Wednesday Wives Tales~Happy New Year

Old-time mountain folks believed that New Year's Day was closely connected with what might be happening during the new year.

It is said that a woman who washes clothes on New Year's Day will have to work hard all year. Other's believe that if one doesn't get something of worth accomplished on that day, the entire year will be spent in an 'ildesome' stupor.

Its always been a tradition in my family to eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day~as it is with everyone that I know. But, I found this little saying about it that I thought all of you might enjoy:

"On New Year's you just eat black-eyed peas, with a dime under your plate, an' wear a pair of red garters, an' you'll have good luck the whole year".

So all of you have a very Happy New Year's Day~and don't forget to eat your black-eyed peas! (And if you happen to have a pair of red garters....:)

Merry Christmas

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.

This essay was adapted from a sermon by Dr James Allan Francis in “The Real Jesus and Other Sermons” © 1926 by the Judson Press of Philadelphia (pp 123-124 titled “Arise Sir Knight!”).

Wishing all of my blogging friends a wonderful, beautiful, Merry Christmas!!

Wednesday Wives Tales~Christmas

These are not necessarily Ozark/Ouachita Mountain superstitions, but I thought that they were interesting.

To prevent your family from having a quarrel on Christmas day, everyone must place their shoes side by side on Christmas Eve night.

To have good luck during the following year, take three sips of salt water before eating your Christmas dinner.

And I was happy to find a Christmas superstition that goes with the 'dumb supper' ritual:

The dumb cake was made at midnight on Christmas Eve. It is prepared in complete silence by bachelors and spinsters. The baker of each cake left their initials on the upper surface of the cake--(I guess after it was done?). If their silence remained unbroken throughout the night, the future partner was believed to come and leave their initials on the cake. If one walked backwards to bed after eating dumb cake, a dream about a future spouse was sure to visit them.

Merry Christmas!

Only Four More Days!

Have you made your list and checked it twice? The big day is coming up fast, isn't it? I still have some things to prepare around the house. We are having a pork roast on Christmas Day, so that still has to come out of the freezer--probably tomorrow.

I hope you are all on schedule!


Here are a few of our Santas that I thought I'd share with you.

Wednesday Wives Tales

Ouachita and Ozark mountain folk have always enjoyed a good ghost story~especially at Christmas. I found this little tale that was probably enjoyed by a lot of youngsters huddled up close to the fire on crisp, cold evenings.

It seems that two men heard that the Devil was visiting at the local buryin' ground. Being just a little bit curious, the two hurried down there about dusk to see what they could see. They settled down behind a stone wall and waited.

Unbeknownst to them, two little boys, carrying a sack of paw paws they had gathered, arrived a few moments later and stopped on the other side of the stone wall. They spread the paw paws on the ground and began to divide them. "You take this one, I'll take that one; you take this one, I'll take that one," one boy repeated, placing the paw paws between them.

Finally, the other boy spoke: "Well, that's all, 'cept them two big ones over there. You take the dried up one and I'll take the fat one."

This seemed to describe the two men pretty well, and they broke out of hiding and ran, yelling all the way home. They had presumed some Evil Spirits had been dividing up the dead, and somehow, they had managed to be counted with them!

Merry Christmas!

Good Tuesday Morning!

Congratulations to Sue at Country Pleasures~you are the winner of my Christmas book giveaway! Sue was one of my very first blogging friends~so congrats, friend~send me your mailing addy and I'll get the book right out to you! Thank you all for entering the giveaway. I'll be having more after the first of the year.

We've been watching a lot of old Christmas movies around the Cordwood Cabin lately, and while Meet Me in St. Louis isn't technically a Christmas movie, my favorite scene in it is Christmas one~so enjoy this YouTube video of Judy Garland singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Saturday Smile

Good morning! My Saturday Smile is...a giveaway! Another Karla Dornacher book! This one is The Heart & Home of Christmas.

If you'd like to win this book, leave a comment below. I'll draw the winner's name on Tuesday morning, December 15th.

Good luck~and Merry Christmas!

Wednesday Wives Tales~Christmas

I thought that a few old Christmas superstition/folk beliefs might be fun for this week.

1. The child that is born on Christmas Day will always have good luck.

2. To have good health in the coming year, you must eat an apple on Christmas Eve.

3. Bread that is made on Christmas Eve will never grow mold. (I'm wondering if this is when Wonder Bread makes all of theirs, LOL! Wonder Bread is known never to mold in kid's science experiments).

4. Failing to decorate a Christmas tree will cause spring never to come.

5. The first person to open the front door on Christmas Day will have good luck all year. (I guess that here is where you can make up for not being born on Christmas Day!)

6. And...my favorite that I found: No work of any kind may be done on Christmas day if you want to have a lucky year.

Do you know any Christmas/folk superstitions?

Update on the Little Christmas Tree

I had guessed that some neighbor girls that live on a farm about three miles up the road had decorated the little Christmas tree. But, I saw their older sister in Wal Mart, and she said "no". She said it had been her first guess, too, when she saw it.

It was actually an older gentleman in the community that decorated it. Last spring, his daughter, age 36, passed away very unexpectedly. The little tree is decorated in her memory. The tree is located just outside of a pasture where he hunts. I don't think he ever actually kills anything, but just goes up there to walk and think. Most of the ornaments on the tree had been gifts to him and his wife from his daughter.

I know that he has been grieving a lot these past few months. His wife told me that this is a way that he wanted to deal with his grief and that 'Krissy' had always loved Christmas. So this is Krissy's Christmas tree.

Saturday Smile

We saw this cute little tree on a lonely roadside and it sure brought a smile to our faces!

For those who asked, I can't seem to post a picture of the tree that will 'blow-up' when you click on it, so here is a close up picture of the ornaments. I'm not sure why some pictures I post will get bigger and some will not~any ideas?

Have a great weekend.

Happy Friday!

Brrrrr....it's cold here today! Our high was 44 degrees with a stiff north wind. I think it was in the 70s just last week!

We've got a little bit of decorating done around the place. The dds did a little bit of work out on the porch and came up with these three sweet trees.

I put a small tree in the kitchen. First, I just left it's little burlap bottom on it, but finally settled on putting it in an old rusty coffee can. The ornaments are applesauce cinnamon ornaments that have been 'antiqued' with off-white paint and finished with a mixture of glue and water.

This is a view from the kitchen into the dining room.

Finally, this is our tree. As usual, it's loaded down with ornaments that we've collected through the years. Every year I say I'll put less on it, but I think it gets more crowded every year! I'll try and post some more pictures next week.
Everyone have a great weekend!

Wednesday Wives Tales

Unfortunately, it is the time of the year for sore throats, so I thought I'd look up a few cures.

1. Wear a dirty sock around your neck while you are sleeping.

2. Eat cloves of garlic or keep one clove in each cheek the whole day, changing them out periodically. Your sore throat should be gone by evening~probably along with everyone you know, LOL!

3. Eat fried onions (This one sounds good to me!)

4. Lemon and Honey mixed together and taken as a cough syrup

5. Gargling with Apple Cider Vinegar

6. Gargling with baking soda or salt

I do believe that gargling with the vinegar or salt/baking soda is great for a sore throat---it always makes mine feel better. Since garlic is known to have antibacterial and antibiotic properties, it probably does help, too. But I'm not sure I could stand the cloves in my mouth all day! I think honey would probably be good, too.

Do you know any good cures for a sore throat?