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Hi, Rusty!
I fell short of finishing the 15x15!
Five clues still to go, mostly in the bottom left hand corner.
One of which was 13a, which you mentioned.
No, I couldn't do that one.
I do not like 15a - and I never thought it was going to be a cricket clue....... I was so sure it had a religious theme!
Ah well!
No Eggheads tonight..... some programme associated with "Strictly...." instead.
Elder daughter and the boys should have come for the weekend, but the boys are both ill and have been off school for the last two days.
Some bug going around.....
The pup is improving (slowly) though, so some good news!

I expect you all think I am bonkers, but I am so excited. My cousin has just found the burial in 1848 of our 3x great grandmother aged 103 years (she was stretching it a little, as she was actually only 97, but no-one had a birth cert in those days).
I plan to get her death certificate. Any guesses as to what she was said to have died of? Old age????

That is really great news, Ros!
You must be so delighted to have come up with something so positive after all your hard work!

Hello, Elle!
13, was a poor clue.
I got 15.
Tomorrow's should be better.
Strictly is very popular, Elle, there will be quite a few programmes about it for a while.
There always appears to be a bug going round!
A pity. I'm sure they were all looking forward to staying with you.
Good news about the resilient pup!
My 84, Charing Cross Road, arrived today,
That was quick from World of Books.

Hello, Rosalind!
May I hazard a guess at your ancestor's cause of death?
There were many cholera outbreaks in GB around that time, so I shall plump for cholera?
97 was an amazing age for those times!

It's a pity about the bug, elle. I hope you get to see them all soon.

You are right, rusty. There was a cholera outbreak in Sunderland in 1848. But it will take me about 10 days to get the certificate , I'll tell you then.The worst cholera outbreak was in 1832. Another relative lost 3 children in it.
I have no idea how the old lady got to that age. Not by privilege, that's for sure. Her husband was originally a farm labourer and then just a labourer in Sunderland. He lived to 81!

Hello, Rosalind!
Makes you wonder how long she would have lived if it were not for catching cholera?
There were cholera epidemics up here too, in those days.
I think they said the cause was infected wells.
Mucky water!
It sounds awful to us, but the reality was, to the folk then, it was perfectly normal drawing water from a well which was open to all sorts of passing bugs etc.
There was nothing else!

Hi, Rusty!
That was indeed a quick arrival of your book.
My copy of "Chesapeake," also from World of Books, arrived well ahead of the scheduled date too.
Maybe they are becoming more proficient at dispatching their books?
Or else "trade" is slack and there isn't much to do?
I am well into learning about Kit Wood now.......Sebastian Faulks seems to know a lot about him!
I knew there was something I meant to tell you........
Did you hear that Maria Sharapova is having her two year drug suspension sentence reduced to fifteen months?
She will be back playing tennis early next year, by the 26th April 2017
The reason given is that she took the drugs in ignorance!

Hello, Elle!
I think World of Books are just an efficient trader, hence the quick arrival.
Yes, I read about Maria.
It did not come as a surprise.
Will she be welcome at Wimbledon though?
Can they refuse her entry?
But she did not prescribe the drugs for herself.
Her doctor did, I would imagine, and should have known it was banned.
i read an article about an ex Team Sky rider who was not in the slightest surprised about Wiggins TUE.
He "claims" Team GB/British Cycling freely offered all riders Tramadol before the 2012 World Championships.
Michael Barry, ex Team Sky, says he was prescribed Tramadol by Team Sky to use in competition. Are there any more?
Thank goodness for clean riders like Dame Sarah in British Cycling, because some of the rest of them are very suspect.
Very suspicious results.

Good morning, Elle,
Great day here!
An update.
Today's Times is carrying a story regarding UKADA visiting British Cycling headquarters in Manchester and also the Team Sky headquarters. Investigations are going on.
UKADA are the anti-doping police for Great Britain.
I have said for ages that something smells.
Medical packages being couriered to Team Sky during races.
British Cycling said it was for Emma Pooley.
Not so, Emma was racing 700 miles away.
Imagine having the blasted nerve to involve another rider who was innocently going about her business in another country!

Good morning, Rusty!
Drizzly and chilly here!
We have only just come back from the park.
I'd bought a paper on the way, so after reading your post I have just had a quick look at the Sports page before replying...............
Oh dear! If it is not Maria being absolved from a large chunk of her suspension, it is Cycling back in the News with severe potential repercussions looming over them!
What a mess!
Yes, you were right to have such misgivings about the authenticity of these TUEs.
And for Team Sky to say that the medication package was for Emma Pooley when she was cycling 700 miles away really "takes the biscuit"!
(As though that couldn't be easily disproved!)
On hopefully a "plus" situation....let us keep our fingers crossed for Andy Murray and Jo Konta in the China Open.
Semi -Finals today!
Not that I seem to have any TV coverage of it - or none that I can find?
Do you?
Strong coffee needed...............