And we are awaiting possible snow

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

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

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

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

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

Sunny and minus 2 degrees celsius

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

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

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

Teatime and Latin as always.

Another Sunday and Blake work yesterday

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

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

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

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

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

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

The wills (date blogged)

Roger Blake     4 Jan 2013

Philip Baynard     5 Jan 2013

Henry Baynard     6 Jan 2013

Edward Baynard     7 Jan 2013

Benjamin Baynard     10 Jan 2013

Sir Robert Baynard     16 Jan 2013

Edward Baynard     17 Jan 2013

Charles Blake      26 Nov 2013

Edward Blake     28 Nov 2013

Mary Blake (Roger's widow)     4 Dec 2013

James Blake      6 Dec 2013

James Blake     11 Dec 2013

John Blake     12 Dec 2013

The Blake wills are for the Wiltshire Blake family.

Blake again today

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

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

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

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

The budget and how I see it

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

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

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

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

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