It’s Wednesday night and I’ve just eaten some asparagus. Asparagus is very cheap at the moment and very yummy, especially when microwaved with some cheese on top. The last few days have been terrific, especially as I’ve been on holiday. So what have I been up to?
On Sunday I had planned to go to the cricket, to see NSW play Tasmania at the SCG, but unfortunately the game was washed out. So I spent most of the day at home listening to music, surfing for internet radio stations and doing some house cleaning.
I had to go to work briefly on Monday for “handover”, but then came home, went to the pub for lunch and didn’t do very much at all, aside from some family history.
Actually, I’ve finally made some headway on one of the most interesting family history stories I’ve come across. It concerns my great-grandparents, William Rixon and Ellen Lang who were, curiously enough, first cousins. Although the idea of first cousins having children together is odd by modern standards, Australian law actually still allows for first cousins to marry. Clearly though, something went wrong with the relationship, as two years after the birth of their third, maybe fourth child, William Rixon married somewhere else moved to Victoria where he raised a new family. One could speculate for hours about what occured. Did Bertha Ramsay become pregnant to William Rixon, forcing a marriage and a move to Victoria to escape shame? Was the relationship with Ellen Lang merely a sexual relationship with no other commitment? Throughout her life, however, Ellen often used the name Rixon, although of course, she was not legally entitled to. What happened to Ellen in the intervening period remains unclear, although she clearly had three, maybe four, young children to raise. I know that she worked as a cook and that she lived in Bombala, Lismore and Sydney. I’m pretty sure, though, she spent the last few years of her life in the Newington State Hospital and Home at Auburn as that is where she died in 1950. She was buried at Liverpool Cemetery in an unmarked grave. I’m going to pay her a visit sometime, I think, as I’m guessing she had a pretty rough life.
Yesterday was good fun. I went to Colin’s place around lunchtime for an omlette and computer fixing experience. And then last night I went to the Sydney Blogger Meetup. The Other Andrew has posted some photographs on his website.
And all I’ve done today was hang out at home, although Michaela and I caught up briefly around lunchtime. Quite by accident, as I walked out on the balcony at home, I saw her on her way to the post office. And so we caught up for a chat, a walk, and a salad roll in the park.
So this is what it means to be retired?