Woodchester Mansion

Friend J visited from Salisbury today. We've known each other since we worked together in Zlin, then part of Czechoslovakia, in 1992-93. After wandering around sampling the delights of Stroud for a while, we drove out to Woodchester mansion. I hadn't been there for three years. If you'd like to know more about the building, check out https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2868264874117432439
There can't have been any social distancing rules in place at that time, as I remember the circus event being very crowded! 

The staff has kept the CoVid arrows on the floor inside the mansion for self-guided tours, so we bought a guidebook and followed them around the building, pausing part way round to nip outside to eat some falafels  and salad we'd bought in Stroud . It was wonderful to see all the work that's been done, though the mansion will never be completed, only brought back to 1873 standard. 1873 is the year the owner died and the workmen downed tools and left all of a sudden. The site was gearing up for a stone carving festival that starts tomorrow. We saw many stone masons bustling around, as well as the marquees, food vans, etc, that accompany a festival. We'd walked down the mile-long driveway, so took the minibus back up to the car park, after a cup of tea and a browse in the shop. J bought a Green Man carving for her brother, and I got some locally made gooseberry jam. 

More Woodchester mansion info here: 

https://www.woodchestermansion.org.uk/


Drove back for more tea at home, until J headed off home. I hope she and her new partner will visit again, and can stay longer next time. Maybe even do a wine tasting at Woodchester Valley vineyard. 

GG pooped around to collect a book, and I've gone back to bed. The eye is not hurting as much today, but it's not getting better despite  hot compresses, so I am using natural bactericidals. As the stye is inside the lower eyelid, I'll have to ask for antibiotics or further medical assistance if it doesn't look like getting better after the weekend. I'm resting up and listening to a fascinating  podcast series about Y2K doom-mongers and survivalists. It's called Headlong. How far away that now seems, given that we've had a global pandemic and several wars since then. One family decided to go and live in the desert and learn from the Bedouin as a part of their preparation. They may also have worn white robes. Quite sensible in the desert. Anyway, they got so in tune with the stars and the rhythms of nature, and learning to make cheese in a cave, that they began to enjoy themselves, and were ultimately relieved when the world did not tumble down and there was no End of Days. As for the guy who bought two hundred hamsters in order to breed and eat them, I wonder where he is now? Whatever happened to the hamsters?