Another newsletter is due tomorrow

Four newsletters behind; will I ever catch up? Yes I will but I still need another couple of months. I will do it the way that other newsletters do it. I will combine the issue numbers. They will all be short likely.

We are approaching the last day of July

At the end of February I would not have guessed that we would be in such a state worldwide with COVID-19. It was creeping around and I was getting nervous but the size of the spread is beyond my imagination. I just thought people would be more careful; the memory of the Spanish Flu though has probably disappeared from the historical memories of people except perhaps in my age bracket. We didn't experience it but we heard about it. It still brought tears to the eyes of older relatives recalling the deaths of so many just 30 years earlier.

Worldwide there are 17,039,160 confirmed cases (an increase of 291,892 over yesterday and it is taking just three days to pass another million), 667,084 deaths (increase of 6,491 over yesterday) and 9,964,678  recovered (increase of 204,663 over yesterday). In Canada we have an increase of 1,478 over yesterday to 116,470 confirmed cases; 8.917 deaths (increase of 5 over yesterday) and 100,465 recovered (increase of 331 over yesterday). There is an uptick here in Canada. When we were in the Mall walking yesterday people were lifting their masks to talk on their telephone as they walked along. They should huddle in a less used spot with their face to the wall. It is a sign of disrespect to not wear a mask in public and it is illegal in indoor spaces. We can not relax at this moment in time. The nice summer weather will be replaced by cold winter and more people inside. We must do the best that we can do to keep the numbers down. Now is the time for vigilance when COVID-19 numbers are down; reduce them as far as possible.

Today is a sleep apnea day!

Sometimes I go along for days without any problems with my sleep apnea. The cause of it remains somewhat of a mystery. But today was the day after a night of sleep apnea. I just can not really function with less than five hours of sleep at nearly 75 years of age. But then I do not really have to function beyond helping my husband get going first thing in the morning so I promptly fell asleep watching the news which is amazing in itself given that so much of the news is not very heartening at the moment. So an hour and a half rest period and I am back to functioning again! I would really like to look at my sleep apnea from a medical viewpoint since it does have complications for some of your internal organs but probably not going to happen for a bit. I suspect there is a waiting list.

Today I h ave a few things to accomplish which include picking peas and beans but my daughter has been helping me with that. Then we will take our one kilometre walk to help strengthen my husband and I think I will make him custard for lunch just to keep that protein high.

John Lewis

Although not American, I did watch the service for John Lewis yesterday held in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building in Washington. We have been in that very room in the past when we visited the United States and it is a beautiful room so full of the history of the United States.

I remember the first time I ever saw anything about Civil Rights in the United States. We were watching TV and one of the items on the news broadcast was dogs being set on people protesting. I was incredibly disturbed by the sight of people being attacked by other people with dogs. It was just so wrong. The people were just sitting there. It is forever ingrained in my mind that image that I saw as a young child.

We are all one people and now during the midst of a pandemic even more so. We must all be together in this world; work as one unit to protect the environment; support Mother Earth rather than just use Mother Earth for our own gain and eventually in unison in one voice declare ourselves to be Earth's people not anything else. I am 100% British descent but I am also 100% Earth descent and that has to be more important. The very survival of our species depends on it I do believe.

Maybe Rain today

Hoping for rain but watering the really parched area this morning. Cucumbers are coming on and lots of peppers and tomatoes (tiny tom tomatoes). Some snow peas and beans are also coming on but the rows are very short so we will not get very much. The carrots are growing tops quickly now and the beets are coming along. We have another set of peppers but they are a bit crowded so might not produce very much.

The sunflowers are starting to open and I love sunflowers. We have several areas where they are growing so hope to see a few birds before they migrate south in the fall. Last year the cardinals had a wonderful time swooping down to grab sunflower seeds and then away again. I could see them out of my work room window.

The last week in July and this month managed to pass very quickly. It is 2 and a half months since my husband left the hospital. He is getting stronger but it is harder when you are 77 I expect. We are trying to do a 20 minutes walk every day now plus the walking and exercises that he does in the house. It is pretty warm outside for a lengthy walk of any kind.

Getting all the salt out of his diet has been a challenge but it is amazing what you can come up with in terms of adjusting recipes and creating most meals from scratch. A little more time consuming but the net effect has been good.

I have almost forgotten about my knee now as life has been pretty busy. I can still feel the slight swelling when I do some yoga poses so work to do there yet and I will get back to that in the Fall. But I am back to running three kilometres per day plus another hour of aerobic exercise so a good recovery just need that little extra stretching in the knee to bring it back totally to normal. It was a long process so best advice is not to fall for sure but if you do then immediately go into repair mode and do not wait for the condition to worsen. Trust I remember that the next time!

Other than that life is just moving along. No ideas on the next steps our government should step with COVID-19. It really is a wait and see game. If people are always careful; follow the rules; wear a mask when around people outside of your bubble, and practise frequent hand washing then I think the odds of a smaller second wave are quite likely. The first wave will probably not end in terms of being zero but we are in a waiting period now for sure.

Only four days though and another million cases worldwide. I wonder if in the long run this will affect how we actually think and do things for a long future time? I would really like it if one of the good things that come out of COVID-19 is relying on local manufacturing and thus improve those industries. We do not have to take the lowest bid on government purchases; it could be the lowest Canadian bid that provides jobs for Canadians and certainly being a Canadian company should be an asset. It could be that trade rules will have to refine themselves to protect home industry although CAMUS should protect the manufacturing hub of North America if everyone plays by the rules. A unified approach helps all of us as some parts of countries are much more efficient at producing some products. Certainly with our long winters our need for fresh produce for eight months of the year is huge. There are similar needs in the other two countries in CAMUS.

Heat Wave again or continuous

We have another heat wave for a couple of days. The sunshine is glorious. What a beautiful Sunday and I shall do my Church Service with the online morning prayer at the usual time or close to it. I do love the heat but perhaps I would not love it quite so much without airconditioning. We actually had air conditioning in the house I grew up in but I always found it so cold. I still find it cold but during a heat wave it is pleasant to come inside to the cooling after a few hours working in the garden. My father ran his own air conditioning company. He was a master electrician by trade but he had also attended Westervelt College where he obtained his bookkeeper accreditation. When I was about 12 to 16 I used to work in my summers in the morning for him entering items into his accounts and typing his letters and other correspondence. It was interesting work and I also answered the telephone and redirected his calls.

In the afternoons I used to help my mother with my two youngest siblings. I was pretty much a loner as a child and am very like that as an adult. I was only twelve when I went to High School although turned 13 by the end of the month but I was younger than my classmates and actually I was only 4 feet 9 inches tall when I went to High School and the principal stopped me at the front door coming in to ensure that I was supposed to be there and not at the public school from which I had just graduated the past June! He apologized for doubting it but I can understand why he would wonder about my being there. I actually grew nearly nine inches over the next year. My classmates were mostly people destined to leave school after Grade 10 as I had chosen to take the bookkeeping option instead of Latin. I wanted to learn to type well but I was the best student in that class by far and answered most of the questions. I never really got to know them at all. I was with the same group in Grade 10 (9E and 10E) and then in Grade 11 when my selections more closely matched with the "academic stream" I was in 11A with my bookkeeping/typing course an add-on that fitted into the study period fortunately for me as otherwise I think my timetable would never have worked. As it was I was not always with my class. Then in Grade 12A I took my business course before school with a group that also could not timetable the course that year so completed the entire four year course which stood me in great stead through the years. Then in Grade 13A I was with the group headed towards university and my form was mostly people taking Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry, Physics and Chemistry although I was the only female in my Physics class and one of the few females taking Algebra.

A trip down memory lane; High School I was too young really and the same at University; I was still too young and then we got married when I was 20 and my husband was just starting into his PhD in Chemistry. We will be married 54 years in just another month or so.

What does today's Bible Reading mean?

Matthew 20:17-34

I will not quote the entire passage but one section just seemed to really be apt to our times.

But Jesus called the disciples together and said:

You know that foreign rulers like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full power over everyone they rule. But don’t act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. And if you want to be first, you must be the slave of the rest. The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people.

Does this passage have meaning for us today? Sometimes the Bible talks in terms used along ago and alludes to situations that no longer exist in our world. But other times the Bible points the way to a better life for all peoples.

Jesus was telling his disciples that their place in the world was to serve and bring all people to a better life. Not to put them in danger or to be an absolute ruler with no interest in their welfare but simply being in command and using any means to stay there.

At these moments in our life one does truly wonder "What Would Jesus Do" in this situation in which we find ourselves. We no longer appear to be centered on a common goal; bringing all peoples to a better life.

As a Conservative (and a fiscal conservative at that), the huge expenditure of money over the past six months has appeared to be without a lot of thought. On the other hand, slowly but surely money has been put into the hands of the people and a good part of that money is keeping the economy afloat as people buy the necessities of life. I feel further and further away from my party as they consistently go after the government of the day (which is not them) to undermine their efforts. I would have liked to see a unified government in actual fact but I am not sure that this conservative party is up to the task. This latest difficulty involving the WE Charity is another sign of how ridiculous my party has become. No matter what the PM and the FM had done in terms of recusing themselves or not recusing themselves they would have been attacked. The idea of the project is wonderful and it is lost because of the other political parties. All projects are to the benefit of people. WE Charity was a means of getting this project out and quickly and now at the end of July all of that is lost and it is the fault of the opposition not the government. Really the Conservative Party must get its act together; start thinking like a national party and help the people of Canada. The CPC stance keeps forcing me to vote Liberal.

Shopping

Today was a shopping day, off to Metro first thing in the morning for milk, yoghurt, butter (unsalted), bananas, bread and eggs. We were suddenly out of everything or soon to be out. The store was quiet and the task quickly done. Then home to breakfast.

Ed and I walked around the yard a couple of times looking at the growing vegetables. We are eating tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and snow peas now. Raspberries are still being picked but the mosquitoes are dreadful. Will be glad when they are finished!

Ed is feeling stronger these days in some ways. Tonight we started his story. I gave him the first file of my story (now over 1700 pages) and he will prepare his the way he wants I am sure. I have a huge family and he just has his mother and brother really since his father died when he was just two years of age. But mostly my story was about me and all the pictures that I have from the time that I was born until we married in 1966. We married just before my 21st birthday so almost 21 years of family pictures that included me.

The weather is warm again and I enjoy that. The winters are long and cold so the warmth of summer mustn't be wasted or regretted!

Cultivating finished and moving on

It actually didn't rain until late yesterday so I was able to cultivate the front garden and dig out the weeds that grow up between the paving stones. Finally accomplished!

Today will be a quieter day although not sure if I can find a block of time to do anything substantial. I still have a little bit of cleaning to do. Looks like rain again today and that would be a good thing. We could use a couple of days of drenching rain as the grass is quite dry. I have two more bags of garden earth that I want to spread on part of the back lawn and plant grass seed. Didn't get that last little bit done earlier.

My daughter is busy teaching so my days are a little more open as I like to spend time with her when she is here. But she has less time to help me so I do more chores than I was doing for a couple of weeks.

Looking forward to the Sunday Service coming into my mailbox and I think I have managed to rearrange everything so that I can have my Church Service Sunday morning complete with singing. I do miss the Anglican Church Service. I have gone all of my life to Church except for the last couple of years. It is nice to be going once again even if remotely.

The newest research project that I am involved with has begun. As a patient partner I am looking at the project through different eyes but still with the experience I have had working in a hospital and in research. I am trying to construct my bio so that it is meaningful to the rest of the members of the committee. It will take me another day to get it right I think and meaningful for the project. I now work on three projects although the one is quarterly and simply involves about one week of work where I use my copyediting and proofreading skills (and perhaps a little of my background both as a patient and as a retired hospital worker).

Other than that the day has begun, my sleep apnea plagues me on occasion and this is one of those days. Am I tired? I tend to refuse to be tired; it is my nature; I will not give up easily. But my mind is slowed down just a little and I am taking longer to think things through. I woke up twice with a lowered oxygen level but I do recover quickly. I keep up my good exercise and by the end of the day (and two cups of green tea!) I will feel pretty much the same as I always do.

Dusting today

Today I will dust. It is a month since I methodically went around and removed the dust from the tops of bookcases, tables etc. The summer does see a low point in my dusting activities. In the winter I can manage to keep up with it on a more regular basis. Today it looks like rain so a good day to stay inside and do that. I do have one more area to cultivate outside but it will wait until tomorrow.

A couple of new matches on 23 and Me caught my eye and I did write to one individual who was born in 1928. I am fairly sure that we share my 3x great grandparents William Welch and Sarah Cheatle in common making us fourth cousins. We are sharing only one length on the X chromosome. Sarah Cheatle is an interesting woman. I have not found out very much about her before her marriage to William but she appears to be the Sarah Cheatle baptized at Ashby de la Zouch in 1795 and this coincides with her declaration on the census for several years running that she was born at Ashby de la Zouch. My suspicions on her probable parents has been blogged before. But I share X chromosome from Sarah Cheatle with several descendants of my 2x great grandmother Ann Welch's twin sister Sarah who married Edwin Withers. I suspect this is her line. Sarah died of cancer of the breast at 77 years of age in 1872. It is intriguing to find causes of death that far back in a family. She lived to a very good age given the life span in 1872 was in the 60s.

Still not enough time to work on my newsletters and hope to get back to that soon. Partly my mind is clouded with managing throughout COVID-19 and my husband's illness. On the other hand, I like the newsletter to be interesting and there haven't been a lot of news stories at the moment on any of my topics.

Cleaning, gardening and cooking

Our dryer ceased to function about a week ago now. Amazing really because the washing machine was making strange noises that disappeared and then reappeared. The dryer simply stopped working. Given that it is summer that is not such a bad thing because we can just hang clothes outside to dry. I generally do hang clothes out all summer long. The units are ten years old now though and have had a pretty busy run so ready to move on with that.

Off to the Dentist today

I am off to the Dentist today for my twice yearly teeth cleaning. It is actually the correct date which is surprising given what we have just and are still passing through. COVID-19 has changed our lives so much and yet this stays much the same for me anyway; perhaps not for everyone.

I listened to the senior Research Scholar at John Hopkins today on CNN and like so many both inside the United States and outside here in Canada mourn for the United States as so many wage a horrific battle to save lives; to control an untamed pandemic. It is just so unlike the United States; normally the CDC is so much in control of all aspects of such a happening with the blessings of the President and the rest of the nation. As we watch sadly from our perch to the north of the United States; I can only feel great sorrow for her people.

I find that I feel as hesitant as I felt at the middle of February in terms of being around people. That will not change for me for a while. I lived through the polio epidemic in London, Ontario as a child and saw some of the terrible results of that epidemic. This is so so much worse. But there I learned to fear swimming pools; being around people; traveling on the bus and so many other things. This will be hardest on the children as they have to live their whole lives with the memory of this pandemic. It is and will alter their entire lives as the learning cycle is interrupted. They will catch up; they will excel but the cost to their psychological makeup will be great. On the one hand the family bonding that this has created for so many families is a good thing. But they need the best ideas that we can come up with to help them to live  and learn in a world so affected by COVID-19.

Sunday service

Sunday again; the Lord's Day. My Bible Reading today quite grabbed at my heart strings. I think the biggest fear I have is of God's retribution and the greatest love I have is for Almighty God. It is a different kind of love though; not an earthly love.

The Bible Reading for today (Psalm 139: 1-19):

The Lord Is Always Near

You have looked deep
into my heart, Lord,
   and you know all about me.
You know when I am resting
   or when I am working,
and from heaven
   you discover my thoughts.

You notice everything I do
   and everywhere I go.
Before I even speak a word,
   you know what I will say,
and with your powerful arm
you protect me
   from every side.
I can’t understand all of this!
Such wonderful knowledge
   is far above me.

Where could I go to escape
from your Spirit
   or from your sight?
If I were to climb up
to the highest heavens,
   you would be there.
If I were to dig down
to the world of the dead
   you would also be there.

Suppose I had wings
like the dawning day
   and flew across the ocean.
Even then your powerful arm
   would guide and protect me.
Or suppose I said, “I’ll hide
in the dark until night comes
   to cover me over.”
But you see in the dark
because daylight and dark
   are all the same to you.

You are the one
who put me together
   inside my mother’s body,
and I praise you
   because of
the wonderful way
   you created me.
Everything you do is marvelous!
   Of this I have no doubt.

Nothing about me
   is hidden from you!
I was secretly woven together
   deep in the earth below,
but with your own eyes you saw
   my body being formed.
Even before I was born,
you had written in your book
   everything I would do.

Your thoughts are far beyond
   my understanding,
much more than I
   could ever imagine.
I try to count your thoughts,
but they outnumber the grains
   of sand on the beach.
And when I awake,
   I will find you nearby.

How I wish that you would kill
all cruel and heartless people
   and protect me from them!

A psalm, by David for the music leader.

Today I shall once again attend Church remotely. It is nice to be back at Church on Sunday even if remotely. It is what is truly in your heart that matters.

Wonderful rain first thing this morning. The garden, freshly cultivated, sucked up all that rain so quickly. The thirst of the earth is great.

Raspberry picking

Up early picking raspberries for my husband. He does love them so. We have had raspberries in every garden we have ever planted through the years. This garden behind us he has tended for 42 years. As the sod was rolled down on our back yard, we pretty much rolled it up for a rather large garden (about three times the size of the present one). Along with a garden plot, we grew most of our vegetables as we froze many many bags of peas and beans and canned tomatoes, beets and pickles. It was fun and always a family effort with even the youngest picking, fetching and carrying from a young age - willingly. The girls had so much fun in the garden and spending time with their Dad.

One more bed at the back to cultivate and then the front to weed and cultivate. Must get it done today as tomorrow is another scorcher and if it rains the freshly cultivated earth swallows up so much more of the rain than uncultivated land.

Cultivating

Another day cultivating the flower and vegetable beds. Just one more day should complete the task. It is hard manual labour for sure and kept our ancestors slim even in their old age. Both of my grandparents were avid gardeners and they were slim and trim to their dying days. However, gardening is not one of my favourite tasks but it is a healthy way to spend a few hours.

My husband continues to be stable which is good news. He keeps mostly close to home although occasionally we are out and about.

Dryer failed though so we are going to buy a new washer and dryer as the old ones have done yeoman service these many years and time for a change.

Beautiful day today.

Sleep Apnea

I have Sleep Apnea. Mostly I am able to work around it but every couple of weeks I get a few nights with just 4 to 5 hours sleep and I am literally wiped out! Although for me an hour sleep in the day in front of the television and I am again as fit as a fiddle. I recently bought an oximeter for my husband and decided to measure my oxygen level when I am waking up with sleep apnea and amazingly I was able to deduce that sleeping on my right side induces sleep apnea for me. I always thought it might be interesting to do the sleep lab at the hospital. When I showed the chart from a research study that I did four years ago our doctor basically said "are you tired" and moved on from that. When one appears to be very healthy then there appears to be less emphasis on taking care of little things like that! With so much death and illness around us at the moment with COVID-19; sleep apnea is perhaps less of a reason to do a study. Although I would still do a study (at 74 one does need to take care of the little things) as it can be quite annoying to have a bout of it! Plus my daughter is here so could do one.

My husband is feeling stronger which is good to see. His medical specialists have been very helpful. The physiotherapy has been excellent. It is hard work for him but he is managing to build up some of that lost muscle mass. We just concentrate on doing the exercises and adding walking to that. Really there isn't anywhere to go at the moment anyway. Staying at home has been quite easy for all of us. Would like to get more work done on my genealogy but the winter is just six months away and then I will get more done.

I always find the Daily Bible Reading such a wonderful beginning to my day. Today the reading was from Isaiah 44:21-45:8:

The Lord Won’t Forget His People

People of Israel,
you are my servant,
   so remember all of this.
Israel, I created you,
and you are my servant.
   I won’t forget you.
Turn back to me!
   I have rescued you
and swept away your sins
   as though they were clouds.

Sing Praises to the Lord

Tell the heavens and the earth
   to start singing!
Tell the mountains
and every tree in the forest
   to join in the song!
The Lord has rescued his people;
   now they will worship him.

The Lord Created Everything

Israel, I am your Lord.
I am your source of life,
   and I have rescued you.
I created everything
from the sky above
   to the earth below.

I make liars of false prophets
   and fools of fortunetellers.
I take human wisdom
   and turn it into nonsense.
I will make the message
   of my prophets come true.
They are saying, “Jerusalem
   will be filled with people,
and the Lord will rebuild
   the towns of Judah.”

I am the one who commands
the sea and its streams
   to run dry.
I am also the one who says,
“Cyrus will lead my people
   and obey my orders.
Jerusalem and the temple
   will be rebuilt.”

Cyrus Obeys the Lord’s Commands

The Lord said to Cyrus, his chosen one:

I have taken hold
   of your right hand
to help you capture nations
   and remove kings from power.
City gates will open for you;
   not one will stay closed.
As I lead you,
   I will level mountains
and break the iron bars
   on bronze gates of cities.

I will give you treasures
hidden in dark
   and secret places.
Then you will know that I,
the Lord God of Israel,
   have called you by name.
Cyrus, you don’t even know me!
But I have called you by name
   and highly honored you
because of Israel,
   my chosen servant.

Only I am the Lord!
   There are no other gods.
I have made you strong,
   though you don’t know me.
Now everyone from east to west
will learn that I am the Lord.
   No other gods are real.
I create light and darkness,
happiness and sorrow.
   I, the Lord, do all of this.

Tell the heavens
to send down justice
   like showers of rain.
Prepare the earth
   for my saving power
to sprout and produce justice
   that I, the Lord, create.

Masks

Interesting experience yesterday at the Medical Centre. On our way out (my husband has to use the elevator with his cart), we got on the elevator and another man got on and made his way to the far side away from us. The elevator tried to leave twice and someone kept pushing the button. Finally the individual got on with her mask half off still talking on the phone. So I told her to put her mask on, it was a public building and we were all crammed into an elevator. She made a rude remark and then put it on; perhaps it was my foot stuck in the door that prompted the putting on! We were not going anywhere.

Can not think what is the matter with people wearing masks. That was the first instance of someone being flagrantly malicious given that the elevator was small and there were already three people on it. Probably should be posted to two people only. Although the man who came on after us was very careful to go to the opposite side and face away from us.

Gardening and Lawn Cutting

Yesterday I decided was a gardening day. The main vegetable garden is all cultivated. Then I decided the lawn needed cutting and that was accomplished as well. The rest of the day I pretty much rested on those laurels! My husband was outside for the first time in four days and he trimmed the edges in two sessions resting well in between. So all in all a day of great accomplishment.

I also found a new Rawlings match on 23 and Me. I am beginning to have a number of Rawlings matches (on different sibling lines of my great grandmother Elizabeth (Rawlings) Taylor) letting me fill in my paternal grandmother's phasing more accurately. Perhaps I will be able to figure out if my thoughts on her father are correct or not. Her mother and step-father raised her and she thought of her step-father as her father. I never knew her but my father often commented that his grandfather Taylor was a very nice person. He was fond of his cousins and sad to leave them behind in England although one of his half first cousins did move to Alberta and he did mention her. I actually corresponded with her and she returned to live in England a few years ago.

The day passed rapidly and it wasn't until today I realized I had missed a day of recording in this time of COVID-19 lockdown. We are about to enter into Phase 3 this Friday. These changes do not affect us very much as my husband still has to avoid people for the most part.

COVID-19

Canada at four months under a COVID-19 lockdown with restrictions starting to ease just a little but mask wearing mandatory in various cities. Confirmed cases 107,346 (increase of 220 over yesterday), 8,773 deaths (increase of 14 over yesterday) and 71,266 recovered (increase of 365 over yesterday). Globally, 12,507,849 cases, 560,460 deaths and 6,890,914 recovered. The acceleration continues rapidly worldwide. Our American neighbours have 3,290,994 confirmed cases (increase of 52,775 over yesterday), 136,621 deaths (increase of 668 over yesterday) and 970,345 recovered (increase of 6,933 over yesterday). I checked not too long ago to see how my second cousins were in the United States. They are my only American relatives; descendants of my Great Aunt Sarah (my maternal grandmother's sister) and descendants of my Great Aunt May (also my maternal grandmother's sister). I do not know very many of them as we moved away from my parents in 1976 and I have completely lost touch with most of them. I am hoping more of them will test their DNA and we can make contact that way.

Today I shall celebrate online with Christ Church Anglican (my home Church). Last Sunday slipped away on me but this week I have hopefully been able to set aside enough time to take part in the entire service.

Raining again.

Shopping

I managed to go five days without shopping at the grocery stores. I would like to extend that to one week and will see if that is possible. I do pick up a load every couple of weeks of pre-selected online groceries which has worked quite well. The process for picking up the groceries is very efficient with everyone masked.

But I do need to get into the stores occasionally to pick up items that I prefer to select myself and today I was there just five minutes after opening with few shoppers and it was a quick trip through the store with my list.

Raining here today so do not need to water. It is rain that is much appreciated as it has been hot and mostly dry here for a week.

Day is flying by quickly and always so much to do.

One third of the way through July nearly

We are coming close now to four months (March 13) since we went into lockdown here in Canada. We are slowly emerging from that lockdown but I think it will be another two months before life has taken on a semblance of normalcy with that normalcy being everyone wearing face masks. Now mandatory in many of our big cities in any public areas that are indoor and if you can not distance two metres in outdoor areas. There is a big industry in facemasks and nice to see that something good comes out of our lockdown. Our industries are now producing PPE needed in vast quantities by our hospitals but also by any client based service. Local industries are producing masks in enormous quantities for those of us needing them.

We are still into our usual heat wave in July and this is pretty much the second week of continuous heat over 30 degrees celsius. I am still not complaining as the winters here are long and cold so a few weeks of heat is comforting. I have watered so much that the lawns are green for the most part but do need cutting once again so shall set myself to that task. Another couple of weeks and the pollens will be less and my daughter will cut the lawns again.

Must pick the raspberries today again with my daughter's help.

Suckering Tomato Plants

I think this is the first year that I have ever suckered tomato plants. These tomato plants were nearly five feet tall when I finally decided that I needed to cut the growing tip out of them to let the tomatoes that are on them develop and ripen. A very unusual task for me as I generally just let things grow!

Low accomplishment on the genealogy front; a few interesting matches on 23 and Me, Ancestry, FT DNA and My Heritage. I haven't really looked at the matches on Living DNA. I did Living DNA primarily to get a snapshot of where my DNA was said to be most common (and I also tested one of my brothers who is the least like me in terms of shared cM). I really haven't looked at the matches although I know there are some. I uploaded two other siblings to Living DNA as well. I did get a distinct difference in locations which fitted well with my phasing of my grandparents' DNA. On my paternal side I am looking principally at Hampshire (north west), Wiltshire (east half), and Dorset (south east) and I know that I am the strongest match to my paternal grandmother and my tested brother is a stronger match to our paternal grandfather. The percentages show this to be accurate. Then on the maternal side, my maternal grandfather has a split (his father's line was from Devon (Bishops Nympton) and Somerset (Selworthy and area) and his mother's line was from Holme in the Wolds, East Riding of Yorkshire and the area around this village and to the north). Then my maternal grandmother's line was at Birmingham with migration from Staffordshire, Leicestershire and possibly Shropshire in the early 1800s and also from Bermondsey, Surrey and area with that line moving to Birmingham in the latter part of the 1830s. This line can also be seen as my brother is a stronger match to the Pincombe line from Devon and I am the stronger match to the Gray line from the East Riding of Yorkshire. I am a stronger match to Birmingham and my brother shows a larger London match. Interesting to think about that in these few moments but back to other demands!

My sunflower that I moved is doing extremely well and I rather think the stem is thickening and I will see a goodsized flower on that plant. Mother Nature is an interesting part of our lives whether for the worst (and COVID-19 is the worst that I have seen from Mother Nature in my lifetime) or the better (all the bounty that surrounds us in this world.

Rain, finally rain

It finally rained last night although today will be another scorcher. Brilliant sun and hardly a cloud in the sky. Once the raspberries are dry I will go and pick them. Yesterday there were about two quarts and there will be more today. Almost all eaten though; they are quite delicious.

The sunflower that I moved is doing very well amazingly. I rather thought it would just wither away but the stem is strengthening and the new leaves are growing quickly. I will keep it staked though as it has a slight bend in it. Remembered to feed the birds this morning; not always the first thing in my mind each day but I am trying to put it there. It is interesting to see them swoop in for food.

Still no start on my husband's story but perhaps today. The girls are quite excited that he is going to write that (well I will type it but still he will dictate).

The Black Walnut continues in its pace across the yard. I suspect by the end of the summer it will be three quarters away across (the upper leaves). Unlike the Black Walnuts in the yard at our cottage, this Black Walnut has spread out like a maple tree. It is actually a beautiful specimen; I wouldn't want it though as it is killing their maple tree. Since it isn't really a garden tree but rather a predator; I wouldn't let it continue to grow. Not being a huge fan of gardening it probably doesn't personally bother me that much. Although I think it has affected the raspberries this year. The bushes are about half of the size that they usually are in terms of actual height. They are still quite full though and lots of raspberries. I picked them yesterday with gloves on though as my one hand swelled. I do have these allergies to some things especially strawberries so do tend to avoid touching a lot of plants with my bare hands.

Another busy day

Out today to the drugstore for my second Shingrix shot, a spare pair of compression stockings for Edward, another prescription for Edward and a few groceries. Managed it all in one hour and fifteen minutes. Everyone was wearing masks in the stores. Really nice to see. I think we will really corral COVID-19 if everybody wears a mask.

Would love to get some genealogy done but there just aren't enough hours in the day. Raspberries to pick and there is likely a quart or two of them and they are quite nice this year. We watered quite a bit to help them along. Radishes, green onions, lettuce and peppers available now in the backyard. The peas and beans are growing quickly and I need to thin out the carrots.

My orphaned sunflower is surviving; hated to pull it out of the ground where it was growing but it has transferred it would appear to its new spot where there is plenty of room for it to flourish.

Too busy

It is amazing to be so busy during a pandemic. I was up at 6:30 watering the gardens and lawns. I moved a sunflower that had managed to grow in the middle of a hosta plant and really did not expect it to survive although I had carefully dug around the foot high plant and carefully removed it since it was possible to do so. I planted it at the end of the garden where there was an empty spot. By the end of the day it looked a sad and sorry sight although I had filled the hole with water and watered it several times. Then it literally bent over and I thought it was finished. But I propped it up on a stake and tied it in two spots to the stake and watered it for a few more days. Then yesterday I saw a new small leaf growing at the top and the other leaves had started to lift themselves up in the air. Today it looks wonderful. I do think it might survive. I love sunflowers, the birds fly into the flower heads after they have gone to seed and eat the sunflower seeds. It is a marvelous sight to see them fly in, grab a seed and fly out again. We have planted several dozen around the yard this year and maybe we will have a very interesting fall before migration of the song birds back to the south again. It is these little items that are keeping me so very busy along with helping my husband. He is stronger the last couple of days. We went out to pick up a couple of things at Home Depot and Canadian Tire that he wanted to see before purchasing. A quick trip (about an hour and a half) but he is pretty tired now and will probably sleep some this afternoon.

I need to pick raspberries; picked about a pint yesterday. I also want to do some weeding and cultivating but will wait for everything to dry up a little. No rain in the forecast so I will repeat my watering routine again this evening and tomorrow morning. The lawn looks quite green and fresh. Mother Nature oozes from every crevice in the bounty around us although I am pulling out the common weeds but there are still plenty of them that grow that I do not get too!

My husband's story

I think my husband might start his story today. Both of our daughters have mentioned to him how exciting that would be to have him write his story. He can sit and talk while I type (I am still a fast typist; I learned to type when I was 12 and it was a skill I took to very rapidly and well). Perhaps I am not quite as accurate as I once was though as I do find errors in my blog that I correct on the next reading.

My husband was born near the Village of Princeton, Ontario, Canada on a farm that was actually in Burford Township but right across the then Number 2 Highway from the Village of Princeton. His father died from a farming accident when my husband was two years old and his wife and older son and Edward moved into the village of Princeton where he lived until he came to University in London, Ontario when he was nineteen years of age. He studied Honours Chemistry and then did his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry (papers still cite his original research), he then went on to do a Postgraduate Fellowship (2 years) in Chemical Engineering and following that he did his Masters in Library Science. I entered in during the undergraduate Chemistry degree (I was one year behind him).

He has told me so many stories of his youth at different times and I can recall them but it would be good to have him say it all again in his own words. It is so very difficult to be inactive when you have been so very active all of your life. Memories flood back into my mind of my grandfather whose very active life terminated quite quickly after a stroke and the same with my father. My grandfather was almost 80 years of age when he passed and my father was nearly 95 years of age. In that same male line my great grandfather was 71 years of age when he suffered a stroke and died in 1916. But remembering the last years of the lives of my grandfather and father I can understand how frustrating limited activity can be to very active people.

Edward will be 78 on his next birthday.

Theory of Relativity

Happy Independence Day to the United States.

My Heritage has done some very interesting links using the Theory of Relativity and all of the ones that really work well are in my Knight-Butt lines. By far the largest group of my matches belong to this family. In this family I have Collapsing Pedigree as all the Knights go back to one family in Spetisbury. Henry Knight married Mary Oliver 25 Dec 1727 in Spetisbury Dorset. Of their 15 children only four survived to adulthood. I am suspicious that one of the members of this couple was Rh negative and the other Rh positive and as the generations followed this pattern would repeat itself in several of the descendants. My father was Rh negative but I am Rh positive. As the fourth of seven children (all of whom survived to adulthood) this was perhaps quite amazing (my mother was Rh positive). However, there were thousands and thousands of descendants of this couple as time passed (they were my 6x great grandparents). But it is interesting that I can see a couple of generations in my lines where the Rh+ and Rh- conflict likely emerged.

Henry Knight was likely born at Mapperton Dorset and christened there 2 Feb 1701 son of Thomas and Julian Knight. He was buried at Spetisbury 25 Sep 1778. His wife Mary Oliver was likely baptized 12 Oct 1709 at Tarrant Rushton Dorset daughter of Thomas and Sarah Oliver. I did not find concrete information on this line back the one generation but there was a Thomas Knight (husband of Edith) buried 23 Apr 1723 at Mapperton Dorset.

I subscribe to My Heritage (did  my health results there as well as my DNA), I subscribe to Ancestry and tested my DNA there, I subscribe to Find My Past and all three sites are quite interesting in terms of records. That is how I spend my pocket money so to speak; I do not buy anything else on my small pension so can afford to do that. Not having much time at the moment to use the research tools but when I do it is nice to have them accessible!

July 1 - July 4

Canada and the United States share two important days in this set of four days: July 1st is Canada Day and July 4 is Independence Day USA. Quite a few times we have celebrated Canada Day on July 1st and then gone down to the area where my husband's Link ancestors lived and been present for the Independence Day USA celebrations. We even took part in one event where I carried the Loyalist Flag on a parade route from the starting point to a monument depicting one of the battles in the American Revolution. I carried it because as a woman I was less likely to be seen as a provocative person but interesting in retrospect as I was the only person in the group with zero ancestry in the American colonies or the USA for that matter. I do not know what made me think of that today but it did come to mind. One wonders in present day Upper New York State how my carrying such a flag would be viewed. History is history; we cannot change it and if we do we risk repeating it in the future. We are meant to learn from history.

When we first arrived at Parliament Square in London, UK I was somewhat surprised to see a statue of Oliver Cromwell. Perhaps one of the most ultimately hated figures in British History, his statue sits high in front of the entrance into Westminster Palace (House of Commons). It is so long ago now that many people may have forgotten what he did in his time as Lord Protector of the Realm. But his statue is a reminder that dictators can arise at any time and they may appear benevolent at the beginning but end up being selfish and interested only in themselves as time passes.

We must continue to prove that democracy works; the free will of people is the most important part of living in a democratic state so long as that free will is tempered by respect for other people and property. The right to protest must always be tempered by respect for other people and property. There are people amongst us who take advantage of such protests to destroy thus satisfying their basest instincts or to make the cause for which people are protesting seem violent. Such protests must police themselves and expose the anarchists in their midst for their just punishment under the law.

Canada Day was a beautiful day and I do hope that Independence Day USA is also a beautiful day. My wish for America on its Independence Day is physical distancing and prevent the further spread of COVID-19 and wear a mask. Canada and the USA are like fraternal twins; many of our citizens share ancestry in the other country and they are proud of their ancestry; one prays that America will continue making people proud to say that they are Americans or that they have American ancestry.

God bless all the peoples of the world.

Shopping Day

Out at 6:50 am shopping today. Not many people about and most are wearing masks at that early hour of 7:00 opening. We tend to buy groceries at three different places as each of them has the specific items that we want to buy. I do not have to go to the other grocery stores for a few days; perhaps as late as next week. We are still keeping pretty much to ourselves.

The garden takes up a lot of my time now as Ed is unable to do any of the work outside these days. The chair lift has been a great addition making life much more normal for him going from the main floor to his office upstairs whenever he wants. We moved the TV from the basement to the main floor into the living room we haven't used much in the last 30 years. The most use it ever had was for the Bible Study for Ed's United Church that we hosted at our house. I was working by then (at home, copyediting and proofreading) so it was a pretty basic Bible Study (no coffee or treats!). I was also pregnant with our second child but we had some interesting discussions. I remember trying not to comment as I didn't always agree with people but reminded myself that I am an Anglican and this was a United Church Bible Study. Ed certainly enjoyed being part of the group. I enjoy a Bible Study though; sharing God's word with people is a favourite of mine but I do that online these days. I receive the Reading of the day in my email box first thing and have been reading that for about 25 years now. I am still a member of the Anglican facebook group but it is quiet these days. The Anglican Listserv used to be so very active but as time has marched onward I do not have as much time to be part of a group.

On to more work; a very busy day ahead and this during COVID-19.

Blake families of the world

I receive many emails from Blake descendants around the world. The surname frequency in 2011 when I set up the Blake one-name study:

Entering the name Blake into a world names public profiler yields a frequency for this surname as seen below:

Country Frequency per million
Australia 546.24
Ireland 519.41
United Kingdom 475.47
New Zealand 391.15
United States 274.12
Canada 257.19
Spain 4.82
Belgium 4.59
Switzerland 3.83
Denmark 3.74

Not surprisingly the most frequent location on earth for the Blake surname is Australia and Ireland followed closely by the United Kingdom and then New Zealand and Canada (the ratio of frequency between Canada and the United States is quite interesting in that the United States population is 9x that of Canada). A high percentage of the Blake surname in Canada can be attributed to the Irish Blake families although there are also a sizeable number of descendants of British Blake families (my own included although I do know all of those descendants in my generation and we (my siblings and I are the only ones carrying the Blake surname in our generation).

I received an email mentioning an interesting site and will mention it in the Blake Newsletter due today but not likely to be produced before the end of July. I am hoping to catch up this month on my three now late newsletters.