Investitute of the new Governor General, 31st Governor General of Canada

 Tradition is so much a part of people's lives really and losing it can really alters one's space and perception of life I think. Rediscovering one's traditions are important if they are lost to them.  Canada, as a country of ten provinces and three territories, has a lot of traditions that are quite beautiful and these traditions include the First Nations, the French Colonials and the English Colonials (although other than the language English, English traditions have disappeared from Canadian life as far as I can tell). The group of Confederation Founders were in somewhat of a panic at the time wanting to create a country as they viewed the growth of the United States to the south of us. We wanted some items particularly (sea to sea to sea was very important) and it was the French Colonials and the English Colonials who created the differences that one sees between the governance of the United States and the governance of Canada. 

Especially important are the moments in our present governance that are created by The First Nations. They take us back as Canadians to the very roots of this land whether we are a First Generation Canadian or have a very deep longstanding generational past in this country now called Canada but originally was called Turtle Island. We (the First Nations, the French Colonials and the English Colonials) were one together during the 1812-1814 war with the United States and it is important that that oneness always be there now. We have, the United States and Canada, been great friends these last over two hundred years). I especially appreciate it that the First Nations are always part of the ceremonial acts of Canada. More First Nations members in the governance would also be excellent so that consultation is always happening at the time of the initiation of new ideas/projects. The concept of a North American market was not ours but rather presented to Canada by the United States and later included Mexico. It has been very beneficial to all three countries for sure and especially I like the Wisconsin cheeses and milk although it is awhile since I have been there (nine years I think). 

Yesterday was busy and I cleaned the basement. Today is the main floor. We also got in a long walk at the beach which was really very nice. My daughter had a long research meeting with her student as well. Her jaw is recovering very nicely and back to work once again. She really only took two days away from her studies which is typical of her actually!  We lead a very quiet life working on our individual projects and that is pretty much the life we have lived, both of us, since she was a young child and was also true of my husband Edward although he was more of a going out to meetings and such sort of person. 

My daughter felt very sorry for the young couple from Church that came to our door years ago now when she learned that they didn't have any children (she was only five years old!). But I took her for a walk a couple of days later and she saw them with another family that had children so I said look they have lots of friends and that made her happy and we went back to being the quiet family we like to be keeping to ourselves. Edward did continue working with his cousin Gordon Riddle (the husband of the young couple that visited us) on the family tree but both of us, my daughter and I, avoided that. 

We were however at Church together and I being volunteer secretary our paths crossed often but soon they did have their family and we definitely gradually moved apart over the next while although I did babysit their children when they asked (Edward and Gordon still worked together on the Kipp Family Tree on occasion). 

Babysitting is never my thing actually and I avoid it except when needed (partly because I always pick up whatever cold or flu or illness small children have that were left with me (I never thought of wearing a mask and gloves in those days but it would have been a good idea given my fragile health and determination to help in the schools my children were attending!)). A stroll down Memory Lane once again; it is amazing looking backwards over 81 years of life really. I appear to be very healthy and the fragility of my early adulthood has disappeared although I do feel my 80 plus years. 

For the most part I have lived the quiet life I prefer (but always went to all the historical activities and events that my husband Edward asked me to attend with him as well as going to his Church!). Considering I moved to the attic as a young child separating myself from my then four siblings and eventually six siblings that lifestyle is probably not surprising. We did (my siblings and I) play a lot of card games together and board games but I did like the solitude of the attic for sure! Amazingly I was the middle child in the group of seven. 

I worked away on my Great Grandparent data a little just to play with the file which now has  4377 lines in total. Today I may use AI a little to look at this file a little more intently. I may separate it into the four grandparents since that is basically how I will use it anyway. But the original is still safely stored away in case I ever want to look at the original extraction once again. 

An article on wages paid in Canada was quite interesting to read this morning. It is surprising who is making the most money (just on an average basis within each grouping) on a group level but also a very rewarding look because that is really where you would think the best salaries/wages are and it is in working the natural resources. That is our greatest product really our natural resources. Getting them out of the ground is important and selling them beneficial to our present state. But respecting the land always is an important part of all of that. It may seem cumbersome to people but if we do not respect the land then we condemn earth to an unhealthy future. I think that we can get what is needed out of the natural resources to put us on a path that will make it monetarily feasible to move to protection of the environment as we move along but still maintaining a sufficient income to support the population of Canada. 

I understand the desire to have a perfect utopia now but we have to be able to support that utopia without creating a poverty level that can not be sustained by our current GDP.  Hence we need to listen (and discuss) to the suggestions made by those who know this land well, the First Nations. 

Time to play the solitaire games.  

 

 

Lovely music at Church

 The music was lovely at Church yesterday. I do love the organ music. God would be pleased I think that His Church which He created still sings His praises and thanks him for all of His gifts to mankind. 

With all the rain, the lawns and gardens are looking very nice. I pulled some grass out of the front garden bed so that the iris could have more room. Iris is a beautiful plant. My daughter has cut the lawns thus far although I did contemplate hiring a company to cut the lawns and still might do that as the flowers that inflame her asthma will soon be in full bloom as she has to stay away from the yards most of the time although does go out a little with her mask on. Fortunately Petrie Island doesn't have a lot of flowering plants in the areas that we go to for kayaking and walking. 

My daughter's jaw is healing from the dental surgery and soon back to kayaking once again. She is thinking about her four research projects though and items that need doing. Her student is busy working away with her on these projects as well as the other faculty members who are part of these projects. I am lucky to have her as my caretaker for these research times that she spends here. But we chat every day for an hour or so and I consider her as my caretaker year round actually. 

Worked on the book yesterday and in this case the Excel file for the great grandparents. I have looked at 23 and Me, Living DNA, Ancestry and just a quick glance at My Heritage and FT DNA today to ascertain if there are any new large matches. Then ready to go on the charting using all of this data. There is ancient Blake data in the DNA likely caused by two items. Some of the further back matches are in the Knight family where there is endogamy and others are colonial American Blake descendants. Interesting really that these lengths of DNA would be passed down through nine or ten generations but they are common areas which is a marvelous conduit for DNA material down through the ages. 

I also wrote my letter to my older sister and mailed it off. I am trying to keep to sending it on Sunday each week. I wanted to find boxes of cards that had different pictures on them and we are going to go to the Rideau Centre next and perhaps I will find some there. Right now I just have two different cards. I just thought that would be more fun to receive. I am typing the letters though as my hand writing is somewhat hard to read although I did get a letter from my brother in law saying that my sister had read the letter so that is good news. I did take my time hand writing it. But I will stick to typing the rest - just sent the first one like that. I was a visitor at one of the local old age hospitals when I was a teenager and it is lonely for people in these homes if they do not have people close by. My brother in law goes every day he said but still I wanted to send the letters to break up her long day somewhat.  

 Today cleaning the basement and that will begin soon. I will start the Robot around 9:00 a.m. and it runs for about one hour. Does a great job on the rug for sure. 

Beautiful sun today and the tomato plants will likely need water as it is a hot sun although just 17 degrees celsius this morning at the moment  with a high of 26 degrees celsius promised. 

Solitaire puzzles are next.  

Sunday and another rainy day

 Sunday and this past week has flown by. I have forgotten to send my letter to my older sister and will get that done today. A very very busy week has passed but the summer just by its nature is always very busy with going in and out. 

I did complete the Pincombe/Pinkham Newsletter and it needs to go in for review and hope to complete that early in the week. Not much content other than the Bishops Nympton baptisms and marriages. The priests who maintained these registers through the years did a wonderful amount of entry for individual marriages which is very helpful for those searching back in time. 

In the spirit of the moment I am contemplating buying my favourite cookies (made in the United States) as they are still for sale at the store (I do not drink so whether or not alcohol is on the shelves makes no difference to me). I love very crisp cookies about my palm size; my teeth still work very well and have no problem chewing as I also love crusty bread! I used to buy a box a week. I will not buy cheese that is made with anything other than fresh milk. If I cannot tell then I do not buy it. Our Prime Minister said that Canada could help to "Make America Great Again" although personally I have always seen the United States as a great nation and we are a middle sized nation next to them. The individual companies in the United States that went off shore for production are responsible for any loss in jobs in the United States. The economies of all three countries (the United States, Mexico and Canada) have grown over these past decades and the powerhouse of North America is huge and benefits hundreds of thousands in all three countries. We have been at peace on this continent for a very long time and trade flows readily between the three countries. When large corporations chose to take their production off shore they are hurting their country and the people in it. The prices may be cheaper and generally they only destroy local smaller businesses (and are not the good quality that I remember from my youth so do not buy them unless I can not find something made here) and no one truly benefits in North America from companies going off shore only the companies' owners and their shareholders. 

Today I would like to nip into the Blake book and contemplate the starting of the Generational Tree using Legacy as my feeder text. I do have a lot of this information in individual trees. There is a little work hanging - looking at new matches and seeing if I need to add anything to the Great Grandparent Excel file before I set AI loose on it so to speak. I will use a copy of the original file just to protect that file since I will be extracting information from it in a particular fashion but want to preserve the original setup. 

I like the idea of expanding our air force and especially having both the F-35s and the Gripen as our aircraft. The Gripen are perfect in the Arctic where they were created in Sweden for that terrain and temperature variance.  The F-35s will be the larger force as they will be covering the land area from the border with the United States up to the Arctic. Looking once again at the map from the other day:

 

 This is a good map of the Arctic area that is on the Geology.com website ( https://geology.com/world/arctic-ocean-map.shtml ). Although one can only see down to the 60th parallel north the size of Canada in the Islands of the Arctic is smaller than the Northwest Territories. A second map below shows the usual image of Canada and I think perhaps Nunavut is larger than any other province/territory (interesting to see that and if Quebec ever does separate it will become even larger as the First Nations in the top half and more of Quebec wish to be part of Nunavut and not a separate Quebec!).

 

 This map is also from the Geology.com website (https://geology.com/world/canada-satellite-image.shtml). One can readily see why we would need many more F-35s as the land mass of Canada (second largest country in the world) is huge. Each plane offers its unique abilities particularly well to the Canadian archipelago. In total agreement with the Prime Minister on this purchase.

Conrad Black's editorial yesterday was very interesting. His overall view of Canada is well written. 

The map doesn't nearly show all the water in Manitoba as the lakes are not quite correct but the Nelson River is immense and the Red River coming north into Manitoba from Dakota is left off. The South Saskatchewan River is missing as well (only the North Saskatchewan River is shown). Canada has huge fresh water resources. None of the large rivers in Ontario or Quebec are on the map. Should find a better one and will have a look later today. I didn't actually find anything better as others tended to enlarge the northern part of Canada beyond its actual size. Many of them did have the water right though as this was is really bad. 

Solitaire puzzles are next and then back to work for a bit before Church.  

 

 

 

 

 

88,000 new jobs

 That has a good ring to it 88,000 new jobs even though I know it is May and that summer brings in new jobs every year it still has a good sound to the ears. Youth unemployment down nearly 1% so the jobs are not all summer but good to see that down as well. The Conservatives should really spend their time with the youth and get them organized to rethink the job market. Having a degree does not guarantee a job but having a trade does. Personally I equate trades and professions equally because I come from a trades family and I do know what it takes to do the work. There are fantastic tools to work with in the trades and you have to be able to manage on a computer because customers would appreciate seeing visuals on any work done. The presentation by tradesmen and professionals is pretty much the same these days or could be if one is using their training appropriately in order to best sell their suggestions to customers. Computers are very much in vogue in the trades. Trades have all sorts of advantages. The winter can be slower giving you more time with your family especially if your wife is a professional because winter dominates a professional's activities. Lots of other advantages; you may well make more money as a tradesmen these days which is good to see. The work though is like a professional as the hours can be long in seasonal times. Calls in the middle of the night because something has failed are pretty common if your base of customers is industrial/commercial. Going on and on about a possible recession is such a waste of time. The warning that moving to diversified trade would take time seems to have fallen on deaf ears in the Conservative Party. Question Period should not be a constant whine about the slowness of the effort. Get with it Conservatives and let us see that our tax money spent maintaining members of parliament is well spent. I have voted Conservative for most of my life as a voter but I want to see the Conservative Party have a policy other than attacking the government in power. You did not win the election; it was not even close so find a way to convince people that you have our best interests at heart and are not just clinging to a past that is gone. Trade can still exist between Mexico, the United States and Canada but we need to protect ourselves from tariff and tariff has existed between the United States and Canada for a very long time with some products. Obviously we need to diversify softwood lumber, aluminium, steel and even how we make cars in this country. We need our own car manufacturer  or one of the car companies in the United States or anywhere else could incorporate here so that they are building cars for Canadians using Canadian materials (we have lots of it). Wake up Conservatives as that is part of your value in working hard with the people to make a stronger Canada. We can critique the government ourself we do not need you to do that constantly. We are not stupid we can see what is happening. We do not need a constant repetition of it in Question Period. 

 My daughter had some dental surgery so is recovering at home but back to thinking about her research already. AI is the big interest at the moment and for her as well. 

Beautiful rain last night and supposed to continue all weekend which is good news for crops. The heat is great for growing but rain is needed pretty much every couple of days to get the ground watered. The tomato plants are growing slow but sure. No idea if they will produce anything as the walnut tree sucks all the goodness out of the ground far away from where it stands. At the moment it is impossible really to use the old garden in the middle of the yard as it is full of roots. Must get it grassed in one of these days. But at the moment the raspberries are struggling to still produce raspberries and not just weakened stems and berries because of the walnut tree. It is really a weed that tree and is constantly trying to grow new walnut trees in our yard. 

Must get the information from my Bishops Nympton file  into the newsletter and publish it today. The days move by so quickly. but soon back to normal here. 

Talking to my other daughter and she has been busy in the ER these days and her clinics. Medicine is an extremely busy profession these days with not many breaks in the weeks. 

I did make it into the doctor to review my two sets of blood work which were absolutely the same and identical with my blood work of the last ten years since I have kept all of my results other than my lymphocytes which are at 0.8 but both times I was under a good deal of stress which makes my diverticulosis act up and so the lymphocytes at 0.8 tell one that the lymphocytes are working properly and taking care of the diverticulosis. I will have my blood work done again early in the new year. Doing a whole lot of testing for leukopenia seems like a step that I do not yet need to take since all the other blood work is normal. If there is one place I do not want to spend a lot of time it is hospitals. Loved working there for twelve years; wonderful and interesting work but definitely not where I want to spend the days that are left to me in this world. I will leave that to the people with many years ahead of them.  Since I am not prone to sickness it does seem like a stretch to do a lot of testing which is expensive in the medical system and I am nearly 81. We will see what the blood work is like in the new year. I tend to wear a face mask when I am in places with a lot of people and may wear one to the stores when I go which is pretty seldom. One of my least favourite tasks is shopping but I do go to the stores rather than order in so that I can insure that I am buying Canadian in as much as I am able. That is what we are forced to do because of tariff; we must protect our Canadian jobs. It was pleasanter just to buy what you liked but times have changed; we didn't change them but we have to protect our economy from tariff. I miss my favourite cookies which were American made. Very sad about that. 

Baked custard this morning before the heat of the day as that is one of my daughter's favourites and she is on a liquid diet at the moment but with blenders it is so easy to made wonderful drinks and blend everything to make it liquid. My custard has always been a favourite of hers just a simple custard poached in water in the oven for about an hour and always like velvet and so tasty. 

We need the hate attacks on our Jewish Canadian population to stop now and forever. People who can not leave them alone should go; find some other country to live in. It is intolerable that the Jewish people here are being attacked.  

Solitaire puzzles to do.  

 

 

 

Busy week

 Yesterday was another busy personal day as will today be and not much work accomplished. Not surprising but I do sense that more work time is coming which will be nice for sure. Harder to find that time in the summer months but the lovely walks on the beach are very much worth losing the work time. 

Warm again today but mostly cloudy and must go out and water the tomatoes soon before it gets too hot. Grass all cut last weekend and probably does not  need cutting for another week as we like it to grow long for the bunny to graze on. Why not as he seems to enjoy it. 

God's world still hasn't moved to that plain of peace as we wait patiently for an end to war and lots of discussion in the United Nations. It is really the only way; it worked well during the Cold War for nearly 45 years. But Russia seems unable to accept their boundaries created by their bankruptcy trying to take over Afghanistan in the 1990s and continue in their aggressive taunts threatening everyone with nuclear war. Is it because no one there has an ability to think through what comes out of their mouth? No ideas on that but it needs to end for the good of humanity. We are tired of listening to their threats but we are not an aggressive people and prefer the route of peace. Russia claims all sorts of ridiculous assumptions about NATO and they tried to convince the United States to destroy NATO I think but everything appears to be on that same page once again supporting the efforts of NATO to keep the Russians corralled in their 1990s borders.  Why do the Russian people listen to the ridiculous statements made by their government? One wonders that. 

Pincombe Newsletter mostly written and just have to pull the Bishops Nympton data which I am currently publishing in the newsletter. My Pincombe line was at Bishops Nympton from the late 1500s and continued well into the 1900s. Before that they were at East Buckland and  Filleigh and before that at North Molton and East Buckland. My line, Richard Pincombe, was the fourth son of William Pincombe and Emotte Snow whose family included seven sons and two daughters. My own line used the spelling of Pincomb in England from the 1500s to the mid 1800s and initially here but gradually the surname came to be spelled Pincombe. 

Tariff has raised its ugly head once again as discussions on CUSMA come together. We must continue making ourselves tariff proof as we move ahead in Canada with nearly 90,000 jobs created in May this year. The only way does appear to be totally independent but that is a shame as our trade with so many American States was equally balanced and we are good friends. Personally I do not want cheap cheese made with freeze dried milk mind you the cheeses made in Wisconsin and their milk are absolutely lovely. Wanting to take over our market just doesn't work well but wanting to trade items that we do not have is a great idea and has worked well since we first got into trade deals in the mid 1960s. Primarily with the American car companies at first and gradually increasing in the items that we trade back and forth. We tend to be resource rich and the amount of oil which is purchased by the United States at a discount (we sell the rest to the world at full price) has put the trade slightly out of balance but we could just decrease what we send to them at a discount and sell around the world at full price if that helps the discussions of equal trade. No ideas on that really as I am not involved in that at all nor do I wish to be at nearly 81 years of age. 

The discussion yesterday by the Prime Minister on our AI future was fantastic. Good ideas and the implementation sounds very straightforward. Starting with medicine a good idea as the AI can collect all the information on a patient quickly and have it available especially in the Emergency Room where the lines can be very long. AI can be a powerful tool with the right hands being the recipients of all that information. So much of our medical information is online making that a reasonable proposition as we all have our Health Card numbers attached to all of our information. I do like socialized medicine. In the past it was sort of socialized as the local doctor always had the ear of the local council and funding when needed. It is really just a step up from that original careful dolling out of medical care as needed in a parish. I think it is one of the really great values and there are many more that have come to us because of our religion. The Parish system was the system setup by the Christian Church and if one goes back in time it existed for the Celtic Church allowing quickly when Jesus came amongst us for the Celtic Church to move to the Christian Celtic Church. English records are such that one can follow the story of any recorded village/town/city in England through their records painstakingly recorded through the centuries. 

But for me our Christian Religion is based on the laws which God gave to us initially with the Ten Commandments to Moses and later with the two commandments that Jesus brought to us simplifying how we should live. It is concise and we could all be living that life of "loving our neighbour as ourself" where loving is respecting and then wars would end and the uplifted plain of peace would be ours to have. We still have to be ready as we do not know what is out there in the universe - God said "Be vigilant: as we read Old Testament and New Testament passages. 

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8, NKJV)
 

Time to do the Solitaire puzzles.