Fence day

The new fences go in today, hurrah. Already the old fences are gone. These young men are very efficient. On the short side there will be chain link because there is so much tree cover that the light is blocked most of the day in that area and the chain link will help to open that up. On the other lovely wood to replace the old wooden fence. Looking forward to both. The short length of fence really was inefficient. It didn't really block anything as it was just very short. Probably the neighbour on the other side benefited the most from that  wooden fence as they put in a patio off their sliding glass door but still it was very short and scarcely provided a really private area. Our patio was always secluded because the house next door is set back about 4 metres further from the street than we are so we actually had that quiet personal area. We lose just that short length of it but the payback in more sun is worth it. Mind you I am going to move so the real benefit will be to the people who move in. Likely they will put in a big swimming pool and a deck and change the entire look of this yard. But it is a long yard made for children for sure; mine loved it. 

No work yesterday. I went to Church, did some reading and did all my exercises. Made my favourite chicken stew and finished off the salmon as a lovely canape mid afternoon with cranberry juice and buttery crisp pitas. It was delightful. Occasionally I can be a foodie but it needs to be just the right food!

Today the basement is being cleaned. It is almost finished actually. I was up early today with the fence people coming. I want to paint the other side of the stairs today and will get that done. Then I think there is enough paint to paint the stair lift once again all the way down just to give it a really good coat of paint. It looks good already. The bright red is appealing actually. I liked it when Edward chose it years ago. It brightens the stairwell and I definitely did not want carpet on the basement stairs. 

I will miss this house but it is a lot of work and I only get older. Right now I can manage it quite well although I know that I have cleaned it when I have completed the task. Until then I do not think about it; better that way. 

Latin next and then vacuum the furniture in the basement and that is complete.  

Just noticed that the support poles for the chain link are black and when I checked the contract it calls for black mesh. Trying to get that sorted around (I should have read it with a magnifying glass so accept the blame on that). I was not really involved in talking with the people as my neighbour organized the couple of fences. Strange that anyone would put up black chainlink beside grey chainlink. It is difficult being old for sure.

Sunday and it is going to be another bright sunny one

 Reading one of the Bible Readings for today and it talks about Faith and says "Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!" How do we do good deeds? Is it by being a monthly contributor to the Ottawa Mission; that sounds like a good deed and I have done that for quite a few years. There isn't any involvement on my part except providing the monthly contribution. Is that a good deed? I think it is; not everyone can do "hands on" type of work to help people. I am not one of those people for sure. I have done things that help a lot of people but I am not really seen; treasurer for Camp Bitobi was one of those good deeds. I did that for a few years and a lot of people benefited from that Camp being available and I liked it that I did that. I was a Brownie Leader and served on the Guide Council in this area for all the time my children were involved in Brownies or Guides. Again that was a good contribution but was it a good deed; my own child benefited from my being involved so it wasn't selfless at all. But then a lot of children benefited so perhaps that too is a good deed. I also helped one day a week in schools particularly after computers were put into the schools because I have an expertise in computers having worked with them since the mid 1960s and my children were in school in the late 70s and 80s when I was helping. That was selfless for sure and required a lot of patience but it was an asset for the future watching the children learn to use this new method of learning/communication. So that was a good deed as well. I was volunteer secretary at Edward's United Church for a number of years and was there every Sunday handing out bulletins and providing answers if asked to various questions that new people coming had. That was surely a good deed because I never really felt comfortable there, I am after all an Anglican - I think like an Anglican, worship like an Anglican but I did try to be hidden so as not to interfere in the Worship style (it was not too difficult as I had attended the United Church with my maternal uncle and grandmother); Edward loved it singing in the choir being Church Treasurer and for me that was part of the good deed helping with something that my husband enjoyed doing. So I guess I have done good deeds when I think about it. But now what good deeds do I do? I guess my surname research does result in a lot of emails coming my way with queries about the various families that I study so I do help in as much as I am able without using up my research time but do provide suggestions on how one could do their own research if asked. I support PWRDF with a monthly contribution but that doesn't really involve my doing anything but providing money. I support the mother Church here in the diocese as well on a monthly basis but again I do not actually do anything. I have gone to Church online now since the beginning of COVID so not even there in person.

But do my good deeds stem from faith; are my good deeds of value? I think when one is coming towards 80s years on this planet you think of good deeds differently as you age. Perhaps it was growing up in the shadow of World War II and seeing the news reels about the war and hearing the stories of savage genocide against the Jewish peoples and other death and destruction. So many children in Germany died during the war. There was no escape for those children really although some may have escaped. The children in Germany during the 30s and 40s had spent their school years worshiping Hitler as a hero and saviour of their nation. They grew to adulthood believing all of that and became part of the military that attacked Europe on all sides. It was sad that the only way to stop Hitler was to keep bombing Germany. I learned that as a child so when I see that another "country" attacks a peace loving country like Ukraine or Israel I relate back to that time when the only way to stop it was to keep bombing until the arms were laid down; the guilty Nazis surrendered and we could once again try to create a peaceful world. Now we have the Nazi Russians, we have Nazi Iran and their supplicants Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis forcing war on us once again. Is there another answer? I wish there was. But so long as you educate children to believe lies then the threat of war is always with us because they grow up believing those lies and create war against the peaceful peoples of the world. In this case though the children of Gaza could have come to North America if the Muslim community had organized that and many would have been saved; there has been lots of time to do that. I really do not understand why the effort wasn't made. It is unusual to be able to save the children of an aggressor "country."

So what are good deeds that I could be doing now other than what I am doing? I shall think about that today whilst I am at Church which will be on You Tube from Christ Church Flackwell Heath which is near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. This is another area of England that we did not really notice in our travels between London and Oxford although we traveled through this area a number of times. I do not have any ancestors from this area of whom I am aware but likely Edward did back in the early 1600s when his Dissenter ancestors were still living in England. 

I think faith is something you have within you and perhaps that is what leads one to do things they do through life. God is and always has been my best friend as long as I can remember and yet I have never spoken to this best friend except through prayer and thanksgiving. God does not speak to us in a way that we can hear; He no longer walks and talks with man. It was reading the old wills that revealed to me the deep faith of my ancestors (and other people's ancestors) and I understood my own faith better. 

Now on to Latin, breakfast is completed. The day begins.

My doorbell rang

 Amazing, I actually did fix that doorbell. It rang today whilst I was in the midst of my weightlifting routine. I was walking between lifts and walked upstairs to look out the window and I could see that there were two children as close to my front door as you can get because I could barely see them. Why are they there; they should have a sign or be wearing a uniform if they are selling apples or cookies but this is two children. I am fairly sure they are trying to get me to support them for the Terry Fox Run. I do support the Terry Fox Run; I have grandchildren running in that and I just want one receipt and so I do not answer the door. I refuse to answer the door unless I am expecting someone or they have some sort of a uniform that I recognize including a car that I recognize that I can see or it is perhaps my direct next door neighbours as we watch each other's houses when we are away - a courtesy that one does to close neighbours. They only rang once as their parents probably told them that people knew why they were coming and were not planning to support their run in the Terry Fox Run. I got an email from the Terry Fox Run telling me I could support the individuals that I supported last year in his/her school online and could make my contribution there. I did that last year anyway and it is the best way. I liked the way Cairine Wilson did their food drive last year with a flyer - they let me know what they needed and when they would come for it so I could just leave it on the front porch. The schools could do the same for this run and just have an ability to support any child with a particular sum. I could have thirty or fourty children coming to my door, I am not doing fourty different tiny donations - the bank would not thank me for doing that!

I do not really believe in children going door to door without a parent. I really dislike people trying to sell me something at the door. I am not going to buy it and I have so much work to do I am not answering my door unless I know you are coming, you are going to drop a tree on my car, or there is a gas leak which I would have already noticed likely. Or I am actually needed to call someone to help them which I would do most willingly if they are injured otherwise they should go home they need their medical information to get help.

Back to work, weightlifting completed. I will soon do my contribution to the Terry Fox Run when I have the details from my children for their children. I think it is a great thing to do that but I question this method of sending children door to door. People just do not keep money on hand for such things and children have no way to do credit card type things. If you have a brochure just leave it in the box I will find it. The school could have a parent volunteer at the front area and advertise it so that people could come and do contributions if they want. Anyway my thoughts on my door bell ringing when I am working; I have so much work to do and at 79 the years are passing. Must put my note up on the door.

Trying to remember the group that I belonged to when my children were in school - Block Parent. We had a sign that we put in the window if a child needed support on their way to and from school. I had that in my window on school days when I worked at home after it was set up. Excellent idea actually do not know if it still exists.  

As a child, I did not go door to door to collect anything and so I just do not see a value in that unless it is administrated in a manner which works for people in the route. Like the Cairine Wilson Food Drive; that was excellent. I did sell cookies as a Girl Guide and later as a leader but I actually do not think they do that anymore. Which is a good thing I actually think.

Another good day of work

 Working on the William and Robert lines in the fourth generation. Still thinking about the next chart for the William Line but the Robert line is pretty straightforward. This is really turning out well. 

Went shopping yesterday for groceries and that was a good trip. About the only time I wear my glasses is driving because I can not read the speedometer well enough and my license requires corrective lenses anyway. Otherwise I live my life mostly without glasses just using them for reading and the computer. It is most pleasant actually.  Groceries are expensive for sure. Clothes too but what stops me from bying new clothes is more that I just never make it to the stores except when I have company. Clothes have never been this huge item with me anyway. I tend to find something I really like and then wear that pretty much all the time for whatever purpose I bought it. When it wears out or when it is just too big as the case now I take it to Salvation Army if it has any life in it. I will miss this Metro when I move as they are very helpful when you can not locate something. Mostly I know where everything is; I have shopped at this Metro (and the earlier smaller store) since they opened here in my area. Although they have changed the store I have always quickly adjusted to the placement of the goods. It is really very logical.

Today I will vacuum the car and wash up the stand for the outdoor shoes and boots to move everything to the basement for the winter. That leaves the garage almost empty except for the lawn mower. With this warm weather I will probably have  to cut the grass once again before putting the lawn mower away. Probably towards the end of September. 

Other than that it is Saturday, so wash day and all the other usual things that I do which will include the charting book. I may take a look at the newsletter that I have not published yet. Some work needed on both of those. 

Sadly I had to turn the air conditioning on yesterday and probably it will be on for a couple of days. Usually in September and May I try not to use it. I actually had the furnace come on one night in the cool spell but I set my furnace at 19 until the cooler weather actually comes and then I keep it at 20 degrees celsius. I do not like the house to be really warm in the winter. My brain works better in the cold I always think. Edward found that too cool as I knew he liked it warmer and just left the heat alone when he was alive. But now I can have it as cool as I like. Mostly I have the air conditioner set at 25 to come on but it does dehumidify which also tends to cool the house down in the heat of the summer. But 25 is cold enough for sure when it is in the high 30s outside - it feels like a freezer coming in. 

Today more on the Charting Book as I would like to complete the rough draft this next week along with the two missing newsletters. I did find it somewhat overwhelming as my eyes healed from the cataract surgery with all those eye drops and then getting used to not wearing glasses all the time. I still reach for them when I wake up after wearing them since I was a year old probably not surprising! It is funny when I weight myself and I can actually read the scale. That and the depth of vision continue to amaze me. 

Slept in a bit today as I turned the air conditioner on in the night when I realized that the house was just too warm; maybe about two o'clock and the dehumidifier on the furnace ran for quite a while actually so I should have turned it on a day earlier actually. Will try not to make that mistake again. 

Solitaire games all played and the Expert one had a bit of a twist in it today. I do so love playing solitaire first thing in the morning. Exercises all completed (my morning wake up drill) and on to Breakfast and then Latin. The day flows forward in its usual routine which I enjoy. Although I often move the routine around quite a bit depending on what I am doing. Right now I wait for frost to kill off the plants so that I can cut them down and move into the winter cycle. 

On to the charting

I worked with my Legacy program and the charts are coming along nicely (all black and white) and the size should not be a problem as I am working on the third to the fourth generations now and the size of the file is 407 KB so I am looking at a fairly small book although likely 100 pages as I am up to 10 pages now. 

It was interesting that not long after my new neighbour arrived (in 1978!) she asked me to work on six years of income tax that her husband had not filed. I did think at the time it was a strange request but I was in a new area and one of my many skills was doing income tax having done it for a very long time already so I agreed to help her. With seven children I could understand the need to do that of course. Perhaps where they were posted before was not convenient to do the taxes no ideas on that I do not ask a lot of questions just provide the knowledge. Besides it seemed like a nice thing to do to help someone out. A few neighbourly acts like that and being volunteered as volunteer secretary for the new United Church I was very busy albeit at home. It was nice to work at home especially because I was there 100% of the time with my children and when the proofreading came along that really filled a niche and pretty much all at home - just had to go in three times a week to pick up my work; I can verify that and likely there are lots of jobs still that let you work primarily at home; one just needs to find them if that is your keen desire. It was at that point that I realize looking back I became a recluse for the most part having initially been involved in a welcome program for new people on the street. It just wasn't me; some people are excellent at that but I am not one of them. I could always be counted on to help out with community efforts but individual welcoming no; that just wasn't me.

Now I work at home once again (and even more reclusive than all those years ago) but I am the boss and I decide when to work or not to work and being a workaholic I do work quite a bit of the time. God gave us brains to work with and my philosophy has always been to go with that and do what you can do. Does my work have any meaning? Depends on what you need and some people do benefit from the work that I do. I regularly receive emails from people with questions on one or another of my blogs. A few want me to help them with their research and I seldom do that; I can not do other people's research - I am too old. But I do give them pointers if I am able to do so. You need to fit into my family somewhere for me to help to any extent as I do not do other research that does not fit into my family lines. 

I already have 35 boxes of Edward's research that I need to work through and although I helped him a lot through the years I do not know his families; I only know a few of the current family members to whom he was close so doing anything new is not going to happen but preserve what he did I am working away at that. 

So today is a working day and I will continue with the Companion Book and also preparing my Errata page for the Revised Siderfin book published six months plus ago. I will likely produce a new copy which I will put on my website with the link that still exists on my blog site. The number of changes will be slight but I guess that is one of the luxuries of the modern world to be able to correct a book although I will likely add the Errata page to the new book directing individuals to the changes that were made. I will also include the Errata page in the Companion book since it will directly link to revised and updated book as well as to James Sanders' original book on the Siderfin Family. 

Soon I will begin the two newsletters that are late as well. My finger is doing quite well as I type away. I have an exercise ring that I will start to use when I am not working starting with perhaps five repeats and work my way up. I would like to do therapy perhaps but my time always get swallowed up with things and I suspect that unless it creates problems for me that will not happen. But it is a really good idea. I should do it but at 79 nearly my should do attitude is slowly being replaced by I really would like to just work quietly away and get all this stuff done!

Breakfast next and then Latin. I am into the second year of Latin and we are doing the lessons I am most familiar with in Latin talking about the various gods of the Romans. It should be interesting. I hope that they keep expanding the Latin course but I am getting comfortable with declensions and need to do more work on them but do have old Latin textbooks that I could turn to and just keep on practising with the Latin drills to keep my vocabulary intact. I need to continue with my French as well. I want to get back into my son in law's French Canadian studies. My Heritage has just purchased a large French Canadian depository which looks interesting for some of those areas of research that can be difficult. 

The end of the 12th generation is in sight

I have just seventeen pages left to do. I was surprised as there was a lot to enter into my family tree program from this last set of 35 pages of data. Also I had to do some checking and found more errata within the text; mostly just little things that my eyes were just probably too tired to catch at the end. I could have let it wait a little longer as it turned out and will do that with the next two books. A learning curve for sure and I will publish the errata and perhaps create a new copy to put on my website. I will think about that. It does not involve that many changes and most of them are cosmetic; correction items missed or errors in typing which surprised me but my eyes it turns out were not quite as strong as I thought they were before the cataract surgery. You can not really tell that because the decline is gradual for sure. 

I did yardwork yesterday and more to do today as I had forgotten that I had this 5 metre long black metal fence that was along the wooden fence at the back to keep the bunny out (at least my husband thought it might) but it did not. I will move it to the front and remove the shorter now rusty white fence from that garden as this black fence is meant to withstand the weather. Plus it will match the black fence that is there. The front yard is mostly cleaned up for winter. Just a little more here and there to do. The concentration will now be on the back where there is a lot of weeding to do but I will not rush it as I want to just pull the weeds and let them rot on the ground through the winter for the most part. I have lost more flowering plants this year because I just couldn't keep up with the weeds. At least I thought I couldn't and didn't as a result.. Perhaps that is getting old. At 79 I am old and can still do things but the age of being in control of items that are of ultimate value in a big way are past. I can just have suggestions now really. 

My finger was somewhat tired last night after a busy day but doing well again this morning. I might do less typing today. Instead I am still typing and I am thinking maybe I need some therapy on that finger. Must investigate how I do that these days. It is a long time since I have injured one of my limbs! Since it is my left hand I do use it less than my right.

Breakfast is next and then latin.

Continuing with the 12th generation

 Finally I have reached Thomas, the youngest son and child, of Robert Siderfin and Grace (Kent) Siderfin in the twelfth generation. The next 38 pages will be the descendants of Thomas and are all his 3x great grandchildren. This work was done by my cousin Auriol Carney and as I gave her full credit in the book so I will do so in this companion charting book. Like most small surname studies the number of descendants is around 800 (I have added in some lines for the charting that I did not include in the revised and updated book first created by James Sanders. If the charting was taken to the present the numbers do increase substantially as that would be another three generations added on with some into the sixteenth generation from John Siderfin who lived at Luxborough, Somerset, England by 1500. 

Today is a work day and I will continue with the preparation for charting. Paint is all dry on the stairs and next week will see me paint the other half side of the stairs. Still lots of paint so I could add an extra layer just to the stair itself. I would like to use up all of that red paint. Then I move to the blue paint to do some patching in the only room that is light blue. It was Edward's study and finally being able to see all of those walls not covered by bookcases filled to the brim and on the top with books and in front of those bookcases stacks of boxes (even as much as four or five high). There really was just a narrow path in and a narrow path to the window as he did like fresh air  coming on in occasion. It is always a shock looking into that room which now has so little in it. But I need to have rooms that look like that so I can move in the next year or so. But the paint does need a few spots repainted and we will see how that goes. From there I move on to the painting that we did of most of the other areas just four years ago. Here and there where the chairlift was, where the original railing for the stairs was and such need touchup. I notice that a couple of the new doors we put on all the entrances (rooms, closets and cupboards) do have a few spots where the paint was a bit thin. Since I painted most of it that is on me for sure as my talents do not truly extend to being a great painter! For the remaining rooms I do not have any paint. I need to get paint for the kitchen cupboards to do some touchup and will do that this winter. 

The fence man is coming to do the new fences and the roof man will repair the roofing done just over a decade ago that is faulty. I had thought about doing a new roof but it would mean tearing off perfectly good tiles and filling the landfill with that and I decided no that wasn't the way to go plus I would have wanted to stay and enjoy my new nearly $12,000 roof. It was a good decision for me and anyone buying would be able to wait a while before having to do roofing. I need to wash the front windows on the outside and will get that done before winter. 

Other than that there is just the final garage cleanup and the yard cleanup before winter. But today I shall work on the book and do my exercises in between. A quiet day and I am looking forward to that. My hand is improving steadily and I am back to typing although try not to be too forceful on that small finger that does the a, q, z line and fortunately just the a gets a lot of hits which works but it also works the shift key for capitals on the right hand. So a little more work but I will take it easy. Bruising diminished quite a bit. Probably I would have gone to the doctor but getting there is difficult sometimes with the roads all torn up as the new light rail is going through in this area and if I had needed x-rays that is another trip somewhere else. I can see that being elderly has its problems. I could ask my daughter but she has thousands of patients and my hand was definitely not broken so I didn't actually go to the doctor but I would recommend that one do so for such a badly bruised hand personally if you do not have someone to talk to about your hand. It will be nice to be closer to my family since my other daughter is a thousand miles away teaching her students and doing her research. 

Latin is next. Breakfast is completed. Since it is the same meal every day it is pretty straightforward and I enjoy it. I think I could eat the same meals for a very long time although Edward certainly would have pushed me to have more variety as he did himself. Edward definitely liked his food and he enjoyed cooking as it turned out when he retired and actually when I went back to work outside the home. The girls and he made many meals together and had a great time doing so.

How an area influences where you live

 When we came here we sold our lovely house on 1/4 acre outside of the city of London, Ontario. We could have family there (we both had family) and it suited where we were living. But coming here I really liked this carriage home where we live. No plans to entertain particularly since no family (close that is) in the area and it was close to NRC where Edward worked and near the highway once I started to work again proofreading for printers at home. Fortunately Edward tended to see socializing with friends as going out but I was still ill in those days and by 8:00 pm I was finished for the day; not going anywhere and that persisted a long time actually. I went in to work three days a week to touch base and pick up my work; it was the principle under which I was hired although when their proofreader retired they asked if I would take on proofreader in house and we compromised on my being there from 9:00 ish until 2:00 ish and the rest of the work I did at home. That worked for them, the print run was before 2:00 so everything in a rush was read and it was ready to go. Also, initially, the plan was that I was going back to do my masters when my daughter had settled into school and that was practical. I was never really into leaving my child with a sitter after we moved here. It just felt mean since she had left behind all of her grandparents, her cousins, aunts and uncles and to take her to a stranger just didn't sit well with me. The carriage home I loved from day one and although Edward and the girls did go looking at singles up on the hill as they started to get built, Edward was just never that enthused because the lots were too small. He wanted to move further out which didn't work well with my working at home - too much traveling and so we were here the entire time nearly that we lived in Ottawa. When we first came we rented in the south end until we found a place that we liked. We knew people near by as well from Library/PhD days. It was lovely and the years passed so quickly although it was actually 46 years since we moved here in the spring. Looking back coming here was a long time ago. I was young and now I am old moving towards 80. It was interesting thinking about this when the doorbell appeared to not be working. In the small town where we lived we actually didn't have a doorbell. Funny really. I think perhaps Edward cleared the doorbell mechanism here routinely but it is three and a half years since he passed and I never thought about it. It was pretty packed with more than the dog's fur - lots of dust! Easily remedied and I just happened to recall that he did do that. It actually sounds very loud now, perhaps one could turn it down, I will check that out next time I am climbing the ladder. 

Basement all washed and the painting is next. I am just putting in time and occasionally like to write it down as I save my blog in case some one wants to read it some time in the future long after I have passed. I saved my mother's letters over a twenty five period for the same reason. She was an interesting person. Her father died when she was eight and it had a great deal to do with her attitude as an adult. He talked to her a lot especially about his mother (my mother did look quite a bit like her grandmother Grace (Gray) Pincombe). Grace's first cousin was Sir John Carling and they were part of the social circle in London when her father was young and he always said to my mother that his mother loved all of that special activity that she attended because Sir John was her first cousin. Interesting really remembering her saying that but it was actually more my grandmother (my mother's mother) who told me about Grace. She said that John (my grandfather) never really let go of his mother when she died (he was just fourteen years of age) and her death was followed a year later by his young sister at the age of thirteen. Sad times for John I suspect, I think it was a very hard life for him and my grandmother thought so too. He was one of those eligible bachelors that people talked about where ever he went my grandmother said and my grandmother was none too popular I suspect for capturing this very eligible bachelor. But they had a happy life although short my grandmother was just 38 when she was widowed. It was fun matching up our autosomal DNA with all of our cousins. I have hundreds of cousins tested that are 2nd, 3rd and 4th in my lines but particularly I have about 30 2nd/3rd Pincombe cousins.

Well enough reminiscing and back to the painting. I actually have done a lot of painting the last ten years as Edward found it difficult as his illness progressed. I mostly painted the entire main floor and some of the top floor. Edward always painted before that; he was very very good at it. I was passable and still remain in that state even with all that practice! He was a perfectionist; I just got the job done as carefully as possible. 

The sooner that I get all of Edward's material organized and placed the sooner I can move is the real reality. I simply can not take 35 boxes of research material with me. I only have one box of my own but Edward researched through all that time of paper (mid 1960s to the 2020s) with my beginning in 2003 and I meant to have everything online and mostly it is but I do have one box (about half full). Edward did a lot of scanning but there is still a lot of paper to work through. Plus I need to check and make sure that everything is scanned and so there are four more boxes waiting to be shredded but need time to look at them. Fortunately I am a workaholic and can completely shut out the world and work for hours, days and weeks on end coming out for food mostly although I must replace some of my clothes because they are getting shabby. But then everything is expensive so I just sort of shrug my shoulders and continue wearing my twenty year old corduroy slacks and jerseys and some are even older. 

Perhaps a snack of yoghurt and a piece of banana bread before I start.

Hand is improving

 Slowly steadily the bruising is being reabsorbed in my hand; probably another week though before it will be all gone. A little soreness in the finger first thing but much improved. Today is another cleaning day - the basement and I will continue painting the stairs. The regular routine is helpful to get me back into writing my books. It is a slow process though writing books. 

I must investigate with Rogers whether they install those door bells that let you see who is there plus I actually need a working doorbell (when Rogers was installing the new cable I think someone might have rung the doorbell but it didn't make a sound). This one does not ring any more or rings sporadically as far as I can tell but I actually haven't heard it ring for a bit. But then it is old for a doorbell - 46+ years old. I always know when someone is coming so it doesn't really matter. Actually I think doorbells are extraneous really as delivery people seldom ring the bell anyway.Turned out to be a quick fix; I do not usually climb ladders on my own but I discovered that our beautiful grand dogs had left a lot of hair even up that high. All cleaned out; I thought I had vacuumed absolutely everything but not quite. Working again but I may put my note back up when I am writing as it is nice not to have to go to the door when I am writing. I really can not help anyone especially with my sprained finger!; at 79 I am not doing CPR or anything like that and I do not babysit children normally especially other people's children. Not my thing. Lovely people, children but I raised mine and if needed would care for my own but tend not to get involved with babysitting. I am much too old. Plus I never buy anything at the door. The City kindly leaves notes when they are doing work so unless you are going to drop a tree on my car or the gas line is leaking probably you do not need to ring my door. Plus I do plan to move in another year. I hope a young family moves in because this is a street for children for sure; mine loved it.

No work on the book yesterday; it was entirely a cleaning day. I actually never even opened the door except to check the mail. I seldom get any mail; I have everything coming on the email that can come that way. 

The reheated chicken stew was excellent once again and there is still two more days. I baked a banana bread last night; I haven't baked anything for quite a while. Last week the other three days I had a piece of salmon that lasted that long. I really do enjoy having left over meals. It gives me more time for my writing. I am still on the 12th generation with about 37 pages left to go. Then the charting can continue and I hope to complete it in the next couple of weeks along with the two missing newsletters. I have been somewhat tardy with that for sure. 

I see it is just 5 degrees celsius this morning. Must check on that back tap and turn it off although it is supposed to warm up and I still need it for a couple of days. No frost warning though on the weather channel. The nice thing about frost is getting rid of the pollen - my eyes and nose are running as I do have a couple of fall allergies to things like ragweed. Come on winter!

Breakfast next. Then Latin. Cleaning follows and the painting. The days pass very quickly.

Frost and a warming trend

 Apparently a slight frost warning this morning and now back to a warmer couple of days but definitely into Fall weather. I am glad that I shut off the tap out front and will do the same by next weekend with the tap at the back. In between I want to clean up the car, vacuum it and get the garage ready for winter so that I can put the car in whenever I want which will be soon. I would rather not scrape ice off of the windows! That will be a chore for later in the week. Today is large cleaning day and I begin very shortly.  My FitBit does not charge up as easily nor does it hold its charge as long as it used to. I think it is now nearly three years old so I must invest in a new one one of these days. I do find it handy. Mostly I know how much exercise I am doing and how effective it is but I must admit that the change in ownership has done away with the webpage details and you need to subscribe to really be able to look at a long term view of results. I do not plan to subscribe at the moment but will consider it for a bit and that will be the consideration that goes ahead with the type of FitBit watch that I purchase. 

I definitely do not need a lot of memberships beyond what I already have. I have four that I maintain for my writing and that will go on for a while yet. I class my house bills as another sort of membership which I pay monthly and that will go on for a while yet. But otherwise I limit my belonging/memberships in things. They need to be helpful for my maintenance, for my writing or my tithe to God which I give to the Church. One reason I was so in favour of going to Christ Church Cathedral was for that reason it is a "Mother" Church and as such will remain in place for a long time likely and so I would prefer to support it rather than local Churches which may or may not remain as a Church. It is sad to see Church dwindling but I also understand why people do not attend; I didn't understand when I was young and not really into my 30s but I have come to that understanding. I always simply loved going to Church every Sunday (and still do now that it is online) which I always made clear to anyone who knew me. It was a major choice for me to do that and voicing it was what God through Jesus asked us to do. To take the word of God to the people who do seem to forget it from one generation to the next for whatever reason. 

Cleaning day and it begins soon. First Latin and then cleaning. Generally I begin around 9:00 give or take. Today I slept in which was nice but that is 6:30 instead of 6:00 at which time I did my early morning exercises that take about ten or fifteen minutes (I started about the time that I went back to work outside of the home because when I was home I could build in exercise periods during my work day (called coffee breaks!)). I do tend to just live the day that is in front of me. Then I do my solitaire games which perhaps takes me fifteen minutes give or take and then play some spider solitaire if they haven't taken too long and then it is time for breakfast and that is now eaten but before breakfast I do my reclining warrior, rotation of the hip and knee joints in sitting position, jumping jacks and shoulder stand with walking in between each exercise which takes about ten minutes. Now back at the computer writing my blog and then into Latin. 

The day begins and it is very sunny today although just eight degrees celsius at 8:30 a.m. My finger is still somewhat stiff from the sprain but I can type fairly normally now. Taking the day off was a good plan that and the icing and heat treatment. Half of my hand is bruised but slowly diminishing now.

My grandfather loved to play solitaire

When I was a child I used to watch my grandfather play solitaire. He loved that game and I learned how to play a number of different kinds of solitaire from him but my favourite is Spider. I love Spider and with my one hand more or less out of commission for too much typing, I did devote a little time to my favourite game of solitaire today. I also did the clothes washing as I always do every Saturday morning. I did my exercises except for calisthenics as I do not want to resprain my small finger. It is fairly bruised even onto the second finger beside it but it is a little stiff and so long as I do not press down very much I do not feel it too much today. I will not type too much anyway just to be careful.

Yesterday the jets went over again and I have to admit I would love to have a flight on one of those fighter jets. Swooping through the air up in God's part of the world would be a treat for sure (and of course will not happen; it is a lovely dream). I did have ambition to become an astronaut when the Russians first sent up Yuri Gagarin back in the 50s for the first space trip to do that myself but I am more of a dreamer than a doer often enough although can be a doer if I need to be. 

The military is really our most important facility that we as a country create in order to take care of our three oceans fronts and all this land. There is so much land and I am glad that many of the First Peoples are in the military. They know this country, many of them, and can tell stories of areas that go back thousands of years. Like my grandfather and his part of Hampshire, England. I loved it when he talked about Bury Hill which was an ancient known fortification. 

Sunday once again and Church on YouTube. Although I loved going to my Anglican Church I was willing to go to Edward's United Church and we did go in London, Ontario before we moved here although Edward liked the Anglican Church in Hyde Park where we lived after we bought our house and so we went there. He liked Canon Abraham who was there at that time just before he retired. But when we came to Ottawa he found the Church to be less like his United Church and more like he thought a Catholic Church was. I loved it but I understood and so we checked out a few when we lived in Blossom Park and then when we moved here the United Church was up on the hill. I went to the local Anglican Church which met at the school closeby and had committed myself to helping out with Sunday School and as Church Secretary. Convent Glen United Church started part way through the year so was not really appropriate for me to move at that time which Edward understood so we went the next Fall. Such a long time ago now and even a long time since I was even in the building that was built whilst Edward was Treasurer. Edward went a few times into the 2000s and I went just one time but I didn't want to get back into it though. I had moved on to Christ Church Cathedral (Edward went with me to pay me back for my 17 years at his Church) but even there I avoided any commitments (that was why I chose the Cathedral really) although was asked but I was working full time and that kept me pretty busy. I wonder where the online Church will be today. Must check the YouTube Channel. 

It was at Durham Cathedral partially but mostly as Education Sunday it was all around England. A good bit of emphasis in support of education for girls which is always good to see. The world does best when men and women work together and great achievements are made whether on the basic level of just producing the foods of the earth or more complicated in scientific endeavours. 

Thank you God for our beautiful world. Help us to learn to be the kind of people you want us to be - loving, caring, patient and kind. Rid our world of jealousy, treachery, war and poverty.

 

Protecting the sprained finger

 I did stop typing though yesterday as it is better apparently to do so with a sprained finger and just do things that do not cause pain. Today much improved and I have a lot to do around the house so will work at that primarily and just do a little typing. Work back up to doing more. 

Latin is next and I am back to doing the regular lesson every day.

And of course the taxes support our military

I notice I left out one of the more important expenditures when I discussed where our tax money goes, our taxes support our military. When I was finishing up the bricks outside two jets went over. What a fantastic sight. You do not see that so very often here but when I was child there were always military planes going over the London, Ontario area probably because there was a base on Lake Huron near Grand Bend and the largest employer in London was National Defense as Wolseley Barracks was  one of the large military bases in Ontario. That was pretty much until I was in High School when the base started to decrease in size. But I can still remember the fences that crossed the roads in East London when I was a child. 

I was sort of hoping they were some of our new jets. I have not heard if we have received them yet. Military expenditure very important in Canada; too often the military are sidelined and really they should be front and centre. They need to offer better salaries especially to the enlisted men and a guaranteed pension. PM Harper disrupted that a lot and is another reason that I need the Conservative Party to go back to its roots where support of the military was a primary part of their platform. 

Finished the brick work but still have to do the laneway itself as there are weeds growing up in the cracks. So will get that cleaned up before winter. In the front yard there is that to do and cutting off the dead flowers on the bushes/plants and picking up any weeds. There is so much work to looking after a house so will be glad to sell in another year for sure. That is the way my mind is heading. 

I also am working on the 12th generation and that was an especially good thing as I slightly sprained my smallest finger on my left hand doing the laneway so it kept the finger busy as I do not want it to freeze up and have to spend all that time doing therapeutic exercises when I could just do a lot of typing to keep it flexible while it heals. It is bruised so a slight sprain. I can feel it when I type as I learned to type when the typewriters were still manual so I have a strong hit on the keys and generally I wear out at least two keyboards per new computer over time.

Eleventh Generation completed

 On to the twelfth generation today and that will see my Legacy file complete and I can start to form up the charts along with my notes that are in the note section for individuals. Not a lot of detail which isn't already found in the book but sometimes I did find items of interest. I simply want to get all of that Siderfin information off of my desk and into repositories where others can find it. My fingers are itching to get back to my Blake and Pincombe books. I did not forget the charting it was just too busy a summer and I wanted my eyes to have as much recovery time as possible and needed before I got into heavy eye work again. 

September is doing its usual thing, warm and cold. I think I will turn off the water in the front today because that area is colder than the back. I do not want a frozen pipe! I also want to complete the bricks along the laneway and get that debris out in the recycling. I only cleared it this one time really and once before when there was tarring happening but mine didn't get done which is fine. It really needs a new laneway one of these days although not likely to be me. It is still very usable but is starting to grow weeds here and there. Mostly one can see the effect of global warming as the laneway has sunk perhaps as much as an entire 3 or 4 centimetres over the last ten years. 

I also want to get the gardening shoes and boots all washed up and put away along with the rack they sit on and then my garage will be more or less empty and I can put the car in whenever I want. It is nice to put the car away for the winter. So a few things to do along with working on the twelfth generation. Once the front yard is cleaned up I will begin on the back. Really I did very little gardening this summer in comparison to other years although I did weed quite a number of times but the rains were heavy this year and I could not keep ahead of the weeds for sure. 

Time for breakfast and then Latin.

Interesting comment - Taxes are Canadians biggest expense

This is so true; I pay more in taxes than I pay for anything else because of HST and City Taxes along with Income Tax. It is my largest expenditure but what do I get in return? I do get police protection, fire protection, medical care, regular collection of recyclables/garbage, maintenance of the city streets, (education for the city's children, welfare care for those in need, etc) and the three party system of government which we also pay taxes to help support them (something I do not actually believe in). I would go for it if I had the option each year on my income tax to choose to whom I would give that money. But since that money is skimmed off without any input from us and unlikely to change I made a decision at the time. I do not give money to the political parties. When they eliminate that tax collection by an act of parliament then I will support the political party that I feel represents my views which are generally conservative up until PM Harper and some of his decisions. If a party can not survive without that money then why do we have those parties - I see the Liberals and the Conservatives still doing very well (and probably the Parti Quebecois) otherwise we do not need all those other parties that exist in Canada. They split the vote and create these situations where a party has insufficient members voted in to maintain an efficient government without support. The Liberals win about 75% of the time and that has given us a very effective country with enough "socialism" to keep children fed and healthy; protect pregnant women and help those who are injured and old (all of our responsibility as a caring country). The Conservatives are the "adjusting" party who bring in all those things that people object to like the GST which has really set up Canada to be a much more progressive country able to support the poverty that was here when I was a child. They cut the public service of items that they feel are superfluous (my job as a proofreader was one of those cuts but I had a new job very quickly still as a proofreader hired to do my work at home). The GST is a safety net for which we should forever thank PM Mulroney and should be restored to 7% or even 10% because it taxes the rich primarily (they can afford it just as we can on the things that we pay it on but there are lots of exemptions for those struggling to make ends meet). Reducing it was a dreadful error on the part of PM Harper. So we see the roles clearly defined for these parties and we do not need the people who have either very strong conservative views or very strong liberal views heading up our country and we should avoid electing someone who is so far to the left or the right. We need the middle people who think yes children should have medical care (and adults), children should have food on their plate three times a day (and we can afford that as a country but I expect people who have shortfalls to at least attempt to grow food (there are gardening areas available for rent). Going to university for all children is in fact a lovely idea; they come out of school so early now but it is very expensive and doesn't really justify the government making tuition free. The community colleges need more scholarships so that more children can go there into the trades which, one might say, is the most needed and important work here in Canada at the moment. Houses are built by tradesmen!

The other reason I pay more taxes than anything else is that I do not travel. I am not going to travel. I have traveled enough to last me a lifetime; at 79 I am done traveling to any great extent. Yet Edward was planning an extended trip to Germany and the Netherlands (and I would have gone to help him for sure) and then I have to admit I would have cheerfully gone to The Galapagos another spot he wanted to go to. I now have no desire to go anywhere particularly unless it is here in Canada. I have not yet made it to the west coast or the northern coast but I have seen lots of Eastern Canada all the way to Manitoba in Central Canada. I am writing now, books on my families using the material that I have (and others) collected through this 21 years of surname research that I engage in. Who would have thought I would spend my retirement doing that; certainly not me! I had no interest in genealogical research until I did primarily pushed by my cousin George DeKay who wanted a profile on the Pincombe family for his book he was editing.  I had watched (and helped when asked) Edward for years work on his family tree and American research is very very difficult. His people arrive in southwestern Ontario in 1800 bringing some information with them and their application for land as settlers have been revealing but finding the father of Isaac Kipp was his life's genealogical work and except for the yDNA that was part of him he never located the name of that person just knows that his ancestor was Hendrick Hendricksen Kip of New Amsterdam/New York and before that a small village in the eastern part of The Netherlands that sticks into Germany. Intriguing for sure and he enjoyed every moment of that research. 

However, this year I have been doing house repairs and it could be that eventually the cost of that will equal the taxes that I am paying and I can not claim any of it! Too bad, life is all about Taxes for sure. An interesting comment on the news feed for sure - Taxes are Canadians biggest expense but actually I think for young people it is housing for sure. Our first house was a lovely bungalow for just over $20,000 in 1974. I wanted to buy one just a couple of years earlier and it was only $3000 and also a slightly smaller older bungalow! The price for a bungalow now is shocking actually. But then salaries were a lot smaller back in the 60s and 70s.

The Paralympics

There just isn't as much buzz about the Paralympics and the idea of running them at the same time as the Olympics is certainly appealing. The garden clean up distracts and getting back to my writing distracts as well. Canada is winning medals though I am seeing that but nothing else really; there just simply isn't that much on the news - little on the internet feeds and less on the television news. 

Completed the one side of the laneway and started on the other side. Perhaps complete that today or tomorrow along with cutting down the now dying flower heads in the front gardens and pulling a few weeds. Not very weedy out there fortunately. Still the car to vacuum and the garage final cleanup so that I can put the car in the garage before winter. Just ten degrees celsius now at sunrise. Air quality at 21 which is excellent. The back yard will take the time. I want to clean it right out in terms of weeds so will take perhaps 1 to 1.5 hours every day to do that until the snow hits. I have cut the lawns and perhaps they will not need cutting before winter but I can always get the lawnmower out of the shed to do that. Amazing the shed this year; lots of room instead of pushing things in at the end. Good sign. It needs to be like that. There was just too much stuff. 

Other than that the repairs to the roof and the new fencing is slated for this month. The porch work will wait probably for the new owner. For the moment it is sufficient to my needs although a nice new back porch at the back entrance would have been interesting but I have lost interest for sure and would not do before spring for sure. The new storm doors are nice but I can see they would not last for as long as the old ones. Probably half or less of their weight so will see how they stand up to winter. 

Good progress on the 11th generation of the Siderfin Family as I am into the youngest son and just his lines to complete (about 22 pages of text to go through). The 12th generation is the last and I have started a mock setup for the companion book with the first three generations completed. Must think about the two newsletters - Kipp and Pincombe and get them completed this month as well and then back to writing the Blake and the Pincombe books. 

We are fast approaching my favourite times of the year - fall and definitely winter. For me it is hibernation time although I signed up for the BIFHSGO Conference - a virtual one. Virtual is great in your old age; just sit at the computer and you are there. A few other items that interest me will get back into gear as the end of the summer progresses into fall. 

Breakfast time and some work on the 11th generation before doing some yard work.

The value of Higher Education

 An interesting comment yesterday "Higher education also encourages people to develop critical thinking skills that contribute to a healthy democratic society." Although I am a great believer in education and have been a learner all of my life including graduating from university in science and my forays into surname research (genealogical research), I do question what is happening in our universities. I was totally dissatisfied with the encampments created by students (and outsiders it would appear if one listens to the news plus some faculty members) in support of Hamas although they claimed it supported the Palestinians. Supporting the Palestinians would have meant bringing the children here to protect them from Hamas as we did the children of the British Isles during World War II and that did not and has not happened. The university students did not take the time to learn the history of the Palestinian people; how they came to Gaza and what their origins were for the most part; they just listened to what people were telling them and that is not critical learning. I do not believe that those encampments contributed to a healthy democratic society; they were blatant threats to the Jewish people and nothing more. It has cost and will cost a lot of money to clean up after them; they should have been made to clean it all up before they left. Sue them so that not one dime goes to Hamas that they collected; very unlikely that the Palestinian people will benefit in any way.

But does that take away from the value of a university education; personally I think one has to think of advanced education on a much larger playing field than just university; we need the community colleges, we have always needed the trades and critical thinking is just as important there and found there as it is at a university. Trades people build our infrastructure albeit with the assistance of engineers and architects, but they are on the ground using the blueprints and they know how to wire a building, how to put plumbing into building and they quickly catch any errors in those blueprints - they do not blindly build a building from a blueprint but use their honed skills to do the best job that they can when the people who are hired are skilled in what they do. 

So lets move away from this thought that only universities provide all higher education; all learning beyond high school provides advanced education that hones the skills of critical thinking and advancement in methodology. Perhaps I see all of this differently because I am a graduate of the sciences which come much closer to the trades; my father (a master electrician and heating/cooling specialist) loved to work on some of my physics problems. It was both a learning and teaching experience for him and for me an instructive way to look at some of those questions from the viewpoint of the applier and user. I think getting a degree given that our students are young coming out of high school is an interesting idea although expensive these days and then go on and do what you really want to do with your life whether it be advanced university degrees or community college for practical training (laboratory skills are important in order to get that meaningful job out of science). All of my history background beyond the high school level came to me by intensive reading and my 42 courses in genealogical research taken at St Michaels College/UofT back in 2003 to 2007. I learned a lot in that online set of courses and one in place at the National Archives in Ottawa. It took this science graduate on to a newer plain of activity in retirement and I have never looked back. Life should always have a teaching experience every day in order to make use of all that brain material which has developed through the ages from our earliest Homo sapiens ancestors. If you do not use it; you lose it.

Basement cleaning, lawn cutting and painting

 Yesterday was a busy day. Perhaps it was growing up in a family that owned their own business but Labour Day was never overly significant for me. I do believe that we have done better overall as a people with unions but I never really belonged to one if I could avoid it. It was just my character that liked to be free and negotiate on my own terms for a job and how that job proceeded. I was in a union when I worked at the hospital but the only time I heard from them was when I didn't take a proper lunch hour so I followed the union rules for a little and took a walk at lunch time which I had planned to do anyway. I brought my lunch with me every day and spending it with a lot of people since I talked to a lot of people all day long was not my idea of a relaxed moment in the day. But I do believe unions have made the work place a safer place to be in for people especially women. I think they overstep their mark when they side with the idea that working at home is an option;  not so in the public sector you need to be there in person to serve the public because that is what you do. Feel you are more productive at home but the new employees, those learning the ropes have a right to see a proper workplace where the knowledge of the elders is passed on in a daily fashion. So back to work, COVID is over and that was just a blip in time that will not repeat for a bit but when it was does we will be much more ready to realize that hiding in a house for a year and a half is not necessarily a good option. Masking and hand washing is much better. 

So the basement is clean again although it is never really dirty to be honest since I clean it every week. But I do not like dust to pile up as it makes me sneeze! I also painted one of the basement steps just to get the feel of painting once again; it has been a while since I did that. I will paint them all - likely half of each step so as to make it easy to go up and down. It will be a couple of weeks project because I will do it on cleaning day. Along with that I cut all the lawns and that is done. I expect to cut them once more before I put the lawn mower away for the winter. This is a big yard - not wide but long although shorter than I thought with my new eyes. The next task is weeding and I expect to have several bags out there every week for a bit. I have nearly 40 bags on hand it appears so lots of weeding to come. I pulled up some of the pepper plants that were not producing and will pull up the rest of the tomato plants and put those cages out to the next metal recycling day here. I am done with growing tomatoes like that. The local market has beautiful crops all summer long - the lettuces were magnificent with small bits of broccoli scattered in the package. 

Today is the main floor and the top floor. The house is small actually just 1400 square feet so doable in one day although I will be somewhat tired at the end of the day but I do not do any other exercise so that works. About the normal level of tiredness. At the end of the day the house will be clean and I will size up the blue painting that comes next; the steps are red. Then the only painting left is a bit of patching that I had to do and some of the heavily used areas could use a touchup. That will complete my painting in preparation for moving one of these days although it looks like next year or the following these days. I do want to get through all of those research boxes and the photo binders before we move on. 

I did work on the Siderfin material and I am into the eleventh generation, just the twelfth to go and then I can start producing charts. I still think having it done sooner is more likely than I thought. I am behind now in both the Kipp and the Pincombe Newsletters but that too will get done this month. Then I begin my desired work for the moment which is the Blake and Pincombe books. I have not really looked at them since last May just before my first cataract surgery so three and a half months. A little longer than I planned but I have gotten more downsizing done and that is actually more important. I can work on the Blake and Pincombe books where ever I live  because that was always the plan that my work would be very portable and it remains so. 

Breakfast completed, latin is next and then on to cleaning. 

Sanctuary Places

 Yesterday's service included a walk in London. I did not really recognize some of the areas but we have not been in London for eight years and change happens for sure. The Curate at St Martins in the Fields talked about Sanctuary Places and it was an interesting discussion. I can remember asking my grandfather why he came to Canada and he said he just wanted to see it and work here for a while; see where an uncle of his had come earlier (this Knight family from Turnworth initially went to Saskatchewan about ten years before Grandpa (and Grandma and my father) came). I actually have corresponded with a descendant of that family.

More sad news about the hostages taken by Hamas and not returned as demanded by the International Court of Justice last mid January. Another six hostages dead and the saddest part of all that is that Hamas (or perhaps one of the other Satanist groups in Gaza) actually murdered the six hostages just before they were found in a tunnel by the Israeli Defense Force. The Satanists did that on purpose trying to goad the Israelis into doing something during this pause in fighting. They are such sick people - Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis all funded by Iran. Such sick people walking the face of the earth. But God does not interfere in the passage of time and the works of mankind. He has not walked or talked with man since Moses. We are on our own to live in this beautiful world and it is too bad that there are such sick people in it. We are with Israel; you can not change that Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. You are Satanists. We took down the Satanists Nazis and we could easily take you down but we are decent people who do not wantonly murder innocent hostages and purposefully put children in harm's way. Change your ways Satanists; join the healthy living world not the sick Satanist world Iran pays you to create. 

A beautiful service yesterday full of hymns - many of them my favourites. It will stay with me all week especially the mention of sanctuary places. I do not really understand the need to keep alive, in a way that interferes in the flow of community life, the life of your ancestors except to write it down in books to be honest. I am Canadian and proud to be Canadian although in essence every bit of DNA that I have comes from Britain (England and Scotland back thousands of years). I do not need to change Canada to fit into my lifestyle. There have been thousands of generations of the First Peoples  here who developed a wonderful country which we are now privileged to live in. We need to listen to the Elders of the First Peoples; they have much to tell us and walking together with them loving the land as they do. 

Not too much work yesterday; the eyes needed a day of rest. 

Weightlifting next which now includes rowing on the rowing machine. A really neat apparatus which I have managed to build myself up to doing 120 rows at a time and I think I will push myself gradually towards 210. I can do 120 in four minutes and ideally 210 would take me seven minutes which seems like lots for a nearly 79 year old. Combine that with lifting weights and I have started to vary the number of repeats of the exercises and the number of overall repeats of exercises. Apparently one can get used to doing weightlifting and it becomes meaningless as it doesn't challenge the muscles. I try to make each workout 45 minutes and do three workouts a day. It does seem a bit excessive but it seems to work out okay. When I cannot do it then I wont. I do sit a lot in front of my computer as well writing.

This is a cleaning day - basement first.

The rain did dissipate yesterday

Although the rain did dissipate yesterday, I just didn't get myself out the door. Next week will be quieter to work outside as the children return to school. I am busy writing (a short book of charts to accompany the Siderfin Book and my two ongoing books for my parent's families) as well as my monthly newsletters for the projects that I manage for yDNA and mtDNA and surname studies. 

So yesterday I worked on the 10th generation and still a little of Thomas son of Robert Siderfin and Grace (Kent) Siderfin to complete. I am looking at just two generations left when Thomas is complete. Then I can start creating the Charts and put the book together sooner than I thought actually and get my two newsletters done and then back to writing the Blake and the Pincombe books. For the most part my eyes are the same as they were except now I do not need to wear glasses except for close work and driving. I can not see the speedometer well enough unless I have my glasses on. It is amazing having worn glasses for all but the first year of my life to now have such good eyesight, depth of vision and all the normal things people have for their eyes. It is fascinating in my old age and every day I see something differently then I saw it before. 

No more errata yet that needs to be published; the charting will capture any small changes. Actually it is surprising although I did proofread it but proofreading one's own work is not always the best way. Just the two items so far half way through the book. I did proofread/copyedit for a living though for about fifteen years so should be somewhat skilled although it was a while ago for sure, my children were just young when I did that. It was great and I loved being able to work at home until I didn't. Then back at work I loved doing that until I retired. I had a number of fascinating different jobs all in health care of some sort with more than a decade working in the Ottawa Hospital as it came to be known after amalgamation before that I was at the General. In total I worked five years at the General, six years at the Civic and almost two years at the Riverside Campus. Health Care is fascinating work and all of it is needed and not enough credit is given to the people who willingly give up their evenings, nights and weekends to care for the health needs of the population. 

Sunday and a beautiful day mostly sunny. Also the first day of September. The third of September would have been our 58th wedding anniversary; it is still actually hard to believe that Edward is no longer with us even after nearly three and a half years. He is still very missed.  But time is moving onwards and I will soon be 79. I wonder what changes there will be in that year of my life as I approach 80. The books will still predominate for sure as I do not see an end to them before 2026 and then I have another two books in mind (my two grandmothers - Buller and ?Cotteril/Rawlings). The priest perhaps made the notation of Cotteril no ideas on that as it was not until I bought her birth registration and the parish records for Kimpton that we knew she had a second middle name - Ada Bessie Cotteril Rawlings. On the census when she was just five she was living with her maternal grandparents and uncles (her mother's youngest brothers still at home with their parents). The Buller equally mysterious in some ways as they lived in London area and Birmingham - an interesting family with records although Christopher Buller born circa 1763 is still a mystery. You are always looking at two lines though with each book although the name of the book tends to be the male surname. 

Today Church is at  St Martin-in-the-Fields, London so once again the Church of my Buller family and we visited this Church and ate in the restaurant in the catacomb underneath the main floor of the Church. It was absolutely memorial in my mind. The theme - God created all things in Heaven and on Earth. But first a few things to do and then get ready for Church. Thank you God for all you have given us; let me learn to be better shepherds of this world so that there is still a bright green world for the children to come in the future. Let greed and war disappear from our world and give us that uplifted plain of peace that so many of our young people died to give us in two World Wars in the last century. I grew up in the shadow of the Second World War when the memory of those lost youth was so very powerful. Let us never forget those young people and do not let the ignorant continue to destroy our world again. 

Breakfast completed, latin to do and then Church.