Gemini – The Twins

Gemini - The Twins

Zeus became infatuated with beautiful Leda, who loved her husband truly. So Zeus changed himself into a swan and visited her. Leda, who suspected nothing, made love with her husband that sme nightand thus she came to bear male twins who had different fathers. Pollux was the son of Zeus and therefore immortal, whereas his brother, Castor, was an ordinary mortal. The brothers loved each other dearly and performed many heroic deeds together. Eventually, Castor died, and Pollux asked Zeus to make him mortal, too. Zeus refused to grant his wish and Pollux decided to follow his brother to the underworld. Deeply impressed by such brotherly love, Zeus decided to send them both into the heavens.

Modern astronomers view them very differently. Pollux is 35 light years away from us while Castor is 50. Pollux is a single star while Castor is made up by 6 different stars that form one of the most unusual multiple start systems in the sky.

Irish blessings

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

May those who love us love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if he doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you
May the luck of the Irish enfold you
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

Irish oaths and curses

Six eggs to him and half of dozen of them rotten.
Sweet bad luck to her!
Good luck to him then but may neither of them ever happen.
May she melt off the earth like snow off the ditch!
May he melt like butter before a summer sun!
May the devil swallow him sideways!
May she be afflicted with the itch and have no nails to scratch with!
Here's good health to your enemies' enemies!"
May the grass grow before your door!

Another Irish folk cure - How to go invisible

Get a raven's heart. Using a knoif with a black handle, make three cuts in it and place a black bean in each cut. Then plant it, and when the beans sprout put one in your mouth and say, "I desire to be invisible," and so it will be as long as the bean is kept in the mouth.

Ancent Irish folk cures

For chills and fever: Roll up a small live spider in a cobweb, put it into a lump of butter, and eat.
Another cure for fever: Lie down on the sandy shore as the tide is coming in. The retreating waves will carry away the fever.
For a fever that lasts nine days: Write the name of Jesus nine times on a slip of paper, cut the paper into small bits, mix the pieces with some soft food, and swallow it.
For stomachache: Tie a bunch of mint around your wrist.
For simple earache: Take some wool from a black sheep and wear it constantly in the ear.
For deafness: Fold up two eels in a cabbage leaf, place them on the fire until they're soft, press out the juice and drop it ino the ears.
For freckles: Anoint the freckled face with the blood of a bull or a rabbit.
For diseases of the eyes: Pierce the shell of a living snail with a pin, take the fluid that comes out of it and put it in the eyes.

February yard and garden checklist - northeast

Now is the time to:
1. Sharpen your pruners, clippers, loppers, shovels and hoes. Use a file to restore the original bevels.
2. Tidy up your lawn mover. Scrub it off, drain the gas (if you haven't done this earlier), change the oil and sharpen the blades.
3. Are the seeds you started indoors beginning to poke up their heads? Thin out smaller or weaker seedlings right at soil level.

re: forcing forsythia

Now is a great time to force forsythia.
Go outside and cut a few branches off your forsythia bush.
Bring them inside and place in a vase with water and in 3 - 4 days your branches will bloom into sunny yellow flowers!
A little sneak preview of spring indoors!

re: twitter

At first I didn't get Twitter. Now I think I am getting it. There is something comforting about posting what you are doing. It doesn't matter if anyone reads it or not, it is more about being heard. It's almost as good as getting out there but much easier. It counts.