] p. 165 - what does "the Plot against your Peepers" mean? LOL! Is this just a way of saying it's offensive to the eyes?

That's what I took it to mean. And I just loved that whole passage, especially the part about "you showed your good taste when you married me". Had to read it out loud to my husband, I was so tickled.

] p. 169 - what is this "rage for tea-boards" all about? Are these fancy tea-trays? I'll zip over to L&T for some searching, but I was struck by this apparent fad in the 1750s. I wonder if trends in those days were as changeable as they are today?

Don't know anything about tea-boards, but the letters sent back and forth between Elizabeth Shackleton and her London friends shows that trends certainly existed back then. I would imagine they did not change quite so quickly as they do today though -- it would take more time for word to get around and for people to adopt it, before it was dropped.

] p. 174 - "tis well she does not hear me for she wou'd not like perhaps to have a Bishops Bum placed upon her Noddle." LOL, what the?!? Can anyone translate for me?

No idea!