It is another warm beautiful day here, like Summer although it is only Spring.  We are hoping it will last all Summer!

I was thinking about superstitions and remember by Grandmother (who taught me how to sew, cook, keep house) “Never wash a blanket in May or you will wash someone away”!  At the moment I have two blankets to wash and with all the warm weather it seems a shame not to do them, but you know I just cannot bring myself to do it!  My Grandmother was very superstitious and taught me very well, so the blankets won’t be washed until June 1st!

I also found some other interesting facts about May :

May 29th

This is the day that traditionally people wear oak apples or oak leaves pinned to them to remember that on May 29th King Charles ll returned triumphantly to London after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660.

The reason for the wearing of oak apples or oak leaves was to celebrate the King’s narrow escape from capture by Cromwell’s soldiers by hiding in an oak tree.

Until well into the twentieth century, anyone caught not wearing an oak leaf or oak apple on 29 May could be pinched, kicked, or otherwise abused. Whipping with nettles was a favourite punishment, hence the name ‘Nettle Day‘ in some areas.

Some Notable Dates in May :

21st May – 1946 Bread rationing introduced in the UK.
28th May – 1908 Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond books, was born.

29th May – 1953 Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest.

29th May  – Oak Apple Day.

30th May – 1431 Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.
30th May – Death of King Arthur in 542

And how about this; too late for this year but maybe next!!!!!

First thing in the morning on May 1st, young girls used to rush out into the garden to wash their faces in the May dew.

Why?

There is an old tale that says that May dew has magic properties and that anyone who has washed their face in it will have a beautiful complexion all through the year. This dew was supposed to be able to remove freckles and also spots and pimples.

So on this fine May evening I will be having dinner and then getting on with Treacle’s quilt.  Happy Quilting and hope you all have a lovely weekend wherever you are.

It is another glorious day here in Derbyshire and the temperature has risen to 80° and it is lovely.  Today has been a busy “house” day with the cleaning being done.  It takes me three hours to clean it from top to bottom and I decided to start at 8.00am this morning to try and get it done before it got too warm.  I am glad I did, as it is really warm now!

The washing is all done and hanging on the line.  I love ironing it after it has been drying outside, not always possible with our unpredictable weather.

Treacle has been outside all day, lying in the sun and panting!  Silly Dawg!!!!  Karen at Sew Many Ways was asking about favourite cartoons and I loved Deputy Dawg, but my favourite was The Jetsons.  I have always been mad on Space things, I think it stems from watching the moon landings at 6.00am on July 20th 1969.  Not only were they landing on the moon but the television was on, in the morning, completely unheard of in 1969 (of course now it is on 24/7!).  Our television was black and white and the images not very good, but it was so exciting.

Since then I have loved almost every space programme from Star Trek (the original which I used to watch with my Dad) to Stargate and everything in between.  I also enjoy stargazing too, when I get the chance.  When we visited Orlando the NASA visit was essential and we did the lunch with an astronaut too and it was amazing.  I loved every minute of it.

Anyway on that spacey note I will get working, I have to do the swimming run tonight and when I get back may do the ironing as it will have hopefully cooled off a bit.

 Happy Thursday