★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
March 19, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote: I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday” – Henry IV

★~ St. Joseph’s Day:

The Feast of St. Joseph or La Festa di San Giuseppe was credited with preventing a famine in Sicily and as a result, the day is commonly commemorated with a festival and special feast. St. Joseph’s Day, is also known as the day the swallows traditionally return to the Mission San Juan Capistrano in California. Every March 19th since 1776 (with very few exceptions), the birds come back to usher in spring in this Southern California seaside town.

A few St. Joseph Day customs.:

~ St.Joseph Day is traditionally a day to show hospitality. On this day, all who come to the door are invited to dinner.

~ Traditionally red is worn on St. Joseph’s Day. Why is red worn?  Maybe Mary mixed colors when she washed and turned Joseph only robe red; he showed up at the feast and from that time on red was considered the feast color.  Italians wear royal purple.

~ Giving food to the needy.

~ St.Joseph is the patron saint of pastry chefs so feel free to honor him by eating lots of sweets today. St. Joseph’s Day Zeppoles are a real treat!

~  When you visit a St. Joseph’s table, you often receive gifts of fava beans and breads. Fava beans play an integral part of the celebration because this was the food that saved the Sicilians from starvation. The bean is said to bring good luck, and it is believed that if  St. Joseph’s bread is kept in the home, the family will never starve.

~ A popular St. Joseph custom: burying a St. Joseph statues upside-down in order to sell one’s home more quickly.

~ Interesting Muse about holding a  St. Joseph Alter, a Sicilian tradition.

★~ Poultry Day:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/OeJ06sg5MHI[/youtube]

What better way to celebrate Poultry Day, than by watching the humble chicken strive for excellence through athletics. I have shared about dog agility on EL Morno, but chicken agility….Who knew? And if you like this video, you might also enjoy listening to the talented Beanie play the piano.

★~ Chocolate Caramel Day:

Celebrate Chocolate Caramel Day by enjoy your favorite candy bar, ice cream flavor, topping or whip up this super easy Caramel-Chocolate Cream Puffs recipes. How easy? You start with frozen cream puffs!

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1831 – The first bank robbery in America was reported. The City Bank of New York City lost $245,000 in the heist.

♥~ 1931 – Nevada legalized gambling.

♥~ 1957 – Elvis Presley plunked down a $1,000 deposit on a 13.8 acre hunk of land with a 23-room manor on it (at 3764 South Bellevue Boulevard) in Memphis, Tennessee. He finalized the purchase March 25th, paying a total of $102,500 to the home’s original owner, Ruth Moore, who had christened the home Graceland after her great-aunt Grace. More than 600,000 people visit Graceland annually, touring the home, filing past Elvis’s grave in the estate’s Meditation Garden and purchasing souvenirs in the shopping complex across the street.

♥~ 1983 – Michael Jackson’s Beat It, featuring lead guitar work by Eddie Van Halen, entered Billboard magazine’s Hot 100. The song, from the Thriller album, eventually hit #1 and was on the charts for 18 weeks.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1848 – Wyatt Earp –  A legendary figure of the Old West, Earp worked as a railroad hand, saloon keeper, gambler, lawman, gunslinger, miner and real estate investor at various times. Best known for the gunfight at the OK Corral Oct 26, 1881, at Tombstone, AZ.

♥~ 1936 – Ursula Andress actress: Dr. No, Casino Royale, Fun in Acapulco, What’s New Pussycat, Clash of the Titans

♥~ 1947 – Glenn Close Tony Award-winning actress: The Real Thing [1984], Death and the Maiden [1992], Sunset Boulevard [1995]; Emmy Award: Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story [1995]; Fatal Attraction, The Big Chill, 101 Dalmations

♥~ 1955 – Bruce Willis actor: TV series “Moonlighting” (1985),Die Hard (1988),Look Who’s Talking (1989), Death Becomes Her (1992),Pulp Fiction (1994)

★~ Did You Know:

The helix staircase at Sisters of Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico has legendary roots. The story goes that the chapel was built without access to the choir loft. There was no room for a normal staircase, so the sisters prayed to St. Joseph for a solution. A mysterious man arrived, looking for work, and built the spiral staircase without a center support pole. He then left without being paid. The nuns believed the stranger to be St. Joseph himself. Later evidence points to the staircase as the work of French woodworker Francois-Jean Rochas. Some say the staircase is a miracle since it has no visible means of support, while others say the support is there, it’s just hidden from view.

When my grandmother was a girl attending the Loretto academy, she  carved  her initials in the second floor railing of the chapel. The chapel has been remolded over time, and the second floor is no longer open (or at least it wasn’t the last time I was there) so we have no idea if her initials still exist, but I loved the story when I was a kid. Still do!

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I’m feeling a little random, so I wanted to share this with you…..Istanbul, Turkey has hooked the record for the world’s largest sweater (Guinness Book of World Records). It is  approximately 151 feet long, 52.5 feet wide and was made with 500 kilograms (1102.31 pounds) of wool yarn. I wonder if it shrinks?

The weather? Don’t ask and I won’t whine.

Hope you have a terrific Tuesday!

Odd Loves Company!

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