A more whimsical "tip" today - next Tuesday will find more Revolutionary War soldiers - Sandi TIP# 172: HOW THE SETTLERS PREDICTED THE WEATHER AND KENTUCKY SAYINGS. Evening red and morning gray, send the traveler on his way. Evening gray and morning red, Send the traveler to bed. Pale moon will rain, red moon will blow; white moon with neither, rain nor blow. When smoke descends, good weather ends. How many more freezes before spring? This I learned immediately and it is heartily believed: The last freezes are known as redbud, , dogwood, blackberry, linen britches. I knew the others - it often freezes when those plants/trees are in full bloom … but wasn't familiar with linen britches … until it was explained that this was when the housewife thought it was warm enough to hang same on the line and they froze on the line! Dog days: Five weeks beginning July 26th. Indian summer: Last warm spell after first frost and before winter started. If it rains on the first day of the month, it will rain for 15 more days during the month. If it rains on Monday, it will rain for the next three days. If there are 3 consecutive days of clouds, it will be followed by rain. A clear sunset will be followed by 3 days of fair weather. A hot summer is followed by a cold winter. A fog in the morning will clear before noon. No dew in the morning means it will rain that day. A dew at night means fair weather the next day. Rain before 7 will clear by eleven. A cow with his tail to the west makes weather best. A cow with his tail to the east makes weather the least. If cows are grazing when it starts to rain and they go to shelter, it will be a short shower; if they stay out the rain will continued all day. Flies bite more before the start of a rain. When horses are running or kicking, you can expect a cold snap. When hogs are running about picking up sticks and shucks, you will have a bad winter. If there are more than usual the number of tumblebugs, you will have a hard winter. The first killing frost will come after the first katydid is heard. When the whipperwill first sings, it's time to plant corn. A crescent moon lying on its back - no immediate rain. A crescent moon lying on its side, rain is likely. A pale moon means rain. A red moon means storms. A halo around the moon , rain soon. A halo around the sun - rain none. High clouds mean good weather. Wooly-looking clouds - no rain. If the corn husks are very heavy - a hard winter. If the moss on the north side of the tree was extra heavy - bad weather. If the weeds are unusually high in the summer - deep snows in the winter. Thunder heard in March meant a good corn crop. If lightning is seen on a sunny day, the devil and his wife are having a fuss. If you can see the backside of the leaves of a maple tree, it will rain. EXPRESSIONS: You're wiggling like a hen on a hot rock. The chickens will come home to roost. You're barking up the wrong tree. She's as ugly as homemade soup. That's as easy as falling off a long. He struts around like a banty rooster. He's so bow legged he couldn't head off sheep in a line. It stinks like a tanyard. He's freckled as a turkey egg. He couldn't hit the side of a barn. It's not worth a hill of beans A heavy rain is a gully washer. A tremendous event is a barn burner. I've got the wrong sow by the ear. He's a skinny as a bean pole. Grinnin' like a possum. Black as an ace of spades. Like two peas in a pod. As easy as shooting fish in a barrel. Slow as a seven year's itch. Pink as a spanked baby. Running like a scared rabbit. Mean as a snake. Solid as a rock. Sound as a dollar. Common as an old shoe. Puffed up like a frog. Fell like a ton of bricks. Swears like a trooper. Snug as a bug in a rug. Eyes look like two burned holes in a rug (when one is sick). He's all bark and no bite. He's a gone goslin (no chance for him!) He was snatched bald-headed. Running around in his birthday suit (nude). Blood is thicker than water. Goes in one ear and out the other. I have other fish to fry. © Copyright 14 August 1998, Sandra K. Gorin, All rights reserved, sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Sandi Gorin - A Proud Kentucky Colonel 205 Clements Ave., Glasgow, KY 43141-3409 (502) 651-9114 PUBLISHING: http://members.tripod.com/~GorinS/index.html BARREN CO WEBSITE: http://ww4.choice.net/~jimphp/barrenco/ ARCHIVES for ROOTSWEB: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl PRAYER&PRAISE: http://www.listbot.com/subscribe/prayerandpraise