Word for the day...

POLLY-FOXING...Sounds naughty, doesn't it?
This word appears on page 102 in Gene Stratton Porter's book, Daughter of the Land, copyright 1918.
It means to do something with hesitancy.
(I probably should have polly-foxed before making this post!)
Happy Hump Day and welcome March tomorrow!

Honest Abe was a smart fella...

Seasonal Crafts from the trusty ol' Farmer's Almanac!

Here's how to make homemade note cards using potatoes; you can also make journal or book covers, checkbook covers, and wrapping paper!

Potato Art

In these days of e-mail, faxes, and texting, communication may be instant, but not necessarily thoughtful. These potato-printed cards are easy and fun, and something that the children can do with you, too.

First, you'll need a few potatoes, white or colored note-card paper, and paint (poster paint, acrylic paint, or water-based inks).

Cut a large, clean potato in half. Put one half in a plastic bag while you work on the other half.
Dry the surface with a paper towel then use a paring knife to cut out a relief design, cutting down about 1/4 inch (try heart shapes for Valentines). Dry off any excess moisture.
Dip the potato in a shallow dish of the paint. Test the design on a piece of paper before printing on your cards.
Try using different designs and colors on the same card.
A potato stamp can be kept for several days wrapped in plastic and refrigerated.

Text borrowed from F.A. I love that website!

THIS IS WHAT CUPID CAN BRING THIS YEAR....

Thank you...thank you very much!

~Retro Nostalgia~

Are you like me...someone who finds comfort in the past...comfort in a slower paced world? This high-tech decade is not my world. I-pods/pads, Droids, smart phones, blackberry's, do not interest me. I yearn for heavy dial faced phones, matches in folded packets, front porches with swings and legs covered in pantyhose. What is this with the bare-legged look anyway?



Two inch thick catalogs from Sears, and Montgomery Wards marked the seasons.
They came late in October for the holidays and July for the autumn school fashions. What a delight they arrived in our mailbox! Spiegel was the catalog we really yearned for though. Those clothes had an edge, were more fashionable and reflected a "big city" influence.



Remember wearing "can-cans" under a dress when young? We wanted all that fullness in those days. It's funny how fashions change, go to the extreme, then slowly return.
Maybe we'll see this style again.

Remember letters with rural route addresses? Mail postage in single digits? A sixteen year old could have a great time on the two bucks earned from babysitting. A cherry coke was a nickle, a pretzel rod was two cents. The adult price for a movie was sixty-five cents. A gallon of gas was thirty-two cents. Fast cars, drag racing, and a beer on a back road was really the worst of it when I was a teen. Drugs missed me totally...thank heavens!


Most girls owned a jewelry box. Most girls had a dressing table in her room of some sort with a large mirror. Mine had a huge circle centered mirror, with drawers on both sides. Makeup, hair rollers (dog food and juice cans because my hair was curly), and a bottle of Evening in Paris, Tabu, or Chantilly made me feel womanly.
Most of us slept on curlers every night. Wore girdles, and hose requiring garters. Would we do that now??? Heck no!

Daughters dried dishes every night, and that's when moms and daughters talked about things. Daughters helped clean the house on Saturday, with her washed hair up in rollers, anticipating a fun Saturday night. Sunday, the entire family went to church.
We stopped at the newstand to pick up the Sunday paper. There was no shopping on a Sunday in those days. Sunday was family time. Period.
I do admit to enjoying a more "relaxed" way of dressing now. Thank God for Land's End! It's handy to shop online when one lives in small town USA. No spanx (today's girdle) for me. I bulge freely here and there, so be it. Unless I spot myself in a window or a mirror somewhere, I don't have to see it!

I do miss how close family used to be. All of our kids, with the exception of Josh, live now in other states. We only see our grandkids once or twice a year. Computers do help in that area too. Skype, online viewing of photos, blogs, and Facebook, keep us connected. Weekly Sunday family gatherings were darn nice though; or at least getting together for every holiday. That does not happen anymore, darn it.

1986 Farmer's Almanac suggestions ...

Herewith, from science and folklore, are over 20 surefire techniques for finding, attracting, and wedding the person you will love forever.

Roast hummingbird hearts, grind them into a powder, and sprinkle it on your beloved.
Kiss as many people as possible. Dr. Bubba Nicholson of Tampa, Florida, says that kissing is a way for us to taste semiochemicals on another's skin. Semiochemicals transmit biological signals of compatability and attraction.
Pluck a stalk of yarrow and stick it up your nose. If a drop of blood appears, your love is true.
Australian aborigines prepare a love potion from the testicles of kangaroos.
Think of the one you love while you swallow a four-leaf clover, and your love will be returned.
Upon hearing the first coo of a dove in the spring, take off your left stocking and look in the heel of it. You will find a hair the color of your true love's hair.
Swallow the heart of a wild duck.
On New Year's Eve, walk from one room to another while throwing a shoe over your shoulder, then look in a mirror and your mate's face will be there.
Place a snail in a pan of cornmeal, and the tracks it makes will spell your true love's initials.
Hide the dried tongue of a turtledove in a girl's room; she will love you forever.
In 18th-century France, a man told a woman three times that she was beautiful. The first time she was required to thank him, the second time to believe him, and the third time to reward him.
If you touch your little finger and forefinger behind your two middle fingers, you can have any sweetheart you like.
Swallow a white dove's heart, point downward, while resting your hand on the shoulder of one you love.
Hardboil an egg, cut it in half, discard the yolk, and fill the egg halves with salt. Sit on something you've never sat on before, eat the egg, and walk to bed backwards. You will dream of your future mate.
Walk around the block with your mouth full of water; if you don't swallow it, you will marry within the year.
Pull a hair from the head of a girl you like, and she will love you.
Pick an apple, prick it fll of holes, carry it for a while under your left arm, then give it to your lover.
If you stub your toe, kiss your thumb and you'll see your beau.
Cut your nails on nine Sundays in a row.

I don't think that I'd try any of these things to find someone, would you?

My mom will be 95 on April 4th. Who else is lucky enough to still have their mom?