"Life is lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back through the valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale.” Jill Savage

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Tuesday - it's going to be random - but then when isn't it?


Isn't this a pretty fish?


Want to know how some customs came from? 

Thanks Susan


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

(That is why there are a lot of June weddings too!)

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 the 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: a thresh hold. 

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 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 whisky.  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; 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." 

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=KcuDdPo0WZk
    And that's the truth.   Now, whoever said history was boring!!!  So get out there and educate someone!  Share these facts with a friend.  
THE LAUGH




THE LIFT
Just like the seasons - spring will be coming soon!


x_3bb4eaad photo x_3bb4eaad.gif                       and 



You all are not the only ones tired of winter!  Oh vey....





Don't forget the snowman contest - get your entries in by Thursday and the picking is Thursday night and grandson will pick 3 and the winners will get a little prize!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some new addition.

SNOWMAN CHECKING ON THE WEATHER TO SEE IF IT'S GOING TO SNOW





17.  From Susan from Writing From the Heart.




18.  JP from A Quiet Corner




19.  Betty from A Bench With A View

Now to see them all - go  here.

62 comments:

Hootin Anni said...

Love the denim underpants!!

rubyslipperz1052 said...

I'm totally with "Hootin Anni"! The denim underpants really took the cake this morning!!

love ya!
annie

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Love the history stuff --with all of the reasons for the 'sayings' we have!!!!! I didn't know many of them.. Love it..

Cute one showing the denim underpants...

Hugs,
Betsy

Nancy's Notes said...

Great post and I just loved reading your history news! Loved the laughs too!

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Great stuff today, Sandie! Love the denim underpants, too. Wearing the pants with the waist down around the butt has got to be the most ignorant fad going!! IMO, of course.

Cathy said...

Now that was some very interesting history. Thanks for sharing. Love the pic of your dog.

Sandee said...

What fun facts indeed. Loved them all and they all make sense.

I can't come close to the snowmen you already have. I'll congratulate the winners though.

Have a fabulous day honey. Big hugs to you and scritches to Disco. ♥♥♥

Maggie Ann said...

Sandi, this was sooo interesting! I didn't know any of those things. Now my reading for the hour just may be 'Eric Sloane's America'. History is amazing...but mostly ignored by me....I get caught up in the 'here and now'....but your post was 5* Maggie Ann =-)

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

It's fun to see all of the snowman entries! Thanks for the laughs my friend! Sweet hugs!

BECKY said...

Loved all this, and if all those "facts" really are true....Wow! I do believe them, though. Love the snowmen, too.
I'm having computer troubles again. For some reason, I can't write anything on my own blog!! It won't even let me go to "create a new post" or go to "Layout" etc. Dang old *#@!%$ laptop!! :D

Vee said...

The snowmen are so cute! Well, some of these historical facts could give a person nightmares!

Linda @ A La Carte said...

What fun facts you shared today. Loving all the snowmen!!
hugs, Linda

Cheri said...

Love the history lesson...some things I knew but most I didn't.

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I will never look at June weddings the same again :)

Beth said...

I love today's post. Lots of new things to learn!!

NanaDiana said...

I love those facts. I knew some, but not all of them. I love getting to know these things. xo Diana

Ms. A said...

Excellent history lesson. Too bad it couldn't all be that interesting, I might have actually learned something.

Love that beautiful fish!

Melanie said...

Very interesting about the quotes. I've heard of some of them before. SOOOOO funny about the denim underpants!! :-D

Theresa Mahoney said...

That is a beautiful fish. Reminds me of a fish version of Marilyn Monroe!

MadSnapper said...

someone should market those denim undies. cute snowmen

Nonnie said...

Loved all the interesting stories as to how saying came to be. A lot of those were new to me. The saved by the bell was especially creepy. Terrifying thought!

Denim underpants. Maybe that could work. :-) nah. They would probably just think up some other disgusting way to expose themselves.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

What a pretty betta fish. I've never seen a white one like that.

jp@A Green Ridge said...

That's a Fighting Fish,, isn't it? They are beautiful and now I know why I vacuum and mop floors all the time...LOL!!!...:)JP

Shelly said...

Ahhh, these are great, and that first quote is priceless!

Blondee said...

A wee bit grossed out and VERY grateful that this is not how we live today!!! LOL

LL Cool Joe said...

Okay those facts were excellent but also creepy especially about the people who were buried alive!

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

I so enjoy history and learning new things...well all except for the baby being he last in the bath for sure. Little did I know such things happened. We seem to be stuck down in the deep freeze here. Hope you are enjoying a terrific Tuesday!

Dee said...

I want that fish...it is fabulously beautiful and I the customs are all interesting in an odd sort of way. i find it amazing how in this day and age things we still say and do came from years ago.

WordsPoeticallyWorth said...

An interesting and amusing post!

Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.

Jemma@athomewithjemma said...

Interesting about June Weddings!!
I love it when you share Historical facts with us:)
I can see we are all laughing at the denim undies-very cute;)
xoxo-
Jemma

Ann said...

why didn't I think of those denim underwear when my son was living at home....lol

Willow said...

Fabulous fun facts !

Miss Debbie said...

Pretty fish and a nice history lesson!

Debbie said...

These were all just great, Sandie. I love to read stuff like that.

Of course, as a JUNE bride who not only carried a huge bouquet but had live flowers in her hair, I'm feeling a kinship with those stinky brides.

I loved the denim underpants. Too funny!

Anonymous said...

I like those facts, very interesting.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

I don't know about you, but this winter just seems to be the worst one in such a long time. I am sick of it...and I'm not even in the snow and ice.

betty said...

Those were all interesting facts, Sandie; some I knew, others I didn't. Too funny with the denim underwear, that's a good way to get someone to wear their pants pulled up :)

So many cute snowmen, Grandson will have fun picking the winners!

betty

jack69 said...

Great entry, but I think the first fish is dressed for the BAll! Great read as always.
I think my family used that bath method until I was 10!

Take care and stay warm, Maybe it is around the next corner, Spring that is. (smile)

Susan said...

Oh, the fishie was so pretty! Like she was wearing a tutu!

And the jean unders joke was funny.

Thanks for sharing, Sandie. Susan

Paula said...

Someone had their beanie on when they thought up the underwear to match the jeans. I love the fish, it looks ballerina.

Mevely317 said...

Those denim undies are a panic! :)
I'll bet you're good and ready for Winter to be over and out-a there, aren't you?

All the same, I wish we'd had a bit longer "cool" season - it's supposed to be 81-degrees on Thursday. Isn't ours a crazy country?

Keep one another close and stay warm!

Tweedles -- that's me said...

you always have some very interesting facts for us to read.
love
tweedles

TARYTERRE said...

Very interesting history. Just fascinating.

Carol said...

I loved the history of sayings. Isn't it weird that we still use those sayings?? And the fish, just beautiful! I love Disco too.

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

Ahh...exactly what I needed..a chuckle!! I've never seen a more beautiful fish by the way.

:) had to smile at the bride thingy..not sure it's true but hey..it could be, who knows. :)

Ellie Balangue said...

that is a pretty fish! and those are amazing sets of photos. loving that cute dog!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Sandie - great set of customs here .. fun to read and so true I'm sure!

Disco does look comfortable though .. but the thought of 9 day old stewed veggies .. isn't such a good thought!

Cheers - random it was .. but a great read .. Hilary

Granny Annie said...

So happy to tell people I had a December wedding:)

Terri D said...

I'm late getting here, Sandie, but still enjoyed all the information you gave us! The fish looks like a ballerina ready to perform at a fancy gala event!

Donna said...

I love the one about bathing...Hahaaa....so true!
hughugs

Catherine said...

Dear Sandie, I loved reading how all those sayings came to be.
It all made perfect sense to me!
Please stay safe, warm and cozy.
Blessings dearest. Catherine xo

Suzan said...

All too funny!!
Interesting about the bed bugs saying about the thatched roofs and raining cats and dogs!! Have always wondered how that idiom came about.
Great snowmen!! Hope you're safe and warm and staying inside!!

mail4rosey said...

There are some really cool ones here, and kind of scary ones too (being buried alive, ai yi yi!).

Lee said...

I enjoy trivia...and I love reading the origins of sayings, quotes etc.

That fish is truly beautiful. It could either audition for a position in a ballet company; or perhaps Victoria's Secret!

renae said...

Thank you, miss Chatty for your MOUNTAINS of moral support. I love you!!!!!!!! ♥

Terra said...

I like your history tidbits; that does explain 4 poster beds and their canopies.

Angela said...

That was extremely interesting Sandie! I never gave any of that thought but it does make sense now. I did know about the baths in May but didn't know most of the other things. I love that picture of Disco! He is rotten! lol

Hugs,
Angela

Lynn said...

I'm with everyone on the denim underpants cartoon. :)

Sharon said...

What a treat! English major that I was, and extreme wordsmith that I am, I loved the historical facts behind some of these common phrases! Really, really enjoyed today!

And Disco - oh, what a laugh I got out of that photo! Winter weather has not diminished his sense of humor, nor how very cute he is!!

XO

Betty said...

Lots of cute snowmen, but I came by looking for some of that Georgia snow!

Denise said...

Enjoyed this post, love you.

Lucy said...

I really liked this post. Denim underpants id needed badly around Lincoln.