I have no doubt these tips are absolutely true. They are time tested and I can’t wait to share them again with the world. I found them deep in a special place, where very few people would ever venture to look for such great advice!

It’s still February, the month of love, and will be for another week. So, it’s never too late to start that search for the perfect mate in 2016, if you haven’t already found one.

(Oh, BTW, these are folklore tips from our ancestors, found in the Farmer’s Almanac. See, even farmers need to find romance!)

1. Upon hearing the first coo of a dove in spring, take off your left stocking and look in the heel of it. You will find a hair the color of your true love’s tresses.
2. Place a snail in a pan of cornmeal; the tracks it makes will spell your sweetheart’s initials.
3. On New Year’s Eve, walk from one room to another while throwing a shoe over your shoulder. Then, look in a mirror: Your perfect mate’s face will be shown.
4. Hang your shoes out the window, and you’ll dream of your beau.
5. Look into an open well at high noon on the first of May or at midnight on Halloween, and you will see your lover’s face in the water.

Seriously. I’m still shaking my head.

But I do have five tips that are pretty good clues to tell you if you’ve already found the perfect mate, whether you’re searching online, at places you love to be, or hanging out with friends.These tips are in no particular order and you don’t have to take off your shoes or socks or go collect snails.

1. The perfect mate is someone you ALWAYS feel comfortable around – enough to be yourself at all times.
2. It is someone who respects your individuality and yet shares some common interests with you.
3. It is someone who gives you enough space to be alone when you need to be, and is willing to snuggle up close when you need contact.
4. It is someone who will share the hard times as well as the good, and never, ever threaten to walk out.
5. And finally, it is someone whose very presence brings a smile to your face and increases your heart rate.

I’m blessed to have found such a person in my husband. And I’m doubly blessed because I have a dog, too!