'Give us today our daily bread'

It's both tough and exciting living by faith...however, I'm still trying to work it out. How does one live by faith? I think it means believing and trusting in God and His Word that He provides for us in every way. The Bible says in the book of Hebrews that 'Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.'

This Wednesday I'm gathering all my friends together to share all the great stories of the summer. That's the main reason for the night, to allow people a glimpse into my roller-coaster life that living and working in Ibiza brings. I know that at some point in the evening I'm going to ask people to consider 'investing in me' (to use my friend Brian Heasley's words).

My house mate Helen and I need to raise a staggering €2600 to pay our landlord so as we can move to the farm. We're going to move anyway, but it means that we'll both have to pay 2 lots of rent each month. YIKES! As it is, i don't receive enough to get by at the moment...and you know what? - at present, I cannot 'see' where the money will come from, apart from God's amazing kindness. At times I'm most definitely NOT certain, yet today, i believe.

My prayer is 'God, please provide us with our daily bread.'

'Chez Bruce'

So i am preparing for this coming Wednesday night's event at my Church here in Notting Hill, London. The main reason for the event is to communicate to my Church family and to my friends all of what i am doing with 24-7Ibiza.

Am planning my very simple yet tasty menu of Soup and Bread. I love baking bread and i just found out that my Church receives literally bags of fresh bread from this unbelievably posh little food shop in the heart of Notting Hill. Although i was looking forward to all the baking, it does make it cheaper and takes the pressure off getting it all done. Basically - RESULT!

Am going to make a Leek and Potato Soup. What more does one need on a cold (and it is bitterly cold) Winter's night here in London town? It's a Nigel Slater recipe too - from my friend Ruthage, and although I've not made it before, I'm relishing the opportunity to make it a good 'un. Love that man Nigel...

The evening will include a video clip of our work from You Tube, some pictures of the 24-7 team and our work, and of course stories of the summer's work and my hopes for the New Year. It's going to be a great night!

Picking Oranges

Let me ask you a few questions: Have you ever picked an Orange from a tree? Ever picked several Lemons right from the tree and used them for cooking?

Well, i can now tick that from my 'to do' list. I have picked Oranges and Lemons from actual trees and they smell amazing.

Yesterday, myself, Brian and Tracy all popped to see Sarah at her Finca near Santa Eulalia. She has a beautiful place right on a hill and there grows there an abundance of Citrus trees. It's pretty amazing to see them all and now is the time to harvest them and the trees are brimming with fruit, all ripe and ready to eat.

In fact all over Ibiza you can see trees of Oranges everywhere, and quite often I've thought of just stopping the car and winding down the window and nabbing a few. But that's stealing...so Sarah's house will have to do. Until we grow our own that is.

'River Cottage' in Ibiza

Brian, Tracy, Ellis and Dan gave me my Christmas pressie today. I can't tell you how excited i was to find out it was a cookbook, and nothing other than Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'River Cottage Cookbook'. How lovely of them!

I nearly wet myself. It looks amazing, and its main idea is to cook your own-grown vegetables and animals. How cool is that? And what with our new farm, i am already dreaming of great home-grown, home-cooked food.

Bring on the celebrations. I'm sure this book will be the first of many 'cook your own...', 'grow your own...', and 'build your own...' books. I'm not sure about the latter one, but the former two - bring it on!

"Chez Bruce"

One thing that I'm really looking forward to about being back in the UK is being able to catch up and see family and friends. I've missed them! I love catching up over a coffee and hearing people's lives; their stories; their ups and downs and hopes etc.

I'm hoping to try and kill several birds during my time in the UK. No, I'm not a serial bird-killer - not yet. I'm planning on hosting a night at my Church in London in Notting Hill. It's called "Chez Bruce" and it is my attempt to see all my friends at once and also share with them my stories of living and working in Ibiza.

Westbourne Grove Church is my home church, and they've been supporting me in such a large financial way. If it weren't for them, i do not think that i could live out here and work for 24-7 Ibiza like i do. Chris Thackery, my pastor, is more than happy for me to host an evening enabling me to share all that i do.

I'm inviting loads of people, and i hope to provide some sort of food too...not quite sure exactly what though. Definitely some freshly-made Bread. Please come if you are in London on Wednesday 7th January at 7:30pm.

The Finca

The Land

Today, the 6 of us drove to our new Farm and checked out the land and did some walking. As our house in on the top of a hill, there is alot of land that takes you down into the valley. We were like, 'Where does our land end?' It's pretty crazy to think that we'll have use of so much space.

Unfortunately we weren't able to look inside the house as we weren't given permission. But it was great to walk, or trek around the hill. The views across the Island are stunning and i know it'll be great to finally move in and make it our home. We are already talking about what we'd like to grow and what animals we'd like to keep. It's going to be very exciting!

Helen and i then took a trip up to the very small Chapel on top of the neighbouring mountain. It is possibly the smallest Chapel I've ever seen, and it looked like a 24-7 Prayer room, with writing scribbled all over the walls. Some of it might have been graffiti, yet you couldn't help but think they were prayers or names of people remembered and loved. There were several large notebooks in there too, with pens and paper available. It seems like it's a popular place with local Spanish as there were many Spanish prayers written down.

We could clearly make out our farm from up the top and I'm sure we'll be visiting this place many more times.