One hundred and nine months

Amazingly I have been playing Microsoft Solitaire for 109 months or 9 years and one month (that is what the statistics say but I actually have been playing the games somewhat longer)! The years have flown quickly since I discovered Microsoft Solitaire on my then first brand new computer that I had purchased. Up until then I just used hand me downs from my husband and I just never noticed Solitaire on there. Solitaire is my waking up routine. One of my first things to do in the morning after arising. It is around the time that Edward first experienced difficulties with falling for an unknown reason which later proved to be his need for a pacemaker. But the year spent going from specialist to specialist and it was one of those interviews where one doctor asked the right question I guess because the tests were always inconclusive. He asked "do you run" and of course that led to a long story about not having been able to run since he was a child. The mystery still needed a little more unraveling but gradually over the next month of going to the cardiologist and then sudden failure that had me bring him into emergency where he went onto a machine immediately and then the mystery became absolutely obvious - he needed a pacemaker. It was in that time frame that I discovered Solitaire because I am an early riser and Edward simply needed more sleep as he liked to burn the midnight oil. The methodical playing of the cardgames woke my brain up each day and cleared it for working away on the DNA of my family. The games continue to hold my interest as each one is just a little bit different - the computer can be so devious as well so that one is searching diligently for clues to solve each of the five games every day -  Klondike, Spider (my favourite by far), FreeCell, Pyramid and TriPeaks. As a child I enjoyed playing the various games of solitaire with a deck of cards but the computer is so much more exciting. The pacemaker gave him a new lease on life and we continued our trips to Europe and all of over North America over the next eight years until COVID locked us into our home. Edward did love to travel and we went all sorts of places but his most favourite other than our forays into the British Isles and Europe was definitely chasing his ancestors. The elusive Isaac Kipp (his 2x great grandfather born 1 Nov 1764) proved to be unfindable other than glimpses of him in Dutchess County at North East Town (1790 USA Census) and then coming to just south of Albany (|Rensselaerville on the USA 1800 census) on his way to Canada with his young family. His letters asking for land as a settler in 1800 were a great find in the Archives of Ontario. Then DNA came along and his yDNA was finally matched with Kipp cousins still in the USA and with trees back to the Kip family of New Amsterdam/New York. We pushed forward year after year with one small step at a time looking for the father of Isaac Kipp and it turned out the published works on the Kip family had many Kipp/Kip lines that had not been connected to their descendants from the generation before Isaac Kipp and so the trek continued. When we were away I used to catch up on my Solitaire games; it was a couple of days of just playing Solitaire for me as Edward entered all of his new material into his various databases and forged ahead looking at the DNA of the Kipp/Kip families with his yDNA study at FT DNA/ 

Today is a cleaning day as will tomorrow be and Wednesday. Cleaning lets me look at some things more closely and analyze what I am going to do with particular objects. Slowly the downsizing continues in a patterned way so as not to lose any of Edward's research but still to minimize it for the day when we move to a smaller place. That day is in the hazy future somewhere I guess; I tend to live the day as it arrives and then shut it down. It reminds me of my own grandmother very much as she consolidated her belongings to some extent wanting to share some of herself with myself and my six siblings. I spent a lot of time with her as my aunt and uncle with whom she lived would be away and then we took over looking after their store and I was company for her whilst they were gone. She was never alone; she did not like to be alone I would have said. But also her health was such that she should not be alone for long periods. 

On to the day and it beckons to me; it is cloudy today (a heavy cloud that is not yet the snow clouds to come. But the sky is there once again; I do love the fall/winter sky which I can see so fully especially on a crisp sunny winter day when it is minus 20 degrees celsius out there or even colder and the sun is shining for all to enjoy the warmth that it sends through the windows which are very cold to the touch. 

Church on YouTube yesterday is my welcomed event on Sunday. The sermon concentrated on Zacchaeus and the Sycamore Tree. She emphasized his size (he was of short stature) and related it to children which was interesting. I like the story because it reminds me that we can not take it with us when we go from this world; it reminds me that I need to tithe to my Church all my days because that is what Jesus wanted us to do. The Church would become his administrative arm helping the widows and orphans, caring for the sick and clothing those unable to manage that themselves.

Thick fog today

Thick fog today and I am glad that I raked yesterday for sure although I must admit that the yard is huge and it took most of my energy for the day to do that. Just a small amount left in the front to do. Raking and cutting down and putting up the winter fence. It is nice to be somewhat ready for winter. I am very ready in terms of being able to get a lot of work done that isn't yard work! But we are going to take breaks cross country skiing this year. It will be fun although I will wrap up well as my arthritis doesn't enjoy the cold that much but my lungs will enjoy the fresh air of winter. 

Completed the Kipp Family Newsletter yesterday as well. It is 23 pages this time but that is mostly the images that I found on the back-up drive. Jacobus Hendricksen Kip was a very interesting person and was believed to be, by my husband, his ancestral line back to the original immigrant Hendrick Hendricksen Kip to New Amsterdam in the latter part of the 1630s or the early 1640s. His actual date of arrival still shrouded in the mystery of time. However, as records emerge from the deep dark areas where they are stored one never knows what might now become available in terms of understanding the migration of Europeans to the North American continent. Definitely the population was booming in those times and the desire to be one's own master very strong. That continues today really especially when you see the title of the book that King Charles III's second son Harry has chosen - Spare. Interestingly until the 20th century all males in English upper class families (and likely around the world but I am not an expert) were considered in that manner - the heir and the spare in case anything happened to the heir. That was the way that the world flowed in the upper class and it just happens that Royal Lines continue that process as one does need a process to determine the next King or Queen of a country. Resentment does amaze me actually.

I suspect that I see it differently because I was the fourth child of seven in a family. I wouldn't have traded that spot really for the first spot. After all being younger one had a chance to view how life flowed for one as one grew up through childhood - what was expected of one etc etc. Being first is not the most enviable position and there is comfort in being fourth for sure in a large family especially as you are not the baby of that family either. The first child has no choices basically; they are the eldest and the role is defined for them but a second or further down the line child has choices and gets to choose what they will do with their life. If we could ask King George VI what he would have liked to do with his life I think he enjoyed being the Spare actually but when duty called he rose to that position and did it well. Will I read the book; not sure that I will actually as I tend not to find whining to be very interesting. It was sad that his mother was killed in a car crash but why wasn't she wearing a seat belt - she had two lovely young children but she chose not to wear a seat belt - no one chose that for her. Her first thought should always have been to take care of herself because she had two children who needed her. If Harry throws blame around he should look first to the woman who should have protected herself 100% so that she would be there for her sons. 

Through the fog I can see the glow of the morning sun; what will the day be like once the fog has lifted; that remains a mystery for me and the temperature today is -1 degree celsius. Winter you are always welcomed.  But the day promises a high of 16 degrees celsius and sunny. 

But the best part is that it is Sunday once again and Church on You-Tube.

Winter sunrise - still minus 2 degrees celsius at 8:00 a.m.

 Another beautiful day and the cold weather is definitely coming now although we could still get a few surprise days when the temperature goes into the teens in the day. The leaves are all down now as far as the eye can see. Just the thin silhouette of branches against the sky revealing so much blue now. I miss the blue sky in the summer but we are bathed in cooling shadow so is perhaps a good tradeoff. 

Yesterday I continued on the Kipp Family Newsletter for a couple of hours and up to page 23 which will be a record length. I found some interesting images which I added although I do not actually know the source. Perhaps someone else does. You would need to see the original though to really enjoy this family tree of one of the members of the Kip family of New York/New Amsterdam. This is the line that Edward believes he is descended from as he shares yDNA with others in this line. Perhaps one day that elusive line will pop out in the records at the moment he can clearly trace back to his 2x great grandfather Isaac Kipp whose birth and marriage record was found in one of their descendant's family Bible. The 1st of November 1764 and the 29 Aug 1790 along with the birth date of his wife Hannah Mead 11 Aug 1770. Because these dates were likely recorded by the original owner of the Bible (Richard Titus Kipp (his first marriage starts the marriage list and the marriage of his parents on the opposite page in the same hand with the second marriage recorded in the same hand but obviously at a different time and with a different pen) and before his mother Hannah died 24 Mar 1859 one can look at them with the regard that they were recorded by people still alive who could conceivably remember these details. Isaac died 6 Aug 1846. Richard Titus Kipp was born 7 Apr 1808 with his first marriage 28 Jan 1830, his second marriage 25 Oct 1843 and his third marriage 30 May 1878. 

Today I will continue with adding the references as hypertext links to make it easy to locate the books that were used as most of them are now held in the Library of Family Search online. I need to complete this by Tuesday to put it up on the Kipp yDNA website for the perusal of those readers. How much longer I will persist is hard to say. I am not doing as much as I thought I might in terms of publishing his research because I am putting more time into my own than I realized. Time stretches forward in an unknown way and I work through each day in this interesting way that most suits me. 

Raking today as well at some point. There are a lot of leaves out there and I want to have them all cleared away by next collection day. I may not succeed in that task but then they keep collecting garbage so no deadline in that regard!

Glory to Ukraine and may she win this war and retain her lands as stated at the end of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Armed combat needs to end; it destroys our world; destroys the lifeblood of countries. 

May King Charles III continue to reign in his thoughtful way and may God support him as he moves past the betrayal of his youngest son. It must hurt him very much but one way to look at it we will not have to pay to provide Harry and his family protection especially as all he did was complain while he was in our country before he quit public life and we did provide security for them. I agree he didn't have any choice on being born into the fishbowl of the Royal Family but he certainly uses that position to gild his nest and not in a particularly nice way.

The morning Sky is cloudy today; heavy frost last night

 Today I have probably 70% of the sky visible to me as all of the leaves have fallen from the trees now. Last night was a heavy frost with all that glistening white on the rooftops - a prelude to winter for sure. We are nearly at Hallowe'en which to me traditionally ushers in the potential of snow any time but generally it waits until December. 

The Nazi Putin and his enablers continue with their trite conversation against the supporters of Ukraine. There is no respect for all mankind there; no respect for Mother Earth and he attacks constantly although is also constantly forced back by the plucky Ukrainians. How many Russians have to die before Putin stops. He cares so little for his people unless they are his "friends" and does nothing for them; they go to war without proper equipment or food. They are canon fodder. 

We in the Western Hemisphere are tired of these ancient hatreds that have caused war in the Eastern Hemisphere to be ongoing through the centuries. Stop fighting; draw back to the pre 2014 borders; get out of the Crimea. You are all criminals; you Russians. You need to prove you are not by having better governance so that the rest of the world can have peace.

Good accomplishment yesterday on the Kipp Family Newsletter. Still working on the sources to add in the material to make it even easier to find these references from Edward's work. 

Today another work day and perhaps a little raking; time will tell. I have a lot of leaves out there as the trees have mostly shed their leaves next door and a lot of them are in my yard. I will gradually rake them all up before the winter snows bury them until spring. A small amount to cut down still out front and put up the winter fence.

Thirty Second Psalm

 Today's Bible Reading is one of hope - the joy of forgiveness. It follows yesterday's Bible Reading which I always find difficult. Interesting but then God didn't choose the order in which the Bible Readings occur. It is just a happy coincidence that the Bible Reading of today is such a lovely one and that the one yesterday is confusing. 

Today, more cutting down of the summer's joys - the beautiful flowering plants. Plus I begin once again to work on the Kipp Family Newsletter. I need to finish it up now as the 1st of November is fast approaching. How long will I work on this Newsletter; I have no idea actually but it seems like the right thing to do with Edward's research into his paternal family. He just has so much research material that I am overwhelmed mostly by all the boxes even yet. More than 70% of his material (books and other items) have been donated or given to family members but yet so much remains. Compared to my own cache of books and material his material remains an enormous amount. 

Glory to Ukraine. May she defend her country with all of the zeal that she has shown thus far and may we continue to provide her with the tools. There is a news report that Russia is sending soldiers to the front with diseases and perhaps this will be the way that God punishes Russia by infecting all of her soldiers with disease so that they can no longer fight and go back home. What a sinful people these Nazi Russians are. God be with Ukraine.

The last two stanzas of the Bible Reading:

You said to me,
“I will point out the road
   that you should follow.
I will be your teacher
   and watch over you.
Don't be stupid
   like horses and mules
that must be led with ropes
   to make them obey.”

All kinds of troubles
   will strike the wicked,
but your kindness shields those
   who trust you, Lord.
And so your good people
   should celebrate and shout.

I wish that the Ukrainians could celebrate but they are too busy burying their children that the Russians are killing.

Why do I write my blog?

It has become a morning habit to write my blog; I didn't use to always write one daily. During COVID I wrote in my blog to focus the day and write my thoughts on a situation that was unique in my lifetime. Mostly I write the blog for myself although I do realize that I end up sharing those thoughts with anyone who reads my blog. As an introvert it is my way of talking; I prefer to talk with my fingers. 

One last day of cleaning and there will be three days a week for a few weeks as I clean out the closets. It is just a small amount in the basement and should be done before noon. Then I will work outside cutting down the plants in preparation for winter. The bags of leaves already prepared will make it easy for me to just toss the cuttings into each bag now that the bags have settled. 

The Bible Reading today was somewhat harsh. It was the story of the man who gave money to three servants as he went off to be crowned king in a country that did not want him. When he returned he rewarded those who earned him money and punished the one who did not. What does it mean? I have always wondered about that story. Of all the stories in the Bible I understand that one the least and in some ways I do not want to understand it I guess. It doesn't sound like God. Perhaps that is the meaning.

Glory to Ukraine in the upcoming battle for Kherson. We must prepare ourselves for Russia to perform a false flag nuclear happening I suspect. They are desperate for world opinion to shift; I think this is for China's benefit. They want China to help them; Iran is just a drop in the bucket to what China could do to assist them. But Russia as a country is now failing; sad to see actually as the history of Russia is ancient. No one wants to go down with that ship other than the other terrorist countries like Iran and North Korea. God speed Ukraine in their zest to protect the Ukrainian people and take back their land. More tools of war to help Ukraine to fight terrorism in our world for that is what Russia gives us - terrorism. Not all the people of Russia but they do not know how, it would appear, to stop the Nazis in their midst. 

Breakfast awaits. 

You could consider

These hundreds of thousands of young men who have fled Russia to avoid being sent to the illegal war against Ukraine should consider fighting on the side of Ukraine and ending the war even quicker so that they could go back home. Better than that help the underground movement in Russia to dislodge the present government so that you can put into place a government in Russia that has the interests of the people at heart and not ridiculous ideas about recreating the Soviet Union. 

Yesterday I accomplished a great deal of cleaning and today is more of the same. I want to do some reorganizing this week and a look at what else I can downsize to make my life less cluttered. Today I can see almost 50% of the sky out of my windows. It is a glorious sight and one that gets better and better as winter descends in this part of the world. One of these days the Black Walnut tree will make a decision to drop its leaves and it is a spectacular sight to see the yellow leaves falling to the ground almost simultaneously. Then the work begins of clearing away those leaves. Approximately 50% of our leaves come from next door that land in our back yard. 

God is so much a part of our lives and especially seen at the change of the seasons as we move quietly and gently from summer into fall gliding ever so gently into winter. Yesterday was a bit of summer but today is cooler definitely. There will still be a few more of those days in November and then the winter chill will descend.  

Interesting find in Poland in the Tunel Wielki cave which may lead to finding remains of Homo heidelbergensis. Such a find, if DNA could be extracted, would be phenomenal in the search for the ancestry of Homo sapiens as Homo heidelbergensis is thought to be the ancestor which eventually produced both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. Exciting times ahead for sure in the land of DNA.

Other than that I have already breakfasted and it was, as always, a delicious meal to start the day. I love breakfast best of all. More cleaning awaits me. 

Sky again as Fall gradually erodes the leaves

Nice to see the morning sky once again; the seasons come and go and the amount of sky I can see from my workroom window varies with the seasons. Although it was nice probably to have my leaves raked I also could have done it over time which is good to remember. I did give the people next door a lot of Edward's things and so they like to do things to help me out which is much appreciated of course. I still need to cut down the plants in the backyard and a few in the front still to do. Will work away at that this week. Car back in the garage once again. I do like to avoid scraping the windows if I can. 

Interesting sermon as he painted a vision of Christianity that I believe in; the Church is there to help people not a social club. I have always seen my Anglican Church that way and am highly supportive of that idea. 

Cleaning time begins once again and I shall see how much I accomplish today. I want to clean and reorganize closets over the next couple of weeks. Still downsizing as I want to be ready to move in a couple of years. The one room concept still predominates my mind but not quite there yet. There is still too much stuff. Mostly all of my stuff fits into one room except for living/dining equipment. But I still have a lot of Edward's stuff. In the past, cousins/friends would likely have collected some of Edward's things and people interested in their mutual family genealogy the same but we were now at the top of the triangle rather than with the masses lower down and so the number of people who would like to have his things has diminished.  

Every morning I look at the news to see if Russia has finally come to her senses and will get out of Ukraine but not the case even yet. I think perhaps their minds are gone; their ability to think like humans has disappeared. Not all of them, of course, lots of them are now tired of the war but they do not do anything about it. They must combine and end this destruction; stop killing their kith and kin. When it is all over any monies that Russia has in international funds should go immediately to rebuilding Ukraine. If necessary (and I think we should do it now) Peace Keepers should follow the Ukraine army  right to the border with Russia and keep the peace; we are tired of war especially imperialistic war. There is so much else to do with our money and talents in this world. We must keep supplying Ukraine with arms to fight Russia; this war continues to be genocide of the Ukrainian people; the second time in less than one hundred years that Russia has tried to destroy the Ukrainian people simply because they exist on land that they want. 

I am not blind to what is happening in other countries in the world but the War against Ukraine is huge and has the potential to be quite deadly in terms of the human race. Skirmishes within countries because people do not seem able to sit down and discuss issues or you have a crazy group of people who adhere to a code that belongs to mediaeval times have only one real solution but we have moved on from trying to handle people that are incapable of living with other people without being abusive by simply leaving them to be handled by the people of the individual countries and just look away. It is sad really but some countries have been maltreating peoples within their borders forever. We talk about it at the United Nations and condemn it but there is very little that we can do to stop it often enough although we have tried.

On to the day; breakfast is first; by far my favourite meal of the day. I was putting a square of 95% cocoa in my cereal but I have discovered I can just put a tablespoon of cocoa in and have the same effect so have simplified that process.

Sunday and Church on You Tube once again

A beautiful Sunday, the sky is clear although still dark and it is three degrees celsius. I do love Sundays. Church on YouTube at 10:30 a.m.

Completed looking at all the new matches yesterday. No new work on the phasing but perhaps today; time will tell. Need to cover the air conditioner and will wait for the sunny warm afternoon and do that. I did cut down some of the plants yesterday and my very kind neighbours raked the leaves for me. I was going to help them but surprisingly all of the work of the last couple of days has caught up to me and I didn't do that. I think there are a dozen bags of leaves out there plus the two bags that I filled with the cuttings. 

Definitely winter is coming and I do look forward to that. I love the winter with its picture postcard look of white snow. We are going to do cross country skiing this year which will be fun; save it for the warmer winter days but we have good trails to go on and it will be fun. 

Prayers for Ukraine as always; one could ask politely although Russia will not likely listen - please get out of Ukraine. You are spoiling our beautiful world with your ancient imperialistic war being fought in a cruel and indecent manner against children and women. Children are dying and you are responsible and may God hold you responsible for each and every one and extract his revenge against you. 

On to the day; breakfast next. My favourite meal of the day. 

Still checking matches

Although I am very enthusiastic about the phasing of my great grandparents, I am still only at Chromosome 17 looking at all the new matches in my database. I will carry on with that today. I should finish although sometimes I get very involved with the match going back to the original material and having a look at trees here and there. I need to look at my sister's tree in unison and I keep forgetting to do that as she has more of the present day cousins in her tree. My tree tends to go back in time with some of the lines being more complete than others. It depended on whether or not I was able to move back quickly or had to do sideways work to ascertain the correct line. 

Today I need to cover the air conditioner and start cutting down the plants before the first snowfall. A lot of work to do but will do it gradually. Then back to cleaning starting on Monday this time rather than the weekend. I think I will do three days for a bit since I want to do the closets rather well before winter really descends on us and opening the windows for fresh air is more problematic. 

Lovely dinner last night with ground pork which I cooked with onion and garlic and then added a can of diced tomatoes, a pepper chopped up, potatoes (small) quartered in various varieties and let that simmer for twenty minutes and then added raisins. It was quite delicious and I have enough for four more meals. I like to cook like that. I used to love cooking but now I have other things I prefer to do like my phasing of my great grandparents. At 77, one just really eats to live at least in my case although I have always been somewhat like that but Edward was more prone to loving to eat. Funny how different people can be. 

Trees are spectacular with sun shinning through the yellow leaves

 What a beautiful day looking out my window. The maple has no leaves now but the black walnut has held on to its leaves and they are a bright yellow as always. Then one day suddenly they will all drop almost at once. 

Love the autumn. It is such a wonderful time. Plus I can see the blue sky again which has been pretty much blocked from my work window all summer. 

Not much work done today; it was a busy one for various reasons but tomorrow I will get back to phasing. I think it is intriguing to work on the great grandparents. I actually know some items about these great grandparents from my parents making them somewhat more real in my mind. I even know about a couple of great great grandparents and great great great grandparents just because my father visited with some of these people as a child and my grandfather the same. There were family get togethers that they all shared and their memories even though they were often as young as six or seven enriched my life when I was a child. Some of these people lived such a long time ago when the world was a very different place except for one item which does rather stick in my mind - War was just the same stealing away the young men so they did have the chance to have children and grow old or if they had children did not see them grow. 

Back and forth on the Routledges

 A few notes back and forth on the Routledge family. I always have a bit of a weak spot when I read the stories of adopted people and when I spot the line for at least one ancestor I do like to let the person know. In this case it was a fourth cousin likely four times removed who shared my 3x great grandparents Thomas Routledge and Elizabeth Routledge. I think if you are that curious about your ancestors that it is nice to give them a little assist especially when they had so many names already that it wasn't too big of a leap back another four generations to their ancestors. They can learn a lot about the Routledge family online and by visiting the London, Ontario Public Library and if there are still copies of the London Township History Book they could purchase one or at least see it at the Library if they are able to make that trip. I have had a few direct requests (and one of my very large matches continue to mystify although I know it is in my Knight-Butt line which is a collapsing pedigree on the Knight side with my being descended from two sons through several generations down to my great grandmother Maria Jane Knight) from adopted people that I have been able to assist. Personally I think everyone has a right to know their ancestry.

Working on the phasing of my great grandparents I did tackle the 23rd chromosome and surprisingly I was able to separate out parts of the X chromosome inherited directly from my paternal grandmother via our father. The three of us (my sisters and I) match perfectly on this chromosome as there is just one chromosome to pass down. I was able to separate out the spots on either end that belong to the father of my paternal grandmother. The middle part appears to be primarily Rawlings as I do have just one Rawlings match there (actually from the Lywood family. The parents of my great grandmother Elizabeth Rawlins were William Rawlins and Elizabeth Lywood (my 2x great grandparents) who actually raised my paternal grandmother at least at the time of the 1881 census when she was four years of age. Her mother (Elizabeth Rawlins) married William Taylor in 1882 and the Taylor family is found on the 1891 census where my grandmother is named as Bessie Taylor. Although I never knew her my paternal grandfather (who lived with us) painted a lovely picture of her as did my father who was quite devoted to his mother. What I found would never have likely seen the light of day without my extensive sleuthing and purchase of ten certificates in total before I finally located my paternal grandmother's original birth registration. 

This picture is the earliest that I have for my paternal grandmother. My father is perhaps four years of age but could be older he was quite small for his age but this is taken in England before they came to Canada in 1913 when my father was almost ten years of age. 

Continuing today on phasing and will work on Chromosome 22 to see if the new matches alter anything there although I am also still working through the chromosome database to look at each of the new matches individually as I do transfer known matches into a separate smaller database that I do use for phasing. But my fingers became itchy to work on Chromosome 23 in advance of completing that task. 

Prayers for Ukraine as always.

Swearing an oath to King Charles III

I must admit that I find this notion that one can occupy a position in government in Canada which has as its head a Monarch and not swear an oath which is really a sign of respect for our country to be quite lame. We have done well by the Monarchy and we have also done well to them fighting to defend the UK in two World Wars but we were also fighting for ourselves as one can see that tyrants do not stop at borders if the opportunity presents itself they will attack everyone that they can and like animals destroy everything in their path. 

So not swear an oath to uphold the government of Canada which has as its head King Charles III maybe you should pick another occupation. I wonder at your loyalty to Canada in that case. Yes I realize each provincial politician must be loyal to their province but the province isn't a standalone - it is an integral part of Canada.

Working through the new matches

 One match particularly jumped out at me as it is in the Routledge line. I can always expect these matches to be a little larger than expected as my 3x great grandparents Thomas Routledge and Elizabeth Routledge were second cousins once removed from the Oakshaw Routledge family which had a history of marrying cousins for generations. So a match of 32 cM in a match that is at least fourth cousin four times removed does show a particularly healthy piece of DNA being passed down and I have three matches from several families that are descendant from this earlier couple. 

Is everything suddenly coming to a head in Ukraine? One wonders what is going to happen? We have lived under the threat of nuclear war for so long (all of my life nearly) that it isn't really making the news. It is just stupid to threaten nuclear war; no one gains. Hidden away in your little shelters the devastation will be incredible if the planet doesn't actually explode throwing your shelter into outer space where death will be slow as you slowly use up all that air. 

You listen to what some of these crazies in Russia are saying and we know that these nazis are all out of their minds. Russia attacked a sovereign country that has every right to exist. Russia is in the wrong. You enablers of Russia are all criminals, animals not really fit to walk upon the face of the earth. Peace is what the world wants and all you want is imperialistic plunder which has been gone from our world for a while now. You physically and verbally abuse Ukrainians but they are at least normal homo sapiens not animals like Putin and his enablers.  Go home Russians and get rid of those who send you into battle; we tire of their ignorance for sure.

Misconnections arise once again

An email from a Blake descendant begins with a Blake at Calne born in 1465 and then claims a son Humphrey Blake born 1494 at Andover which was a creation of Horatio Gates Somerby to link the Calne Blake family (a wealthy, parliamentarian family) to the Somerset Blake family. He has Humphrey moving from Andover, Hampshire to Plainsfield, Somerset where a son of Humphrey named John Blake was baptized in 1521. Although I did respond that this was an error on the part of Horatio Gates Somerby which has been proven to be so by a number of researchers the response was that he had it from American researchers on Ancestry trees. As always it is difficult to convince people that this work by Gates is erroneous. The Wills of the Blake family of Andover tell the truth in this matter - there is no Humphrey Blake in their lines and they do appear to be the only Blakes at Andover from the early 1300s on. If he was unlanded (i.e. doesn't appear in the early records) then the odds of his being able to move to Somerset and purchase/acquire Tuxwell Manor are fairly low. The Blake Pedigree produced by the College of Arms does show the line that is believed to have come down from the Calne Blake line to the Plainsfield Blake line and it doesn't go through Andover. But at 77 I am getting past doing long rewrites back to people. I have written all of this in the newsletters and just leave it at that. God in is his wisdom has us wait patiently whilst we work away at the records as all will be revealed when one crosses the veil of time into the world of the spirits - our ancestors. 

My task has always been to simply make people aware of the error and leave it at that. The truth is also out there with regards to Horatio Gates Somerby's fraudulent claim about the Andover Blake family. 

Today I continue with re-phasing my grandparents just to keep that up to date with the latest 85 matches introduced into my database. I think it is a good idea to do that on a yearly basis. Once completed I shall move to phasing my great grandparents using the four 23 and Me Results. The nicest part of these results is the charting shows half matches and full matches on the chromosome lengths although you can also get this from GedMatch. 

I also need to update my "known" matches database to include the new matches where the individual is known to me in terms of a family tree relating them to me. 

Will we see peace on the horizon in Ukraine? One hopes so but the ball is really in Russia's court. They could simply drive back over the border to Russia today with all their equipment and troops and we would be done as they are the aggressor and they are responsible for all the killing that is happening in Ukraine including the deaths of their own soldiers. Russia wanted this war and has made up imaginary tales of why they invaded Ukraine but it is a nazi land grab which has killed so many Ukrainian men, women and children and also so many Russian soldiers. It is a sorrow that will go into the history books as greedy aggression on the part of Russia.  Tajikistan has it right; Russia needs to show more respect instead of being an imperialistic country bent on destruction and murder if they can not have what they desire. 

Interesting day

 It is a long time since I have had water in an ear canal so did not recognize the symptoms and as the day passed I just felt a little off kilter so decided not to go and see my grandson swimming. I hate to go places if I am unsure what could be annoying me. But my ear finally drained and I am myself again. It is weird to have that effect actually. Maybe I will get to see him swimming in the next couple of weeks.

I did not accomplish all I wanted today but tomorrow is another day.

Matches completed and beginning the process of rephasing and then onto phasing great grandparents

 It has become a yearly event to once again go back to the basics and rephase my grandparents DNA using the four 23 and Me results of myself the three siblings. Then I merge in the fourth sibling. I like to do this everything I bring in a big set of matches (85 in this case). I am being much more restrictive in the matches these days and I have a number of new ones where the individual is part of a known tree. I always check these as they come in but I like to rework the phasing just to have a long look at all of the matches which also lets me take out matches that are not very long as I become more selective. 

With all matches entered and this being a slow time in matches and life it appears, I will now work on the phasing. I have planned up the next five weeks with that in mind. I will leave the Siderfin book until the winter time which suits me very well. 

I couldn't manage Church yesterday on YouTube but will attend today. I miss it when I do not attend Church. Praying for Ukraine and her peoples as always and praying for the Russian people who can not be happy with their young men dying on a battlefield that they do not want to fight over especially as the people are their kin. That they can find a way to halt all of this fighting - if they must love Putin then they must bring him to the realization that he is destroying their country and get him to get out of Ukraine. 

This has been a warmer spell the last few days with lots of rain - it is the rainy season which will soon change to snow and give us our wonderful white landscape so beautiful to look at out of the window.

Slow Day with just five matches assigned but a lot of thinking

It was a slow day yesterday with just five matches assigned. But I did do a lot of thinking about the phasing of grandparents. Hopefully I finish the other twenty matches today. 

Still looking at one match with someone in Australia and trying to decide where we are matching on our trees. I was ambivalent as to where the match was for awhile - could have been on either paternal or maternal. But Ancestry assigned it to my brother's paternal side and he is the best match. The assignment for me was unassigned. Rawlings line (my maternal grandmother) looked like it might be the one but I continue checking it out and when I do the great grandparent matching I may find the answer to that. 

Although I very much want Ukraine to win this war against Russia, I am concerned that Putin in his stupidity will cause the breakup of Russia into various countries all of which might potentially become dictatorships just as bad as he was becoming with world ambitions. I continue to hope that China reigns in Russia although acquiring Siberia would make China an even more powerful nation. One wonders at just what the aims of these countries are in the long run. Is it world domination of people or trade? or both? We lived for a long time with a fair amount of peace which does make dictators think that they can easily accomplish their aim of domination because people will be afraid to fight. But that isn't the case in actual fact; a pandemic occurred and that has brought out the fight in people once again. We are more than willing to defend ourselves and not be under the heel of anybody.

I continue to support far more funding for our military - we could easily go to 4% of GDP and not be enough. Get ships in the water, proper equipment for the land troops and the air military. Stop wasting time; get it done I say to the government. Neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives are getting it done although I have greater hopes that the Liberals will eventually get there. The Conservatives are too busy being social conservatives and not enough on protection of our country through support of the military. The second very important item is tackling global warming and we are not doing enough. 

Continuing with the process of assigning matches to database etc

When I finally stopped working yesterday I had just twenty five matches left to do and hope to complete them today. I had forgotten some of the really neat matches on the different lines where I actually know who those people are and can place them accurately in the family tree. I do believe that my idea of phasing the great grandparents is very feasible. I just need to decide on colours. I suspect a dark green and a light green could do Buller/Taylor, then black and grey for Blake/Knight, light purple and dark purple for Rawlins/??Cotterill perhaps still thinking about that, light orange and dark orange for Pincombe/Gray. The male lines will be the dark colours (Edward Blake, Edwin Denner Buller, Cotterill?? and William Robert Pincombe) and the female lines will be the light colours (Ellen Taylor, Maria Jane Knight, Elizabeth Rawlins, and Grace Gray). It is interesting to actually be at this point. Plus it is a diversion to occupy me for the next six weeks and keep my mind busy and active. 

Is this a process that helps me at all? Perhaps when I have a match in a particular area then I can see the possibilities plus the limits on the lengths which could be helpful. Actually phasing  and selecting crossover points will be a challenge and not quite sure yet how I will do that. It may be that I can be systematic - time will tell on that. A system would be nice to have for sure. 

We are definitely well into Fall now with all the colours and frost most nights. I am looking forward to the snow as I do love the fresh snowfalls - they are absolutely beautiful. Although I carefully read all the news reports, I am in a waiting time now. Wait and see how life flows - as a small cog in a large machine each one of us individually has little effect on how life flows but the combined effort of many may yet lead us to that uplifted plain where everyone who deserves to be is happy and content.

Working on the matches as the first step

Spent yesterday working on the matches I have accumulated over the past year and will continue today. I have completed about half of them yesterday. Once that is complete then I can start working on the chromosomes and I may start with the X chromosome since it is short and verify all the new matches into my system and see if I can create my great grandparents phasing for the two chromosomes. The one X chromosome that all five of us share is Pincombe/Buller and just my sisters and I share the Rawlings which has come to us via our father directly from his mother unchanged. Her X chromosome that she passes is a combination of her mother and father. It would be interesting to see if I am able to pull out the Rawlings side of this chromosome separating it from my paternal grandmother's father. 

Each match takes me about ten minutes to half of an hour to pass it into my DNA system - painting in DNA painter, entering into my Excel charts (by chromosome), copying to the pertinent chromosome for later review, and then moving to the completed matches. But along the way I look at the phased chromosome and verify that what I recorded at the time of producing the match file fits what is in the file. Sometimes that involves going back into the particular company to look once again at all the data. 

I have thought about phasing my great grandparents for awhile now and it is exciting to now proceed with that thought. What do I gain from all the work? I get to look deeper into the Autism genes that I have in my DNA and know that they descend from my Blake side likely through my great grandmother Maria Jane (Knight) Blake. I can also examine the Fructose Intolerance which I inherited and none of my siblings did (this is also true of most of the Autism genes which I inherited). For the five of us, we have really distinct differences in our inheritance. Often enough I inherited genes that none of them inherited. I did love having children but must admit that moving on to grandchildren always made me reluctant; I never encouraged my children to have children in actual fact. By going back to work fulltime when my youngest was just over one year of age I rather encouraged them to look to a career as their first interest. Mind you I went through school easily and graduated from University at 21 years of age so the autism had little effect in actual fact. The Fructose Intolerance is a single gene and probably has had zero effect on my life especially given my low tendency towards fruit and sweet desserts. But it is exciting to have a look at the DNA purely from a scientific perspective especially given that my DNA is all from five distinct areas of England going back hundreds of years and thousands in some cases. I do have one Huguenot line that came to England in the latter part of the 1400s or early part of the 1500s. I do have a Scot Highlander line that came to Cumberland in the 1400s. There are likely other anomalies but primarily from the British Isles (i.e. Scotland and Ireland) although I do show Scandinavian in my heritage but I do have ancestry in the East Riding of Yorkshire which may account for that in particular the height of my brothers (several of them, one is also short like my father) is probably definitely from that line (my maternal grandfather's mother's father was from the East Riding of Yorkshire and can be traced back into the 1500s there readily).  

Soon into the discovery of the DNA results already accumulated through this past year. Perhaps by the end of the day I will be looking at phasing the X chromosome. I am quite excited at this new thought. I will move to the Siderfin book in the new year. I scarcely get out these days other than to buy groceries. With all the exercise equipment that I have and just being able to run in the basement make it so much easier to just stay inside although do like to wander around the backyard to get my fresh air. 

One prays that Russia will soon get out of Ukraine and let those people live their lives. This is the second time in less than one hundred years that Russia has tried to destroy these people. The Holodomor as it was called was apparently also in Kazakhstan. When you try to murder people by starving them to death they are not going to be too keen on being part of any association with you for sure. Respect for the people who are your neighbours and kin is the only way for them to like you. 

I like the suggestion that frozen Russian assets should be used to rebuild Ukraine. The EU's comment re what they would do if even one nuclear weapon is used is interesting - destruction of the Russian army which could be easily done especially if a 10 kilometer dead zone is created along the border with Russia - there will not be any place to hide for sure. If Belarus minds their manners and stays out of Ukraine (and tells the Russian soldiers to go home) then the need to do the same there becomes unnecessary.  Putin is certainly hedging his bets as he lets us see the crazies that surround him; I think it is up to the Russian people who leads them although I wouldn't want Putin he does not have the interests of all the Russian people in his heart just his wealthy oligarch friends perhaps the Russian people like to be subservient.

On to the day.

 

Process looks good so will move ahead on the great grandparents phasing

 I liked the results of the last couple of days so will move ahead with phasing great grandparents. This is somewhat of a new ballgame so will work through it slowly. 

World War III and the only person talking about it happening is Russia. Too bad; Russia should put more time into taking better care of her people than threatening the rest of the world. Ukraine has a right to exist period. Russia had the opportunity for a neutral Ukraine but invaded Ukraine instead - whatever happens Russia can only blame herself. No one has the right to make war; discuss it at the United Nations. We are tired of war. Take away Russia's veto in the Security Council until she is prepared to be a preventer rather than an instigator of war.

Phasing Great Grandparents

I worked on my Rawlings-Cotterill (? on the Cotterill as not proven) phasing yesterday and was surprised to see that on the first three chromosomes everything just fell into place and I could see which matches are not Rawlings. If one considers that you would inherit 12.5% (average) from a great grandparent which one can look at as approximately 10% of the length of the DNA, it is actually possible it would appear to phase great grandparents readily.  Chromosome one is rather interesting because one of my siblings has inherited largely from our paternal grandmother at almost 90% with 10% being my paternal grandfather. I have 100% paternal grandfather and another sibling has 95% paternal grandfather/5% paternal grandmother. The remaining two siblings have  40% paternal grandmother/60% paternal grandfather and 25% paternal grandmother/75% paternal grandfather. We have some really good matches with Rawlings cousins known to us that really let us look at Chromosome 1 so I was able to then take the portion belonging to my paternal grandmother and split between her parents. In the case of 40% paternal grandmother/60% paternal grandfather the grandmothers is split 3% Rawlings and 37% father of my paternal grandmother. Another sibling with 90% paternal grandmother splits into 25% Rawlings and 65% father of my paternal grandmother. For me there isn't a paternal grandmother component. The 5% of the 5/95 split is Rawlings and the 25%/75% split is 25% father of my paternal grandmother. That did give me a number of matches (in a range to actually consider them) that belong to my paternal grandmother's father. I continued with chromosome 2 and 3 with 2 having matches not really large enough to follow up on and 3 having again a substantial split which makes it quite interesting looking at the matches. 

I believe I will continue with this project once I have all these new matches entered into the system. It will be interesting to look at all of my great grandparents and their contributions to our DNA. The project above was more curiosity than anything and the unsolved match I have with a cousin which does now appear to be in my paternal grandmother's line and since one of my cousins has also tested at the same website and does not match I suspect this may be in my paternal grandmother's father's line.

Somewhat fascinating for sure although my father did know about his natural maternal grandfather in terms of what he did for a living and it is perhaps that he also knew his name. He just never mentioned it although did talk a great deal about his step-grandfather whom he adored and the admiration was quite mutual I understand from my grandfather (his father). My father's first name was from this step-grandfather's family. Although birth connection does mostly pre-empt any relationship that isn't birth; when that relationship doesn't actually exist between a natural grandfather and a grandson a step-grandfather can quickly become that grandparent in a child's mind and replace the natural individual as I learned from my father's attitude. I think about that where my husband is concerned now that he is no longer with his grandsons or any of us; keeping him alive by little mentions is important else he is forgotten which is just sad as he loved them dearly. When I return home I will leave his picture so the boys will have that constant reminder of their grandfather. It is a picture that looks very like the grandfather they remember as during COVID they did not see him very often so will not remember as he declined which is nice in a way although now in my old age I am glad that I remember my parents and grandparents in their declining years as it gives me a goal in my mind to do as well as they did. They were all busy people in their lives and sharp as a needle until almost the end of their lives except my father who was in a nursing home the last seven years of his life (he was over 94 when he passed). I would visit him all day when we went and gradually the fogs of institution would dissipate and we would chat and remember things that we had enjoyed doing together mostly walking to be honest; we both love walking. He was unfortunately wheel chair bound (I think he would have tried to walk if he was still at home but it would have been dangerous for him) those last seven years and it just wasn't where he wanted to be for sure and he didn't make it easy for my siblings who visited him rather more often than I did. 

I see Russia is starting to name people they claim were involved in the truck bomb. I still wonder if the Russian leadership actually did the deed and are just searching around for possibilities to blame (will those people ever see the light of day?). Did the truck actually have a bomb? Did the Russian secret service plant a bomb under the pavement which just exploded far more than they intended? An Act of God moment for sure as that inferno erupted. All the proof has been blown up for sure. Time for Russia to get out of Ukraine and forget about rebuilding the Soviet Union; people do not want to be slaves in your kingdom Nazi Putin.

My paternal grandmother's matches

I have not done a lot on my paternal grandmother's matches unless they are on the Rawlings line. Although her name, Ada Bessie Cotteril Rawlings seem to point to a likely father for her; I do not actually have concrete proof that this is correct and so I have rather ignored it. I have a lot of matches now for her line but unless they are Rawlings I haven't taken the time to really look at them in terms of trees and the like. I do know that the person suggested by available records to be her father married several times and they had eight children in total. But again I have not pursued any of this information beyond noting that particular item. I have a match (and there is an X chromosome match with my two sisters and myself although not really large so again I am suspicious of anything under 20 centimorgans in an X chromosome match). It could be very ancient and thus not useful. 

I actually have a lot of Rawlings matches which would include her father's line. My grandmother was happy in her family; her mother had married after she was born (not her natural father) and this stepfather treated her as one of his own. Her half siblings treated her as their full sister. There was never a push to know; my father didn't care although he did identify the occupation of this possible father which does assist with pinpointing him. I suspect this lack of interest stems from my grandmother having been raised in a loving family by her own mother and before her mother married she lived with her maternal grandparents and their youngest children so very much a loved part of the family. 

One is left to wonder; should I put time into this or wait until someone writes to me from her father's line as some of the matches are quite large? I suspect I will continue to just work away on the matches as they come in and continue filling out my phasing chart. I am considering moving back to my great grandparents and see if I am able to work on their phased DNA. I have a lot of matches and looking at the phased charts for the grandparents this is beginning to look quite feasible. 

In the meantime, the world waits for Russia to get out of Ukraine where they have no right to be. They are dragging the Belarusians in once again and I suspect that most of them do not want to be involved - they may feel that they will be next to feel the bombs of Russia's military as Putin tries to reconstitute the Soviet Union with himself as the warlord. I am sure that no one wants to be a slave in Putin's empire especially as he regards only people like him as "real" Russians and all the rest as second class people to be used as he wishes. 

I still wonder about that God moment when the bridge was like a huge inferno; I would think that only a very inside job could have done that - did Russia blow up their own bridge to justify bombing civilian areas once again (except it was an even bigger inferno than probably intended - God's work likely) - is this the butcher of Syria at work? Some Russians are sick animals and one knows what needs to be done with sick animals.

Has God spoken?

Is the downing of the Kerch Strait Bridge an act of God? Has God finally spoken to us once again. So much happened at once; it was like a God moment. I wonder about that. Russia is so wrong to invade a sovereign country; it goes against everything we have supported in the last 77 years since World War II ended. I see the Russians are still bombing civilians in Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine indiscriminately.

So sad to see that bombing at any time but especially at Thanksgiving.

More work on DNA matches

Continuing with my work on the accumulated DNA matches from the different testing companies - 23 and Me, My Heritage, Ancestry and FT DNA. Living DNA does not yet, at least last time I looked, do actual chromosome matching. Surprisingly all of the matches thus far have been in my Blake family. Some of them are quite large considering that they are fourth cousin or greater. But I do have collapsing pedigree (and huge families) with my Knight family (my great grandmother Blake was a Knight).  

Exercises all completed yesterday and 15 thousand steps. It has been wet so not outside walking which eliminates perhaps 3000 steps or more. Gives my foot a rest though which isn't a bad thing probably. I will soon be out there walking about again. 

I think that Russia is starting to come apart a little and the damage to the Kerch Bridge is coming from within. Getting out of Ukraine would be their best plan; it is cruel what the Russian army is doing there - murdering and raping Ukrainian children, women and men; committing genocide daily. Regroup Russian people and think about all the Russian peoples and how they can best revive the real country of Russia which is an ancient country and should be one of the leaders in terms of scientific and educational advances and not war mongering in Ukraine - their cousins. The present Russian leadership is destroying the country of Peter the Great who wanted Russia to become like the rest of Europe and especially France which he loved and respected.

Finally a good working day

Yesterday was a good working day - finally the brain has worked its way back into what I actually want to spend my time thinking about. I did like what the Finland Prime Minster said though about an off ramp for Putin - get out of Ukraine; that is the off ramp. Look to your east Putin; eastern Russia might soon become northern China and you wondered who your friends were. We didn't want you to lose all those soldiers and equipment in Ukraine weakening your military ability. NATO is not your enemy; it does appear that you are your own worst enemy.

I will say the Chinese people seem to be much better off economically than the Russian people. But autocracy is a pain to most of the people; democracy just has the problem of ignorant people who do not respect the rights of the rest of the people in a democracy. 

On to the day and more work to be done.

 

Russian Draft Dodgers in Alaska

Risking coming across the Bering Strait in this weather, two young Russians have sought refuge from Putin's illegal war in Ukraine. How sad for Russia and a lesson to the rest of the world do not let demagogues undermine your political freedoms by being pretty people. They are only in it for themselves and the people who support them behind the scenes. The future of the world is dependent on peace so that prosperity can reign supreme in the entire world. Wanting in the present to not support the country as a whole is an indication of that type of warped theory that individual areas should have more control and give less in money (it is always about money) to support the country itself. Alberta has proven to be an example of that with their newest demagogue wanting to reset Confederation - except Alberta didn't exist at Confederation; we, Canada, created Alberta as a province and first and foremost the treaties and the rights of First Nations must be protected. The land in Alberta is Canada not the other way around

On to work today; I have been too busy thinking about politics and world events. Yesterday I had an email from the Conservative Party. I was a proud supporter of the Conservative Party for most of my life. But the current leader finally convinced me with his rhetoric in the past that this was not the party for me. Attacking a leader for what his mother and brother do isn't Canadian although I have not heard him say that for awhile I expect in the next campaign he will rant and rave about that again. I want the government to get into the business of climate change and what we need to do to help to diminish that effect and to build up the military. The last Conservative government claimed they would support the military but ended up destroying so many sections of government that I have lost count. Balancing the budget on the backs of tossing out old libraries and reduction of military equipment is ridiculous. Balance it by not wasting. I do not claim that the Liberals are any better. They simply do not annoy me as much. 

I think I have done all I can do on the Kipp Newsletter at the moment so will move on to the new matches (amazingly 85) to put them into my bookkeeping system and the Siderfin Book which I have meant to get back to for a while. 

 

Yesterday seemed liked a challenging day

Not sure why, but yesterday seemed like a challenging day. Perhaps today can lead us towards a more peaceful existence. This thought that there always has to be friction in the world seems weird and foreign to me as espoused by the Nazi Putin. Perhaps it is growing up in the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War was fought when I was young but it never went to a World War so to speak. The destruction left by the Second World War was perhaps the deterrent. But people have forgotten those miles and miles of bombed out places although we are getting a constant reminder with the war in Ukraine but it is still an isolated war with all of the manpower in these wars being the Ukrainians fighting for their homeland/freedom from Nazi terror and the Russian Nazis fighting to take their homeland away from them and committing horrendous war crimes in the process and to enslave them as a second class peoples like quite a few of the people in Russia are now. The elite in Russia appear to get everything and the second class citizens get to go to war and be slaughtered. That really is the way that it looks from the outside. But that isn't the way life should flow according to the evolution of man through time. Life should be affordable and there for everyone. That was what Runnymede was all about in 1216 in England. Democracy first showed itself there in England and of course we have democracy in Greece in an earlier time frame. That was the pinnacle of achievement for man; having the right to be his own master. It should be the pinnacle of achievement still - the right to be in charge of your life within the laws of your country. That was what Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev wanted for the Russian people - freedom. But Putin believes that Russia should be constantly at war and attaining the widest borders that it can achieve all the way back to the Soviet Union at the end of the Second World War - but that is enslavement of millions of people. What right does Russia or any country have to do that in our new modern world - none. We must continue to arm Ukraine and give "tit for tat" if Russia uses a nuclear device or causes an existing nuclear device to detonate by bombing it or otherwise. As a people we owe it to ourselves to revenge ourselves and the generations to follow, if they survive, if the Russians do commit the sin of nuclear war (even limited nuclear detonations affect the entire world as the nuclear waste goes everywhere in the wind). 

Today I must settle into the Kipp Newsletter. Not much done yesterday in terms of that but lots of exercise as it turned out.

Tit for Tat

Sad to say it but I think if Russia uses a tactical nuclear device or any nuclear weapon in Ukraine or elsewhere in the democracies then it is tit for tat - pick a spot in Russia and give them one back and for the nuclear waste in our atmosphere all around the world create a ten kilometre dead zone (no foliage, no people, nothing) along the border between Ukraine and Russia (and also Belarus since they think helping Russia is a good idea). Nuclear waste creates a hazard for people all over the world as it drifts across. But one hopes that it doesn't come to that. Putin is behaving like a two year old and hopefully his enablers can manage him unless they all have a death wish in which case we already know what happens in a nuclear war - the planet, if it survives, goes back to the Stone Age and evolution begins once again. Hopefully enough is left of our history for the ones who may follow us to see that a good life can be had by everyone if they live in peace. If the Russians like their autocrat then that is their problem but do not let it become our problem by attacking a free sovereign nation and forcing us to provide them with the tools to defend themselves (we have a long history of helping people attacked by land grabbing nazis including China in the 30s, Russia in the 40s and Ukraine in the 20s (and there are other instances)). If the Chinese autocrat thinks it is nice to support Putin by claiming that NATO is the problem, then that becomes the Chinese people's problem. We could just stop buying their goods. NATO has not and never will be the problem. We are a defensive organization protecting the countries that prefer freedom to autocracy. 

Could it be that some people believe Nostradamus?

I mean some of his predictions were amazing but he hasn't been right 100% of the time; closer to 2/3rds perhaps but maybe those odds are good enough to be an alternate court in some people's minds. But to make it about race is probably a mistake after all the first wife of Henry VIII was bi-racial so not a first in the Royal Family as was Queen Charlotte married to King George III (although there appears to be some disagreement with that). Remembering the gauntlet that was run by Kate; I actually thought that Megan Markle had it easy. Kate was after all living outside of the Palace with no protection. But taking Harry away from the people of England; their prized prince whether or not he did it because he wanted to go or not isn't well regarded to put it mildly. Britain claims their royalty as their own and do not take well to anyone coming between their royalty and them. But then there is always Nostradamus to pin your hopes on! I think that Harry coming back though would end the Commonwealth. After all he spent three months whining in Canada and did nothing here for Canada and we did provide protection. King Charles III then Prince William and then Prince George and his heirs (or one of his siblings and their heirs whatever happens). That is definitely the way to go; goodbye Prince Harry.  Interesting to see if Harry has all of his titles stripped eventually; after all he did attack the Royal family and his comments were pretty lame to put it mildly.  The Royal Family is after all a family not a sitcom.

On to the day. Must work on the Kipp Newsletter - it is so much more difficult than my own newsletters and will likely take me the entire month to put it together. 

Thinking back on my thoughts of doing coursework on Autism, I may actually go ahead with that. I could do volunteer work with Autism in group settings. The coursework I did on Group Therapy would come in handy as I never really went beyond that one course as my cousin dragged me into working on my Pincombe family as he needed a Profile for them in the Wesrminster Township History Book. He already had fourty that he had to write as all of the family for those people had moved on and out of contact I presume - never asked. So I did take it on although took just a little more persuading than that! Getting into the Pincombe family history and then DNA testing becoming available I became completely submerged in that especially, after the Profile was done and published, the DNA work which has consumed me for the last sixteen years and continues to do so. But I could do the coursework on Autism starting in the Fall so will definitely look into that once again. Autism is an interesting quirk of human nature giving one very deep perception into particularly numerical types of work (for some) but the social side of autism doesn't really exist as one's mind is just too busy working on such fascinating things that you just never get around to being sociable although one still does do social things on occasion.

Northern Lights

 Checked for Northern Lights last night but did not spot them. Perhaps tonight we might see them or not at all. I do love the Northern Lights. All of these natural phenomena are everything they are cracked up to be. It is sad that some countries (Russia in particular) have no interest in preserving our world in as much as we are able. It is strange really as they, like other northern nations, have the most to lose as the earth warms being a country close to the North Pole. But they are too busy trying to steal land and riches with no consideration for the peoples of that country namely Ukraine. Claiming that NATO is at fault is really quite wrong. NATO has not been an aggressive group. They simply try to keep the peace; too bad that Russia doesn't do the same. But they are Nazi thieves. We have seen what they did in 1945 as they stormed through Eastern Europe destroying as they went and laying claim to great swathes of land which they only let go because the Soviet Union fell apart because of greed and neglect and an ill timed war in Afghanistan. Russia rots from within because her people do not stand up to despots and crooks and make a better life for themselves. 

We in the Western Hemisphere want peace; we are tired of the wars of the Eastern Hemisphere that destroy our world. As we helped China in the 1930s and Russia in the 1940s so we help Ukraine in the 2020s as each was invaded by a Nazi regime bent on horror and destruction in their land grabs. Putin and his enablers are disgusting monsters.

Interesting all this discussion on prince and princess titles in the Royal Family of Britain. The cost of providing protection to HRHs is huge; we paid a large amount to protect Harry and Meghan when they stayed here for nearly three months after "quitting" the Royal Family. Why should protection be provided to children who live half way around the world; it really doesn't matter if they are in line for the throne; that shouldn't be the key reason as there are lots of people in line for the throne. Unless they are doing work for the Crown then they shouldn't be supported. I think Charles is smart to make the working royals group small and compact after all he has three more royals growing up in England who are already, on occasion, doing the work of Royals there and the years pass quickly. Personally given that Harry and Meghan did not make an effort to bring themselves and their children to Balmoral weekend with the Queen when she was obviously very weak then I think they really shouldn't be included in the distribution of titles after all they left the Royal Family willingly and in haste but still managed to come to England to do "their charity work." There is a lot of work that goes into being a Royal (and one notes they do it for the reigning monarch not themselves) and being on the other side of the globe bad-mouthing the Royal family isn't Royal work.

New Picture of King Charles, Prince of Wales and their wives

Loved the new picture of King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince and Princess of Wales. Their smiles were so unlike their usual warm smiles as this was the night before the State Funeral but I am sure they were thinking of posterity and that glum faces for their first picture together would just be a constant forever sad reminder of the loss of Queen Elizabeth, their mother and grandmother so their small composed smiles were good to see. It is a beautiful picture to give to the British people (and the Commonwealth if not also the world which also enjoys seeing them) at this time of sorrow. It is a picture of the future and for the future. 

Monday again and the beginning of a new work week. Yesterday I had this sudden thought as my time here may draw to a close since I am occupying the guest bedroom that I could go back to work. Really health wise I have mostly recovered my stamina and my nervous condition now appears to be, given my age of 77 years, back under control. A basement apartment doesn't work for me with my arthritis. I will miss being with my grandchildren absolutely for sure but they are growing up with busy lives and I do not wish to be in the way. We will see if my suggestion of my putting a Grandparent Pod in their backyard would work. There are some quite nice small ones that are just really one room with a sleeping area and a living/dining area and then a small bathroom with a shower. That way I could still see the boys every day for a short time. Owning a house here at 77 years of age is something that I could not possibly take on.  I just need a spot for my computer and my books and that isn't a lot actually. I have all that in a small corner of the room I am in now. Time will tell on that. 

If I did go back to work, or perhaps do a volunteer job that has regular hours so that I feel like it is a job that is needed, if/when I return to my home for most of the time then that would work well for me likely. Volunteerism is something I did as a teenager; I used to be a visitor at Parkwood Hospital (now a senior retirement living centre) when I was a teenager. I started out visiting a friend of my grandmother's daughter who had multiple sclerosis and then after her mother was also admitted I visited her as well. Gradually I did visit with other people over the time that I was a visitor. It was interesting work and did inspire me to go into medicine although I did not follow that inspiration getting married instead it does appear. I was just very young at that time (twenty years of age when we married) and didn't really have concrete thoughts on how my life might flow. My interest in medicine mostly stemmed from my desire to be a medical missionary to Africa. That was a very long time ago now. 

Today I continue with the  Kipp Newsletter that I started yesterday.

 

Working on the next newsletter

Spent the early part of the morning finishing up the cleaning I started on Friday after everyone was off to the cottage. The cat and I spent the weekend together and it was a quiet pleasant interlude. At 77 I find that I am very relaxed about life. Waking up in the morning is a wonderful new day and God is in it making it quite perfect. I do not think that God will ever leave us but I also do not believe that He interferes in the flow of our lives. Although I do believe that in the end His vengeance is still there. That is how this world of mine flows actually. As a cog in a huge machine we can do very little to affect how that wheel turns but if we try to live the best life that we can then we help to keep it running smoothly and that is really what life is about making it a smooth curve to live on.  

Church on YouTube today. Even when I am at home I do not go into the City to Church. I thought that I would but I do not; it is so much nicer on YouTube. As an old person I simply do not need the stimulation of people around me; my memories serve me very well in that regard plus I do a lot of writing and my lovely next door neighbours so very very helpful. I didn't really know them very well before Edward passed away as he used to talk to them and I just worked away on my transcription and newsletters.

Starting up the next issue of the Kipp Newsletter (Number 4 and the last for volume 1). As always it is a struggle to work on it. I really would like to get all of his research published and that continues to drive my thinking. I do enjoy my own newsletters more though I must admit. I really do not know any Kipp family members other than Edward's niece so it does seem odd that I would take it on but I feel that he would like me to do this and so I am committed to do what I can. 

A beautiful sunny day today although was just 4 degrees celsius when I got up this morning. A fresh crisp morning is such a treat really.

Blake Newsletter published on the Blake yDNA study at FT DNA

The latest issue of the Blake Newsletter is on the website. This is the last issue of Volume 11 and on to Volume 12. Quite unbelievable really. One reward that I gained was looking at a tree on WikiTree and an individual had made note of Somerby's errors with the Nicholas Blake family of Andover and mentioned them whilst showing his own line in Somerset. The news has gotten out which is great; correcting these errors is very very important. 

As the world turns where do we go from here. Russia has now made a fraudulent claim to lands of Eastern Ukraine which belong to Ukraine as a sovereign nation. Putin says he will defend that claim with any means at his disposal including nuclear. No regard for his own soldiers; the soldiers of Ukraine or the people living there who have not been able to flee mostly because Putin's military keeps attacking escape convoys. The Ukraine response to the illegal steal of land is to apply to join NATO - they are smart to do that. Putin could have had a neutral Ukraine but he is greedy and ignorant. He claims that the Soviet Union's downfall was NATO but the truth is the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union - the loss of military people, equipment and the costs of the invasion brought down the Soviet Union. Putin is destroying Russia - the Russia of Peter the Great - by his illegal war against Ukraine (a sovereign state). As punishment for breaking international law the veto power of Russia in the Security Council should be removed until Russia proves itself worthy to once again hold a veto power. They are a danger to the world but especially to their neighbours with their threats of nuclear detonations.  Putin is like a two year old child screaming that he wants something. Does he also have dementia along with a host of other illnesses that people mention? Anyone who behaves like a two year old definitely should not be managing a country full of people but as always that is for the Russian people to decide - are they all so greedy that they thirst for blood even knowing that the destruction of the world is at stake? Running away doesn't help Russia; defend Russia and her right to be a country where all of her citizens have rights and not just the lapdogs of Putin. 

On to the next Newsletter and it is the fourth issue of the Kipp Newsletter. I remain ambivalent about this Newsletter; I am doing it in memory of my husband and his research knowing that I have not been an active participant in his research for over a decade. Initially my only forays into genealogy were helping him look items up in repositories and recording gravestones but as DNA hit the shelves I found that I was interested in my parent's surnames - my sister does the family genealogy so have not put much into that unless I need it to understand matches. Her tree is huge compared to mine and she enjoys doing that. I can always look at her tree as need may be!