Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Where did Piss Poor come from?


My Mom sent this to me via an email and I found it interesting so thought I'd share it with all of you...


Interesting History


They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families
used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken and
Sold to the tannery . . . if you had to do this to survive
You were "Piss Poor"

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't
even afford to buy a pot . . . they "didn't have a pot to
piss in" & were the lowest of the low.

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 1500's:

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.

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 n! ice 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 entrance-way.
Hence: 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 the 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 wo! uld 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!!!

So . . . get out there and educate someone! ~~~ Share these
facts with a friend.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

I went out today and purposely bought a belt. My body's shape has changed and it's a wonderful joyful feeling to actually be able to put on a store bought belt. Clothes continue to fall off of me. I am hopeful that in a years time I will be where I want to be.


Art is going well. I am enjoying the peace I find while being creative. I sometimes ok I often get anxious about the end results but when I can just sit back and just do I feel very very relaxed. Today I worked some more on my ceramics finishing up the small pieces and did the first 2 coats on 1 of the larger pieces. Those are all waiting to be fired. Hopefully with in the next few days. Don't know what i'll be doing there tomorrow or friday but I'm sure I'll come up with something... Oh I do need to do a second coat of varnish on my postcards box.

I must remember to send off letter/card to J. from art tomorrow!









Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The struggle of weight loss...

I've been feeling kinda yucky ok more yucky than usual these last few days. Other than the roasting of veggies I've not made many real strides in the cooking world. Been just moving along at neutral speeds and trying to get through these days. I did have lunch with a friend yesterday who hadn't seen me since before I started the diet and she did say she saw a difference. I"m of course afraid that everyone is just being nice and just saying it but there is this quiet voice inside who keeps replying that I have indeed lost weight... I mean my clothes are falling off and I"m sticking to the diet like white on rice. So I know there is a difference. I'm just scared that I will return to what I was which was very unhealthy and I do not want to go back to that. But what if I am not strong enough to keep myself healthy? What if I forget how hard this was and what a struggle this is? It's happened before. I had knee surgery and they told me I had to continue to loose weight and I didn't. It isn't like I didn't try because I did try but it still kept piling on and I kept taking the meds the doctors gave me which made me just that much more sicker and that much more heavy. So many have times I've kicked myself but I really didn't know the way to save myself. This struggle is the most important struggle of my life. I must fight because I know I'm worth it and this diet has turned things around for me. I am very thankful for it!

Friday, June 17, 2011

I feel sadness from the haunting pictures of those beautiful animals that are at the shelter. I want to save them all but there is nothing I can do. Nothing I can do to help them. We walked the isles earlier in the week to check out an american eskimo female dog unfortunately she was not going to fit into our home pack well so I was unable to save her. We walked and spoke to all of the dogs. I cried. My heart breaks for these dogs and cats. I've had to stop having the rescue pages come up on my fb as If I see their pictures too much it spins me into such deep sadness. Even as I type this I"m fighting tears that are wanting to fall because the thought of such sweet animals being put down. I wish I could do more.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Tonight I feel the need to be somewhere cool quiet and there is this part of me that feels the need to be some where I can hear the wind make the leaves sing and the water chuckle as it flows over the rocks. If Kendra didn't have to work over the next few days I think I would ask her to take me  up to Oak Creek Canyon. I crave it like a rain starved desert.

Or the warm salty waters of the gulf.

My first post on my new blog...

For years I've been blogging on Live Journal but I've been wanting to move on to a different place. Somewhere new and more representative to where my life is now vs. where I used to be. Life is ever changing. I've struggled my whole life with that one concept. Change has always scared me and fear has often ruled my life. Yet I know that change is a part of the life cycle. I've come to appreciate its quiet majesty in the ways of nature. This love of natures beauty has often helped me by offering the peace and quiet of wind blowing through the trees. I can't tell you how many times I sat enjoying watching my mountain in Flagstaff. Yet life has moved on and here I am living in the desert in Tempe Arizona and it is so very different. The beauty here is so different. I found it yesterday in the gray streaked morning skies as rain danced down upon the dry dusty ground and I find it in the  desert flowers that are drying up now that summer has come. My favorites are the desert daisies and the California poppies. I just love their friendly faces. They make me feel just full of happiness and joy. I think these are the things I strive to have around me... things that bring me joy, peace, calmness.