My momma (my great aunt who legally adopted me when she was 55 amd I was 10 weeks!) always told me most of these.. She was right. She was born in 1915 in a lil cabin in western KY. Served in WW2 and had a Masters degree. She never forgot her mountain ways and She taught me so much. I'm so thankful. I'm now 53 and I hope I instilled some of our mountain ways in my own 2 daughters. Thank you for these. Tha k you for taking me back in time..just for a lil while. It was like sitting with mom talking. Thanks for reminding what kind of wonderful stock I come from. God bless. ❤
Love your post. Dont forget from where you come. The elderly today are a wealth of knowledge thats quickly being lost if we dont catch it and pass it on. And that in my opinion is a sin and a crime and will be the death of civilization.
I wish I had paid closer attention to the lore my parents and grandparents passed down. I have so many questions now that I didn't know to ask then. All have passed before me and my memory fades a bit each day.
oh yeah my neighbor older guy would always say the same thing he would point to the leaves say they're flipped upside down it's going to rain and I would say 90% of the time he was right I don't understand why but it works
Yep, when the Dog Fennel blooms, it's 6 weeks to cold weather, my Nanny always said. Signs of nature still work today! God bless, Donnie, I enjoyed this.💖
I have lived in NC my whole life. Growing up my grandma would always say something in regards to the weather. I remember her telling me that her mama, my great grandma, would always say that anytime the sun would set red, that it would be windy the next day. That statement has been true my entire life too. They both could smell rain and smell a snake when it was near. They kept farmers almanacs and the farmers almanac calenders and my parents still get them every year.
My great-grandfather was an oracle as far as weather was concerned. A mackerel sky meant rain within 12 to 24 hours. Squirrels working overtime to get as many acorns as possible - wooly bear caterpillars showing their color - all tried and true. Thank you for telling this story - Farmer's Almanac has had a reputation of forecasting that is spot on. 💖
@verlinda My friends sister reads the farmers almanac n she said her sister said the same thing. She said tht its goina be a very cold winter. 😬😵😱 Can it tell u if were going have alot of snowstorms or not????🤔🤷 (Idk anything abt those) As I've got older...I hate winter....I have osteoarthritis/fibromyalgia/neuropathy/RLS & alot of back problems if thts tells u y I hate winters! 💀💀💀🙄🤦🙈
I have some trouble reading some of the tables. I'm kind of embarrassed about it, because Dad always had one, and I feel like I should be smart enough to know what's going on. 🤣
Last 2 years, we were bombarded w/stink bugs in north carolina and the winter was bitter, not much snow, but, cold. Thanks Donnie. Another great video.
I also live in Central NC and you're right Timothy. They have been bad the last few years and our winters have been pretty mild. However, (they may show up in droves tomorrow) I haven't seen near as many this year at this time like the last few. Curious to see if there is a difference. Also, I will tell you our Acorns have been dropping super heavy and started very early this year, and the pecans as well. We have had plenty of good rain, but the leaves have started to turn and fall early too. Not bc lack of rain. It should be interesting. Stay safe my friend!
I have always loved these predictions and my little grandma (Daddy's mom) who was part Cherokee knew every one of these signs and lived by them. She could smell rain or snow coming. I sure do miss those times and the loving family I had. Have a great fall, Donnie.
My Granny and Pappa used nature to predict the weather AND could smell rain snf Granny used what she called "Snow birds" and was spot on. I'm 70 yrs old and sure miss the old days like this!
@@Angelica-me4fj So true! My grandparents always had a big calendar that had the fazes of the moon that they followed to do many things, i.e. planting and many others.
My body talks to me too. The older I get the worse I can tell. These smart fellars thought they were being smart and said that weather and the body had nothing in common. Science shot them down really fast. Back in the day the forecasters were better at predicting the weather then they are now days.
@@arthurpeterson246 yes it is. I have a lot of medal holding me together and trust me in the summer if I'm out in the heat I burn from the inside out and if it's winter I freeze from the inside out. But then you have the regular arthritis and that adds a ton more to what you have to deal with. Blessings that your bones will not give more trouble.
My Pa-paw always said, "If-n hit rains of-a first day of-a month, hit'll rain fifteen days of that month". This has always been true in my lifetime. I've lived in east Tennessee all my life. Thank for your videos. Always look forward to each one.
Mr. Donnie. I so very much enjoy your commentary and stories of Appalachia. I never had the fortune to live in Appalachia but have visited east Tennessee western NC and northern GA very many times and was able to hike 300 miles of the Appalachian trail on foot and camping as a young woman. My Father was Cherokee and his grandfather was a boy during the trail of tears and my dad was born on a reservation in OK. He taught me many of his people's stories of Appalachia before the government stole their land. The people of Appalachia were always resourceful and learned to survive in wilderness and to make what they needed. I remember many of the stories of the smokey mountains and the way life was and the beauty of the area. Thank you for bringing me fond memories of the mountains.
I remember the days we had just a radio and then 1953 saw our first television. My grandfather was a great predictor of weather. If there was a ring around the moon we could have a big storm especially in the winter.
I've heard about every old timer sign there is. I've read the almanac say 12" of snow on Thanksgiving and it turns out 60°. Grandad always said the only way to know the weather is to stick your head out the door. Rock is wet- raining Rock is hot- Suns out Rock turned over - tornado.
@Warbird Calls Yes! Thank you, you're 100% spot on. Same here, I've heard all this sort of stuff, and read about sayings like this all my life, plus watched and listened to what the weather "speculators" have to say about it. I agree one zillion percent, only real way to know the weather, is to go outside, look around, and look up. Take care🙂👍
@@timchilders3535 you can say what you want about the weather but when it comes to growing plants like potatoes or peaches you better know whether it's waxing or waning if you're putting post holes in the ground to make a fence you better know what the moon sign is or it won't come out right peace and love to you thinkers! ☮️♥️
@@billngold6 Hi Bill. I haven't actually grown any peaches, but considering peaches are grown from trees, I doubt moon phase has anything to do with quality or yield. Peach tree yields vary from year to year, and obviously the tree is only planted once. I can't see how moon phase would possibly affect a peach tree once it's up and mature enough to produce, any more than it would affect any other tree. I'm in Western North Carolina, in the Foothills area. Not many peach trees here, usually get good fresh peaches from Gaffney Spartanburg, and into Georgia. We used to grow lots of potatoes, Irish and Sweet both. Always had wonderful yields of potatoes. Last good many years, I just plant and grow yellow sweet corn, white okra, squash, lots of tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers, and green beans. I can a right smart every summer, I really enjoy that. We haven't raised any hogs or beef in probably 20 years, used to raise a fair bit of both, and I've dug and set my share of fence posts. With old style post hole diggers, at that. Those nice augers that go on the back of your tractor, are so much easier! Needless to say, I've also hunted and fished all my life since I was probably 7 years old, I've always been albe and appreciated making my own food, vegetables, fruits, and meats. I also enjoy "canning" my own crystal clear liquid corn as well😉. As I've worked, and enjoyed and appreciated all these fine activities throughout my life, and I'm 53, I can honestly report that I have never once, paid any attention to, nor depended on any particular lunar phase, to influence my actions. That being said, I am very open minded, and I try to learn, and gain knowledge and skills, anytime I can. Can you explain to me how lunar phases affect such activities, and processes? What are the actual mechanics and science between lunar phase, and things like I've mentioned here? I have always been intrigued by this subject, but I still haven't been able to grasp the correlation, nor have I found anyone that can explain it to me. Thank you Sir🙂👍
I have followed the ring around the moon and counting the stars...it hit's it every time. Not always rain tho. Grandaddy said falling weather...which is rain or snow. Count the stars. Each star is 24 hrs till the falling weather arrives. It always amazes me how spot on that sign is. This was a great video Donnie! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us! Hope you have a great week! God bless!
We grew up in North GA in the Appalachian foothills. My folks were depression era people who claimed they couldn't tell the difference when the great depression came. This reminds me of when we would have big family dinners and they would discuss nature signs and the Farmer's Almanac. It was such a simple time.
I've always heard that if a chicken stays out in the rain it's going to rain all day but if it takes shelter than its only going to rain for a little while....when I asked how did the chickens know the weather when I was a kid my dad always answered....even a chicken has enough sense to get in out of the rain...
My Granny Thompson always went by the signs to predict the weather also in planting her gardens. She marked the weather everyday on her calenders, she swore by the Ladies Birthday Almanac. Love all your videos Sir....
My grandparents used almanac, to plant their fields. My Pop could read the sky the wind, I was so mesmerized by how they read by so many different ways. Thanx .r Donnie I really needed to hear your voice and watch your video. God Bless you and your family kind sir.
Good morning Donnie, I never get tired of hearing your voice as it tells the stories and lore of our mountain homeland. So many of the weather legends you listed I too have seen come to pass. Thank you for sharing this wonderful video. God bless you and your family.🙏🏻❤️🕊🐾🦌🌲
My Dad, born & raised in MS, always told us girls that if his knee was hurting, it was either gonna rain in summer, or snow in winter. I grew up in NC, & his prefictions were always true. We split the wk between NC & our place in SW VA, & I've seen quite a bit of low clouds & fog. I've seen wooly worms in the past, & will pay more attention now. Another channel I watch showed 5 sppons, 1 knife, & 2 duds as an early test this past wk, & she's in East TN. She'll do another test later on, & we'll see what that says. It's amazing how other ppl around the country end up seeing the same things! There's a lot I'm going to keep track of on your lists, & I sincerely & respectfully thank you for sharing these practical & fascinating vids! God bless✝️
When you mentioned predicting the weather by the insects I've noticed ant hill's here some is about a foot tall biggest ant hill's I've ever seen. I've also noticed the woolly worms being more woolly than normal. I have a patch of jewelweed that blumed about a month and half early. I'm in East TN Also. Also great video as normal and thanks and stay warm this winter.
Wooly worms and smoke coming out of the chimney and going to the ground and watching the cattle are the ones we heard talked about. Really enjoyed this one !!
We had long low tone rolling thunder here in Martinsville Indiana a few days ago also, I got home from work around 3:30am this morning and it was 37° on my thermometer!!! I've also noticed that some of the wildlife are harrier than normal this time of year!!! I grew up listening to my grandmother and she knew what the weather was going to be like and was more accurate then the people on tv or radio ❤
I'd never heard the Persimmon sign. We've got 2 trees & had a lot this year. As I'm walking under the tree, I'll stop pick up a few & eat them. Not much to them but they sure are good. Always spit the seeds out. I'm gonna try to cut one open. Been very concerned for the pollinators. Didn't see one honey bee this year. Now, that I think about it, didn't see any yellow jackets. Saw a few butterflies but nothing is how it used to be. A lot has changed within the recent 10 years. Stink bugs have started showing up. Something I've noticed is they stink different. Only had 2 Whippoorwills this year. There seems to be changes will all the birds too. Thanks, for sharing. Darlene in SE Ohio.
My grandparents has told me a bunch of those signs. Thank you for sharing. I love hearing all the old tales of days pasted. God bless you Donnie and your family.....🙏❤🙏❤🙏😊🙂😀
Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies had a weather Beatle that could tell ever time when it was going to rain. She said rooster crows before he goes to bed he will wake up with a soggy head. Sorry was Just having a little fun. I do remember when some of the old people seemed to hit the weather more than the weather person on TV. I Enjoy your video's keep them coming. Thanks for all you do.
Love learning this stuff! I've been told that if you see birds flying/eating in spite of the rain, then the rain will be long. No birds, then rain will soon end. When cows get in a huddle, expect rain.
I NOTICED THE DAY BEFORE THE STORM HIT,BEFORE CHRISTMAS. I DIDNT SEE ANY BIRDS OR SQUIRRLS IN MY BACK YARD. I FEED THEM,I ALWAYS WATCH THEM. MY YARD WAS EMPTY,NOT EVEN IN MY TREES OR BUSHES DID I SEE ANYTHING MOVING AROUND. THATS WHEN I KNEW A BAD STORM WAS COMMING. BESIDES THAT ,MY JOINTS AND MUSCLES WERE HURTING! THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT VIDEO. GOD BLESS YOU.
With all this good weather prediction information you've shared Donnie, I might do some studying and get me a part-time job forecasting the weather 😀. Thanks and we appreciate all you do my Friend.
I'm really enjoying all of your videos. My mother was raised in a village in the country in Illinois. The terrain was much different from the mountains but it's still reminiscent of such a time. Another family from the same village was telling me how one of the boys from their family carried coal in a bucket to set on the porch of another older lady who lived in the village every day. There's an old newspaper article of my grandpa being interviewed talking about the old times. During the depression and WWII, since the young men were gone and there was no work, the older men would meet at the railroad tracks every day and play cards. If someone passed away, there was no funeral home and no one hired to dig the grave. They would have the service at the church on the hill and then carry the coffin down to the cemetery and bury the person. The men of the village would handle the hard manual labor. They didn't have big farms in the village but my grandpa liked to grow tomatoes. I'm not sure how much they grew when he was a little boy. He did say once that if you don't plant according to the almanac, you'll get a crop of leaves. I still quote him saying that but I've never planted according to the almanac. They did a lot by the almanac. My aunt to this day won't schedule a surgery unless the day of the surgery meets the guidance of the almanac. If someone has a bad result from a surgery, she says now and my grandmother used to say the person must not have consulted the almanac first. I've also heard my grandpa talk about using a witches stick in the cemetery find out where people were located just like your reference to dowsing rods and water. Grandpa was a Battle of the Bulge Army veteran and a coal miner for all of his working life. Southern Illinois is coal country.
Hey Donnie. Great video! I always use red sky at night and red sky in morning. Works every time. I also notice that towards the end of summer or a hot spell, you look inthe sky and if there's a brilliant turquoise layer or line, the weather's broke for that season. That's the time to go fall fishin. Thank you friend and have a great evening!
🌨️🌩️☀️ Interesting and entertaining. Donnie's bones, may tell a prediction about weather as soon as he is full capacity for woodland romping again! Our praying is helping him recover sooner, and strong as ever!
My papa Always had the newest copy of the Farmer's Almanac, he read it and believed what was written therein! We Never had a bad crop of anything in our garden: papa, my grandfather who along with my grandmother adopted us 4 siblings when we were very small/young, and a better life we couldn't have had! Love these videos!!!
Thank you. Have heard some of these and know some of them are true. I live in the mountains here in West Virginia and have learned some of these. I very much enjoy listening to you. God bless you and yours.
My granny always said if a snow lays on the ground 7 days, there will be another snow soon. This is for Arkansas. And believe me, it snowed! Also, she would say, if you hear thunder while it is snowing, count the thunders and that is how many snows you will have. In 1975, on Thanksgiving, it snowed and I counted 9 thunders. For 9 weeks, it snowed in that very same day that I heard it thunder while it was snowing. Ty for this information. Good to know.
I saw something the other day that kinda gave me pause. A woolly worm was crossing the road like they do, and he was big, solid black, and way before the first frost, but what threw me off the most was that thing was BOOKING it across the road. I've never seen one travel so fast. Our persimmons showed spoons this year, so between that and that woolly worm, I guess I better get my snowsuit ready. lol Always a pleasure, Donnie. Keep up the great work!
Thank you, Donnie. I enjoy your channel so much. I can relate to the subject matter, since I live so close to the mountains of Appalachia, in the Eastern Upper Cumberland. I only saw one very heavy fog in August this year, that didn’t burn off til mid morning after the sun came over the trees, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be ice storms. We had that bad hot spell and drought this Summer, and also it got a few days so humid, the air was so thick, like water was in the air. That was very very strange. I never felt that before in my life, and I’m way up there, lol!
I have two Hornet nests by the house, one is huge and less than 4 feet off the ground, the other one is nearly 2 feet tall and 6 feet off the ground, I'd say we got a bad winter coming Brother. great video as always!
Hey Donnie Tommy from Jonesboro I've seen all the signs talking about birds I've noticed the blue Jays of hollering alot more and up here in Jonesboro we had fog about every day good video god bless you your friend Jonesboro
I have heard of a few of these, so it was great to have a longer list! The only one I know for sure is leaves turning upside down before it rains; have seen it many times!
Hey Mr. Donnie... I just wanted to tell u that I really enjoy all ur videos. Most of all I love hearing all of ur stories.. and I just want to thank u for taking the time to share ur stories and knowledge.. I share ur love for nature and the outdoors.. stay safe my friend and keep the videos coming.. takecare..
I'm 65, I've heard a lot of these and retell them. My husband was a city boy and never heard a lot of the stuff I say, but now I hear him repeating them. My dad used to plant by the signs. I remember women asking daddy when it was best (sign) to wean or potty train their babies. Daddy was telling one woman one time when the best sign to plant such and such. She said she didn't believe that stuff and said it was of the devil. Daddy just shook his head and said he didn't think the devil cared when he planted his garden, lol lol So much has changed in the world but some things will forever be the same, weather, animals and growing things won't ever change. It's just a pity so much useful, horse sense knowledge is passing away. Sure enjoy your videos, they take me back to simpler times. Stay safe and GOD bless
Thankyou Donnie you are an amazing person God bless you and your family. I remember my great granma and great granpa use to tell me a lot of these sighns
I still go by what the animals and insects, bees and what not are calling for. If I think they are calling for an extra bad winter I get an extra load of wood and coal. I try to put everything I can into the jar, dehydrating, or freezing. You have to prepare for yourself and your family. Blessings
You might of said this one and I missed it Donnie, but there is the old saying, “Red sky in morning, sailors take warning (it’s going to storm that day), and red skies at night, sailors delight (it means that the weather will be fine for a while until you get that red sky in the morning). I have seen that one play out for just about all my life.
It's neat how different areas of Appalachia have different sayings and predictions. Some of the ones you said you hadn't heard of, I'd heard all my life. And, some of the ones you had heard of I hadn't. I'm from foothills of eastern Kentucky.
Stink bugs trying and getting in now for two and one half weeks. Squirrels have been collecting from about the same start date. Must be going to be a cold one. 3200ft near Burnsville NC
