To move or not to move this next summer

I am wavering on leaving these days. I am settled here and working away and moving would probably cost me four or five months of re-organization time.  Anyway time will tell; it would be nice to be closer to family for sure. We have settled that we will grass in the large garden next summer which will make a big difference and just leave a large row of raspberries as they are a great wind break and also a privacy fence so to speak. Not that I am out there very often anyway! I am definitely not an outdoors person unless it is kayaking or running or swimming something active; I do not sit in the sun willingly for hours on end. 

The other item that I was sort of overlooking was my driver's test at 80 years of age and that was before cataract surgery that I did a lot of thinking on that. Now that my cataract surgery is in the past I may look at this differently. Whether or not I am permitted to keep my license does not matter to me here because everything that I need to do is close by or reachable by bus/taxi. If I move and also do not have my license I have to get used to a new area without a car so is problematic. I am not a clingy person; I like to be independent so would not want to always have to call on my family to get me here and there. So staying another year after turning 80 does sound like a good plan. Not sure why I suddenly revisited this but it has been a good idea to do so. 

Good work on the Companion Book for the Siderfin Family. I am well into Thomas' descendants now working on the grandchildren with his second wife Dorothy Flendley.  These families were large and need more work sometimes creating parts in order to make the data readable. I will continue with that today but also I must put the plastic lid on the well and cover the air conditioner. Those are really the last two tasks to do as the taps are turned off. Of course still the cleanup and two bags of recycling went out yesterday. Although Edward always cut down the raspberries in the spring I think I will trim them back this fall and can then do a little trimming again in the spring. Having that area grassed in then will make a big difference. I think we will buy sods to do that. 

I need to think more about painting the aluminium siding as it is needed sometime in the future. Staying another year makes it easier to complete all of these tasks. Plus I will know about my driver's license and have time to prepare for any eventuality. 

Solitaire games, then breakfast and follow it up with Latin. I am doing some sort of a tournament and in the Finals. Today is the last day it appears and I actually will be happy to get to the Diamond League and work on my regular lessons. I simply fell into this accidentally and have stayed through the Semi-Finals into the Finals.

 

And the whining begins

And so it begins once again, a woman from Lebanon with Lebanese and Canadian citizenship complaining about our government not immediately permitting her husband who does not have Canadian citizenship to come into Canada immediately; be allowed on the planes leaving Lebanon. There wouldn't be a problem in Lebanon if the Lebanese people told Hezbollah to get out if they are going to bomb Israel. Hezbollah started bombing on the 8th of October last and has scarcely stopped. the people can not live in northern Israel. they had to flee their homes. Lebanon is a country; it is their duty to the rest of the world to prevent people from using (namely Hezbollah which Iran supports to do their satanic work) their country to attack another country namely Israel. Why should Israel have to go in and root them out; it is your country you stop them. Then we can go back to peace once again. I really have no sympathy except for the children who didn't ask to live in a war zone that you allowed to be created in your country because you do not stop Hezbollah from bombing Israel. We know nothing about your husband? Is he Hezbollah; is he going to join with the Hamas supporters here and cause trouble for our Jewish people? We do not know that. So do not whine on international TV about my government. Whine about your own that does not stop Hezbollah. 

I will say PM Harper was right that you can not have two active citizenships - you are either one or the other and when you are the other (not Canadian) you have no claim on Canadian systems to support you. Unless of course the government of Lebanon is abusing you (it is the duty of the Lebanese government to protect you not us) in which case we do become more supportive. But we do need proof of that. If you can fly here and have your child here on your own then you can do the same thing now. I found it very repugnant to see the attitude you displayed on TV saying if my husband can not come then I will not leave him as if it was my government's fault. You have made it your problem, not ours. 

I would like to see an at least twenty mile dead zone all around Israel personally. I am tired of you Satanic people (Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis all agents of Satanic Nazi Iran and the Great Satan Iran also attacked Israel with nearly 200 missiles) attacking Israel.  No one would live there in a dead zone (it would be monitored); no one could attack Israel from there without Israel seeing them. If you want something different than shape up and create a government that respects its neighbours. That is sad that the dead zone would mean no Gaza but 7th of October last we had our eyes opened to the kind of people Palestinians appear to be whether they live here in Canada or in Gaza. Cheering on Hamas on our streets a year ago was a barbaric act on their part as well as being illegal; it was a hate crime. Not what I would like to see actually this dead zone (it is after all fertile ground where many crops could be growing); Gaza has been the children of Gaza's home and that is sad. But adults need to shape up and stop ruining their children's future.

Just waiting for my receipt and warranty for my new roof; all paid for although I must admit I learned a lot in that experience. But it will be nice to know the roof should keep out the rain. I hope never to have to do that again. But climate change is with us and the hurricane in mid August brought heavy heavy rain to us here in Eastern Ontario. I was at a meeting yesterday discussing Climate Change and its effects on people around the world and what can we as citizens of God do about it. Obviously more can be done but is there a will to do that. There is always more to do. Prayers for the people in the south eastern United States still without hydro; without food but the government there is swift bringing help to them as fast as possible. Vigil prayers for those who lost their lives or were injured.

There was a mention made at the meeting I attended yesterday of the trees dying on the east side of Vancouver Island. I wondered have the First Peoples in that area been consulted as to whether or not this happens through the thousands of years to that part of the island. I would think that is the first question. Our time, we colonials, is short in Canada and their time here is in the thousands of years. I can remember my grandfather talking about different places in Upper Clatford and how they had been used centuries earlier. The corporate historical knowledge of the First Peoples is very important to our understanding of Canada. We must listen to what they have to say. I would love to see the Governor General create working groups that would produce histories of Canada relating to the effects of weather on Canada through the centuries. Our historic knowledge is very short for sure. 

More charting yesterday in the Siderfin Book. I have reached Thomas and will work on that today. Once I have finished Thomas up to the early 1900s then I can begin the task of titling and indexing the book. It is longer than I anticipated but so was the other book at over 400 pages. This one is over 100 pages now. But the marvels of electronic let it be transmitted anywhere in the world that someone wants it. Is it of value? Only if the Siderfin surname is important to you really but there are other surnames that creep in because women married and their progeny had a different surname and so the mixing goes on. The mixing is the most important part of the human existence. Without it DNA becomes stagnant and disease (particularly mitochondrial) creeps in slowly relentlessly through the ages and the only way to cure that is marrying outside the community that you reside in. 

Breakfast completed. Latin is next and must get the Garbage Collection to the curb. I generally leave it where the rain can not get at it quite so easily until morning.  My furnace turned on finally; it got cold enough inside (19.5 degrees celsius). Tempting to reduce the usual heat to 19 degrees celsius instead of 20 degrees celsius it is set at right now and will consider that.

Roofing is completed

A lovely new roof and the cleaning all completed for the week. Some work on the companion charting book for Siderfin yesterday as Elizabeth is completed and working on Charlotte. That leaves Thomas to complete the charting as the youngest of the family of Robert Siderfin and Grace Kent. Then begins the task of naming the "sections/chapters" which I didn't do as I wanted to think about that. Also indexing can commence and some footnoting perhaps but primarily the footnoting is in the revision of James Sander's Siderfin Book. The two books are meant to go together just as James Sanders had the Pedigree Chart inserted into his original book. 

What next is my thinking as this has been a month of house maintenance and I am glad to put that to rest for sure. Just painting to do all winter and I will spread it out quite a bit. Very pleased with the red stairs. I am contemplating painting the shelf that runs out from the upper level along the wall also red. I will think about that. There is enough paint to do that but am I talented enough to do that. We will see. I do have painter's tape that I can put along the edges so that it is a clean finish. But next up the blue paint in Edward's study/work room. I need to check and see the spots that need doing other than where the internet cable came through the wall. That has been neatened up but the wall needs some paint around it. 

October promises to be a cooler normal fall month and Thanksgiving is moving towards us at a fast pace. My chicken stew was exceptional this week and I have really enjoyed it even with the fourth dinner. But I am like that when I like something I stick with it for ease and reliability. Tonight I think perhaps an egg meal as I haven't had egg for a few days. Then tomorrow salmon or scallops and Saturday I have not really decided but Sunday will be chicken stew once again - always on Sunday and then it is ready for the cleaning days so that I can just reheat it. 

The Blake Newsletter has been distributed on line on the website. It is shorter these days but will perhaps grow longer. But distinct Blake lines within the group get together on their own and share back and forth. It is working well. I would love to get more detail on the likely Norman Branch of the family, Richard leBlake came from Rouen in the 1270s to set up a market in England having first received a patent to do so. I think he is first along the Hampshire coast and then moved inland until he settled in Oxfordshire where he is found in the early 1300s. From there the male line appears to move to the Hungerford area and then to Calne area. Proving that may always be difficult but speculatively speaking it does appear to hold water. My own line nestled in Andover area through the time period from the early 1300s (still needing to find that proof as I saw it years ago now when I was a newbie) well into the early 1900s. My grandfather believed they had always been there and proving that will also be more speculative than written proof. 

Playing Ian White's Psalms this morning. Somehow the busyness of the last few months has dissipated overnight and normalcy is returning to my household. 

Breakfast and then Latin and the day continues in a normal vein. Some bookkeeping to do first thing and then back to Charting and the Siderfin Companion Book.

I am hopeful

I am hopeful that there is not anything else for me to fix in the house that requires me hiring someone.  I really have very little knowledge of all of this stuff.

The storm was a wicked one that day - the remnants of the Hurricane lashing down and flooding the roof. Edward had roofed his home where he lived with his mother several times so was very knowledgeable. Who would have ever thought I needed to become knowledgeable on that really.  Should I just have ignored a couple of spots? I have no idea. Widow's sons definitely know a lot about managing a house if their mother owned one. They have done all of those tasks for sure of maintenance at one time or another.

Time as always is on the side of the living; plenty of time to fix things up for sure. The next family living here will certainly have their own ideas so I just intend to keep it going until next summer and then I will move. Today the roof will be completed I understand from the telephone call to me yesterday (if the rain stops). The new chimney I can see from the back yard but I can not really see much else up there so hopefully pictures will reveal the new roof. Waiting on that; picture taking is a great idea to show completion of a job. 

Anyway, not much real work done by me yesterday as it was a cleaning day and today I finish with the top floor. I was waiting on the roof to be completed although I do not actually see any sign of extra dust or anything so perhaps could have finished yesterday. Today it is raining so do not know when the job will be completed; after the rain I guess. 

I do think after all this experience with house care that a condo sounds like the right idea for me. Somehow knowledge of roofing and fence building is not something I really want to get into at 79 plus years of age; I just want to hire someone to do it. Although I do remember my knowledgeable father once saying that one should have some knowledge of the tasks that you hire people to do. Well I have a little but obviously not sufficient to accurately determine exactly what should be done. That is what we hire people to do for sure. 

I need to really get to work reducing the amount of material that I have to move because I do not want to be crowded in with a lot of extra stuff that will be harder to sort in a smaller place. I also do not want to just dump it as it represents Edward's hobbies and he really enjoyed them so need to give them a new home fortunately they are mostly paper now. He had already given away his extensive camera collection to the museum in his home town. So today cleaning and continuing in that vein of reduction. 

Part of Edward's camera collection in the museum (It was very extensive; actually filled a large trunk and displays around the house and a couple of other good-sized containers). The pictures are from the main street of Princeton, Ontario where he lived as a child. ):

 

Sometimes I wonder why so few see the dangers to Israel in these constant bombings sent against them. Just because they have an iron dome does not mean that one gets to callously send projectiles their way without retribution. Then there is this ganging up on Israel by Iran through their proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. All the while you have all these whining people in the countries that the satanists occupy namely Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis complaining that Israel is bombing them, or displacing them but do they do anything about Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthis or even Iran itself. No they cry in the streets because one of the leaders of this satanist group is killed. What thoughtless people they really are and I must agree with PM Harper (finally!) that you can not be a citizen of two countries fleeing back to Canada everytime you are careless and allow satanists to control the country you prefer to live in. I have no sympathy for them. They are leeches sucking the life blood out of their preferred country by their permitting these satanists Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis to attack Israel whenever they feel like it and trying to suck the blood out of my country with their whining and need to be repatriated because they took up citizenship as a safe bet in case. 

Then there is Russia trying to hold the entire world as hostage whilst they threaten us with their nuclear arsenal and try to steal Ukrainian land. People actually are saying to compromise with Russia; do they not remember what happened when we compromised with Hitler over Czechslovakia. The Nazis attacked Poland mercilessly and World War II was on our doorsteps (and we mustn't forget the Nazis and the Soviet Union divided Poland in half with each taking one part). The Nazi Russians are threatening us all over the world; do you think that you will be spared nuclear fallout; it goes everywhere. 

Anyway back to work and hopefully my new section of roof will do the trick of eliminating any chance of little spots of water on my ceiling in the bedroom over the garage.  It should do it for $4000 plus dollars.

October and 11 degrees celsius

Fall is very much in control of the season now. Yesterday I cleared away the sunflower stalks. The squirrels had claimed most of the flower heads but there were still three that had stems that were too thin for them to climb and possibly they didn't notice them. I left the flower heads on the lawn for the squirrels and in the early evening they came (two of them) and ate them on the spot. The grey squirrels have just arrived this morning to finish off the sunflower; I just took a break from cleaning and watched that. This is definitely their yard; are they the same family year after year I have no idea but the vegetation in this area suits them very well. Beautiful black and grey squirrels with their bushy tails and their arrogant manner as they own the land they survey. They have been here likely for generations and will still be here generations from now one would hope and pray. They are part of the land for sure. Although I feel very Canadian, I am a transplant with my father born in England and my mother's line going back in Canada to her father and his mother all born here. The English blood runs thick in my veins and so English from six different areas of England - the south east, the south west, the south, the midlands, the mid to northern east and the north. Way back there is Scot from the Highlands and hidden to me even yet there is Irish back there perhaps not that far mid to late 1700s but somewhere back there I do have Irish ancestry. But really it is all British Isles ancestry - those beautiful green Isles seen by Europeans through the centuries and they too migrated to the British Isles as I do carry the blood of Europeans in my veins from way back although my Huguenots came to England in the late 1400s so just six hundred years for them. 

Yesterday the basement cleaned and the painting of the red steps completed. They look quite nice and I may give them another coat in the spring since there is still red paint. My that paint just keeps coming and the level barely slips down - amazing really. The next is light blue paint from Edward's office and there is painting here and there to freshen up and a spot where Edward put one of the internet cables through the wall from a feeder to enhance his reception. Perhaps if I had noticed that at the time I would have wondered about that. Always so fastidious in how he managed everything he just cut a hole in the wall and put the wire through - so unlike him not to have put in a plate of some sort. Sometime around 2012 he put that through. I was busy with my surname studies and he was busy with his surname studies. DNA had quite captured me although mostly the yDNA at that time. I was still really just starting to look at atDNA which was more of Edward's interest. He was thrilled with atDNA as I extracted the information for him from Ancestry into a large Excel file he found the proofs for his 80,000 people family tree. The matches were enormous for him on Ancestry and everywhere else really. His colonial roots shone forth in those results. Most of his ancestors came to Canada as settlers in the early 1800s up until the mid 1820s but a few came a little earlier. A few late comers who were not American colonials came in the early 1830s from Norfolk, England and in the late 1840s and again in the mid 1860s from Mecklenburg-Strelitz now part of the eastern area of Germany. But it was all those Americans testing on Ancestry with deep colonial roots in New England and New York testing that allowed him to go back many generations with an assured proof of the likely son or daughter in each line. It was a thrill for him and he enjoyed it so very much. 

Although it is said to be mostly clear in the skies it is cloudy here and I can not see the slipper moon that I saw yesterday morning early. The trees remain part of that but it is cloudy here. But it is meant to be mostly sunny with a high of 22 degrees celsius and the air quality at 33 very pleasant. 

Today I clean the main floor and I will sand a dent on the wall that happened last summer. I filled it with plaster and will sand it today getting it ready for that slightly off white paint. There are a number of spots to do but just little items. We painted all of that about four years ago so still looks very nice but I will fix up the spots that need a little touchup. That will follow the blue paint. So a busy day ahead.

I also want to get back to the charting of the Siderfin Book. I think I have more or less in my mind decided how the book will flow and I just need to get that done. Likely it will take me longer than I think which is fine; no schedule for that here. Just plan on getting it done. Then I can return to my Blake and Pincombe books. Today I need to publish the Blake Newsletter and will get that up on line.The yDNA study is a bit stagnant. I realize that I am likely dealing with a lot of people with deep ancestral lines in England and can not see a value in doing their yDNA. It is the deep ancestry that is so exciting but perhaps a lot of people do not really want to know their ancestry prior to a few thousands or more years ago when their lines came to the British Isles. I think in general all populations have this migrant influence in them as people wandered about the earth with that itchy foot syndrome. Otherwise we would not be finding patches of unexpected DNA haplogroups (y, at and mt) all over the world. 

Breakfast and then Latin and then cleaning the pattern is set and I just need to follow it day after day as I progress towards now 80 years of age come next fall. My parents lived into their 86th year (my mother) and 95th year (my father) and my grandparents that I knew into their 81st year (my maternal grandmother) and into his 79th year (my paternal grandfather). In the 1950s and 1960s that was a significantly long life span just as the mid 80s and mid 90s was for my parents. They saw so much; so much war and it did influence how they lived their lives. The mourning for those young people lost in the late 1940s and well into the 1950s was enormous and a huge part of our life in London, Ontario. We were a military town when I was a child and so those soldiers who walked our streets were a memory of those lost young people I can remember thinking that as a child. Our soldiers were a very important part of London until the base finally closed and the units moved elsewhere. 

One thing I never realized about myself until much later in my life was how I first view people when I meet them. I needed my boss for a particular item when he was at one of the other hospitals back in the 90s. I asked the secretary that I had called to let my boss Dr. Nimrod know that I needed to speak with him urgently. I had tried a couple of means of reaching him but the meeting was rather important and I knew that although it involved mostly moving about the building where the group was meeting. She said what does he look like. So I said he is a tall man solidly built. She said most of them are anything else and whilst I was contemplating that she said to me is he black? And I said yes he is. I notice height, I notice build but apparently one of the last things I notice is the colour of one's skin. We all come in different colours even the pale white like myself - my husband had very white skin and mine is more pinkish like the English; his background being primarily Germanic. So an interesting discovery about myself when I was about 50 years old. My mother brought us up to have no prejudice if that was possible. I think she succeeded and especially she felt a very supportive attitude towards the First Nations. Way back she felt that they were not being treated as the British had intended and the treaties had been quite firm on their ownership of land. Listening to my mother was often very informative and interesting as I learned much about life in her time and especially the depression and the Second World War years. It formed her character which I find to have been quite charming in retrospect although my mother was certainly very strict during my childhood and I was probably rather frightened of her. She was a loner I would have said although very polite and perhaps one of my faults is overly polite so I tend to really put space between myself and others. But her friends from childhood were her life long friends and she loved them all dearly.