Cold wind

What a strange day. The temperature was 7 or 8 degrees warmer than last week, but the wind was bitterly cold and made it feel significantly colder. Ellie was dropped off soon after 7:15 and Urban-Cub headed off to work. Ellie was bit quiet to start with but a cuddle with grandpa and some questions about what she did at the weekend with Kimmy and how she had painted her bedroom, seemed to snap her out of it.

The Silver Vixen had an appointment during the morning and the Gorse Fox needed to get back to Chichester to change the sweatshirt he bought on Friday. Perhaps "M" was a bit of wishful thinking and "L" would have been more appropriate. (At least it's not XL or XXL like it was before he retired). He took the bus but whilst the trip to Chichester was quick, the return journey was delayed by late buses. He was very chilly by the time he got home.

We heard from Urban-Cub. She wasn't well and had has a trip to the Surgery during the morning. She now has some medicine and will crash out when she get home. As a result we have got Ellie overnight.

The magnetic wall panel in the Gorse Fox's "man cave" has slipped. It was probably knocked when the Dyson was put on charge. The Gorse Fox can't get it to snap back into place properly. This will need to be fixed in the morning. Some overnight design activity is required.

In Off

 The Gorse Fox is happy to report that Jasper left him alone this morning and he woke in his own sweet time. It was a very frosty morning and the Gorse Fox was pleased with the heated front and rear windows, set, and steering wheel in the car as he headed off to football.

We had a challenging 5-v-5 today. Challenging in as mush as the difficulty we had to split into balanced teams. In the end we decided that there would be a switch at half time. Like last week, this meant that the Gorse Fox's yellow team raced into a 9-3 lead - with one goal from him. After a switch of personnel in the break, it became a bit like the Alamo. Bit by bit the orange team pulled back the deficit. We did manage to score 2 more goals... the second being a shot from the Gorse Fox which cannoned off the post and hit the goalie as he turned and nestled into the back of the net. In the end we won 11-9.

Once home, the Gorse Fox found the Silver Vixen on the phone to her cousin. He has to go into hospital for a significant operation at the beginning of March, and she wanted to have a long, supportive chat with him. 

The Skoda was filthy. During the week we twice tried to take it to the car wash but found it closed. The Gorse Fox decided to give it another go. It was open. It was open and people were queuing back up the road to use it. The Gorse Fox drove home and decided that he would wash it himself. It looks lovely and sparkly now, but his hands were freezing by the time he finished.

Fur attack

 There is something wonderful about not having to set the alarm and not having to be up early. The Gorse Fox was going to enjoy a lie-in. Jasper, however, had other ideas. At 6:30 this morning he started his Olympic trampolining routine on the Gorse Fox. This could be tolerated, briefly. As the Gorse Fox had not reacted, Jasper then started mewling. That was it, and at 6:40 the Gorse Fox was up and letting Jasper out.

We had had to get Jasper some different food. His normal cat food was not available at Sainsbury’s. He clearly was unimpressed and had hardly touched his dinner or his breakfast. This was probably why he was fidgety. After the Gorse Fox’s weekly call with the cousins, he went to the pet food warehouse in nearby Runcton and managed to pick up two boxes of his usual fare. We should be ok for a week.

We headed up to Chiddlingfold to have lunch with J&T. The last couple of times we did this involved convoluted detours. This time we whistled straight through and got there early enough to enjoy a cup of coffee before they arrived. Lunch was, as usual, very good and we discussed all the latest family news from both sides of the family. More importantly, we celebrated Trevor’s birthday.

Back home, we had a quiet evening and the Gorse Fox signed up for Netflix. He’s not sure how much use he will make of it, but traditional TV is so bad throughout the week, that alternatives are required.

Chichester

Ellie was dropped off and we started the daily routine.  She didn't seem particularly hungry this morning but once ready for school she was her usual chirpy self and charged off with the Gorse Fox in tow.

The Gorse Fox had an appointment at lunchtime. The Silver Vixen decided to come along, so we drove into Chichester and had a couple of hours of shopping. The Gorse Fox treated himself to a couple of new sweaters and the Silver Vixen also got a lovely sweater. The Gorse Fox picked up a sweatshirt in Crew Clothing but, on getting it home and trying it on, realised he should have got the next size up. Return trip set for Monday.

We picked Ellie up from school. While the Gorse Fox was going through her bag to see what homework was assigned, he realised the instructions were there for the SeeSaw app. This is the app that allows homework to be assigned and completed online. In the past, we have depended on bring Ellie's laptop back and forth between the houses. The Gorse Fox has now installed the app on both his and the Silver Vixen's iPads so that we can keep the homework under review even when the laptop has been left behind.

Urban-Cub has just collected Ellie. As Pistol Pete is working this weekend, Urban-Cub has Ellie at home with her, though tomorrow night she is going out and Cousteau-Cub is coming to baby-sit.

Not a lot

 Ellie slept right through and didn't wake until we were both up and about. Despite this, she was ahead of schedule and had time to sit down and do some "Numbots" maths practice before school. We dropped her off and then wandered back for our own breakfast.

Soon after finishing our porridge and coffee, Ocado made their delivery and then we prepared for our top-up run. Apparently, Lidl had a lot of craft items (including sewing) in their middle aisle this week. We turned right and headed for Chichester so that we could put the money in Urban-Cub's tills. While the Silver Vixen examined and mined the middle aisle, the Gorse Fox picked up those items that were on our Sainsbury's list. With everything stowed away, we headed back to Sainsbury's - there were a couple of items (particularly Jasper's food) that we can pick up there but not Lidl.

The rest of the day has been very quiet. A little bit of reading and a little bit of family tree stuff.

Clean sheet

 Ellie was dropped off soon after 7:00. She seemed distracted this morning and needed to be cajoled into eating her breakfast as she was more interested in colouring some pictures. We dropped her off at school then headed home.

The Silver Vixen had a coffee appointment with one of her friends and the Gorse Fox had football. This meant the car dance was required so that the Gorse Fox could take his car. The game was a pleasant 7-v-7. Initial assessment of the teams led the Gorse Fox to expect a fairly torrid time and an ultimate loss. That wasn't, however, the way it worked out. We defended resolutely and passed the ball around well. We managed to keep a clean sheet, but, despite missing several open goals, managed to score 2 of our own. Overall, it was a very enjoyable game.

This afternoon has been quiet. Ellie went back to Urban-Cub after school but has just been dropped off for the night as Urban-Cub is on early shift in the morning.

Going blue

 Ellie slept well but wandered into our room at about 6:40. She was chirpy and clearly ready for the day. We went through the usual breakfast routine and then she got washed and dressed. Soon after, Urban-Cub arrived (she has a day off) and finished Ellie's hair before we headed off on the long walk to school (about 200 yards).

Normally the Gorse Fox would the change for football and head across to Worthing. Not today. He had decided that a number of administrative items needed attention. That, combined with a sore knee, convinced him that an extra day without a game would not be an issue. First on the agenda was to renew the passport. It isn't about to run out (there are 8 more months to run) but given that we are going away in June, the residual time on the passport could be a problem. New passport was ordered online with a new passport photo. It will be interesting to go back to the old blue-covered passports after burgundy of the EU.

From there the Gorse Fox attempted to attend to the age extension necessary for his travel insurance. He again had trouble and was unable to process the upgrade online. He had had enough. His dander was up. He wrote:

After your recent letter I have tried to purchase the age extension for my travel insurance. Couldn't do it online so I rang. After 40 minutes you answered and told me I couldn't apply until I was within 31 days of my birthday. It is now 28 days until my birthday and your NatWest Travel Insurance website still ignores any click on "Age Extension" or "Upgrade". I do not intend to spend a further 40 minutes listening to inane and meaningless messages from your call centre. Please contact me soonest to arrange upgrade.

It will be interesting to see if there is a response.

Much of the afternoon has been spent trying to work out why the Silver Vixen's iMessages were not being consistently synchronised across her MacBook, iPhone, and two iPads. In doing this he also took the opportunity to ensure they are all bang up-to-date. Things are looking as if they are resolved now, but only time will tell.

To make life just that little bit less tolerable, Ocado seem to have a problem accepting payments from some institutions. Institutions that the Gorse Fox has used consistently, week after wee, for years are suddenly claiming there is a verification problem. A long chat with a service agent explained it was a change in the way some companies are implementing a new security protocol (PSD2?) and their technical people are trying to solve the issue. Payment was taken online, but the lesson for next week is to complete the shopping list on a computer than can use ApplePay, which is not affected, apparently.

Number bonds

Ellie had been a bit unwell over the weekend. She was a lot better this morning and certainly well enough to go to school. The Gorse Fox wandered round the corner to escort them to the classroom.

Back home the Silver Vixen was preparing for one of her marathon phone calls with a friend. The Gorse Fox took the opportunity to go to Sainsbury's and get some dry food fro Jasper. He seems to asking for food all the time at the moment and we decided an extra bowl of dry food during the morning would give him a top up.

Home again, the phone call was still in full swing so the Gorse Fox walked into the village to get his hair cut. There was a new barber in the shop. He was very chatty. It turns out that he is a Kurd by birth (Iraqi side of the border) and speaks excellent English. The Gorse Fox hopes he is there when he next has to visit. It was certainly a good cut today and it was very cold round the head and neck on the way home. Back home the phone call was still in full flood.

We had the usual school run this afternoon and then helped Ellie get stuck in to her homework. Tonight she read a book with Nana, then worked through some number bonds with Grandpa. She is doing well, but does get tempted to guess at answers rather than work them out. It will come, though.

Nailed it

 The Gorse Fox was up soon after 7:00, enjoyed his coffee and read through the paper and social media feeds. The Silver Vixen came down after a while and settled down with her tea and the online newspaper. It was Sunday, so the the Gorse Fox had football scheduled.

We had an odd number of players today. This meant a 6-v-5 game. The Gorse Fox ran his team picker algorithm. The first run would not have worked in practise. He ran it again. This would work, but the Gorse Fox predicted the yellow team (with 5) would race ahead in the first half, but the orange team (with 6) would  claw it back in the second half. This was exactly how it turned out.

The lads all turned up and we kicked off with the teams as chosen by the computer.  By half-time the yellow team was 5-1 ahead (with one of the goals from the Gorse Fox), but by the end of the second half the score had evened up to about 8-7 but we jointly concluded that we'd call it an 8-8 draw. So, the algorithm nailed it. (The Gorse Fox did manage to hit the crossbar twice and the post about 7 or 8 times - his shooting boots clearly need some adjustment).

This afternoon has been quiet. The Silver Vixen has been sorting out her sewing room and the Gorse Fox has  been looking through Irish records to try and find details of his 3xGt grandparents. Nothing popped out of the woodwork. This was very frustrating.

Fiestaval

 It wasn't as cold overnight as had been expected. That's not to say that it was a balmy morning with palm trees swaying in the Crescent, no. It was a heady 4C and compared the last few days, that was mild.

The Gorse Fox had his morning call with the cousins. It was fun, as usual. Lots of banter and a few stories and updates. It was as the call finished that Cousteau-Cub sent a message. She was off to look at cars and would update us later. Hopefully, they would select well.

There was some admin and some chores that needed attention. The Gorse Fox turned his hand to that for the rest of the morning.

The doorbell rang. It was Cousteau-Cub. "Come and look at my shiny new car" she said. There, parked outside was a bright red Ford Fiesta. It was 14 years old and has averaged about 5,000 miles per year. It looked immaculate and seemed to have new tyres all round. This, thought the Gorse Fox, was a sensible choice. It is a simple car and parts are inexpensive. If anything goes wrong, it should be relatively simple for any mechanic to diagnose and fix. At that point, the Coventry Hobbit arrived and we all went in for a cup of tea while Cousteau-Cub arranged her car insurance.

The afternoon has just been spent pottering about among the branches of the family tree. No huge breakthroughs, but lots of little bits have been filled in for some great aunts.

Stardust

 Ellie was dropped off just after 7:00 again today. In fact, the Gorse Fox had only just put the kettle on. She was in lovely and chirpy mood and once fed, washed, and dressed she played Snakes and Ladders with Grandpa before having to leave for school. It was bitterly cold again, so the Silver Vixen stayed home. We really didn't want to take a chance on any frost or ice.

After breakfast, the Gorse Fox did the accounts and caught up on some emails. He had woken at 4:~00 this morning and after checking the plumbing couldn't drop back off into a deep sleep. His brain started to think about the drawers that he fixed yesterday. They needed a refinement. The screws that held the runner in place were a bit short and may not survive repeated use. Now, mid-morning, he decided to head for B&Q and get some contact adhesive and some screws that were 5mm longer than those currently in use. The Silver Vixen also pointed out that the upper drawer needed to be raise a couple of millimetres. Adhesive and screws in hand, the drawers were removed followed by the runners. The runners were then glued in place and held with the longer screws. The upper runners were treated the same way, but raised slightly. Finally, new guides were fitted so that the drawers would not tip as they were opened. Job done (again).

The Silver Vixen went round to the school with Urban-Cub to collect Ellie. Ellie was very excited when she got back to the house. She had got an award. She was "Star of the Week" and also, separately, had the "Head Teacher's Award".

We obviously made a huge fuss of her success. She is doing really well and we need to reinforce her progress and show that the homework she has been doing makes a real difference.

Drawers

No the Gorse Fox isn't confused of the spelling.

Ellie was dropped off just after 7:00 this morning. It was a cold and clear dawn and she was well wrapped up. She settled down to breakfast and then got washed and dressed, ready for school. As she had plenty of time to spare we went online and did some of her "Numbots". These are games and quizzes based on basic arithmetic. She is getting quite good at these and managed to open up another level in the sequence today.

It was incredibly icy on the walk to school. The Silver Vixen really should have stayed behind, but she chanced it by clinging onto the Gorse Fox all the way there and back. `Ellie charged into class as soon as the doors were open and we skated home. Being Thursday we had the shopping on the schedule and that occupied much of the morning.

We had bought a wardrobe for Ellie a while back. It was well designed and is quite sturdy. Its big weakness, however, is the drawers. These run on sliders which glide on ball bearings. It sounds good, but the ironmongery is cheap and has caused problems. In fact both drawers became stuck in the last couple of days. It was time for an intervention (that is the current terminology the Gorse Fox believes). The drawers were ripped out, the runners removed, hundreds of ball bearings were picked up from the floor, and the Gorse Fox set about a more sensible solution. Some 15mm square batons were cut to size. The heights carefully calculated and measured. The new runners were screwed to the sides at height to allow the drawers to rest on them. It was fiddly, but it seems to have worked perfectly.

The Gorse Fox heard from an old school friend today. We haven't seen each other or spoken for about 50 years. He has agreed to come to the luncheon that the Gorse Fox is arranging for next month for a select Band of Brothers. It will be nice to see him again.

Not much

 We had a quiet start to the day. Urban-Cub had a day off so we didn't have to help with Ellie before school. No alarms were set. We just got up when we wanted.  The Gorse Fox did wander round so that he could walk with them to school. Back home he changed for football and drove across to Worthing.

The day and the times have changed for the Silver Vixen's Pilates, and she made the most of a quiet morning by burying herself in her sewing.

The Gorse Fox's football was a bit of a continuation from yesterday. The Gorse Fox's passing was still far from accurate. What was worse was that we were one man short, and one of our team wasn't very mobile. Surprisingly, we were ahead 4-3 at the half-time break. The Gorse Fox knew that would not last, as our less mobile player would tire and the extra man on the other team would start to make a difference. He was right. They started to score with moderate ease. The Gorse Fox didn't help by forgetting which colour he was representing and quite deliberately passed the ball directly to one of their attackers. He in turn rattled the ball into the goal. Doh! The final score was about 9-6 to the wrong side.

Back at home the Silver Vixen was still sewing and the Gorse Fox retired to the family tree. Today's focus was on his 2nd Gt grandparents' family on his mother's side. A few more gaps have been filled in, but there were no major breakthroughs.

Negative

 It was another very chilly morning. Ellie was dropped off at the usual time, but as it was so slippery the Silver Vixen stayed home while the Gorse Fox took Ellie to school.

Being Tuesday, he headed off for football. It was astonishing how the temperature fluctuated as he drove… 1.5C as he left, 3.5C at Arundel, 1.5C on the A27 passing Crossbush, then up to 4.5C by the time he got to the sports centre. It may have been 4.5C but it certainly felt cold as we got started. We had 4 teams of 8 today, so we were back to a round robin. We lost the first game 3-1. The Gorse Fox was no help. His passing radar was way off and he couldn’t have threaded a ball into the Dartford Tunnel from two yards. Fortunately, he started to improve and the second and third games were both 0-0 draws. They were not exciting, in fact seagulls on the roof turned their backs on us and several fell asleep.

Back home the Gorse Fox got an email. One of the players from Sunday had tested positive for C19. He has no symptoms, feels completely normal, but does Lateral Flow tests twice a week. This latest test proved positive and he has to isolate after a PCR test confirmed the LFT. The Gorse Fox has taken a precautionary LFT which has registered negative - thank goodness.

Outer branches

 We had fairly normal start to the day, with Urban-Cub dropping Ellie off before 7:30. Ellie was in a great mood and gobbled down her breakfast before going up to get washed and dressed.  Once everything was done, the clock had ticked by, and we were all wrapped up against the frosty morning, we dropped her round at school.

Back home, caffeinated and breakfasted, we got on with some chores. The Gorse Fox caught up on the accounts, did some vacuuming, and then popped round to B&Q. After the debacle of the broken table lamp, a new one had been delivered. This was a touch sensitive light and when the Gorse Fox inserted the old bulb, it just flashed on and off. It took a moment or two to work out what was wrong - these touch lights have several brightness settings. This implies that they need to be dimmable bulbs. The old one wasn't. New bulb was purchased - the last but one dimmable bayonet-style bulb in the store - brought home and fitted. Voila! It works.

After lunch the Gorse Fox started clambering around in the outer reaches of the Silver Vixen's part of the family tree. Some concerted searching and cross-referencing across several sites allowed him to drive another section of her family back to her 5th great grandfather (born around 1730). The Gorse Fox thinks he can be more precise about the date, but is still searching for a register which will confirm his assumption.

Five and Eighteen

 The Gorse Fox was up by 7:30. An email came in, late last night, from a distant cousin and she wanted some family tree information. As she is in a branch of the tree that is fairly sparse The Gorse Fox spent a while making sure he had it as up to date as possible. All this before breakfast!

After breakfast he headed off to football. He was the organiser today so had to manage the match fees as well as the team allocation. We had a full house, so it was 5-a-side. The Gorse Fox was playing for the yellow team and we did pretty well. By half-time the Gorse Fox had score 3 goals and we were 5-3 up. By the end of the game he had scored 2 more, and we ended up with a 12-8 win. It was fairly intense today and the Gorse Fox was quite weary at the end of the match.

We had a chat with Cousteau-Cub at lunchtime. She's thinking of getting a car as her new job means that she has to work in both Bognor Regis and LA and the bus journey to LA is over an hour.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with the Ayton branch of the Silver Vixen's family tree. After a breakthrough late yesterday afternoon, the Gorse Fox was able to capitalise on the new information and has managed to drive that portion of her ancestry back two more generation to her 5th great grandparents. These folk lived in Norfolk and the oldest was probably born in about 1700 plus or minus a few years. It may be possible to go further, but at present there are some conflicting records which make it difficult to disambiguate people of the same name in the early 1700s. (Why they couldn't be more forward thinking in the recording of Parish Registers for the 16-1700s is a source of frustration. It also doesn't help that people were often illiterate which is how Charle Ayton was recorded as Charles Eighteen).

We had a nice side of salmon for dinner this evening. Now it is time to settle down in front of the TV. 

Stopping by

 It was a fairly normal start to a Saturday (at least it was for us). No alarms set and get up when you are ready. For the Gorse Fox, this meant a lie-in until 7:20. The Silver Vixen emerged a while later. The Gorse Fox had his room call with the cousins and then got on with some admin and chores.

We were expecting the Silver Vixen's cousins from Brighton. They had been to Southampton to drop off their youngest. He has a gig playing drums for the Gary Barlow house band on the P&O cruise ship Iona for the next 4 or 5 months. He had to be there for 10:00 so that he could board and move into isolation (in a suite) for a few days before he can start to mix with the crew. It should be a wonderful experience for him.

Sue and Trevor dropped in on their way back and we sat and chatted over several coffees. They too had been affected by Covid over the Christmas period as it managed to touch everyone in their family over the holiday. We clearly got away lightly with only Urban-Cub affected (though she may not see things that way).

It has been a quiet afternoon with the Silver Vixen in her study sewing, and the Gorse Fox in his study trying to piece together another fragment of her family tree.

Shards

 It was another very cold star to the day. Again, the sun was cowering beneath the eastern horizon when the Gorse Fox opened up the shutters. Due to staff shortages, plan had changed and Urban-Cub was now working a later shift. This meant that she was able to get Ellie ready and take her to school. The Gorse Fox  wandered round to escort them.

The Silver Vixen was clearly a lot better this morning, thank goodness. We had a leisurely breakfast and then the Gorse Fox started on some domestic chores. This where things went wrong. He was all very good at vacuuming the hallway and kitchen/family room, but when he started to wash the hallway floor, his elbow caught the table lamp. Gravity took over and, accelerating at 32 feet per second per second, it reached the floor. The convergence of a ceramic lamp and a solid tiled floor is wonderful to behold as the molecular bonds that keep the ceramic together disengage. Shards (or strictly speaking sherds) of ceramic material distribute themselves into every possible nook and cranny. To complete the disaster, the lamp caught a small pot as it fell. This pot contained essential oils. The essential oils decided to join in the fun and lubricated every surface within range - table top, wall, floor, skirtings. The Gorse Fox had made a right mess.

It took ages to get it all cleared up and even now, there is still a slight mark on the wall. He will attack it again over the weekend.

We collected Ellie from school at the allotted time and brought her home for dinner. She was just finishing that as Pistol Pete arrived to collect her for the weekend.

Net on the agenda was Jasper. The Silver Vixen was worried that he may have a problem so booked an appointment with the vet. They were concerned enough that they suggested we come along for 17:30. We snuck up on him and deposited him in his carrier without fuss or incident. The roads were clear so we arrived with plenty of time to spare. They only allow one person in the waiting area, so the Gorse Fox went for a stroll around Hobbtcraft, next door. There were some wondrous art materials and devices in there and the Gorse Fox had to keep his hands firmly in his pockets. After a while, he went back to the vets. A few minutes later the vet came and delivered here diagnosis. It seems he may have had an upset tummy, but there appeared to be nothing wrong. We should give him a conservative diet for a few days and keep an eye on him. Other than that there was nothing much to do unless he seemed to get unwell.

That was a relief.

Laundry

 We were up fairly sharpish. It was a cold, crisp, and very clear morning. The sun had not yet deigned to show its face, hiding beneath the eastern horizon. At 7:15 Darren knocked on the door with Ellie. We immediately swung into the usual choreography. Particularly interested to see the finished version of Ellie's night sky poster, the Gorse Fox delved into the bag that had been handed over.

No poster. No school bag. No progress book. It quickly dawned on us that this was the wrong bag. In fact it was the bag waiting for the ironing service. The Gorse Fox donned his shoes and coat and headed round the corner to collect the correct bag.

It was too frosty for the Silver Vixen to chance going out, so the Gorse Fox took Ellie to school. Back home, there was coffee and some porridge before the Ocado delivery arrived. Then he zipped round to Sainsbury's for the top-up. By the time he got back the Silver Vixen was flagging and went back to bed until dinner time. She's feeling better than yesterday, but still not right.

The Gorse Fox spent some time going back through the records of some of the Silver Vixen's relatives. Some trees that he has seen online seem to wildly diverge from his research and he needed to go back and check. He went through his records, checked the source documents. and registers, downloaded some certificates and re-checked. His research was sound... and he can clearly see the mistakes in the the other trees and knows why they drew the wrong conclusions. As so many people just blindly copy other trees, it is a shame when you see a clear mistake being propagated across tree after tree.

Stars

 We woke up with the Silver Vixen's alarm, closely followed by Ellie launching herself into bed with us. We went through the usual morning ritual and deposited Ellie at the school gates.

Once home, the Gorse Fox changed into his football gear and headed off to Worthing. It was a glorious morning. Crystal clear sky and temperatures around 6C. Perfect. The sides were chosen and we had a solid 8-a-side. Not ideal, but better than yesterday. It was very close. We defended well, but our attack was a bit weak. Having said that, we went in all square at 1-1 for half-time. In the second half we maintained our defence but managed to claw a couple more goals of our own. So that was it, a win, 3-1.

Back home, the Gorse Fox couldn't find the Silver Vixen. She wasn't downstairs, wasn't pottering in Ellie's room, and wasn't in her study. He found her in bed. She was feeling unwell and was a bit light-headed. He brought tea at regular intervals, a lateral flow test (that proved negative), and stood by awaiting any requests. It was dinner time before she emerged for a bowl of porridge.

The Gorse Fox went along to collect Ellie from school. Urban-Cub managed to catch up with him just as he approached the gates. Ellie is back home with Urban-Cub overnight. She had been given a project to do on the stars. Yesterday she painted a night sky... and today she stuck stars and moon onto it along with the words to "Twinkle, twinkle little star". It looks very good. Hopefully, the teachers will be impressed when it is handed in tomorrow.

Normality

It was very misty when we got up this morning, but it cleared by late morning only to be replaced by some spots of rain, then drizzle, and finally proper rain. 

Today saw a degree of normality return. After the initial coffee  the Gorse Fox wandered round to Urban-Cub to provide escort duties for the trip to school. As soon as he got back home, he did a quick change into his football gear and headed off to Worthing.

There had been a tournament yesterday. This meant that there weren't as many players as usual and we had to make do with 9-a-side. The Gorse Fox hates this. We played a game split into three 20 minute periods. The Gorse Fox tried to marshal the defence against formidable attacking team. We did pretty well and in the circumstances a 5-4 loss was a great success for the defence. The Gorse Fox made some significant interceptions and clearances and we would have probably edged the game had our goalie not rolled the ball out to opposition on several occasions and one of the other defenders thought it clever to break the golden rule and pass the ball across the goal - but under hit it, allowing it to go straight to one of the attackers.

The afternoon was taken up with the online shopping for the week, a little downtime, and then preparation of Thai red chicken curry.

Urban-Cub has just dropped Ellie off. She is staying with us overnight as Urban-Cub has a very early start.

Spreadsheets

 It was a relatively normal Monday. Urban-Cub's find Darren dropped Ellie with us at about 7:15 and we switched into school mode... packed lunch, breakfast, wash/dress and then gather anything needed for school. We wandered round to the school and left Ellie to run in and get started.

Back home, we had a quiet breakfast and then the Gorse Fox did the accounts before switching to the Christmas address list and the annual recording of cards received. (The Gorse Fox has a record of every card sent or received since 2004... heaven knows why!). Having closed that spreadsheet, it was time (actually it was long past time) to create the spreadsheet that shows the care arrangements for Ellie across 2022. This was vastly simplified from previous years. Once a workable version was ready he sent it out and Urban-Cub started to fill it in almost immediately.

The afternoon was spent looking at some of the Silver Vixen's DNA matches and trying to work out how they are connected. The Gorse Fox was quite successful and has now identified where families intersect for 4 or 5 previously unknown cousins. One in particular is quite interesting as he is the great grandson of the enigmatic "Ellen Louisa" or is it "Annie Louisa" discussed last week. The Gorse Fox plans to write to him and see if he has any additional information. That, however, can wait for another day.

Messi?

 It was a frosty start to the day, but the sun was shining and the sky was blue. Better still, there was football to play.

The Gorse Fox went across to Chichester to collect the Coventry Hobbit and we made our way to Ford. All of the outside games had been called off because the pitches were water-logged. This meant that the car park was empty and we needn't have got there quite as early.

The game was 5 a-side with the Coventry Hobbit playing on the Orange team with the Gorse Fox. Well, it turns out that our little Hobbit is quite the Midlands Messi. In the first half hour he was part of our attack and managed 5 goals - the Gorse Fox only got 1.  At half time we were 7-3 up, but both teams changed their shape and changed their goalkeepers. The Coventry Hobbit went in goal for us and over the next 30 minutes made some incredible saves, double saves and clearances. Unfortunately, the change in the Yellow team shape allowed them to start work reducing the deficit. The Gorse Fox scored a couple more goals and it seems that whenever Yellows got close, we managed to score and keep the gap. Nobody knows what the final score was but it was agreed that Oranges won.

The Coventry Hobbit seemed to enjoy the game and has asked to come back whenever we need to make up the numbers. The Gorse Fox dropped him back home in Chichester then headed home. Once showered and dressed the Gorse Fox took the Silver Vixen round to drop off some items at the charity shop and to pick up some cat litter. After that, it was a quiet afternoon for both of us in our respective studies.

Rain

 Gosh, it's been a wet day. It was a good job we didn't have to go out. The day started with the weekly cousins' call. Main topics for today seemed to be Djokovic's Visa problems in Australia (eliciting no sympathy at all) and thence got on to pensions and the 1921 Census.

Once the call was done, the Gorse Fox wasted a couple of hours trying to find cousin Tim's house on the 1921 Census. The Gorse Fox expected this to be fairly simple, but after a couple of hours he had drawn a blank. The biggest problem with small villages is that many houses are not on named roads, many are known by house name, and many are just cottages with no number or name. His house isn't on a named road, and its name has changed. In the end, the Gorse Fox sent a screenshot of all the possible hits.

The rest of the day was spent working on compiling an ancestors book for the Silver Vixen. This was part of the testing he has been doing for the developer. The book compiled without issue, but there was still a minor error in the index of place names. This has been reported back to the developer.

Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit popped in this afternoon. Cousteau-Cub's Christmas present had arrived during the week so she wanted to collect them. As it happens they needed to stop anyway as their car was showing an engine warning light. We had a root around, but there was nothing obvious. This will need attention from someone who knows what they are doing.

Taxi

 It was a quiet start to the day. The Gorse Fox went round to Urban-Cub and Ellie to escort them to school. Timing was poor. Just as we left their house, it started to rain. There was a blustery wind and the rain was bitterly cold. It was nice to hand her over, and get home in the warm.

It has been another day on the family tree. Today, the Gorse Fox was double checking that grandparents and great-grandparents were at the expected locations at the time of the 1921 Census. In general they were, though one was a surprise. The Gorse Fox downloaded the Census image. The information filled in a few more details regarding he grandmother and great grandmother. It also, showed some previously unknown details of his great aunt and her husband, Herbert. The Census return revealed that he was a Cab Proprietor which ties in with a recollection that he had a taxi. We had always been told Herbert was born in Co. Cork. Nope. He was born in St James, Westminster. The Gorse Fox found his birth registration and his mother's name. This opened up a search for his siblings and father. An hour or so later, he had their story and realised that it was Herbert's father who was born in Co. Cork. Another little "i" dotted.

The Gorse Fox is committed to playing football on Sunday. We are, however, a man short... so the Gorse Fox has sent a message to the Coventry Hobbit to see if he wants to play.

Census

 It was bitterly cold this morning. We left Ellie to sleep until 7:30 but then got everyone on the move. Her breakfast was made, her school lunchbox was provisioned, her second breakfast was made (she never eats the first one and then asks for something different), and eventually she went upstairs to get washed and dressed. We all had to wrap up warm for the short walk this morning.

Back home, we grabbed some breakfast and had barely finished by the time that Ocado arrived. This was good. It meant that we could clear all the shopping fairly early and get back from Sainsbury's at a sensible time.

The Silver Vixen retired to her sewing room, and the Gorse Fox to his study.

Today was the day. It was the day that the 1921 Census was released online. Despite his fears, the infrastructure seemed to cope well and he found no problems accessing the index or individual pages. There were two key pages that he was after. The first was for the Silver Vixen's great grandmother, Ellen Louisa or Annie Louisa... would she revert to Ellen,  or remain Annie in 1921? Neither! She was now recorded as Louisa A. That was no help. really. The second page was for the Silver Vixen's grandmother. Where was she? Liverpool or Southgate? Was she known as Linda, Lydia, Lilly, or Lillian? The answer was simple - she remains an enigma. The Gorse Fox cannot find her in the 1921 Census despite a couple of hours of trying every permutation and combination of search terms he could think of. He gave up when it was time to collect Ellie, but will return to this quest when he gets a chance.

What about all of the other family and their entries in the Census? Well, there is no hurry for them because, in most cases, the Gorse Fox knows who they are and where they were in 1921. His first priority for the Census is solving mysteries.

We collected Ellie from school and while the Silver Vixen did some reading with her, the Gorse Fox prepared a roast chicken for our dinner. Just as we were finishing, Urban-Cub arrived to collect Ellie and take her home.

Playing with matches

 Urban-Cub had a late start today. This meant that the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen didn't need to set the alarm. We were still up soon after 7:00 and the Gorse Fox wandered round to escort Urban-Cub and Ellie to school. It was very cold this morning but it didn't seem to trouble Ellie.

Once home, caffeinated and sustained by some porridge, the Gorse Fox returned to his research. Today's objective was to check on some siblings of his 2nd Gt-grandfather. A DNA match, seen yesterday, identified a different wife for Albert from that recorded by the Gorse Fox. It took most of the morning, and all the research was re-checked. Some gaps were filled in (more spackle) but in the end, the Gorse Fox is convinced his research stands scrutiny and identifies the correct wife.

It was a fruitful day. He managed to chase down 3 or 4 DNA matches and prove where the families intersect.

We collected Ellie at 3:15 and she is staying with us overnight.

Gone, but not forgotten

 Things were back to normal today. We were up just before 7:00 and Urban-Cub dropped Ellie off before 7:30. Ellie was already dressed and ready for school. She couldn't get there quickly enough. We were dragged to the school gates and were first in the queue for her class. When Miss Yardley opened the gate, she couldn't get into class fast enough.

We settled down for some breakfast and coffee when we got back. The Gorse Fox had decided to take down the Christmas decorations today. Cars were moved and the storage boxes retrieved from the garage. The lantern was the first to be packed away, then the Gorse Fox started on the floor level lights in the front garden. They were carefully wound around a polystyrene block so that, hopefully, they would not be tangled when retrieved next December. All of the cards were taken down from their ribbons and the ribbons wound and stashed. The hanging lights on the bay window were taken down and, again, wound round a block for storage. Next, the tree and the lights were dismantled. This batch of 600 lights took a lot longer to wind - but again they are stashed neatly. The tree itself was a pain. It came in a box in 3 separate parts. There was no way under the sun that it was going to fit back in that box. Two thirds of the tree were returned to the box and the Gorse Fox had a trip to B&Q to get some heavy duty rubble sacks. Two of these were used as a long sock into which the section of tree could be stored. Eventually, it was done. Everything was returned to the garage and the house was vacuumed. The decorations are all gone and will remain forgotten until next December.

By the time we were finished, it was time to grab a bite to eat and then collect Ellie. She played, she ate, she read, and she did some number games. She was very good and has just been picked up by Urban-Cub and gone home.

Spackle

 It was another pleasantly relaxed start to the day. When breakfast was over and the news had been consumed we set about a first stage of the post-Christmas clear up. Think of it as a warm up gig. Between us we returned the Orangery to it normal layout and function. The next stage will require the Gorse Fox to move the cars so that he can access the loft in the garage. That can wait until later in the week.

When chores were finished, the Gorse Fox returned to admin functions. The switch of energy supplier has meant a switching of the dates on which he reads the meters. In turn, this must be accommodated in the spreadsheet that he uses to manage and monitor our energy consumption. Spreadsheet has now been adapted and should reflect our data irrespective of the dates of the readings.

The Americans, refer to some forms of decorative filler as spackle. The Gorse Fox has been using spackle on the family tree. The structure was all there, but there were gaps that needed to be filled among the new entries made over the last couple of weeks. Research spackle has been liberally applied throughout the day and details are looking a lot better for it.

As so often is the case, the Gorse Fox found other researchers who have family intersecting our tree. This can, sometimes, give the odd clue but more often than not it is useless. Today he found a chap reportedly born around 1749 that had his first child in 1759 and didn't get married to her mother until 1793. There are times when the Gorse Fox wants to (metaphorically) pick these people up by the throat and check they have the requisite number of brain cells. In fact, today, he found so many ridiculous anomalies in the work of other researchers that for his own sanity, he gave up.

Ellie was dropped round after a day playing with a friend. She was here from about 16:00 and we gave here some dinner. She was very good and has just left to go home with Urban-Cub. Here first day back at work went well apparently, and the store is in good shape.

Stepping Out

 We had nothing scheduled. There was no reason to set an alarm. We had a deliciously relaxed start to the day.

The Silver Vixen spent the day at her sewing project. The Gorse Fox spent some time in the digital archives. The Silver Vixen's enigmatic grandmother had several step-brothers and sisters, though she was the eldest of the brood. The famous "stream of consciousness" letters from Aunt Queenie were laced with the odd clue or reminiscence regarding some of them. The Gorse Fox had no data to flesh out these names, nor validate Queenie's letters. Today was focussed on thesis individuals... with very little expectation of success.

Oh ye of little faith. One by one, the Gorse Fox managed to identify each of the step-siblings and trace the outline of the life-stories. In several cases other people had done bits of research, but in every case the Gorse Fox proved conclusively that their conclusions were incorrect. By the end of the session the Gorse Fox had nailed it... and every one of the memories in Queenie's letters had been corroborated. The Gorse Fox is feeling very smug.

Urban-Cub is back at work tomorrow, though Ellie will be spending the day with a friend. We'll see here briefly at the end of the day before Urban-Cub comes to collect her.

Belated Christmas

 The Gorse Fox was up and about around 8:00 and had his usual cousins' call at 9:00. It was nice to have a chat and catch up on their news. He feels sorry for Tim, the youngest, who is without heating at present and it won't be sorted until early February. He lives in Derbyshire, so we have to hope that the winter remains fairly mild. To add insult to injury he managed to break a tooth on Christmas Day and can't get any treatment until this coming Tuesday. He was definitely (and possibly rightly) feeling sorry for himself.

As our Christmas plans had changed due to Urban-Cub having Covid, today was the rearranged fixture. Lunch was organised at her house. The Gorse Fox loaded the back of the car with the gifts that had, until now, remained unopened then he popped into Chichester to collect Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit.

We had a lovely (if very noisy) time... with Ellie's walkie-talkie going off, her iPad playing, the TV on, and the cross-chat between the adults. Christmas gifts were opened and Ellie was very excited as she ripped the wrapping off each package and examined the contents.

As a modicum of calm returned (only a modicum, mind you) and the Silver Vixen had cleared the festive wrappings, we sat down at the table for a wonderful lunch prepared by Urban-Cub and her friend Darren. It was the full spread. There was lamb, gammon, pigs in blankets, peas, carrots, parsnips, stuffing, and of course, roast potatoes. The Coventry Hobbit was a a bit of a let down. After his record breaking 16 potatoes on Boxing Day, we had been expecting something great from him - maybe a new personal best. But no, he whimped out. No stamina.

Though they had prepared a dessert, none of us could manage it... so settled down for a quiet-ish afternoon with some games with Ellie. (Note to self: Do not allow Cousteau-Cub to perform any brain surgery, based on her performance with "Operation")

We had a lovely day but left them to their own devices late afternoon. The Gorse Fox dropped Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit back in Chichester then headed home for a quiet night with the Silver Vixen.

Happy New Year

 The Gorse Fox wishes you all a Happy New Year.

We had a lovely evening with the Sonning Crew. Each couple provided one course for dinner. Two Hats and Tinkerbell made a lovely salmon terrine for starter. The Gorse Fox made pork fillets in soy and ginger, with hasselback potatoes and salad. Old Bill and Lady Penelope mad a cheesecake with some ice cream. It was a longe leisurely dinner and seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed by all. The Gorse Fox was surprised when Old Bill said he had never had hasselback potatoes before (and clearly liked them), and the soy and ginger sauce, served in a gravy boat disappeared as quickly as the wine.

We watched the fireworks at midnight and then a bit of Jools Holland's Hootenanny. Everyone left by 1:00 and we were in bed by 1:15.