Ezra and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem

 Canada continued its heroic trips back and forth across the North Atlantic which had begun in earnest in 1939 and continued into 1942 ferrying food and materials to the British Isles and returning with shiploads of children to protect them from war. It was a difficult couple of years but our maritime forces exceeded any expectations on what could be done in such precarious times. Not that such times are on us again but the need for such hard concentrated work lies ahead of us. It is an exciting time in our history that is for sure as we diversify our trade and start new products for delivery to the world. 

Completed the reading of Ezra yesterday and moving on to Nehemiah today. The Israeli people have returned to their homeland from captivity in Persia (Babylon) and Assyria. The rebuilding of the temple is underway. God is in their hearts and minds as they work to regain what was lost to them. 

Just two matches left to do and back to rephasing the great grandparents and continuing with the generational charts of the Blake family at Andover and the Pincombe family at North Molton. 

The dogs and I spent a little time outside yesterday and they will soon be going home. I am in need of a week of rest and relaxation which will include cleaning my house. Last night just eleven degrees celsius and up to fifteen degrees celsius now at 9:30 a.m. Fall is coming and with it the change in the colours of the leaves which has begun slightly here and there. I need to take down the bird feeder as I do not feed birds; letting them take what they want from the fruit and seeds in the yard. They are very industrious birds but it is fun to watch them come to the feeder that is for sure. The cardinals have never left us all these years coming back year in and year out. One generation after another. This year's generation's young is a female cardinal and mostly it has been male cardinals from this pair over the last few years. 

  Solitaire puzzles are next.  

I am always thinking about my driving. I have decided when my reactions do not seem to be quick enough to me then it is time to stop. The other day I was headed to the grocery store which involves a couple of streets. I was making my turn onto the street that takes me there and suddenly a motor bike appeared and as I was in the way I finished my turn but it does tell  me that watching is the most important thing. A motor cycle going by on the street outside reminded me of that as I was sitting with the dogs. 

 

Canada stood alone in 1939 and 1940 on the North Atlantic

Canada is a strong country. In 1939 and 1940 our convoys crisscrossed the Atlantic Ocean daily carrying food and supplies to the British Isles constantly being attacked and tracked by the enemy. We did not quaver; we forged ahead and that is what being Canadian is all about. We can do it. I remember the late 40s and early 50s of the 1900s very clearly. Our soldiers (I lived in a military city as London, Ontario's biggest employer was the Canadian military at Wolsley Barracks) stood tall and always ready for whatever was handed to them. We never really lost that; it just got seconded by the needs of the many as Canada grew through the 1980s and 1990s. But we are back, our military is growing rapidly and our equipment is topping it up all over. We will defend North America along with our neighbours to the south and our friends in Europe/British Isles. A large number of countries have an Arctic coastline. 

I am finding the Book of Ezra very very interesting. We are now approaching the prophecies of the prophets and the promise of a Messiah. That along with the return to Jerusalem make the readings very significant. It is amazing that it is the King of Persia, he said that God told him to do it, who sends the Israelites back to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. It is just 500 years now before the birth of Jesus Christ. I know I have read the Book of Ezra before but it has been a very long time. Yesterday I read the first five chapters and today I am reading the remaining five chapters. The next book is Nehemiah. I always feel privileged to read these ancient writings and thankful to the Jewish people for their gift to the world of all these writings. We are now into the time of the great libraries that I talked about before. Knowledge is now being stored up and passed around to the scholars of the known world. But the value of the Bible stretching so far back in time must never be overlooked. 

Worked on the matches and still a few to do and I will work away at that today once again. Yesterday I vacuumed both floors and it does look good. I will scrub the bathrooms today and do the dusting next week when I clean again. I need to clean all of the floors although the dogs have been very good and I clean their feet at the door. But the younger dog has thick curls that do not shed but do hold vast amounts of water. 

I am starting to think about all of the new projects coming to Canada in the next months as we continue to diversify our trade around the world. It is very exciting time for Canada. The loss, if it happens, of the three big American car makers will be quickly filled by others and I must say having driven in Dodge cars for all my life they will be truly missed. The hit to their bottom line (the three American car makers) will be huge as we buy a lot of American corporate vehicles in Canada made in Canada. But you can sense the burgeoning of new car companies coming to Canada to build cars with Canadian materials  and no more worries on our part that they have just come to try and have a back door into the United States. We have lots of room for car factories (including home grown) and lots of workers and purchasers. 

An interesting aside the French call the channel of water to their north La Manche and the British call it The English Channel. 

Looking out my window I remember last spring when the City truck came along and cleared away the built up salt and mud along the kerb. As usual that big black truck was out there and now I have this pool of water there because it is landlocked. I am not strong enough to move that anymore but it is a place for mosquitoes to breed. One must notice what is happening in the world around them as it took them quite a while to clean the street. When I looked out the window one time the man in the city truck pointed at the black truck and made a motion for me to move it. I nodded my head no, and pointed across the road. We all pay our taxes. I once asked his wife to move the truck but apparently she can not drive it. That is really serious as it could be an emergency and that truck had to be moved so one shouldn't own something one cannot move! Of course someone else might move it!

So still matches to do and I will work at that and also scrubbing the two bathrooms and that will be the cleaning for this week. Next week is a thorough cleaning including scrubbing all the wooden floors. I am ready for the challenge; all better. God will not call me home this time I guess. 

Thank you God for another beautiful day in Your world. A bit cloudy but other wise a lovely late summer day.  

 

 

Moving on as September approaches

 September is always lovely as we move towards fall with winter coming. A wondrous moment to leave summer behind; summer is not my favourite season. There really isn't anything that I love about summer - cold air conditioning is one of my big dislikes and yet I do have that because it keeps the air fresh. I like to swim but you can swim all year round. I love to walk but I can do that inside my house all year round although a walk outside is always very nice. 

Some work accomplished yesterday and about eight matches left to do. Found two new matches in the database I am working on at the moment. The one especially exciting as it filled in this tiny length that was more or less vacant. 

The dogs are missing their family even if I am family. They have been with me for a while but surprisingly quiet and good. But they are getting older. A quick rebuke and they quiet down if something outside alarms them. 

Ezra reading begins today and the Babylonian Captivity is ending. King Cyrus of Persia has decreed that they return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple to God, the God of the Israeli people. The ten chapters begin with this decree around 540 BCE (before the common era). Again the God of Creation (God of the Israeli people) demonstrates His faithfulness in bringing His people home from exile to the lands that He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). He has spoken through the Persian King Cyrus the Great. 

I put off my cleaning earlier this week but will vacuum the top floor today as one of the dogs sheds heavily and it is time; one can not really go for more than a week without vacuuming! My schedule is all awry but time will fix that and I am a person who can tolerate such changes. 

Time for a piece of banana bread (my concoction) and a glass of milk. I will return to my blog shortly.  

Dogs out for two runs and then breakfast. I have to send them out singly because the older dog has to walk but if out with the younger dog she runs and that is bad for her leg. Dogs get old too. She has been a wonderful dog. A perfect companion to the family for sure. The younger dog is very spirited and has grown up on a huge lot so my lot in comparison is small. Used to being a long way back from the road and here she is up close. So hard for her but the older one manages it well. 

Supposed to rain and I decided to let them have two good outings before that starts. Clouding again so perhaps it will begin sooner. 

Cleaning to begin soon. Doing solitaire puzzles.  

It truly is amazing to still be on God's earth; I never expected to live this long to be honest. I was dreadfully ill at the end of my 20s. But the psychiatrist laid it on the line for me that I had to rest. That every time I did not rest I would become ill. Initially I did not even test that out and rested whenever my infant did but gradually I did push myself a little but too much and I paid for it with exhaustion, a return of the headaches and fainting. So back to resting once again. My eldest at two would sit beside me whilst I rested and read her books (she read so young) or make pictures but always stay close as she knew that I would get upset if I couldn't see her. Now she is again my caregiver although mostly a long way away as I tell her that works for me and just live your life. Although I can still get the tiredness and headache the fainting is no longer part of daily living thank goodness. It is a long long time since I fainted. 

King Cyrus of Persia

The end of the Babylonian Captivity was created by King Cyrus of Persia (Babylon was now known as Persia). King Cyrus of Persia stated: The Lord, the God of heaven had given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. Hence he told the descendants of the people of Judah that they were now permitted to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. God once again fulfilled the promise he told to Jeremiah that His people would return to the land He had promised to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel (Jacob). My next readings will be the first chapters of Ezra. 

The dogs have kept me very busy but I am stronger once again. Still not watching the news very much but I do belong to the idea that Canada must rebuild her lost industries due to free trade (our industries were bought out/out competed and simply disappeared due to American companies buying them out during Free Trade and now we buy all those products from the United States although those companies took their production off shore to Asia and have crippled their own economy). Having free trade should really work it has worked well in Europe between all the countries there (both large and small). They do not lose their home industries. It is the lure of money that is really the problem; we need to follow the lure of God to create the best country that we can and not follow the money but rather know that the money will eventually come as we become stronger and stronger diversifying our trade around the world and then the complaint that we sell too much to the United States will disappear as our trade diversifies around the world (we have actually decreased the amount by more than 10%). We have so much to sell; so many industries to create in this modern world and we have the youth of our nation to help bring all of those industries to fruition. We continue with the impression that the present President wishes to destroy our economy and force us to become a 51st state but the only way that Canada would ever be part of such a union would be as thirteen new states all with their own two senators and representation by population. We would not wish to be second class Americans. But we like being Canadians and a good friend is worth far more than that in reality. We have been a good friend all of these years. When one is out numbered by 8.5 to 1 as the United States has far more people than Canada then the methods of dealing with such odds are to simply create agreements that permit us to exist as we are. Obviously the United States will always have more people and more buying power but we have a union that has stood the test of time which is a very reliable country to have next to anyone and we must continue knocking down any trade barriers between the provinces/territories as we move forward in our ambitious move to diversify our trade to make our neighbours happier since the President and his advisers feel that we ship too much south. The only purpose of the September 8th retaliatory tariffs is to protect our native industry and allow it to burgeon and grow and not be swept away by the tide of 8.5 to 1.  I love my American cousins and want to see them prosper but Canada is my home and we need to make it the best possible following the ideas of the Fathers of Confederation and grow Canada to be the strong country it has been and always will be. 

Another beautiful day in God's world; thank you God for all this lovely weather that you have sent to us. Hopefully the smoke coming up from the United States wildfires into British Columbia will soon pass and clean air will be there for everyone both sides of the border.  

God bless the world and all who live in it. The satanists (Russia's war mongers and Iran's war mongers) amongst us need to be gone from this world since they have no interest in an enduring peace around the world to give those who love peace a place to live.

I see the campaign begins once again to try and get me to sell my house and probably everybody around me in order to buy up this land and create higher density housing. The train will soon be running and the incentive to create even more housing closer to the train will intensify likely. I am going to sell but not today. I am not in a rush probably three years unless God calls me home sooner; one can not tell that. A child's wading pool close to me in another property on the street full of stale water that is breeding mosquitoes doesn't alter that thought actually. It is an interesting experiment and brings out the scientist hidden way deep inside of me contemplating what is growing there actually. When I thought I might have had West Nile Virus it was that wading pool that gave me the idea. It is tempting to throw 500 millitres of bleach into it but not actually practical (as it might eat out the pool although the stagnant water might do that as well).  I will just enjoy the experiment until the cold weather destroys it. I wonder if anyone would actually leave that pool sitting there in their backyard all winter. Seems somewhat weird. I was initially concerned that the small children a couple of doors away would also catch West Nile Virus from the mosquitoes breeding there when I had that thought. But that thought has passed. I am 81 after all. 

Continuing reading 2 Chronicles

 The years pass by quickly in the Book of 2 Chronicles as the names of the Kings of Judah and Israel fly by in the readings. The Kings of Judah are more likely to follow God's rules but not always. Good times and bad prevail throughout the readings. 

Busy day yesterday as we filled the shed with the summer things. Just the lawn mower left out and gardening implements.  I am going to try and do one hour per day outside once the dogs go back home. That would have everything cleaned up for winter. I am feeling somewhat stronger once again. The summer always drains me somewhat. 

No work on the matches. It was a busy day to generally do some items around the house and yard. All completed. 

Today is another day of work if possible. I will see as the dogs tend to keep me distracted from accomplishing very much. A sort of holiday for this workaholic who otherwise would spend a lot of time on the book writing. I wonder when the last mail delivery to the house will be as I am keen on putting my note on the door to halt the bell ringing as it disturbs my concentration when I am working. When I proofread at home all day years ago I did keep a note on the door for quite a bit of the day. They were busy times although I always helped at my girl's schools one day a week until I went back to onsite work. 

Still staying away from the news for the most part. Sadly when I bought my cookies that I have eaten all my life (one package, now made in the United States although originally Canadian made - the company moved there) the cookies were too sweet and I couldn't eat them. Strange after two years without to notice such a difference. So  one package only and most of it got recycled. Interesting though for that to happen. 

Must get some work done now; time is a-wasting as they say. Less than a dozen matches to place although probably should check for new ones one last time before proceeding to the next part of the project. 

Solitaire puzzles completed.