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Hi, Rusty!
Home again... goodness it is now going dark very early!
Ah, I have followed you........ brother -in -law is ex-wife's brother; sister in -law is his wife!
I had forgotten about the distaff side of the family!
I get very confused with second cousins and cousins-once-removed, too!
(I have that explanation written down, so I can refer to it if needed!)
And do you remember the "third" cousin I discovered through Friends Reunited"?
No, we are not considering buying a "real" Christmas tree......we have an artificial one.
It is designated a Canadian Pine!
It is 5ft tall and looks very realistic!
We have to nail it to a board, so that the cat does not pull it over!
I shall listen to the choir later on.... and will pass the suggestion onto Sally!
But she may be like me, and unable to sing in tune?
That is good of Argos to come and collect the Chromebook - I had envisaged your having to pack and post it.
Right, now I must go and wash my hair........

Good evening, Elle!
Now, cousins once removed would be a difficult concept for me to grasp!
TESCO had fine looking trees when I was in, today.
I think Sally would be made very welcome by the choir.
And she would not have to worry about the language.
Many in the choir do not have Gaelic as their first language.
She would be like Miss Peckwitt going to Skye!
Argos have proved to be great, so far.
I would use them again.

Good evening, Rusty!
Now, here goes......
First cousins and 1st cousins once removed etc...
If I could draw a diagram , this would be easy, but to explain it in words, is not quite so simple!

So......for instance.... my father had me, his sister had Susan
Susan and I are first cousins.
My child and Susan's child would second cousins (to each other)
Their children would be third cousins.......

Whereas.....
My relationship to Susan's child would be that of first cousin- once- removed
(Her relationship to my child would obviously be the same)
My relationship to Susan's grandchild would be that of first -cousin- twice -removed

etcetera......

Am I explaining this sufficiently well for you to follow?
If you are still with me, you deserve one of your custard doughnuts!

I am now going to listen to the Aberfeldy Ladies' Choir!

Hello, Elle!
I followed it mostly, but I am not as bright as you.
The once removed bit is quite baffling.
Thank you for doing your best, though.
The doughnuts are finished!
I hope you like the Gaelic Choir.
I have not heard them, but have bought home made jam and scones etc when they hold sales of work etc.
They are a very friendly bunch.
I think Sally will take to them!

Good evening Elle and Rusty,

Congratulations Elle! Your explanations are, to me anyway, very
clear. I hope Rusty has followed them.

Having said this, it is highly possible that in a few months, I may
forget your explanations!
Anything after 1st cousin has always had me totally confused and
the more I tried to understand it, the more muddled I became - so I
gave up! They were 'distant' cousins, and that was that!

Afternoon turned out to be lovely, 7 to 9 C with gorgeous sun;
It was meant to rain most of the day, so the 'met' obviously got
it wrong or His Lordship The Weather decided to change his
mind! In a way, I find it comforting that we cannot be sure of
the future, nice that there should be things that left in the hands
of theGods! (Otherwise it would probably be another subject
for disagreement!) Don't you think?

Sorry, philosophical intermezzo over!

Went into town his afternoon and was too hot walking in the
winter gear I was wearing!

What have you both been doing?

Good evening, Pigale!
Nice to hear from you!
I think I shall leave you and Elle to discuss removed cousins!
It's a bit over my head!
You are lucky with your weather.
It is pretty cold here, and meant to get colder.
I have had my heating on, and glad of it!
I have not been up to much at all.
Leading the quiet life!

Hi, Rusty!
And to confound you even further.......
Regarding my "third" cousin......
Her great-grandmother, Elizabeth, is my great-great-aunt (sister of Abraham, my great-grandfather)
We have it all worked out on a family tree!
Did you do the crossword ?
I liked "semitransparent" and "clergyman"
But couldn't do 17a ?W?W?R?/squad ?
Nor could I parse 26a "totem" = "symbol" (def )
And what is the definition for 13D?
I have "chewing gum" = ? working with trap?
Is it another instance where "trap" means "mouth"?
c- roughly
hewing - chopping
gum- stick
We had takeaway from the chip shop for our dinner!


Hello, Pigale!
I am glad that you have followed my description of first cousins and those once removed!
I am not sure that I have convinced Rusty!
I haven't been up to much, apart from walking the dog.........for a smallish dog she likes a lot of exercise!
It has been very cold here and is supposedly going to be down to minus 1 tomorrow morning.

Hello, Elle!
17 is "awkward squad", Elle.
I do not have the paper now, but yes, trap can mean mouth.
You are lucky remembering your forebears, Elle.
I can just very vaguely remember my grandparents.
A chip shop tea takes a bit of beating!
Very good!

Sorry, Elle,
I can not remember the clue for "totem" but it was to do with the piece of music, "motet".

Elle, from memory, I thing the definition is "working with trap" is "chewing gum".