Use nine: Try softening brushes that are hardened with old, dried-in paint by boiling them in vinegar and let them stand for one hour. Then heat the vinegar and brushes come to a gentle boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Rinse well, working the softened paint out of the bristles. For extremely heavy paint encrustations, you may need to repeat the process...or head to the hardware store.

Use ten: A little vinegar and salt added to the water you wash leafy green vegetables will float out bugs and kill germs.

Use eleven: Soak or simmer stuck-on food in 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of vinegar. The food will soften and lift off in a few minutes.

Use twelve: Clean and freshen the garbage disposal by running a tray of ice cubes, with 1/2 cup of vinegar poured over them, through it once a week.

Use thirteen: In a pinch, you can use equal parts of lemon juice and vinegar to clean brass and copper. On difficult areas add a little salt to the mix for some abrasive action.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

104. Naughty Claudius

Valentine's Day peaked my interest as to it's origin.  We all know it is about love, but why, where did it all start?  There are, I'm sure some conflicts, however, no one disputes Saint Valentine's involvement.  He was a priest in Rome during the third century.  Claudius was emperor at the time and it seems he was more than upset that men didn't seem interested in joining the army.  It turns out the men were more than happy to hang around home and hearth and...you know.  Claudius, who we know didn't have to leave home and hearth and...you know, decided to ban marriages.   Crazy, right?

Well it turns out that Priest Valentine had a passion for marrying couples.  He kept on performing marriages...secretly, of course.  It turned out to be quite exciting.  You can imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and Priest Valentine performing the whispered ceremony, listening all the while for foot steps of soldiers.  Finally one fateful night the unthinkable happened and Valentine was caught mid-ceremony.  He was arrested and his                                                      sentence was death.

People came to visit and others threw flowers and notes up to Valentine's prison window, siding with him and his views on love and marriage.  One of the visitors was a jailer's blind daughter.  They became friends and spent many hours talking, she keeping his spirits elevated in his time of despair.

On the day he was to die Priest Valentine left his friend a note of thanks for her steadfast friendship and loyalty.  He signed the note "Love from your Valentine."  The note was written the day he died, February 14 269 A.D.  Emperor Claudius may have been successful in putting Priest Valentine to death, but history put egg on his face.  Everyone knows you can't stand in the way of love.  It just can't be beaten.  Priest Valentine was later elevated to Saint Valentine.  Fact or fiction...you be the judge.  As for me, I believe.

Later in the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be.  They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week.  You guessed it!  To wear your heart on you sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

History lesson aside, doesn't this photo just make you grin?  Take a closer look at the baby pig's nose.  It's little nostril is in the shape of a heart!  Oh, if the world could be just as trusting.


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