The Book of Tobit

 The Book of Tobit and I do not remember this story. It is a story of God's love and protection; a beautiful story and I will complete the reading tomorrow. I am finding that it is good to read all of these stories passed down through the ages. 

The genealogical accounts seem to fit into my life these days as I continue my genealogical trace down of the Blake family of Andover. My grandfather knew all of his ancestral line but I only retained the newest part from Joseph down to the present (except for a jumble of names which included Nicholas, William, Thomas, John and Richard). Joseph was baptized in 21 Oct 1730 at St Mary Andover the son of Thomas Blake and Ann (Carter) Blake who had married 8 Dec 1728 at Holy Trinity Church Penton Mewsey. Thomas was baptized 4 May 1709 at St Mary Andover the son of Thomas Blake and Mary (Spring) Blake and they had married 6 Nov 1708 at St Mary Andover. Thomas Blake was baptized 21 Feb 1685 at St Mary Andover the son of John Blake and Elizabeth (unknown) Blake and their marriage details are unknown. Eleven children were baptized to this couple at St Mary Andover (and five of these were buried there as infants or young children). The baptism for John Blake was written into the Parish Register at St Mary Andover 10 May 1649 likely by his father William Blake (married to Ann Hellier 5 Sep 1644 at St Mary Andover). There were three entries made by likely the same individual William during the time when only non-secular records of birth were supposed to be maintained when Cromwell was in power. The Blake line continues back to the beginning of the Parish Registers at St Mary Andover in 1588 for the Baptisms. The will of William Blake in 1582 lists all of his children as does the will of Richard Blake his son thus giving a list of the children of these two Blake lines at Eastontown and Andover. The same is true of the other Blake lines and all will be entered into the genealogical charting in Legacy.

Yesterday the top floor all cleaned as well as the vacuuming of the basement since the dog hair is everywhere and now nowhere hopefully. Today it is the basement to clean and I will soon start the robot cleaning the rugs. 

I hope to get a little work done on my research today and will see how that goes. Still avoiding the news somewhat. and it will likely stay that way as I inch further and further into my 80s. I did say when I was 70 and mapping out my likely time working away on my family genealogy that I would see myself slowly pulling away from genealogy as I hit my 80s but then I was also thinking of my husband and I spending more time walking and watching television and traveling still. But life did change that as did COVID and instead of spending time with my husband in my 80s as he was gradually pulling away from his intensive concentration on genealogy I will remain with that and try to get all of his work organized and off to cousins who are researching. It is a possibility that our older daughter in the years ahead (maybe ten or twenty) will pick up the threads of the DNA work as it is quite fascinating where that is going and she has all the skill sets to do that sort of work along with everything else that she does. 

Next week I begin my one hour a day on the lawns throughout September and into October to get that all ready for winter. Never a dull moment for sure. 

Solitaire puzzles are next.  

Finally decided to drive to the grocery store and took my time carefully proceeding along my usual path and except for a lot of parked vehicles it was a smooth drive. Going past this set of three vehicles parked I went about 5 km per hour and passed a few people walking perhaps back from the store. Then I always drive back along the main road. I suppose I could do that both ways but have got into that habit of taking the side roads over and the main road back. But no children in sight on motor bikes thank goodness. It was fine the other day and I can see now as you approach that three way intersection that the turn at the main road is visible but blocked by visuals somewhat so very necessary to maintain extra caution there. But now that school is in it will be somewhat rarer to see a child on a motorbike on the street.  

Reflecting on Edward

 When I met Edward one of the first items that he mentioned to me was his quest to learn more about his father. Edward's father was Lorne Bernice Kipp and he was the son of William Henry Kipp who was the son of Benjamin Kipp who was the son of Isaac Kipp. Edward knew all of that from his uncle Howard Leslie Kipp. He also knew that his father had been treasurer at Princeton United Church and had sung in the Choir if I remember all of that correctly. Lorne was a farmer and his farm was just across Highway 2 facing the Village of Princeton, Ontario. So Edward had some ambitions in life including going to university and studying Chemistry and going all the way to do his PhD, he wanted to have a family and he wanted to be treasurer at the United Church and to sing in the Choir. He achieved all of those desires in his life and was quite content. The genealogy took him down paths that were appealing to me - we did a lot of traveling in the United States and Canada searching for his Kipp particularly ancestral line and our first trip was to Northeast Town in Dutchess County. We knew that Isaac and his wife Hannah (Mead) Kipp had come to Canada in October 1800 as settlers looking for land and over time he discovered a connection with Thomas Hornor that he hoped might give him more insight into the Kip family of New York/New Jersey. After yDNA testing he knew that his Kipp line was descendant of Hendrick Hendricksen Kip of New Amsterdam. The exact name of those ancestors eluded him but he collected as much information as he could with the thought that others would utilize it and find that name connection. It was a difficult time 1 Nov 1764 when Isaac was born/baptized. The Family Bible did not specify whether this was baptism or birth although was on the birth page. 

Jobs were difficult to come by when Edward finished his PhD in 1970 and he went on to do a PostDoc in Chemical Engineering but still jobs had been quickly taken up by American draft dodgers coming to Canadian Universities in particular so the new graduates had to settle for teaching High School or industry if they could find it or do another degree which Edward did; he finished his Masters in Library Science in 1975 and that did get him a job at the National Research Council in Ottawa. He was thrilled when his eldest did her PhD in Library and Information Science and from his Alma Mater. He was equally thrilled when his youngest did her Masters in Biology and then an MD. 

He had planned so many trips still to do but COVID came into our lives and changed so much around him. 

But we sat thinking about our 54 years of marriage and it was the anniversary of that which is just two days away that got us thinking. He was happy that all the things that he had talked about all those years ago had come to fruition. He had walked in his father's steps with his love of gardening, with his love of the United Church and following again his father's time as treasurer and in the choir, and his own ambition to do his PhD in Chemistry and be a scientist. A little earlier in the summer our eldest had brought him a List of Citations of his work that she had collected and it was a long list actually with a number in the period after he wrote his Thesis (his work was initial work in the field) and then a huge interest again in the early 1980s extending up into the 2000s. He was thrilled with the collection of citations. Edward was only two years old when his father died in a farming accident. His father had epilepsy and had been home schooled and then managed the farm for the family. He had a fall in the barn that was fatal as his head hit cement I understand from what Edward said. 

As our Anniversary comes once again I will make two donations I think with one to the Branch Library of the Ottawa Branch of Ontario Ancestors as usual (a group that he joined in the early 1980s when he went with Gordon Riddle, his cousin, to the first meeting he ever attended (I was not interested in going when we lived in the London area and that interest didn't come at this time in the Ottawa area either (it would take a while for me to take up the mantle of genealogy like 2003)). He loved the group and spent the next close to fourty years as part of it in so many ways (and he volunteered me for items he wanted done (I always think he was trying to keep me at home as the psychiatrist had told him I needed a lot of rest and quiet)). However all that volunteering involved my going out or people calling me on the telephone or having to call people on the telephone (his United Church, the OGS, Treasurer at Camp Bitobi and so many items except World Day of Prayer which I volunteered to do)! And I did go back to work as soon as I could actually although at home for over fifteen years for the bulk of that work and then back into the working world.  

The other donation I am contemplating picking up once again was his donation to his Alma Mater (and mine actually Western University was the University of Western Ontario). I shall investigate that as I would want to do that in his memory. 

I have continued most of the donations that he was doing along with the ones that I was doing. All societies need donations to organizations in order to provide that activity or need to continue being met as they are a social need for many many people. When money concentrates in one small group then life does not flow as equally or well as God meant it to.  

September finally

 The second day of cleaning and it will be the basement. Glad that it is September and the children are back in school so my food shopping days can begin again. I always stock up in mid-August to last until on into September. I actually have quite a bit on hand still. Moving does sound so delightful actually. I will probably just order my groceries delivered though. That actually works very well. 

Edward was so attached to his property here but I never was except at the very beginning when we first  moved here. It was so lovely and quiet. We knew our friends over on the street behind us. We could just spend all our time  on our projects including our daughter. She was so into reading but gradually she made a couple of friends that she played with mostly on the climbers in our back yard as we came with three in total which we set up for her to play on as she had had them at the house in South Ottawa which we were renting. But she loved to read and was starting to write little stories to send to her grandparents. Then she was off to four year old kindergarten in the Fall at Convent Glen Catholic as a tuition student since Edward had listed us as public school supporters but they had a spot for her in their four year old programme (no four year old kindergarten in the public school system then) which was great. I would have kept her going there but Edward preferred she be at the public school. Her best friend was just two doors up and they were best friends until he moved away. Her other friends were close by which was nice. 

I remember being out for a walk with our eldest daughter just after we moved here (eight years older than her younger sister) and some children called her over to play on a climber but she said no she was going for a walk with her parents. It was cute. She was like that although she did feel sorry for a couple that dropped by our house with their dog and they were saying they didn't have any children to her. But I told her they will have children eventually. He was our family doctor actually and she did like him at first until she started getting her allergy shots and then she did not like him anymore but she was only five. When we went to Edward's Church the first time she ran away when he came over to speak to us. Edward stayed and chatted with him; they did work on their in common Kipp genealogy as they both came from the same area (I think it was on Gordon's maternal side but no ideas on that). I avoided all such conversations so do not know  much about it. I think he might have been younger than Edward though; no idea on that. When I was checking the Tillsonburg Kipp family as one of the people in Edward's Kipp yDNA study had asked a question. I discovered that Gordon was likely from that Kipp family so they were about fourth cousins or greater actually as the common ancestor in this family is unknown - Edward descends from Isaac Kipp (Northeast Town, Dutchess County, New York) and John Kipp was a Quaker who had come up from somewhere in New York State to the Niagara area before moving on to Tillsonburg, Ontario. I think Gordon thought he was descendant of Richard Titus Kipp (brother to Edward's Benjamin Kipp (Edward's great grandfather)) but Edward had placed him in the Tillsonburg Kipp family at some point. His last name was Riddle though so on his mother's side perhaps or could be his father's mother's side. 

Reading Nehemiah and the last couple of chapters and then will  move on to Tobit since this is a Catholic  Bible that I have. The King James Version does not have Tobit and Judith but I will read them both. Then it is Esther followed by two more Books that are not in the King James Version 1st and 2nd Maccabees. Then Job, Psalms and Proverbs and then are a few more additional books in the Old Testament Catholic Bible. Always remembering why I started to reread the Bible from the beginning as I understand better my thoughts on resolving all of our differences and moving to that uplifted plain of peace that would give the world so much happiness. I always felt that Armageddon had come during the Second World War and we had survived by our ingenuity and the hard fight that was fought against evil and we had moved through Revelations to a peaceful existence. God very much in our minds and hearts but the second coming did not happen then and is perhaps way into the future because God loves humanity and wants them to survive much longer. It is something that I have felt for a long time and I wonder why I think it now.  Perhaps the Bible will reveal that to me; no ideas on that. Millions of people have read the Bible but one has a different look when one is in their 80s I think as one reads the Bible. Although with the Russians throwing around the idea of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine human life might not be as long as it could be. What does one do with such evil people?

Today it is cleaning day and I will do the top floor after all; I was going to do the basement but first I will vacuum the basement. Generally I wash the floor because 3/4s of it is cement and the rest area rugs. Washing the cement keeps the dust down.  We only use the one end of it as a TV room/exercise area. The rest of it used to be packed full of tools and all sorts of stuff most of it went to Salvation Army or the Tool Library and some to neighbours except for what my son in law wanted - he got first choice. We kept enough tools to do repairs that we can do ourselves. It still surprises me to see how empty it is. 

Another beautiful day in God's world. Success for the Liberals they won all three of the ridings in the by-elections. Although I do not necessarily support the Liberals in all of the things that they do I feel very strongly that the idea of diversification of trade is our most important step including our huge investments in the military along with getting these pipelines built to tidewater. The Eastern pipeline is also very important to Ontario/Quebec. I just do not think we will be giving up oil anytime soon in terms of cars although EVs are certainly interesting. We buy so many cars in Canada and we did have a Canadian car industry which was bought out; perhaps a new one will appear in the near future. There have been so many surprises. 

So cleaning today and then work on the genealogical tables and mostly quiet work once I finish the cleaning. I am still getting back my energy after a very busy summer. There is a lot of yard work but I shall soon begin my one hour per day cleaning up the yards. It will take a few weeks but that is fine. 

Solitaire puzzles are next. 

Prayers continuing for the souls of those who lost their lives in the glacial flooding in Nepal and Tibet. Prayers for the rescue of the thousands still buried in the mud in tunnels under the earth. The Chinese military are doing a fantastic job of helping in the rescue there. They have been on the job since it happened.  

 

 

 

Last day of August

 Reading Nehemiah and Nehemiah is Governor and the peoples who have returned from captivity in Persia (Babylon) have worked hard to restore the temple area in Jerusalem. The numbers of people is overwhelming when you think about it. Thousands of people have returned from captivity. I completed to the end of Chapter 9 and a new Covenant has been signed between God and the people of Israel. The amount of history in all these words is amazing. We know so much about these lands where modern Israel now is located and the lands around this area. The people are known by their various groupings who are not part of Israel. Fascinating really as reading the Bible when I was much younger I did not think about all of these parts in the same way. God the Creator tried to live on earth with us; He no longer lives with us after He sent Jesus His son to show us the way; to create the Christian faith to support all the teachings that Jesus brought with Him to mankind over two thousand years ago. Slowly we are reaching towards the times of the New Testament but still quite a bit of reading to do. We will go back and forth in time as we reach the Psalms and the Proverbs. These two Old Testament books are perhaps the most familiar over all to me because we do read a Psalm every week in Church and the Proverbs we see in our daily life in writings. 

Prayers continuing for the souls of those who have died in the floods in Nepal and Tibet. Prayers for the rescue of the thousands still trapped in the mud (buildings buried in the deep mud). Some people experienced in tunnel rescues have left from Canada to go to Nepal and Tibet to help. The rescuers must be exhausted from all of this searching. So many lost. 

Windows opened to let in the fresh air and cool the house down before the temperature rises. I turned the air conditioning off a week ago. I find it very cold especially when it is dehumidifying although I do keep it at 25 degrees celsius.  

Diversification of our trade is at the top of our list of things to do and will continue until we have increased our trade between the provinces (where ever is the BC peanut butter?), breaking down those trade barriers, and increase our trading with the rest of the world. It is our prime thought along with all the new projects that are in mind. Our military projects took the first concern and are starting to come to fruition so time now to work on civilian projects. It is something we should have been doing these past fourty years but now we are at it and that is the important part. Our youth are certainly up to the challenge. 

Today is cleaning day and I am back on schedule and will do the main floor today as it will be quite a bit of extra work with washing of all the floors. Actually the dogs were quite good and I wiped their feet outside on the muddy days and inside when it was just dusty and a bit damp but not muddy. They were good and I am sure they are thrilled to be back with the cats as they have missed them. There are four animals and a lot of fish - 2 dogs and 2 cats. They are all good friends. 

With the matches all done (although I see My Heritage has sent me email with some new ones that I will check out) I started into the phasing of my great grandparents. I will avoid adding anything new unless it is incremental adding in details that needed more support. 

So working on the books, the photo albums and the phasing of the grandparents (Edwards)/great grandparents (mine) will be my focus over the next few months. Lots of working time ahead of me and winter soon to come which is my best working time for sure. 

I am looking forward to moving in three years or so as this house, small though that it actually is, is much too large for me. Would love to move sooner but at 81 I am too old for too many changes all at once if I can avoid it. I know that moving in three years or so is something that is going to happen but trying to do that several times is just not practical. 

I must admit listening to Jason Kenny discussing the current situation I could wish that he would contemplate going back into the Conservative Party federally. He is cooler headed and controlled in how he discusses topics.  I do not entirely agree with him on the tariff business. The intent is to protect our home industries with the current retroactive tariff to come into force in another week and I think is best centered on that idea - I agree with the Premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan on these points. But he is an excellent speaker with a lot of background in federal politics and a good listener.  

Solitaire puzzles to do.  

The Truth will set you Free

The Church service at Christ Church did  not come online today so I went to Church at Flackwell Heath, Buckinghamshire in Oxford Diocese.  Wonderful singing with several of my favourite songs but the theme running through the prayers and the sermon was "The truth will set you free." I simply love that expression. It is beautiful. My roots are deep in the Church of England, called Anglican in Canada primarily. I would say my grandfather's Blake line were reluctant to be no longer Roman Catholic but accepted that they had to be Church of England because Queen Elizabeth was their valid Queen so they believed and so they practised. But there was a lot of catholicism in my grandfather. The priest who taught them at school was likely very High Church as it is called when one is more Catholic than Protestant. 

My first day without the dogs. I woke up first always and waited for them to arouse at their own pace which was generally about one hour after I woke up which meant I had my exercises all done and was ready for the onslaught of opening the door of the bedroom where they were sleeping. It was a quick hello and down the stairs and running around to enjoy the new day in this house. They missed their family but they enjoyed their time with me. They quickly forget that I have said no (generally in a loud voice) and come over for a hug and then back to playing and sleeping. Dogs sleep a lot. 

When I was young we had a dog and he was my strongest companion - Normie recognized that I did not see well and would track me about as a toddler bringing me back from my wandering by tugging at my dress and pulling me along (I apparently never got off the property!). I have no memory of Normie as he was put down when I was just three years of age - the shock to my system must have been enormous. I looked for him for ages (so it was said) but he was gone and then we moved and everything that I knew well was gone and perhaps that was when the memory of Normie also disappeared. I do not remember the feel of his fur or riding on his back (I was the only one he allowed to do that) or the lick of his tongue. He was a full sized Collie and greatly loved by the family. He was a very tame dog and extremely good with children but a child came to play at our house (my age apparently so one does wonder why a two to three year old is wandering about a neighbourhood alone going to houses) and she apparently hit me which was a mistake. The dog did not actually hurt her but he pinched her and left a tiny mark apparently but Normie was put down; my parents (with five children) did not want to have a dog that was untrustworthy - sad really. 

What does that have to do with truth will set you free? Absolutely nothing but for some reason a few things came back to me as I listened to the Sermon. Talking about leaving everything and following Jesus was also the theme and probably the one that I was supposed to be hearing. It reminded me of leaving London when my husband took a job in Ottawa and I followed him. We had two vehicles and literally he drove one and I followed him in the other with our not yet one year old. We were also taking her away from everything she knew especially her grandparents who loved her dearly. Now I am one of seven and at this point in time my parents had three grandchildren (12, 8 and 7) and she ended up being the only baby for another eight years when my youngest was born. So she was the center of any party or any event in the family. She was alive by the grace of God because my first pregnancy was a miscarriage at four months - a sad event in my life and I still miss that child but now with God I am sure wrapped tightly in His arms. I changed jobs so that I was not on my feet and was blessed with my daughter just a couple of years later. Another miscarriage when my daughter was two and it was a result of me simply being not strong enough to carry a baby at this point. I did wonder if I ever would carry another child.  Then a surprise just when I was going back to do my Masters but I chose staying home and proofreading/copyediting for first the government and then private printers when my job was cut from the Public Service by the Conservative government for whom I had voted but I was unemployed for about one day I think! It didn't alter my voting habits.

My husband was a very distinct person with a very distinct personality and my eldest grandson is his walking image - he looks like him; he has many of his characteristics and habits and sometimes he says things which was exactly the way Edward used to say it. Sadly he was only eight when his grandfather died and it was a sad day for everyone but especially I think for my eldest grandson as they were just getting to that point of sharing thoughts and ideas. Edward would have been a perfect grandfather for his grandsons and it is sad, to me still, that life did not support his continuing but he will always be alive in our minds. My youngest grandson still talks about his grandpa Edward asking me questions about when he was born, things he did as he too remembers his grandpa very well. So the truth that was coming through my mind was the regret I still feel deep in my soul that their grandpa Edward isn't still here with them. I still have all of his school work that he saved (myself I threw it all out when I got married!). I hated school although I absolutely love learning. If I could have learned online I would have been so overjoyed to be honest. Going to Church online, although it is not the concept that Jesus designed, is also a wonderful event in my life. 

Must get my running in. I am slowly working my way back up to thirty minutes a day with a twenty minute walk. Whenever I am ill I take it backwards even halfway or more so that I do not put undue strain on a system that buckled so many years ago in my late 20s. I just think it is wise to take it easy as you work your way back into an exercise routine. 

Prayers for the souls of all those who died in the glacial flooding in Nepal and Tibet and prayers that many more will be rescued. Back to watching the news again for a bit. Not that I am uninterested but I can do nothing about the events of the world except live through them like everybody else.