Half Way through the first week after Cataract Surgery - Day Four

Yesterday was busy as I went shopping for a short time just to pick up some things that I wanted. The eyesight continues to be satisfactory in the operated eye. Interesting that the shadow that I had in that eye seems to be absent but time will tell on that. I have hazel eyes but the blue eye ring is larger I think but again will wait on that. As the days pass though I must admit that having both eyes done at the same time would have worked well for me but again I can understand why the movement to one eye at a time was made. From a viewpoint of getting more people to the operating table one eye at a time does look like more people. Perhaps the idea will change in that regard when there is less pressure on the system. Being literally incapacitated for six to eight weeks though is a long time. There will not likely be any kayaking this summer for me although I will miss the walking on the beach more perhaps but do not want to risk sudden wind gusts throwing sand into my eyes. 

Over 16,000 steps yesterday again and will keep that up to help to achieve some sort of a fitness level until I can once again take on my aerobic exercises. The quiet time though is nice I must admit. I will continue mostly at home enjoying the swing outside and the lovely spring flowers as they come and go. 

Prayers again for all those in war zones created by in particular Russia in Ukraine and Hamas in Gaza. Both are responsible for many deaths and destruction now. Neither of these war zones needed to happen but greed, hatred, jealousy dominate my thoughts as to why they continue to be war zones. 

Thank you God for the beauty of the world that you have given me eyes to see with and enjoy. God is all about us and we should be more respectful of His earth and everything in it. 

Third Day was progressive after Cataract Surgery

 My eye has cleared and continues to improve. Interesting really to have better vision in that eye and will see if it lasts. I am after all just over three months from my 79th birthday. Still tire easily but 12,000 + steps per day is a lot of walking even if it is just around the house. 

I did go outside for a brief time into the back yard to have a look at the radishes already pushing their way through the soil. Possibly other plants but will wait on that before being sure. 

Still not going to spend time on the computer though to give my eyes a good rest. 

Prayers for those trapped in war zones created by Russia in Ukraine and Hamas in Gaza/Israel. It would be so very nice to see peace in the Middle East and that can only happen if Hamas is gone from Gaza. Hamas threaten Israel with genocide.

Day 2 after Cataract Surgery

Managed my morning drops so that was a step forward. Yesterday was a lot of walking about 16000 steps. Worked on the computer too much and strained my other eye. Today will be a non computer day. 

Prayers continuing for the trapped people in Papua New Guinea. Prayers for the people caught in war zones. 

Cataract Surgery - Day One

I arrived an hour early for my cataract surgery. I opted to take a taxi in as my daughter was busy in the morning but would come and pick me up after the surgery. Not too early though as all the procedural work was completed soon after my arrival which was great. I managed to get my 250 steps an hour by quietly taking a short walk each hour of sitting. Into the pre-op area and everyone was so very efficient from the first nurse who interviewed me and put drops in my eyes to the last one who showed me the way to the clinic area for a quick visit with the surgeon before being discharged to home. Home again just after 2:00 having arrived at 10:00 am. I was extremely tense; hospitals are not the place where I ever like to be as a patient if I can avoid that. But the whole process was so streamlined that relaxation gradually crept into me and I was able to quietly record in my mind all the details. My only regret is not having both of them done at the same time especially afterwards as I was able to get up and go home without assistance on my feet. My eye did not have any pain and we actually went to the hospital pharmacy and bought the eye drops before heading home. Heavy rain, lightning and thunder all day actually but it did not create any problems for me. 

The first thing I did notice though was my ability to see further back on the right side (my right eye was operated on). Having lived an entire life where I had to turn my head to see further than about 75 degrees on the one side seeing the entire window at the back at the same time as I could see the entire window at the front of my small house was amazing.  The other incredible feature was the brightness of the vision. If I closed my good eye then the colours were so much brighter looking out of my right eye - white was really dazzling white instead of the sort of off white I have gotten used to the last few years - the effect of the cataracts I guess. My vision is still fuzzy but I can actually see these letters as I type with my normal glasses (not reading lenses) so already a plus and it is just the beginning of day two when I reach about noon. Three sets of drops in the eyes and the only problem I have is not having enough strength to get any drops out of the first bottle, I think the other two I can manage on my own but my daughter is here to do all of that and I am most grateful for her help. 

The ophthalmologist had said I might see better and indeed I may. My brain will need time to reprocess how this eye sees and that will likely wait until the second eye is operated on. There is a possibility it might be one week sooner and will wait and see on that as he mentioned he had a cancellation. We will see if I am lucky and get that cancellation other wise it will be towards the end of the month. I can see why they only do the one eye as it is gives them a good flow through at the hospital taking up just 15 minutes of surgery time for each case. When you double the operating time then that gives fewer breaks to the staff in between cases. Plus you get more patients in on each OR day. I took his comments to mean that my lens was simply inadequate at birth and at that time these sort of surgeries were not done. It is a gift to children now to be able to correct their strabismus at a young age and improve on the sight God has given to them. 

Back to resting the eyes. 

Prayers for the people trapped by the land slide in Papua, New Guinea - 2000 feared to be under the slide..

Hamas strikes Tel Aviv

The terrorist Hamas has struck Tel Aviv once again with rocket fire. Just because Israel can defend itself doesn't mean that they cannot take aggressive action against these terrorists. The Palestinian people deserve far more than Hamas will ever let them have. Stand up Palestinians and take back this land that was given to you; make it work for you and create a heritage for your children. Do not let it be the burial ground of your children. The land has much promise and you can bring it to flower; Hamas is killing your children. 

Cherry red tomatoes are in the ground and the planting of the bedding plants begins. Once that task is completed then the lawn can get some care and the hedge - the rest of the black earth goes there. We have nearly finished our task although weeding is ahead as always whilst we wait to see the plants grow. Not a gardener by any means but there is a simple pleasure in the growing of food; knowing you grew it and collecting up the harvest. Then preparing that harvest for the evening meal - it is a very relaxing way of life. I am of course convincing myself because my daughter does love to garden. And it is true that gardening is very good exercise and probably saves money although by the time you add up the earth, the plants I do wonder about that but have always kept that thought to myself. But then I am retired so time is no longer money!

Continuing with the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter and it is the 27th, Five more days to publication. 

On to the day and it is cataract surgery day so no breakfast. It is strange to be looking forward to this surgery but it has been a long time getting organized but now the first surgery day has arrived and everything is ready. Taxi to the hospital and then picked up later when the surgery is done. My father, I have his eyes apparently according to our ophthalmologist at that time, felt the surgery went very well as he could read his cross word puzzles and do them way into his 80s and that was fourty years ago! He actually lived to be 94 years, 4 months and  six days. On the 21st of December we traveled to see him as my mother had said he was not doing well. We wanted to say goodbye in person and December was, in those days (1998) the usual wintry mess but it was important. I spent most of the day the 22nd with him and he was very weak but his eyes still had that bright luster of my childhood and he was happy to see us. Edward and the girls went off to take my mother shopping and they spent the day together doing that. Then back home the next day but one could see that soon the phone would ring to tell us that he had passed. It was one of the only times that Edward spoke to me about dying (his brother had died two years earlier) and he didn't want to be alone he said and he was not. We were all there with him that last evening and he was content. 

I would say that my eyes are ready for sure; my sight is not what it was but the reading glasses are too strong now for me to use them any length of time. My regular glasses let me read with a good consistency. We will see how it all goes. 

On to the day.

Gardening moving ahead

 Garden all planted with respect to seeds/onions and even cucumber bedding plants. The fence is now up but a little short so had to put in an old plastic one. Will contemplate buying another length of chicken wire! 

The bedding plants await the all clear generally given by the moon it would appear but the beds are ready now to receive and need about four or five days to settle. Rain is expected so planting will commence towards the end of this week likely. Then we just weed. I have done a lot of weeding this year although I still have some clumps where I am not sure which is the weed and must wait for a little sign to help me along the path. I need to weed the back two beds as they have not yet been touched but I do know what is  there; just timewise I haven't done it. The rhubarb is growing nicely anyways in spite of the weeds!

The lawns are all cut now as the dandelion season is mostly over and the bees have had free reign of the yard during that entire month. I didn't see the suggestion this year to leave the dandelions but decided to do that anyway. Just 1/3 of the second bag of earth left now but we have places where we want to put it. There is one length of fence to put up and perhaps the end of this week that will get done. Then enjoy the summer with kayaking and walking most days unless we have smoke in which case we will do our walking indoors. 

A little done of the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter. I am into the YDNA analysis and deciding what to write. The rest has pretty much written itself. Will have it done on time to post it on the 1st of June likely on the FT DNA Pincombe-Pinkham yDNA study page. 

The day progresses and it is Sunday. Church on You Tube in the Trelawny Benefice in Cornwall. This is Trinity Sunday in the Church of England. Although I really do like it when my own Church (Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa) is online this journey through England has been most amazing. We spent a couple of days in Cornwall (neither Edward nor I have any ancestors from Cornwall) on one of our tours of the British Isles. One of the days the bus was going to a fun place that didn't interest us a lot so we decided to stay on the property where we were boarding for that couple of days. The walks in that area were fabulous and we did that instead. 

The air quality is good today at 18 and it will be cloudy but tomorrow will be heavy rain which is great for the garden. Possible rain a number of days this week. 

Thank you God for the beauty of the earth and all that is in it. Help Homo sapiens to become good caretakers of this world and stop wasting its goodness (Russia and Hamas take note).

Breakfast completed and time to do my latin.

Gardening is a very detailed experience

Not quite as much accomplished as I had hoped but gardening is a precise experience. My husband normally organized all of the details and we followed his commands so to speak planting here and there as requested although he generally spread any seeds. The seeds embedded in lengths of fine cotton are marvelous and we did try to find as many seed tapes as we could. So one part planted including the cucumber bedding plants which we covered last night as it was just 8 degrees celsius here last night. Today we complete the task and put up the fence around the garden. 

Plant a few more of the bedding plants just because they are ready to go in and we can always cover them if it is too cold. Frost still a danger into early June here. More fresh earth to move today and then that task will be to finish off the seeds planting. 

Yesterday I weeded the iris plants and they are now blooming. They are fairly easy to tell by shape but time stood in the way somewhat. I also finished adding fresh earth to the front garden. I moved a couple of Starry Solomon Seal plants to the back and will see if they survive. If they do I will move more as the plant is expanding into the hosta area at the front. 

The Tree specialist came and he will do the Linden tree and the cedar so that will be nice to have that freshened up for the summer. My neighbour organized that which I most appreciate.  I did try to trim the cedar but it is a huge task and I am not able to manage the trimmer that my husband used to trim that bush. The maple tree at the back shed its dead branches so will be able to just leave it for this year anyway. 

Having grown up in the shadow of World War II, my attitudes were formed on the basis of the newsreels at the theatres which told the stories of the world occurring around me (and the comments of my close relatives). Real pictures of actual true happenings were painted on those screens as they happened not the stories that we get now a days that are conjured up by terrorists to attempt to direct history. Evil strides through our lives these days and we must be careful not to be dragged into Evil like some of the young people at our universities with their faces shrouded in foreign scarves. The deaths of all of these young children in Gaza could have been avoided by sending them out of Gaza but that did not happen and I put the blame for all these deaths squarely on Hamas and their barbaric attack on Israel on the 7th of October last. I am a respecter of heritage but it belongs at home not on the public areas of our universities in a flagrant way that accomplishes nothing and causes destruction of property. I will be glad to see all of these campuses cleared and soon. Youth does not get to dictate on the basis of the lies which they are spouting about Israel. The hate language is unacceptable and should be prosecuted. This is Canada with its rich heritage brought forward by the First Peoples for us to learn and discover. There is much that we can learn from the First Peoples. 

Another day on God's beautiful earth and the opportunity to do so is something for which I am always grateful to God. He is in the wind that blows through the trees and the sun that shines in the day and the moon and stars at night.  All that we are comes from God and in time returns to God. Thank you God for all that you have given us. Help us to keep Evil out of our world. The path is ever difficult as people are influenced by terrorists rather than looking at the situation and realizing that no one can live in some circumstances that threaten their very existence. Peace in our time has been the wish through all of my life but there always seem to arise Evil people who are selfish and think only of themselves and how they want the world to go for their benefit and not the benefit of the majority. 

Breakfast and it is garbage day so must get the recycling out to the street. I store it in the freezer until the day of pickup. Continuing to work on the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter today along with the gardening.

Many peoples thoughts and minds dwell in the past - the search for the evolution of language

Another interesting article caught my eye yesterday and it was discussing the evolution of language and whether or not its source could be found in the creating of flints (sharp edged pieces of stone acquired by striking a rock in a particular way - flintknapping). Truly a fascinating article in The Atlantic (credit to Kike Calvo of Associated Press).  Those of us who have had the extreme pleasure of spending 100% of our time with our baby (or it could be someone else's baby) from birth to adulthood (and mostly I was never away from my children except when I was ill for a short period when my oldest was young) have watched this miracle of language erupt from a child. We have watched as they grew and their brains grew with them and I just never thought in the terms expressed by this article in a possible scenario in which language emerged. I thought the "Secrets of the Neanderthals" on Netflix was interesting in that they actually have language being used by the characters portraying Neanderthals.

My oldest daughter quite shocked me when she repeated at the age of three months "little girl." I had said it to her pretty constantly from the time when she was born. No reason why; just amazed at having a baby after a miscarriage a couple of years earlier. Soon so many more words which I actually recorded but the first words were so unexpected at the time but the human brain is still a mystery I suspect in many ways not having been involved in that type of research at any time in my life. Amazingly as the baby grows so does the head and the more facts and information that you expose a child to the more they absorb, learn and then the questions start to emerge around ten months in her case. All children are different as my second child's forays into language began differently but life was busier and I had less time to sit there and talk to a baby whenever she was awake. 

I now have my surgery time which was a wondrous happening as right out of the blue I was called a day early. I told the person that they had absolutely made my day. Great news though as I was beginning to wonder what the time would be. The recovery period appears to be around two months since you are not supposed to go and get new glasses until that time period has passed. I have this all planned out so that I get my glasses in late summer. It will be an unusual summer for me not being deeply immersed in books so to speak except generally I am reading them on the computer screen these days. I hope to continue my Latin daily with the help of my daughter but it will be more verbal than read. Since my Latin has taken on a new life with my really getting into this idea of speaking and putting sentences together it should be a rather interesting time. 

Bedding plants found and purchased and today we plant the garden with seeds and bulbs as is relevant. There is also someone coming to give a quote on cutting dead branches out of my tree out front and trimming the globe cedar. So a busy time ahead. 

Exercises and then breakfast as the day moves forward. Thank you God for the beauty of the world around us. Too bad it is marred by the bitterness of Iran as they support terrorism around the world. One wonders what is the aim of Iran in supporting Russia except they see it as a way to eliminate the white race whom they hate by getting NATO and Russia to destroy each other (the loss of Muslim lives in these countries is a price that Iran will happily pay to rid the world of non-Muslims). Russia doesn't see that and I am not sure that China does either. The Iranian leader is a very disturbed individual - orders young women beaten to death for simply not wearing a hijab as commanded. Very sick.

The day goes forward.

Progress on the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter

 I will continue with the Newsletter today along with outside work. Today it looks like rain with air quality 43 (there is a lot of pollen in the air and perhaps some smoke although I can not smell any). However rain isn't showing on the forecast and I must admit it looks a little brighter out there so likely the cloud and sun as promised. 

The new pier to Gaza is working with aid going in but 1/3rd of it is being looted on its way to the UN warehouse. I wonder who is stealing it? Possibly Hamas as they only care about themselves. But none the less all of that food is going into Gaza which is important. It will increase likely unless the UN decides that they will not transport it. We will see. Presumably it would be impossible for Hamas to resell the food at this point in time to exchange it for weapons. The Canadian Press has an article saying that the Supreme Leader Khamenei of Iran met with Hamas leader Haniyeh presumably at the funeral for the Iranians who died in the helicopter crash earlier in the week. Apparently S L Khamenei says that elimination of Israel is still feasible and likely he ordered the shooting down of the Canadian plane in Tehran. How sick that man is to murder all those Canadians - children, women and men; how warped he is to say that this is a promise to them that only the Muslims (his brand of Islam) will survive in this world. What a sick minded person he is. Although I am not in favour of cheering when people die I can understand why Iranians around the world cheered the deaths this past week of these Iranians who died in the helicopter crash. Nazis once again in our world with their sick twisted minds.

My surgery date for cataract approaches. I must admit that I am starting to see the effect of the cataracts on my eyes. As my older sister said it comes on gradually so it is time to get that done for sure. It is mostly the effect of the sun on my eyes I think as my eyes still seem to be the same in subdued light. 

I shall keep a running commentary on my recovery. I can always talk to word as I had that set up when I tore my rotator cuff and couldn't type easily. 

Another beautiful day on God's earth enjoying His bountiful gifts to us. The spread of green trees increasing daily and I wonder if the end of the summer will see most of the sky covered by trees around me. All of this rain is definitely good for the trees after last year's dry summer. But it does block out the sun for the growing crops unfortunately. When we first moved here there were no trees around us and the garden was three times as big as it now is. Edward did love gardening; part of that was his father was a farmer and perhaps there was a section in his deep conscious that remembered his father taking him out to the barn and the fields with him every day of his life until his father's sudden death at 45 years of age (and Edward was two years and two months of age). The rewards to him of living a little of the life of his father was important to him both the gardening all of our married life until he couldn't garden and being treasurer at Orleans United Church for most of ten years. I always thought it was a good way to remember someone lost to you that you can not actually recall in your mind. 

Must get to scanning Edward's thesis and will do that as my eyes recover from the surgeries over the next couple of months. That is pretty easy work and once I can work with paper and not be concerned that it will be too dusty then I can get started. The thesis itself is a science thesis so not really long but packed with all sorts of interesting facts that have been repeated thousands of times probably now in other labs but his original work was cited long after he started to work at NRC in various journals around the world. That was a good feeling for him when my oldest daughter made him aware of all of his citations. Both my husband and and daughter with their PhDs. They had lovely conversations through the years and I would say that I can still  see disappointment in her eyes that he is not here when she comes home but that is love for sure. 

Thank you God for the beauty of the earth. Each day I pray that those who rip our world apart with their Nazi ways will see that they are wrong and bring us to peace once again - Russia out of Ukraine and Hamas out of Gaza. Then we can move forward in peace and solve Climate Change so that this world will be there for all the great great grandchildren to run on the beaches and swim in the waters of this wonderful world. They can hike in the great forests and hear the birds sing as I did as a child. I miss that enormous chorus of birds when one is out and about. I can hear them now but there just are not enough of them; they are dying. 

Breakfast time and then latin. I think for the moment my green tea is agitating me and will stick with my most favourite drink which is water for a bit!

Pincombe Newsletter today

 I will work on the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter today. A few ideas already so should not take too long to put it together. 

Moved a few more plants yesterday growing up in a hosta and gave them a new home on the other side of the yard. They are pretty and have journeyed from next door. Heavy rain yesterday will help to bring the clay and the black earth together ready for planting towards the end of the week when the rain stops! Some weeding to do; the weeds are certainly persistent and strong!

The rain for today is no more but it will be windy apparently and 31 degrees celsius. Friday might be a good planting day although Thursday also interesting. Time will tell. Have not yet found our bedding plants so that will be another quest in the week. 

Other than that the day has begun for me. God's gift of the world much appreciated. We try in the Western Hemisphere to be the God-loving, God-fearing people that God wanted us to be. It does show I think as we go through our daily lives. In numbers I would suspect the Roman Catholic Church has the largest following. My Anglican Church (Episcopal Church in the United States) is smaller in this Hemisphere as many of the adherents live in Africa and the United Kingdom of course so in the Eastern Hemisphere. Protestantism is very large in the United States. The Muslim faith is smaller here than in the Eastern Hemisphere but there are many large mosques here. 

Our job is really to live the faith and pass the faith on all the while living our lives. God remains the most remembered of all peoples in the history of mankind. We watched the Secrets of the Neanderthal yesterday and the information shared was quite fascinating. Our cousins as we share up to 3% of our DNA with Homo neanderthalensis. They lived for 300,000 years at least and the proposal that they died from Climate Change most fascinating. Presumably they were not responsible for the Climate Change that was their Achilles heel. Climate Change is our biggest problem but it is hard to get the guns to stop so that we can concentrate on that (Russia and Hamas (Iran) take note as you are the problems). 

Breakfast and then Latin. The day slightly different.

The ICC

I shall contemplate whether or not to publish this blog on the ICC but it doesn't really say anything more than I have been saying. Just repeats and regroups the text actually into a concise couple of paragraphs. My support for Israel is unwavering in all of this; their ability to survive as a country and as a Jewish people has been threatened and remains threatened. That I prefer not to see all those children die in Gaza goes along with that but the adults had a choice and have a choice. Release the hostages immediately and unconditionally as the International Court of Justice demanded four months ago Hamas. Hamas is in the wrong. 

Although I do agree with the thoughts of the ICC regarding the population of Gaza and their current state as being an absolute horror in our civilization I do find it impossible to judge Israel or its leaders as one of the culprits,  I do feel that Hamas is totally at fault and the support they have received around the world including in my own country on the very day that Hamas brutally and barbarically assaulted and murdered Israelis in their own country and took hundreds as hostage back to Gaza is totally wrong and has encouraged Hamas to continue with their visual campaign of making Israel look bad in the eyes of the world. A country that is threatened verbally by a terrorist group has little choice but to eliminate the threat of the terrorist group. That this has existed since I was a child (over 75 years ago) is all the more convincing to me that Hamas is 100% responsible for all of the deaths and all of the destruction in Gaza (and what they wrought in Israel as well). To say anything else is the very essence of anti-semitism in my humble opinion. Thousands of children could have been protected if they had been removed from Gaza as well and the international community did not move to do that. The Arab community is huge around the world and a lot of this hardship could have been avoided. But overall it is Hamas that breaks all of the cease-fires and caused this current action to evolve. Any support to Hamas is wrong and the ICC does appear to be giving support to Hamas - they are a terrorist group and should be judged as such. Their aim is genocide of the Jewish people as the reason for their very existence. 

It is the responsibility of the country that invades another to make reparations and fix the problem. We do have an example in my part of the world. The Fenians raided Canada a number of times and the American government put an end to that well over a century ago now. Only normalcy can be achieved if Hamas removes itself from Gaza and Hezbollah ceases to bomb Israel. The real source of the problem is Iran itself which funds and supports these terrorist groups. Although I eventually believe in a two-state solution if that becomes the choice for responsible citizens in Gaza but the only country that could truly bring Gaza to fruition as a nation is Israel. They have the knowledge, the ability and the desire to see Gaza flourish and be a good neighbour. It takes a long time and dedicated effort just look at the Marshall Plan in Europe and how long that lasted. The other countries in the area could be supportive of Gaza as well by buying the products of which this country is capable of producing and by helping to set up a decent schooling system there which is responsible and desires to see the people of Gaza become good world citizens not people deeply encrusted with hatred for Israel which appears to be the case even here in my country. Their marches on October 7 last celebrating Hamas' barbaric, murderous rampage through Israel were totally ignorant and unacceptable in any society. The people of Gaza need to learn history and the rights of original peoples to their land. Even as all this happens there are Palestinian people being cared for in hospitals in Israel - does that not tell the entire story really. Israel is a responsible nation; Gaza (not yet a state) with Hamas present is guilty of such crimes one can scarcely list them all and one can hardly believe that it ever could be a responsible state with Hamas there.

My blog

I actually did write another blog today on the ICC but I am thinking about it. I thoroughly believe everything that I wrote but does it make a difference to publish it. I will have to contemplate that. As usual the Americans are on the side of right; President Biden has said that Israel's action in Gaza is not genocide and rejected the ICCs call for an arrest warrant for Israeli leaders. I agree with him; the Israeli intent is not to injure the Palestinian people; they want and deserve protection for the citizens of Israel and that can not be present with Hamas in Gaza. Perhaps this is that moment in time when we make a decision as a world not to accept terrorism in any form. Russia should be stripped of their veto power in the United Nations Security Council - they have broken the principal rule of the United Nations by invading a sovereign country. Russia can earn it back but they have corrupted their great value, by becoming Nazis themselves, to the world when they helped to defeat the Nazis in 1945. The United Nations is in agreement on that. We need to not sidestep any of these issues as they make or break us as a caring people. We can not let terrorists win; we have been fighting them since before 9/11 worldwide and it goes on and on. The ICC can not allow themselves to be swayed by the "terror of the moment" which is created by terrorists and permitted to exist by the adult peoples of Gaza - they voted them in and cheered when Hamas invaded Israel killing and assaulting in a barbaric murderous rampage on 7 October last. Yes the loss of life in Gaza is dreadful but it will be far worse if we let terrorists win. There is no equating of Israel and Hamas. The terrorist Hamas or any other group can invade any country and once again we go through the scenario of that country bombing Gaza and innocent children going to their death. The world must see that and not allow anti-semitism to corrupt their thoughts. Turkey has said that Hamas is not terrorist but the actions of Hamas in Israel was terrorism. Hamas at its top leadership should call a halt to Hamas in Gaza if they are truly what Turkey says - they are not fit to rule Gaza - they should be made to leave. Terrorism must disappear from our world. Release the hostages Hamas now as the International Criminal Court demanded five months ago and the International Court of Justice demanded four months ago that the hostages should be released immediately and unconditionally.

Rain is promised today and as always all rain is welcomed here in Canada. The fires still burn vigorously in the west and so many people are displaced and looking for warmth shelter and food. In many ways life can be hard in parts of Canada particularly in the northern areas but all of our country is heavily forested for the most part. The ability of trees to reprocess carbon is essential in the fight against climate change. 

But the greenery of the world around me is beautiful. Each year there is less and less sky visible from my workroom window as the trees age and stretch higher and higher into the sky. I probably weed out a few hundred small trees every year or my yard would be a forest now after nearly 50 years of living here in this one spot.  There is a comfort in the normalcy of living in one place which is what has kept us here; that and the very large yard that came with the house. But it is a lot of work and as I approach 79 years of age one can see that my ability to care for the yard lessens with each oncoming year. However with two of us it is doable. Plus winter tends to be obliging and reduces the workload 100% nearly since the snow is cleared for me. 

Cleaning all accomplished and I shall have to decide what to work on today. I have been reading through my instructions for cataract surgery and they are straight forward and I am waiting for my surgery time to be telephoned to me. 

Yesterday the lawns mostly cut now and the garden beds for seeds and bulbs is ready to plant after this next set of rain days. Earth to move to the part of the garden being utilized for bedding plants and lots of weeding still to do. The transplanted hostas and bleeding heart are both doing well. Spring is in full progress. 

Teatime and latin and then breakfast. The day moves forward.

Cleaning week begins

The week begins once again with cleaning and it is the two floors this day and the basement is already completed. Another beautiful sunny day ahead on Victoria Day. It seems like it should be an Elizabeth day for Queen Elizabeth II but nothing new on that yet. We didn't know Queen Victoria - my grandparents had both seen her - my grandmother in Birmingham and my grandfather elsewhere - not sure that he mentioned that as I do not recall him saying where. By the time they were old enough to remember her she was already quite reclusive. But Queen Elizabeth is known to everyone and a day to remember her would be nice. 

We did not move black earth yesterday; the day went by much too quickly and we had errands to do. Bird feed to pick up at the store. We did acquire another fence post and so can add to the front fence - one length. It is a little taller and will look nice next to the house and then the three shorter panels (not that short really - one metre height and then just under one metre so perhaps 15 centimetres shorter. It is a nice fence and quite easy to install. 

Today will be a moving black earth day and have all the beds ready for planting on Friday since it is supposed to rain pretty solidly for three days. Then we are ready to put in the seeds. We did not find cherry tomato plants to buy yet and still have to acquire pepper plants, parsley, another basil, and cucumber. The remainder of the garden is seeds. Hard to believe I put so much time into gardening. It has never been a strong interest of mine although did always help Edward plant the garden every year and collect the produce. The produce is the best part but Edward enjoyed the quiet time in the garden weeding and just the simply joy of watching the plants grow. I must admit when I stayed home with the girls I noticed that more but when I was working away from home all day I was barely in the back yard. 

A few more thoughts on the books but nothing written. Mostly it is collecting data at the moment and I have excel charts to manage that. The summer lends itself to brief interludes of collecting data and one of these days I will get back to that. 

Already 17 degrees celsius and will be another warm day I suspect. Still weeding the flower gardens and will get some of that done today as well. Four bags out to the street for recycling last week and perhaps as many this week although maybe not. It is hard for me to judge that for sure. The rhubarb is doing very well but must weed it as well. I was perhaps counting that as a flower bed but actually that bed has rhubarb and some extraneous raspberry bushes that I moved there absentmindedly perhaps but they are flourishing. The tulips are all finished, the daffodils just collecting sun now into the leaves to bloom next spring, the crocuses and the snowdrops are the same. Spring flowers are soon past giving way to the summer plants. The transplanted hostas and bleeding hearts still doing well and will go out and water them soon for the day as it will be sunny and hot once again today. 

Teatime and latin once again and then breakfast and the cleaning day begins. 

Sunday and it is the Feast of Pentecost

 Today Church online and it has been a while since the last online Church service for the Church that I attend. I look forward to the service this morning. The gift of the Holy Spirit to the people of God who believe.

Yesterday more weeding and the areas that will be garden are now cleared. Just have to clear the weeds from the flower beds. That is also partially done but still more to do. Although it is the Lord's Day we will likely move more black earth to the land. God's work is never really done although He rested on the seventh day and the black earth does need to rest a few days before planting. Not too much to do today but later in the cooler times of the afternoon we will move more earth to complete that task and be ready for planting mid week. 

Still no work on the books but I am thinking about them and a few ideas that I jot down for future work to do when the snows fall once again and my work outside is done. The work outside is also important to maintain this beautiful world which God has gifted to us. 

Prayers for the world as Climate Change rages about us. The notion that Climate Change was responsible for the demise of Homo neanderthalensis is interesting and one that we should pay attention to I suspect. We need to work together as a people to slow down Climate Change and try to improve so as to reduce our carbon levels considerably in the world. 

Prayers for an end to violence in the world including the return of the hostages taken by Nazi Hamas. Thank you to the Americans for building the pier to help get food into Gaza until they can grow their own. This should be prime growing time I suspect but I do not live there. Israel has beautiful farms though and it is a similar latitude and land space which Nazi Hamas tried to destroy last October 7th along with the barbaric slaughter of the Israeli people and others. The very idea of Nazi Hamas going free is repugnant to me; the evil they have wrought should not be ignored; they should be punished and not permitted to walk freely on the face of the earth. As for the protestors here, when they cover their face as so many do I find their protest to be meaningless. They are protecting themselves and their protest means nothing here. We do not accept faces being hidden as an honest protest. If you can not stand up for your own opinions why should anyone listen? I do listen to the comments of the protestors; I just do not agree.

Solitaire games already played and the day begins in earnest. Exercises to do and then teatime and Latin.

Yet another day working on God's earth literally

Another beautiful day on God's earth, thank you God for the beauty of the world. Today Air Quality is at 35 so we have escaped the smoke from the fires in the west of Canada for the moment.  The side garden is almost half weeded and the main garden has its fresh coat of rich earth. So now we let that sit for a couple of days and then plant it with seeds. Nature is very obliging this time of year. If you plant it beneath the ground then frost doesn't really trouble the growth but anything above ground could get frozen off. The bedding plants wait on the moon's cycles that predict frost and generally very close to actual and then the planting of them occurs. The fruit bushes have really filled out and the currant bush which is first is covered with flowers (tiny little flowers you hardly notice) that will soon be berries. They will be ready by the 1st of July. The elderberry bush is coming along and it is last and in between the raspberries and the gooseberries. The birds do love this yard for sure and are welcomed back every year. Already blue jays, cardinals, sparrows, etc etc have arrived to feed at the feeders. One is solid on the fence and the other is a swinging feeder on the other side near the fence. 

Still no actual work done on the books but that is not surprising. It is the first long weekend of the "warm weather" months here in Canada and rain is pretty much promised every day. Temperature is already 16 degrees celsius. The dandelion crop is going to seed and will soon cut the rest of the lawn. The bees have been very busy and hopefully letting the dandelions bloom will help them to survive. We transplanted two "Bleeding Heart" bushes yesterday that were daughter plants. The Hosta transplanted a couple of days ago are doing well. I still have a few more hostas to move but must find a spot for them. Still a lot of weeding to do and a couple of areas I need to figure out which are the weeds and which are the daisies to come. 

Yesterday we bought all of the seeds needed for planting along with some necessary gardening equipment like new gloves as the old ones are literally worn out. One bag of earth has now been emptied so the second one to begin soon. It will also go onto the land fairly quickly as well. The ground is able to absorb all the new earth and look pretty much the same as before. We are underlain with clay and clay does welcome as much rich earth as it can get. 

The new pier should feed all of those people who fled from Rafah to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It was a good idea the Americans had. People should really respect them more as they are a very generous people. 

The encampments are still on our university grounds making a dreadful mess. Really they should be made to clean it all up. It is fine to have your opinions but have them in your own backyard not on the grounds of publicly funded universities that taxpayers have to maintain. As well do think more honestly on the rights of the people of Israel to defend themselves. Just having the ability to do so does not negate their rights to fight back when they have been brutally and barbarically abused. Their hostages are still not returned as the International Court of Justice demanded that Hamas release the hostages immediately and unconditionally four months ago and they are still waiting for their people to be returned. The remains of three more hostages have been located and brought home. Young people at the prime of their lives barbarically murdered in cold blood at a music festival. No warning; no reason for attacking these young people just having fun on the lands that their ancestors have lived on for thousands of years. The Israeli people have seen it all - been enslaved, transported and generally abused over thousands of years. 

It was interesting that my grandfather commented on that when I was a child watching those newsreels of the Concentration Camps when I was just a young child. That was when he talked about the ancient British being descendant of one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Perhaps they escaped and were trying to get back home to Israel but they just lost their way and ended up in the British Isles just recovering from the Last Ice Age as the glaciers melted revealing an empty land except for the wild herds of animals they had likely followed to find these Isles. Amazing really how stories emerge in a country.

Perhaps some outside work today in between the rains we will see. 

Exercise, breakfast and Latin on the agenda next.

Blessed rain

The fires are still burning but it is raining and rain during fire is a blessing for sure. We are definitely making up for the lack of snow cover in Ontario with all of this rain. So far no fires mentioned in this province - BC, AB and MB are under fire threat and in a big way. Fires do always burn in Canada in the forests - lightning strikes do cause some of these fires and perhaps most at this time - a little early for camping. 

Good work on gardening yesterday. The main garden is all weeded and almost covered with fresh black earth. I will go out soon and weed the side garden so that is ready for the 1st of June (last possible frost day is 1st of June in the Farmer's Almanac). The bedding plants will wait for chance of frost to pass but the seeds and bulbs can go into the ground mid week, next week. The world looks lush out the window green and bright. 

No other work done although I did write my thoughts on the world down in my post whilst I waited for the dentist appointment time. I am now wearing a night guard to protect my teeth - I clench them when I sleep apparently. Tried it and it is interesting. I will get used to it probably in a week or so. 

Latin lessons next, breakfast already eaten. I am enjoying the Latin. 

The Americans have completed the pier and deck to move supplies into Gaza. The first trucks are rolling. People will be fed. Israel is at court explaining why they have to eliminate Hamas - I think it is a non-brainer as you can not have people living next to you who constantly threaten your life. Hamas doesn't belong there really; they just found this willing area and they moved in. A desert island would be better for them and they can sit around and talk about their evil Nazi ways to each other. Really no one likes nazism that has any sense. 

On to the day. COVID shot today. 

Another day of gardening

Sun today  but the air quality is at 53 and no precipitation for at least two days. Canada is on fire once again although the forest fires did not go out during the winter months this past winter which is unusual; not enough snow to dampen them. Today clearing the back of the garden of weeds getting ready for fresh earth there as well and clearing out weeds from inside the raspberry patch. May marches onward towards planting days and this is always the busiest month of the year outside. I find it funny to see me out there for hours clearing the land of weeds so that the planting can take place. I have been doing that since 2011 every spring. Not liking gardening doesn't mean I do not garden though. I do agree with my husband; you shouldn't have land if you are not going to use it; maintain it. It is a struggle though as my writing calls to me to come back and work on it!

Heard from my cousin again (half third cousin two times removed) and perhaps one day will hear if the picture of my great grandparents has survived. There was a house fire apparently. I know what the picture looks like and it would be interesting to see a copy but I do not have to own the original; originals are not my thing. But I am curious about Ellen (Taylor) Buller. My grandmother talked about her mother quite a bit actually and I would share that information with this cousin for whom she is a 3x great grandmother (my great grandmother). There is so much known detail about Ellen but her parents remains a likelihood rather than an absolute for sure without a matching DNA on one of the lines of her siblings. This Ellen placed into this particular family where she appears to belong had six siblings (one likely brother Frank died at ten years of age). I did hear from a descendant of one of the other likely siblings in this family who said he was related but there is this part of me that really does like to see DNA results. Oh well, the advent of this ability did bring me into genealogy really along with my cousin needing his Pincombe Profile so it is unlikely I will ever change in that regard.

But that was the extent of my looking at genealogy; it is on the back burner for probably a couple of months although will dip in and out likely when there is time. 

Horrifying news that Prime Minister Fico of Slovakia has been shot. What sadness there can be in the world. I can feel the sadness as the world grips with terrorist monsters who try to legitimize their actions when they are really just terrorism - that is how wars begin with terrorist acts. Why oh why can this sickness not disappear from our world; this hatred for no reason except generations of desire and greed for something that was never yours in the first place. 

Nearly breakfast time and then Latin; the order changes somewhat in the spring with gardening duty. So far the two transplanted hosta  have survived and will water them again today just to help them along. I did free all of the hostas from the surrounding wild flowers. I should have done that earlier but just did not get it done. I did make a stab at it last week but not enough for sure. Now they are clear although still more to do. The wild flowers are tough and hardy as they snake through the land. The dandelions have bloomed and will soon die down but we left a big patch of them in the middle of the front of the yard for the bees to pollinate and they have been busy out there for sure. 

On to the day. 

As I wait for my dental appointment I am thinking about China and why it would side with Russia with regard to the terrorist war that Russia wages against Ukraine. Is it about owning the world? Does anyone really own the world? No, it is populated by a whole lot of people formed into countries mostly of their choosing and owning all of us is just slavery on the part of aggressive countries. Slavery never really goes well in the long run. There are so many examples. Why can we not have peace? The Americans in particular funded both China and Russia during World War II to help them fight off nazism. But yet Russia and China both hate America and blame it for whatever they can think of at the moment. So why is that? Is it just jealousy that America is successful and a world leader in trade and they jealously and covetously want that? Probably, desire for money is basically the root of all evil; it is like a drug and they want all of it. Too bad really as the world could be a lovely place but for aggression by Terrorist Russia against Ukraine and Terrorist Hamas in Gaza against Israel. Being able to defend yourself doesn't change the actual happening. China remains an enigma in all of this though I do have to admit. One goes from thinking China is interested in having a world at peace and not necessarily all communist to questioning curiosity. Their brand of communism is somewhat different in that there is people control on the city level type of thing it would appear. But yet they do have a military that is militaristic. When one considers that the most important item on our agenda is Climate Change though it is strange to see any country going out of their way to abuse another country in any way and that includes Nazi Russia against Ukraine and Nazi Hamas in Gaza against Israel. For I think they truly are copying Hitler with their abuse of people and complete disregard for any normalcy in our world that isn't controlled by them. Small scale right now but the desire for greater control is ever present in their actions. Does one include China in that? We wait and watch. At the moment China has more of the look of Franco as he too listened to Hitler and his adherents but never really moved to assist with the torture that Hitler released on the world in 1939 in particular. In this case the torture has been released by Nazi Russia and Nazi Hamas. Both attempt to justify their actions by lies with their adherents trying to create support around the world (more in the case of Nazi Hamas with the camp-ins here, marching on our streets celebrating Hamas after 7 October last certainly indicates adherents in our country disgusting though it is).

I do find it interesting that Homo neaderthalensis died out because of Climate Change but lucky for us Homo sapiens we were able to manage in that time of change. But probably we were unified and working together to survive the ravages of the Ice Age at that time (also climate change). Anything that isn't the normal climate is Climate Change. Now Nazi Russia and Nazis Hamas in Gaza are challenging the world order and trying to take what is not theirs inflicting enormous hardships on people. Nazi Hamas is responsible for all the deaths in Gaza and Israel; all the hardships in Gaza and Israel as they continue to bomb Israel and fight the Israeli army in Gaza (the Isrealis want their hostages back whether they are alive or dead) inflicting even more deaths on the Palestinians. If you see that differently it is because you do not see that Israel, the country brutally attacked, has a right to defend themselves against the enemy Nazi Hamas. Hamas has said they will continue committing barbaric acts against Israel presumably until the last Nazi Hamas is dead in Gaza. Hezbollah has every intention it would appear of continuing to fight against Israel as well but they are a different kettle of fish and the people of Lebanon are less willing to lie down and die for Hezbollah it would appear. The facts are pretty clear unless you are vegetating on the news reels which show the at the moment horror which was totally created by Nazi Hamas to gain your support - I do find it abhorrent that Nazi Hamas does this to influence people and those people allow it to happen.

Gardening today

Another gardening day today and probably for quite a few days. Must get the weeds pulled and then the fresh garden earth on the beds. Will look lovely I am sure. 

The month of May is one half through now and it has moved quickly. We looked at bedding plants yesterday and do need to buy them very soon. I think though that the large garden will be three rows of sunflowers and then lettuces/spinach three rows and two rows of green onions. Not much grows under the Black Walnut tree. Then the tomatoes and peppers off to the far side and back of the house. Cucumbers and herbs in two other spots. Then at the back of the garden carrots and beans. Sounds good and the work is ahead of us for sure. 

Moved two hosta plants yesterday and will see if they transplant well. Otherwise might buy two hosta plants. But their prior location was not very handy. Will move the rest of the earth to the front today and that will be finished. The lawn has filled in not too badly along the road edge. Need to weed the bricks along the side of the laneway. Never a dull moment for sure. Hard to believe I do not actually like gardening. That was always Edward's thing but I used to help him when he asked me. 

No work on the books I do not think today but that isn't surprising given that it is summer and more time outside than in.  

Breakfast and then latin and then outside into the fresh clean air for the moment - smoke is on the horizon apparently. The air quality is at 48 this morning and was just high 20s yesterday. 

Gardening beckons

I think the next two weeks will be mostly dedicated to getting the yard ready for the summer including planting of the garden. Although I may get a little done on extraction from Find My Past it will not be my primary work for the next four weeks. Busy times ahead and all that lovely exercise! Although gardening is not something that I really enjoy it is very healthy work. 

Had an interesting email from someone my husband knew in Paris, Ontario. They share the same surname and Edward has attempted through the fifty plus years that he did genealogy to link them but no success. One Kipp family located to the Niagara area and appear to be Quaker. There was a Henry Kipp in Northeast Town who was also Quaker but putting together information on this area in New York is very difficult. A lot of material was lost during the Revolution. However, he mentioned that he had found interesting material in the Dutch Reformed Church records so left it with him to let my daughter know (via me) what he had located. I created the Kip-Kipp Family Newsletter to publish the last sections of Edward's work and to carry on reporting on the Kip-Kipp yDNA study at FT DNA. There are a number of Kip-Kipp families in the United States and Canada but they are not all descendant of the Kip family of New Amsterdam/Amsterdam. New Amsterdam now being New York City.  It would be nice to find others continuing to work on these southwestern Ontario Kipp families. Their arrival in the area ranged from the 1770s to the 1800s. Edward collected a lot of material on his own lines coming down from Isaac Kipp and Hannah (Mead) Kipp. But also he collected material on the Tillsonburg Kipp family. One of the testers at FT DNA in the study is from the Tillsonburg Kipp family. 

The next newsletter will be the Pincombe-Pinkham Newsletter on the 1st of June although I will start creating that this next week. 

Raining today so will don my rainwear and go out and weed unless it is thunder and lightning. Weeding is good in the rain for sure! We need to move a couple of hosta plants that are being crowded out in the front garden by the globe cedar. Also need to trim that. Edward had that down pat and used an electric wand to do that. Not sure I am going to wield that but we will see. It did do a good job for sure and much quicker than clippers. 

Again the ominous sounds of war preparation as Russia continues to attack the innocent people of Ukraine. Prayers for Ukraine. Everyone who suspected Stalin of being an aggressor against the countries around Russia were so right in 1940 when the Hitler-Stalin pact was created dividing Poland in half between them. I had forgotten that pledge was only for ten years that they would not attack each other but then Hitler could never be trusted. Although I have always had much sympathy for the Russian people with all their losses during World War II and their valiant stand against Hitler (with all that aid from the allies - United States in particular but also England and the Commonwealth) Russia did stand by and watch as Hitler decimated Poland and then moved in to take the half promised by the pact. But we did believe that lie that Russia was just getting ready to have to fight Germany (it was convenient to do so for sure). The world was in turmoil though and any ally was better than an enemy!

Israel is committed to freeing their hostages and prayers for them for sure. The inhumane conditions under which they have lived these seven months is horrendous and not mentioned enough in the General Assembly of the United Nations or the news outlets. Hamas brought all of this down on the heads of the Palestinians and Hamas is responsible for every death on both sides. The Israelis though are good at hunting out cowards - they were very efficient eliminating all of the Nazis possible after the Second World War. NO  one wants to see Palestinians die especially the children (why could the people here in North America not bring thousands of them here) - Hamas does not care they are just news fodder and so they hide amongst them to increase the possibility of the death of Palestinians not engaged in conflict. I do wonder what the reaction of any other country would have been if the 7th October last brutal barbaric attack had been on their country?  No one thinks it will happen to them and yet it was the second such attack - Russia's attack on Ukraine was as well and continues. Ukraine continues to fight back but they are outnumbered 4 to 1.

I am opposed to sit-ins/camp-ins though especially on our publicly supported university campuses (love it when the police remove them). Blocking people from using these facilities should be illegal. The encampments are destroying the property and it will cost real money to repair them. Write letters, have interviews but camping on publicly supported university property should be illegal. There should be a curfew on protests from dusk to dawn; nothing at night. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is so right that we are a God loving country but it should not support these ridiculous protests that inconvenience people beyond their being on the sidewalks (opposite whatever is going on) with their signs. Flags larger than 30 cm x 30 cm should not be permitted unless they are flags of Canada and we have a lot including the First Nations flags, the provincial and territorial flags and the national flag. I read what you have to say; I just do not agree with you and that is what the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is about - the right to differ.  Hamas is the problem and they continue to be the problem; Hamas needs to get out of Gaza. They have had twenty years to aid the Palestinians; they have not. They only feather their own nest. The Palestinians are human beings and after three generations in one place they should have a successful prosperous country (the land is rich to grow crops) not a country still totally dependent on the hands outs in particular food from the United Nations which is the product of the labour of people around the world. All this death though is very saddening.

Time for exercise and breakfast. Latin next and then the work of the day begins.

Cleaning Day once again

Cleaning Day once again and it will be the basement. The daily routine of life is perhaps the most interesting and one goes through so many different stages  in life from babyhood which no one remembers to toddler again  no memory to preschool which has some memories and then school forever it seems but soon done and, in my case marriage at 20, all those adventures after we bought a car into the natural world around us. Although I always  had an interest in the natural world Edward had always been restricted because he did not have a car as a child and so mostly in his own home town of Princeton, Ontario. For me somewhat broader although restricted to Ontario except my first trip to the United States in Grade Eight on our graduation trip to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenwich Village. All those plants that Edward and I saw and I shall get that organized to rescan the original slides to *.tif as some of them were fabulous to see - Indian Pipe perhaps one of the most interesting finds although the lady slipper always ranks up there amongst others. It was a whole new world to Edward but my mother had always pointed out the beauty of nature to us as she lived on a farm as a child with all that land to enjoy. Our first child when I was 28 (Edward was 31) but his joy was huge looking at that perfect child with the bright blue eyes exactly like his looking back at him. I remember that so very well as he was not there for the birth. Then moving away from everything I knew to Ottawa at 29 was both an adventure and really tested my ability to manage driving since I depended so  much on landmarks (unable to read those tiny road signs!). And the story goes on and on but in the same place with just us until we were joined by our second one eight years later (eight years one month and two days to be exact). By then the days were settled into a routine and I was busy marking at that time but soon back to proofreading and copyediting and my eldest in school. And now I am 78.5 years of age and I have meandered through life looking about and noticing lots and lots of details as that is my way - to absorb all those details. Still in the same house we bought back in 1978. It is pretty much the same although Edward added details that made it his own. He was content too although he and the girls had gone off looking at new houses years earlier but did not find quite the one they wanted. 

The day wears on and I must get the robot running on the rug in the basement. Breakfast too and my first Latin lesson of the day. 

God bless the world and help us to see that your words to us through Moses give us the best path to existence - love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbour as yourself. On to the day. 

One of my mysteries resurfaced today with the comment that the people of New Guinea carry 5% Denisovan DNA - however did our family acquire 3% Denisovan DNA is something I have not yet solved although suspect it comes from my ancient maternal line H11 which wintered in Ukraina and came to now Scotland in the British Isles probably 8,000 plus years ago. Amazing really and this was a very interesting article and has made me late today reading it.

Weighing in on working at home

I had not really thought to weigh in on this subject but having worked at home for the better part of 1.5 decades I do have an opinion actually. When I took on the job of proofreading in my thirties and in some cases editing and proofreading, the plan was for me to work at home coming in three mornings a week for a brief time to pick up my work and deliver my work. Modern computer technology has rendered that type of coming in to be unnecessary although it is always good to have face to face comments so I think coming in would still be the best option personally. When I replaced the permanent proofreader I did start to come in every morning until noon and worked at home in the afternoon. My lunch break was the trip home every day. That still fulfilled my personal preference of being with my children up until they went to school and then being there when they returned from school. I think the government has a right to expect people to be in their office with their colleagues every day personally but three times a week is really a gift to people and they should see it as such and grab it and run back to work with it. The new employees who work full time in the office  have a right to that teaching aspect of the job received from "older" employees so that they can quickly learn the ropes as they are the future (do not deprive youth of this valuable lesson). The Pandemic was an eye opener for all of us but we can quickly return to the style of living that preceded it because that is the best way. Not all jobs lend themselves to working at home and the government shouldn't be subsidizing such work types when they really belong in the collegial environment of a workplace. As the generation behind me (the baby boomers - I do not really count because I was born two weeks after VJ day and I skipped a grade putting me right in with the War Babies so to speak) ages and ceases to exist, that huge block of people will no longer dominate the scene and the medical care will return to a normal level without all those aging people requiring a vast amount of care. That will change the dynamics of the working world back more or less to what existed when I was young and most people were young. The working world will expand once again so to speak to dominate industry and production and the dynamics will be so different to what exists presently. So back to work in the office unless your job was already mostly at home before the pandemic and three days a week is a gift really as it should be five! When I did stay home I went to school one day every week and helped in the classroom of my child with whatever task although with my youngest daughter that ended up being computers since they were a new item, teachers not yet really familiar with them and I had already been involved with computers for about a decade in my working career prior to children. The schools are important and parents can serve a useful purpose in them as unpaid labour to keep those costs down if they are working at home (I just made up the time in the evening proofreading!). Certainly my time spent doing remedial English reading with French Immersion students was time well spent (it was interesting though that in my little class of twelve students only two were girls).

Efficiency is the most important item in government, Brian Mulroney was right about that. Tax payer money is being used and the government should be as careful as it can be. We work hard for our money and it must be well spent. Increase the GST back up to 7% or 10% and keep the income tax level itself low. That is taxing the rich efficiently. There are enough safeguards in the GST to keep it from inflicting pain on people with lower wages.  Probably one needs to look at the leveling of GST and see whether or not that percentage can be increased on items like alcohol and cigarettes and other luxury items. If you legalize drugs then put a substantial GST (like 40%) on that as well (and yes I know that encourages black market but go after the dealers, confiscate their drugs (test them to be sure they are not tainted) and sell them, helps to pay off the national debt!). One can see the benefits to living in Canada and they are huge. We are so much better off than other countries. 

So I need the Conservatives to prove that they are Brian Mulroney conservatives interested in good efficient government. I do not want to see them supporting radical right wingers at any time (it is better if hard-line conservatives remain hidden in the wood work (their extreme views do not serve a useful purpose in a democratic society) and definitely not camping out in downtown Ottawa). Do not expect to be in power more than one term because you are always going to do the hard things; reduce waste in government and that generally puts you out of power but the efficiency stays because the Liberals know very well that things like the GST have benefited Canada enormously. 

Sunday once again and I must get my mind back into Sunday; one does struggle on occasion to remember this is the Lord's Day. Church on YouTube and yesterday I watched the next lecture in the series and we are discussing Jerusalem. I need to read Judges, 1st and 2nd Kings (and perhaps nip into Jeremiah and Ezekiel when watching the lecture the second time through). Absolutely fascinating this series The Untold Story of the Kingdom of Judah from Tel Aviv University on YouTube. I always knew the story but this in depth look with the Bible, archaeological findings and the extant historical documents is an eyeopener. The days move by quickly and sometimes I do lose track of time and the date!

God be with the world as we move forward in time - the distances between countries has shrunk enormously but the chasm in political differences is huge with so many terrorists greedily trying to suck up power but primarily for the money it gives them they have no desire to make the world a better place for the bulk of the population only themselves and their adherents. 

Six degrees celsius and rain promised this evening

Another good day of gardening (mostly weeding although I let dandelions continue to flower for the bees to pollinate) and some work on the census for Pincombe. It is moving along smoothly though as I have done some of this work earlier I just have to make sure I didn't miss anything. Today has other plans so probably no work today. Good rest for the eyes. 

Calgary police did a marvelous job of clearing the university campus there and apparently some of the people were trespassing as they were not students. I do love to see the police in action in such cases where they are needed to clear an area. If Hamas cared about the Palestinian people they would have a functioning society after twenty years with businesses and capability of producing all of their own food. Gaza is plentiful; Bombing another country is always going to bring retribution  - they are also ignorant of history and have no humanity as far as the world can see. Taking children, women, old people hostage and keeping them imprisoned for months many underground; how sinful; how satanic. Hamas is definitely the problem. They need to leave (as well as the Islamic Jihadists).

 One hopes that graduation ceremonies in Canada will not be spoiled the way Christmas was by the Palestinians. If they loved Canada and respected Canada all of this would end now, today. They are just using our streets and public areas to support the terrorist organization known as Hamas. 

I think we should have voted no in the General Assembly of the United Nations (abstention doesn't really do it for me) although I do overall believe in the logic of the two state solution when Gaza is ready. They want to be able to establish themselves in a profitable way very quickly and Hamas does not provide that ability. Thus far Hamas, in twenty years, has done nothing to aid their development as an independent country. The Israeli know this land very well and its potentials and they would help them. They have been helping them in their hospitals to better medical care for quite a while and would do the same in business I rather suspect. All Hamas cares about is genocide of the Jewish people; disgusting really. Free the hostages now and unconditionally. Get out of Gaza Hamas. Stop attacking Israel with bombs and putting the Palestinian people in danger. 

The day begins and soon teatime and Latin. 

 

 

A day of relaxation and the Sun went behind clouds quite nicely half way through the day

Yesterday turned into a day of relaxation as I kept my eyes away from the brightness which gradually disappeared as the day passed. I didn't do any work at all; a very lazy day. However, I did do my weight lifting, running, walking and yoga/calisthenics. I can not imagine a day without exercise although I apparently have to take it easy after the cataract surgery, not lifting anything even moderately heavy, not running and probably a few other things but I can walk and I will do lots of walking just not fast.

I did revisit my blog a few times as I contemplated the world. Then I just thought about God and His place in the universe. Watching the "Secrets of the Neanderthals" on Netflix I found it interesting the references to religion in that the Neanderthals buried their dead and in a fixed place over a period of time. Interesting really and the work on the teeth was especially interesting as I always thought they were predominantly meat eaters but it appears they also ate vegetable matter. The reconstruction of a face was amazing as the differences these days between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis  are becoming less pronounced as more research is done. The Neanderthals lived for 400,000 years but the demise (about 40,000 years ago) has been attributed to climate change and their inability to adapt which is quite fascinating. Perhaps already there was an effect of inbreeding though which also decreased their numbers since they did mate with Homo sapiens. It is interesting to contemplate that God was there during all of that and learned greatly about the species Homo. I find all of this so very intriguing. The God in our world has changed from the God who walked with the early peoples and tried to lead them down a path that would produce a good life for them. He is ever watching. 

Interesting really to have lived these 78.5 years and seen how knowledge updates itself even in my own lifetime. My grandfather especially used to mention that. How much life had changed since he was born in 1875 and this was the early 1950s so a similar age to mine when he was talking to me. He loved to talk and I was a listener. I am surprised sometimes at how I remember but from a very young age I have had an incredible memory. I find I mostly think of my grandparents and their thoughts in these days because I spent a lot of time actually with them whereas my parents aged nearly 1000 km away from me and I did not see them that often in the last seven years or less (my father died in 1998) of their lives. I was working fulltime outside of the home by then and with two children teenage and adult my time was rapidly used up. Edward became very busy with work and genealogy from 1995 on (I think the loss of his brother in 1996 and his mother in 2000 were true struggles for him). Traveling for work was generally to conferences in the United States (we went with him to learn all about the places he went to and the land we covered to get there; fascinating education for children) and genealogy conferences and other activities in Ontario as well as the northern United States where his ancestors had lived until the late 1790s and up until the 1820s.  The time to go to my home city just didn't materialize very often. However, I do have my slightly more than 25 years of letters from my mother which fill a few gaps but I was always surprised when we were back that what she wrote and what she was doing did not always tell the whole story. So you miss a lot if you move away from family. I rarely saw them anymore but they were also very busy with their families. I do share all my genealogy work with them and the DNA work that I do on our results. Having so many results is quite fascinating in terms of who you match and how much you match them and does really make it easier to work your way back in time. Plus having all the companies covered with at least two and sometimes as many as four with five of us being involved provides an enormous amount of data of no value to anyone except us! Although people often write to ask how they relate so I do try to answer those emails but the tree is online and mostly people just read it off the tree as I see it reproduced here and there.

Today I plan to do some extractions from Find My Past. Hopefully work outside a bit as it is going to be rainy and so not sunny which would be perfect. One really nice part of rain and lots of it; the ease with which you can weed. So much better. 

On to the day, teatime and Latin.,

Working day

 The day started out very well and I extracted more material from Find My Past. The census will be a long haul but definitely the best place to be at this stage. My exercise kept apace as well. With a break in the rain I went out and moved some more fresh soil to the front garden bed and cleaned up along the side of the fence although will do a better job when the rain stops but  no rush on that. 

I succumbed to a migraine early afternoon which changed the process somewhat and I listened to some quiet music for a while. The bright sun perhaps although I was wearing my sunglasses and a hat and it didn't last very long however I do have trouble with the sun in the spring - it is just so bright. 

Latin is going well and I am into a new section Unit 13. Although I started Latin to aid me in my reading of old documents it has actually taken on a life as I talk to myself in Latin now. I may try to start reading books in Latin one of these days in my spare time! I also want to start putting in more time on French speaking but I am early with that as I had not planned to start until September. So far I have not learned any new vocabulary which is a good sign for my memory. 

Perhaps finished soon and the hostages will be free and the Palestinians enjoying life without Hamas (that would be wonderful if they could have a state but there is much to do to build a country and if Hamas is not gone then what will change?). Surely there are enough Palestinians (not part of Hamas) who could form a representative government and are not greedy dictators looking after themselves or their like only. 

I watched the Victory Parade in Moscow and once again the world thanks the Russian people for their great sacrifices in helping to defeat the nazis (but all the allies suffered for sure as well but the Russian losses were great and the western part of their country a shambles). But if there is one thing that we are learning - nazism isn't attached to a country; it is a narrow minded corruption of a group of people by a madman that eventually by coercion (greed plays a huge role at the start) and extreme measures forces a people to do things that they would not do normally. Combine that with lies about the so-called enemy and you are looking at a potential World War. It can happen to any country and any people and is always a gradual process - the dictator always comes as a friend to the people that he corrupts but ends up destroying their lives (except for Hamas (I do not think they were ever friendly) once they were elected they attacked the people of Palestine and broke their will). The dictator makes up so many stories to justify whatever they do and when you are cut off from the rest of the world you make mistakes. 

That is why we have the United Nations for talking. To prevent dictators from destroying the lives of millions of people. Free the hostages today Hamas, unconditionally and leave Gaza (even if you are Palestinian by birth you do not respect your people and should leave so they have a better chance in life). Leave Ukraine Russia you have no right to their land. 

Are we just naive thinking that all people are capable of gathering up the reins and forming a government. I do not think so; it is violence that prevents that. Perhaps the first steps are clumsy and difficult but the United Nations is there to help along the way. But just going back to the status quo of sending in 500 or now 600 trucks a day to Gaza (for Hamas to fleece and turn into bombs) doesn't really help the people of Gaza move beyond subsistence to a flourishing wealthy country  like the one that they are beside. No sense coveting that land  (the rights of the Israeli people to their land is well proven and documented), no sense being jealous of the wealth of that country, get to work and create your own country. But we could help by getting rid of Hamas; by not supporting people to dominate the scene like the encampments at the university are trying to do. How many Hamas operatives are in our country just waiting for the chance to interfere in our democracy by using the tenets of democracy; they are only ever after money in the long run although they will give all these platitudes about caring for this or that. But the God of the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims is the same God and His words ring true century after century; love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbour as yourself. When that happens we have peace and prosperity.

Wouldn't that be lovely; it would be like Utopia if the rest of the dictators of the world copied Franco and returned to the people their government and country. What is gained by the status quo for the people of Palestine? Hamas and the other terrorist groups are just leeches sucking out the lifeblood of these people. But then one might say what is gained by war - nothing; it is dreadful the cost in human lives and property is enormous. Then you have the leeches who come in and benefit whilst people recover. That is why we have the United Nations to help with such things; to get people on their feet and running their country. But the status quo in Gaza does not work for the people of Gaza just for the leeches - Hamas and their sycophants. 

The status quo is an invitation to much worse I rather think but perhaps anything is at the moment. People have to decide on what they will tolerate and what they will not and a lot of people may suffer. Certainly brute force always seems to come to the surface in our world looking back through history. But this time it may destroy us completely. Who gains? Ignorance by brutal people will be the downfall perhaps and one thinks of the British as they stood alone (with the Commonwealth supporting them) that year of 1940-41 and fought and did not give up. They were a tough people. And here we are once again with brutal dictators dictating to us themselves and through their sycophants. How sad.

Headache improved today but will take it easy on the eyes and stay out of the sunlight!

Breakfast soon, latin completed and tea time enjoyed. 

Another week of cleaning accomplished

 My week of cleaning was accomplished and now on to the rest of the week. Yesterday, whilst I was cleaning, the door bell rang and I looked out the window to see a young man kneeling in front of my English Primrose. I was going to just ignore it but decided to answer it. He was trying to sell bug packages (i.e. bug prevention) but I said no. He wanted to know what I would do with bugs and I said I just killed them in the house and let them live outside. He decided to move on which was good as my cleaning needed to be finished. I guess it is good training for these young people to go door to door but I never buy anything at the door. 

Perhaps today I will get back to Pincombe. I have a number of pictures that have come to me from a Pincumbe family that traveled to Devon area which are interesting. There was a record for a John in 1433 which was very interesting and will have to have a look at that. He would be a little older than I thought in 1486 but still a possibility or perhaps the father of the John Pencombe at North Molton on the Lay Subsidy of 1524-7. Will work away at that and get the pictures sorted around. I may not put many pictures in the book as they make it quite large. We will see. 

Other than that the day is early but I am up and have done the hardest solitaire game thus far; will finish up the other four they are easier. But I do like a mental challenge first thing in the morning. 

I hope to watch the first lecture in the main section of this series The Untold History of the Kingdom of Judah. Coming to the thought that the Promised Land was in fact the land that the family of Joseph left during the famine 400 years earlier was a powerful thought and it makes sense. Of course Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery which was how Joseph got to Egypt. Sometimes coincidence just doesn't do it and that is when I really see God in our world for sure. But He mostly stays hidden to us as he watches us and wonders, no doubt, why we do not obey His commandments to love our neighbour as ourself. Bringing back the bones of Jacob to lie in his own soil would certainly have been Jacob's desire I rather think. As my grandfather aged I think he wished he was back in England but by then he was in his late 70s and so many dead after the war although his oldest brother was still alive as he outlived Samuel with Samuel outliving the next oldest brother. Interesting families for sure. Grandpa lived a wonderful life I think. He loved all his grandchildren and with just his son as his only child the five of us were a gift to him I guess; my youngest sister was born a couple of months before he passed away and my youngest brother two years later. But my youngest brother is so like my grandfather. That same kind helpful person with his own grandchildren. 

Congratulations to the Liberal government bringing back the six children in the detention camp in Syria; children should not be in a war zone - they can not help what their parents do and it is not their fault and they shouldn't be punished. Hopefully the stain of ISIS is not on them yet. Terrorists are the scum of the earth.

Teatime and Latin. I am up early but that is my genes apparently; I am an early riser. I also would not mind if Canada Post only delivers my mail twice a week; that would work for me. Mail delivery can be handy but it doesn't need to be every day and most of what I get is advertisement anyway.

Hostage and cease fire Deal

Hamas has agreed to a revised Cease-Fire Deal which they might as well have dictated given the terms (perhaps they did, they are terrorists after all). One  notes that Hamas fired off 12 rockets the other day hitting the gate through which the food trucks pass for Gaza. Rather ignorant of them but not surprising. Why not all the hostages released right up front and unconditionally; that was what the International Court of Justice said? The new pier and dock are in place and food should soon come into Gaza by that method.  I was a little surprised that Egypt and Qatar would make revisions to the deal after Israel had gone home considering that Hamas had fired off 12 rockets at Kerem Shalom Crossing rendering it unusable at that time. I think targeted hits on the area of Rafah that is clear now of Palestinians would help to eliminate the Hamas fighters in Rafah. I am very disappointed that the Palestinians in North America did not bring thousands of those little children here to protect them. No one minds 2 to 8 or even 10 years olds and really with the huge mosques in North America they could have easily housed them and taken care of them, educated them  Or they could bring them into their homes, you can pack like a dozen children into a nice sized bedroom with bunkbeds. We took in children from England during World War II.

 The Palestinian people could move ahead in their lives and work on creating a country. Hamas has no interest in doing so these past twenty years. Hamas just want to commit genocide against the Jewish people according to their actions on the 7th October last and their declaration of why they exist. It is cruel and improper to punish Israel and reward Hamas. It should not be a crime to be able to defend yourself.

I am not in favour of 600 trucks a day being sent to Gaza by the United Nations unless of course they are carrying seeds, plants and gardening tools. We should be done with feeding Gaza. They can grow their own food. That way they can afford to buy their own fuel and other items by selling their food - a lot of people live in the Middle East who would buy from them - Egypt and Turkey and Qatar for sure I would think. 

Hamas is the problem. A reinforced Hamas that gets away with sending 12 rockets at the Kerem Shalom Crossing is not acceptable. It was a slap in the face to give them such a cease fire (changed from the one that Israel saw) after they bombed Kerem Shalom. Hamas have to be prevented from being reinforced hence the 600 trucks should not happen. Just what is absolutely necessary should go in after inspection and the new pier can provide 2 million meals a day just have to get that going. And the seeds will grow quickly this is a warm climate there!

First day of cleaning accomplished and the Introduction completed

In between cleaning times I read the Chapter of Joshua. That was needed to do the lecture entitled "The Untold Story of the Conquest" which marks the end of the Introduction (first six lectures).  I must say as a young child the early chapters of the Old Testament were hard for me to understand or perhaps I didn't want to understand them. But with this lecture now in my mind I have a better understanding of the times than I had previously. Perhaps I needed to look at it through the microscope of science which I have never really done although I do think in terms of God and Science but more general and philosophical until I started working on DNA from a genetic genealogist point of view. This is the only recorded story of a people (the family from which Israel (the nation created by the twelve sons of Jacob) descended had, over time, gradually fallen away from a stern adherence to the laws of God  (the left or the right as Joshua and Moses both described a pattern of not obeying God's laws)). But archaeologically speaking, and the lecture does say this, the actual fact was that these lands (these promised lands) were actually vacant - were these the lands that belonged to Jacob and his twelve sons before they went to Egypt? It was the sons of Jacob who were in Egypt and later slaves there and they had gone there at the time of a famine 400 years earlier where their brother Joseph protected and cared for them. Was the Promised Land the land that God promised to bring his people back to actually the land they had occupied 400 years earlier and for time immemorial? Since the Canaanites were descendant also of Noah, I am curious about that. It is fascinating and I look forward to the next lecture which will be the body of the lecture series having completed the Introduction. Adherence to the Deuteronomic Laws was compulsory to be part of Israel; we see that in the chapters of Deutoronomy and Joshua as mentioned in the lecture. However, living along side of people who were not members of this Community was permitted and did actually happen (they were not all eliminated). Ruth was, after all a Moabite. Plus they were bringing the bones of Jacob back and it would make sense that they return the patriarch of the family to his own land to be interred.

Putting on my DNA hat now; it was perhaps even encouraged to maintain the gene pool so that people marrying into the not closely related community would be an asset (think of Ruth a Moabite) in order to minimize the effect of a smaller and smaller gene pool from just one family line (cousins marrying cousins) albeit there were twelve sons and this was 400 years later. Interesting really. So weighing both the scientific knowledge and the archaeological knowledge with the Bible which was written in the time and place of the events or much closer to them, one can perhaps better understand what the Bible is telling us. Items were much more black and white in these early times and one couldn't move from the Deutoronomic Laws and remain part of the community. The necessity of protecting and increasing the gene pool is also very important for all generations and the continuation of God's creation. Fascinating really. But the most important part of these lectures tells us the story of a family in ancient times; their squabbles, their support for each other but mostly their love for God which sustained them through the generations to the present. There is also that hint that you are only closely related to your first cousin which I found to be the thoughts of my second cousins in England although we both enjoyed meeting each other. My grandfather's (and my father) thoughts that the peoples of the British Isles were descended from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel continues to pop up in my thoughts on occasion. Perhaps it was the ancient Churches of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales that makes me think about that and the ancient ceremonies that they celebrated which gradually gave way to Christianity and then union with the Church of Rome.

Looking forward to the  next lecture for sure but I think I might read a couple of chapters in the Bible to prepare myself for the lecture. We will be looking at Jerusalem. I feel as if there needs to be a slide in there telling you what to do to prepare for each lecture. Although watching them twice works very well also since I am not an Old Testament Biblical scholar by any means.  

I also watched part of the new Neanderthal film on Netflix. Excellent work and will watch again and re-watch for sure. But I also want to watch the B1 lecture in the Untold Story of the Kingdom of Judah. Plus I need to read Judges and perhaps 1st and 2nd Kings Chapters in the Bible. Plus I do need to do some work on my books. Life is very busy. The human brain is always meant to be in learning mode and it is incumbent on each and every one of us to be learning and working. My Latin is progressing well and I find it easier to read the old records these days. 

Teatime and Latin and then the whole day of cleaning and my cleaning week will be complete.

And cleaning begins the week once again

Monday and it is cloudy but it is a cleaning day and the basement is the first order of business. Setting up the robot is a treat really although I could make better use of it than just the basement rug. But that would mean that I would carry it up and down the stairs and I really find the regular vacuum faster to do the wood floors. It doesn't vacuum the stairs so not helpful to do that but I do like that it does such a good job on the basement carpet and I didn't have to do it. 

Yesterday I did watch the next part of the Untold Story of the Kingdom of Judah but the day flew by and I did not watch it the second time so maybe today I will do that. I had a feeling as I watching that I should reread Joshua and perhaps I will do that between bouts of cleaning today and then watch the lecture again. I saw this interesting Youtube video on Pilgrims and the Cathedrals in England. It was mostly in the south and we had gone to a number of the cathedrals in the south including Winchester and so I watched that and it was very well done and a good memory jogger as I had quite enjoyed those times which included being with my cousin Ivan as we had traveled about in our Knight-Blake areas together in 2008. We share our Blake-Knight great grandparents. It was a wonderful treat to spend time with him and mostly he talked (as I tend to be a listener rather than a talker) and I learned all sorts of interesting bits of history although my grandfather being one of the oldest in the family and his grandfather the youngest he had less of the history that I had learned probably because the wife of John Blake (our mutual 2x great grandparents) passed away when he was still quite young and so he did not hear those stories. Interesting really what passes down in a family. 

Other than that it was a good exercise day including running, weight lifting, yoga, walking, calisthenics and all in the confines of my house because it was pouring with rain. I went to Church on You-Tube and it was an interesting service mostly prayer which I rather liked and lots of singing. I do miss the singing for sure and they make it easy putting the words up on the you tube video although I do have the Book of Common Praise (the new Church of England hymn book) which I could use. 

Right now the world could use a lot of prayer, less clutter on the campuses as this is a special time of year when students graduate. The events of 7 October last were barbaric and totally unacceptable. It has been a year since of spoiling by the Palestinians (who cheered Hamas for committing the murderous barbaric acts against the Israeli people and continue to hold more than 100 hostages in inhumane conditions) and their sycophants as they spoiled Christmas, interrupted Easter and continue on their wrecking process which has absolutely no effect on the governing of our institutions or country. What they have to say we will listen but they are wrong; their rendition of history is wrong. Their continued constant whining and over use of the generosity of the world is annoying. Time to grow up, be adults in the room, grow your own food and create industries in that beautiful piece of land that you have in Gaza. Since the kindness of the world is being used to fund Hamas' war on Israel then it is time to shut that down forever. You are making a mess of the university campuses and it will cost a lot of money to repair all of that. Go home, write it all down, blog it but stop cluttering up the streets and common places that belong to everybody; stop ruining everybody's day and make a life for yourselves that doesn't ruin everyone else's life. 2100 signatures by U of T alumni is not very impressive (there are probably that many Palestinians who have graduated, we are a generous people), there are millions of graduates of the U of T. But still we mourn the loss of all those children in Gaza; children do not choose to live in a war zone.

Well on to the day before I get started on Russia. One tires of the abusive dictators of this world and wishes that they would all be gone. They create all the sadness in this world. The children would have a much happier life. Listening to the little ones on the TV running around in the tent area in Rafah the other day was a testament to that. It was quiet, no bombs dropping. Release the hostages now Hamas. Stop wasting the goodness of the world. 

Teatime and latin soon enough.