19 September 2022

Tags

King Charles, London, Prime Minister, queen's funeral, Trudeau, Westminster

Well we went from a nice 22C to 10C in just 12 hours, this is how Seasons change in Canada. It is still sunny but breezy and the wind at sea is strong enough to stop ferry crossings and close the bridge to all trucks. We are still in September and already the high winds are closing the bridge. We also have this year 2022 the longest period of warmer than usual days in one year. This beats all previous records, so though it is nice to have warmer weather, it brings a host of other problems.

The corn is in and this year it is very good, sweet and not starchy, I think this is because I bought it within a few hours of being harvested on a farm near by, I never buy corn at a grocery store, it is too starchy and it is more expensive also, usually about 50 Cents more. This year a ear of corn sells for about .50 to .69 cents each at the farmers market, in the grocery it’s more like .69 to .99 cents and not very fresh.

The international shellfish Festival is on and Martha Stewart is in town doing something with seafood. One of my favourite floating restaurant in town the Cork & Cast won the prize for the best potato seafood chowder, happy for them they are such nice people. They also have the best funky cocktails.

Today I saw this picture of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his first audience with the King at Buckingham Palace. Charles III being the King of Canada, such meetings happen regularly and does consultations on various topics.

This picture of Her Late Majesty was taken a few months ago to mark Her Platinum (70) Jubilee. I really like it, it is one of the best I have ever seen.

I also saw on YouTube a post on the Crowns at the Tower of London where all the Regalia is kept. It turns out that there are more Crowns than I imagined. The only one seen very regularly is the Imperial State Crown and on Coronation day St-Edward’s Crown for a few minutes at the moment of the crowning of the Sovereign. But now we have a Queen Consort and she gets to wear a Crown also and it turns out that Queen Camilla will have a selection of Crowns she can choose from or she may just decide to have a new one made to her liking. Then the new Prince of Wales HRH Prince William and HRH Princess Catherine also have Crowns to wear when they will be invested in their new role. Again they have a choice of previous Crowns or they can have new ones made. The thing is that Crowns are usually made of precious metal and incrusted with precious gems, so they are really costly. Some are the private property of the Sovereign and all others belong to the British Government.

A lot of information is circulating on the upcoming Coronation of King Charles III and His Queen Consort Camilla probably next Spring of 2023. In Westminster Abbey, you have the Coronation Chair of St-Edward which is very ancient and used for the service itself.

If you take a very close look, you will see that some school boys many decades ago carved into this relic their initials. The Coronation Throne is 722 years old, the Queen Consort also has a Throne though it is only 122 years old.

During the Coronation Service it will be placed on this very old mosaic floor in front of the High Altar in the Abbey. The floor was created at the time of the reconstruction of the Abbey by Muslim Arabs who lived in Rome, all tradesmen who created this floor in 1268 on the order of King Henri III. The pattern is called Cosmati and can be found in Rome in many early Christian Churches.

On Monday the public service of the Funeral will take place in the Abbey, then the coffin of the late Queen will be taken to St-George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and in a private ceremony for the Members of the Royal Family it will be placed in the King George side Chapel built in the 1950’s to serve as a final resting place for King George VI, the Queen Mother is also buried there and Princess Margaret ashes are also in that side chapel. Now HRH Prince Philip and Her Late Majesty’s coffins will also be committed in the side Chapel. This way the family of King George VI will all rest together. I remember visiting it some 50 years ago and was surprised at how small the space was and how plain or modern it is.

God Save the King

Tags

Buckingham Palace, Canada, King Charles, London, Queen Consort

So yesterday we learned that it will be HM King Charles III and Camilla Queen Consort. That is perfectly fine since it follows the established order of Succession. I have no time for pundits or speculators and their little opinions based on popular culture as to who should succeed the Queen. God knows people wishing for William or Harry and Meghan, after all that has happened? The fact remains that any changes to the order of succession has to come from Parliament at Westminster and no where else, no there is no such thing as passing over someone because the late Queen or someone else thinks that personal popularity is more important. In point of fact, years ago the late Queen started to invest more and more duties and responsibilities on King Charles because she knew that he was the natural successor. Same now with Prince William who is the Heir to the Throne and will see his responsibilities increase dramatically. As for Harry and Meghan well they are out of the picture and may find themselves even more isolated now, unless King Charles decides otherwise.

Government House, Charlottetown this morning 09-09-2022

In Canada, the death of the Queen has affected people, monarchists and non-monarchists, it brings many memories, the Late Queen visited Canada 24 times and 12 Canadian Prime Ministers served during Her 70 year reign. She often expressed her love for Canada and always enjoyed visiting.

This morning I went to Fanningbank, the Lieutenant-Governor of PEI Residence to sign the condolences book and spoke with the Lieutenant-Governor. Most people were tourists who were milling about not aware of where they were or what was going on.

Now the business of change will take place, with new postage stamps, new effigy of the King’s profile on coins and paper money.

The monarch remains the constitutional head of state in this country, no matter who is filling the role at any given time, says Philippe Lagasse, an associate professor of international affairs at Carleton University and an expert on the role of the Crown in the Westminster system of government.

Hence, the succession from the Queen to her eldest son Charles, to be known as King Charles III, is automatic. There is no disruption to governing bodies that sit in her name or to legislation, oaths and other legal documents issued in her name.

“This transition does not require any action on Canada’s part,” Lagasse says.

“The phrase ‘The Queen is dead, long live the King!’ applies here and in the U.K.”

In common law, Lagasse says, the Queen and King are “the same legal person.” That’s because the Crown is what is known as a “corporation sole.”

“This means that, in their official capacity, the legal personality of the Queen (or) King does not change when different natural persons hold the position.

“That further means that any legal documents and instruments issued in the name of the Queen or that mention the Queen will apply and be understood to be from the King.”

That includes oaths of allegiance to the monarch, which are required in a host of cases, including becoming a member of Parliament or a member of the Canadian Armed Forces or a Canadian citizen.

“So, there’s no need to re-swear or re-sign anything,” Lagasse says.

 the Parliament of Canada Act expressly states that “Parliament shall not determine or be dissolved by the demise of the Crown and, notwithstanding the demise, shall continue, and may meet, convene and sit, proceed and act, in the same manner as if that demise had not happened.”

Similarly, oaths of allegiance to the Queen have been changed to include the words “and her heirs and successors,” explicitly doing away with the need to re-swear an oath to the new monarch after her death.

Provinces and territories have all adopted similar provisions.

For instance, Canada’s Privy Council, which includes all current and former cabinet ministers, is expected to meet when a new monarch ascends the throne. The governor general, the Crown’s representative in Canada, must also issue a proclamation on the new monarch.

“It is important to note, however, that this step merely affirms what has already occurred in law,” says Lagasse.

There are also a number of protocols surrounding the official 10-day mourning period. It will culminate in a funeral service in London, which Commonwealth prime ministers and governors general are expected to attend.

Flags are already at half mast on official government buildings, including the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, and members of the federal cabinet sported black ribbons on Thursday afternoon to commemorate the loss.

Government House in Charlottetown on 09-09-2022. People leaving flowers out of respect for Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

I also listened to the King’s first live address from Buckingham Palace today, a tribute to his mother and the formal announcement that Camilla, his wife of 17 years is now Queen Consort and his son William and Catherine are now Prince and Princess of Wales. He has received a rapturous welcome upon his arrival at the Palace from the large crowd. I believe that King Charles III will be a good Sovereign.

Many little things

Tags

Berlin, Bundesrat, Canada, heat, islam, Joe Rogan, London, Trudeau

This morning I was at the memorial service at the Basilica for a friend who went through the assisted suicide procedure. As I was listening to the Service and this dawns on me each time, the prayers and sayings for Catholics or Christians in general are the same as those for Muslim in Islam. The similarities are present, same commandments, same teachings. This is why I find it so strange when I hear people making derogatory remarks about Islam. Ignorance of the other.

I was looking at a little info video on the Bundesrat in Berlin, it’s an imposing building in the centre of the City. It was built for the Prussian House of Lords under the German Empire. It sits on the site of the former mansion of the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy family on Leipziger Strasse. It stood on this site until about 1900, when it was sold to make way for the Prussian House of Lords. This is the house were Felix lived and composed the Mid-Summer Nights Dream Music.

Bundesrat today is the seat of the 16 German Lander or Provinces. The building was severely damaged in 1944. Renovated and modernized it keeps only some decorative elements of its past. An interesting fact, in memory of Felix Mendelssohn at the opening of each session to call the delegates to the session, the overture to a Mid-Summer Nights Dream is played in the building.

Joe Rogan called Canada a Communist Country run by a dictator. How ignorant can anyone be. We do live in the age of ignorance, it has become a virtue. I do not really know who Joe is, but he has made a career of saying stupid things. Obviously he has no idea what a dictatorship is and Justin Trudeau does not fit that definition at all. As for Canada being a Communist country, well gee that is what I say to myself everyday, I am so happy to live in a police state just like North Korea. This explains all those American Communist sympathizers who come here to vacation or live.

Speaking of Prime Minister Trudeau, you know the dictator, this past weekend he had his haircut short and donated the trimmings to the Cancer society who make wigs for people who lost their hair to chemo treatment. He then went on to lead a Carnival of Children in Toronto as part of Caribbana (Caribbean) Festival held in the Summer. Then he went to a Summer Camp and answered questions on Quantum and other science stuff sitting on the ground amongst kids who would ask the questions. He is very good at this stuff and people love him for it.

His new haircut makes him look a lot like his famous father Pierre E. Trudeau who was Prime Minister 40 years ago.

The weather in Europe has been brutal and in the UK approaching 43C absolutely unheard of in England. The photo below taken at Buckingham Palace says it all, do you know how hot it is with the big fur hat and the red wool tunic to stand guard. No one actually lives there at the moment given the great renovation going on inside, electrical and plumbing not done in 90 years. I feel sorry for the grenadier guard.

Still Life paintings

Tags

baroque, Dutch masters, Fish, London, paintings

Dutch painting of the Baroque age, by

Willem Claesz Heda in 1635, our friend Reg Porter who is an award winning historian living in PEI loves books and paintings and I am borrowing this image from his page. regporter.com

This painting is in the RIJKS Museum in Amsterdam, a place that is splendid and newly renovated. The Dutch a protestant merchant nation, truly revolutionized painting with the Protestant Reformation, abandoning the strict school of painting dictated by the Vatican. They had no reasons to follow such narrow confines and invented their own style based on the life in the Netherlands. I always loved those paintings, the detail alone is magnificent, look at the artistry of painting a tablecloth so real you believe you can touch it. The same can be said of the food, the glassware, pewter. The light also in such paintings is always very natural you can almost if you look carefully tell what time of the day it is. In this painting I would guess it is around 1pm.

You can also see a lot of Dutch painters in London, the political alliance between House Of Orange, King William III and Queen Mary, the trade links between the Low countries and England saw lots of exchanges at many levels.

The Fishmonger Hall in London a Georgian Style building next to London Bridge has many paintings by Arnold Von Hacken, here are some of his still life of fish and seafood. He like other painters of the 17th century worked for bankers, merchants, corporations like the Fishmongers who would hire painters to decorate their Halls or Mansions.

The paintings are entitled Wonders of the deep, depicting fish from the rivers of England, the North Sea or Channel. Each painting is a large canvas and is rich in detail, the fish look freshly caught

There are many more better known painters of this era, Vermeer, Van Ruisdael, Rembrandt, Steen, Hals, but they all were in the business of teaching or painting for patrons who gave them commissions. Maybe by looking at such paintings you may think of a fish dish to enjoy. It was Samuel Pepys in his famous diaries describes the barrel of oysters he would eat at lunch in a pub in London near Whitehall where he worked. All was very fresh since the boats came up the river each day and deliver their catch, somewhat like they do here in PEI.

Itsmyhusbandandme

Tags

CANCER, Guido, itsmyhusbandandme, JP, London

Yesterday I received a comment from JP, the author in Southwark, London of Itsmyhusbandandme. Loved that blog and all the funny posts, it was like a novel with regular new chapters about JP’s and Guido’s life in London. JP’s message was a sad one, he informed me that Guido had died of cancer last month. In his last post on his blog some months ago, JP had revealed that Guido was ill with cancer and it was a difficult fight. So sad to read this news.

I often thought of them since the end of his blog. Wishing Guido Peace and JP courage.

Renovations

Tags

Buckingham Palace, London, Queen

Renovations to Buckingham Palace have been planned for some years and in the last 24 months they have been moving along. Some 385 million Sterling Pounds are being spent to upgrade the wiring and plumbing and do many more infrastructure repairs. Not much has been done since the 1950’s and given the age of the building it was time before an accident happened.

What I did not know was how much the building changed over the course of the last 260 years. Originally Buckingham House was a country house on the outskirts of London and did not have the look nor the shape we see today. It was also not used as a Residence for the Sovereign until Victoria became Queen in 1837 and moved in.

George III bought Buckingham House in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a comfortable family home close to St James’s Palace, where many court functions were held. Buckingham House became known as the Queen’s House, and 14 of George III’s 15 children were born there. 

George IV, on his accession in 1820, decided to reconstruct the house into a pied-à-terre, using it for the same purpose as his father George III. 

As work progressed, and as late as the end of 1826, The King had a change of heart. With the assistance of his architect, John Nash, he set about transforming the house into a palace. Parliament agreed to a budget of £150,000, but the King pressed for £450,000 as a more realistic figure.Nash retained the main block but doubled its size by adding a new suite of rooms on the garden side facing west. Faced with mellow Bath stone, the external style reflected the French neo-classical influence favoured by George IV. 

The remodelled rooms are the State and semi-State Rooms, which remain virtually unchanged since Nash’s time.

The north and south wings of Buckingham House were demolished and rebuilt on a larger scale with a triumphal arch – the Marble Arch – as the centrepiece of an enlarged courtyard, to commemorate the British victories at Trafalgar and Waterloo.

By 1829 the costs had escalated to nearly half a million pounds. Nash’s extravagance cost him his job, and on the death of George IV in 1830, his younger brother William IV took on Edward Blore to finish the work. The King never moved into the Palace. Indeed, when the Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire in 1834, the King offered the Palace as a new home for Parliament, but the offer was declined.

Queen Victoria was the first sovereign to take up residence in July 1837 and in June 1838 she was the first British sovereign to leave from Buckingham Palace for a Coronation. Her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840 soon showed up the Palace’s shortcomings. 

A serious problem for the newly married couple was the absence of any nurseries and too few bedrooms for visitors. The only solution was to move the Marble Arch – it now stands at the north-east corner of Hyde Park – and build a fourth wing, thereby creating a quadrangle. The cost of the new wing was largely covered by the sale of George IV’s Royal Pavilion at Brighton. 

Blore added an attic floor to the main block of the Palace and decorated it externally with marble friezes originally intended for Nash’s Marble Arch. The work was completed in 1847. By the turn of the century the soft French stone used in Blore’s East Front was showing signs of deterioration, largely due to London’s notorious soot, and required replacing. 

In 1913 the decision was taken to reface the façade. Sir Aston Webb, with a number of large public buildings to his credit, was commissioned to create a new design. Webb chose Portland Stone, which took 12 months to prepare before building work could begin. When work did start it took 13 weeks to complete the refacing, a process that included removing the old stonework.

The present forecourt of the Palace, where Changing the Guard takes place, was formed in 1911, as part of the Victoria Memorial scheme.

The gates and railings were also completed in 1911; the North-Centre Gate is now the everyday entrance to the Palace, whilst the Central Gate is used for State occasions and the departure of the guard after Changing the Guard. The work was completed just before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

Here are some images of the Palace as it evolved to today’s look.

Buckingham House in 1760

Buckingham Palace with Marble Arch standing in front as the main gate to the U shaped palace, C. 1840.

Buckingham Palace under Queen Victoria with the new front facade closing the courtyard and Marble arch has been moved to its current location down the avenue. Around 1850.

Buckingham Palace today with the gates built with the refacing of the new stone in 1913 at the same period the Victoria Memorial Monument in front of the Palace was also built. The money was collected by public subscription.

Today the palace is the central administrative centre of the Monarchy and is used for State functions but rarely used as a residence. The offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family, such as the Private Secretary’s Office and the Privy Purse and Treasurer’s Office are located at Buckingham Palace. The Palace has 775 rooms. These include 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms.

During the renovation period, the rooms have to be emptied of their furniture, carpets, paintings and all objects. This requires a lot of attention given how rare and unique the furnishings and works of art are. The electrical work cannot be intrusive given the age of the building and original decorations and plaster work.

FOOD

Tags

breakfast, cookery, India, Kedgeree, London, Ritz

During this year long pandemic and counting, we have stayed home a lot and have not travelled anywhere. We also skipped the take out and other food plans. In our household known as the Dachshund House on the River, I do the grocery shopping and Mr Will cooks and bakes.

The other night we had Halibut, my favourite fish. It is in fact a very big fish. Growing to more than 2.5 m in length and exceeding 300 kg in weight, Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) is the largest, most widely-ranging and commercially-valuable ground fish in the Atlantic Ocean. Their geographic range in the Northwest Atlantic extends from the coast of Virginia in the south to the waters off Disko Bay, Greenland in the north.

We had 2 pieces and Will made a wonderful rice with vegetables. It was however too much and we had some leftover. So Will proposed an old recipe developed for Breakfast in India under the Raj and called by the British, Kedgeree, the Hindi call it Khichri .

Will found the recipe at the Ritz in London, as part of their breakfast menu, it was invented around 1885 as part of what was called the Reformed cookery of British-Indian exiles. It consist of a hotchpotch of boiled rice, cold minced fish, hard boiled eggs chopped, a lump of butter, all tossed together in a frying pan and served hot with herbs from the garden like crest and parsley for garnish. At the Ritz, the chef added a mild Madras curry and a mango chutney, mixing in a small sliced onion, 1 zucchini small, one sliced green pepper small.

I had the simpler version and it was good, I am sure that with the mild curry it would be very good and all for a different kind of breakfast.

Today Sunshine

Tags

Barbican, Eastend, London, Museum of London, Spitalfield, UK

Well yes today we had glorious sunshine at 6C but it was brilliant and despite the wind, very nice. I went for a walk along mostly deserted streets and if I encounter someone, we both were good about keeping a wide distance as required by Health PEI. The snow and ice is mostly gone now, it’s Spring but with no one around to enjoy it.

Listened to the Queen’s message today to the people of Canada, the UK and the Commonwealth. Four minutes long, calm and reassuring, asking that we all practice self-discipline, good fellowship and show resolve. Good days will return, she said. Observe the guidance given to you by the Health Authorities. Here in PEI we have been very lucky with 22 cases and 6 now recovered and no deaths. I really believe our Provincial Government has done a lot immediately and our Premier is following to the letter recommendations of our Chief Medical Officer.  Our Prime Minister and the Government of Canada is doing their utmost to offer economic support to Canadians.

Talking of observing the guidance of our Health Authorities I was just reading an article on the Mausoleum of the Museum of London at the Barbican. If you have ever been to the Barbican you will see this big rotunda from the outside but it is not clear what it is and for most people it draws a blank. I follow a blog which is devoted to London’s East end and Spitalfield. The author is a wealth of knowledge on the area and all the intricacies of one of the oldest neighbourhoods of London going back to Roman times.

Many years ago one of the largest cemeteries in London was Spitalfield, the word Hospital was deformed to Spital, there was St-Mary’s Spital in the area and also a large market. It is or was I should say, a poor area of the city and full of immigrants from Eastern Europe and elsewhere. It was also a beehive of commercial activities, in the last 40 years as the markets moved the area has become gentrified and changed a lot.  The cemetery of Spitalfield was in use since the 11th century, so when it was moved for re-development all the dead moved to the Barbican and the remains were turned over to archeologists, medical forensic experts and historians. Thousands of remains are neatly classified and documented in boxes in the rotunda (mausoleum) of the Museum of London at the Barbican.

What was discovered was that humans use to be a lot tougher to kill than we are today. If you survived the first 5 years of life you had it made. Many children in the Middle-Ages had tuberculosis but most survived, people suffered horrible injuries and survived, life was brutal and short but the lack of hygiene toughened people up with all kinds of immunities. You just made due and got on with life, the tolerance to pain was also much higher than it is today. It looks like our manic cleanliness habit has made us vulnerable. It is said that people today whose ancestors survived the plague centuries ago have developed in their genetic profile more resistance to some form of cancers and HIV infections. This part of the Museum of London is not open to the public only researchers have access to the dead who now rest there. Strangely enough, the curator confided that from time to time workmen come into the area to do repair or maintenance and many are unnerved to be surrounded by thousands of dead people. If you are interested in this blog, I highly recommend it, a part of London we do not think about when visiting.

LINK:  https://spitalfieldslife.com

 

 

 

 

A reply from JP

Tags

Guido, JP, LGBT, life, London, Southwark, UK

Yesterday I wrote that JP’s blog had disappeared and was wondering what had happened. I am not the only one who was wondering. Tonight after dinner I looked at my blog and saw of all things, a comment from JP. Very kind of him to have left a comment and much appreciated. Here it is for all of you to read.

itsmyhusbandandme

2 hoursitsmyhusbandandme.wordpress.com

Dear Larry

I also saw Steven on Blogger posted a blog about my blog’s “demise”. I really do hope you’ll direct him, and those other people on other blog platforms who left such lovely comments, over here to your blog. I tried to leave a message on his site but couldn’t. I don’t think WordPress and blogger will cross over in that way.

Let me explain.

I started my blog in 2015. I haven’t written about this before but at the time I started blogging, my husband Guido had been diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. I wrote as a weird form of creative escape. Not from my husband, but the circumstances we found ourselves in. It made me SO angry! But it also gave me a lot of energy. I read a lot. I wrote a lot. And, I discovered all these amazing people writing such terrific blogs. Yours, the lovely Will, and many more over the years.

On my blog I opened the door to our lives so that everyone could read about love, chaos, gay life, recipes, and our own type of madness. I wanted others to come to a blog where nothing horrible happened. It would be fun, a laugh – an escape, just as it had been for me writing it.

5 years on? Guido is stable. Not cured, but stable. My interior design business has taken off. We have 2 restaurants. Busy awkward and difficult lives. And rather than blog numbers going up – they went down. But… As a result of my blog I’ve started writing for a magazine. We move on. As we all do. Who knows what will happen in the future.

A few days ago I tried to archive my blog but accidentally hit the delete button! Thankfully I still have my writing as a personal record but it’s gone from on line. I’m sorry about that. But, perhaps it was meant to be? In a clogged up blogshere it makes a space for others to write about their lives.

Steven said that reading my blog gave him hope that he too might one day meet a wonderful man and fall in love. Goodness. What a wonderful epitaph Itsmyhusbandandme.wordpress.com will be when that happens. Not if but when!

I give a special shout out to Anne Marie. My online sister. I love your passion.

Larry – good luck and love to you and Will. Keep blogging.

JP x

 

Blog disappeared

Tags

Guido, JP, London, Southwark, Spanish Onion

JP in London wrote a blog called MyHusbandandI , the husband was Guido a chef and they lived above a Café in Southwark. JP it would appear deleted the whole blog and it has disappeared as if it never existed. The last post a few days ago was about him not being able to write more often, he was, he said working out of town but was back now.

This is unfortunate, his blog was interesting and well written. Really JP I think you should have said goodbye.