Snow today

 Snowing and as always it is a beautiful sight watching all that snow come down. We are meant to get up to 40 centimetres which will be a great bonus to the plants as it protects them from the cold. The other bonus is minus 9 degrees celsius; when it snows it is generally warmer!

Yesterday I did not do very much on my research. I had a phone call from another researcher and decided to answer it. He has a similar surname to mine except the addition of one letter on the end. His is a distinct group though so I suspect is an ancient family name that got chosen for some particular reason. Blake has many founding lines in England. But I directed him to the Calendar of Patent Rolls (as memory serves I think I may have done that a few years ago as well) to check out an entry that he wondered about in Sussex. The Le Blak/Le Blac family that came from Rouen, Normandy to England in the 1200s did appear to be a number of distinct individuals who settled in southern England. They were involved in the wool market in Rouen and came to England to continue that association. I am not descended from that line on the male side at least. There is a possibility that Richard Blake's wife Jone Blake was a descendant of that line although she may also have been his second or third cousin descending from Robert Blake who left his will in 1521 at Knights Enham near Andover, Hampshire, England. I sent him some material and a website that I found where he might be able to search some of the records. 

Today begins the cleaning cycle once again - top floor. I think that repetitive activity is good for the brain actually. It has drawbacks because you get used to always doing something one way and then the adjustment can be very difficult. I was used to just doing everything that Edward wanted and so I had to work my way through all of that after he died. For one's own survival one must move forward and forge a new life for oneself after the loss of a spouse. My mother always told me that I needed to be more independent and certainly when my father went into hospital when she was 75 she quickly adapted her life to that change much quicker than I did for sure but perhaps that was because she was not widowed; my father lived for seven years after he was hospitalized. I think though my mother was a more independent person than I am. 

I shall work in my break time from cleaning on H11 compilation for the next newsletter and perhaps finally get to the Siderfin book. We will see how the day passes. I do not have to worry about the snow; Worry Free will clear my laneway and walks/porch. The car is in the garage so an easy job for them to just clear the snow back from the garage door to the street. 

I must try to write to my Knight cousin as well. She lives in BC and I appear to be the only cousin she has found thus far on 23 and Me. 

Fun watching as the dawn arrives on these winter mornings.