I'm more than a little crabby today

I woke up with a blasting headache, but that's not the cause of my crabbiness, really.

A whole lot of things going on has me upset. M. and I took a spin to the town yesterday. We had some banking to do and a couple of things to pick up at the shops.  There seemed to be even more construction going on at the intersections, and as we proceeded through the core, we got even more angry. The power company is replacing crossing signals and the city is improving cuts on the sidewalks. But tell me, at an intersection of four corners, was it necessary to have all four corners torn up? There is a long run of these corners on the east side of downtown. They have been torn up for more than a week. And we had a good dump of snow. Anyway with mobility issues or in a chair would have to use the very busy road. This is NOT acceptable.

So that has been on my mind,,,,,,,,and then.........

I get a call from my bank. Someone is using my credit card in an electronics store in the US. I am so thankful that my card is flagged. I have a very small group of vendors so the bank sees a pattern of spending. Thank goodness they caught it. I'd like to know how these people get my number and password when that card NEVER leaves the house. I don't carry it in my purse. So it's going to be one to two weeks to get a new card. That has put the blocks on my ordering some Christmas gifts from local folks!

And then.........our internet was out for most of the day.......

We do business here. We order parts and clients contact us via internet. Children on my road home school. The Bell company has really no interest in helping us. We have lodged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but if you look at their website, Bell is one of the top contenders for a rotten to the core business.

About three o'clock I went down with a sick head ache. I didn't hear Mr. M come in from his work nor did I smell the delicious Chinese dinner he was cooking up. I'm awake now with a full belly. 

Sunday in the Snow

I took the Princess out for a romp up the bush road this afternoon. 

I told myself I would walk until the snow started. We got a fair distance before my knee started giving me grief. I just nicely got back in the house when the snow started falling. How much will we get??? 20-30 centimeters is a "possible guess."

I had a good long chat with my youngest daughter last night. She told me about her new career move to Director of a large organization.  She still seems like a teenager to me. It's hard to imagine her in such a heavy position.  I know she will do well. She's a tough cookie with a soft interior. She was hoping to go to her boyfriends for the week before she starts her new post, but wasn't sure if they would be heading there today. Apparently the lane into his country home is long and rough so they have to haul their stuff (and three cats) in by wheel barrow. What a hoot!

This morning my eldest daughter gave me a call. She always has all the news about the rest of the family and keeps me in the loop. Half the time I'd never know what most of them are up to. My city kids, haha. Anyway, We try to talk at least once a month. She was all excited about the snow. Her kitties were in the window watching the flakes fall and swatting at them. My old cats are too old and jaded to get excited by snow, haha.

Time to sign off and go find snow boots!

Later, I shoveled both porches about 7 PM. When I tossed the Princess out for her bedtime pee, there was another 4 or 5 inches and coming down HARD. We will have a winter wonderland tomorrow!

We expect the phone will be ringing off the hook with emergency service calls.

Splish Splash

 I had to make a quick run into the grocery store while we were out for a drive in the countryside today. 

I went in for meat for dinner (we forgot to take something out before we left and we don't do convenience foods) and a jar of Chez Whiz. It makes me gag but Mr. M really likes it, so.....

By the time I was ready to check out I had a dozen cans of cat food, some veggies for dinner, some chicken.  The store didn't look too busy when I went in but by the time I was checking out there were only three tills open and lineups at all three. I jumped behind the line where the folks seemed to have the least items in their carts, get to the head of the line, and disaster strikes. The woman ahead of me had put a big container of, I think, dish washing liquid, on the belt, which promptly dumped it on the floor. The thing smashed and oh boy, there was soap everywhere. The head cashier called for cleanup and told me I had to go to another line. Well folks, I lost it. I said, "I'm a senior person and I've been standing in line for ten minutes and there is no dam way i'm going to the end of another line when all those people have full carts. You WILL open another cash." Hey, it worked! They did open another till and directed me to be first in line. I feel sorry for the poor young lad who was down on his hands and knees with a mamouth box of tissues and some rags.

We had a lovely drive. We saw a gang of deer grazing beside a deserted barn. A bit further on we saw this big hawk. I haven't been able to identify it yet. Down another road was a flock of buntings. They are interesting birds. We followed the big river and the mountains on the other side were often in view. There is something quite spiritual about that river and the mountains for me.

My sister and I are watching The Crown together. We're up to Ep. 6.  I'm not especially liking this season. It is not showing the royals in good light. 

I'm back on the Keto diet plan for awhile. My blood sugar is on the high side and  I desperately need to lose some pounds. Yesterday was tough but today was good. I'm missing those cookies. 

More family history

 One link that I didn't mention in my previous post is our First Nations ancestor. The cousins who work on our genealogy have all heard the story about our Indian Princess. We just don't know who she was, or from what tribal group. Back in the day, we assumed she was from Mohawk first nation on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Why there? Because our first Canadians settled on Mohawk territory. It was just a supposition with no real fact to back it up.

17th century sailing vessel 

As I started really digging into my New England ancestors, I discovered a young woman married into my Morgan clan, with the surname Foster. Somewhere back in time, a woman sent me a message that this gals name had been Anglicised from Pharaoh. Some of the Montauk people of Long Island used this name. I can't pin this one to a specific person or First Nation. There is just that small portion of our DNA showing some Native American.

It's sad that I haven't been able to find a whole lot of information regarding my maternal grandfathers lineage. I have about five surnames that show up intermarrying over many many generations. Beyond these births, marriages and deaths, I really know very little about them. Irish records are notoriously short. I have a fair number of Corbett DNA matches who really know only about as much as I do. I have one gentleman who now lives in Australia, who lived most of his life in the town where my Corbett's originated. He once said to me "You can't swing a cat in Dromara (C.Down) without hitting a Corbett!"

My maternal grandmother used to tell us her ancestors were Vikings! Her fathers folks immigrated to Canada in the 1830s from Orkney and the outer Hebrides. They were skilled stone masons and blacksmiths. Her mothers people were from northern coastal "mainland" of Scotland.  The paternal islanders were certainly of Viking stock. There is intensive research and DNA to prove that. My Scandinavian DNA matches hold it up. Our family names on that branch of the family are all Scandinavian in origin.

Did any of you watch the TV series VIKINGS on the History network? Several of the prominent characters were based on real people, who are in fact in my maternal lineage. 

Utzi or Otzi, also known as the Ice Man, is a mummified person found in Alps in 1991. Otzi and I share a common ancestor back about, oh, 5000 years or so!

Now what about that rumored pirate?

Two Scottish brothers, John and James, set sail for America from a British port. One brother was a pious, hard working and focused gentleman. The younger brother was a bit of a scallywag. The elder brother was convinced to take his brother to the New World to get him away from his ner'do'well associates and start taking some responsibility for his future.  By the time their vessel sailed into port at York, New Hampshire, the younger man had the entire crew in an uproar. At that point he was given two choices: stay in stocks until the vessel sailed again, where he would be returned to his port of departure, or get on the first ship leaving the Port of York. He chose the later. Story has it this vessel was a crew of Privateers. They are sort of like pirates, but do their pillaging with the blessings of the King of England! They sailed down along the east coast, below S.America, then headed north up the west coast and eventually meandered west.  Now this gets rather interesting. I have a number of DNA matches who are of Polynesian heritage. They are all related, being a mother and a son, his sister, his aunties and cousins. The gentleman is also a professional genealogist. He told me that according to family oral history, there was a pirate or two in their background. Not too long after I had corresponded with him for awhile, I heard from another chap from Florida who had a very similar story in his family. It was him who told me the story about the two brothers, and gave me the names. As it happens, the brother named James is my ancestor!

My spies are fellows from the Revolutionary War period. Johannes Hans Waldermeyer, also known as John Walden Meyers, was a well known soldier in the area along Lake Champlain. His many exploits tell of hair raising experiences evading the enemy. He eventually migrated to Canada as a Loyalist. I descend from him through his marriage to his second wife, Sophia Hoffnail. 

A fellow Loyalist rebel was Henry Davy. He was one of four brothers who were Loyalists. Henry apparently moved back and forth between Canada (Upper Canada at that time) and United States, apparently to seed wheat. Story goes that he was carrying messages from Loyalist already in Canada to those in the US.  I wonder what those messages were about?

Genealogy and DNA

My regular readers know about my passion for our family genealogy.

I grew up hearing about my paternal grandmothers family history as United Empire Loyalists. It was interesting to me because we were learning about it at school in Grade 4.

In my early 20s I met my fathers first cousin who introduced me to genealogical research. She had a wonderful big binder full of great records. My fathers aunt also started corresponding with me about her research. She lived close to the Victoria Archives in Toronto. My father wasn't all that interested in it beyond the obvious.

I was 9 or 10 when I figured out that the guy I knew as my grandfather was NOT my grandfather. I think my cousin Debbie told me that he had just died, but my father didn't go to the funeral, which seemed odd. It would be years before I learned the identity of my grandfather.

Just before my father passed away, his youngest sister told me to look into the surname Brotherston. Oh yes, I discovered a lot from that hint! I found the 1921 census with my father and his closest sister, his mother and grandparents....and the surname of record was Brotherston.  I have since managed to find his two sisters birth announcement in a local newspaper, but still haven't got any kind of birth record for Dad. 

In 2014, Another person, thinking she was a sibling to my father (he's had several we never knew about) convinced me to invest in one of these DNA kits. As it happened, the woman was not a blood relative, but an adopted cousin to my father. (We have a loving friendship to this day, though she is now suffering dementia.

I had ordered a rogue kit to carry in my purse if an opportunistic situation ever popped up. I mentioned it to my brother and he said "I'll do it!" Like me, my brother was very anxious for proof that this Mr. Brotherston was our true grandfather. We were in for a big surprise! My brother did indeed have many good matches to the Brotherston clan which sealed that deal. I had the pleasure of connecting to a distant cousin who was living in the part of Scotland where our ancestors originated. He took many photographs and found lots of church records. We discovered that our 4xgreat grandfather was illegitimate. Brian had to convince the rector to let him look at a special book that was not usually open to the public. That's where he found the baptism of this special child.

We have reconnected to several close cousins in our hometown. It makes me so sad that my grandfather lived in our neighbourhood during my childhood. I don't know if I ever met him, though I do have memories of his second wife. I never knew she was my fathers stepMother, though, Just some random old lady who seem to like us, and gave us treats when we visited her. 

My greatgrandparents with my Grandmother and baby Ed

Grandfather Bill Brotherston

My dear old Da in his army gear

After my aunt died, my cousin was going through her belongings and found a photo of my Grandpa Bill. My father and his sister Beryl looked so much like him it's just mind boggling! We have since found at least one more full sibling for my father. She has passed, but I've connected with her youngest daughter. She is working on getting her dual citizenship and plans to move back to Canada as soon as her husband retires. 

Men and women carry the X chromosome from their mothers. Only men carry the Y and pass it to their male offspring. We upgraded my brothers test to include his Y. We were very surprised to have one match with the surname of Herriott.  It turns out this gentleman is the clan chief. We have carried on an interesting correspondence and upgraded my brothers testing levels several times. He just keeps getting more and more Herriot(t) matches. We are presently waiting for a major test result that is of great interest to the Herriot Clan Heritage Association. All of these matches can link their lineage back to a rather well known guy who came to New Jersey in the 1600s. My brothers on the other hand, is believed to go back even further. We are rather excited to see just how far. 

So the big question is....is a Mr. Herriot the missing father of the 4x great grandfather? 

Our paternal grandmothers heritage is quite interesting. She had an ancestor on the Mayflower. She had ancestors among the first dozen colonists in what is now New York and the state of Rhode Island. She descends from Loyalist and Patriots, a pirate and a spy.

Grandfather Bill has cousins who were Lords. Ever heard of the Stanley Cup? Grandpa is a descendant of the Stanley family. One of his original maternal ancestors came to Canada at the behest of the Stanley family. The mother of said family was the Stanley. After she died, Lord Stanley left her widower an inheritance with the condition he bring the children to Canada and establish a new life. They bought quite a large farm, which is to this day a real showplace in our home county.