Who Said "History Was Boring?"

A Bit of History

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.
Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Marriage
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Don't Throw the Baby Out With the Bathwater
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children - last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.
Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

It's Raining Cats and Dogs
Houses had thatched roofs - thick straw - piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

Canopy Beds
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. That posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

Dirt Poor and Thresh Hold
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway.
Hence the saying a "thresh hold."

Peas Porridge Hot, Peas Porridge Cold....
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.
Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Bring Home the Bacon and Chew the Fat
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

Burning the Candle at Both Ends
They would often use a reed full of bacon fat and burn this this for light at night, but when guests came over they would light both ends for more light, thus "burning the candle at both ends." Those with money had plates made of pewter.

Tomatoes
Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

The Upper Crust
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

A Wake
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.
Hence the custom of holding a "wake."

Bone House & Saved by the Bell
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."

And that's the truth! Now, whoever said that history was boring?

Happy Birthday BIg Sister:

It has been almost 2 yrs since my sister has passed. Today is her birthday. May we send her a blessing. Went to the cemetery and say "Happy Birthday Sis" and left a flower by her plot. We do misses her very much and this is her second birthday in heaven. May the good lord bless her.P.S. She could've been 53
Nancy

Funny joke: Hospitals

I got this joke from a friend in my e-mail.

Hospitals:

A man is lying in bed in the hospital with an oxygen mask over his mouth. A young nurse appears to sponge his hands and feet.

"Nurse," he mumbles from behind the mask, "Are my testicles black?"

Embarrassed, the young nurse replies, "I don't know, I'm only here to wash your hands and feet."

He struggles again to ask, "Nurse, are my testicles black?"

Finally she pulls back the covers, raises his gown, holds his penis in one hand and his testicles in her other hand and takes a close look, and says, "There's nothing wrong with them!"

Finally, the man pulls off his oxygen mask and replies,

"That was very nice but, are... my... test...results...back?"

Another hot day and photos..

We were supposed to have rain in our forecast and I believe we will tonight. It has been a hot and humid all weekend until now. Today I see 90 degree.. Whooo it's hot! I do got some photos from the poolside. In the meantime just about nobody has shown up to use the pool. I was in it this afternoon and it was peaceful. Everybody has been good.So, here are some of my photos and I will be back soon. Take care and enjoy your rest of the summer.
Nancy

Sunday funnies: Boys and Girls-cute

Don't eat chicken sandwiches, no matter what.....

A little boy and a little girl attended the same school and became friends.

Every day they would sit together to eat their lunch. They discovered that
they both brought chicken sandwiches every day!

This went on all through the fourth and fifth grades, until one day he
noticed that her sandwich wasn't a chicken sandwich.

He said, "Hey, how come you're not eating chicken, don't you like it anymore?"
She said "I love it but I have to stop eating it."


"Why?" he asked.

She pointed to her lap and said
"Cause I'm starting to grow little feathers down there!"

"Let me see" he said.

"Okay" and she pulled up her skirt.
He looked and said, "That's right. You are!
Better not eat any more chicken."
He kept eating his chicken sandwiches until one day he brought peanut butter.

He said to the little girl, "I have to stop eating chicken sandwiches,
I'm starting to get feathers down there too!"

She asked if she could look, so he pulled down his pants for her.


She said "Oh, my God, it's too late for you!
You've already got the neck and the gizzards."

Finally! That we got some hot weather..

Hello and I'm back. The weather here in New York has been heating up the storm. We'd been in our pool just about every days. Can you blame me.LOL. Last month we'd got a lot of cool temps and rain just about everyday. It's been not a great summer until now. Now that the summer is almost over and it just beginning to come around. In some area were I live, the next counties had more rain and under water. I know that some of you went through this in the south. Apparently we had it. Thanks goodness it stop for a while. It's supposed to be in the upper 80's this weekend and I am definetly ready.

Here are some photos of the flowers that growing in my backyard. The flower were my brothers. He planted these. The yellow one is a flower that grew in our wildflower.Never recall seeing that one before. I will post soon and have a good night.
Nancy

Angel Trumpets

Beautiful SIsters: By Maya Angelou

BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTER

By Maya Angelou


'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
That a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'

When I say.... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean living;'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say.... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
my flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou;
I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow!

Pretty is as pretty does... But beautiful is just plain beautiful!

TODAY IS BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTERS DAY- TAG, YOU'RE IT!

I'm supposed to send this to BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, and you are one of them!!!
If you share this with other women, you will boost another woman's self esteem, and she will know that you care about her.

Swimming, Kids and Great Time!

Hello everybody,

I promise that I will put these photos on my blog. I didn't feel like putting my initials on them. These photos were taken a couple of weeks agoof my great niece and nephew and their cousin. They were having the time of their lives. I forgot how much fun it was to be a kid again.LOL. Perhaps I will put more on soon.
Tuesday was another hot day here in New York. I didn't take any pictures. My sister D did. She have her long time best friend up and she took a day off to come over and swim and her friend did too. It was a great day that just about all the family members were here. We had several different sausages, barbecued hamburgers, German potatoes salad, regular potato salad and two kind of macaroni salads. Yummy! We were also going to a local park and watch a concert and D stopped by and it was too crowded and nowhere to park. In the meantime went to big sister's house and hang around. We end up play RLC game that like poker but we use quarters instead of chips. We had a blast and I haven't been out in aged to my eldest sister's place. There were no guys there except my brother. My youngest niece came too. Anyway, here are the photos and I will post more soom and have a good night. Nancy
PLEASE DO NOT SNAG MY FAMILY PHOTOS. THESE ARE MINE..

This is beautiful:

I got this from a friend, it is a beautiful write up. Have a blessed day. Nancy


Click Here

Sunday funnies:

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind.
She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for
her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see the world, I will marry you.'

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off,
she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend.

He asked her,'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?'
The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his
closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking
at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.

Her boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good
care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.'

Kids Swimming and have friends over:

We'd been busy with our outdoors. Its been nice for a few days in the upper 70's and mid-80's. Kids been over for the last two days. Can you blame them? Finally we got some nice days and no rain until today. It did rain hard at lunch time. I was so bored that I end up cleaning my folder from school. There is summer school and its start Tues. I wasn't planning going in and just play around. I know the weather won't be great this week but I really going to try to take some time off. I told the teacher/instructer that if it's nice, I won't be in.
In the meantime,I think I will hang around with my g/fs this week. I did have them over yesterday for lunch. I did it for the last minute and end up buying pizza anyway. It was nice. One of my girlfriends son is in summer school. Kids for special needs. She had to leave early. However my other g/f and her husband stayed for another hour. They left just in time before my niece came over with the kids. I did have a good time and I will do it again next month. Keeping fingers cross. I want to have them over for dinner with all their hubbies. Since I don't have one, I really want to enjoy summer as much as I can. Other than just family fun. Okay! Maybe a little harsh on that one, but I do love my friends too. I knew the two g/f from grammar school and they knew each others from my b-day sleepover in high school. We had a blast those days.
Well be off for now and I will post those kids on blogger soon. So, have a good weekend until next time. Take care!
Nancy

Happy 4th Scrapbook Layouts:

I want to wish all a Happy Fourth of July.. Have a safe day. We went to my BIL work picnic that been going on for years. They have great Fireworks and I even caugnt a few. I also got a video and when I used Picasa program they have a video capture, in the same spot i took some real cool snap shot from the video. I will put the video on soon I figure it out. I also did a scrapbook too. In the meantime we had fun last night. Most of the family members went. Thanks Bro.. Have a good day. Please do not take photos,forgot to put my name on them,theyt're mine and along with scrapbook layouts. Nancy

More rain and Happy Birthday Dad:

Hello Everyone,

I just want to post a day early. Tomorrow is my Father's 79th birthday. Can you believe it? I still can't get over it.I love what I did to the old photos and put party hats on..LOL.. We are having steak dinner tonight for his birthday. Just us. Nice and quiet and no one around.LOL.. The rain just won't stop here in New York. I want more sunny days. Some reason its feels like August instead of June. Not enough sunny days this week. Rain is in for a whole week. UGH! I mad a tag for the 4th. So feel free to snag..

Have a good Sunday.
Nancy

Sun, Rain and Roses.

I know I haven't blog in a while. We had a nice Father's Day with my Dad. He did fall on concrete in the backyard by pool. He had been doing this periodically and he is okay now. I guess its the sandal or just couldn't get his balance straight. I don't know but its happen quite regulary since up until a month ago. We had beautiful weather since until yesterday. Rain and thunderstorms sweeping the area with downpoured. UGH! I though we going to have great week. I just wish it'll go away. The pool is full of rain water. We need to pump it out again,or shall I say my brother will. The rose bush is from my sister when she was sick and my mom gave it to her. My BIL gave it back to my mom. Ain't it beautiful? I love how its came out on my camera. I do misses her very much. I can't believe its been a year and a half since she passed. SO, I am so greatful to have a good sisters and they all are great as well as my brothers and parents. So, I made a collage too. Have a great weekend and pray for some sunshine. I want to go back in the pool..LOL.
Nancy

Father's Day and snags

Wishing you all a wonderful Father's Day. It is a day to celebrate with our love ones. Even they're not a father celebrate it anyway with family, in-law,brother, uncle and even they're not here, we will remember them.

We will get together here for Dad and we will be having barbeque hamburgers YUM! Sisters and brothers will be here as well. Everybody enjoy your Father's Day and have a great weekend too..

Feel free to snag..

Nancy

God ABC"s

The Godly Alphabet:



Although things are not perfect


Because of trial or pain


Continue in thanksgiving


Do not begin to blame


Even when the times are hard


Fierce winds are bound to blow


God is forever able


Hold on to what you know


Imagine life without His love


Joy would cease to be


Keep thanking Him for all the things


Love imparts to thee


Move out of 'Camp Complaining'


No weapon that is known


On earth can yield the


power Praise can do alone


Quit looking at the future


Redeem the time at hand


Start every day with worship


To 'thank' is a command


Until we see Him coming


Victorious in the sky


We'll run the race with gratitude


Xalting God most high


Yes, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...


Zion waits in glory...


Where none are ever sad! 'I AM Too Blessed to be Stressed!' The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything..
Now may Christ's Love,Joy and Peace be with you forever, Amen.

A Few Snags

Hello,
I was just making some snags..I got the beautiful wordsarts from Linda I love what she does.I also love paper kits from Barb. I also got others that I can't remember where.One is for Father's Day.. Feel free to take anything.Leave some loving.. The cloud page, the backdrop is my photo from a concert I took last year. Have a good night.
Nancy

Local Parade Photos:

We went down the street to see or local area parade. It's really just around the corner from where we live. Mom drove down to the church's lot and the three of us walk up to the street and watched the parade. It was almost over when we went,at least we got out for a while..lol. It had been a comfortable weekend and the pool got green again.Ugh! So, my brother and I cleaned it yesterday. Hopefully it'll clear up in the next few days. We also got rain in our forecast for the next few days. Anyway here are the photos. Have a good day..
Nancy