the average person swallows 7 spiders in their sleep during their lifetime...

...courtesy of Sis!

Irish Superstitions - courtesy of Siobhan

It is not safe to pick up an unbaptized child without making the sign of the cross.

It is unlucky to accept a lock of hair from a lover.

If a chair falls when a person stands up, it is an unlucky omen.

If you possess a four-leaf shamrock you will have good luck in gambling, good luck in racing, and witchcraft will have no power over you. But, you must always carry it on you. You cannot give it away. You cannot show it to anyone.

If chased at night by a ghost or an evil spirit, try to get to a stream of running water. If you can cross it no devil or evil spirit will be able to follow.

Do not turn off a light while people are at supper. If you do there will be one less at the table before the year is out.

If you want a person to win at cards, put a crooked pin in his coat.

If the palm of your hand itches you will be coming into money. If it's your elbow you will be changing beds. If your ear itches and it is red and hot, someone is speaking bad of you. (These Irish superstitions are ones still mentioned at my house.)

If you want to know the name of the person you are to marry, put a snail on a plate sprinkled with flour. Cover the plate and leave it overnight. In the morning the initial of the person will be on the plate, traced by the snail.

Sticking a penknife into the mast of a boat while under sail is considered unlucky.

It's unlucky to have a hare cross your path before sunrise.

To take away lighted sod( turf ) from a house on May days or churning days is unlucky. To do so takes away the blessing of the house.

We Couldn't Say Grace

I was a thumb-suckin', sleep walkin', bookworm, pimple faced, fat, hairy legged kind of kid that was smart with beautiful hair...

WHAT KIND OF KID WERE YOU?

1. I sucked my thumb until I started headstart. I remember being furious when people would walk by and jerk my thumb out of my mouth. It made it that much more determined to suck it. My mom asked me one day when I was going to quit sucking my thumb and I told her when I started school - and I did, although I did suck it in my sleep for years after that.

2. I had nightmares almost every night. My poor mom spent many hours talking me through nightmares. One time I ran past my mom and dad right out the front door. My dad caught me before I got to the road.

3. I read a book a day all through school. When I was little I had my own rocking chair and a magazine rack full of book that my mom let me pick out at the store.

4. When I was really young I was too skinny. For some reason I got tired of weighing 63 lbs. when I was in the 4th. grade and started to eat more so I would gain weight. I've been eating ever since!

5. I started to get acne in the 6th. grade. Nothing I did would make it go away and I tried everything. It went away when I turned 19 and I finally decided I couldn't do anything about it - probably a combination of hormones changing and not worrying about it did the trick.

6. "Your a fat, hairy legs girl". That is what my brother used to call me. It was because of him I started to shave my legs when I was in the 8th. grade.

7. I was smart. Everybody said so.

8. I had pretty hair. People would always say, "you would be so pretty if...," and then they would add but you have pretty hair. I was always jealous of my Cousin Jane and my Aunt Robin. They were the kind of girls that boys would flock around wherever they went and they didn't have to do anything to get the attention either.

The Bank Gets Evil When It's Time For That Final Payment!

I called today to get the payoff on my little, red ranger. The man was very nice and told me it was $125.00 (approx). I told him I would be sending the final payment on the 3rd of next month like I always do.

He told me that I needed to call the collections department if I waited until the third. The problem is that my payment is actually due on the 30th. but I have always made it on the 3rd. which is well within the 10 day grace period. Apparently that is not allowed when it is the final payment.

If I don't pay it by the 30th. there will be all kinds of additional fees tacked on to my final payment. It will take every penny I have but I will make it and then the truck is mine.

I sure am glad that I called them. They were supposed to send me a final notice and they haven't. They were probably trying to catch me up in all those fees.

Eddie offered to loan me the money to make the payment but I hate to pay people back. I think I can make it on my own.

I have witnessed the migration of the starlings

It is an awesome and fearsome sight. Actually I have seen them twice.

The first time was back in the 80's. I was taking a short walk because I was rehabing my foot that had been run over. I lived way out in the country in a place called Frog's Creek, West Virginia. I was a couple of hundred yards from my trailer and all of a sudden I heard a tremendous roar and the the entire mountain became black with millions of birds. If there weren't millions of them I can guarantee you there were hundreds of thousands.

It was fall and there were no leaves on the trees. Every tree was covered from top to bottom as well as the forest floor. I could see nothing but a black, seething mass of birds as far as I could look in any direction. There trilling and whistling was deafening and I was terrified. I knew if they took off that they would be forced to fly into me by the sheer number of birds. I wouldn't be an actual attack, just lack of space, and I was crippled and could barely walk.

I made my way to my neighbors house. They weren't home so I wedged myself between the storm door and the door of the house. It wasn't much protection but it was better than nothing. I had never heard of the migration of the starlings before. I thought it was some freak of nature that Alfred Hitchcock would have been proud to have filmed.

When the birds took off it was like watching the crowd at the superbowl do the wave. The thunder clap was as loud as any thunderstorm and I could physically feel the concussion of air hit me just as if someone had set off an explosion. I watched the birds take off and land in a rolling motion all across the face of the mountains along the whole side of the hollow I was in.

It was one of those times I was truely awestruck and truely afraid by what I was seeing in nature.

Then I saw them again back in 2005. I was living on Sand Plant Road just south of Charleston on Corridor G at this time. There weren't nearly so many of them but once again the mountain in front of my house was covered by thousands of seething, rolling, trilling, screaming birds. I was in my house this time and I knew what I was seeing. I just set back and enjoyed the show.

River Watchin'

I've been river watchin' again. The local rivers are flooding (nothing major) and I enjoy nothing more than trekking out to check out the river levels and see what I can see floating by.

When we were growing up we lived right on the river. Whenever it would flood all of us kids would gather on the river and pull up a chair or a cinderblock or a bicycle and just hang around and stare at the river.

Back then there were always interesting things floating by. The best thing ever was the dog that floated by on his doghouse. There was nothing anybody could do for him because he was chained to his house. It was just a matter of time before he drowned, I'm sure. Of course there was plenty of trash and pieces of houses and what seemed to be more washing machines than people should even own. It was always interesting to see what we could see.

Now there isn't that much floating by. Which is a good thing. That means the local efforts to clean up the riverbanks once a year are doing the job. The riverbanks used to look like trash dumps for months after a flood. Now they are just muddy.

It is still nice to watch the river though. I was amazed last night that the river was up higher than the benches that I usually sit on. I went back early this morning thinking the water would be even higher but I was surprised to see the water had receeded a good 4 or 5 feet over night.

Right now it is raining steadily. I will go back this evening and check things out and see what I can see.

good deed alert

Thanks to Dorothy Jean Boley for her donation of clothes to people in my building. Some of them were so nice that if they would have fit me I would have taken some for myself. There are several people who are going to have some very nice Easter outfits from those clothes.

Thanks again to my aunt and uncle, Patty and Gerald, they cleaned out their freezer (once again) and I have distributed food to those who need it all over the building.

A special thanks to Patty for those delicious filipino egg rolls. They were the best egg rolls I ever had!

The Great Bubblegum Machine Fiasco!

This was a classic moment in Fruth History!

I was working the front register. I looked up to see a woman shaking the gumball machine. I knew as soon as I saw her that it would tip over because it was top heavy but before I could warn her it started to fall on her in slow motion!

She was fighting valiently to keep it from falling. Standing right in front of her were Anita and Judy but they were facing me - not facing her and they didn't have a clue what was happening right behind them!

I tried to yell at them to help her but nothing would come out. I was gesturing and pointing and stammering and they were looking at me like I was crazy. I didn't have time to even move to help her myself.

Finally I managed to yell, "HELP HER" and they turned around. By this time the woman was flat on the ground with the bubblegum machine on top of her. Thankfully it didn't break and she had gone down so slowly that she wasn't hurt either. Anita and Judy rushed to pick up the gumball machine and the woman laughed as she stood up unhurt.

She said she would never shake another gumball machine again!

Oh those were the best peppers and the best of times!

These peppers taste just like some peppers that Bobby's mom used to can years ago. I have been looking for peppers that taste like those wonderful peppers for 20 years. I have found them.

When we were first married Bobby and I practically lived at the park. If we weren't working you could find us there every day, rain or shine and sometimes a little snow, cooking out on the grill and having a good time with or without friends.

Bobby's mom canned these delicious hotpeppers that we used to love to put on our hamburgers or grilled chicken sandwiches. I tried to put them in a few recipes but I was just learning to cook on my own back them. I remember I put a tablespoon in some spaghetti sauce one time. It made my sauce so hot I had to double the recipe and the sauce was still almost too hot to eat.

She stopped canning the peppers when Bobby's dad died. She gave me the recipe but I never learned to can and I have long since lost it. Now I have found these peppers and I am in love with them again. They make me want to go out to the park and have a big cookout and hit the trails all over again.

I still miss those good times but I don't have to miss the peppers anymore.

You can get them at this website if you want to try them. www.stellofoods.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=34

My favorite "Kathy" joke

My friend, Kathy, is very short. I like to tell her short jokes. She is also very good with children. Here is my new favorite Kathy joke

"Why do kids like Kathy so much?"

"Because she is the same size they are!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I finally saw the Woodpecker the other day

I have been hearing the little bugger for about a year now but I never did see him.

Now if I could just figure out where that owl is whooing peacefully from?

That Monkey Hated Me!

When I was growing up the neighbors up the hill from my Granny Brennan's house had a monkey. We would walk to their house and visit the monkey almost every time we visited. All the kids would be there (assorted aunts and uncles, their friends and Billy and Rhonda and I). Everybody would have a ball with the monkey except for me.

When the other kids would be oohing and ahhing and pawing the cage and the monkey would be reaching for them I would stand in the background. The monkey would gently check everyone for bugs (this is something monkeys just do - nobody had bugs) and it would reach through the cage and pet everyone who petted them except for me.

The second I would step toward the cage the monkey would have a screaming fit. It would jump and go crazy in the cage and God forbid that I be in reach of it because it would grab my hair and try to pull it out! It hated me. I never did anything to it. It just hated me on sight.

One day my dad was using the Hatfield's driveway to turn the car in when Mr. Hatfield came out to the car carrying the monkey to show my parents. The 3 of us kids were in the backseat and I was in my usual seat in the middle. The monkey was fine until it saw me. Then it dove through the window and bit me on the chin before they could get it off of me. It didn't draw blood but it was definitely a scarey thing to happen to a kid.

A couple of years ago my Uncle Jimmy mentioned that the monkey hated him too. The one thing Jimmy and I had in common was our blonde hair. Everybody else had dark hair. Maybe that monkey just didn't like blondes.