Another cleaning week accomplished

 Cleaning in just two days is working very well. It means that there are these lovely five days to just enjoy and that generally means working on my computer and following through with my four exercise periods. Lately I have had problems with the Achilles tendon of my right foot. It all started with my foot getting too cold in the winter at the cottage and then when we got back home I didn't let it warm up enough with exercise before I ran. I had to do a lot of walking to get the foot back into shape but overdoing it with all the cleaning and downsizing brought on Achilles tendinitis which on occasion I have enjoyed in the past! However, more work on it and I am running once again although just a short amount (about ten minutes and very carefully). But we added in a four mile walk that involves a lot of sideways motion and that exercise is bringing my foot back into line with the other. I think that is perhaps aging self-explained; our muscles/tendons tolerate less change than we might like but we have to just go along with the adjustments and bring ourselves back to a level of fitness that suits us. The joys of old age perhaps and I would have gone to a physiotherapist but I have been too busy to get that set up. I do like physiotherapy though as an exercise plan designed by a professional is so much better than what I design although my calisthenics program I did design and it got the seal of approval by the physiotherapist before COVID. 

More work on the Kipp Newsletter today. I would like to complete it sooner rather than later so that I can spend more time collecting the data on the subsidies for Somerset in the 1500s for the next Blake newsletter due in October. Still waiting on the illegal war against Ukraine which Russia started to end so that I can publish my H11 Newsletter once again. This illegal war has become vicious Nazi-style tactics against a smaller neighbour where Putin and his enablers bomb shopping centres full of people to inflict the greatest amount of damage to civilians and try to instill fear into the people. The fear level isn't working but the hate level is increasing where it didn't exist before. I had great respect for Russia back in the 1950s when they put Yuri Gagarin into space. Then when Nikita Khrushchev  and John Kennedy found a compromise on the nuclear crisis over Cuba one could admire the Russia that had emerged from serfdom in 1917 and was becoming a well educated and industrial complex. But then Putin came on the scene and now the Nazi Putin and his enablers have spoiled all of that with their attacks on neighbouring countries which they try to claim as their own - first Georgia and now Ukraine. It is simply land greed and Russia is already the largest country in the world. The world order was meant to move forward not backwards in time where imperialism ruled the day - imperialism doesn't work in our modern age. It causes wars which take us backwards and destroys infrastructure. We need to work towards a better future; protect the earth and work on climate change. 

Put up fences to try to keep the rabbits out of some of the crops and will see how that works. The sunflowers are growing rapidly now behind their fences; they just need to get big enough that the rabbits can not chew them down!

Surely not again what is there to protest?

Why does the Freedom Convoy think that they can spoil the Canada Day events? Surely they had their time in the sun here protesting. I do hope they simply turn them away where the main highway enters into Ottawa. You still have your greatest freedom inside your own four walls when you are alone and if that is what you want then stay home. After that your freedom is limited by the rights of those around you.   Freedom 100% is inside your own four walls people; stay home and let the Canada Day celebrations happen and be enjoyed by people who want to celebrate and not complain needlessly about vaccines. Vaccines came over two hundred years ago and have saved millions of lives. Of course there is always a list of things that people complain about but who wants to hear that on Canada Day. No one is listening but the deluded people who follow the Freedom Convoy; they are just in it for the free money that is thrown their way by anarchists likely in other countries who just love to create violence. 

Worked on the Kipp Newsletter yesterday along with cleaning. It is amazing in a way life now with robots to do the cleaning although I still vacuum one floor while the robot does the other. Today is the basement and then finished once again for the week. Sometimes 1400 square feet seems like a huge place (mostly actually as I like the one room concept) when you have to clean it all. Gradually we have downsized and one would hardly recognize this house without all of those books (now enjoyed by others) in their massive towering bookcases (and the bookcases went as well to help with storing them). Still have bookcases but they are three shelves and not that many books now. I love books too but too many can be overwhelming. Edward would be pleased that his books have gone to help so many people with their genealogy and to give lots of good reading to others. 

I would like to get back to working on my DNA charting as I realize that genealogy is now something I do not really do. I did put the family tree together backwards in time but have left any of the tracing down to my sister who enjoys genealogy. I like working with the DNA; it is quite fascinating. 

Prayers for Ukraine as always. Can Russia be hurt financially? Are we not simply increasing the nationalization of Russia so that no foreign companies operate there? The Russian people will have to choose between the Nazi Putin and his enablers and freedom. For under Nazism there is no freedom. China has shown us that there can be some freedom under communism although the communal life is not for most of the world but Nazism is pure evil because it inflicts such horror on their neighbours in their greed for land and wealth.

Cleaning day once again

Cleaning day once again and the sun is shining. Warm here today although another cold front is coming in apparently. Rained overnight so perhaps I will not need to water and later today we will plant the rest of the bedding plants - mainly sunflowers. It is late for sure but the summer is still new and we might see sunflowers from them in the early fall. Time will tell. Raspberries seem a bit late this year and will have a look later; last year there were some at the end of June but it seemed early; one gets used to patterns but they do fluctuate. 

I hope to get to the Kipp Newsletter today; we have spent quite a bit of time downsizing the last couple of days so now comes the rearrangement of that now empty space and in some cases dismantling (the holder that Edward created for the canoe can now come down). It was a sad happy feeling watching the canoe drive away but knowing a young family will enjoy that canoe is wonderful. Once the Kipp Newsletter is together then I can move on the Pincombe Newsletter and start doing some research that I need to do for the next Blake Newsletter. I am slowly working my way back into a groove that I was in before Edward's illness. He was busy in his life and I am a home person by nature. He was out and about three days a week and until his illness I avoided being part of all of that. But his illness sapped his strength slowly and I like to think that my starting to go everywhere with him helped to slow that erosion down giving him more years to enjoy. 

But the real me is slowly emerging once again - that quiet person who likes to just work away on projects and life moved on to give me new projects with the DNA of the five of us to work away at resulting in the production of the Blake, Pincombe and H11 Newsletters. I can sense myself again as I knew myself in my late teens before we married. Even before the knife attack which did change me quite a bit; made me a different person than the sixteen year old looking forward to going to University and then Medical School and working in Africa. However, I will not do that now (nor do I actually feel sad about that) but the enthusiasm level is there to take on projects and I like that. 

Well on to breakfast, then cleaning and finally planting the rest of the bedding plants. The day is awake and God has given us another beautiful day to us to enjoy. We must use each day wisely and try to bring the earth back to a place where all survive - the plant, the animal, humankind and most importantly the earth itself. 

Prayers for Ukraine. Prayers for peace in our world so that once again the world can flourish but we need to do it differently; we need to help the world repair itself.

A very busy Sunday

 I was out the door at 8 00 am lining up to get a tetanus shot because I got tangled in some metal wire that had some rust. It is eight years since I had a tetanus shot so that seemed to be a first priority today. I did arrive home in time to go to Church on You-Tube which was nice. As always I am much appreciate of having Church of You-Tube as it is unlikely that I will manage a trip downtown in the next while. Eventually I would like to go perhaps once a month and time will tell on that. 

We had three boxes of hazardous waste that we drove to the special waste disposal event set up by the city and that took part of our afternoon.

As well a new home has been found for the canvas sided cedar strip canoe (18 foot, cargo) that we have had for 54 years and I am so happy about that. Today it was picked up by two very kind people to be delivered to the new owner. It is in good shape and will give a lot of years of service to the new owners. They are a young family like we were so many years ago now. 

The rest of the day has been spent shopping and cooking. It was a very fast moving day.

Planting continues

Yesterday we planted about half of the sunflower peat pots and more spinach as the rabbits ate my spinach. I suspected they were doing that but finally I can see that they mostly have done that. Should have fenced it but didn't - time wonderful time and I didn't get that done but I expect the rabbits enjoyed the spinach. Last night we put up the fence first and then planted the spinach and sunflower plants as they like both equally I think!

In a way this is a new life time for me and I am gradually adjusting to that huge change. It isn't easy to adjust from a marriage of 54.5 years to single life once again although I tend to think of it as widowhood it is none the less a single person moving forward in time without one's spouse. I think in my lifetime I have not made a lot of decisions on my own and that is another hurdle that one has to overcome as I tend to be a slow decision maker - it can take me a very long time to make a decision and usually I just abstain from decision making unless I absolutely need to make a decision. I would probably have a very similar diet for instance without others suggesting that maybe cooked oatmeal every day for breakfast with all the nice fruit is perhaps mundane. But I do not find it mundane and so I will likely continue with that as long as I can cook it or get someone else to cook it for me! But eating peanut butter every day for lunch is perhaps somewhat mundane and I have managed through the years to convert myself to salmon salad, tuna salad, cheese and tomato, hot beans on toast with cheese, egg salad on some of the days but peanut butter remains an overall favourite. Then dinner which is always small as I am not a big eater of meat. I just eat whatever is there mostly if I am living with people which I am although sometimes I will cook up long grained brown rice, and then add scallops and peas which is another favourite of mine or I can put in ground meat like pork or chicken or beef and then wilt spinach into that and perhaps some tomato. I do like potatoes and can make a meal just with a potato again with wilted spinach or asparagus or broccoli. My dinner tastes are somewhat grotesque to many so when I was married I cooked all sorts of meat dinners to satisfy  everyone especially Edward who liked his meat, potatoes, vegetable and salad every day. 

I think that the mourning time after a spouse dies is quite a long period although sometimes shared with a friend one has had through the years or with family of your own. Coming from a large family, I still feel close to all of my living siblings although do not actually talk to them often but that is possibly my fault as I am not a correspondent for the most part. My mind tends to keep pretty busy with my DNA projects and all the work that is involved in keeping this place running. The one room concept does occupy my mind quite often but the house is Edward and none of us are ready to give up that memory and probably not for quite a while in actual fact. 

The weekend though I tend not to do too much labour saving my energy for the cleaning to begin on Monday once again. 

Last night I woke up to see once again the moon and planets in alignment - a thrilling sight to the eye. The sky has been sufficiently clear to have a view of at least partial alignment for a few nights. Edward would have loved that view and I thought of him looking down on us and that view from the spirit world. It is amazing to think that we have at least a million ancestors out there watching us and wondering how well we will do in this next century. 

On earth that is a wonder at the moment especially with Russia having illegally invaded Ukraine and wreaking death and destruction on the people of Ukraine including murdering over 700 children and wounding thousands more. The children! how can they do that to the children! that makes them monsters. Why can't they be part of the 21st century and just stay within their borders after all they have the largest landmass in the world with plenty of riches why are they so greedy that they have to steal part of Ukraine? They pretend to be Christian but they are Nazis; I pray that Russians can rid themselves of these dictatorial monsters namely Putin and his enablers.

Friday will always be an early rising day

Friday is the day that I always get up early to get out the green bin as that is the day that the garbage is picked up in our area. I do not like to leave the green bin out overnight full because of the raccoons. They seemed to like the smell of our garbage and can not think why as we compost everything in wax cartons from the milk (freeze it so it goes out solid) and I do not particularly smell anything. But it was a problem and now for the past four years that I have put out the garbage every Thursday night I hold back the green bin until morning and then I put it out. Mind you it sits all morning and part of the afternoon but raccoons are nocturnal. 

Today I want to work on the Kipp Newsletter once again. I will try to stay ahead of my schedule so that I can have some research time to look at the subsidies for Somerset in the next couple of months so that I am ready for the next Blake Newsletter in a timely fashion. It would be interesting to solve the question of Humphrey Blake's parents (Humphrey died in 1558). I have a couple of reasons - one it would help to reach back further in that family line in a logical research directed way. Second this Humphrey is connected in error to my Nicholas Blake of Andover as a brother to him which is incorrect as Nicholas names his siblings in his will. Thirdly, I am hoping that finding his line will encourage more people to test with known ancestry in the Somerset Blake line and perhaps even the Wiltshire (Calne) Blake line. If these two lines are connected that would be an interesting bonus of all of this research on Blake. 

 I have another good match with the Pincombe family at 23 and Me but it is hidden. However I can tell by the matches in common which Pincombe line he is in so probably nothing new to learn there. I have pretty much got a good set of Pincombe data now going back to my grandfather who died in 1925 when my mother was only eight years old. Pictures that I have obtained of my grandfather's family do show that my mother resembled her aunt quite closely actually (my grandfather's sister died of influenza when she was just thirteen years of age). Although my sisters and I do look somewhat like our mother, two of us have a strong look of my paternal grandmother as well with the third looking more like our maternal grandmother's line. I myself inherited very strongly from my paternal grandmother and a couple of pictures that came my way of the mother of my paternal grandmother tell me whom I look like the most - one giveaway is the curly hair and the face structure. It was somewhat awesome getting that picture. 

Other than that I want to get back to my cluster work on the My Heritage results. I completed my sister's matches and will now move to my older brother's matches.  There are more matches at Ancestry. I do not do much with them other than locate them to family lines if that is possible and these days it is amazing how many I can narrow down to the four basic lines at least and then I have used the other colours and often I can isolate most of them to a great grandparent line. 

Breakfast awaits - my favourite meal actually not being a large meat eater. I do eat meat I am just not heavily enamoured towards meat preferring my cooked oatmeal with cranberries and raisins to which I add after cooked wheat germ, wheat bran, and blueberries. It is a yummy way to start the day for sure.

Successful trip to the City Dump

Another successful trip to the City Dump and gradually the downsizing continues. It is a bit of a wrench as I do this because it constantly feels strange to be downsizing our possessions. Edward was in the process of doing so before COVID but all of that was pretty much on hold from the time that we were locked down except for material he had already prepared. 

Another gloomy day outside and  rain is promised a little later this morning (described as heavy thunder storms) so must get out there in a bit to do some weeding. The rain though is always needed to saturate the ground a little before the dry period comes in July as it generally does. It will be a warm couple of days now which is welcomed as we have had a cold June this year. It does look like rain all day though once it starts. 

We made pizza last night for dinner and it was quite tasty. I am enjoying pizza now although I did not fancy it much until the last couple of years. 

Today I shall continue cleaning the basement as the rest of the house is finished but I want to do a bit of reorganizing down there and today will be a perfect day to do that. 

The world is changing rapidly these days as I read through the information on the BRICS summit which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This group was created in 2006 and the first summit was in Russia in 2009. Apparently none of these member states have condemned Russia's invasion. They represent 41.5% of the world's population, 27% of the world land surface and are listed as a voice for developing countries. These five states in 2018 had a combined GDP of 19.6 trillion (US dollars) which is about 25% of the gross world product. This relationship is based on non-interference, equality and mutual benefit. I gather that Russia doesn't believe in non-interference though as they invaded Ukraine (although not a member state of BRICS, they are still a world state).

I think it would be much more interesting and profitable to the world if we continue to rely on the United Nations as the main place for discussion; every voice can be heard there and the present Secretary General has been effective in solving some of the issues in the Ukraine when secure corridors could not be obtained otherwise. It is interesting that the wording used in this particular website was "global hegemony." Looking up this interesting set of words the meaning appears to be the "regional predominance of a single country." It becomes more obvious why Donald Trump was a favourite in some foreign capitals because he was bent on extracting the United States from this position of dominance as he felt it cost the US too much money to continue with this dominance. But he was less interested in a successful United States and more interested in a successful Donald Trump. So his ideas were not entirely useful.

If the United Nations is being properly used then the power lies with the peoples of the world. The dominance of the United States in world affairs is born directly out of two World Wars neither of which they wished to be involved in when they first occurred but ended up being dragged in. The thought being perhaps (looking at it from a Canadian viewpoint) that if a country is dominant then a World War can be avoided - namely World War III. It was a good aim following the Second World War as we certainly did not need another war at the beginning of the 1960s when the world stood still for a moment as John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev stood on opposite sides of a nuclear catastrophe in the making. Stepping back, taking a deep breath on both sides resulted in a peaceful time that followed to a certain extent. War seems to be something that the human race can not stay away from although my own country Canada has never been an aggressive nation trying to solve problems in a negotiated settlement. Would we change? I doubt it. We like to negotiate and the art of negotiation has been finely tuned here over our more than 150 years of existence since we were a colony and the thousands of years before that when the First Nations managed as part of the trade system between the various groups of peoples who lived in the Western Hemisphere. 

As I reach toward my 77th birthday, I do wonder if the human race is capable of getting along; of not making war whenever greed surfaces like the illegal Russian war in the Ukraine as they try to continue their land grab that started with the Crimea (part of Ukraine). When the largest country in the world invades a smaller neighbour to steal their land one wonders at the depth of greed that exists in the world. It is greed that destroys civilizations.

Bible Reading Isaiah 40: 1-17

 The Bible Reading for today from Isaiah 40: 1-17 and I quote just the last part of this reading:

Has anyone told the Lord
what he must do
   or given him advice?
Did the Lord ask anyone
to teach him wisdom
   and justice?
Who gave him knowledge
   and understanding?
To the Lord, all nations
are merely a drop in a bucket
   or dust on balance scales;
all of the islands
   are but a handful of sand.
The cattle on the mountains
   of Lebanon
would not be enough to offer
   as a sacrifice to God,
and the trees would not
   be enough for the fire.
God thinks of the nations
   as far less than nothing.

In these days of nationalistic frenzy that is happening in some countries this Bible Reading today was most interesting. It is true that when we look at history in the long term - nations/empires have risen and fallen all in what in retrospect seems like a short period of time. The more violent the rising the less stable the empire and collapse soon followed as the generations passed. Greed is such a dreadful thing. Greed for land is perhaps the worst and we are seeing that play out in Ukraine today as Russia continues to invade its neighbour; kill civilians (over seven hundred children are dead because of Russia) and steal their property. 

Yesterday good accomplishment on the Kipp Newsletter. I am working on the second son of Hendrick Hendricksen Kip and this is the line that Edward believed he descended from because of the yDNA matches that he has with people who do descend from this son with a good paper trail. Finding Isaac Kipp (his Isaac Kipp) was the challenge he put before himself even before I knew him as he talked about it when we were dating. He had a strong desire to learn more about his father's family. That desire fueled his leisure time and occupied him when he wasn't doing one of his other quests like astronomy, bird watching, wild flower discovery and the list is endless. He had an absolute desire to learn everything about everything in his spare time. As his illness slowly stole his health from him the last ten years of his life (at first silent and unknown until the need for a pacemaker made its presence known) he continued his quest for knowledge not giving up until COVID locked the door and kept him home 24/7. For him that was really hard as he loved to go out the door - shop, study, learn. So this foray into the Kipp Newsletter has been good therapy for me as I learn again to be just me. Newsletters are something I have been doing the last ten plus years - writing my family story, producing newsletters for my Blake and Pincombe family as well as my H11 mtDNA study. Taking on the Kipp Newsletter was easy in that way but harder because it was his study and he knew it very well. I must take his notes and use them but it does lack his insight and deep knowledge of this family. 

As a child growing up my mother used to teach us about the world around us; she had a love of nature and shared it with us. Edward had never traveled very much and I do love to see new things although not really good at repeating trips I did learn to do that with Edward because he liked to go back again and again to see all the things that we saw in our travels. But we shared a common love of the natural world and explored it to the full in Ontario particularly. Our cedar strip canvas covered canoe took us for miles and miles back into the deep woods of northern Ontario. I loved to feel the boat moving beneath us as we followed the treks of many who had used these waterways before. In one Provincial Park, we asked which was the best route to take to reach a particular island and the park ranger pointed out a clear path for us. We asked if there were any concerns as we knew there had been a canoe accident a couple of days earlier. His quote was "Don't stand up in the canoe!" and that pretty much said it all. The waters of Northern Ontario are beautiful and a canoe is still the best way to see everything as you move quietly along the waterway. 

Yesterday lots of rain but today so far it is a fresh 16 degrees celsius morning and I am about to air out all of Edward's clothing. There is so much but will take it all to the Salvation Army once it is ready to go. He wore a lot of the same type of clothing so perhaps not as obvious that he had so many clothes but it will take me many trips to get them downstairs to air outside for a bit. I was going to take them to Shepherds of Good Hope as he donated to them but they are recommending the Salvation Army so will take them there.

Rainy today and the grass is so green

What a wonderful look out of the window. There are beautiful yellow blossoms capturing the eye today on this dark rainy day. The colours move around the garden as one set of perennials after another give forth their beautiful blossoms as the days pass from spring into summer. All of this rain this year has been great as the grass is growing quickly in the bare spots. This year we will water in the dry days of July. The black walnut tree has now crossed over more than half of my window view almost blocking my view of our maple tree at the back of the yard. The maple tree next door on the other side pretty much obliterates the sky on that side. Possibly in just another couple of years the trees will block out most of the sun except for directly down on the yard just around the house. The tree in the front of the yard pretty much covers all of the sky out there. It is a less dense foliage though and the grass generally remains green under it with some watering in the dry spells. The front garden had beautiful white blooms the past couple of weeks but they are dying down now and I will trim them off. The hostas will start to bloom next and the starry solomon seal blooms all summer but is a quieter bloom and less ostentatious except when you are up close to it. The lily of the valley has all passed its bloom height now. I did not plant any annuals except we will do our sunflowers this week. There are fifty plus of them so hopefully a lot of them will survive. The daisies are starting to think about creating buds but it will be a while before they bloom. 

The end of June already. The past six weeks have passed quickly as we continue our downsizing. Another dump day is planned and that should pretty much eliminate most of the things that we will not use in terms of building materials. The flag pole will go this time as it is now in three pieces and transportable. Also the antenna pole is ready to go and it will just fit in the car. My husband did enjoy his ham radio for quite a few years. 

Today I will spend some time on the Kipp Newsletter planning out the various sections. 

H11 Newsletter will wait for Russia to stop their illegal war in Ukraine. As the days pass I find the things being said by them to justify the war in Ukraine are more and more disgusting. Prayers as always for Ukraine. Scum does always rise to the top but once it is skimmed off then Russia will be free. But the skimming must be done by the people of Russia who surely are tired of what is being done in their name - the murder of innocents. 

Thinking about Edward today as I contemplate his Celebration of Life in early August. I would say that he did all that he wanted to do in life and actually far more than he ever thought he would on a personal level. On a scholastic/business level he would have liked to continue with scientific research but the times dictated that he would spend his working life at CISTI which he also loved and for whom other than the occasional thought of what might have been  it was a very satisfying work experience. His seventeen years of retirement he gloried in as we traveled from place to place. He wanted to travel about again and again. But on a personal level his involvement with the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) Ottawa Branch was one of his great treasures. He loved that organization (now Ontario Ancestors) and spent a huge amount of time doing various jobs for the group. It was his inner self doing community service to his country which he loved. As I mull that thought around, I am reminded that we never once in our youthful days in London, Ontario attended the OGS there. His involvement with genealogy was purely personal and the collections he made that he did not keep he gave to his friend Ed Phelps at Western University. It wasn't until we came to where we presently live and started attending the United Church here that he struck up a friendship with one of his cousins from the area where he was born and grew up that an interest in being part of the OGS  Ottawa Branch emerged. His cousin suggested going to the OGS Ottawa Branch meeting way back in 1980 or 1981 (can not remember the exact date) and a love for this organization was born and he seldom missed a meeting. (I do not remember how often his cousin and he went together.) Gordon had an interest in his mother's family which was Kipp and I think she was descendant of the Richard Kipp family (Richard being one of Benjamin Kipp's older brothers (Edward's great grandfather)). The Kipp family is an interesting one. The records for Edward's line as follows: (Isaac Kipp was his 2x great grandfather born 1 Nov 1764 in New York State. He married Hannah Meed/Mead 29 Aug 1790 also in New York State (both records have not yet been verified for location)). These two notations were in the Kipp Family Bible which belonged to the Richard Kipp family. I was avoiding genealogy in those days as much as I could as it did not interest me overly (it took DNA and one of my cousins to bring me to genealogy much later in 2003). I honestly thought I knew everything about my families although I did help find the records for a 50th Wedding Anniversary binder for my parents and did discover that the records for my paternal grandmother appeared to be difficult to locate as we could not find them at that time. I did discover her surprising story much later around 2006 but that is my story and not the Kipp. 

Edward continued with the OGS until his death and indeed he continues to receive many emails on his email account about the OGS meetings and other items. I did not renew the membership that he kept for me but want to donate to the maintenance of the library in his name. Initially I thought I would do that on the date of his death but I think now I will do that donation on the anniversary of our marriage each year which is in the fall at the beginning of September. 

I didn't realize until a couple of years ago that Gordon Riddle had passed away in 2013. He and Edward continued with a few emails back and forth over the years. I remember they shared the respective births of their first grandchild in one set of emails. A wonderful event for both of them I noted reading the email which Edward shared with me. 

Just a little more than a month to the Celebration of Edward's life and I was reading that a lot of people have done the same waiting for a time to celebrate the lives lost during the past couple of years. Somehow he just felt so much closer to us while we have kept his Urn with us these past near 14 months. We have not had to give him up quite so quickly as the past demanded although in many cultures (particularly Chinese) families keep the Urns in a special place in their home for ever. That to me is such a fitting memorial for one's family members. To always be able to visit with them and sit and remember them knowing that they are just there within that beautiful Urn that has been selected to hold them into eternity although their spirit is now free to join with all the spirit world around us.

Busy day traveling

 We went away for a couple of days and it was a pleasant time weather wise and company wise. It was just a nice relaxing couple of days although we helped out with a couple of projects which is always fun. Families working together on a project is always fun for sure. 

The dogs were so very happy to see me; forgot their manners and leapt up but I figured they would so I had braced myself for that. They are big dogs roughly 50 and 60 pounds each but they quickly remembered they were not to jump up on Grandma because she is old although I can handle it I prepared them for the time when I couldn't so they wouldn't be upset at knocking me down!

Not much has changed in our time away. Russia continues their greedy trek into Ukraine killing civilians with no regard for them as people with rights. Although it is sad to see that Germany has had to turn on their coal plants once again it is Russia's fault and they will suffer more than anyone else because like Canada they are a northern country and we are subject to the greatest changes in the environment with the north heating up much faster than the rest of the world. They have the forest fires to show that that is so very true. But their greed continues as they assault and kill civilians in the Ukraine and steal their possessions just like the Nazis in the Second World War as they invaded country after country. When does it stop? soon I hope. It is the height of ignorance to undertake such a land steal as Russia has embarked on in the last three months plus.

Love our world

We must love the world that God has given us to care for and enjoy. We all have to do that or it does not work. 

Church on YouTube once again and it was like God always perfect. Thankyou God for your many gifts to me.

Cool weather back for a couple of days

Cooler today but lots of sun promised. Yesterday saw good accomplishment on organizing the garage. Eventually it will be empty but at the moment it serves as the organization hub to downsize.

Another massive load being formed up for the dump where recycling by the city happens. This will be the second load and likely the last. 

 

Starting to think about the next edition of the Kipp Newsletter so as to have that ready in plenty of time.  I will not do an issue of the H11 newsletter until the illegal war Russia started in Ukraine is over. 

 

A new day is upon us and God is with us.

Blake Newsletter completed

The Blake Newsletter is completed and very early actually. I discussed Humphrey Blake whose will was probated in 1625/6 and his connection back in time to another Humphrey Blake whose will was probated in 1558. The next issue will look at that Humphrey Blake and his possible parents but will involve some time at the Family History Centre to look at the subsidies. So many have talked about the parents of this Humphrey Blake but I am not sure if the subsidies have been searched for possible clues and so I will make that my task for the next issue in October. This will be Issue 3 of Volume 11 of the Blake Newsletter. 

Back when I started the Newsletter I had no idea how long I would be writing it but the years have passed and lots of travel to Europe with time spent at Kew which has helped me to look at the Blake family in perhaps a different way. The desire to have one founding line appears to have been strong at some point in the past but with the release of the Emigrants' Database 1330 - 1550 it was obvious that Blake had been on the continent for a while as different holders of this family surname came to England as emigrants from the Continent between 1330 and 1550. 

The first records for Blake were surprisingly, for me at least, not until the 1200s although that doesn't preclude them being in the British Isles earlier. For some well known Blake lines, their original surname had not been Blake at all but rather Caddell like the Galway Blake line. For other Blake lines like some of the Blake families in Cornwall their ancestor was a Breton who came so very early on to Cornwall and can be seen in the records. For the Calne Blake family their ancestor looks like Richard le Blak who came from Rouen, Normandy in the 1270s to set up a wool market and appears to have stayed first in Berkshire and later found in Wiltshire. For my own Blake line at Andover I have no idea yet why they took on the surname Blake but the records there go back to the early 1300s so I am suspicious that a marriage between my line and a Blake female resulted in the acquisition of the surname but that remains a thought only as no proof has been found to date. For the Blake family in East Anglia I am suspicious that this was again an emigrant from possibly Denmark/The Netherlands who came to work at the King's Court in London and received land in Norfolk for his service. So not a single name holder and that shows in the yDNA Blake Study at FT DNA - many founders.

 

Trade and getting politics out of it

All these sanctions on Russia may be the last of such methods to tame the imperialist tendencies of countries. We need to be able to sit with all countries and talk. When we do not talk, bad feelings are allowed to fester and misunderstandings about the nature of associations are formed. 

NATO in particular is misunderstood in its present context at least how I as a Canadian see NATO. NATO arose because the Soviet Union went on a revenge march through Eastern Europe following the end of the Second World War. Taking over great swaths of land and creating a buffer zone between itself and Europe and to punish for the huge costs that were inflicted on Russia during the Second World War. The Soviet Union suffered greatly during the Nazi invasion of their country and for that matter all of Europe, the British Isles, China and the Far East also felt the heel of the Nazi boot. The Soviet Union caused the nations who originally founded NATO to create such an organization. When the situation for the Soviet Union had been precarious in World War II we, the so-called west, supplied them with food and war materials to fight the Nazis. For this Stalin thanked them in 1943 and later during the 1950s thanks again was expressed. We did not want to see a Russia destroyed by the Nazis and it was not. But now we are seeing the leaders of Russia (namely Putin and his enablers) fighting an illegal war in the Ukraine (claiming to de-nazify the Ukraine where no nazis exist) just for greed and plunder and the only Nazis that we can see are the Russians - they are greedily gobbling up land, plundering, assaulting and killing innocent civilians. 

Any idea of excluding Russia from meetings and discussions is not necessarily a good idea. It is good to talk. I agree that the Russians need to accept blame for what they have done in Ukraine. There should certainly be consequences but the better consequences are to take away their veto in the Security Council but let them keep their permanent seat. They earned it in the Second World War but their imperialistic conquest of the present takes away their right to a veto in the Security Council until they prove themselves to be worthy of it once again. A few other practical consequences would also be interesting - I love seeing the United Nations as a body stand up to Russia and tell them to get out of the Ukraine. Russian (or any countries) imperialism can not be accepted. Another consequence is never to buy anything from them that is manufactured in this stolen land; never to support any industrial venture that they plan to initiate in this stolen land. 

We, Canada, need to start mining for our own precious minerals even if the government does provide the money to at least initiate it. There is so much money being thrown about these days that I would like to see it going to needed measures. Get the Trans Mountain pipeline completed so that we can get our oil to tidewater and sell it (oil is a precious commodity though and I would like to see electric cars become the norm). Get our military the equipment they need for modern times; encourage a gap year for students that could be spent in the military learning how to protect our country. The discipline of military life is good for young people.

As I looked at my family lines going back through the centuries I wondered what I would find. I am sure most people do wonder that. Mostly I found farmers/land workers and some store owners but surprisingly only one of my ancestors thus far ventured away from England  even by the early 1800s and he was in the 23rd Regiment of Foot in Halifax in 1807 and then back to the Peninsular Wars in Europe including fighting at Waterloo. All the rest remained in England until my Routledge family came in 1818 to farm land here instead of in Bewcastle. The farmers predominated in all of my lines. I do not appear to have had any involvement with the West or the East Indies or with Africa except for my great grandfather who was a Medic in the First Boer War and came back injured to England in 1882. None of my direct ancestors went to the United States. Three of my grandparents and my father were born in England; my fourth grandparent's father was born in England and came as a 14 year old with his parents and my grandfather's mother was born in Canada but both of her parents came to Canada from England (his mother a Routledge at 14 years of age in 1818; his father as an adult circa 1832). Now that we have seen all the really dreadful things people can do we would like to see the world progress; become a better place to live for all the peoples of the world and not just the greedy of the world like Putin and his enablers.

Another Downsizing day

Yesterday was another downsizing day as another load filled the back of the caravan and we delivered the items here and there. Every time a load goes out we have a look to see what can be next and I continue to marvel at how much stuff we accumulated over 54.5 years of marriage.  The simpler life is our aim these days so that we can move to a smaller place if we do that. At the moment all of us using the house makes it practical to continue as we are. The yard suits us well and has turned out to be a much easier task with restorative gardening in place - less back breaking for sure. 

Not too much accomplished yesterday on the Blake Newsletter. Mostly just thinking. Finding Humphrey's parents has eluded a number of genealogists for years but I still wonder if anyone has ever gone through the tax subsidies for these areas where the Blake line that is Humphrey's is found in the 1500s. Going back into the 1400s there doesn't appear to be any Blake there but I have not seen enough records yet to really state that as a fact. The name when it appears is Blakedon or Blakemor which sounds more like a place name than a surname. But interesting none the less. 

Still playing my microsoft solitaire everyday and that wakes up my brain each morning. I think it is nice to give a bit of a challenge on first awakening just to keep the cogs turning about in the brain. 

Very overcast today and definitely looks like rain so I will not go out and water today likely. That will be a nice change from racing out the door early to water. Everything is so very green; it is beautiful. Looking out the window now the trees are filling in and soon there will just be a few patches of sky visible. How my view has changed in the last fourty four years looking out this window. We moved here 26 April 1978 and have lived here in this house ever since. Edward went house hunting with the girls years ago when they were about 2 and 10 years of age but they came back disappointed because the newer singles had smaller bedrooms and the girls liked their big rooms here and so we stayed on here; I have never wanted to move; this house has always suited me. 

Continuing prayers for Ukraine and that Russia will remove their illegal weapons of war from Ukraine and go back to Russia and take better care of their country. Forest fires are raging and the money they are wasting on this war could be used to improve their own country instead of destroying the Ukraine and murdering Ukraine civilians (presumably so that when they hold a vote the pro-Russian people will win a referendum). This land grab is such an act of greed and in this modern century it is hard to believe after the last century with two world wars that Russia would embark on such an imperialist conquest. All the world has to work together to make this world a lasting place for humankind. Let the United Nations be the place where arguments are solved between people not the battlefield.

Cleaning completed in two days and some downsizing

A good two days of cleaning and downsizing at the same time. All of the toys have been sorted through and downsized. Two boxes for Salvation Army and one box for a niece's children if they would like them. Today we are off to play again sports with a bicycle, two sets of cross country skiing equipment and a pair of ice skates. Our next downsizing will be washing up all of Edward's clothes (and some dry cleaning likely) and taking them to one of the agencies that could make use of them along with his shoes and boots. I have kept them for quite a while partly because of COVID but mostly we were just not really ready to part with them but they will not be of use to anyone if we wait much longer and he always gave his clothes away that he didn't wear anymore so we will do the same in his memory. 

The basement is looking better and better in terms of getting around. For Edward, he had it arranged just as he liked it with everything at hand. But we do not use tools and things so wanted it to be more open and it is now. Plus if we ever do decide to sell and move then we probably would not have a basement so a practical thing to do as well. The tools that we do not keep will go to the Tool Library. Edward had taken a number of items to the Tool Library already a year or so before COVID. We are going to use up all of that spare laminate and put a wooden floor (over thin cork) on the basement floor that we use for the exercise room. 

Watered the areas where I am trying to grow grass yesterday and will do that again today. It is growing but want to just keep that coming along. The next big adventure for us is the canoe. It is about 70 pounds and 50+ years old. It has never been in an accident and is cedar strip canvas covered and stored carefully all these years. It is a cargo canoe so wider across the beam than usual canoes. It is too heavy for us to use but has traveled miles and miles through Canadian parks when Edward and I were young especially although we still had it out probably a dozen times every summer on the Ottawa River. Our last time out was in the summer of 2018 and I was having to do too much lifting that time so we decided not to do it again. It is pretty heavy to swing it up on a car although Edward did that with ease (and some help). 

Russia continues with its greedy illegal war in the Ukraine. It continues to seem diabolical actually that in this time; in this century greed could so dominate a people that they would murder their cousins, friends, neighbours just to take their land, possessions and the riches that abound in that land. Deep in my heart I want to believe that the bulk of the Russian people find this abhorrent but we do not see it. Russia has the largest landmass of any country in the world and yet they attack their smaller neighbour, assault them, steal from them and force them to flee from their homes where their families have lived for thousands of years. It is ignorant and it is greedy. The news says that Putin grew up poor but that isn't an excuse for what he is doing now; he is just greedy and that isn't influenced by growing up rich or poor or in between. He just never learned to be a humane person loving his neighbour as himself. Putin and his enablers are a horror and so sinful in their greed of their neighbours' possessions. They have broken so many of the Ten Commandments with their greed and their murders.

Interesting news story on crypto currency

 The query in the article was where does all that money go? referring to the 2 trillion that has vanished from what was originally a value of 3 trillion. It is the new way to look at value that has emerged throughout my lifetime. The riskiest part is the "potential" value of anything. It may or may not be there so even if published as 3 trillion it is only in the selling that the 3 trillion can be realized as a tangible item otherwise it is just a potential. When the world switched to potential instead of real (gold is real and you still see gold as a valuable item) but it is easier to trick people into buying potential because of the greed that is inherent in all of us which we must constantly strive against. Gold fluctuates around a particular value line but potential value goes up and down rapidly. When greed is controlled and hopefully disappears from our world then so will "potential" value cease to be used to sucker people into wasting their money on potential. You can bet that the 2 trillion lost at the moment in crypto is by the poorer investors who bought at a high price and now have a reduced value to show for that. The manipulators are sitting there with their money in gold for the moment before they excite that market once again to cheat people out of their money. Like the Ponzi schemes, crypto is just another one of those schemes to find the greedy and take their money by people who are much greedier.

Minimum income is the way to go in our world so that all peoples of the world have something in their pocket - people do not need billions and billions in their pockets. But the epitome of greed at the moment is shown in Russia's illegal military invasion of Ukraine. The greed for the Ukrainian land for the riches of that land is so apparent but as they savage that land how long will it take for that land to recover and at what expense. Eventually the breaking point should be reached when Russia has lost too many soldiers in this battle but it could be a long haul. At the end of it one prays they leave the Ukraine and scurry back to Russia. Will we forgive them? Perhaps when we see the end of Putin and his enablers and Russia joins the world once again as a country where the bulk of the Russian people can prosper and all the riches of Russia do not go into a few pockets. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than a long haul.

Monday and cleaning day plus some items to catch up on

Yesterday was meant to be Church time and rest time and I accomplished both. Church was especially meaningful to me although it usually is but I do love the Trinity Service. 

I did work away a little on the Blake Newsletter continuing to check out sources of the Subsidies for Somerset between 1450 and 1550 to aid me in looking at the parentage of Humphrey Blake who was buried in 1558 in Over Stowey and said to be born in Bishops Lydeard. I need to go to the Family History Library and see what is online for these subsidies to see if they can aid me in my quest. 

Cleaning day once again and I shall begin after breakfast. It is a never ending cycle but is pretty straightforward as the number of items is diminishing slowly around me. My mother did that; she gradually downsized although I know my brother who managed all of that had a garage full of items after she died. One acquires so much during one's lifetime even if you are basically a minimalist simply because people give you things - you do not even have to buy all of it yourself!

Today a couple of letters to write to continue to help with downsizing and work on the Blake Newsletter along with the cleaning. The computer work happens in my rest times. 

The sun is shinning brightly and the garden just keeps coming along nicely with all this rain. I suspect we will lose some of it to the rabbits but in the meantime it does look very nice. The big weeds are more attractive to the rabbits at the moment then the small plants coming up. Once the plants are large there are a lot of them so unless a huge group of rabbits enters there will likely be some for us. Tomato and pepper plants growing nicely and the grass has really filled in with all this rain and cooler weather. 

Prayers for Ukraine as always. Russia is such a greedy nation with their gloating over high energy prices as they kill the Ukrainian civilians and steal their land and possessions (Russia is already the largest land mass in the world). One wonders how people who are supposedly human can be so despicable - one of the attributes of humanity is that we are humane. Putin and his enablers will go down in history for the murderous thieving tyrants that they are.

Trinity Sunday

I love Trinity Sunday but I love all the Sundays but Trinity Sunday especially stands out for me in the Church Year that has passed through Advent, Christmas Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascension, Whitsunday and the final season which begins with Trinity Sunday and is the longest season of the Church year (or ordinary time as I was used to calling these many weeks that lead us back once again to Advent). It is the epitome of our Religious life - the thought of the three in one - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. As a child I wrestled with this idea that something can be three in one but over time nature provided us with so many examples and the priest today reminded me of water in its three forms of solid, liquid and vapour (water is the life-giving part of our world that we can not do without). As a child when I first learned about clones that satisfied my imagination that God the Father had cloned himself and an angel had given to Mary this living being as a fetus. That wasn't quite what the early Christian Fathers had thought but for me it proved the Trinity as I had no difficulty at all with the idea of God the Holy Spirit. From a young age (and especially because of my grandparent's beliefs) I believed all these stories of spirits in our world and they remain with me. The spirit world lies around us and is so much a part of my mind for sure. The spirit of my grandparents remains strong within me because I knew them so well - my grandfather lived with us (he passed away when I was 8 years of age) and I spent many many days with my grandmother before she passed away when I was 21 years of age. From these two people I learned about my other grandmother and my other grandfather. I learned the kind of people that they were - warm and loving with an enormous gift of giving to the spouse that outlived them. 

But the sermon today spoke to me and reminded me once again of the mysteries of the world that are three in one and it was an interesting dissertation. It was well done.

Searching the databases for subsidies

Working with the National Archives website and looking at E179 Database which has a search tool I find that there are  16 sets of data but none of the complete documents are published online thus far that I have looked at. The dates for these subsides for Over Stowey range from 1523 to 1546 which is an interesting time during the elusive Humphrey Blake's lifetime. 

Reading through the Edward III Subsidy I did find two examples:

Hundred             Parish
Kingsbury           Bishops Lydeard
Cannington          Over Stowey
Petherton           Bridgwater
         

North Pethertone/Northpethertone hundred
Margeria de Blakemor iij shillings

Porlok/Carhamton Hundred
Waltero de Blakedon x pence

Looking at the Emigrants Database from 1330 to 1550 to England I did not find any specific Somerset entries but there are a number of entries for Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Devon (all counties surrounding Somerset). These Blake individuals are arriving in the 1400s for the most part so quite interesting to the query. 

I will continue to review the search tool in the E179 Database. I do not see myself at Kew in the next couple of years though so will leave this interesting angle to others interested in Blake.

I did find some of these records  available on film at the Family History Library so will investigate that idea as I could go to the local Family History Library perhaps over the next few weeks.   There is a long list available and I will search out possibilities for Somerset.     

A Calendar of the Close Rolls for Edward I (1288-1296) (published 1904 by the Deputy Keeper of the Records (Public Record Office))are available on line in book format and I did a search on Blake: one item for Ralph le Blake and Robert le Blake 8 May 1293 but concerns Dorset and along with a number of people they were outlawed because of a trespass at Amiens.  A second item for William le Blake acknowledging a debt which he will pay and he lived in Hereford 28 Jun 1289. Certainly these two items are interesting and show the presence of Blake in England in these early years but not helpful in this case. 

Finding Humphrey Blake's parents

Yesterday I glanced through a book on Subsidies but today I want to actually pull up the information that I need to really look at that book. It is a book on early subsidies. In the glance the name "Blake..." stood out several times as Blakedon and other spellings. Interesting all of that but does it help me to learn about Humphrey's parents. I decided yesterday that it was probably worth checking out although it is a bit early as it deals with the early Edwards - kings of England. What I really need is some tax subsidies for the late 1400s into the middle 1500s.  This is the time of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. There was a lot of upheaval in both countries although mostly France but the repercussions in England were likely huge as well. As we reach into the 1500s then we have the end of the reign of Henry VII; the reign of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and then the golden age of Queen Elizabeth I. Humphrey died about the same time as Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne of England. So he was born in the turbulent times before the great gains of the Elizabethan era. With wars ongoing there should be a lot of Subsidies being charged against the English people and that is my aim to see what I can find. 

This is Sunday and I am off to You-Tube Church. I no longer drive into the downtown these days although I could take the train but at 76 I am probably best sitting at home watching Church on You-Tube; I am out of the way then not creating any traffic problems or just being in the way. There is a lot of construction near my Church as I discovered on my last visit. It was wonderful being there. I have missed the Labyrinth and we met in the Church Hall where the Labyrinth is painted on the floor. It was pleasant to be there in that room. I was distracted often enough throughout the meeting as I remembered times spent there. However, the Celebration of Life for Edward is in preparation and I have written my Eulogy. It will be a quiet family celebration of Edward's Life and our parting with his ashes to place them in his niche in the Columbarium. It is respectful to our culture for us to do that but I must admit the Chinese tradition is most appealing. To be able to go and sit with the urn at home is a tempting way of life as one tries to guide oneself through the remainder of one's life. 

It seems an eon ago now that I was a child in the midst of my family - the middle child of seven children. Both of my parents lived long after I married and reached adulthood all at the same time as I was twenty when we married. I listened to their counsel many times throughout my married life and could always see their point of view but they did lack knowledge of the knife attack on me which I did not share with them until much later in life and that sharing was a spontaneous moment when we were gathered together one day and it just popped out of my thoughts and mouth. It surprised me that I mentioned it and I have not mentioned it again. Although its effect on my youthful years was enormous it has gradually receded into my memory banks and does not get dusted off very often and remembered. It changes a person though to undergo such a watershed moment in time and sometimes that change is very hard to understand but in retrospect it is so clear. 

We were a less violent society in those days (although certainly my childhood had a fear of nuclear war) and hence the impact was so much greater; now violence is all around us once again especially with the illegal war which is being waged by Russia against Ukraine where murder of civilians is an everyday event as the Russian military continues to intrude on the Ukrainian space. Saying this is a maternal land of Russia doesn't make it so. History doesn't support it; Ukraina Ice Refuge is an ancient land to many peoples including my own maternal DNA line. The end of the Second World War was a watershed moment when decisions were made; boundaries were drawn and we were meant to move forward supporting those changes which were echoed once again with the Fall of the Soviet Union when borders were once again redrawn and supported. Trying to turn the clock back to the time of Imperialism is a mistake and can only cause great grief to our world and is doing so. I support the peoples within Russia who are fighting this illegal war; they do not want to be part of it but are forced to watch as their beloved country attacks their beloved neighbour. One can only feel enormous pity for them and the time will come one prays when Russia will pull back and let the Ukrainians live. 

Another beautiful Saturday

A beautiful sunny day today and 14 degrees celsius - pretty much usual June weather and great grass growing season. Hopefully more of the grass seed will sprout and fill in the bare spots here and there but I am liking the look of the yard. Edward liked to have the grass all uniform and worked diligently to make it so. I like the patches of clover here and there and the dandelions mostly at the back of the yard so one moves from the lovely manicured lawn just behind the house to the garden (restorative gardening so extra green in there) to the area behind the garden which has become somewhat untamed but gradually the grass seed is taking hold but I haven't pulled the wild flowers so there will be competition there. Then we have the elderberry bushes which are in a recuperative state after the old plants died out from drought last year probably and replaced by so many new plants that were squeezed out in the past by the old plants. Then there is all the clover and at the back that huge maple tree. The raspberry canes continue to thrive and we will have raspberries everywhere at the back eventually but they do make a good hedge supporter as they can grow with the cedars. 

The garden is growing - the green onions have really grown the last week of rain. The romaine, spinach and leaf lettuce are all up and growing steadily. The lack of sun though will restrict everything. The tomato plants are growing quickly and the peppers less quickly but time will tell on the peppers. They really like sun though so will probably have to move them back where we had them a couple of years ago. We haven't put in any bedding annuals yet. We have a tray (72 peat pots) with 52 sunflowers growing steadily and will be transplanted this week coming. Then there are parsley, dill and basil plants to also transfer to the garden. Probably mid week we will do that. Probably will have some green onions by the end of June which will be a nice treat. 

A little work on the Blake newsletter but mostly thinking rather than writing but it is not yet the middle of the month so plenty of time for that. I am not sure if I can actually find the parents of Humphrey Blake but will look at all the material. Already though the Pedigree Chart has been debunked for listing John as the progenitor of the Somerset Blake family and hence one step forward but in genealogy there are many steps to look at. People have been wondering about Humphrey's parents for over one hundred and fifty years but there are more records on line every day and perhaps one of these days something will surface to help in that cause but in the meantime I will continue to read what is there. 

The lawns are all cut once again and look amazing to my perhaps less cultivated eye. I do like the look of a meadow and some parts of the lawn now resemble a meadow rather than a cultivated lawn but in the foreground we do have that lovely cultivated lawn which Edward loved. All of his perennials have had a good spring and are flowering beautifully. The front yard is pretty much as he always wanted it to look although I do want to add another piece of fencing to help protect the hosta that is out front. The hosta is over fourty years old now.  It is a beautiful plant and one wonders if it will just keep on blooming for ever. No ideas on that; my knowledge of hostas is very limited. But it is a beautiful plant. The rhododendrons are quite beautiful this year as well - red plants and white plants. The purple iris that Ed planted the summer before COVID has done amazingly well. The flowers this year were quite huge. The bleeding hearts always do well. The small globe cedar that we planted fourty four years ago is now taller than me and very good looking this year. I did a little trimming and probably it needs more and will work away at that as summer passes. I doubt that I can manage the trimmer that Edward used on it. I will always remember him asking me to put a chair beside the globe that last summer before he passed away so that he could work his way around the globe and trim it. That trimming still looks good with me cutting away any spots that spoil the symmetry. Then there is Starry Solomon's Seal which is a large collection of plants about half a metre to a metre across now in a circle which is absolutely gorgeous in the spring and continues to grow healthily and it too was planted fourty four years ago. The daisy plants that we put in about ten years ago have taken hold now and filled an area that was bleeding heart but looked very large so we made that plant area smaller and added the daisies. They are quite lovely in July. The primrose area is very protected by all these plants and there are five different coloured plants which are also quite wonderful in the spring and then just greenery for awhile before the light diminishes once again and they bloom in late summer into fall. Sometimes we have had blooms into late November. 

The day begins and breakfast is next. There is a little wind in the trees to remind us that God is in our world watching and listening to how we humans are progressing. He doesn't interfere but we are perhaps one of his great creations along with everything else. We just need to follow the new commandment that Jesus gave to us - to love God with all of our heart and soul and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Then our world can continue to prosper and do well with all the goodness that He has given to us.

What is Putin forgetting?

Putin is remembering the deep past very well but we all made a pact at the end of the Second World War to draw boundaries and keep to them unless there was an appeal to the United Nations and any border changes would be decided there. This pact far outweighs anything done hundreds of years ago when imperialism was a way of life and it was the way of life right into the twentieth century until the end of the Second World War. We needed boundaries so that we could say that this country was an aggressor nation and Russia now fits that example - they have militarily intruded into a sovereign nation's space. Albeit the breakdown of the Soviet Union happened in the 1990s but using the same principle as after the Second World War when borders had been over-run countries established themselves and we respected those countries and helped them along just as the countries had been helped after the Second World War. 

The Soviet Union was bankrupt; the Soviet Union did not respect the enslaved peoples within their borders treating them like second class citizens or worse; there were no freedoms but with the breakdown of the Soviet Union countries that had existed could exist again and so they have including Russia. Russia had a beautiful opportunity to become the great nation that Peter the Great envisaged - he envisioned a detente with Europe. Ukraine has a right to exist - they call themselves Ukrainians and there are fourty four million of them; more than enough to prove that they are a sovereign country. 

So get out of Ukraine; stop murdering people; stop pillaging and assaulting people; stop stealing property and stop bombing and destroying property. If people want to belong to Russia then they can; they can always return to Russia if they feel they are Russian but when they do not represent the overall population of a country then they have to go with the majority rule that way there aren't dissidents always trying to break up a country and disturb the peace of the world. 

Peace at any cost is not peace; peace gained by discussion is interesting but the rights of a sovereign nation will always be respected and countries that are sucking up to Russia should think about how Hitler and his Nazis treated everyone that wasn't pure like them (and that meant pure Aryan). Remember the pact between Hitler and Stalin. Nazis respected no treaties or agreements or pacts; they respected no borders and they were constantly thieving from every country that they smashed into. Revenge is mine sayeth the Lord and I await the revenge that Russia will eventually pay for their wrongdoings. Putin is Hitler all over again with his same Nazi type enablers.

What it is to be 76 years of age

 I still marvel somewhat at being 76 nearly 77 now. Having osteo-arthritis (I think in pretty much every bone in my body!) though does make me very aware of my age. At the moment I have tendonitis in one foot and I am thinking of therapy on that foot. Will have to investigate to see what I have to do to acquire that care. I do so like to run and it does impede that at the moment. I think that is the way of old age - items just crop up one after another as we grow older and older. I still have arthritis in my jaw and going to the dentist for a bit of work was somewhat taking the recovery from arthritis in the jaw so will have to work away at that joint as well. I can remember my grandmother at this age talking about joint pain and my saying that is perhaps the joy of old age and now I am there!

The hard work continues although this restorative gardening is a good idea I must say. The bunnies are loving the long grass which has gone to seed and are leaving the tiny little vegetable plants alone. We will see how that progresses. It isn't quite as sharp and beautiful but it looks healthy and I do love the Canadian May Apple flower - I have let them spread in one spot. Wildflowers can be most interesting and along side cultivated flowers provide a change to the eyes. 

Looks like rain again today and the garden is growing quickly. The lawns are so green and healthy looking. All the transplanted raspberry canes are growing. The elderberry plants that we transplanted are also doing very well. It is all new growth now as the old plants all died out. 

Worked on the Blake Newsletter yesterday and will continue with that today. 

I have decided I like the Chinese custom of having a family burial site at the home so that one can easily visit with one's deceased family members however we will of course follow the Canadian custom of burial. But it is a comforting thought to have.  

A new match on My Heritage goes back to my 3x great grandparents Thomas Blake and his wife Sarah Coleman - the new match descends from the oldest son William and I descend from the second son John. It is a nice sized match considering we are fourth cousins two times removed. This line has a number of Blake males into this fourth generation - perhaps one day one of them will test their y-DNA. I am always hopeful. It was on a chromosome which is common to this Blake family and cleanly separate from my endogamous/pedigree collapsing Knight family (Edward Blake, youngest son of John, married Maria Jane Knight). .

Looks like rain today

Cut the front lawn yesterday but probably rain again today. The back lawn is getting long but we appear to have a colony of rabbits nearby and they have been feeding on the live grass seed. Cutting that may wait a couple more days. 

Although I had thought I would take a course in working with Autism in Children to help my grandson my daughter has convinced me that what he most needs is a grandmother not another specialist and so I am being a grandmother - listening and helping when he asks and suggesting when frustration sometimes comes to him. He is growing up quickly our baby now in this post Pandemic period. For two years we just stood still not realizing that we were in a watershed moment until it was past and now it was like eons ago when the world was pre-COVID. Life has changed for all of us. 

But mostly life has changed for the people of Ukraine. I was surprised to hear President Zelenskyy say that it is difficult to tell the collaborators in his society.  To be honest I can scarcely believe that anyone who lived in Ukrainian; breathed the same air as Ukrainians; was raised as Ukrainian could possibly collaborate with the war mongering, greedy, land grabbing, thieving, assaulting Russians but he did say that. Some people in every society are just like that - greedy but the rest hard to believe really. Ukraine will never give up until they get their land back likely but it will be clandestine like the Taliban. We can learn a lot from the Taliban on some of the ways of life. But peace is needed in our world and we will shun the Russians for a long time unless they do something about the Nazis in their midst (and separate themselves from Nazis so that we can tell the difference because at the moment all Russians look like Nazis)! Nazis can never be trusted; they will turn on anyone if they have something they want. Putin is just like Hitler; smiling and acting as if he has a right to do what he is doing. We all know what happened to Hitler.

Off to the dentist today for a little work. In many ways I can see the value in having all your teeth out and just never have to go to see a dentist again but my teeth for the most part are serving me very well although I have arthritis in my jaw these days but having the teeth out doesn't alter that!

Last night we emptied another two metal stands in the basement so now the centre of the room is clear - what a treat after fourty years. I love open spaces in a house and gradually, slowly all of that accumulation of fifty four and a half years is going either to Salvation Army or to people I know who want it or just put out to the front and people take it away (hoping that the metal racks will go that way actually or else we will have to dismantle them). Then of course some does go regretfully to the dump like the other day. There just wasn't anywhere else for it. But the majority of it was metal and that does get recycled by the dump. Edward would never have wanted to downsize his possessions; although he knew that we needed to move he never really wanted to do that. Although he said it sometimes.

We are going to put down the excess laminate boxes on the basement floor. When we have exhausted all of that excess then we will watch for sales and gradually do the basement floor (with a thin cork underlay) back to just in front of the furnace (that is about half of the basement. Perhaps in time we can do all of the one side and just have the furnace and laundry area separate. We use the area we are thinking of flooring for our exercise room with a treadmill, exercise bike, weights, yoga mats, television for exercise programs being the main part of the furniture down there. There are also a couple of large toy boxes which are gradually becoming emptier as either my grandsons take them home or we give them away to Salvation Army. 

The next item to come out is the large workbench which we want to put in the shed as a holder for items. Once out then the room is pretty set for the furniture that remains and the back part tends towards storage with two metal racks (yes we did have seven of those metal racks). It was like a library of tools instead of books very neatly arranged. There were also ten bookcases down there but a lot of those books Edward took to FLAC whilst he was sorting for them (later I joined him and we continued taking a couple of bags each week). We had quite a collection numbering in the thousands and thousands. We collected quite a number at farm auctions back in the 60s and 70s - really quite nice books but there were just too many books. Our youngest child when she was six asked if we lived in a library which I always thought was rather cute actually. 

 

 

Sunny today but rain expected

Lots of rain yesterday and it is so green. Lovely to see that. The world needs lots of greening and flowers for sure. 

Nothing added to Blake Newsletter yesterday; it was a day of sorting and cleaning but another load ready to go to Salvation Army. It will be good to have all of those things that have sat on the shelves for a long time recycled to people who will enjoy them. We enjoyed them in the past but my future doesn't include so much stuff and it belongs to Edward's and my past not the future really. Ed loved to buy something where ever we went  as a memory. I am more of a minimalist although I have also purchased memory items but did tend to give them away as gifts to share my memory of where I went. 

My mind was mulling over an article about the Marshall Plan this morning. This plan passed by the United States government after World War II was a plan to help Europe after the war to rebuild in a democratic way and basically build peace. It worked for Europe as we now have the European Union (EU) and their differences are settled in the European Parliament and gradually many many countries in Europe have become part of this enormous group of people numbering over 600,000,000 people with many more million on the path to membership in the EU. The Soviet Union at this same time as the Marshall Plan was created was busy revenging the Second World War on any country that they felt had contributed to their losses as they literally gobbled up territory all the way to Berlin and so much south of Germany right back to the original borders of the Soviet Union. That enlarged Soviet Union only lasted until the early 1990s when it collapsed. Why it collapsed was poor management by the Soviet Union and had nothing to do with the so-called West. Their idea of communism was to make a few people rich and keep the rest of the people under strict control so that they (the wealthy) could plunder these areas including Russia proper. Hence there wasn't really anything in place to help bring good government to Russia because the wealthy and those in power (like Putin especially) did not want to be part of the European Union. That wasn't really obvious at the time but as Putin became stronger and stronger it became more obvious. At the time of the Olympics at Sochi the world realized that Putin and his enablers had ambitions to rebuild the post-Second World War Soviet Union which was somewhat ludicrous because it had collapsed (and a considerable number of the countries enslaved by the Soviet Union were now part of the European Union or applying to join). There wasn't a new mechanism proposed for rebuilding the Soviet Union but rather brute force which they are using in Ukraine which was how the enlarged post-Second World War Soviet Union was built originally. The world wasn't ready for conflict in 2014 but then the pandemic came along and we became a world that could once again look Armageddon in the face and resist Russian aggression. This article reminded me that the "winning the peace" became the new mentality of the 1950s when I was a child. That is what we are aiming for in supporting Ukraine so heavily - winning the peace for Europe once again. All that Russia presents us with is war mongering as they try to take back something that they never really had - from the day the Iron Curtain dropped across Europe resistance was there - initially somewhat futile as the Russian boot was too strong but gradually that resistance became expensive to counteract and the enlarged Soviet Union collapsed. But how to get back to that lovely peace that we had where we all worked together and just lived with the differences in ideology. That is the question and where we are at. But the democracies which Hitler called soft are not soft; we are ready to do what has to be done to help Ukraine to fight off the greedy Nazis of Russia. For that is what they are - land stealing, property thieving, murdering of the innocent, greedy Nazis.

Another cleaning day and hopefully Blake Newsletter work

 Yesterday was an amazing day. I did clean all morning and accomplished quite a bit on the top and middle floors. But we also planned a run to the dump with all the metal (and there was a lot) plus wood that we have not yet been able to put to the street garbage. We loaded up the car and that took about 1.5 hours to organize it carefully so that it wouldn't damage the inside of the car. There was so much metal. All kinds of eight foot fencing for snow fences and just a lot of metal poles, siding etc etc. We drove to the dump using our GPS but I did not realize it was all the way across the city and we didn't want to use the Queensway to travel across since we would have to go a bit slower perhaps around 60 to 70 kilometres per hour. So we took the back route which we haven't taken in years and as we travelled along with the GPS we were remembering all of our trips back home along this route when we used to visit our families in southwestern ontario. It was a fun trip and worked out very well. We have 200 pounds of metal and wood plus some building materials. It took us maybe half of an hour to unload all of this material and back home along the Queensway for a much faster lighter ride. We decided we needed one of the ice cream pies from Dairy Queen to celebrate so did that and made our dinner a lovely sweet and sour pork dish which is a favourite of my daughters. Then reorganize the garage which is getting emptier and emptier once again after filling it with all the contents of the shed. Another load to Salvation Army and it will be much emptier. But still there is a lot of stuff and we will continue with our downsizing of the basement into the shed. The Tool Library is our next place to discover in terms of placing Edward's tools in a new home. He had a lot of tools and some of it is already gone but still a lot to go. There are four metal racks in the basement loaded with tools. Then the canning supplies will go next and we will have another dump run with very long metal poles that we need to take apart - I will try CLR to see if I can loosen the joints. The  house must be smiling as the load on its floors lighten I am thinking. I also had a marvelous thought on how to use up all the laminate - Edward always purchased two extra boxes just in case. We will lay down thin cork and then laminate on top in the basement living area - it is just one end that Edward partially finished and has nice area rugs that could be rolled up and the laminate put down and then put down again with their thick underpad of children's square rubber mats to make a really excellent exercise room which is what it has become these days. Plus the treadmill could sit directly on the laminate as it does not sit on the rugs and would make it nicer to use since it is on concrete. Another project but probably not before next summer. 

I did not finish all the dusting yesterday so will do that today along with the robot vacuuming the rugs in the basement and then I will wash that concrete floor and dust down there. As always, cleaning takes up a goodly amount of time but it does keep the dust down. 

Perhaps a little time to work on the Blake Newsletter today. Lots of time though as it is not due until the 1st of July. 

President Macron of France taking a lot of criticism for how he is wanting the illegal Russian war against Ukraine to end. Not humiliating Russia is his aim and he is looking backwards in time to the Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919 after the First World War. It was a punishing Treaty against Germany and was always blamed for the rise of Nazism in Germany. Russia has no such excuse though for invading Ukraine except land greed which Putin and his enablers share with the Nazis in the Second World War; that and a total lack of respect for the people of Ukraine. Although I would not like to see Russia humbled and humiliated when this war ends they will be a pariah nation for a while until we can trust them not to invade the countries around them. That goes for any country in the world really that tries to forcefully bring territory into their control. Surely mankind has fought enough wars in the last century and we can move onward towards a peaceful existence where people can live their lives always prepared to defend ourselves but without this constant desire of some people to be dictators destroying people in their own country who oppose them and for other dictators and their enablers to steal land from their neighbours and murder those people. 

Really as I sit at my computer I find it impossible to find any legitimate reason for Russia being in Ukraine. If the people that the Soviet Union moved to other countries do not wish to be part of those countries they can go back to Russia - they have no right to be fifth columnists upsetting the balance of power in countries and creating conflict. Putin who is just like Hitler is also becoming very like Stalin caring not a whit for his people other than his enablers although he pretends to do so. People have short memories - tons and tons of war materials and food were flown to Russia (and China) from the so-called West (really we are just a whole bunch of countries that happen to be West of Russia but also East so is a funny description is some ways) after the Nazis invaded to help them fight the Nazis. We just happen to think that the world can be preserved and be a fantastic place for all people to live if only the dictators would go away and let people live in the countries as defined. Obviously dictators do not if one judges Russia's actions at this moment in time - they are just greedy.

Continuing with the Blake Newsletter and cleaning

 The cleaning week begins once again. This is also a downsizing week as we take metal and wood to the dump this week. There will be a car load for sure and that pretty much completes the clean up of the shed. Our concentration will now be on filling the shed with items that are still wanted but not needed at hand. The bookshelves worked beautifully in there and there is plenty of room still for the work bench leaving the centre free for winter storage. The temporary shed in a box will not be used this year which is a bit of a relief as it is a lot of work to put it up but it did hold a lot of items last winter to clear the garage. 

Hopefully a good rain storm tonight and tomorrow otherwise we are watering. We did do some watering last night as it looked a bit dry here and there. The grass has come along nicely (as have the wild flowers; we are calling them that now rather than weeds as we are going to let them grow and be part of the overall picture). 

The look at the Somerset Blake family has been interesting and will continue doing that today. I have a lot of information that I collected but haven't really spent time looking at until now. There are a couple of people who have tested their yDNA line and I have no idea if they represent the oldest lines of Blake in Somerset but their yDNA is old to England but not as ancient as my brothers' testings which shows 8000 to 12000 years before present in England. But then the line at Andover that we descend from is not related to the Calne Blake family on the male line. Others who have family lore of descent from the Calne Blake line have a reasonable result which points towards the le Blak/le Blake family of Rouen France which is an interesting possibility. They did not come with the Conqueror unless there was a back and forth between Rouen and the British Isles between 1066 and 1170s when they appear in the records as applying for a market permit. Fascinating though the history that comes out of all of this research. The Somerset Blake family has family lore (including mention on an ancient Pedigree Chart) that they are descendant of the Blake family of Calne. But putting the dates together does not mesh and that is my investigation at this time. Finding the parents of Humphrey Blake said to be born at Bishops Lydeard and buried at Over Stowey with his life span circa 1500 to 1558. It is an interesting time in British History as it spans Henry VII to Henry VIII to Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I was just coming to the throne at the time of Humphrey's death. The record keeping began in 1538 for a number of parishes and so the hunt begins for the parents of Humphrey. 

Prayers for Ukraine as always. Interesting that all the countries around Serbia closed their air space so that the Russian Foreign Minister could not visit Serbia. Typically Putin's enablers have threatened these countries which were forced to be part of the Soviet Union following the Second World War. They remain like two year olds these Nazis of Russia; grow up people. Stop killing Ukrainian women and children; stop stealing and looting in Ukraine. Russia has the largest landmass in the world stop being so greedy - stop being Nazis.

Sunday and youtube brings me Church once again

 The miracle of YouTube for me and having Church on Sunday right in my living room. The wonder of it all and it is Whitsunday. I loved this Sunday as a child and our priest could tell the Bible Story of Whitsunday in such a wonderful way that if I close my eyes I can still hear his booming voice telling us the Good News. He was an amazing priest and sometimes exchanged pulpits with the local Roman Catholic priest so we experienced Roman Catholicism sometimes in our lives. As a child I also went to the United Church with my grandmother, aunt and uncle so my religious circle was wide. When I turned eight I started to go to a Pentecostal Bible Study on Wednesday afternoons. At first my parents objected but they asked the priest and he said let her go (he was perhaps secretly proud of my ability to quickly scan the Bible and find any verse no ideas on that but his support was wonderful and I loved that Bible Study). My father had a Jewish friend so also knew about Judaism as a child and of course saw all those Newsreels as a young child about the Concentration Camps that the Nazis ran in Europe where they murdered men, women and children in gas chambers. Religion was the cornerstone of our lives as children - we went every Sunday even at the cottage. Church in the morning and Sunday School in the afternoon. I loved Sundays and still do. The peace that passeth all understanding was so much a part of my life. 

Yesterday was cleanup day and we emptied the shed finally - completely and now there is a stack of metal to go to the dump. I will never use seven foot steel poles - Edward put up snow fences with all those metal posts. There is so much wood and two saw horses. We put the three bookcases from the garage into the shed and still to go in is the work bench and all those tools which we will eventually give to the Tool Library. It looks so neat and tidy now and in the winter the summer table, chairs and other items will go in as well leaving the garage completely empty. The canoe is the next big item to go. I bought the canoe when I was first working. It is a lovely cedar strip cargo canoe and I have tried to donate it to the museums since it is Canadian made and in good shape but have not heard back from any of them. I just had a thought I wonder if the Aboriginal group that took all the national geographic books and the massive bookcases would like a canoe. I shall mention that to my daughter. It isn't something you can just put on the front lawn and get rid of it for sure. It really should go to a home where it will be as loved as it has been these fifty five years. It has been in so many places although it has never left Canada. It has been paddled in northern lakes (by Edward and I) and taken on portages from lake to lake with everything that we needed for such a trip. I love canoeing but I am older now and it is a big canoe to handle. Once it is gone from the garage it will be more or less empty on the main level. There is still so much wood in the loft. Edward saved all the wood that he did not use. It is a good habit for sure but it needs to go eventually as well. We will paint the garage floor again as we did when we first moved here and Ed painted it again maybe twenty years ago now. 

Putin has bombed Kyiv once again  yelling at the west for helping Ukraine to survive this illegal war against them. It is disgusting really; there have been so many times when Russia could have made a graceful exit and we would not have to continue this ridiculous war in this century. It is like 1945 all over again as a vengeful Russia lashed out at all the countries that lay between her and the Nazis in Germany except Ukraine is holding them at bay - they are dying to do this; to help the world stay away from a Third World War. The world owes a debt to Ukraine because they are containing Russia - three times their size. It is a sin what Russia is doing - stealing land; murdering and terrorizing civilians who just want to live their lives on the lands they have lived on for thousands of years. I still agree with Macron that we should not humiliate the Russian people just the new Nazis (Putin and his enablers) who are running this war of aggression and greed. Greed for land and the value in the land and for that they would risk destroying our world. The "friends" of Putin should get him to stop. He is like the two years old screaming I want it! I want it! Russian soldiers who are murdering civilians and pillaging and stealing to send the possessions of the captured Ukrainian civilians back to their families are war criminals. It is disgusting. Prayers for Ukraine as always.

Blake Newsletter started and discussion topic quite interesting

I started the Blake Newsletter and chose a discussion topic that has always rather interested me. I did find some surprising information that I had overlooked before when I was studying the Somerset Blake family. The Protestation Returns for Somerset (1641) list 39 Blake members. The "first" of the Blake line in Somerset known to me thus far was Humphrey Blake who was possibly born at Bishops Lydeard around 1500 and buried at Over Stowey 28 Dec 1558. I spent part of my research time looking at the early records for Somerset on the Archives website. 

A Pedigree Chart held by the Swindon and Wiltshire Record Office has a notation for one of the descendants of the Blake family at Calne which reads: "John Blague 2nd son from whom the Blakes of Somersetshire are descended of which Family was General Robert Blake the famous Soldier and Sea Commander". This John said to be a son of William Blague of Lacock, Wiltshire married to Margaret daughter of William Browne of Wablyn. This William Blague said to be a son of David Blague (son and heir) married to Joane daughter of (unknown) Mallet. This son David a son of John Blague and his wife Margaret daughte of (unknown) Dyncham/Dunham/ Denham. This John Blague said to be a son of Robert Blague als Blaake of Quemberford in County Wiltshire Esquire and married to Avice daughter of John Wallop of Farley in County Southampton Esquire. It is an interesting chart to be sure and I do have a number of disagreements with it but it was created in 1690 and much of it appears to be most accurate. A year of birth can be attached to this John son of Robert and Avice and he was said to be 40 years or more in the year that his mother's Inquisition Postmorten was created/examined (1474). John wrote his own will in 1504 (probated 24 Apr 1504) so would have been at least 70 years of age at that time or greater. Given a generation length of 25 years then David born circa 1460 or earlier and his son William born circa 1495 or earlier and his son John born circa 1520 or earlier. Humphrey was said to be born circa 1500 so not likely a son of John but this entire line does have a problem in that the will of John (son of Robert Blake and Avice Wallop) does not mention a son David which is somewhat strange. The real question remains who were Humphrey's parents and there are a number of online trees that have attempted to do this trace back including linking this Humphrey to the Blake family of Andover Hampshire. 

It would be exciting to find people who would test their yDNA for the Blake lines in Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire and Hampshire with a known family trail at least back to the 1600s. It would give an interesting picture of this Blake family. I have met a few Blake descendants who live in England but have not yet been able to persuade any of them to test. Blake is a very well discussed lineage in English works (and American studies) so people tend to have a look; think about it and work on their mother's side of the family. Perhaps in my lifetime some will come forward; time will tell. 

I think the next discussion has to be on the Galway Blake family and will set my sights on that one for October. But for the moment I am busy pulling out information from the sources that I have acquired and searching the archives for items that have now surfaced to see if I have missed anything in the last ten years whilst life has been very busy for me. Gradually life is less busy and that is good for me.

The exciting news is that the garden is up - green onions, spinach, romaine lettuce and leafy lettuce have broken through in a lovely straight line which will let  me see where they are so that I can leave the weeds growing which the rabbits tend to eat because they are growing and leave us the lettuce and spinach until they are big enough that we can all be satisfied with the yield! The peppers are growing slowly and the tomato plants somewhat faster. Still no sign of the cucumbers but the carrots are starting to break through as well. The grass is growing very nicely - all this coolish weather and rain has been great. 

Prayers for Ukraine and a speedy end to the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. Taking the Christian high road is the safe way for the world in this new century; love they neighbour as thyself (the words of Jesus to us). Wars of aggression which are purely greed for land and the riches of that land are disgusting in this time and the murder of innocents will remain a stain on Russia for years to come. I will not buy any product made in Russia. 

I do tend to agree with President Macron of France though that humiliating Russia will not give us a good peace. Those Russians (and their adherents) who have committed crimes need to be prosecuted but Russia returning to its pre 2014 borders is the desire of the world. Even those who still buy from Russia. After all the Nazis went after everybody (no one was immune even when they had a pact with the Nazis as Stalin did) until the Nazis were defeated. But then we did, when the Nazis were defeated, most of us take the high road, forgive and forget and moving on so we did move forward except the Soviet Union which was bent on revenge and continued in that state until the Soviet Union collapsed - it was that desire for revenge that destroyed the Soviet Union as much as anything. That lust for revenge and how they interpreted communism brought down the Soviet Union; everything for the leaders nothing for the people instead of following the Chinese interpretation of Communism which brought their people out of poverty and into a good middle class (and they have their wealthy as well but then most countries do) for the bulk of the population.