Greetings From A Cold Cornwall....

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Hello, thanks for dropping by and I hope you all had a good New Year. Mine went with a bang...literally.. but I will not write about it here. The purpose of this blog is for me to escape life's little drama's..lol..but I did write about it and post some photos on my blog The Primitive Cornish Hovel, our poorly car!!!

Hard to believe we are half-way through January already. Due to a busy few weeks I was late taking my Christmas decorations down and I have now finally sorted out my Christmas cards. I always like to recycle the cards that people send me. Some I keep for gift tags or crafts. Then there are the ones that I keep because they are from people close to me or the cards are too good to cut-up. And yes I do have an album just for these....

A very special card from my three adorable grandees...

An image of times past. Posting letters to Santa Claus...

Santa writting his Naughty and Nice list...

A charming snowy village scene

Santa Claus delivering presents on Christmas Eve....this was part of a box of cards I had and kept one back for myself. It has glitter on it and gives the illusion of crisp, sparkling snow...

A Christmas scene imagined by us all...A cottage covered in snow, it's inhabitants already asleep on Christmas Eve. A snowman smiling as he watches Santa go on his way...

Santa leaving a teddy beside a sleeping child....

Glitter adorns this snowy scene as the Christmas Robin surveys the land...

Father Christmas still has presents to deliver but finds time to tie the snowman's scarf

Three Majestic Kings visit the baby Jesus...

A image of trees heavy with snow comes to mind when I look at this card. I can see faint footprints in the snow where the birds have walked before being held by the Angel....

Santa Claus still busy on his travels...

A timeless village scene

This one evokes memories for me as a child. It snowed many a winter in Nottingham where I lived, alas we have had no snow as yet in Cornwall...

A charming rural scene from a time past...

Another card I kept back to keep for myself. This too is covered in glitter and is the shape of the building. I can remember as a child watching The Old Curiosity Shop in B&W...

The 20's flare, my favourite fashion era...

This one is so cute...
A Winter Wonderland...


Until next time, take care...Hugs Chrissy x

Good Luck On Friday 13th...

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Greetings from Cornwall on Friday the 13th, a day in which many people either view as lucky or unlucky. Like many superstitions, we believe in this without really knowing the reasons why...For me it began as a child with my mum and then over the years family and friends passing on various sayings and superstitians in every day life....

One of the widely known superstitions is that it is considered to be bad luck if a black cat crosses your path. Well I must have a lot of 'bad luck' because two of my five cats are black (saying that there as been a lot of bad luck for us over the last three years..ha well).....

Phoenix Boo Boo

Willow Bam Bam Bones (my son named her!!!) She is a beautiful cat but a devil to get a decent photo of her...

So between today being Friday the 13th and my darling kitty-cats I best look-out for myself..lol..

But Why Friday the 13th?

It is not known when this day was deemed as unlucky but there are many theories. One being that it is a modern merging of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and Friday an unlucky day.....

The number thirteen has always been associated with 'luck', hence the saying 'unlucky for some'. But why?....

I have always thought that there was a religious connection concerning Judas and the fact that Jesus and his twelve Disciples were present at The Last Supper, thirteen people (put it down to my Catholic upbringing..lol..). However it is said that the reason thirteen is synonymous in this context is because Judas, the Apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the thirteen member of the party to arrive.......

The Last Supper showing Jesus, at the centre, saying to his disciples ''One of you shall betray me''

~ Leonardo da Vinci, 1495-1498 ~

So Why Friday?

It is thought by some that Friday has been considered an unlucky day since at least the 14th century. Some professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or to start new projects. It is also thought that Friday was the day Jesus was crucified. The author Charles Panati however maitains that superstitians can be traced back to ancient myth.......

Frigga Spinning the Clouds
~ Gueber H.A. (Helene Adeline) 1909 ~

'Friday is named for Frigga, the free-spiried Goddess of love and fertility. When Norse and Germanic tribes converted to Christianity, Frigga was banished in shame to a mountain top and labled a witch. It was believed that every Friday the spiteful Goddess covened a meeting with eleven other witches, plus the Devil - a gathering of thirteen - and plotted ill turns of fate for the coming week. For many centuries in Scandinavia, Friday was known as the 'Witches Sabbath'...
~ Curtsy of wikipedia.org ~


Seal of the Knights Templar

Another 'unlucky' Friday involved the Knights Templar, whose mission was to protect Christian Pilgrims during the Crusades. It was in France on Friday October 13 1307 that King Philip secretly ordered the mass arrest of all the Knights Templar....

So it appears that throughout history Friday was seen as an unlucky day for some people and I can see why it would be attached the number thirteen....

But this Friday the Thirteen is not seen as 'unlucky' by the people of Gwaun Valley in Pembrokeshire, for it is seen as New Year's Day. It is here that they celebrate Hen Galan, the old New Year, based on the ancient Julian Calendar, which was replaced with the Gregorian Calendar in the 18th century. However the people of Gwaun Valley chose to ignore it....


Gwaun Valley

On this day the children will walk the 18 miles around the valley singing traditional songs in Welsh to welcome in the New Year. The children are given sweets and money - 'calennig' - by the local people...May I wish the people of Gwaun Valley a Happy New Year......

Hope you had good luck today but if a black cat happens to cross your path I wish you Good Luck and Health....Until next time, take care...Hugs Chrissy xx