Saturday 19 February 2022

Old and new, up and down

Some good news for my readers - curling for our Canadian teams has ended for a couple of weeks so you won't hear me talking about that for awhile. :) The Olympic curling ended with a bit of whimper; our women bowed out before the playoffs, and our men played for bronze. I heard the results, and watched the game on replay. The Canadians prevailed over the United States. To be honest, the Canadian team didn't play their best, but the US team gave up a steal of 2 points in the 9th end that pretty much clinched the game for Canada. 

On the weather front, it's been up a little and down a lot for most of the week. We had one decent day with temperatures rising to the minus single digits (Celsius), then it snowed, and then we were back in the deep freeze. The photo I shared on Wednesday was taken on Tuesday just before I went to shovel. We got more than I expected, probably around 3-4 inches. Thank goodness for the melting that happened last week because the piles were reduced somewhat for me to add to this week.

When I looked out the bedroom window Wednesday morning, I spotted this covey of Hungarian partridges huddled together behind the shed. It was windy so I suspect the fences on both sides helped break the wind. 

I did run out that day to the  Value Village and Salvation Army thrift stores. It's time (and then some) that I replace a couple of pairs of jeans. There are no changing rooms available to try on clothing, so I picked up three pairs that I thought might work, along with three t-shirts. At home, I was pleased to find out that only the smallest of the three pairs fit. The other two will need to be returned, but I now have a brand name and size I know will fit well. I remember seeing several pairs at both stores - I'm certain I'll find one more pair. Both the jeans and tees originally came from Mark's Work Wearhouse which means they should be decent quality.

The contractor, Jason, was in touch as well. The flooring has been ordered and expected to in next week. When he has a confirmed date, he's planning to pick it up and deliver it here for storage until he starts work on the basement in April. 

My son will be moving upstairs during the construction so I spent some time on Thursday rearranging my craft room to make room for Eli's toys. C will take over the second spare room directly across from the main bathroom. We won't be moving him yet but the craft room needed tidying anyway and I had some boxes stored in the spare room that needed sorting as well. Some of it will need to go out to the garage...that's not happening until it warms up a bit more. 

On Friday I finished up removing the last of the carpet backing in the basement. I swept up the debris and ran the vacuum over the floor to pick up as much dust as I could. I'll check with Jason next week to see if I need to do anything more with it. He will be doing a skim coat of self leveling material before the floors are installed so I'm hoping there won't need to be more prep done on my part. 

My other focus this week was on Ancestry. K, the cousin who started me on this path, has hired a genealogist to search more records in Ontario where my great-great grandfather Hugh was granted land in Huron County. Among the information he's found is a copy of Hugh's obituary and that document provided a very interesting clue. (K will be mailing me a copy of it, when he returns from Mexico in early March). The obit mentions his niece among his living relatives. With that information, K was able to locate her mother Jane's headstone. 

There was a bit of confusion that ensued because according to the headstone the year of Jane's birth is earlier than the parent's marriage. I believe the information on the headstone has been misinterpreted because I was able to locate the baptismal records for Jane, which indicates her birth occurred in 1798, about a year after her parents married. While I was searching the baptismal records, I was able to identify an additional six children of the couple. Until this point, I believe we only knew of three, not including Jane. Of special interest to me are two sons, Alexander born in 1811 and Andrew born in 1816. Hugh was believed to have been born on May 6, 1816, while Andrew was born in July.  We know it isn't possible that his mother gave birth to two children nearly three months apart so that leaves us with another mystery. Family lore suggests that Hugh changed his name when he came to Canada - and I've always thought that referred to his last name. But maybe, just maybe, he actually changed his first name and perhaps his last too. There was also the suggestion that he cut off ties to his family in Scotland, but one story from family history suggests there was an inheritance which he spurned. 

Assuming Jane is his sister (and I believe she is) then this might suggest that Hugh is either Alexander, the oldest son (he did name one of his sons Hugh Alexander), or he is Andrew and he simply changed his birthdate. I doubt any records were needed/provided when he emigrated to Canada. I suspect we'll never know for sure but it certainly makes the journey interesting.

I don't know where this week went, how can it possibly be Saturday already? Today we've got a wacky mix of weather, it was cold overnight, but the expected high temperature is about 1C (33F) with mixed rain/snow precipitation. When I went out to feed the birds, I did a bit of shovelling to clear the driveway and sidewalks of what had blown in. Hopefully that will ensure I don't have to get out with the ice melt tomorrow. 

I'm off shortly to return the jeans to the thrift stores while the weather is nice. The forecast is for another cold week ahead and Monday is a holiday here, though not for everyone. I suspect both stores will be closed though. Beyond that, it will be a quiet weekend around here. I've the last mitten on the needles, once it is complete I'll finish off the four pairs and set them aside. Onto another project, though I haven't yet decided what that will be.

Have a great weekend everyone. Take care and stay warm.



18 comments:

  1. Those partridges were snuggled so close that they looked like one animal till I enlarged the photo. Now that is cold.
    Darn, I missed the Olympic curling. I have heard you mention it with such enthusiasm but had no idea what it was. Somehow I missed it.

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    1. I'm sure all my talk of the curling is boring for most of my readers.
      The partridges continue to use that spot. I spooked a few of the yesterday when I went out to check on the air outlet for the furnace.

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  2. Poor partridges. I wish spring would hurry up and get here, but she's nowhere on the horizon of those of us living in Ontario, at least. We had 42 mm of rain a couple of days ago (picture that over ice and snow), then freezing rain/ice pellets over night before getting (another) 10 cm of snow. Last night we had more snow and it's blowing a gale out there; we had whiteouts this morning. What a winter!

    Anyway, good luck with the shifting of things to make way for the impending reno. It'll all be worth it in the end, I'm sure.

    And good luck with the genealogy research/hunting! Do you ever watch "Finding Your Roots" on PBS? Sometimes it's astonishing how far back ancestors can be traced.

    Take care and have a great week.

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    1. The partridges seem to be pretty fat and happy. I'm not the only bird feeder in the neighbourhood. But I'm with you, winter can end any time now.

      I've never watched (or even heard of) "Finding Your Roots". I'll have to look it up.

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  3. Lots going on in your neck of the woods. It will be nice to have the floor done but for now getting it ready is a good start. Spring will be here before you know it, the way time is flying.
    The partridges did look like one fluffy animal as Arkansas Patti said. :)
    You've had better weather today than our family back home in Ontario. Roads are closed and lots of snow and blowing. You had probably had that first and sent it on over to them. :) Up and down is right. I'm glad we're where we are.

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    1. I hope you are right that spring will arrive soon. These days it seems very, very far away.

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  4. The partridges look so pitiful there huddling and trying to shelter. YOU are going to have a full house! And getting ready. I have a son in my home ow. He is ill and needs care. I know it will be wonderful to get that flooring done and away fro hanging over your head so to speak. By the way, I got a notification called a "hint" for my family tree telling me about who my mother is for pity sake, and her sisters. Like that's not in my tree.!! BUT I didn't know Aunt Helen died, though she would not have made it this far...now I know and what her last married name was and where she is, and date of birth. I didn't know. I think it was 2002 along with another Aunt in 2004.

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    1. I hope your son recovers quickly under your care (and Katie's too).

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  5. Poor partridges. They look very cold huddled together.

    Glad that you finished cleaning off the floors and that the work on the basement will be starting relatively soon.

    What an interesting tidbit on the family. I need to get a bit more done on our family. Kurt did manage to trace a couple to Scotland on my Mom's side but lost the thread. Might have to remind him to keep looking.

    God bless.

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    1. I do wonder how these birds manage through the winter, but they obviously have adapted. With the bird feeders in the neighbourhood they seem to be pretty content.

      Perhaps when things settle down a bit, Kurt will have time to do some more work on the family tree.

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  6. I'm glad the flooring will be started soon, but I never like being in transition, having to live in temporary quarters while construction is going on. It's like moving house in some ways. I don't like that, either.

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    1. I hear you John, everything takes longer than anticipated (but hopefully won't cost more).

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  7. Ancestry can sure be fun but it is also frustrating. Love the stories - those are the fun part for sure.
    Sounds like a good week. YAY on the jeans! Hope you find some more.
    Poor birdies!

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  8. Every time I read the Olympic curling news I thought of you. I was alternately rejoicing and disappointed, but I knew you'd be feeling the same!

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    1. Thanks FG, it was definitely and up and down week. At least we got one medal.

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  9. Cold and snowy here too. You have been busy! :0

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  10. I love Mark's jeans. That is the only brand that really fits me comfortably.
    Freezing rain here today.

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