Old Wives' Tales Answers

Ok, believe it or not, here are my answers to yesterday's post.


Sorry Matthew, but there aren't very many that are considered to be true.

Put butter on a burn. FALSE, it helps keep the heat in and increases damage.

One of the best ways to stop a nosebleed is to tip your head back. FALSE , this just makes the blood flow down the throat and into the lungs, hiding the fact that the flow is continuing.

Black coffee sobers you up. FALSE, it does not lower the alcohol content in the body. So what you have is a wide awake drunk.

Drinking coffee will stunt your growth. FALSE

When a newborn smiles, It's only gas. FALSE

Solid foods help a baby sleep through the night. FALSE

A cat will steal a baby's breath. FALSE

Don't pick up a baby every time she cries. It's good for a baby to cry, it exercises the lungs. FALSE!

If you carry a baby high, it's a boy. If you carry a baby low, it's a girl. FALSE

Raising your hands above your head causes the umbilical cord to strangle the baby. FALSE

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. TRUE

Carrots are good for your eyesight. TRUE, they are an excellent source of carotene.

Fish is brain food. TRUE!

Brown eggs are more nutritious than white eggs. FALSE

A little warm milk will help you go to sleep. TRUE, and it doesn't even have to be warm. It has calcium which relaxes muscles and tryptophan, a protein that enables the brain to produce serotonin, which helps switch on the brain's sleep centers.

Chicken soup for a cold. TRUE

Swallowing gum takes 7 years to digest. (Well, actually it will (to put it nicely) plug you up. At least that's what my mom said.) FALSE! of course.

If you swallow a watermelon seed, it will grow inside your belly. (I've always told my kids that.) FALSE

Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. FALSE

If you pluck a gray hair, two will grow back in its place. FALSE, I'm sure lots of people are glad of that.

A ring around the moon means rain.TRUE, those "haloes' are precursors of rain.

Put a steak on a black eye.TRUE! It's cold and conforms to the contours of the face. It keeps swelling down and helps stop the internal bleeding.

Feed a cold, starve a fever. FALSE

Shaving makes your hair grow back thicker. FALSE

Don't touch poison ivy blisters, you'll spread them. FALSE, the plant resin is what spreads it.

Don't go out with wet hair, you're catch cold. FALSE, colds are caused by viruses.

Don't read in dim light, you'll ruin your eyes. FALSE

Watching too much TV is bad for your eyes. FALSE

The little white marks on your fingernails are for each lie you have told. FALSE, but it's a good way to get a child to confess.

Playing in the fire will make you pee the bed. Couldn't find the answer to this, but I'm sure it's FALSE.

Don't cross your eyes, they'll get stuck that way. FALSE

Hope you enjoyed this little lesson on Old Wives' Tales.

Old Wives' Tales

We've all heard the remark "That's not true, that's just an old wives' tale." What's your opinion? Should old wives' tales be thought of as nonsense or is there a grain of truth in them? Sometimes I think there's a fine line between superstitions, old sayings and old wives' tales. 

 For centuries, the memories and wisdom of our mothers and grandmothers kept the family safe and healthy. They didn't have experts to rely on, so they dealt with things as best they could. Here are a few old wives' tales for you to ponder on. Are they fact or fiction? Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you what the experts say. . . if they're True, False or Maybe.  

Put butter on a burn. (I've actually did this before. Why? Because my parents told me to.) 

 One of the best ways to stop a nosebleed is to tip your head back. (My mom used to dab her finger in the blood and draw a cross on our forehead with it. I continued to do this with my kids. My grandpa used to say a Bible verse and it stopped the bleeding.)  

Black coffee sobers you up. Drinking coffee will stunt your growth. (My mom always told me this.)  

When a newborn smiles, It's only gas. 

 Solid foods help a baby sleep through the night.  

A cat will steal a baby's breath.  

Don't pick up a baby every time she cries. It's good for a baby to cry, it exercises the lungs. 

 If you carry a baby high, it's a boy. If you carry a baby low, it's a girl. Raising your hands above your head causes the umbilical cord to strangle the baby.  

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. 

Carrots are good for your eyesight. (I've also heard that carrots will make you have curly hair.)  

Fish is brain food. 

 Brown eggs are more nutritious than white eggs. 

 A little warm milk will help you go to sleep.  

Chicken soup for a cold. 

 Swallowing gum takes 7 years to digest. (Well, actually it will (to put it nicely) plug you up. At least that's what my mom said.)  

If you swallow a watermelon seed, it will grow inside your belly. (I've always told my kids that.)  

Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. (I hope not, my son does it all the time and it drives me crazy) 

If you pluck a gray hair, two will grow back in its place. 

 A ring around the moon means rain. 

Put a steak on a black eye. 

 Feed a cold, starve a fever.  

Shaving makes your hair grow back thicker. 

 Don't touch poison ivy blisters, you'll spread them. 

 Don't go out with wet hair, you're catch cold. Don't read in dim light, you'll ruin your eyes. 

Don't cross your eyes, they'll get stuck that way.

OK, everybody, what's your opinion? Have your parents told you any of these? I bet you can add your favorites to my list, too.

Picking Blackberries

For those of you who are new followers to my blog,
the following pictures will tell you why I call my site
Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

I haven't been blogging a lot lately, because I have either been in the garden or among the blackberry vines.

We have canned 61 quarts of greenbeans, and we're not canning any more!
I think that should be more than enough to last us until next summer.


My blackberries are ripe!

I was in this jungle today for at least 4 hours picking.



I love picking blackberries!


There's a lot of the berries drying up and dying, tho, and that makes me sad.
It's not from the weather, the vines get diseases and that's what happens.




I wish they all looked like this little section.
Aren't they pretty?



They love to hide inside and behind the leaves.
I have to stretch, stoop down, crawl beneath,
tip toe, and duck my head underneath the canopy
in many places.
That's why the day after I usually take advil for all my aches and pains.


There's little spider webs everywhere!
I come out of the patch paranoid, thinking
little spiders and bugs are crawling all
over in my hair.




July and August are sweet
with the taste of berries.


They are a luscious treat
topped with sugar and milk.

Cobblers with their delicious crust
are a delicate summertime dish.

Freeze them for a winter surprise
of fresh baked pies.

I picked 10 quarts today.
I'm sorry, make that 11 quarts, I think the heat got to me today,
and I can't count.

Got Milk?

Traveling WV - Part Three

I'm back from vacation. Sorry it took so long to get the last post up about it.
Even when you're gone for just 3 1/2 days, there's a lot of catching up to do when you get back.

On Wednesday we went down to the bottom of the gorge on the tramway.


The river flows below. . .


. . . in front of the lodge. We've stayed in these rooms before. The only way to get to them is riding the tram. It's a fun place to stay, the only drawback is loading all your luggage and stuff into the tramcar for the trip to the bottom.


We also went on a trail walk on Wednesday and I made a friend with this little box turtle. He was so cute and he let me pet him.


On Thursday, before leaving, we met our friend, Jim Phillips. I took a picture of him with Charley on the porch of the old homestead down at the Nature Center. He's been the Park Naturalist for years and still remembers when my oldest son (who is now 29 yrs. old) went for the river walk with us. My son was only around 3 years old, it was very hot and the trail was long and he stated to everyone, "I'm tired, I got a headache and I need a Tylenol."



We had a great trip and look forward to returning next year. We celebrated our Anniversary on Wednesday at Pipestem. It was 31 years ago that we stayed there on our honeymoon.

As soon as we got home on Thursday, I headed for the garden. . . and picked beans again.
Yesterday and today we canned a total of 28 quarts. I picked squash and cucumbers. My son forgot to go to the garden while we were gone and one of the squash could have been registered as a lethal weapon it grew so big!

Hope you enjoyed traveling WV with me this week. If you ever get the chance I would recommend Pipestem for a vacation destination.

You'll have fun!

Traveling in West Virginia - Part II

This is just a quickie to show you the views we woke up to this morning from our room on the 7th floor.


This is one of the reasons I love the 7th floor rooms.


You are up above the clouds in the morning. Below those clouds is a gorge where the Bluestone River flows through. There is also another lodge down there that is only accessible by tramway.



Later in the day we went past Hinton about 9 miles to Sandstone Falls. You walk out onto the board walk and view the falls. It is beautiful and worth the trip.


More views of the falls.



One more view.


Do any of you know what kind of fungus growth this is? We came upon this on a trail walk today. It sure is weird looking, isn't it.



I will try to catch up on my blog visiting when we get back home on Thursday.

Thanks for all your comments.

Traveling West Virginia...again

We're spending the night and the next few days here. . . at Pipestem State Park in Summers County, WV. We will be coming back home on Thursday.



We walked up to the Look Out Tower, which is the highest elevation in Pipestem State Park.


We climbed up to the top to look at the surrounding view. . .


. . . and the sunset. Isn't it pretty?


But, what's this? What could Charley and I be taking pictures of? Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it's. . .


. . . three baby robins sitting on a large wooden beam in the top of the tower, waiting for their mommy.


Aren't they the cutest things? One is getting impatient to fly away.


I will try to post more pictures of our trip tomorrow.

Picking Veggies

Our garden is producing! Finally!



Yesterday, I picked green beans for the first time.



I now understand why people like to plant pole beans. It is literally a pain in the back bending over and picking bush beans! We like these stringless bush beans, though.



After I picked, snapped and washed them. . .


Charley set up the canner in the garage. . .



and we canned them.


We were able to can 19 quarts, cook a big mess and give a big mess to my son and his wife from this first picking.

That's not bad!

How's your garden growing?

Transistor Radios

Vintage Thingies Thursday

I'm participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday again, hosted by Colorado Lady. Go visit and see others who are posting their vintage thingies.

I am not the only one in the family that likes to collect. My husband also collects a few things.

Raise your hand if you remember transistor radios.

I loved my little transistor radio when I was young. My friends and I would walk down our little country road listening to our radio. I had a little black one when I was a teenager. It's a wonder that such a little thing as that transistor radio could bring such pleasure.

My husband has a little collection of them. . .


all in a row . . .



on a shelf in the living room. They stand at attention, just waiting for you to put the battery in them and tune in to your favorite station.



Here are my favorite ones out of their leather cases. Aren't they pretty?


This is one thing I don't mind him collecting, because I like them to. They bring back lots of good memories.

Fried Apples

Our neighbor has an apple tree loaded with what I call early June apples.
I walked back from her house toting a bag full of the tart apples yesterday afternoon.

I think of Mom every time I fry apples. She loved fried apples. When our apples were coming on, I can still see her sitting at the kitchen table peeling, coring and slicing apples for frying. My kids always came in the kitchen and she would slice off a piece and hand it to them for tasting. It's a wonder we ever had enough to cook, but we did.




Put butter in the skillet, dump the apples in and top with sugar to taste. With these apples it may take quite a bit of sugar. They don't take long to cook up. Taste them while cooking to see if you need to add more sugar or not.


They aren't the best for frying if you like firm fried apples. But I don't care if they turn to mush, they are still good.


Bake some drop biscuits and top with the fried apples. Add a spray or pat of butter if you like.
Mmmmm Mmmmmm. They are slightly tart, but oh so good!



Leftovers, if there are any, are great for breakfast! Spread them on toast or biscuits and enjoy.

Happy 4th of July from Ripley!

BTP or Before the Parade.

My son picked these beautiful red raspberries yesterday at an undisclosed place along a railroad track. . . aren't they the prettiest red berries you ever did see!


I just had to use them to make a patriotic red cobbler for the 4th. . .



Here's the finished product that we will enjoy when we get back from the parade. I used the same recipe as I use when I make my blackberry cobbler. Click here for the recipe. The one I used is the first cobbler recipe on that page.


Ripley is known to have the best small town 4th of July celebration in the country! It dates back to the 1800's and has been featured on NBC's Today show and President Bush chose Ripley as the place to celebrate Independence Day in 2002. They come from every hill and holler in the county to see the parade, ride the rides, hear the free concerts, and just enjoy the day and celebrate our country's birthday. There's also a large flea market nearby and the annual Mountain State Arts and Craft Fair at nearby Cedar Lakes.


This year's Parade Marshall was the Ripley High School girl's softball team. They won the state championship this year.


And don't you just love antique cars. We have lots of them in the parade.



Pretty red tractors. . .




and pretty red firetrucks with kids riding on top.


It wouldn't be the 4th without a Mountaineer shooting his rifle.


My brother in law loves to ride his 1BAD78 in the parade.


I don't know what these things are. Do You?


And I love the horses!


Isn't this a cute one. It got past me before I could get a picture of it.


We came home and enjoyed hot dogs, home made potato salad and my cobbler. We've got watermelon waiting for us in the cooler. And tonight we will go to the Court House and listen to Kathy Mattea sing and then watch the fireworks.

Hope you have a Happy 4th of July.

Thanks for visiting with me for our little celebration here in Ripley, WV.