October 3

On the 3^rd of October we are here in Moreton-in-Marsh. I am glad to be out in the country although we did enjoy Bath. Some of the Georgian history I left out of my last post was about the ladies make-up. The high born women wore heavy white clown make-up that contained lots of lead and mercury. They shaved off their eyebrows and glued on strips of mouse fur. The make-up gave them facial blemishes which they covered with glued on patches in decorative shapes such as hearts (beauty marks). Also on the make-up table in the Georgian house we toured was a wig scratcher. The ladies had their hair done up with wigs into elaborate powdered hairdos that they left in place for at least six weeks. So of course their heads would itch. Remember the Robert Burns poem with the wee mousie escaping from the lady’swig in church. It seems that what I thought were caricatures of the age were not far off reality.

Driving on the left side of the road was a challenge with many round-abouts and a challenge in remembering which way to look and which side of the road to turn into on a turn. It has been like one big amusement ride. The countryside is looks like all small farms, as I think most of the large manor farms have been sold off into small farms. Sort of the opposite of the farms in the USA, where small farms have been bought up by large farming corporations.

Our first stop was at Bourton-on-the-water. Although we are slightly past high tourist season, the touristing has been off some because of the huge flood and rains here this summer. On the 20^th of July this year there was a huge flood. There had been rain for two months and the water just rose. In this town there are canalized streams which we walked along. Think big NID ditches in town prettified. In the background of the garden picture you can see things that look like mushroom shaped garden sculptures. These items were formerly used as barn foundation posts. The shape kept rats and mice from climbing into the barn to eat the animal’s grain.

See me at the edge of a canal. Wm on a bridge over the canal. Another pretty canal picture.

We ate a lunch in Bourton-on-the-water that we had brought along. In the Georgian House Museum Shop I had bought a jar of chutney and we had that, some farm cheddar, pull-apart bread, an apple cut up, and a beer. The other items we had bought in a supermarket we saw along the way.