My brother older than me but not the oldest

I have many brothers - four in total (and two sisters six years older and eight years younger)- but when I was a young child my two older brothers were my teachers and closest to me in age from an older point of view and in particular this brother was two and a half years older than me. He taught me so many things when I was young. Especially he taught me to tie my oxfords. He would teach me the way that my mother preferred but then when she wasn't looking he taught me an easy way (just tie the loops together) and I learned to tie my shoes in time to go to kindergarten. I ended up going a year early because of the baby boomers who were going to flood the system the next year - the board asked parents to send their children even though they weren't born by the end of June so that meant me and I was born in late September. I was excited to go to school and I sort of liked it when we could do things like read the books in the book corner but I disliked musical chairs and things like that. I liked to play games that required adding or other math skills because my brothers had taught me all of that. They were the siblings I was closest to for sure. Then I went to Grade 3 and the decision was made to accelerate some of the students by letting them do the Grade 4 work as I was in a split 3/4. I did well and so went into Grade 5. Although my brothers were proud of me I think it kind of wrecked our relationship a little because I was catching up and that wasn't the way that it should have been - one did one class at a time but the Baby Boomers were filling the school behind us and they needed to move us along if they could. I just thought they were wanting to be with their friends more and so I didn't spend my time with them so much after I went to Grade 5. We kind of drifted apart and it really wasn't until we were adults and many years later that my brother next older and I got back together again. He was a busy person and we lived seven hours away by car so did not see each other very often. 

We did share our love of the Anglican Church though and as I returned to my roots (in truth I never left them going to the local Anglican Church at early morning service) in the mid 90s when Edward decided to go to Dominion Chalmers United downtown I guess when the new minister came there and he was more of a  modern music type of person Edward suggested going to Christ Church Cathedral regularly as he did love the music there. He always said that I had gone to his Church when the girls were young which was what he wanted and now he would go to mine which was nice. I missed my Church for sure all those years - early morning is nice but the late morning service with all the music is so much better. Edward never really understood my devotions/prayers and I think in some ways he felt frightened by my total acceptance of God in my life but as his sickness took away his health he became more relaxed about all of that.

Doug and I started emailing after our Uncle died and it just sort of grew from there. He became interested in yDNA and after Edward and I tested at Sorenson I shared my results with him but they were mitochondrial. Science having been my forte more than his our roles reversed a little in those days as I became the one telling and he listening. We went to visit him four or five times a year starting around 2005 and part of that was putting together the Pincombe Profile for our cousin George Dekay. When George asked me and I agreed I also got him to agree to get our Pincombe cousins together and so that was the first time that Doug and I really worked on a project once again as we had as children. He enjoyed the process of putting that profile together and we got into talking about the mitochondrial DNA and then he said he would like to test and wanted me to help with that. So I said I could just send him the test from FT DNA and he could do the rest. That did start a whole new conversation which we would share until my husband took ill and we did not travel back to London anymore. But still we emailed and talked on the phone. 

As I moved closer to Doug in school I was leaving another brother behind, my younger brother (just eighteen months younger) but soon I would be four years ahead of him. It was weird really and I am not really sure it is good to accelerate children like that in retrospect. At least having been the one accelerated and the lonely side of that within a family grouping makes me think that way. Although to be honest I did enjoy my time to myself and my books and never reached out very much to people in my class as they were mostly older than me. I was just polite when they asked me to their house but mostly I liked being by myself (still do). I am trying to remember the last time I spoke to anyone and I think I may have waved at a neighbour a few days ago!  A couple of phone calls from scammers get one "hello" out of me and when obvious it is a scammer, generally as soon as they talk, I hang up.

Doug will always be missed for sure. He had many many friends; he was like that and I am glad that he had all of those friends in his retirement years. He always sounded like he had a life that he enjoyed.

Yesterday I did accomplish a first time through the Tenth Generation. This next time through there are some adjustments to make and the footnoting continues in earnest. The last generation gave me a good groundwork to use for the remaining three generations. I needed a path to follow as I work that way. Lay the groundwork then utilize that groundwork to reach towards the end of the project. 

I also finished the cleaning of the basement so today the other two floors. It is the heavier cleaning day so not so much will be accomplished on other projects. Jumping Jacks and teatime. 

I have had a few thoughts on publishing this Siderfin book. I think I will offer a Book Review to the BIFHSGO Journal (I am a member and have been from the very beginning; it was the only organization that I have ever joined other than being a Guider for Brownies but that wasn't really joining! I just did that for my daughters). So I will offer them a Book Review and put my email in so that people could request a copy of the book if that is their line (Siderfin). I am slowly thinking of how to disseminate this book but to save me all that emailing I could have a link to the book online on my server - glad that notion came to me although my daughter would have said it to me as well! If another book comes out using my book and their research then I will be content which is why I am doing a Creative Commons License for the book. Improving is what humans are meant to do not tearing down (unless of course something is created that is anti-human). There is also a deposit copy going in the Guild of one-name studies library (I am also a member of this organization) and it is to be freely available to anyone requesting a copy. Gradually it is coming together - the end of the book and how to disseminate it.

My daughter sent me an exciting article yesterday - 3700 year old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated and we learn that trigonometry was known and used by the Babylonians 1600 years before the Greeks. Amazing what is becoming available on our far past. I liked trigonometry when I studied it in Grade 13 all those years ago but then I loved Math and Science and could not get enough of learning about them and still I love to learn. The brain is meant to be always working on a problem; it keeps the gears oiled!

Cleaning Day and continuing the Tenth Generation

Today is the basement cleaning day. I am up early and it is just 12 degrees celsius and clear but dark. Winter is slowly arriving in Canada.

Yesterday good accomplishment on the Tenth Generation. I am almost finished the first time through which sees the descendancy added to the individuals born to this generation. I do not include female line descendants unless they are illegitimate (have their mother's surname). They belong to another family line and although some do record the lineage with the mother numbered I do not. 

Swept leaves yesterday and have a green bin full. Got the patio, the car (which was covered) and part of the laneway accomplished. Will wait now for the rest to fall which should be in the next couple of days. But today cleaning and I start in the basement so the easy day today and the long haul tomorrow. It works well for me though as I do not drag the vacuum up two flights in order to start at the top and come down. Can not think why it took me so long to work on that for sure. Glutton for punishment I guess. 

The organ music was lovely once again at the service; I do enjoy the music and miss it in the summer. 

Not a great deal of thinking about world situations these days. Will be glad to see Russia get out of Ukraine but it does seem like a long haul and will likely end up with peace keepers although Russia will fight that for sure; they seem to be unable to get past their mistake and will keep on with it until they hope everyone weakens and lets them have what they want. The typical two year old and definitely we do not need that in our world. Two year olds need to be reined in and corralled if necessary in a playpen. That works very well. Just lock them in until they grow up and join the real world. It is becoming more and more obvious that Russia would readily have continued with their agreement with Hitler and taken as much as they could get. What a different world it would be perhaps if Hitler hadn't attacked Russia. One wonders. Certainly the British and the Commonwealth defended Britain and prevented that takeover which resulted in Hitler going to the east where it would be easier he thought. How the world turns and here we are again with a Nazi aggressor nation but this time it is the psychopathic Nazi Putin and his enablers trying once again to dominate. Glory to Ukraine. 

 God always in my thoughts; my best friend in all the world for sure and has been as long as I remember. That is as it was meant to be really; Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and importantly as well love your neighbour as yourself. Jesus brought those words to us and they have been treasured down through the ages. 

On to breakfast, starving this morning although my chicken stew was very filling and hearty but all that leaf clearing was a lot of work for this 78 year old.

Finally the Tenth Generation

 I am into the Tenth Generation now and we will see how fast that flows. The number of people is increasing rapidly in this generation. There will be nearly as many as there have been in the first nine generations in this tenth generation. The two accounts I had for Thomas - my cousin and my own - did not agree on a John Siderfin. I vaguely recall from my early days that I concluded this John at Derby was likely the John who died at Medway, Kent in 1863 because there wasn't another John that I could see for this individual (his death registration might reveal his birth place). But that was my young days in doing this surname work and so I have removed that possibility and it becomes one of a list of items for whom I do not have an owner. He did not emigrate at least not on a ship that lists emigration but he could have moved on working on a ship and one would never know. But that is the advantage of having someone knowledgeable on the Thomas family helping with his line. I appreciate the help and will record that in the book. 

Sunday again and off to Church so my day is different from the rest of the week. It is nice to have Church on You-Tube every week once again. I especially enjoy the organ and Ian White's Psalms are playing once again. A lovely way to start the day for sure. 

Another day in God's world and the week ahead is promised to be a pleasant one as the summer warmth returns once more for a few days before cold settles in. We will have such days through October and even in November sometimes but they are but a small break from the cold that is to come. God be with the world and keep it strong so that your creations can continue on into the future - I am reminded that we are but one species in this world which You have created. 

Dinner last night quite enjoyed - left over lemon orzo salad to start and still very tasty, lemon is a good preservative. Then toast, soft boiled egg, and peas. It was light but filling. Today chicken stew and that will last through the two cleaning days which is always rather handy to have meals all prepared on those days. 

The leaves on the tree at the front are coming down rapidly now. It is a fussy tree that one leaving a lot of debris and it is huge now. I remember the day that the City planted that tree over fourty years ago now. It is nice to have been in one place for so long. As a child my first three years and a bit were in one house and then we moved and I lived in that house until I married at 20 so about seventeen years. Then we moved a little in the first eight years of our  marriage until we bought a house and then we sold that and moved when Edward finished his MLS after his PhD. The MLS was to get a job, the PhD was the interest of his youth. 

Some housekeeping to do and then teatime but first jumping jacks. It is lovely to have an organized day; it makes the day more efficient.

Getting into today's work

As I move into today's work I need to record a few thoughts as I go along. I am nearly finished the ninth generation and working through the data which has been shared with me by another family member. I am realizing this is going to slow me down as I need to decide what to include and I use all the databases so can look for one to another to see what they have recorded. Already found one interesting one the surname Siderfin spelling as Sinnifin by the enumerator in one database and Simper by another (by my eye it is Sinnifin). However this individual is still living at the same address where his name was spelled correctly (1841 and 1851 Census) so an obvious enumerator error. Plus he is 83 years of age now with his grandson, with whom he is living, working so has probably given this information himself perhaps and 83 is a good age back in 1861 so perhaps not as readily understood by the enumerator. But I feel I should have a look so will slow me down. I have no idea what lies ahead as I have only just glanced at the material thus far. Since it has been so well done I prefer to utilize as much as is practical. Knowing my 2x great grandmother (daughter of this man's sister) I am sure her schoolteacher tendencies would have been to make it complete as possible. 

So that having been hashed about in my brain I am moving forward and should soon have the ninth generation completed as he is the last individual in this grouping. I will likely add to this as I move along. 

When I finished my running I generally have my lunch and today I was in time for the ceremony on the Hill for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Very well attended it looks like. There is another sadness and this one is the result of enforcement of Residential Schools in  Canada by the Government of the day; the children who died at the Residential Schools or from running away from the abuse there; and the children who were abused at the Residential Schools. It is our sorrow for sure although in truth I do not have many Canadian ancestors - just my mother, her father and his mother but yet even they were here when the Residential Schools were created. I remember when the students from the Delaware Nation used to come to my High School way back in the late 50s and early 60s. I was much older before I heard about Residential Schools. The Delaware Nation belong to the Lenape people. I went to Tecumseh Public School which was  named after the Shawnee leader and he was killed in battle at Moraviantown near Delaware during the War of 1812 defending Canada from an American invasion. So today I will especially think about those children who suffered and their suffering as adults. 

I am so withdrawn into my writing that I do not know the days as they pass other than the date and that they are. But I need to work on the book and so I must go back to it.

Slowly getting there - just a couple of pages left in the ninth generation

Another day working on the Siderfin book and it did move along nicely. I have to merge in the Thomas Siderfin line that moved to Derbyshire which I have from another researcher. The task of working the census into the footnotes is also time consuming but necessary I think. But I am reaching into the 1800s now and so the end is in sight as I will not go beyond the 1920s. 

I avoided watching television most of the day as I do not want to get bogged down with issues. The Freedom of Parliament is perhaps at stake but I will say that the Prime Minister has firmly defined and defended the principle. Having done that it does rather put Pierre Poilievere's claims out to lunch as the seating in the gallery is basically the property of each party and of course the speaker rules supreme in that regard. I do not think we should change it (but we should do a background check on people that intend to be in the galleries when there is a special event). But that is the responsibility of the Speaker certainly for anyone that he invites. The last word is with this individual but we are a democracy and if he/she errs then they must resign as has just happened. The neat part is that the Speaker must have the support of Parliament in order to continue and can not overrule that. The education value of all of this is enormous. As a child I knew that Nazism was evil; sitting through newsreels at the show left me with an absolute horror of the Concentration Camps at a young age. I will never forget those images as long as I live and I was only a young child under ten (having an eidetic memory can be a bit of a curse sometimes).  We must respect the pain of the Jewish people at such a happening. Nazism is Satanic and beneath the dignity of man. Even seeing the symbol of Nazism now is revolting. What they did is unforgiveable and yet God calls on us to forgive but we mustn't forget what all of these people suffered (mostly Jewish people but also POWs, Christian leaders who opposed Hitler and many many others and the  memories are forever there for those who survived in a much deeper context than even those that I have from being an observer of the newsreels in the theatre as a young child.

But the Freedom of Parliament is important; but with freedom there is a responsibility and that freedom and responsibility lies with each member of parliament along with the speaker who is a power on to himself/herself. Listening to Power and Politics  last night though I was appalled to have the conservative speaker find it amusing that the Prime Minister is thought to be responsible for the seating in the galleries of the House and that the conservative party would gain from that in an election. That is one of the most ignorant statements I have heard on that program. Where are the Brian Mulroney clones when we need them. What has happened to the Conservative party that they bait people and waste our time with senseless discussion when there are real issues. They avoid the real issues because they will  not do what needs to be done; they will not increase the GST back up to 7% or even 10% (that is the way to tax the rich as they spend more money on expensive luxury items). I say that because rich people do not care; they just pay the tax. The present Conservatives do not have Brian Mulroney's vision or stamina. If the GST was at 10% then we could offer to cut it in half for the builders rather than giving up all of it. Increasing the GST would also slow down inflation.

However, my day is going to be spent on the Siderfin book and I leave it to the Canadian people not to be fooled by lies and false statements made with regard to how Parliament is run. The freedom enjoyed by each and every member is actually quite amazing. But then that is freedom.

Lovely dinner last night, scallops and a hot lemon orzo salad with chopped up tomatoes, chopped spinach and grated carrot. Tonight hard boiled egg with toast and frozen peas cooked of course! I do like fairly plain meals. Then tomorrow a lovely chicken stew. I generally plan my meals with a two to three week meal plan. But I do make changes based on what I would like to actually eat so I can just shift it around. 

Another day in God's world. Just twelve degrees celsius on this last day of September at 5:30 a.m. The furnace has still not come on as there is sufficient sun or warmth in the day to keep the house (of course my house is attached and not huge which also makes a difference) at 20 degrees celsius my preferred temperature. One of these days though the heat will drop to 19.5 degrees celsius and on the furnace will come. The world is slowly changing to the brilliant colours that Canada is famous for - our maple tree is rapidly turning crimson and the foliage is slowly yellowing. New growth is slowing as fall takes over. 

Teatime and first jumping jacks. My day has already had twenty minutes of exercise with my stretching and toe touching. Osteoarthritis does better if one is more active rather than less active. Running is particularly good and that is why I run fourty minutes a day along with just loving to run in God's world. There is something wondrous about feeling the wind blowing around you as you pass quickly along the walk - God is in that wind I do believe. I think humans were meant to run. My favourite show of all time "Chariots of Fire" was about Eric Liddell who refused to take part in the Olympic 100 meter event in 1924 because he would not run on the Sabbath. Instead he ran in the 400 metre and won that instead (and he had not really trained for that). And of course there were two athletes celebrated in the Chariots of Fire movie Harold Abrahams (Jewish) and Eric Liddell (Christian). A wonderful memory and I do have the VHS tape of the movie. Must play it today. Harold Abrahams saved the day by winning the 100 metre and the Gold Medal for Britain. Harold Abrahams went on to become the elder statesman of British Athletics. Eric Liddell was a missionary-teacher and died in China during the Second World War.

On to the day. Hopefully no more scam calls. This past week has seen my phone ring a lot actually when normally it doesn't ring at all - my preferred state. Email is the way; talking on the phone is just too time consuming.