A study of Deuteronomy

The Untold Story of the Kingdom of Judah looked at the Book of Deuteronomy. I am finding this so interesting and I listen to each one twice just because I might have missed something so a second through works well for me. I love modern learning for that ability. After listening the first time I decided to reread the Book of Deuteronomy and will probably rewatch the lecture as I would like to think about the Book with respect to what has already been said. I never really knew in any great depth the History of Israel (ancient) other than what we learned at Sunday School and I did do some reading on that in my teen years. Israel, as it now exists,  I have a much better understanding of the creation of the Modern State of Israel. 

But then when I was a child Palestinians were sneaking into Israel, in particular the schoolyards, and murdering Israeli children. One does rather carry that memory especially given that the newsreels in the early 1950s still were showing the Concentration Camps from the Second World War. I definitely formed a lot of my current opinions at that time and life has not changed them overly. Partly because the UN informed us that they regularly send 500 trucks a day into Gaza. I find that somewhat unacceptable given the empty land there where the people of Gaza could be growing their own food and a lot of it (that would keep them busy instead of sitting around hating Israel). The Rohingya would love to be able to grow their own food; they would love a space to live in. I think we need to review where the monies that are given to the United Nations are spent. I also think that Palestinians in North America could have done far more to bring young children from Gaza to here to protect them from the war (instead of creating so much trouble with their protests). Looking after young children is busy work and it would have helped the people in Gaza so much. We did that for the children of England during the Second World War. As this is written up in the history books, the fact is Gaza attacked Israel. It is neither here nor there whether or not a country can defend itself; no one has the right to attack another country, break in and commit barbaric crimes again the babies, children, women, men and elderly people and then drag away nearly 250 babies, children, women and men and the elderly and keep them hostage for over six months in inhumane conditions. A country that is attacked will attack back (a caution for the future). When there was a ceasefire, that was broken by the aggressor Hamas (and they do represent the Palestinian people who voted them in) possibly because they do not have enough live hostages and are trying to hide that. I think we just want this war to be done and Hamas is the problem. They need to get out of Gaza so that rebuilding can begin. Apparently Egypt's trip to Israel has given new hope to talks to release the remaining hostages. The video released by Hamas of the young American man (he has lost his lower arm and hand and obviously in need of care as he looks drugged). It is dreadful that Hamas is drugging these people; how disgusting of them to not treat them as human beings).

Just thinking really about the work forward in my writing the two books. This past week ended up being quite busy with items that I needed to do but I think I can see the clear path now to creating the Legacy files that I will use for the genealogical chapters in each book. I will not likely do more than twelve generations down and will end sometime in the late 1800s which will let people work their way back using family history and the census. Once I reach 1851 the census has a lot of information and one can simply carry forward their own lines. Again I will publish the books with a Creative Commons License and distribute them freely on my website. 

Saturday and rain is promised for most of the next week. I shall do some more work on the front lawn and I want to distribute some of the fresh earth around the garden beds in the front. Last night I had a lovely meal of salmon (and enough for tonight as well), sweet potato mashed, fresh tomato slices and frozen corn. I was too full to eat my second date square (had the first one at lunch). The package has eight squares and I was shopping for food yesterday. It is nice to be able to drive and get my groceries and we will see if by the summer next year I can still keep my license to drive.  I restrict myself totally to my neighbourhood and gradually I have moved anything that I can to very local. It is a lovely neighbourhood and we/I have lived here for 46 years yesterday. When we first moved here we did plan to buy a single in a couple of years but I became very content with where we are and my husband and children never did find a house that they wanted to move to and the years passed and here we stayed. It is too big for me now although it is a small house (carriage home). 

Teatime and latin next. This is a Blake study day.

Moving along

I did work on Pencombe yesterday extracting more information from Find My Past. It will be slow going though as I work my way through. The more that I do at this time individually the less that I have to do when I am creating the generational chart for the book. Well worth the time to just go slow and work out each one. 

Beautiful sunny day yesterday and more today I think although we are starting out at minus 2 degrees celsius.  We are predicted to have 15 degrees celsius as the high temperature and rain all weekend which will be good for the grass if it stays above zero! 

Continued listening to the "Untold Story of the Kingdom of Judah" and did find it very interesting looking at the work that I have been doing on both the Blake and Pencombe families. You accumulate the actual family information but constantly having a look at what was going on in these two areas in the time frame that you are looking at. My love of science blocked my mind from looking at the study of history and as it turns out science and history came together when I started to look at it (my cousin nudged me into that with his request for the Pincombe Profile for his History Book of Westminster Township). The entry of DNA into genealogical studies slow at the beginning but rapid by the mid teens of this 21st century so that  now work on a family is not complete without some DNA studies whether it be yDNA studies with the surname or mitochondrial studies along the strictly female line or the autosomal studies linking cousins. It is all valuable and was a joy for my husband as he proved all of his genealogical work that he had done during our entire marriage of 54.5 years. The study of populations is perhaps one of the most fascinating now I think in history especially as archaeological digs turn up ancient graveyards with yDNA or mtDNA still intact in the teeth or bones. What excitement to have in a study that appeared to be mostly this quiet library research to have it blossom out into an ability to actually scientifically trace a family or population back in time. 

Perhaps some lawn work today as I would like to finish across the part of the lawn that is at the road's edge. The spring flowers are still blooming in the grass so want them to have their day in the sun and for the bees to work. We must do our part to help the flora and fauna to exist in our world. Without them we do not exist. 

Teatime and Latin. The day moves forward.

The Untold Story of the Kingdom of Judah by Professor Oded Lipschits

What a magnificent find? Listening yesterday to the Introductory chapter A1 available on You-Tube.  How I love good lectures on the Old Testament. Thank you to Dr. Lipschits for translating his lectures from Hebrew and putting his lectures on YouTube. Much appreciated. Can we ever understand God and how He has related to man through the centuries? My opinions were formed by my grandfather and grandmother along with the priest at our church. My grandfather was High Anglican one would say and my grandmother (although raised in the Anglican Church in England) attended the Methodist and then United Church after Union in 1925. She had a different concept of how God moved in her life. I always preferred my Anglican concept of God as He just seemed more real to me. Perhaps it was the tiny bit of wine that we had as children to celebrate Christmas and Easter, I was confirmed at eleven years of age and went to communion regularly with my father first thing Sunday mornings and back to sing in the choir and/or teach Sunday School at the later service. Although I am pretty much a non-drinker I could not understand the strictness of the United Church as a child. Jesus had performed the miracle of water to wine for the wedding feast so why would wine be condemned I thought even as a young child. For me drinking wine is always in memory of the Sacrifice made by Jesus to save mankind. But then I also did not understand why people who were United Church drank because to me it was forbidden for them. Interesting really what one sees and learns as one passes through life.

Worked on Pencombe yesterday and revised my search pattern. I decided to work on the singleton surname Pencomb and have entered all instances into my one name study legacy file and started working on Pencombe (for all years). For Pencomb there were 53 entries and there are 866 for Pencombe so will continue with that today. I was getting too many repeats doing a twenty year search path. Then I will move to Pyncomb and Pyncombe and finally the largest groups Pincomb and Pincombe. I will also do Pinkham and some of the other smaller derivative surnames. Slowly the known lines are being created and the areas where the singletons are and gradually they are filling in but in distinct places which will make it easier to look at the land records. 

More work on the lawn today as I work backwards from the street. It will soon be dandelion time and I will let them bloom as we did last year. I will also start to fill in the garden beds at the front with fresh earth as the plants are now starting to grow. It would be nice to have the entire front yard completed by mid-May. Then a couple of weeks of moving earth in the wheelbarrow and we will have the main garden and side gardens planted at the back. Then it will be possible to work on the patches of lawn that need fresh earth and grass seed although the best growing time for grass is early May that can be next year but will use up the rest of the fresh earth there. I had thought that earth was needed along our garage side at the front but actually there is enough debris from the Yew Tree that the land is quite good there. Just need to do the parging when it is dried out. That is always a rather damp area with the large Yew Tree and other cedars on our neighbour's property. 

The day has begun and there is just a little light in the east. It is minus three degrees celsius and meant to be around 9 degrees celsius in the warmest part of the day. Tomorrow will be in the mid teens apparently and also sunny. Rain to come and so will continue seeding the front lawn and adding fresh earth. No digging; this is a great way to garden for sure! I am definitely too old to dig that much. 

Lovely walk yesterday about 1.5 km twice over to take the car to have the summer tires put on and then return. 

Next teatime and latin and then on to the day. .

Gaza

I would pray that there will soon be an end to the war in Gaza. It is interesting that the news at the moment, just when demonstrations are at their height on campuses, is all about possible war crimes. But who is committing the war crimes; I am left to contemplate that. Who gains from these news casts? The hostages have still not been released and it is suspected that most of them are dead. You need to have a lot of "news" that is against a country trying to get their hostages back. Fabricated no ideas on that but Hamas is capable of anything. We already saw that on the 7th of October last. Do not judge too quickly. There are likely individuals in Gaza who want Hamas gone and Hamas would certainly take this opportunity to eliminate them and make it look suspicious. There is no trust for Hamas because they break every cease fire. The United Nations should not be in a war zone. They come in when it is all done to create the peace. No trust for what Hamas says. Anyone living in Gaza who agrees with them likely does so out of fear or they think the opportunities improve for them; people can be shortsighted. At this moment in time Hamas has everything to lose and so they will do anything that helps them we saw that on the 7th of October last. Let us wait for the experts to come in when this is all over; when Hamas is gone from Gaza and the war is done. Interesting how these graves are being disturbed to make it much more difficult to see what actually happened. Hamas is desperate. They are about to lose their "cash cow." The experts in forensic studies are  not yet there. Nor can they be; this is a war zone created by Hamas on the 7th of October. 

I am a great believer in the United Nations but they have no place in a war zone. They should always be neutral until there is actual proof (and there may never be because the satanists get better and better at creating war to their advantage). We created the United Nations to be a place to talk, argue and bring forward recommendations for the better good of all peoples. If we had thought, way back then, that the United Nations would be involved in war then we would have created an army. One notes we did not do that. The world is held hostage whenever sick satanists start wars against countries or within. We just have to make sure that we provide as much help as possible to fight them off but mostly to keep the satanists corralled so that they do not break out. The warning has been issued; what is Russia gaining at the moment; a seasoned army that has been fighting for over two years. What have we gained, nothing really; we have given away a lot of military supplies to help but we are also producing more and getting ready for that eventual fight that always seems to lead almost to Armageddon. The satanists hope for internal discontent within our countries to support their evil ways. Why did Russia pick on Ukraine; because they knew they would fight and keep fighting so that they could build up a seasoned army. It does take a lot to convince a country to become evil. We are watching the process in Russia. Many Germans did not want to fight but fear was used to keep them in line; others were suckered in by promises. Hamas is another story; they are greedy after as much money as they can squeeze out of the United Nations and then keep the people of Gaza in some sort of a state of hatred so that at any time Hamas wanted to strike Israel they would willingly give up their lives; not protect their children and die all for the dream of taking the land of Israel back (which historically belongs to the Jewish people and the others who happily live there). When I watched the physicians (were they Hamas?) exposing those infants on a table I realized how sick these people are. One doesn't expose babies like that; they are always safer with their mother. After all my twin great great uncles were born at seven months gestation with a midwife and they were kept alive by the family until the sooty air of Birmingham took them that winter of 1894-5

Well the temperature did drop quickly and is nearly at zero and it is very windy. It doesn't look like snow though. Time will tell. 

This is a working day and it will be Pencombe and extracting data from Find My Past. Thus far it has proven interesting as it supports the existing trees that I have created and I have a few names that are at the moment not fitting into the trees. Once I find the areas that do not fit then I can look at the land records to see the path back perhaps. There is a long time before I complete this book for sure. I am not in a rush. I have basically organized everything so that it can pass to another if that happens. Lots of Pincombe/Pinkham researchers out there. Just write to my email and my daughter will send you everything. 

On to the day. Another day in God's world sadly torn apart by war that satanists create.  It is snowing; I do love the snow but it is very light and will certainly not come to anything!

 

 

And we are awaiting possible snow

 It is five degrees celsius and sunny - a lovely April day and it was supposed to rain. Yesterday I did another square metre of lawn filling in with fresh earth and new seed. It is really too cold to water it as I do not want to freeze the seeds in ice since it is cold over night but today is supposed to be very sunny so we will see. I can just reseed not a problem but thought I might as well try to work on the grass at the street edge as it suffers most during the winter. 

Basement cleaning all accomplished and this was a move everything week so all the dust gone supposedly. I would need to clear out the cabinets to really be dust free but it is not too bad for this 78.5 year old to accomplish. 

I decided another day of rest on the eyes would be good. Part of that was I spotted the Movie Schindler's List on Netflix and decided to watch that after doing the lawn. It is just over three hours long and I watched it a while ago; can not remember when now. It is a reminder of the wickedness of the Nazi regime and how one man (part of that regime as a member of the Nazi party) whose heart found a reason to save over one thousand Jewish men, women and children by owning a factory which employed some of the Jewish people and he was able to declare them all essential workers. Even at the last the order had been given for the Nazi soldiers who were in attendance at the factory (it was a sort of concentration camp I think) to murder all of these Jewish people but Oskar Schindler spoke to them and said go home, we have lost, let these people live. And they listened and went home. The closing scene includes the hanging of Oskar when he was caught by the allies and hung (he actually had a paper which all of the Jewish people that he saved had signed but one suspects that he did not give that to the allies). At the very end all of the people still surviving walked past his grave and placed a stone on the grave - it was extremely meaningful in these times that one person stood against the Nazis and helped. He wasn't the only one as many went to their deaths in the concentration camps for trying to stop Hitler. Hitler was evil and what we are seeing in the world now is that same evil - Putin and his enablers, Iran and their sycophants Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis (and any others that I do not know). It is also why those who fought for the Nazis must carry that to their grave; we have forgiven and forgotten but there is no celebration of Nazis. They were inhuman, cruel and barbaric; what happened on the 7th of October last was this same kind of inhumane treatment of a people who have suffered long enough. It is time for an end to threats against the Jewish people. Until that happens there can not be peace in our world. We must always be ready; arm for war but look for peace. They have preserved and given to the world the very word of God saved through the centuries so that we could, in this century, read and appreciate the Word (the word that became flesh and dwelt amongst us we Christians believe), the Word that brought the Israelis back to their homeland and the Word that tells us that we must love God with all our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength and love our neighbour as ourself. Then we can have peace. 

Again I can not understand why the Palestinians in North America did not bring thousands and thousands of those children (2 to 8 years of age) to safety here. They required just a DNA test so they could be returned to their relatives at the end of this war; so many could have come and had a life like the children of England during the Second World War who came here to Canada.  

The rest of the house to be cleaned today and I begin very soon,. My Latin lesson is already completed and my tea enjoyed.

Sunny and minus 2 degrees celsius

 Unpredictable April is with us; snow one day and hot sun the next or pouring rain, one just never knows what April will bring. If I have time today I will do another section of the front of the lawn to see if I can get it growing before the truck becomes a permanent fixture in front of my house for the summer. Sad for the people across the road as they try to get their two cars out of the laneway having to make this very tight turn out. They park their two vehicles side by side; very considerate of them. After all the side of the road in a residential area that permits parking expects just that, parking for short periods not lengthy ones. The owners of the big truck could make a double laneway and park their vehicles side by side, or have one in the garage and the other off to the side so you can get in and out easily. My rant for the day. It wouldn't have happened but the big truck was there when I was trying to add garden soil to my lawn and then seed it and it is very awkward to do that with a big truck in the way plus his front wheel was on my lawn!

Statistics and they are really important especially down the road. For instance, we need to know how many male babies and how many female babies are born; it isn't because we are fixated on anything we just need to know those statistics down the road. Why anyone would want to disturb their endocrine system to satisfy personal feelings is beyond me really; no matter what you do or at what time you do it you will be sterile if you interfere with the endocrine development. You will have no choices if you interfere in the endocrine development. Who cares if you think you are other than what you are except you of course. But does it really matter; does it matter if you think or act more like a boy or girl; you are a person; being a person is what matters! Seeing that it could bankrupt the health care system means a lot to me; it isn't fair to people having heart attacks, needing bypass surgery, broken legs that need mending, fixing little items that children need in their lives like cleft palate for them to have it said to them sorry this gender affirming person needs to have surgery or needs drugs and it is their turn. Anyway down the road a country needs on occasion to figure out their birth rate and their anticipated birth rate and why it is falling or rising in a way that is not anticipated. If we do not sex babies when they are born as male or female then we do not have those statistics and it is like living in a dark age and why do we get educated if we are not going to use that ability? Very few babies are born that you can not immediately say they are male or female - it is very rare. Again, I do not understand why people would shorten their life span by interfering with their God-given gender. For those rare children born with undetermined sex then by all means help them! Otherwise leave them alone and let them be children; let them imagine, let them dream but keep their minds squarely on the drawbacks of anything that is done to a perfectly operating system. The mind is capable of accepting many things and we are a person first of all. Mine you I have no idea if it actually would affect your longevity but one does wonder; there aren't any statistics and not sure we really need them. Another rant for the day. It must be cleaning day and it is; the basement today. 

Okay, I did not do any work yesterday - I have decided to consider my book writing as unpaid work since I am retired and do not want to do any bookkeeping for a business - besides the clientele will be rather small and all around the world likely - much too confusing. It was a beautiful Sunday; I scarcely looked out the window. I watched TV for a bit and there is an ambulance going through the red light - heart attack maybe but back to my day. I did all my exercises and at 78.5 that is an accomplishment and I rate it as such. On to the day. 

Teatime and Latin as always.

Another Sunday and Blake work yesterday

Another Sunday in Easter - the Fourth Sunday and Church is online in Southwark. My Buller family lived in Bermondsey and attended St Mary Magdalene (also the Beard family as Christopher Buller married Mary Beard at All Hallows Barking by the Tower, London, 30 Dec 1794 (I think it might have been a runaway marriage although Mary was 27 and Christopher was 31 when they wed)) until sometime in the early to mid 1820s. Christopher Buller had been at St Olave as a young man and he was buried there along with Mary (Mary in 1806 and Christopher in 1832). I think perhaps the Church of St Mary Magdalene was the church of the Beard family but Christopher and Mary baptized their children at St Mary Magdalene where Henry Beard married Elizabeth Hemsley 31 Mar 1766. This is a fascinating family and eventually I will get to writing them up but they will be difficult. Perhaps I should be doing it now but God willing my brain will still manage to get around all of that material (plus my latin needs to improve greatly and I work at that every day (at least two times and usually three every day). It is marvelous having Duolingo - works perfectly for me. I also am working on my French but I am fairly efficient at reading but need to improve my spoken French and after one year (September 2025) I will pick up my German once again as it is mostly scientific and it would be interesting to speak a less restricted German. Why, no idea but I am enjoying it because I am a life long learner for sure. Breakfast next and then to Church online in Southwark. We walked and walked the streets of Southwark where the Buller and the Beard family lived. It was fantastic. The Church of St Mary Magdalene was beautiful but had been damaged during the Second World War but a very dedicated group of people are working on its renewal. There are so many churches that I could send money to in England but I have concentrated on the Cathedral here and about 66% of my tithe goes to PWRDF and the other 34% goes to general costs.  

The service was quite wonderful; the homily amazingly perfect to my thoughts of the readings in this time. We have evil war ongoing for those who claim to be the only ones that are perfect in God's image namely Iran with their syncophants  Hamas, Houthis, Hezbollah and for some reason the Russians. They are all terrorists and must clean themselves from the inside for they are satanists. Thank you again for welcoming me from an ocean away to be part of this wonderful Anglican Service which included a young woman of Presbyterian background and someone from Ireland. So many young people as part of the service; the Church needs the youth as always to carry forward the word of God to the next generation.

Whilst working on Blake yesterday, I decided to have a look at the early Wiltshire wills of the Blake and Baynard families. It was an interesting trip actually and at first glance the Wiltshire Blake family wills did not mention the Andover Blake family in the 1500s and 1600s. I transcribed the Baynard family wills as well but I did not see that they mentioned Blake other than Henry at Pinhill. Diana, Princess of Wales, is  descendant of the Baynard family through the Montagu family.  

Diana, Princess of Wales and hence Prince William are descendant of this Baynard family (Mary Baynard and James Montague). Their son James Montagu married Diana Hungerford 30 May 1671 and their son James Montague married Elizabeth Eyles. Their son John Montagu married Sophia Wroughton 15 Dec 1748 and their son George Montagu married Charlotte Wroughton 9 Oct 1783. It was their daughter Georgiana Montagu who married Vice Admiral Sir John Gore 15 Aug 1808 in London. Their daughter Anne Frances Gore married 1st Earl Howe, Richard William Penn Curzon 9 Oct 1845 at Great Witley in Worcestershire. Their daughter Lady Mary Anna Curzon-Howe married 2nd Duke of Abercorn, James Hamilton 7 Jan 1869 in London. Their son James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn married Lady Rosaline Cecilia Caroline Bingham 1 Nov 1894 in London. Their daughter Lady Cynthia Elinor Beatrix Hamilton married Albert Edward John Spencer the 7th Earl Spencer 26 Feb 1919 in London. Their son Edward John Spencer the 8th Earl Spencer married the Honourable Frances Ruth Burke Roche and these two were the parents of Lady Diana Frances Spencer. 

Interestingly the Andover Blake line from which Diana, Princess of Wales, follows:  Thomas Blake and Eleanor Hall were the twelfth generation back from Diana, Princess of Wales and Thomas was the son of John Blake married to Margaret Blake (her father not known to me for sure although a Pedigree chart mentions William Blake of Eastontown for both John and Margaret and there were not two by the records!). This John was the son of William Blake of Eastontown and William's father was Nicholas Blake of Enham (The Andover Blake family - William Blake (d 1582) did have a daughter Margaret but her husband was surnamed Jarvis - William left an extensive will). Returning to Thomas Blake and Eleanor Hall and their son Thomas Blake married Dorothy Mayowe and their daughter Mary Blake married William Newland. Mary Newland married Isaac Manley, MP. Their daughter Dorothy Manley married William Gore, MP and their son was Colonel John Gore who married Bellamira Munbee and their son Vice Admiral Sir John Gore married Georgina Montagu in 1808 (and the descent continues as above). Their daughter Anne Francis Gore married Richard William Penn Curzon, the 1st Earl Howe. Their daughter Lady Mary Anna Curzon-Howe married James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn. Their son James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn married Lady Rosaline Cecilia Caroline Bingham. Their daughter Lady Cynthia Elinor Beatrix Hamilton married Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer. Their son Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer married the Honourable Frances Ruth Burke Roche. Their daughter was Lady Diana Frances Spencer married to now HRH Charles III, King of England. 

Does this prove the descent from the Andover Blake Family?, it does but there is a particular item which has chosen to display what I believe is an incorrect ancestry for William Blake at Eastontown. More proof  continues to arise. Is Diana descendant of the Calne Blake family, absolutely the mother of Mary Baynard married to James Montague was Anne (Blake) Baynard daughter of Robert Blake and Margret (Inglefield) Blake. This Robert was the son of Robert Blake and Avice (Wallop, Malweyn) Blake.  I did read again the Baynard family wills in this time frame of the 1500s/1600s to see if there is any mention of Blake cousins but did not find any comment other than referring to Henry Blake at Pinhills their cousin. The Baynard family did have Blake first cousins - Roger Blake and Mary (Baynard) Blake had three sons - Thomas, Robert and John (and three daughters). Perhaps it was the refusal of Henry Blake to accept a title for which Charles II destroyed the Blake family home at Pinhills near Calne. Members of the Baynard family were knighted. No ideas on that; I just think it is interesting in a learning way looking back sometimes at how life flowed in centuries past. Living in the fishbowl takes a very significant part out of your life (namely your privacy!). The dedication of this Family of Windsor has been and continues to be incredible.

The wills (date blogged)

Roger Blake     4 Jan 2013

Philip Baynard     5 Jan 2013

Henry Baynard     6 Jan 2013

Edward Baynard     7 Jan 2013

Benjamin Baynard     10 Jan 2013

Sir Robert Baynard     16 Jan 2013

Edward Baynard     17 Jan 2013

Charles Blake      26 Nov 2013

Edward Blake     28 Nov 2013

Mary Blake (Roger's widow)     4 Dec 2013

James Blake      6 Dec 2013

James Blake     11 Dec 2013

John Blake     12 Dec 2013

The Blake wills are for the Wiltshire Blake family.

Blake again today

Lots of rain and that is good. The grass is greening up and still only April; generally we wait until May for luxurious green in front of us. Perhaps some earth moving today and seeding. We will see.

Blake yesterday and I mulled about what to do with the Richard le Blak information and finally make a decision that I would just let the chapter sit as it is for the moment and move on to extraction of Blake from Find My Past. This will be a faster process since I am only going to look at initially Blake in Hampshire, Wiltshire and Berkshire.  By 1538 the Blake line that I am looking at for my Grandpa is principally in the Andover area but I also want to check up on the Blake families whose wills mention the Blake family at Andover but are living in Berkshire and perhaps Wiltshire although it is the wills in Berkshire that mention Blake. I need to reread the Wiltshire wills as I do not remember offhand any mention of the Blake family of Andover in their wills. I have transcribed most of these wills way back in the early 2010s. I will not extract the Blake families of Somerset, Devon, or Cornwall as I am confident that all of these individuals are descendant, in the case of Somerset the Calne Blake family and in the case of Devon and Cornwall the Blake family of Bretagne (arrived in the early 1500s) although some of the Devon people may be Calne Blake descendants and later some of the Blake families along the Cornwall border were perhaps Calne Blake descendants. The Blake families in Warwickshire and across the Midlands are quite likely descendant of the le Blake families that I mentioned earlier as being in those areas in the 1100s., There is also a large Blake family in East Anglia in these early times. Of course there are several large Blake families in Ireland particularly in Galway but they are descendant of Richard Caddell alias Blake. So my work for the day is laid out in front of me and I will pursue it a little later.

It will be interesting to see whether or not this budget passes since it is a money bill it could bring down the government if it fails to pass and we are into election time. The only real winner in that would be the Liberal Party because voting it down votes down all of these perks for people like free dental care, free lunches and the like. It is a win win for them but the bureaucracy to run it will be huge if they implement it. It really needs to be given to the provinces (i.e. the money) and let them add dental into medical care and school lunches into medical care. The system already exists in each province for the distribution of medical care. I guess my thoughts on it all really are that people can claim dental care on their taxes. You just have to decide priorities perhaps as I recall after my father went bankrupt when I was a young child (I was three I think but perhaps nearly four as I can remember stuff from when I was four) then my mother made the decision to concentrate the available monies to dental care and health care for her then five children and themselves. I realize that people have to make their own decisions in that regard but the health care of children and adults is more important than anything else. I can remember it really well because my glasses became a precious object in my mind as my mother said to me they cost $10 and we can not afford for you to lose them or break them. I was very conscious of that (and must admit it stuck to me my entire life). Was it good training for a child? Absolutely I think. Whenever my husband wanted to move to a bigger better house I was always the not interested one (had my proofreading to do when they were gone!) and off he went with the girls and they house hunted but they always came home with reasons why not to buy that one. That was music to my ears as I had no interest in moving. Probably if my family had been in this area I would have been more interested but then my children would have had their aunts, uncles and cousins so more of an incentive to have a bigger better house. I like my little house and at 78.5 it is all that I can take care of for sure. There is parging to do and the painting and the grounds to take care of and it is plenty. I am so very glad that I do not have a big house to take care of in my old age. But it was just us all those years and this house suited me very well especially when I went back to work outside of the home in the mid 1990s having worked at home copyediting and proofreading for over fifteen years at that time. Working at home is great as you are always here in case the children need you or there are deliveries etc etc. Being the fourth child I wore hand me downs most of my life until I was five inches taller than my older sister but then I was babysitting and I bought my own clothes. But I am not a clothes horse although I do, one of these days, have to buy some new clothes as mine are all purchased before Edward took ill in 2011 which finally resulted in a pace maker in 2012. 

The day moves onward and I have finished my tea and must get to my Latin studies and then breakfast. On to the day.

The budget and how I see it

 The Liberal Budget does an interesting thing perhaps with a couple of changes; it will sell off surplus government buildings to be converted into apartments. It is an interesting proposal and could be successful and unload buildings the government will no longer use (or even put that as a first priority to examine when developments are being created that government buildings/land be utilized first if possible and practical). I interpreted this to mean that a planned project could be initiated by a private builder and they could then access these downsized surplus buildings/partial buildings/land and purchase them for a reasonable price (based on the market value) for their project. I am not really in favour of the government building/renovating spaces as it would be too expensive for them to take on projects for which they are not staffed. We already have experienced and staffed private companies that build and renovate. The incentive perhaps is being able to sell what you create for a profit and you are helping to stabilize the country you live in because we are in a housing crisis. Coming from a small business family I do remember the thrill that they had of owing a business and the personal satisfaction that comes from being a business owner. The idea of the government holding ownership of land and leasing it is also interesting and would let smaller builders get into these larger projects because they are not paying for land up front. Plus, there should be a yearly rent for the land by purchasers that goes back into the government coffers to support maintenance of that land.

The government workforce is also downsizing by attrition over the next five years and this is also good as they hired a lot of people during COVID that are no longer needed.

The TMX and I would prefer to see the government keep it as a crown corporation (we must have people who can run this efficiently and are not just looking for ways to create big money for themselves) so that they are not so susceptible to union problems creating slowness. We might as well profit from the TMX for a few years during which time the First Nations may be able to acquire sufficient funding and support to buy it. I see them as the preferred purchaser. They are more likely to maintain the pipeline at 100% efficiency and use the money wisely not for personal profit. They also have a fifty year plan as I tire of these four year episodes of government with changes made in the structural levels of government that cost money. Change them if there is waste but otherwise leave the public servants alone to do their work.

Some of the more questionable things in the budget are the huge expenses for personal care. People should use their own money to pay for their personal expenses and then apply for a rebate online (libraries have lots of computers for people who do not have family support to help them if they are elderly) if they satisfy the requirements for the say dental support. I am bothered by that and would prefer a much tighter scrutiny over monies that are provided for personal needs. It just makes medical care too expensive to support. As for children's lunches I do not have a problem with that but it should be restricted by income. Give the children a card to identify them in terms of a charge being levied if not free and in case of allergies (schools should be set up for debit card/credit card expenses where needed and really it should be a simple thing to set up now and anonymous for those who feel that it would stigmatize anyone). People could then pay (e-transfer on a weekly or monthly basis or immediately by credit/debit card if a child has one) to have their children fed at school - I would have and that would help to pay for this system (plus you could still send your child with a lunch if you or they want). But do not nickle and dime that; no lowest bidder providing the food for children - perhaps Health Canada through Public Health Agencies locally  could oversee those contracts. Lets make it economical and not overdo personal care expenses. We simply can not sustain these personal expenditures. I agree with universal health care but I do want to see people take on more responsibility for their own care (do regular and continuous exercise to stay healthy) and make medical care efficient and not overloaded thus providing a stronger population.

I crave a more fiscal conservatism in the bookkeeping of our country. Why was CRA scammed for millions of dollars? This needs to be investigated thoroughly. I need the conservative party to get their minds clearly fixed on fiscal conservatism. I do want to hear support for Ukraine and Israel being foremost in discussion and more money for the military for equipment and salaries and it has to be done if the Conservatives win and not backtrack like after the recession in 2008. Balancing the budget is important but not at the expense of our historical institutions. Use the audit reports and others to eliminate waste in government offices. The constant repeat arguments in Question Period are wasteful - I do watch Question Period; start examining why things like scamming the CRA happens.

Heavy rain yesterday

 The heavy rain yesterday curtailed my planned movement of earth and scattering grass seed. Probably I will do that tomorrow as it is still raining today. Then there is rain predicted for Tuesday but it would have a couple of days to settle and not be washed away!

Chocolate cupcakes were made and tasty. Froze most of them actually as they thaw very well and taste great. Long grain brown rice, toasted tofu, peas and feta for dinner and greatly enjoyed but also enjoyed my four nights of chicken stew. I do like the efficiency of all of that. Tonight will be cod, potato, and corn. Tomorrow night will be eggs of some sort and then back to chicken stew on Sunday. 

Worked on the Pencombe extraction and linked up some of the unattached individuals. The beginning will be slow as I work through the wills and land documents to align people together. It will take into the next generation to reduce the number of unattached individuals. There are so many early registers online now that were not there even five years ago. Still thinking about subscribing to The Genealogist and British History Online. However, I have a lot of extraction to do on Find My Past and will continue with that. 

Today though I may go back to Blake as planned and do the next two days. I want to have a look at the French Archives and see if I can find anything interesting on Le Blak in Normandy. The yDNA was interesting and will pursue that as well for the group that is likely descendant of the Wiltshire Blake family. However, they primarily live in the Western Hemisphere so must tread slowly with that but they do have I1 which generally marks the northern French coastal area as well as inland into Europe. 

The rain is greatly appreciated and the earth is soaking it all up. One thing not having spring runoff like usual with frozen ground it should lower the flooding problems considerably. The rain soaking in will be good news in northern Ontario and Quebec and slow down the dry season there and hopefully keep the forest fires down. Last year was the worst I ever saw with smoke swirling around the back yard for a couple of weeks. That was the forest fires in northern Quebec being blown down here into the Ottawa area. 

Thank you God for the beautiful world. We must work harder to make it as livable as possible for all of your creations. 

Teatime and Latin soon.

Spring is so busy and Pencombe extraction going well

Yesterday was a combined day - work outside and work inside. It is spring; that wonderful glorious time when the sun shines brightly (although hopefully rain today) and one is outside but the best part is regenerative gardening. Wonderful words; my daughter was so right. This is definitely the way to go. Generally, in the last fifteen years I would be out there working for hours in the morning digging the garden, raking and all that stuff. But now I just have to move some of that new earth onto the existing earth (and grass in this case) and then sprinkle grass seed after patting the earth down flat with a rake and the rain will come and the grass will grow and I will have not disturbed the tunneling and the movement of the insects, earthworms and everything else beneath the level of the ground. Nor will I have exhausted myself digging. 

I found the grass seed, I found the thing that lets you scatter the grass seed but will probably not use it as it is just a narrow area along the street edge. I am still going to let the blue flowers bloom and then the dandelions come although will gradually spread a thin layer of fresh earth on top of all of that. Gardening could yet be fun and interesting. I am overly content to be helping with greening the earth. 

Other than that I have barely looked outside as I am working on extracting the Pencombe/Pincombe/Pyncombe/Pencomb/Pincomb/Pyncomb/Pinkham entries from Find My Past. Gradually my new file is taking shape as I link in all those known lines to me with the proven data. My old file is good but it is limited as I did not pull all the data way back when. I was still a newbie and really why would a Pincombe in Exeter, Devon, England interest me although I noted that they were there and collected all their wills. But my understanding of one name studies has grown by leaps and bounds and now I am making up for not collecting all of that data as well. Some of it is in that old one name file but not as complete as I would like plus when I started Find  My Past was still a twinkling in the eye of some entrepreneur and not yet past that initial stage of offering. Find My Past was 1837online.com when I first knew it and certainly did not have the records that it has now. I bought up all kinds of fiche and with my trusty fiche reader transcribed earlier records in my first days in one name studies after the Pincombe Profile was produced for my cousin who had initially pushed me into genealogical studies. George DeKay passed away a few years ago and his emails are sadly missed but I still have them all if I want to remember his thoughts. We shared our mutual 3x great grandparents Robert Gray and Elizabeth Cobb. They never left England but their sons - Robert, William and James came to Canada. The first two around 1832 and the last later. I would need to look that up. George wrote a book about them and that was when I first heard about George as he discussed the Gray family with my mother. He wanted a picture of Grace (Gray) Pincombe and I am not sure why my mother did not share the one that she had actually. It is possible that at that time she did not have it and my uncle had it. My uncle was not interested in genealogy but he did save all of that paperwork which I now have. But the picture of my great grandparents William Robert Pincombe and Grace (Gray) Pincombe was in her hands when I saw it (it was in the box of pictures that my mother had given to Edward when he wrote their 50th anniversary book). Not a really good picture of Grace; one would not call her beautiful in that picture although I have seen pictures where she is one would say well presented but still not beautiful. Not all women are but she had a strength in her "Yorkshire" features that told of a woman who had had four children, first stillborn, the second my grandfather, the third her daughter who followed her mother to the grave one year later at thirteen years and another son who only lived for six months. Life was cruel to Grace but also kind in some ways. She loved the pace of life in her social circle which included her mother's sister's son Sir John Carling and all the rest of the Routledge and Carling clan in the London, Ontario area at that time. They have spread across the land from ocean to ocean now but Grace is not forgotten. She still lives on in the hearts of her great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. The story is interesting because George was writing the book when his aunt said to him you have forgotten Grace and by then it was nearly 100 years since Grace had passed away. George remedied that and called my mother and she was most happy to provide him with all the details for the Pincombe line in her possession at that time. By then we were in Ottawa living and I heard all of this and can still read it in her letters. It gave her a new avenue to look at and she picked up the traces and helped George produce that section of the book. Perhaps he was remembering that thirty years later when he asked my younger sister to write the profile. She sent him on to me. Yikes! genealogy I knew nothing about it but he persuaded me to do it (I was still working in those days) and so I took up 42 courses at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (began that is; I would still be doing those courses long after the Profile was done (completed my PLCGS in 2007)). Who would have thought I would ever get my head out of the world of science and work on history. Except I always enjoyed history in my youth and it was just completing the circle I guess. 

However, I must get some work done. The morning is early but I need to bake some muffins to keep up my strength and my weight. There is a lot to do today before the rain really comes tomorrow. Well not do a lot just that narrow strip of land at the road's edge to add earth and grass seed. Is it too early for grass seed? Well I can always spread more later!

I have, though, barely looked outside this spring. Life has been so busy working on these books. Plus I can see all that I want to see out of the back window with the birds. This has been a great spring for birds. I really should fill the feeder but my neighbours do that and I can see the birds very well. 

So on to the day. Tea and Latin on duolingo. Then breakfast and bake the chocolate chips muffins (I can freeze them since I can not possibly eat twelve muffins in a couple of days!). In between my two sets of stretches, jumping jacks, shoulder stands and walking. My weightlifting will be the movement of the earth from the bag to the front lawn. I think I will just carry the shovel fulls to the front. Will see how that goes. Filling a wheelbarrow does seem like making work for myself when a shovel at a time could do it. Then working on Pencombe extraction and followed by a run and lunch. The day is assigned. 

Another day in God's world; would that peace could come in our time. Our brave young men and women gave up their lives more than a hundred years ago now in the First World War and eighty years ago in the Second World War so that we would have that very thing. Life may call upon us to do that for the next generation. Peace but not peace at any price. God's world deserves better than that. God sent Satan into the deep fires where he belonged millennia ago. It is not for us to judge our fellow man unless there is a debt to be paid to society but simply for us to learn to live together without greed without envy and without war. We actually do not have to bite at these wicked assaults on countries unless we are forced to do so we just have to corral the satanists (stifle their economy) who inflict such damage and pain on God's children and help those who are attacked.

Blake in the 1300s and early 1400s in the Calne Wiltshire area

Once I had created a proof of life timeline for Robert (le) Blake and there is mention of a brother Adam le Blake, I had a better image of this family at Calne and the documents that are available. His son John became a Member of Parliament and his grandson (son of this John) John was also a Member of Parliament. They were associated with Calne but also Quemerford which is closeby. Also known to Robert le Blake was a John Malewayn with several transactions in the 1330s. That is quite interesting as Robert's great great grandson Robert Blake was also at Quemerford (he had a fulling mill there). No details on the middle generations between these two Roberts which is not surprising as one might have to search very thoroughly through the land records to see mention of these individuals (Henry Blake married to ? Dorrant, William Blake married to Elizabeth Power and Henry Blake married to Margaret Bellett). Is it enough to have these transactions between Robert le Blake and John Malewayn to prove a connection of any sort? Probably not although it is interesting that his 2x great grandson later marries Avice (Wallop) Malwyn (widow) who holds Quemerford at that time. I did contemplate it for a while and have still not come to any thoughts on proceeding. I will write it all up and mostly have done so. I did find a Dorrant/Durrant family in Norfolk and a number of wiki trees with Blake being all over the place including Wiltshire and Norfolk. I think differently in that I can just leave these things out that I can not prove rather than mystify the whole process by pulling information out of here and there that I can not find any support. Anyway thoughts for another day.

I did get to contemplating just what do I wish to achieve with this book on the Blake family of Andover. Why am I doing it? Well, my grandfather wanted to write a book about his family but he had a stroke and it just didn't work out for him to do that. Instead he filled my head with his thoughts which was a good idea because now I can bring a lot of this information that he told  me onto my computer screen and verify his thoughts. So that is a leap forward for sure. Hence I do see a point in doing this and will continue but it may be that I just eliminate the chapter on the Calne Blake family or leave it in just because there did appear to be some sort of an association between the Blake family in Berkshire, the Blake family in Andover and the Blake family at Calne although I think the connection between Andover and Calne is weaker than the connection between Berkshire and Hampshire. Hence I will mostly concentrate on that connection although can put in the possibility that Richard le Blak of Rouen, Normandy was the founder of the Blake family found at Calne and not the son of Robert le Blake whose timeline is clearly provable along with that of his son John and his grandson John as is that of Richard le Blak of Rouen, Normandy. 

That is good to have settled that in my mind. I have thought about it for the last month and a half which is a good length and probably sufficient to let me write the chapter and move on to the next phase of all of this which is pulling out the genealogical data namely BMBs available for the Blake family in the greater Andover area. Then I will have the two books at the same stage once again which is comfortable. 

This week I shall work outside one hour per day to start and I need to prune the fruit bushes and want to start putting earth on the lawn and prepare it for grass seed. I will also lightly fill in the current flower beds with fresh soil and no digging. This is my daughter's idea to replenish the soil without disturbing it - regeneration of the soil. We started a couple of years ago and we are learning as we move along. The vegetable gardens will be very different this year I think. We need to be slow and steady planting them and then weeding them. Last year was interesting but a lot of weeds. 

Teatime and Latin next. The day begins and the budget has been revealed. The desire of people to own land; buy up property shows up in my mailbox at least twice a week. The light rail is just a lovely walk away (about 3/4s of a kilometre) and there is a huge desire to buy these houses likely for the resell market. It would be good to eliminate that nuisance by regulating the turn around time on selling by investors for sure. I realize we live in this greedy society where everyone wants to be wealthy but being wealthy does have its drawbacks.  I also did not like to see the GST totally removed from the builders need to pay it. Increase the GST to 10% and then you can maybe give them a break at 5% if what they are doing is beneficial. Helping out an already wealthy builder though is not my idea of sound financial government support. Not a socialist; just a practical fiscal conservative.

Edward would have been 81 years of age today

My husband, would have been 81 years of age today. Yesterday I had a telephone call to wish him a happy birthday. Strange really the number of times I have mentioned that he is deceased. Nice to see him remembered of course but strange. 

Edward wanted to live to be 94 like his mother and I would say he kind of copied how she managed her life. But it was not to be sadly for sure. I will always be sad that he did not get that wish for sure. 

For his 80th birthday Edward wanted to go to Galapagos. I said sure that is a beautiful idea but did not happen. Like me, Edward was really a life long learner another item we shared in common for sure. 

Rest in peace my dear husband. God bless. 

Basement cleaning day and the black earth due to arrive by 7 pm and it is here

 Another busy day and probably not much done on Blake again but then I did concentrate on Blake quite a bit last week. Tomorrow will be Pencombe. 

There is a twelve hour window for the arrival of the black earth so could be a long day of watching for that. I really hate leaving my car out on the street but it just seemed the most practical thing to do. I always find that cars parked on narrow residential streets are a nuisance but one does need to have parking for various things on a residential street. And the black earth has arrived by 8:30 a.m. great news. On to the cleaning.

I think a real punch at Iran would be to provide a lot of assistance to Ukraine right now; Israel could do that as Iran, Russia, North Korea and not sure about China yet all seem to be lining up against the free world. These Satanists want totalitarianism, women shrouded from head to toe (some of them I assume time would tell on that) and without a voice, and domination of the world so that all of the wealth of the world is theirs. At least it is beginning to have that kind of a Hitler smell. Random hits here and there but we in Canada know that Iran is Satan. They destroyed the lives of so many Canadians shooting down that airplane coming out of Tehran airport. Was it a mistake on their part to have triggered that hate so early; possibly. They just could not control their hatred of these Iranian Canadians coming to visit relatives in Iran. Help Ukraine to really put Russia down. That would be an interesting scenario I think. Knock the stuffing out of Russia so that they can not help to supply Iran; this mutual agreement of theirs has always been problematic. Funny bedfellows really the two of them Russia and Iran - both sick satanists. Where does the rest of the Middle East stand? Time will tell. Recognizing and sharing ambassadors with all the Middle East countries except Iran which is Satanist would be a great step forward and a slap in the face to Iran's goals in the world. Ridding of Hamas, Hezbollah and Youthis would be a great triumph in the Middle East. Do not give them any space to prosper. They're just terrorists who believe that their death will be honoured. God does not honour such people for sure.

Must get the robot vacuuming the rug in the basement. 

Teatime and Latin already accomplished long ago. Breakfast prepared and eaten. 

A beautiful sunny day in God's world. Would that everyone could want the best for all of God's world and not be so judgemental against freedom. Great believer in taxes; it is the leveling field and corporations especially the wealthy ones have the support of Canadians as we buy their products and some work for them. Time to make Canada everything it can be. On the other hand I wait to see how the Liberals do; they  have never historically been good with our money; they just throw it at things without careful cautious bookkeeping. It is a wait and see time. 

Studies on the Winchcombe meteorite in Britain are proving to be most fascinating. To learn about the past is always fascinating. I mostly concentrated on science in my youthful days but it is all connected - the evolution of earth's inhabitants, the evolution of the Solar System and the beginnings that are still hidden to us. The God factor is so much in my mind these days in everything really. Every where you turn you can see that God plays a huge role in the universe. There is always a beginning I think myself. It isn't random because random doesn't always work; there needs to be a plan that has been worked out prior to anything being totally successful especially when you consider the evolution of the inhabitants of earth both flora and fauna. Mind you randomness that doesn't work is quickly excluded and we are not meant to know the beginning perhaps until the end.

It is a treat actually to be retired. There is so much time to read and learn everything I didn't learn earlier (or pick it up again like French, Latin, German - all of these languages will help me writing my books - fortunately perhaps it is these three languages that merged with Old English to form modern English). I have always been a lover of learning; reading the encyclopaedia when I was just six, seven and eight. I never liked school particularly but part of that was I just wanted to learn and not do all the social things that are considered part of the learning experience. It started with musical chairs in kindergarten and when I discovered that one could sit in a corner and read instead I found that to be so exciting but it was derailed and back to wandering around in a meaningless circle and sitting on a chair if you happened to be close to one. I always avoided sitting on the chair so that I did not have to be part of that meaningless circle. I did try to be polite as my mother requested but it wasn't always easy; however being the strange person that I was I managed to escape all of those social things quite early on simply by being so polite. If someone asked me to stop by and wait for them to go to the bus I did do that but was glad when it was no longer desired. The same with being introduced to the new child at school who didn't know anybody; I was glad when they found friends! There you are. I really am a hermit. On to work.

Cleaning today - two floors

 Church yesterday was at St Marys Lancaster and the service was stations which had been created by members of the parish. The choices were so meaningful on the Third Sunday of Easter. It is interesting to see these services continuing on and available on YouTube around the world. It is such a complete obedience to Jesus asking that his disciples tell the stories of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to the world. It is the culmination of all the centuries of missionary work as the Churches of Jesus Christ took his stories around the globe. I also watched Netflix "The Story of Moses" partially again. I do like to watch twice as I notice little things that I missed the first time through just because I tend to wander about the room when I am watching TV rather than sitting the entire time.

Cleaning day today and it is the larger cleaning day so will keep me busy most of the day. No email yet for my garden earth arriving. The email comes in the day before and then delivery that day following. Looking forward to that happening sometime this week and then I can start spreading a thin layer of soil and add grass seed to help the grass along. How much longer will I do this gardening? No ideas on that. I started helping my husband when it was too much for him (or he asked me to help him as we generally planted the large garden together through the years) and then the pace maker was inserted but he really couldn't do gardening like he used to so I took that over and he did what he could. It was exhausting to do all that work actually and I have let a lot of it go with the object in mind of growing the vegetables in the side plots as the Black Walnut Tree sucks the goodness out of the earth around it and you can not dig in the main garden most of the way across now because it is so thick with black walnut roots. So vegetables on the one side and across the back as it seems to be far enough away from the Black Walnut tree. The other side sunflowers and not sure what else but definitely two rows of sunflowers. It is a beautiful Black Walnut tree.

Today would be a Blake day and if I get a chance I will work away on the two Blake charts that have been created. Tomorrow will also be a Blake day. I have decided to go with two days in a row for a bit. I found the one day interesting when I was busy writing as it kept my mind very active and will return to it once I have completed my task of drawing out the data for the Pincombe family on Find My Past. It will take months for sure. Eventually I will do the same with Blake but I need to decide exactly what to look at and that will be determined by what I am able to link together as there is a lot of Blake family data but I would do a sort of Blake chart for the Calne people that I would link into the existing Blake Somerset Chart held by the Bridgwater Museum. The other Blake would be purely Andover and getting it back to the John Blake at Enham in the early 1300s is my aim but is he the ancestor of the Robert Blake at Enham 100 + years later? That is the question and I hope to solve it. Coming down from Robert Blake is still great.

I think there could be gains for the world seeing just how Satanic Iran can be. Any one of those missiles or drones could have failed and gone down into the countries between Iran and Israel. It did bring to mind Iran shooting down a civilian airplane headed to Canada (they did it because they hate Iranians that have gone to Canada and are enjoying their lives here (Iran murdered the children, the wives, the sons, the daughters, etc)). Iran sent over 300 objects towards Israel and felt that was fair retaliation for whomever sent the couple of drones that blew up their embassy in Syria (150 or more to 1). If one does the math then for their military shooting our single civilian airplane down the appropriate response by their measure would be to shoot down 150 or more Iranian military airplanes. But we are not a sick satanic country. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps should be listed by us as a terrorist group.

I continue to believe that there should not be any money for Gaza until Hamas gets out of Gaza (I do not care if members of Hamas are Palestinians - they have no right to be there (except in jail) as they have caused all of this destruction and death. Hamas had their chance to govern and they failed totally. No country should be dependent on the United Nations for food for three generations when they have all that land where they could grow food. Free the Hostages hamas; the International Court of Justice told you to free them unconditionally and immediately three months ago. Hamas is responsible for all the deaths that have occurred in this war; they chose to attack Israel and hence are responsible for all the barbarism and deaths last October and the destruction and deaths ever since in Gaza. 

Latin and Teatime.Then cleaning.

Pulling all the BMBs etc records for Pincombe-Pencombe-Pyncombe will be a slow process

Sunday and Church on You Tube; this has become a regular event in my life and always a surprise as to which Church/Chapel will be the location for the service. Wonderful idea.

Prayers for the world as always. The evil that is being done at the moment surely can not last and good can come back into the world. Peace in our time is doable if only the satanic people of the world could control themselves. The satanic people do not want peace, they want chaos because it is only when there is chaos that they can survive. 

Pulling more than 60,000 records from Find My Past will take a long time and is a slow process but it is the best way to proceed. Although I do have a one-name study file on Legacy for Pincombe it is limited as I did not at the beginning look at it from the same viewpoint as I am now looking at it. If I am going to write a book and I now have 40 pages written then I do need to be as thorough as I can be pulling out all of the records in Find My Past. I will also look at Family Search, Ancestry, My Heritage over time but Find My Past will be my principal research tool. I am thinking of subscribing to The Genealogist and British History online for both of the books. Although I am looking at all of the records I am not recording all of them in the book but will attribute sources to any that I do pull. There is repetition of course and it can be helpful actually as reading the original made a correction to one of the transcriptions of a register page. In the early years of the Parish Registers one encounters smearing on occasion and the mice ate holes in the parchment or just natural wear and tear. Yesterday I accomplished sixty years from 1560 to 1620. It will be slow. 

Not any luck with the parging yet but I am asking around to see how that goes. The painting is not something I have to do anytime soon but something I want to get done. I did consider replacing the siding but I actually like the aluminium siding. So will not rush to replace it. When I sell it I am sure someone will replace it. But it does need painting. 

Took a break by mid afternoon when I did my stair climbing exercise - 10 times up two flights.  Right now my 2 sets of  jumping jacks, standing warrior and shoulder stand first thing in the morning followed by weight lifting mid morning and then my 30 minutes run and 10 minute walk just before lunch followed midday by stair climbing and a little later calisthenics/yoga combination seem to fill my day. I could also ride the stationary bicycle and use the treadmill and do do that some of the days for variety. Then every hour I do a minimum of 250 steps for my FitBit (and me) but generally it is a 5 to 10 minute walk. Exercise is fundamental to good health is my belief and my children can tell you about our walks around the block (2 kilometre block) when they were young with them generally running to stay caught up to me. But they did enjoy it; fresh air is always nice.

On to the day. 

 

 

Interesting details on Pencombe

 One will I never did work out came back to the surface so spent a little time yesterday sorting that one and not yet clear on the path - it is that time when facts are more difficult to find - the Commonwealth period. Perhaps on the ground at Registry Offices I would find more but I will continue with Pencombe today and I am beginning to wonder if two days in a row would be better at this stage as there is more in depth thinking especially on Pincombe as I draw out the facts from Find My Past. 

Ordered the garden earth and that will come in this next week and then I will begin the outdoor work although want to let the wild flowers bloom in the lawn so will try not to disturb that too much. I can also work on the flower beds in the front as they need fresh earth. A little of some plants is necessary and adding new plants here and there probably. Time moves onward but it is early to be working in the garden generally this is "Mud Season" when one just waits and it may yet be as more rain is promised this weekend. 

Took pictures of the parging that needs to be done and just have to find someone to do that. I will go to Home Hardware in May if I can not find anyone before then. I also want to paint the aluminium siding. I had thought to replace it but I actually like the aluminium siding as it is minimal care. 

I have to work on the Allen box of pictures and get that ready to go to cousins for June. The material has been pretty much sorted out now and I can begin what I consider to be Edward's greatest interests although he did love being part of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Ancestors (was Ontario Genealogical Society). He belonged to four branches in total and made visits to Brant and Oxford during the years as well. Brant was his special favourite I think outside of Ottawa Branch. 

Another day in God's world and a tune came back to me as I have been working away - "His Banner Over Me is Love." I did love singing that song as a child and it was from the Bible Chapel that I went to with a friend that I made when I was seven. Her father was in the military and they moved away a couple of years later. We went every Wednesday after school although it was not easy to get permission to do that. But Archdeacon Abraham said to my parents they should let me do that (secretly I think he loved it that I could find any verse in the Bible very quickly and was just showing me off!). I was very fond of Archdeacon Abraham he was my hero as a child. When I was quite young and he would be in the pulpit giving his homilies/sermons I used to mix him up with Father Abraham as he had a booming voice telling the people of God's love and how we must lead our lives (plus my father referred to him as Father Abraham in the English way when he mentioned him to us (my siblings and I)). 

Another day of Pencombe/Pincombe and the book slowly grows. It will be a purely family book as it will not include much beyond the Pincombe family at North Molton (unless I can prove they were from Herefordshire). From just one person, John Pencombe, a huge family flowed into the north Devon area and then beyond into Somerset and Surrey/London. Around the world to the United States, to Canada, to Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The family from one singleton individual is huge. 

Prayers for the world and that it will find peace in our time but not peace at any price. Not this time; people have a right to their countries that they formed at the end of the Soviet Union and we must help them. Israel has a right to exist and not feel constantly threatened. The God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is the same God and He would want us to find peace amongst ourselves. Thank you God for giving us such a beautiful world and all that is in it. 

Teatime and Latin; the day moves forward.

A certain measure of progress

I worked away yesterday looking at Richard le Blake in the records and did manage to separate out the two Blake families who were "closeby" sort of in the areas north of Berkshire and then the Wiltshire group. Definitely I can separate out the Berkshire le Blak family from the le Blake family in Worcestershire/Warwickshire which is a bonus as they had similar forenames. Although I have not proven a direct link between the Richard Blage/Blake on the Chart and Richard le Blak in Berkshire (possibly from Rouen, Normandy after 1274) in the 1300s it does look more interesting in that regard. The next direction is perhaps to see if there are any Lay Subsidies in the 1300s in Berkshire available. I do have a good proof of life and placement for the Robert le Blake line near Calne. I think I will let another month of looking at this pass by without being concerned at the length of time. I did finally find a Dorrant/Durrant family in the 1300s in Norfolk. Since there is an established Blake line in East Anglia dating back into the 1200s/1300s I begin to wonder about the marriage between a Henry Blake of Quemerford/Calne and a daughter of an Edward Dorrant/Durrant naming her as a co-heir but will persist looking at that. Perhaps Burke's Pedigree can be helpful and will check that out. 

Other than that I washed the car windows since they were somewhat dusty and the rain rinsed all of that away. I want to order the black earth today and will get that done. My lot is joined and the ground beside the garage has never had any fresh earth in all of these fourty six years so I want to add earth there stamping it down with each thin layer added. There is also a parging spot that has broken on the concrete so need to figure that out. The parging is good otherwise so will do a repair I think but will check with Home Depot on that perhaps they have someone they know who does small repair jobs. 

Today I shall work on Pencombe and it will be continuing to draw out the data from Find My Past and enter that into my new Pencombe one-name study file on Legacy. 

We are promised a lot of rain today so that is good. I want to start adding black earth to the lawn at the front a little at a time and seed it as I go. This is good grass growing weather for sure. I will do an hour a day to start and work up to a couple of hours but take my time doing that. It would be nice to complete the front yard by mid May. The back will likely take all summer since growing grass in the hotter part of the year is problematic. I shall let the grass grow and the dandelions again for the bees!

Teatime and Latin. 

I am also distracted by the latest forward move with DNA looking at the species of birds. Edward and I, for the first eight years of our marriage did a lot of bird watching, astronomy at night and bird watching in the day, when we had breaks. I would say that it was the bird watching that gave Edward the most joy in his last year of life. He has always had bird feeders in the back yard and when he couldn't fill them then we did. He spent hours with his binoculars watching the birds from the windows. It was an enormous source of joy to him. DNA is such a valuable tool in our lives. Its sorting ability can tell us much about the evolution of all the species in our world. 

Edward's DNA shows his primarily continental European heritage and it is amazing the matches that come up in ancestry for him (and 23 and Me, FT DNA, My Heritage (I also tested him at Living DNA but his matches there would be rather ancient except for his 2x great grandmother's line from Norfolk (Abs)). The DNA thoroughly supported and proved all of his research which felt good to him in those years as his health became a problem for him (so many of his cousins tested for him to help him sorting through a couple of brick walls and much appreciated that they did). Myself, I wonder what to do with all of this data but have continued collecting it into his files and perhaps there will be someone in the future that will take up the mantle of this research. Edward is 30% German, 30% Dutch (so really 60% Germanic), 20% French, 10% Scandinavian, less than 10% English, less than 10% Polish. Fascinating really how the melting pot of America has given such a variety in DNA to those colonials who bravely tested the oceans coming to America in the 1600s (most of his ancestors arrived in that time frame). Me, I am 100% English with no known ancestral lines from anywhere else except if you go back to the 1700s when I appear to have a line that came from Argyllshire/Ayrshire in the 1640s to Northern Ireland and then to Shropshire/Warwickshire area and even earlier in the 1400s the Routledges came to the Borderlands (Cumberland). 

I shall keep reading all these studies on bird DNA as I also really enjoy watching the birds. I should put bird feed out but my neighbours have a lovely setup which I can see from my windows and already this spring has been amazing. 

The Pencombe family awaits and extraction from Find My Past. 

Still nothing back from my newest cousin (descended from my maternal grandmother's half sister). There was a picture of my grandmother's parents Edwin Denner Buller and Ellen (Taylor) Buller that my grandmother had let her youngest sister take with her to Chicago when their half sister's family moved there (Florence had been asked by the Birmingham Union to take in Sarah to give her a family life as she was still quite young when they came to Canada). At that point none of my grandmother siblings or my grandmother knew they had a half-sister. Sarah forgot to take the picture with her when she got married and the half-sister's family moved to California. Unfortunately there was a house fire there and we thought everyone had perished but a granddaughter of Florence's had survived so I did ask if they had the picture but so far no news. Maybe sometime I will hear back. It would be most exciting to have that picture. Because our match is so small we are just half-cousins. Edwin Denner Buller was in South Africa and became a medic at the time of the First Boer War but was injured and sent home to the very hospital where Florence was living with her mother. In fact, Ellen Taylor, her mother, grew up just a couple of blocks from where Edwin grew up and so they knew each other and they were married a few years later. My grandmother was eleven when her mother died and fourteen when her father died so did remember a lot of stories which she shared with the inquisitive grand daughter. I would be just really happy with a good scan of the picture if it survived. I am not into keeping old pictures (I give them all to my younger sister).

On to work; the day passes quickly. It will rain here for days now and it is our rainy season and our flood season so time will tell since there isn't a huge winter snow melt we may not get a lot of flooding here but the west may as may the east.

The Story of Moses on Netflix

The Story of Moses has been particularly well done on Netflix. The knowledge and enthusiasm of the researchers from Judaism, Islam and Christianity has been an enormous asset to this latest series.

 Netflix has really been an asset with their various selections over the past must be nearly ten years since I subscribed. Initially I subscribed so the children could watch their cartoons when they came to visit. But then I started discovering the many different shows that they published or had the rights to for a period of time. Up until then we bought movies on disc and before that on tape. Now I have pretty much given away all of those discs and tapes to Salvation Army although do still have one goodsized bookcase full of CDs mostly although one row of tapes of my most favourite. But I did discover that the tapes do not last for years and years so will probably give the rest of those to Salvation Army this summer if they are still taking them. The CDs I will have to think about because they seem more stable and are of course newer. 

My collection of historical and genealogical CDs is quite large as well but I did offer them to the Anglican Archives eventually along with my 2000 fiche of mostly BMBs from various parishes in England. Generally when we went I bought these many items at local churches or at Who Do You Think You Are when we went in 2013. That was an amazing Conference with even the furtherest away counties having a table often combined with several others. They have done amazing work through the years on their historical records. Find My Past has a lot of that work now but I still pull out my CDs often enough just to have a look. It was on one such CD that I found a reference to my Charles Butt being a "Wesleyan preacher" although he did live and die an Anglican but that was also true of the founders of the Wesleyan sect. Looking at the "protestant" Church in England I have never been convinced that moving away from the Church of England was a good plan. The Church of England is ancient as is the Church of Wales, the Church of Ireland and the Church of Scotland. All have very deep roots in the British Isles which preceded the Roman advance into the British Isles more than two thousand years ago now. But then I would describe myself as Catholic rather than Protestant. 

As Edward discovered his Protestant roots I was actually not surprised given his "free" thinker attitude but he came to enjoy the Anglican Church (Christ Church Cathedral) after I think maybe three years at Dominion Chalmers and twenty years at Orleans United Church and before that Metropolitan United in London and Princeton United Church in his home town Princeton, Ontario for Edward. I attended St Andrew Memorial Anglican Church in London all of my life up to my marriage and then attended with Edward in London (although living close to St Paul's Cathedral I did go to early service or would drive, once we bought a car, to my childhood Church and my father was always there at early service). Finding a United Church here proved to be not easy for Edward but moving to Orleans and then the new Church of Convent Glen United interested him but I was hesitant so we didn't go that first year but waited until the fall came around once again and as I had promised I did attend Edward's church for about twenty years (although I used to go to the local Anglican Church for early service). But back to Dominion Chalmers and what attracted Edward was the minister who was an old testament scholar and his sermons were absolutely excellent (I really found them to be most thought provoking as the old testament covers so much of our history as a people in those ancient days) but he retired and the new minister there was more of a folksy person and modern music and I was surprised that Edward didn't want to still be part of that as he was very into Country Music but I guess the two are different and being mostly a Classical Music admirer I fail to see the difference I guess. His time at the Cathedral was something that surprised him I rather think. He didn't really  move from being United Church but he found great solace in the choirs and that was probably what really interested him - all that Gregorian Chant which he did love to listen to. 

I was really content with the YouTube Christ Church Cathedral on line week after week once it started up during COVID and then lasted for a year or so after and do miss it still on a weekly basis but attend when services are online. But finding the Church of England online from various Churches/Chapels in England has been a wondrous adventure I must say. Perhaps the most meaningful was attending St Martin-in-the-Fields near Trafalgar Square where my 2x great grandparents Henry Christopher Buller and Anne (Welch) Buller attended when they were living in London. We had visited that Church one of our times in London and they actually have a lunch cafe in the basement of that Church where we ate that day. That was certainly a spectacular Sunday for me. But all the others are equally wonderful at which to be a visitor. 

A working day today and finally I will get to Blake as the days past have just been packed full of things to be done. I will continue with the chapter on the Blake Pedigree Chart and the Blake Family Chart - reviewing them and adding in the historical details that I have since located which are not always in agreement with those written documents. This need to correct on my part is just my nature and once written it can then be reviewed by others and their opinions added. That is the real value of the internet although one must always be cautious not to try to control the internet. Dictatorship of anything is just wrong especially when one country invades another country with no justification for doing so; we must not falter in our defense of Ukraine or Israel. We do need to protect the children though as they are the future of this world. But holding them as hostage hoping to protect yourself as an adult is just sick.

Teatime and Latin.

Edward's Research

 Although Edward put in a lot of time on genealogy it was never one of our go to items in the first fourteen years of our marriage. He worked with one of the people (Ed Phelps) in the library at Western gathering up old documents from our visits to farm auctions whilst we lived in that area (first nine years of our marriage) and it became a project for him to think about through the future. Our move here though was, I think, hardest on Edward in retrospect. He left behind everyone that he knew and he is far more of a people person than I am. I came from a large family and generally preferred my quiet lifestyle without people although loved visiting with my own family when we did that. 

In our first eight years of marriage before children Edward and I collected up a lot of different types of material. We were both keen on astronomy and a large section of our not working life went into that in those first eight years. Edward loved photography and we camped most every weekend in the summers before children visiting parks hither and yon whilst he photographed all of the flowers that he had never seen as a child. Sometimes he put on his researcher hat and prepared sets of data on various plants that we found. 

I have decided that in memory of my husband's strongest interests in my opinion I will begin the task of scanning his thesis first of all. It is still cited along with his articles (joint with his researcher under whom he studied) in journals around the world. I will also scan his papers and put them up on his website. I think he always meant to do that but just was too busy with the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. When he went off to the first meeting, for him, at the Ottawa Branch I was surprised actually. But Gordon Riddle had invited him in the early 1980s and he always felt a little sorry for him because of his uncle who was also a Family Physician and died younger than one might have anticipated as the hours were long for him and he was in a rural practice. So when Gordon approached him to go to the Genealogical Society he responded yes although I will admit he thought about it a lot at first. He knew I would never go (I am not really much of a people person) although eventually I did when my cousin wanted me to write a profile for my Pincombe Family in the history book he was editing for Westminster and Delaware Townships in 2004 which was a surprise to Edward. But he did enjoy the genealogical association along with his part in developing Orleans United Church where he sang in the Choir for about fifteen to twenty years and was treasurer for ten years (that was what his father had done and I think it brought Edward closer to the memory of his father as he was only two when he died). Although a lot of Edward's time went into genealogy (he was a great support person in the library) his greatest love was research in science.

Then there are his photographs and I think I will put them into an *.pdf along with his notes and publish that under a Creative Commons Licence for anyone to look at. Some of the pictures are really quite fabulous if you happen to be into wild flowers. 

He has some other collections that I will work at putting together and publish them as well. 

When I asked him about publishing his family material he said he already did and had put it up on World Connect. That entirely satisfied him so I have broken up his collection slowly giving it to the various cousins that he introduced me to in the last fifteen years of our marriage. That I think was what he was alluding to in the last year of his life. I was distracted by the amount of care that my daughter and I had to give to him through that last year as before that time he was still walking about and enjoying his life. He tended to recover quickly and return to his level of activity but I must admit that after the pacemaker he tired a lot easier than he ever had (that was in 2012). 

It is good to have thought this through with his daughters and they agree with me that that was really his intent to put all of this material where people could find it. I continue maintaining the yDNA of the Kipp family from which he descended and will continue the newsletter for this family. But actually getting into tracing lines I will not do. I have no experience with American research. At 78.5 my time is going to go to the books I want to write about my grandfather Blake's family and my mother's Pincombe family and after that work on my grandmother's Buller family and a few other lines that interested both of my parents. It always sounds like I am not doing anything for myself but really I never anticipated living on into my 70s at all and so I am just picking up the traces of conversations that I had as a child with the people around me. It does seem like a nice idea and I continue with it. 

Back to cleaning; amazing how much thinking you do when you are cleaning!

Loved the headline - weapons to Ukraine

 I loved the headline - Americans capture  shipment from Iran to the Houthis and shipped it to Ukraine. I wonder how long it will take for our citizens to be avenged that were killed when the Iranian military shot down a civilian aircraft destined for Canada leaving Tehran. Two more Iranian generals are now deceased - I do not cheer that loss of life but do see it as partial atonement for the murder of Canadians. 

The Solar Eclipse makes you so aware of how small and fragile earth really is. The moon passing in front of the sun can change day to night and back again. We have no power over such things; it is the power of Mother Nature that runs our world. 

Cleaning again today and it is the full day of cleaning. Spring cleaning is in my brain for sure but not likely to happen on the ground; I am too old to pull a room apart but I do my best and we have eliminated so many things now that it is much easier to clean each room. More will go this summer. It is a good feeling to know that others are making use of all of these goods through the Salvation Army. 

Perhaps a glance at Blake today as nothing happened with that yesterday. It was a slower cleaning day but I managed to find many things to do. Included was another issue of the Story of Moses on Netflix. Scholars from Judaism and Islam have worked together on this project it appears and one gets the thoughts from both of these religions along with the Christian view; all are pretty much in tandem as Moses like Jacob and Abraham before them are all part of the faith path of these three great religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. All of us believe in God as the only God and almost 3/5ths of the world belong to these three great religions (Jews . 0.2%, Christians 31.6%, Muslims 25.8%). There are also: Hindus 15.1%, Buddhists 6.6%, Others and unaffiliated 20.6%. Perhaps in my old age I will learn more about Hindus, Buddhists and others (no ideas on what unaffiliated refers to actually). The percentage of Jewish people in the world has not recovered from the genocide committed against them during the Second World War (and the continuing attempts at genocide since then). 

Although the dollars look good for the military it is not enough and not fast enough. Our military service people need to have better salaries; they are, after all, defending us and helping us whenever we have emergencies here in Canada. It is time to improve their salaries and I did not see a dollar amount for that. Equipment is good, of course, but the actual salary must improve. 

Teatime and Latin next. Ian White's Psalms are playing and another beautiful day on God's earth.

The Solar Eclipse

The Solar  Eclipse  at Upper Canada Village near Morrisburg, Ontario was absolutely stupendous. It is the first time that I have ever been in totality and it was truly an unforgettable experience perhaps especially at 78.5 years of age. It was cloudy on the way to Upper Canada Village but there were signs of thinning of the clouds and even blue sky patches. Set up just below the monument to the Battle of Crysler's Field on a slight incline which did prove to be workable. The skies were clearing beautifully as the start of the eclipse began and could be clearly seen through the eclipse glasses as the moon slowly started to cover the sun. The pinhole viewer proved to be an excellent tool to measure progress as well. As the moon slowly moved across the face of the sun to totality it started to darken and amazingly the world went silent (except for the chatter of people). The horizon slowly turned a light pink as totality came closer and closer and the temperature dropped. Then the diamond ring appeared so clear to the eyes. I did not see Baily's beads but totality with the corona was spectacular. My pictures somewhat dreadful; should have brought the tripod but I do tend to use memory more than mechanical pictures. We, all of us on that hill created from the Battle of Crysler's Field were in awe at the wonder. A sold out parking lot with all the lucky people who really got to see the total Eclipse of the Sun yesterday from beginning to end. A lot of cloud in Ontario although we were not the only ones with such a good view and that is wondrous to have so many have this opportunity of a lifetime. Thank you God. 

That was pretty much the entire day getting ready to go, driving there and then waiting for this spectacular treat in my old age and the trip home very long; long lineups of cars returning to Ottawa which was just outside of totality. I suspect everyone had a good time in spite of the clouds and the traffic. Just being there as the world grew dark for just a short period and then the sun came back. What a marvelous experience. 

Cleaning day today and it is the basement to start - just a half day of cleaning. Must organize the two loads of black earth this week and plan the gardening for the summer. Those are amazing words from me actually as I have little interest in gardening but a lot of interest in greening the planet! I must admit though picking spinach, carrots, tomatoes is also a nice event in one's life. It is the small things in life that mean the most I rather think. 

Perhaps a little work on Blake today; continuing to work on the Blake Pedigree Chart and the Blake Family Chart. Both are tremendous assets to the various Blake lines that can flow back to them but making corrections is always a top priority to me. Why is that anyway? I think it is just my nature to try and get it right if possible. Having it wrong doesn't help anyone actually and getting history wrong can be a huge mistake. Our ancestors learned that especially during World Wars I and II and the time in between those two wars. There is no one on the face of the earth that can be an albatross with their head in the sand. We are all part of this world and it can only flow well if we all co-operate and work together to make God's world as perfect as we can. 

The economic side of me loves a good challenge and that is a much better playing field than the field of battle. People are killed in battles, economies are destroyed by battles and in the long run no one actually wins because a dictator will always have enemies; people who want to rid themselves of dictators always arise simply because the human spirit itself must be free to express itself and when that is hindered revolutions follow. 

My Latin lessons have become a passion for me as I work away at them usually three working periods a day and I have inserted some French lessons now although it will be fall before it becomes a regular routine. I have now reached the point where I am thinking sometimes in Latin - amazing really and certainly looking at these ancient documents has become easier but still a long way to go to become fluent. 

Teatime and Latin and then breakfast.