On the horizon

Another day of lovely weather, enjoyed on my daily walk around Hollingworth Lake, excitingly in the opposite direction to yesterday's. I know how to have a good time. Then a couple of hours Zooming etc.

A first listen to a recent album by The Utopia Strong, a trio including snooker legend Steve "Interesting" Davis on which my favourite track was Brainsurgeons 3.

Another French eighteenth century painting today, of a humble domestic scene - The Laundress by Jean Siméon Chardin (1733). At that time, washing the body was still frowned-upon in France whereas English bourgeois homes were beginning to have bathrooms installed.  

Doctors thought that water could pass though pores and convey germs into the body.  People therefore only washed the parts of their body which could be seen - hands and face. However, they also believed that clean clothes could assist by removing dirt and odours from peoples' bodies so laundry became very important.

Soap was just becoming commonly used.  In the painting, a young boy sits beside the washtub blowing a bubble, thereby demonstrating that soap was in use.