Villa. At home, Wendy is working away at quilting – embroidery mostly – and I’m enjoying watching what she’s creating! I saw this at the store the other day and thought it fit her!

One of the best sermons I’ve heard… that was what I heard following Sunday’s message by Lt Colonel Brian Armstrong. A positive, articulate, and powerful message about the grace of God using the story of Jonah. “It’s not about the whale”!

Brian reminded us that Jonah is not a positive message on the prophet, it is a demonstration of God’s reach to those who might see as far from God and whom we would never want to be associated with…and yet God’s reach and His grace meant that these “terrible people” came to a place of repentance and belief. This is a message for our day.

My latest attempt at being an IKEA carpenter… I put the drawers into the cabinet on the wall! I wish I could say I got it right the first time…but…the final product seems pretty good. Philip will come and make the final adjustments. The instructions that IKEA gives are so well done and even I can manage it!

And on the garden front, the plants are growing fast… I hope not too fast! The daisies are coming along but the tomato plants are really surging.

The AGM is coming soon for The Villa as I mark one year on the board. I am slowly settling into the group and helping them see different ways of doing business.

Speaking of business, it appears that Donald Trump the businessman is in as good a financial position as he might portray. He’s been unable to get anyone to insure his debt to pay the $454M he owes in his fine to NY. If a billionaire can’t get his hands on half a billion, then maybe he isn’t what he says he is. Let’s see what happens next week. (Yes, this has nothing to do with the Villa – I just think it is fascinating).