Shredding Frenzy

Th arrival of a new year means getting rid of all the paperwork that is no longer required, like old electric and gas bills and outdated bank statements and grocery receipts. I admit.... this wasn't all shredded in the last couple of days in my frenzied 2025 clean up.... this bag took most of the year to fill. Out it goes on recycling day. I don't accumulate much paper now as most of my household bills arrive on line. However, I've already started on filling the next bag.  I love my shredder!

Train Tracks

Some minor adjustments or perhaps some maintenance required to the mechanism for opening and shutting the train crossing warning lights. Commuter GO trains cross this Main Street many times a day, so traffic safety is a concern. 

Drama in the Sky

 
The morning sky a couple of weeks ago. The whole world outside seemed to glow with a golden light. I dashed out onto the deck with my camera. Within a couple of minutes the sun had risen just a little bit more, the clouds had rearranged themselves, and the sky was grey for the rest of the day.

Morning Light

 
The sky this morning, as I sipped the first cup of coffee of the day. The weather was very cold last week.... -16C at night.... but much milder now. A little bit of snow on the ground, just enough to cover the squirrel superhighway that runs along the top of the fence.

2024 Books

The list of books read during 2024.... as usual Canadian authors shown in RED, British authors in BLUE, American authors in GREEN.

For previous years' reading lists go here:    

2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010. 

That's a lot of books, many of them have been enjoyed twice.... Thank goodness for our local library.

January
Moral Disorder - Margaret Atwood
The Huntress - Kate Quinn

Hotel Silence - Audur Ava Olafsdottir

The Testaments - Margaret Atwood

Forty Autumns - Nina Willner (loved this book)

February

Hag-Seed - Margaret Atwood

The Alice Network - Kate Quinn

Madhouse at the End of the Earth - Julian Sancton (fascinating book, enjoyed it)

Soundings, Journeys in the Company of Whales - Doreen Cunningham

March
Franklin's Lost Ship, The Historic Discovery of HMS Erebus - John Geiger and Alannah Mitchell

Erebus - Michael Palin (very good book)

The Bettencourt Affair - Tom Sancton (DNF, got halfway through)

Breakfasts and Eggs - Mieko Kawakami (DNF, too weird)

The Reckoning - Ken McGoogan

Sir John Franklin's Erebus and Terror Expedition - Gillian Hutchinson

The Magician - Colm Toibin

The Couple Next Door - Shari Lapena (weak, rubbishy)

April

All Our Shimmering Skies - Trent Dalton (Australian author)

The Social Life of Ink - Ted Bishop

May
The Lost Man - Jane Harper

Exiles - Jane Harper

The Postcard - Anne Berest (a great book)

Old God's Time - Sebastian Barry (wow, great book! I started out doubtful but loved it.)

The Van Gogh Sisters - Willem-Jan Verlinden

June
Days Without End - Sebastian Barry

Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro

A Thousand Moons - Sebastian Barry

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie - Marie Benedict

The Final Case - David Guterson

July

Paper Cuts - Colin Bateman

The Princess of Las Vegas - Chris Bohjalian

Looking for Jane - Heather Marshall

The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry (loved this book)

When We Were Young - Richard Roper

August
Where my Heart used to Beat - Sebastian Faulks

The Other Einstein - Marie Benedict

Sweetland - Michael Crummey (great book)

The Clockmaker's Daughter - Kate Morton

The Truth - Michael Palin

September
The Innocents - Michael Crummey (loved this book)

Children of the Stars - Mario Escobar (DNF, very basic)

The Cactus - Sarah Haywood

The Adversary - Michael Crummey (you can't go wrong with this Newfoundland author)

Above the Ether - Eric Barnes (DNF, too chilling)

Behind You is the Sea - Susan Muaddi Darraj

East of the Mountains - David Guterson (liked this book)

The Wreckage - Michael Crummey

October
Galore - Michael Crummey

Caught - Lisa Moore

The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro

The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory

We'll All be Burnt in our Beds Some Night - Joel Thomas Hynes

November
The Paris Library - Janet Skeslien Charles (DNF)

The Taste of Ginger - Mansi Shah

A Slow Fire Burning - Paula Hawkins

The Last Tudor - Philippa Gregory

December

Everyone who can Forgive me is Dead - Jenny Hollander (Very strange, not a good read)

Lola in the Mirror - Trent Dalton (great book, love all 3 books by this Australian author)

The Virgin's Lover - Philippa Gregory

Sweet Tooth - Ian McEwan

Surprise

 Amazing what is revealed when all the leaves have blown away.

There's a bench near the base of this tree, overlooking the pond, and it's used by many residents of this 55+ community.  I'm pretty sure nobody was aware of a giant wasp community buzzing just above their heads.  I wonder how many wasps would live in this beautifully built nest.

Remembering

 We Will Remember Them

On November 11 every year we remember those who have lost their lives in the service of their country. For many Novembers I have attended the Remembrance service at the local Cenotaph, and shivered in the cold while the bugle sounds the Last Post and local dignitaries lay the wreaths of poppies.  Two minutes silence at 11:00 o'clock on the 11th day of the 11th month.

I have posted about these two brave men before. I remember them with honour every November.

IN MEMORY OF

PRIVATE JOHN TURNBULL CHANDLER

175142, 5TH COY., CANADIAN MACHINE GUN CORPS WHO DIED AGE 20 ON 03 JULY 1917.

ONLY SON OF JOHN WILLIAM AND AGNES CHANDLER, OF GEDNEY DYKE, HOLBEACH, LINCS.

NATIVE OF SOUTHEA, NR. WISBECH.

REMEMBERED WITH HONOUR

BULLY-GRENAY COMMUNAL CEMETERY, BRITISH EXTENSION,

BULLY-GRENAY, FRANCE

John Turnbull CHANDLER was my mother's cousin. He was born 31 August 1896 in Lincolnshire, England, and was known as Jack.

Jack left England to learn farming techniques in Canada and settled in Grimsby, Ontario. He joined the 86^th Machine Gun Battalion of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force on 13 August 1915 at Welland, Ontario, stating that his date of birth was 1894, not 1896. At that time he was already a member of the 44^th Regiment of the Canadian Militia. His enlistment papers show him to be “apparent age 21 years 8 months”, 5’4”, fair complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, a member of the Church of England, and fit to serve with the Forces.
His life ended in France on 3 July 1917, serving with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps.

His obituary:

GEDNEY DYKE SOLDIER FALLS We regret to report the death in action of Pte. John Turnbull Chandler, son of the late Mr. John W. Chandler, schoolmaster, Parson Drove, and of Mrs. Chandler, schoolmistress, Gedney Dyke. 

The deceased was educated at Barbourne College, Worcester (1908) and Framlingham College (1909-1912). He learned farming and went to Canada in April 1912. He enlisted in January 1916 in Grimsby, Ontario, came over to Shorncliffe June 1916, went to France October 1916, and was killed in action July 3rd. He was only 20 years of age. He leaves a mother and six sisters to mourn his loss.

I visited his grave in France with my two sons in 2005. Perhaps the only family members to do so.

AND ALSO REMEMBERING

Herbert Leonard Darch, known to his family as Len.

Len was born in the village of Combe Martin, in North Devon, England in 1895. He was the son of Matthew Darch and Sarah (nee Rooke), who lived at Glenwood, Combe Martin.

Len had three brothers, Theo, Bert and Wilf, and one sister, Aileen, who married my Uncle Albert in 1919, and therefore became my Auntie Aileen.

Len joined the 1st/7th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, and was sent to France to fight in WW1, also known as The Great War.  1/7^th Battalion Worcestershire Regt was part of 144th (Gloucester & Worcester) Brigade. This photo may have been taken when he first volunteered.

Herbert Leonard Darch, Private 202233,  probably took part in the ‘Pursuit of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line’ (14 March – 5 April 1917), but on Monday 24 April 1917, at the young age of 21, he was killed in action at Gillemont Farm.

His life is commemorated with honour on the Thiepval Memorial, Thiepval, Department of the Somme, Picardie, France, Plot: Pier and Face 5 A and 6 C.  As there is no grave, his body was not recovered.