Wednesday Wives Tales

When someone sneezes, do you say, "God Bless You!"? Or maybe "Gesundheit!"? I have heard both, though most commonly, "God Bless You", which I still say today.

In earlier times, since it was known that God breathed breath into man, a sneeze--a 'rapid departure' of breath, was thought to be the instance of life leaving one's body. And the blessing of saying 'God Bless You', kept evil from being able to enter the empty space left by the sneeze.

Most sneezing beliefs seem to center on whether the soul is leaving the body, or evil spirits are getting in. That is thought to be the original reason for covering your mouth when you sneeze--to keep your soul in or evil out, not to prevent spreading germs.

On a funny note, I read one post on the Internet that said there are probably some people still living, even today, that remember the old "God Bless You" custom after someone sneezes. LOL! I wonder how old the person was that wrote that article, and better yet, where they are from??

And so to end this post, sneezing or not~God Bless You!!

Monday

For the first time ever, we had a WHITE Valentine's Day!! It was still white today, as you can see from the picture I took on our back roads trip this morning.

Not much exciting is happening around here. I'm working on some crafts, and I've also been doing some painting around the cabin, so when those projects are finished, I'll post a couple of pics. We are sort of in between projects right now and nothing is really finished.

Hope all of you are staying warm!

Special Weekend!

Wishing all of you a beautiful Valentine's Day weekend!

Friday

This is what it looked like when I got up this morning. So pretty, but most of it has melted now, leaving a lot of mud behind for us to slosh through.

I was happy to see what came in the mail yesterday~

A little bit of a cure for cabin fever! I'm so excited about our garden this coming spring. We ordered these heirloom seeds from Baker Creek Seeds in Mansfield, MO. I've never grown tomatoes from seed before, so I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

I hope all of you are staying warm and dry. Keep dreaming of spring--it will be here soon!

Wednesday Wives Tales~Bread

I bake bread at least three times a week. If I didn't, we wouldn't have any bread in the house. I love to mix it, knead it, and pat it out into the long loaves I make. Baking bread on Monday, I wondered if there were many old superstitions about bread. This is what I found~as usual, a couple contradict each other:

1. Cut a loaf of bread at both ends, and the devil will just keep going and fly right over your house.

2. If you burn your bread, it either means that the preacher is coming for a visit or that your sweetheart is mad at you.

3. If all the bread at the table is eaten, the next day will be a good day.

4. Putting a loaf of bread upside down on the table is bad luck.

5. Bread must never be burned or thrown away. If this happens, the baker will go hungry.

6.If a person cuts bread in an uneven manner, it means they have been telling lies.

7. Before slicing a new loaf of bread, cut the sign of a cross on top of it.

Do you bake bread?

Sunday

Good morning! We are waiting for another winter storm to visit us. It should be here by tomorrow night, if not sooner.

The picture of the back of our house is from the last snow that we had. It was very pretty, but I was hoping it would be our last.

After church, I'm headed to town to pick up a few supplies to get us through the storm. I was supposed to do my monthly shopping trip this week, but looks like it will be a week of snowy weather.

Stay safe and warm!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV

Rainy Thursday

It has been cold and rainy all day today. Mr. Sunshine never even poked his head out to say hello.

I've been painting some shelves and doing some rearranging in my linen closet and drawers. Seems like days like this are mostly good for drinking something hot and reading a book!

We had chicken and dumplings for supper, so that warmed us up a little bit. What do you make for supper on dreary winter evenings?

Wednesday Wives Tales~Snow

These are a few old wives tales/superstitions about snow and cold weather:

1. Thunder in February means snow in May.

2. Dreaming of snow is a good omen, unless you have eaten snow.

3. Dreaming of deep snow means you have hard work ahead of you but great success at the end.

4. To make it snow, sleep with a silver spoon under your pillow

5. To make it snow, sleep with a colored sock on your left foot and a white one on your right.

6. Count how many days old the moon is on the occasion of the seasons first snow. This number should predict how many big snows will happen for the season.

7. A cold, snowy winter is a sign of a hot summer.

8. If a cat sits with its back to the fire, a heavy frost is coming.

Do you know any snow superstitions?

An Old Stand-by

Last night, we were needing a fast dessert~okay, not exactly needing, but you know what I mean! I didn't have time for anything very complicated, so I fell back on one of my old favorites. You've probably made this one yourself. If you haven't, I'd guess your mom or grandma has made it for you!



Easy Peach Cobbler


1 large can of sliced peaches, drained

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1 tsp. of cinnamon

2 tsp. of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt (optional)

1 cup of sugar

All the juice from the canned peaches plus enough milk to equal one cup

One stick of butter, melted


Melt butter in 8x8 baking dish in the oven.


In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly and add the peach juice and milk liquid, stirring just until mixed.


Take baking dish from the oven and dump batter directly onto melted butter. Don't bother to spread it. Now, dump the peaches over the batter~no need to spread them around, either.


Bake at 350 for approximately one hour~check sooner if your oven cooks 'hot'.

Well, the groundhog saw his shadow~six more weeks of winter!

Happy Groundhog Day!!