Why do we say it is raining cats and dogs?

Dear insansapinas,
I was meaning to post something about victimology but I just had trimmed my bangs.  Until  they grow again, I have to bear with my diminished IQ. Toink.


My brother was convincing me to visit the historical places in Virginia. He said we could also go to Pentagon and Quantico, the places which I hear mostly in the TV series I watch. 


But I tire easily. The last place I visited was the Washington Mansion.

When I visited Washington Mansion at Mt. Vernon, Virginia, one thing I noticed is the absence of bathroom in the old mansion or I just did not see them since we just looked from outside the rooms.
There is an outhouse which used to be the depository of human wastes collected inside the house.
The wastes were converted to fertilizer. So the note says in that structure.


Below is the miniature replica of the sitting room in the mansion. Cameras are not allowed inside so the guests can only take pictures of this scaled model of the house.

 For more pictures, please go to Travel Tips and Trips.


After touring the mansion, I remember an  e-mail forwarded by a reader  about bathing and cooking practices of people beforemodern conveniences were introduced to humanity.


READ AND SQUIRM


The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the  water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used  to  be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:


1.  Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath  in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting  to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.  Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
UGH.

 2. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the  house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons  and  men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By  then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Para bang natabunan na ng libag.  Hence  the  saying," Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water." DOUBLE UGH.



 3. Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood  underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats  and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it  became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the  roof.
 Hence the saying , It's raining cats and dogs.
 There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.


 4. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings  could  mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung  over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into  existence.
TRIPLE UGH AND I LIKE CANOPY BEDS.

my bedroom in San Francisco

Feeling ko prinsesa ako na may kulambo. hehehe



 5. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get  slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to  help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh  until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A  piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying a threshhold.


6.  In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that  always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to  the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would  eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold
 overnight  and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had
 been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas  porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.."NOW WE GOT REF AND STORE THE FOOD FOR MANY "GENERATIONS" too.


I remember the first time, I roasted a turkey, the leftover took a three years'  residence in my refrigerator's freezer It was round and hard  and could be recycled as Bowling ball when I "excavated " it. Kailangan ko ng maliit na pala. 


Pinaysaamerika