Valentine's Day 2020

_Elsa_

Welcome to Valentine's Day 2020. If you have just joined us recently then you are not aware that this is the second time that I am doing this. The first holiday with this theme was created in December 2019 For Christmas and New Year's. Now we are getting ready for Valentine's Day, it's time to create this idea again.

You might have heard that I love to create stories for the characters in King's games. I just posted "Love is in the air!" so if you have a moment or two you might want to read it. If you want to read more stories then I suggest that you visit "Once upon a time ..... Index"

_Elsa_

What is Valentine's Day and how did it start?

The day gets its name from a famous saint, but there are several stories of who he was. The popular belief about St Valentine is that he was a priest from Rome in the third century AD. This is the oldest known Valentine's Day message in English. It was written in 1477 Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret. When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown in jail and sentenced to death. There, he fell in love with the jailer's daughter and when he was taken to be killed on 14 February he sent her a love letter signed "from your Valentine".

 How did Valentine's Day start?

The first Valentine's Day was in the year 496! Having a particular Valentine's Day is a very old tradition, thought to have originated from a Roman festival. The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February - officially the start of their springtime. These penguins in California have been known to get into the spirit of Valentine's Day. It's thought that as part of the celebrations, boys drew names of girls from a box. They'd be boyfriend and girlfriend during the festival and sometimes they'd get married. Later on, the church wanted to turn this festival into a Christian celebration and decided to use it to remember St Valentine too. Gradually, St Valentine's name started to be used by people to express their feelings to those they loved.

 This information came from here.

_Elsa_

Q: What do squirrels give for Valentine's Day?

A: Forget-me-nuts.

Q: What did the valentine card say to the stamp?

A: Stick with me and we'll go places!

Q: What did the stamp say to the envelope?

A: I'm stuck on you.

Q: What did the light bulb say to the switch?

A: You turn me on.

Q: What did one snake say to the other snake?

A: Give me a little hug and a hiss, honey.

Q: Why did the banana go out with the prune?

A: Because it couldn't get a date.

Q: What is a ram's favorite song on February 14th?

A: I only have eyes for ewe, dear

Q: What is a vampire's sweetheart called?

A: His ghoul-friend.

Let’s go guys! 

Head on over to Google to find more riddles to add here!

Feel free to add Valentine’s Day jokes too!

_Elsa_

I asked my friend if he'd bought his wife a gift for Valentine's Day.

He's a bit of a chauvinist pig so he surprised me when he replied, "Yeah, I've got her a belt and a bag."

I said, "That's very thoughtful of you. I hope she appreciates it."

He said, "So do I. And hopefully the vacuum cleaner will work much better now."

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Yesterday morning, my wife woke up with a start. When I asked her what the matter was, she said,

"I just had a dream you gave me a diamond ring and diamond earrings for Valentine's day. What do you think it means?"

I winked and said, "You'll know tonight."

In the evening, I came home with a small package and gave it to my wife.

She was delighted and opened it excitedly.

In it was a book called "The meaning of dreams".

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My wife just called me lazy and said I'd better have something planned for Valentine's Day.

I said, "Yes, I was thinking of taking the Christmas decorations down."

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For the last twenty years, I've received a Valentine's Day card from the same secret admirer.

So I was upset when I didn't get one this year.

First my gran dies, now this?

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This year I've got my wife a Valentine's Day present that will really take her breath away.

A treadmill.

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I got my wife a new iron for Valentine's Day.

She was so overcome with emotion that she ran out of the house crying.

I think she must be still out telling her friends how wonderful I am, because she's not come back yet.

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I can't wait for Valentine's Day because I get to make cupcakes for a special someone and that special someone is me.

 _____________________________________________

I think Cupid must need glasses - the last time I dated a girl, he missed my heart but hit my wallet.

You can view more here. 

_Elsa_

• Valentine's Day is the second most popular day of the year for sending cards. Christmas is the first most popular..

• Worldwide, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day each year.

• About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year.

• Cupid is said to be the symbol of valentines. Cupid is the son of Venus. Venus is the Roman god of love and beauty.

• Red rose is a favorite flower of Venus. For this reason, red rose is also the symbol of Valentine’s Day.

• The heart is associated with Valentine’s Day as it is considered the source of all human emotions.

• Girls of medieval times ate bizarre foods on St. Valentine's Day to make them dream of their future husband.

• In order of popularity, Valentine's Day cards are given to teachers, children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.

• Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentine’s Day candy box in the late 1800s.

• 220,000 is the average number of wedding proposals on Valentine's Day each year.

• In 1537, England's King Henry VII officially declared Feb. 14 the holiday of St. Valentine's Day.

• More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine's Day.

• In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, it is said that they lived in Verona Italy. Every year thousands of Valentine’s Day cards at sent to Verona addressed to Juliet.

• At least 9 million people buy their pets a gift on Valentine`s Day.

• The oldest known Valentine’s Day card is on display at the British Museum in London. It’s dates back to the 1400’s.

• By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes.

• Pope Gelasius declared February 14, St. Valentine’s Day around 498 A.D.

All this trivia came from here.

_Elsa_

The origins of the poem may be traced at least as far back as to the following lines written in 1590 by Sir Edmund Spenser from his epic The Faerie Queene (Book Three, Canto 6, Stanza 6).

It was upon a Sommers shynie day,

When Titan faire his beames did display,

In a fresh fountaine, farre from all mens vew,

She bath'd her brest, the boyling heat t'allay;

She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew,

And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew.

A nursery rhyme significantly closer to the modern cliché Valentine's Day poem can be found in Gammer Gurton's Garland, a 1784 collection of English nursery rhymes:

The rose is red, the violet's blue,

The honey's sweet, and so are you.

Thou are my love and I am thine;

I drew thee to my Valentine:

The lot was cast and then I drew,

And Fortune said it shou'd be you.

(This information can be viewed on Wikipedia)

 Bobby Vinton sang a song on this poem here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuyuFJeNoxI

_Elsa_

Today’s theme continues from yesterday’s theme about the poem “Roses are red, Violets are blue….”. But now let’s turn our attention to the goofy interpretations of the poem. Below are a few that I found on Google. Please feel free to find more and add them here. 

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Roses are red,

Violets are blue.

Some poems rhyme,

This one doesn’t.

 _____________________

Roses are red,

But violets aren’t blue,

They’re purple, you dope,

Now go get a clue.

 _____________________

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Sugar is sweet,

And so are you.

The roses have wilted,

The violets are dead,

The sugar bowl is empty,

And so is your head.

 _____________________

Roses are red,

Facebook is blue.

No mutual friends,

Who in the world are you?

_____________________

_Elsa_