Being Productive
Today felt much more productive than yesterday, even though I did get a lot of reading and note-taking done. Today I actually began to compose my narrative about colonial London Town foodways, and tomorrow I'm meeting with the Education Director to make sure I'm on the right track.
And I also started to look at the probate inventories today, and it was ten times more exciting than I thought it was going to be! It's amazing what you can learn about a person or family based on what they had in their possession when they died. For instance, today I found a person who was a tailor, since his home was filled with lots of fabric, thread, buttons, etc., all of which were listed, in detail, along with their value in pounds, shillings, and pence. And, lo and behold, I also found a carpenter...very useful in starting to jot down notes about furnishing the to-be-constructed carpenter's shop. Life at London Town is good :)
Plus, today the breeze was blowing in off the river, so the air smelled salty, and it mixed with the smell of the fire used for outdoor cooking for the camp kids, and it just smelled so...COLONIAL. Yes, I'm a very big dork.
And I also started to look at the probate inventories today, and it was ten times more exciting than I thought it was going to be! It's amazing what you can learn about a person or family based on what they had in their possession when they died. For instance, today I found a person who was a tailor, since his home was filled with lots of fabric, thread, buttons, etc., all of which were listed, in detail, along with their value in pounds, shillings, and pence. And, lo and behold, I also found a carpenter...very useful in starting to jot down notes about furnishing the to-be-constructed carpenter's shop. Life at London Town is good :)
Plus, today the breeze was blowing in off the river, so the air smelled salty, and it mixed with the smell of the fire used for outdoor cooking for the camp kids, and it just smelled so...COLONIAL. Yes, I'm a very big dork.