Monday, March 21, 2011

It's raining cats and dogs

This morning I woke to a spring rainstorm.  It wasn't the pleasant pitter- patter of raindrops on my window that woke me, it was the gurgling sound of the sump pump in the basement.  Then I noticed the power was off.  This could be bad.  I checked the pond behind the house and it was full, so could be overflowing...which would be downhill to our basement.  I cautiously crept downstairs expecting to see a flooded basement since Left Brain is in Florida right now and these things tend to happen when he is gone, but all was fine.  I flipped the switch to reset the circuit breaker to restore power and went back upstairs.


"I'm meowing in the rain....I'm meowing in the rain..."
The rain did remind me of the expression "it's raining cats and dogs" and I would like to share the origins of that expression.  I love learning about where expressions and customs come from and I hope you do too, cause you're going to learn one here.
In the 1500's houses had thatched roofs, thick with piled straw and no wood underneath.  It was the only place for the animals to get warm, so the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs, etc) lived in the roof when the weather was cool.  When it rained the roof would become slippery and they would slide off the roof.  Sometimes, due to the weight of the larger animals (cats and dogs) and weakening of the thatch due to the rain the straw would give way and they would fall indoors....giving the appearance of it raining cats and dogs.


Since it's a wet soggy day, I spent the day completing the line of stick puppets I want to have done for my first art show April 30th at The Cleary Center in La Crosse.  I never intended to make puppets, but I had a surplus of heads rolling around the studio, so I put them on sticks and they will be puppets.  


Well, Left Brain is home now so I'm off to the kitchen to do the Suzie Homemaker thing. 


Long Live Queen of the Kitchen 

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for that bit of information. I did not know where the saying started or how. But it does make sense. She Devil looks simply stunning with her little red umbrella. Tootsie doesn't have an umbrella, but she does have a yellow rain slicker and pink suede boots. She hates her boots!! Thanks for the eagle cam too. I've never see an eagle nesting up close. Just Fascinating!!! You have a great day now, hugs, Edna B.

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