Friday

As some of you noticed, I've been away from blogging for the past month. I really needed to take a computer break and get a few things done around the home place.

For starters, I painted the kitchen and dining room a soft yellow/white and a gray/green on the trim. Our walls are cordwood and pine boards. I love the look of the boards, but they made the rooms really dark and we are getting to the age when we need a lot of light to see:) Now it is so much brighter in here. I'm thinking about doing the living room, too, but it is 'on hold' for right now, at least until I'm finished with the dining room.

Here are a few pictures of my country/farmhouse kitchen. As you can see, I like lots of 'stuff', LOL!

I decided to leave the ceiling unpainted. The pantry next to the refrigerator has been 'antiqued', but in the picture it just looks like it needs a good bath. So much for my great photography.

I've also been working outside. I planted quite a few tomato plants, some cucumbers (which are not looking too good, and some squash, also not looking good. I'll probably have to start over on those two.

I'm making a new herb bed that is still in progress.

And, I have about six doll bodies made up, but they are not 'decorated' yet, so their identity is still something I have to decide on. I make very grungy, prim dolls. I think that grunging them is my favorite part, LOL!

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday Wives Tales~Quilting

Quilting is a fun hobby today, but most women live their lives without ever trying their had at this old-fashioned art. In the days when women's lives revolved around their homes, quilting was as an important part of their lives as learning to cook, garden, and bake bread. We've all heard of the old fashioned quilting bees, and similar groups still meet today. I thought a few superstitions about quilts would be fun.

1. If a young woman 'shakes' a quilt out the front door of the cabin, the next single man to enter through that door will be her groom.

2. If a young girl completed a patchwork quilt without help from anyone else, she would never marry.

3. If a single woman is first to sleep under a new made quilt, she will dream of her future husband.

4. If you begin a quilt on a Friday, you will never live to finish it.

5. Never quilt figures of humans on a quilt or they will 'walk and visit you at night'.

6. Hearts are unlucky on quilts unless the quilt is for a bride.

7. The name for the 'Wandering Foot' quilt pattern was changed to 'Turkey Tracks' due to the belief that any male that slept beneath the quilt would wander from home and lead a worthless life.

Do you know any old wives tales related to quilting?

Wednesday Wives Tales~Luck of the Irish

Happy Saint Patrick's day to all of you!! Are you wearing green? I thought you might like to see a few Irish 'old wives tales' in honor of the holiday.

Most mountain people in my area (including myself) are are descended from Irish and Scottish immigrants. Some so far back that it is hard to pinpoint when they came here. I have an ancestor that arrived in America from Ireland in the early 1600s.


Here are a few fun (and sometimes creepy) Irish superstitions:

If you meet a funeral you must turn around and walk at least four steps with the mourners or bad luck will befall you.

A dead hand is believed to be a cure for all diseases. Many times sick people were brought to a house where a corpse was laid out, so that the hand of the dead might be laid on them. (I have found this 'cure' listed in many mountain superstitions. People used to be sure and bring their sick children to wakes in order for them to touch the dead person's hand.)

If you kill a Robin, you will never have good luck.

If a magpie comes to your house and looks at you, it is a sign of death and no charm or spell can avert this.

If you make a purse from a weasel, it will never be empty.

It is unlucky to knit at night unless you are quite sure that all the sheep are asleep. (I guess they don't mind during the day?)

If you Google Irish superstitions, you will find that there are endless amounts of them to enjoy.

Have a wonderful day~and may the Luck of the Irish be with you!

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!!