The budget and how I see it

 The Liberal Budget does an interesting thing perhaps with a couple of changes; it will sell off surplus government buildings to be converted into apartments. It is an interesting proposal and could be successful and unload buildings the government will no longer use (or even put that as a first priority to examine when developments are being created that government buildings/land be utilized first if possible and practical). I interpreted this to mean that a planned project could be initiated by a private builder and they could then access these downsized surplus buildings/partial buildings/land and purchase them for a reasonable price (based on the market value) for their project. I am not really in favour of the government building/renovating spaces as it would be too expensive for them to take on projects for which they are not staffed. We already have experienced and staffed private companies that build and renovate. The incentive perhaps is being able to sell what you create for a profit and you are helping to stabilize the country you live in because we are in a housing crisis. Coming from a small business family I do remember the thrill that they had of owing a business and the personal satisfaction that comes from being a business owner. The idea of the government holding ownership of land and leasing it is also interesting and would let smaller builders get into these larger projects because they are not paying for land up front. Plus, there should be a yearly rent for the land by purchasers that goes back into the government coffers to support maintenance of that land.

The government workforce is also downsizing by attrition over the next five years and this is also good as they hired a lot of people during COVID that are no longer needed.

The TMX and I would prefer to see the government keep it as a crown corporation (we must have people who can run this efficiently and are not just looking for ways to create big money for themselves) so that they are not so susceptible to union problems creating slowness. We might as well profit from the TMX for a few years during which time the First Nations may be able to acquire sufficient funding and support to buy it. I see them as the preferred purchaser. They are more likely to maintain the pipeline at 100% efficiency and use the money wisely not for personal profit. They also have a fifty year plan as I tire of these four year episodes of government with changes made in the structural levels of government that cost money. Change them if there is waste but otherwise leave the public servants alone to do their work.

Some of the more questionable things in the budget are the huge expenses for personal care. People should use their own money to pay for their personal expenses and then apply for a rebate online (libraries have lots of computers for people who do not have family support to help them if they are elderly) if they satisfy the requirements for the say dental support. I am bothered by that and would prefer a much tighter scrutiny over monies that are provided for personal needs. It just makes medical care too expensive to support. As for children's lunches I do not have a problem with that but it should be restricted by income. Give the children a card to identify them in terms of a charge being levied if not free and in case of allergies (schools should be set up for debit card/credit card expenses where needed and really it should be a simple thing to set up now and anonymous for those who feel that it would stigmatize anyone). People could then pay (e-transfer on a weekly or monthly basis or immediately by credit/debit card if a child has one) to have their children fed at school - I would have and that would help to pay for this system (plus you could still send your child with a lunch if you or they want). But do not nickle and dime that; no lowest bidder providing the food for children - perhaps Health Canada through Public Health Agencies locally  could oversee those contracts. Lets make it economical and not overdo personal care expenses. We simply can not sustain these personal expenditures. I agree with universal health care but I do want to see people take on more responsibility for their own care (do regular and continuous exercise to stay healthy) and make medical care efficient and not overloaded thus providing a stronger population.

I crave a more fiscal conservatism in the bookkeeping of our country. Why was CRA scammed for millions of dollars? This needs to be investigated thoroughly. I need the conservative party to get their minds clearly fixed on fiscal conservatism. I do want to hear support for Ukraine and Israel being foremost in discussion and more money for the military for equipment and salaries and it has to be done if the Conservatives win and not backtrack like after the recession in 2008. Balancing the budget is important but not at the expense of our historical institutions. Use the audit reports and others to eliminate waste in government offices. The constant repeat arguments in Question Period are wasteful - I do watch Question Period; start examining why things like scamming the CRA happens.

Heavy rain yesterday

 The heavy rain yesterday curtailed my planned movement of earth and scattering grass seed. Probably I will do that tomorrow as it is still raining today. Then there is rain predicted for Tuesday but it would have a couple of days to settle and not be washed away!

Chocolate cupcakes were made and tasty. Froze most of them actually as they thaw very well and taste great. Long grain brown rice, toasted tofu, peas and feta for dinner and greatly enjoyed but also enjoyed my four nights of chicken stew. I do like the efficiency of all of that. Tonight will be cod, potato, and corn. Tomorrow night will be eggs of some sort and then back to chicken stew on Sunday. 

Worked on the Pencombe extraction and linked up some of the unattached individuals. The beginning will be slow as I work through the wills and land documents to align people together. It will take into the next generation to reduce the number of unattached individuals. There are so many early registers online now that were not there even five years ago. Still thinking about subscribing to The Genealogist and British History Online. However, I have a lot of extraction to do on Find My Past and will continue with that. 

Today though I may go back to Blake as planned and do the next two days. I want to have a look at the French Archives and see if I can find anything interesting on Le Blak in Normandy. The yDNA was interesting and will pursue that as well for the group that is likely descendant of the Wiltshire Blake family. However, they primarily live in the Western Hemisphere so must tread slowly with that but they do have I1 which generally marks the northern French coastal area as well as inland into Europe. 

The rain is greatly appreciated and the earth is soaking it all up. One thing not having spring runoff like usual with frozen ground it should lower the flooding problems considerably. The rain soaking in will be good news in northern Ontario and Quebec and slow down the dry season there and hopefully keep the forest fires down. Last year was the worst I ever saw with smoke swirling around the back yard for a couple of weeks. That was the forest fires in northern Quebec being blown down here into the Ottawa area. 

Thank you God for the beautiful world. We must work harder to make it as livable as possible for all of your creations. 

Teatime and Latin soon.

Spring is so busy and Pencombe extraction going well

Yesterday was a combined day - work outside and work inside. It is spring; that wonderful glorious time when the sun shines brightly (although hopefully rain today) and one is outside but the best part is regenerative gardening. Wonderful words; my daughter was so right. This is definitely the way to go. Generally, in the last fifteen years I would be out there working for hours in the morning digging the garden, raking and all that stuff. But now I just have to move some of that new earth onto the existing earth (and grass in this case) and then sprinkle grass seed after patting the earth down flat with a rake and the rain will come and the grass will grow and I will have not disturbed the tunneling and the movement of the insects, earthworms and everything else beneath the level of the ground. Nor will I have exhausted myself digging. 

I found the grass seed, I found the thing that lets you scatter the grass seed but will probably not use it as it is just a narrow area along the street edge. I am still going to let the blue flowers bloom and then the dandelions come although will gradually spread a thin layer of fresh earth on top of all of that. Gardening could yet be fun and interesting. I am overly content to be helping with greening the earth. 

Other than that I have barely looked outside as I am working on extracting the Pencombe/Pincombe/Pyncombe/Pencomb/Pincomb/Pyncomb/Pinkham entries from Find My Past. Gradually my new file is taking shape as I link in all those known lines to me with the proven data. My old file is good but it is limited as I did not pull all the data way back when. I was still a newbie and really why would a Pincombe in Exeter, Devon, England interest me although I noted that they were there and collected all their wills. But my understanding of one name studies has grown by leaps and bounds and now I am making up for not collecting all of that data as well. Some of it is in that old one name file but not as complete as I would like plus when I started Find  My Past was still a twinkling in the eye of some entrepreneur and not yet past that initial stage of offering. Find My Past was 1837online.com when I first knew it and certainly did not have the records that it has now. I bought up all kinds of fiche and with my trusty fiche reader transcribed earlier records in my first days in one name studies after the Pincombe Profile was produced for my cousin who had initially pushed me into genealogical studies. George DeKay passed away a few years ago and his emails are sadly missed but I still have them all if I want to remember his thoughts. We shared our mutual 3x great grandparents Robert Gray and Elizabeth Cobb. They never left England but their sons - Robert, William and James came to Canada. The first two around 1832 and the last later. I would need to look that up. George wrote a book about them and that was when I first heard about George as he discussed the Gray family with my mother. He wanted a picture of Grace (Gray) Pincombe and I am not sure why my mother did not share the one that she had actually. It is possible that at that time she did not have it and my uncle had it. My uncle was not interested in genealogy but he did save all of that paperwork which I now have. But the picture of my great grandparents William Robert Pincombe and Grace (Gray) Pincombe was in her hands when I saw it (it was in the box of pictures that my mother had given to Edward when he wrote their 50th anniversary book). Not a really good picture of Grace; one would not call her beautiful in that picture although I have seen pictures where she is one would say well presented but still not beautiful. Not all women are but she had a strength in her "Yorkshire" features that told of a woman who had had four children, first stillborn, the second my grandfather, the third her daughter who followed her mother to the grave one year later at thirteen years and another son who only lived for six months. Life was cruel to Grace but also kind in some ways. She loved the pace of life in her social circle which included her mother's sister's son Sir John Carling and all the rest of the Routledge and Carling clan in the London, Ontario area at that time. They have spread across the land from ocean to ocean now but Grace is not forgotten. She still lives on in the hearts of her great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. The story is interesting because George was writing the book when his aunt said to him you have forgotten Grace and by then it was nearly 100 years since Grace had passed away. George remedied that and called my mother and she was most happy to provide him with all the details for the Pincombe line in her possession at that time. By then we were in Ottawa living and I heard all of this and can still read it in her letters. It gave her a new avenue to look at and she picked up the traces and helped George produce that section of the book. Perhaps he was remembering that thirty years later when he asked my younger sister to write the profile. She sent him on to me. Yikes! genealogy I knew nothing about it but he persuaded me to do it (I was still working in those days) and so I took up 42 courses at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (began that is; I would still be doing those courses long after the Profile was done (completed my PLCGS in 2007)). Who would have thought I would ever get my head out of the world of science and work on history. Except I always enjoyed history in my youth and it was just completing the circle I guess. 

However, I must get some work done. The morning is early but I need to bake some muffins to keep up my strength and my weight. There is a lot to do today before the rain really comes tomorrow. Well not do a lot just that narrow strip of land at the road's edge to add earth and grass seed. Is it too early for grass seed? Well I can always spread more later!

I have, though, barely looked outside this spring. Life has been so busy working on these books. Plus I can see all that I want to see out of the back window with the birds. This has been a great spring for birds. I really should fill the feeder but my neighbours do that and I can see the birds very well. 

So on to the day. Tea and Latin on duolingo. Then breakfast and bake the chocolate chips muffins (I can freeze them since I can not possibly eat twelve muffins in a couple of days!). In between my two sets of stretches, jumping jacks, shoulder stands and walking. My weightlifting will be the movement of the earth from the bag to the front lawn. I think I will just carry the shovel fulls to the front. Will see how that goes. Filling a wheelbarrow does seem like making work for myself when a shovel at a time could do it. Then working on Pencombe extraction and followed by a run and lunch. The day is assigned. 

Another day in God's world; would that peace could come in our time. Our brave young men and women gave up their lives more than a hundred years ago now in the First World War and eighty years ago in the Second World War so that we would have that very thing. Life may call upon us to do that for the next generation. Peace but not peace at any price. God's world deserves better than that. God sent Satan into the deep fires where he belonged millennia ago. It is not for us to judge our fellow man unless there is a debt to be paid to society but simply for us to learn to live together without greed without envy and without war. We actually do not have to bite at these wicked assaults on countries unless we are forced to do so we just have to corral the satanists (stifle their economy) who inflict such damage and pain on God's children and help those who are attacked.

Blake in the 1300s and early 1400s in the Calne Wiltshire area

Once I had created a proof of life timeline for Robert (le) Blake and there is mention of a brother Adam le Blake, I had a better image of this family at Calne and the documents that are available. His son John became a Member of Parliament and his grandson (son of this John) John was also a Member of Parliament. They were associated with Calne but also Quemerford which is closeby. Also known to Robert le Blake was a John Malewayn with several transactions in the 1330s. That is quite interesting as Robert's great great grandson Robert Blake was also at Quemerford (he had a fulling mill there). No details on the middle generations between these two Roberts which is not surprising as one might have to search very thoroughly through the land records to see mention of these individuals (Henry Blake married to ? Dorrant, William Blake married to Elizabeth Power and Henry Blake married to Margaret Bellett). Is it enough to have these transactions between Robert le Blake and John Malewayn to prove a connection of any sort? Probably not although it is interesting that his 2x great grandson later marries Avice (Wallop) Malwyn (widow) who holds Quemerford at that time. I did contemplate it for a while and have still not come to any thoughts on proceeding. I will write it all up and mostly have done so. I did find a Dorrant/Durrant family in Norfolk and a number of wiki trees with Blake being all over the place including Wiltshire and Norfolk. I think differently in that I can just leave these things out that I can not prove rather than mystify the whole process by pulling information out of here and there that I can not find any support. Anyway thoughts for another day.

I did get to contemplating just what do I wish to achieve with this book on the Blake family of Andover. Why am I doing it? Well, my grandfather wanted to write a book about his family but he had a stroke and it just didn't work out for him to do that. Instead he filled my head with his thoughts which was a good idea because now I can bring a lot of this information that he told  me onto my computer screen and verify his thoughts. So that is a leap forward for sure. Hence I do see a point in doing this and will continue but it may be that I just eliminate the chapter on the Calne Blake family or leave it in just because there did appear to be some sort of an association between the Blake family in Berkshire, the Blake family in Andover and the Blake family at Calne although I think the connection between Andover and Calne is weaker than the connection between Berkshire and Hampshire. Hence I will mostly concentrate on that connection although can put in the possibility that Richard le Blak of Rouen, Normandy was the founder of the Blake family found at Calne and not the son of Robert le Blake whose timeline is clearly provable along with that of his son John and his grandson John as is that of Richard le Blak of Rouen, Normandy. 

That is good to have settled that in my mind. I have thought about it for the last month and a half which is a good length and probably sufficient to let me write the chapter and move on to the next phase of all of this which is pulling out the genealogical data namely BMBs available for the Blake family in the greater Andover area. Then I will have the two books at the same stage once again which is comfortable. 

This week I shall work outside one hour per day to start and I need to prune the fruit bushes and want to start putting earth on the lawn and prepare it for grass seed. I will also lightly fill in the current flower beds with fresh soil and no digging. This is my daughter's idea to replenish the soil without disturbing it - regeneration of the soil. We started a couple of years ago and we are learning as we move along. The vegetable gardens will be very different this year I think. We need to be slow and steady planting them and then weeding them. Last year was interesting but a lot of weeds. 

Teatime and Latin next. The day begins and the budget has been revealed. The desire of people to own land; buy up property shows up in my mailbox at least twice a week. The light rail is just a lovely walk away (about 3/4s of a kilometre) and there is a huge desire to buy these houses likely for the resell market. It would be good to eliminate that nuisance by regulating the turn around time on selling by investors for sure. I realize we live in this greedy society where everyone wants to be wealthy but being wealthy does have its drawbacks.  I also did not like to see the GST totally removed from the builders need to pay it. Increase the GST to 10% and then you can maybe give them a break at 5% if what they are doing is beneficial. Helping out an already wealthy builder though is not my idea of sound financial government support. Not a socialist; just a practical fiscal conservative.

Edward would have been 81 years of age today

My husband, would have been 81 years of age today. Yesterday I had a telephone call to wish him a happy birthday. Strange really the number of times I have mentioned that he is deceased. Nice to see him remembered of course but strange. 

Edward wanted to live to be 94 like his mother and I would say he kind of copied how she managed her life. But it was not to be sadly for sure. I will always be sad that he did not get that wish for sure. 

For his 80th birthday Edward wanted to go to Galapagos. I said sure that is a beautiful idea but did not happen. Like me, Edward was really a life long learner another item we shared in common for sure. 

Rest in peace my dear husband. God bless.