The household is getting ready for the great wash, when all the household linen will be cleaned. The bucking process for the linens and bleaching of the sheets with lye smells awful and takes days to do. We are praying for warm weather so everything can dry and bleach in the sun, but it is England after all and rain always seems to be likely.

The house itself will be getting some attention, with all the floors swept, the flagstones scoured, the house aired out and everything cleaned from the wall hangings in the great hall to the kitchen vessels. Frances and I must collect more horsetails ready for the servants to use in the process. Then I will try to hide in my pear tree with a book, to avoid the all the disruption!...