Odd Links In My Family Tree
With all the fuss about gay marriage, it is worth noting who you could marry was different in the past.
One of my ancestors in about 1850 was the progeny of one pair of marriages, where two brothers married two sisters. I’m not sure who, but one of the brothers and one of the sisters, who weren’t married to each other, died, leaving the two surviving parents with several children. They obviously lived together, as the union produced some more brothers and sisters.
But the law at the time, said that marriage was not allowed.
Today, in this rare situation, there would be no problem if the two parents wanted to marry, as the law has changed.
I think that the current position is sensible, but I doubt there have been many cases, where someone has married their sibling’s widow.
Leviticus incidentally has a view.
If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.
That certainly didn’t occur in my ancestor’s case, as there were at least two more children. Genetically, of course, they shared a lot of genes, but they would have been no more inbred than the original children.
There is also the case of two of my mother’s brothers, who married first cousins.
Now that still happens! Although for genetic reasons, I don’t think it is a good idea. It would also be impossible for me, as I have no female first cousins and only ever had one. There is a good discussion on Wikipedia.
Last night, there was a very heated debate on gay marriage on BBC Radio 5. So for those who say it is against the Bible, I say that for reasons of common human decency, the law can and should be changed, just as it was to help those like my Victorian ancestors.
I’m very much with David Cameron’s view, that everybody has the right to a long, happy and fulfilling marriage. I certainly enjoyed my marriage for nearly forty years until my wife died.
Widowhood is not the best of circumstances.
New Potatoes In Tomato Sauce
I wasn’t diagnosed as a coeliac until fifty, but as a child and probably for a lot of my life, I’ve often chosen foods that were good for me and avoided ones that weren’t.
One thing my mother indulged me with was new potatoes, which I would inevitably eat with tomato sauce.
New Potatoes In Tomato Sauce
It was a habit C didn’t approve of and I don’t think she’d mind, that I’ve taken up again at times.
But it is rather nice. And gluten-free too!
It’s Friday So It’s Fish!
I tend to have fish on Friday, although I come from a family where there was quite a bit of anti-Roman Catholic feeling. My mother was from a Huguenot line and after what had happened in France in the eighteenth century, you could understand her family’s feelings. With my father it was a bit mixed, but he didn’t like the way the Pope Pius XII had not condemned the Nazis. If it’s one thing my father was, it was an anti-fascist. But then he’d been at the Battle of Cable Street.
But still we generally had fish on Fridays! A friend has said that her family did too, as that was the day the fish-man called. I know we had a fish-man, who brought fresh fish and perhaps he came on Friday.
I don’t always follow the tradition and C generally didn’t. But recently, I’ve found a few nice fish recipes and tend to cook one of them on a Friday.
Today was no exception and I cooked a variation of the Lindsey Bareham recipe of fish with peas and beans, that I often use.
I started by setting the oven to warm up to 200 °C, with a plate warming in the top oven. I also set some water to boil for the vegetables.
Warming Up The Cooker
Meanwhile, I prepared the fish, by taking it out of the packet and putting it in my expensive porcelain dish from a pound shop.
Fish Ready For Cooking
I generally do two pieces of fish, in case a hungry and beautiful woman should turn up, whilst I’m cooking. The only preparation I do is to put a tablespoon of Carluccio’s lemon-flavoured olive oil over each piece of fish. I always used to use a real lemon, but then I often forgot to buy one.
I also prepare the vegetables. The potatoes tonight were a pack of Waitrose’s ready-to-microwave ones, the beans were a pack of yesterday’s runner beans on special offer and the peas were frozen ones from the freezer.
The Peas and Beans Ready To Cook
The only tricky preparation was to cut the beans in half.
After the fish went in the oven, I put the beans in the boiling water and started the potatoes in the microwave. After a couple of minutes, the peas were added to the beans and by the time they’d cooked so had the potatoes. I then just gave the fish another minute or so until it was cooked and placed it on top of the green vegetables.
Fish With Potatoes, Peas And Beans
It really must be one of the simplest ways to cook fish and vegetables. Even I can get it right every time!
The washing-up isn’t too onerous.
Easy Washing Up
There’s nothing that’s actually too dirty and can’t be washed in the sink.
I Want Another Of These!
This is my most commonly used kitchen implement.
It’s probably a war-time tablespoon, but it’s just the right size and balance for every job.
Another would be lovely, but I wouldn’t mind more!
How To Rip Off Amazon?
With all the fuss about the tax Amazon doesn’t pay I like this advert.
How To Rip Off Amazon?
It’s boldly displayed in Angel station.
Rekindle is defined in a dictionary as to arouse or cause to be aroused again.
Peer-to-Peer Lenders To Be Regulated
This is the heading on this article in the Daily Telegraph.
I’m not sure, I would trust any government to not produce a set of regulations that protected the wunch of bankers, who got us into this financial mess.
In my view Zopa, Funding Circle et al, are one of the ways to get out of the mess. So don’t strangle the baby!
Rehearsals At Queens Road Peckham
I took these pictures as a London Overground train did a touch-and-go at Queens Road Peckham station.
On Sunday, they’ll be doing it for real!
But what a lovely day despite it being so cold!
What Goes On Near Here?
This tiling is at Oval station on the Underground.
What Goes On Near Here?
We need more art on the Underground and generally in public!
The Northern Line Extension Exhibition
Today, I went to a Transport for London exhibition about the new Northern Line Extension to Battersea.
It was at the Oval cricket ground and is there for the rest of today and tomorrow morning.
It was well laid-out and informative. If you have any interest in how the new stations will affect you, I would recommend you go.
As it’s in an excutive box, you get a superb view of a cricket ground in winter.
Checking For German Bombs
The web site called Bomb Sight has just been launched.
Now you can check where German bombs landed near you in the Blitz.
I often wondered if my house sat on a bomb site, but I checked the physical form of the atlas a few weeks ago in the excellent Hackney Records Office. It wasn’t a bomb. If you’re anywhere near the CLR James Library by Dalston Junction station, it’s much quicker to look at the book, rather than try to find the area on the website.
The Anonymous Widower 