Friday, June 26, 2009

Friday, June 26, 2009 - A sunny shopping day



Instead of my usual boring recitation, today I shall include the contents of an e-mail I got from a friend...

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:


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. H ence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.


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..


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 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.


There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could 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.


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 floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying a thresh hold.


(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)


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. T hey would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold ov ernight and then start over the next day. Sometimes 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...


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..


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


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 the upper crust.


Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers 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.


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 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 History was boring ! ! ! Educate someone.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009



What is it about beautiful weather that demands I write about it?


Today is Wednesday - powerball night - I forgot. I guess I'll never be the millionaire.


I am looking for a project to keep me occupied. /Flower growing - potting is going slowly. I should take some pictures of the deck to show you - looks like Lowes garden spot ;-)

Anything is better than the "work" I have weighing on my feeble mind. the accountant's bill, I need the advice of an accountant... the guys who did Mom's taxes, not just a random accountant... The doctor's appointment I must make.. not any Dr. but a specific one. aughhhh

work: the retirement board phone call. double aughhhh.

The weather is looking better and better.

Dr. Isha is going on maternity leave to have her daughter who is over due.

Random thoughts from jack Handy are lookin good to me too right now. Who has a book of quotes I can borrow?

Tomorrow is Thursday - I need a new photo for the header - some one send me one please.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

If this is Tuesday, this must be Istanbul...

Hey, y'all. The sun was shining today. And then, it rained.
But we are all well [read that dry and well fed]
Nothing to report. I just wanted to change the photo at the top of this bog [to something summery.
Post to y' later.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

FYI: Addendum - Fiesta Sale June 25, 26, 27


JUNE TENT SALE!
The Homer Laughlin China Retail Outlet Tent Sale will be
JUNE 25th, 26th and 27th.
20% Off First Quality Fiesta® and Accessories

Retail Outlet will be closed JUNE 24th and 28th!
NO BULK SALES!

Warehouse Sale Rules and Regulations:

1. Tickets will be given out each morning of the sale beginning at 7 AM.

2. Each person must be present to receive a ticket. No one under 16 permitted in warehouse/tent.

3. Customers will line up according to ticket number.

4. The sale will start at 10:00AM and run till 7:00PM each day of the sale.

5. The gate will be closed at 6:30 PM to allow us to get everyone checked out.

6. You must stay in line until you receive a ticket and be in line when your number is called.(We have port-a-johns and a concession stand you can visit after you receive your ticket.)

7. We ask you to bring your own dollies. Retail Outlet dollies will not be available during the tent sale.

8. Once you have checked out you must go to the back of the line and receive another ticket.

9. If you are not in line when your number is called you will be passed over and must go to the back of the line.10. We will be closed the day before (JUNE 24th) and the day after (JUNE 28th) the tent sale.
NO ONE WILL BE PERMITTED IN THE SALE WITHOUT A TICKET!

NO OVER SIZED DOLLIES OR WAGONS WILL BE PERMITTED IN WAREHOUSE/TENT.

WE HAVE PUT THESE RULES IN EFFECT FOR THE GOOD OF EVERYONE.

Thank You, The Management
Now available!75th AnniversaryPlatter in Fiesta® Marigold
Fiesta® Marigold Baking Bowls will be retired as of 09/01/2009.
Fiesta® Ivory seconds will be available for the first time

Yes, it's really June 10, 2009

I can't believe I kept writing June 10Th on all the checks I wrote Monday and Tuesday... I am wishing my life away...

The weather is soggy. If air conditioning goes bad, I am in trouble. I hate the sog...

This is my first day of summer vacation: I sold it for @ $125, before taxes, and went to meetings at GHS. And the same tomorrow. One of the door prizes (today) was a Fiesta Tea pot - the big one, in pink. I covet it. But I know I don't need it, nor do I have a place for it. And the teacher who got it is a friend of mine. She could use some cheering up. Her husband died this past April 2009 of an infected tooth. Cheery bog tonight...not!

Also, I could hardly keep awake during meetings today. I know it's time to do something else with my time here on the planet. I have a to do list: I won't bore you with it tonight, but Charleston and the social security office are on it. Can I live on 50% of my working income? I have to see what the real numbers are.

Stan is tired. Too tired, I think. Hard to wake up in the morning; too tired to raise his hands for most things... He's a paraplegic now; but not yet a quadriplegic - he still feeds himself. He asks for "dill pickles" often - it's a joke we have - since pickles and pills have similar face movements. He gets pickles, hot sauce, mayonnaise and anything else he asks for if I can buy it.

We haven't been on the deck yet. It's been a week. Too rainy and I'm not sure I can get him through the hall and over the threshold. The threshold is a bump I think I can take out, I just haven't, yet. It's stil rainy out there most evenings anyway.

We haven't many visitors ever. It's like we live on the outer ring of the solar system. Jerry and Ruby are the last people who actually talked to Stan and me (in the kitchen) for more that 3 minutes. Stan doesn't seem to want to come out of the room, or maybe he feels it's
too much trouble" - who knows - I can't get into discussion/arguments over that - there's too much effort involved in trying to communicate "why and why not".

Well... that's the top of my mind tonight. For good or ill, that's what I chose to write about. On a happier note: the dryer is fixed, and now the bel is ringing. I gotta go.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

June 10, 2009 Remembering our Yellowstone vacation

Today I was browsing the Internet and remembered that Stan and I went to Yellowstone a few years ago. The header is a recollection of that vacation. I hope you all get the chance to see the park for yourselves. (I know Joey has been there...)

I'm at school - on lunch break right now - but I will write more after lunch...