New Year’s Day:)Tradition

“Sometimes we follow traditions and don’t know why. That’s what Google is for.”

~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis

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Is it just me, or you you all discumbubulated with Christmas and New Year falling on a Friday ? I thought yesterday was Friday, only to wake up today and it was Friday. I had to go back and edit my post from yesterday. 

So , yesterday I made a big batch of black eyed peas per southern tradition. I already knew the suggested reason for the New Year custom, but I found many people did not. Here’s what I learned. 

The practice of eating black-eyed peas for luck is generally believed to date back to the Civil War. At first planted as food for livestock, and later a food staple for slaves in the South, the fields of black-eyed peas were ignored as Sherman’s troops destroyed or stole other crops, thereby giving the humble, but nourishing, black-eyed pea an important role as a major food source for surviving Confederates.
  
I make mine a little different with roasted corn, black beans, salsa, and jalepeños. Then , serve with taco chips. Must be my Mexican heritage of a little further south. But , it’s yummy. 

I have  some with neighbors and friends to share  the wealth , so to speak, and to carry on the tradition. 

Montage Monday

“I find it inspiring to actively choose which traditions to celebrate and also come up with new ideas for traditions of my own.”
― Sara Sheridan
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It’s been a busy week, even busier than my usual whirlwind weeks. Tis the season, the season that I start painting my Christmas ornaments. Then, this past weekend was Home for the Holidays on the Square. So, painting, partying, festivities, and more painting. I truly love the holidays. I keep busier than a horse fly at a rodeo. Busy is good!

Here’s a week in a peek.

My old traditions of creating hand-painted ornaments, decorating and massive baking will never change. Now, to create some new traditions in my new home, in my new life. Any suggestions?

This year’s creation.

Wednesday:Words of Wisdom and Bravery

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it. –Thucydides
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I spent all morning and early afternoon sorting through more boxes, unpacking and trying to get a little bit more organized. Well, hours later, the bedroom, bathroom, and closets looked messier than before. It’s funny how ten stacked up boxes look messy, but the contents of ten unpacked, strewn about looks like a tornado set down and swirled around all day.

By 4 or 5 o’clock, I’d had enough of that. Time for baking a few brownies and mini cupcakes for Art Club, but most importantly, a bunch to take to a few fire stations tomorrow. I made over 150 mini cupcakes with a little cherry in the middle, and one batch of brownies. I’ll make the frosting later tonight and frost them in the morning so they are fresh. I hate dry frosting…don’t you?

I started baking treats for my local fire stations probably a dozen years ago. I always bake at Christmas, and I love to make those bunny peep cupcakes at Easter for the guys, but sometimes I just feel like baking and sharing for no particular reason. They are always happy to see me, but I’m always thrilled to say thank you and see their sweet smiles.

I’ll have pictures tomorrow. It’s a special day to remember. If you have time, say thank you to a fireman, police officer or soldier tomorrow. They would do anything for us, we can at least say,”Thank you!”

A few smiling faces from the past. Now, you can see why I do this.

These guys are awesome.

And sometimes they’re funny,

Wednesday Words of Wisdom: Burying the Body Again,

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.

~William E. Hickson
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Today, I exhumed the body. It took several attempts, but I finally found him. I had buried St. Joseph in the front yard on April 22, head up, and the more research I did, the more I found that it would have been better in the backyard and upside down. I know it’s only been a week, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

So, if at first you don’t succeed…
I knew exactly where I buried the body, or at least I thought so. I must have dug a hole to China before I finally clinked the white plastic head of St. Joseph. “Sorry!” Funny how it seems sacrilegious to bury a plastic statue and even more so to dig it up again. NOW, let’s see if the re-burial works. I know it will. I have faith.

Tuesday Tip: Bury Him In The Yard

Saint Joseph was a just man, a tireless worker, the upright guardian of those entrusted to his care. May he always guard, protect and enlighten familes. – Pope John Paul II
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OK, it’s done. I took the St. Joseph to St. Michael’s Church on Sunday. I said the prayer, and buried him in the front yard yesterday. Now, I just have to wait for the perfect buyer for my house.

The tradition of burying a statue of St. Joseph in the yard of a home that you’re trying to sell goes back thousands of years. It is believed that because St. Joseph is the patron saint of home and family if you pray to him for help when you’re selling your home and you bury a statue of him on the property he will help you by sending buyers to the home so that you will get a quick offer on the home. Time and time again people that are trying to sell their homes have turned to St. Joseph for help and thousands of people that have successfully sold homes are convinced that St. Joseph answered their prayers and helped sell the home.

The mind is a very powerful thing. Faith, tradition, or prayer, whatever you want to call that invisible force that makes the world go around, whatever it is, if you believe, you can make it happen.

Come on, St. Joe!!!

Sittin’ Around: Sentimental Saturday

I’m not a huge football fan, but I occasionally watch college football. But, when I know that my son and his friends are at his Alma Mater, the one and only University of Notre Dame, then I watch for sure. I know I won’t see him in the crowd of over 80,000 spectators, but I still scan the seats, hoping for glimpse. We spent many a weekend at Notre Dame. The tradition, sense of camaraderie, and religious mystique fill the stadium and spills over into to the entire campus.

Watching these football games is a sentimental journey, often bittersweet. Good times and happy days gone by, never to be recaptured. I guess that what memories, old photos, and waxing nostalgic is all about.

GO IRISH!!!!!!!

Tuesday: Tips and Time-Honored Traditions

Traditions may be passed down from generation to generation, or they might be created in the blink of an eye. I had the good fortune of being raised by a creative, artistic mother who loved to make handmade gifts, homemade note cards and knew her way around a sewing machine. Not all these attributes were passed down. I couldn’t thread a needle or sew on a button if my life depended on it, but I do love to create, design, and paint handmade gifts. That is our family tradition.

A few days ago, I shared photos of some wine flutes that I painted for a gift, but you didn’t get to see what I planned on doing with them. Well, I wasn’t too sure how I was going to present them either. I wanted to give the dozen flutes and a bottle of champagne as a wedding shower gift, but didn’t want to put the glasses back in the tacky box they came in. How could I make the gift special? After spending a couple hours going through my personal warehouse of craft and art supplies, I came up with the perfect solution. What do you think?

The tip I have for you today is…honor your family traditions, and if you don’t have any, then create your own.