Dashing into summer with a bit of winter mixed in

 As usual we are dashing into summer with a bit of winter mixed in if we actually do get any snow. But it is only April. 

Cleaning of basement accomplished and today the main and second floor. Fortunately the place is small relatively so doable for this going on 78 year old. This has been a week of all sorts of people stuffing my mailbox with ideas on how I could sell my house. That will come in the future I am sure but for the moment I continue. I made chicken stew last night, my favourite by far, with a chicken breast, sweet potato, lots of onion, carrots, orange pepper, then frozen peas and carrots and finally my most favourite ingredient spinach. I do love spinach and it gives everything that fresh taste. As usual there is enough for three more meals. It isn't that I do not like to cook; it is more that I like the idea that a meal is prepared for particular days that have a heavy workload whether it be research or cleaning or gardening for that matter. The broth is delicious as I start with onions, garlic and ginger root browning in the stew pot and then add the chicken to quickly brown it and then pour in the water and presto a perfect chicken sauce to then cook the rest of the vegetables. That was how my grandfather made a stew. He was a wonderful cook and I remember his meals very well. 

In between cleaning today I shall think about the Kipp Newsletter once again and it is getting harder and harder to work on. I do not know the Kipp family other than what Edward told me but I have his research and want to be sure that all of it is out there. He put hours into collecting up all the data. I think a lot of it is but this will put it all in one place in his study group. I need to look at the yDNA results. There were several Kip/Kipp families in the United States and most people are interested in whether they descend from the 1630s-1640s Kip family emigrants to New Amsterdam (now New York) or the Kipp families who arrived from Germany in the 1730s-1740s. They do not appear to be the same family (yDNA) mostly because the Kip family surname was an addition to the Hendrick Hendricksen's name; the earliest emigrant in the Kip family of New Amsterdam and not surprisingly he was from The Netherlands. Although his birth place in The Netherlands was very close to the present day German border and this territory passed back and forth somewhat. The Kipp family that came in the 1700s actually have Kipp as their surname and one of the actual descendants of the German Kipp family has tested his yDNA (he and his line are still in Europe) which has been rather handy and let it be possible to separate for sure the Kip family of New Amsterdam/New York from the German Kipp families who came at a later date. I should actually put this section into Edward's blog and will do that later today. So probably, as there are new people coming into the project, I should look at the DNA project there. He did that himself for the most part although did help with the grouping when he asked me (I love working with data and appear to have a good handle on doing that but I am a numbers person). 

Frank Stronach has it pretty right about how to improve Canada even more than it already is. I like his comments. I continue to support the idea of a Progressive Conservative party but we do not have one at the moment - the so-called Conservative party just attacks Trudeau constantly and daily. I do not care how his family spends their vacation (it would be good for his children to escape that fish bowl existence occasionally). He does a good job although do not agree with how the money of Canadian taxpayers is spent; we need actual dollars into military equipment and the military itself so that we can see it at work. We need more money into infrastructure (and not just oil); that employs people. We need to see the trades and farming for the great value that they give to Canada so that the youth wants to do those jobs. Everything requires a good education now; the way that all life is done now one needs a good education. We do not need to throw money at items hoping that it sticks; we need constructive plans to develop what is needed to keep Canada great. The money is once again getting hoarded by some; profits spread amongst the workers is a fantastic idea. Good work Frank Stronach.

Is Japan the actual country that is in the crosshairs of China? The whole idea of the United Nations was to move forward together. China suffered greatly before and during World War II (which really started in Manchuria in 1930 by the way) but we give it the dates 1939-1945 because Canada was in for those dates. Americans generally see it as 1941-1945 because Pearl Harbor was attacked 7 Dec 1941. But just as China suffered so did all of the so-called Allied countries (a lot of wonderful people died in that war) of which China and Russia (after Germany attacked them and broke the treaty between them dividing up Poland; one can never trust a Nazi) were both part. But we moved on into the United Nations and decided that the best result for everyone would be peace without retribution once the war criminals were prosecuted. That was what I grew up in a world where people were prosecuted for their misdeeds and reconstruction of war zones so that the world could again move forward. It has been good in my lifetime although the constant threat of Nuclear War has hung over my entire life (and continues) but trade has increased and developed so many countries; we were prosperous until Russia attacked first Georgia, then held an illegal and fake referendum in Crimea and then attacked Ukraine (a free sovereign state). We need more trade; more talking and considerably less war for sure to continue our excellent trading relations. Supplying Nazi Russia with the tools of war prolongs this conflict. If the Russian people do not want to be seen as Nazis then they need to stand up to their Nazi leaders (Putin and his enablers). Personally I do not care who heads Russia; I just want them to get out of Ukraine. Russia is their country after all and has a proud history that the Nazi Putin and his enablers are spoiling. 

The morning moves on and so must I. Lots to accomplish. Re-watching The 100 as I run. A few nuances that I missed the first time through. An interesting show actually and not being a fan of fantasy reading I am surprised to find myself watching these films.

Breakfast awaits.