*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.*_* Hence 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 entranceway.
 *_*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. 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 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. Share these facts with a friend* *...*

 

---

Help yourself to FREE treats served up daily at the Messenger Café. Stop by today!

>   >
>   >The family wheeled Grandma out on the lawn, in her wheel chair, where
>   >the activities for her 100th birthday were taking place.
>   >
>   >Grandma couldn't speak very well, but she could write notes
>   >when she needed to communicate.
>   >
>   >After a short time out on the lawn, Grandma started leaning
>   >off to the right, so some family members grabbed her, straightened her
>   >up, and stuffed pillows on her right.
>   >
>   >A short time later, she started leaning off t o her left, so
>   >again the family grabbed her and stuffed pillows on her left.
>   >
>   >Soon she started leaning forward, so the family members again
>   >grabbed her, then tied a pillowcase around her waist to hold her up.
>   >
>   >A grandson, who arrived late, came up to Grandma and said,
>   >"Hi, Grandma, you're looking good! How are they treating you?"
>   >
>   >Grandma took out her little notepad and slowly wrote a note to the
>   grandson. . .
>   >
>   > "They won't let me fart."

Click on the video in the About Me as you read this special blog to my husband.

Take a look behind us, Love.

I want you to see what I see.

Look at everything we've been through

simply so we could find each other and be together.

We're so much stronger and wiser,

so much more patient and open to compromise.

Take a look ahead , Love.

I want you to look forward as I do

to a string of tomorrows-

real-life tomorrows, not the fairy tales we believed in when we were young.

We know that we have much to discover and that we can help each other grow

to be the happiest,

most fulfilled people we can be.

Take a look into the twilight of our years,

still holding hands, still smiling

at the fortune

that led us to one another.

Look at me now, Love.

Can you see in my eyes how deeply I care for you,

how grateful I am to have and hold you,

how tenderly I regard

this beautiful life

I could only create with you.