January SKI Tips

New Year food traditions from around the world that are thought to bring good luck:
Poland: pickled herring as the first bite of the New Year.
Denmark: boiled cod on New Year’s Eve.
Cuba: 12 grapes at midnight. The 12 grapes signify the last 12 months.
Japan: buckwheat soba noodles which are associated with a long life.
Korea: kimchee (a spicy cabbage dish)

To reduce strain when you’re shoveling, push the snow away from you rather than lifting it. If you must lift, keep the shovel blade close to you, bend your knees, and avoid a twisting or tossing motion.

DO NOT refrigerate cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and pumpkin.

Send for seed and nursery catalogs. Sketch garden plans on paper, including what to grow, spacing, arrangement and number of plants needed. Order early for best selection.

For the purpose of teaching geography, John Spilsbury, a teacher in England, created the first jigsaw puzzle in 1767.

Keep road and sidewalk salt away from plants. The toxic effect that salt has on plants has been known since ancient times when it was used for biological warfare to destroy the growing conditions of an enemy’s fields and plants.

When driving in winter’s harsh weather, keep an emergency kit in the car. Include a blanket or extra clothes, candle with matches, snacks, beverages, flares, a small shovel, flashlight, scraper, tow rope, cat litter or sand for traction and long jumper cables.

Elephants have highly developed brains, which are the largest of all land mammals. Their brain is 3-4 times larger than that of humans, although smaller as a proportion of bodyweight.

Repot houseplants as needed.
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Try these natural remedies when the winter blues strike: a walk, a bite of chocolate, some time in the sun and St. John’s Wort, an herb that seems to ease depression in many people.