Spring has Sprung!

     Allergies, allergies, and more allergies! Did I mention allergies? Everybody is getting outside and loving this weather that we are having, but with this beautiful weather comes the blooms from our trees and shrubs reaping havoc on our sinuses.
     Now is the time to get to cleaning out our closets and changing out our air filters. Planting shrubs and flowers makes your yard look so pretty. Just remember that annuals only last for a season and perrinials come back next year.
     Now is the time for animals and humans alike to start mating and love is in the air. Spring is my favorite time of year! I know this because, I see the birds getting into my carport building nests to have their babies. I hope that everybody has a wonderful spring and get to cleaning.
     Sunday is April Fools Day so, just a reminder keep your jokes clean! Summer will be soon so enjoy this weather while you can! Oh, and don't forget Palm Sunday!

St. Patrick's Day!!!!!

Saturday March 17th 2012

 Fun Facts!!! 

According to St. Patricks Day lore, Patrick used three leaves of a shamrock to explain the christian holy trinity:

The Father

The Son and

The Holy Spirit!

Millions of people will be celebrating St. Patricks Day tomorrow. People will wear green, will eat green eggs-n-ham, cook corned beef and cabbage, and celebrate with pints of green beer!

Someone even dies the river green in Chicago! http://www.greenchicagoriver.com/

• Dublin's St. Patrick's Day parade is little more than 75 years old. This year festival organizers will launch 15,000 pounds (7 metric tons) of fireworks to cap their celebration, which is expected to draw 400,000 spectators.
• Today New York's St. Patrick's Day parade is the longest running civilian parade in the world. This year nearly three million spectators are expected to watch the spectacle and some 150,000 participants plan to march.
 For those of you interrested in the St. Patrick himself. St. Patrick wasn't even Irish. He was born in Britain around A.D. 390 to an aristocratic Christian family with a townhouse, a country villa, and plenty of slaves.
What's more, Patrick professed no interest in Christianity as a young boy, Freeman noted.
At 16, Patrick's world turned: He was kidnapped and sent overseas to tend sheep as a slave in the chilly, mountainous countryside of Ireland for seven years.

 According to folklore, a voice came to Patrick in his dreams, telling him to escape. He found passage on a pirate ship back to Britain, where he was reunited with his family.
The voice then told him to go back to Ireland.
"He gets ordained as a priest from a bishop, and goes back and spends the rest of his life trying to convert the Irish to Christianity," Freeman said.
Patrick's work in Ireland was tough—he was constantly beaten by thugs, harassed by the Irish royalty, and admonished by his British superiors. After he died on March 17, 461, Patrick was largely forgotten.
But slowly, mythology grew around Patrick, and centuries later he was honored as the patron saint of Ireland, Freeman noted.

The March 17th tradition of wearing green is explained in differing ways. It's said that blue was originally the color associated with the holiday but over time green took over in popularity due to Ireland's nickname as "The Emerald Isle", the green in the Irish flag and the clover that St. Patrick used in his teachings about Catholicism.
In Ireland, some still follow the tradition where Catholics wear green and Protestants wear orange. These colors are associated with the religious sects and are the represented on the Irish flag; the white on the flag is symbolic of the peace between the two.
On the holiday, people in Ireland do not wear as much green or celebrate quite as wildly as revelers do elsewhere, although there is a legend that wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns that will pinch you if they can see you.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everybody!!! Be safe this year if you are sipping the green beer!!!!! Do not drink and drive!!!! I will leave you with a little St.Patty's Day Video!!!

Breakfast in Oconee County

• Seneca Family Restaurant
  515 ByPass 123
  Seneca, SC 29678
  (864)886-9599
  My favorite thing to eat for breakfast at this restaurant is the western omelet with hash browns, white toast and coffee. This restaurant has very friendly people and is a very clean restaurant to eat at. Starting next month they will start having car shows!
  
   
• Betty's Hungary House
  400 South Fairplay St.
  Seneca, SC 29678
  (864)882-7665
  Betty's has been around a very long time in Seneca and is a favorite place to eat. Betty's is famous for their humongous cat head biscuits and very friendly wait staff! Can you say "Old School"! My favorite breakfast here is a sausage-egg-and-cheese biscuit with lots of mustard on it….very delish! Cookin' old style
  
   
• The Plentiful Platter
  103 Friendship Road
  Seneca, SC 29678
  (864)888-8532
  This restaurant was bought not too, long ago from northerners….they know how to do a breakfast up right. I get the steak biscuit or sandwich here. Wait staff is young and sassy!
  
   
• Martha's Marketplace Café
  101 W. Main Street
  Walhalla, SC 29691
  (864)638-0770
  I have to say that I go here at least once or twice a week. These ladies are lovely and I love the antiques that she displays and has on sale along with homemade jams. My favorite breakfast here is the 2 eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns/grits and coffee. They have the best tasting coffee in town and the ladies are just wonderful. Great atmosphere!

Leap Year 2012

Fun Facts About Leap Year!

1. Leap year occurs every 4 years!
2. Leap year has 366 days in a year as opposed to the normal 365 days!
3. Julius Ceaser is said to be the "father of leap year".
4. Disneyland stays open 24 hours for this day!
5. Greek supersistion does not allow marriage on leap day or the leap year.
6. In Ireland women can propose to men on Leap Year!
7. About 4 million people have this birthday!
8. 1 in 1, 461 people are born on this day!
9. They have a website to Anthony, Texas...self proclaimed Leap Year Capital of the World....www.leapyearcapital.com
10. They have a leap year movie out!

If you go to http://www.apples4theteacher.com/ they have printable word searches on this site.

Hope you found this information fun!

Works cited: NOT in MLA format....google.com,

www.winnipegfreepress.com, and YouTube.com