Ever get a cut that just won’t stop bleeding? Or a nose bleed that goes on and on? Or maybe your dog cut his paw and you can’t figure out how to get the blood to stop! I know . . . yuck. But there are some Appalachian remedies/superstitions that could be just the ticketContinue reading “Appalachian Thursday – Bloodstoppers”
Category Archives: folklore cures
Appalachian Thursday – Dog Days
You’ve almost certainly heard this time of year referred to as the “dog days” of summer. But do you know WHY it’s called that? I always thought it’s because this hot, muggy time of year isn’t hardly fit for a dog. And I had a professor in college who talked about the humidity of lateContinue reading “Appalachian Thursday – Dog Days”
Appalachian Thursday – Legend of the Dogwood
I’ve always loved to bring wildflowers in the house. As kids we’d pick daffodils and forsythia, then wild azalea and lilacs, then daisies and black-eyed Susans. I even got in trouble for breaking off a branch from my mother’s redbud tree! But we never cut dogwood. It’s a holy flower–especially around Easter. I worked theContinue reading “Appalachian Thursday – Legend of the Dogwood”
Appalachian Thursday – Spring Tonics
It’s been a roller coaster leading up to the first few days of spring. We’ve had temperatures in the 70s and then . . . snow. Back and forth, spring has been a terrible tease this year. Of course, it’s not as bad as when folks had to wait for spring to eat anything thatContinue reading “Appalachian Thursday – Spring Tonics”
Love Like a Casserole
It’s day 19 of this ridiculous cold that has apparently morphed into something else. The paperwork from the urgent care clinic says, “Acute upper respiratory infection, unspecified.” I have antibiotics. I think the doctor may have given them to me to appease me, but I don’t care. I’ll take lamp oil in sugar at thisContinue reading “Love Like a Casserole”
Appalachian Thursday–Home Remedies
I’ve been doing battle with an awful, lingering cold. I pretended I was getting better for ten days, then succumbed and spent a day laying around drinking lots of tea and taking cold remedies in hopes of shaking it. Which got me thinking about what folks did in the days before Tylenol Cold and Mucinex.Continue reading “Appalachian Thursday–Home Remedies”
Appalachian Thursday–Ramp Season
Flowers are blooming, afternoons are warm, the sun moves more slowly across the sky . . . It’s the time of year when the old folks start shunning preserved foods for something fresh. Something green. Poke sallat. Fiddleheads. And ramps, which are somehow getting to be downright mainstream. My great-grandmother would be thrilled with theContinue reading “Appalachian Thursday–Ramp Season”
Appalachian Thursday–Stump Water
I have freckles. More than an adorable smattering across my nose. More than a dusting across my cheeks. I have a freckle on my lip, on my eyelids, my ears. And when I was a kid I wanted them GONE. Luckily (or not) there are quite a few folklore remedies for freckles including washing yourContinue reading “Appalachian Thursday–Stump Water”
