Mountain Musings

Bloomin' Tuesday ~ Roses, Mint, Geraniums, & Verbena

Several folks have asked me lately how the Knockout Roses are doing that we planted last year for Granny's rose bed. I wrote about the roses here, here, and here.

Here's the one-year update photo for this week's Bloomin' Tuesday over at MsGreen Thumb Jean's blog:

Dozens of white butterflies flutter around the purple catmint all day, and they are so interesting to watch. You can see some of them in the picture.

I also wanted to show you the geraniums (below) that overwintered in our garage this past year. They were so pretty last summer that I wondered if they could be saved. Have you ever tried saving geraniums from year to year?

After keeping check on them and watering occasionally through the winter, now I know they will come back and bloom another year:

The small baker's rack that's in the background above was spotted recently at a yard sale for $3, and it made its way home with me--perfect for the front porch or for inside houseplants after the season.

Last year's yard sale purchase--an old mailbox for 50 cents--makes another comeback this year planted with red verbenas:

If you'd like to see what's blooming all across the country, check out other Bloomin' Tuesday participants here.

~ Deb

Happy Memorial Day!

My Country, 'Tis of Thee

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrims' pride,

From ev'ry mountainside

Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,

Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills;

My heart with rapture thrills,

Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from all the trees

Sweet freedom's song;

Let mortal tongues awake;

Let all that breathe partake;

Let rocks their silence break,

The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God to Thee,

Author of liberty,

To Thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright,

With freedom's holy light,

Protect us by Thy might,

Great God our King.

Everyone have a wonderful Memorial Day remembering those who have given their lives for our freedom!

~Sarah

Friends at the Farmers' Market

Sarah and I were blessed by another good day of sales, turnout, and weather at the farmers' market today. We are getting the routine down now after our 7th week of arriving at 5:30 am. It's always nice to have help from Dad or Jonathan setting up and breaking down the heavy stuff (we need to get some pictures of them soon!).

The specialty Farmers' Market soap I created just for this season has been a hit so far. The tag above shows that this soap features fresh goat's milk.

We were especially glad to see some familiar faces this particular Saturday--2 different Virginia blog readers showed up! Family friends from Harrisonburg came by to see what our market was all about and to patronize our booth. I think Joelle's colorful outfit matches Sarah's cupcake quilt. :)

Our second visitors were Mr. and and Mrs. H, who drove an hour to surprise us while they were nearby on a getaway. Two "strangers" in sunglasses walked up and inquired how much a bar of soap was--and I was thinking "this looks like somebody we know...?" Wait, it was our friends! Thank you both for coming and brightening our morning!

We enjoy seeing our regulars (yes, we are beginning to recognize certain market-goers), but when someone we are acquainted with arrives, it makes it even more fun.

~Hannah

If We Twittered...

I'd tweet that I'm planting my annuals this afternoon:

Red and purple verbena are in the pots down the steps on the left, and begonias will be in the watering cans on the right. I still have geraniums and three red hot pokers (a Mother's Day gift) to plant tomorrow. 

Hopefully, my brain can get out of this blogging slump, and I can get back to posting...or some quick tweeting.

~Deb

Recent Visits

We enjoyed having some guests in our home over the past few weeks, so I'm finally getting around to sharing a few pictures of their visits.

Carolyn and Garnett, friends of Mom and Granny from many years ago, arrived to join us for the evening on their way home to South Boston. It had been awhile since we had seen them. Mom fixed a delicious meal, and our time with them included conversation around the table and singing some hymns to send them on their way.

One Sunday afternoon, we had a family from church follow us home for the rest of the day. We enjoyed chatting during the afternoon and learning more about each other.

The ladies talked around the table and pitched in to help with the meal preparations.

It was a beautiful evening, so we walked around viewing the gardens, and everyone got a chance to see Jonathan's new bee hives. Comb is busily being built!

After supper we got out a few instruments and then sang together for awhile in praise to the Lord.

Their family blessed us with several songs they had learned as they ministered at nursing homes. What a treat to hear them sing harmoniously as a family!

It has been a joy to get to know these fellow believers.

~Hannah

4 weeks down...

The first month of market has wrapped up, and Hannah and I are starting to get into a routine as the weeks go by. And they are passing fast! When almost every day has some sort of market prep planned, they fly by with Saturdays coming again very soon. :)

Last Saturday was our first experience with rain, and while it wasn't terrible, it's not something we really care to experience again! I always am keeping a close eye on the forecast, trying to make a decision on whether to start my baking on Friday or not. This week it's calling for a 40% chance of scattered t-storms....hmmm.

Today was supposed to be lower humidity than other days this week, so it was fudge making day! The candies can be made earlier than Friday, which helps out alot with my time in the kitchen. Butter Pecan (on the right) was a new recipe tested today, and I was pleased with how it turned out. Cleaning up my mess after fudge is always a yummy job. Anybody want to help me? :)

~Sarah

Birthday Quilt for a Friend

Today was a wonderful day here at Mountain Musings!! Very special friends from out-of-town came to worship and fellowship with us at church and then came home with us for the afternoon and for an evening meal. Ooh, I loved it!

My friend, Leigha, is celebrating her birthday on Monday (Happy Birthday, Leigha!), and so it was extra special that she came this weekend to celebrate it with us!

Ever since I found out that she had asked to come visit us especially for her birthday, I knew that I wanted to make her a quilt as a surprise gift.

I first posted the start of this Wallflower quilt here in this post. I love the fabrics (Millhouse Inn by Fig Tree Quilts) and the pattern (Wallflower by Thimble Blossoms), and I loved making it for her! Here's a picture showing the front of the Wallflower quilt. The monogram W is for the family name:

And a picture showing the back:

Thank you Granny and Sarah for your help in making these pictures possible:

Leigha's 7 children helped her unwrap the quilt. I think she was surprised, and I think she liked it!

Checking out the label:

While waiting for the spaghetti sauce to simmer for our meal, Hannah occupied the girls by teaching them to make some chocolate lip butter:

Pouring the chocolate butter into the tins and tubes:

And a final picture that shows the menfolk and Granny in the background:

We certainly enjoyed a delightful day with our friends!

Now I can mark this quilt off my list! And I'm wondering which project I'll start on next. Maybe it should be the double dump truck load of mulch that's sitting out in the yard waiting patiently to be spread...

~Deb

Making a Beeline to Apiculture!

All right, so just to set the record straight, the girls haven't been the only busy bees here in the Girotti household. :)  I've been up to some interesting projects as well--namely beekeeping!  A good friend of mine, Matt, who has wanted to do beekeeping for several years suggested we take on the project as a joint venture.  So this past January we bought hive plans, pine boards, glass windows, screws, and 30,000 members of the species Apis mellifera!

After several furious weeks of cutting twice and measuring once....oh wait--scratch that, reverse it...we completed the hives, paint and all, and set them up in preparation for our new guests.  

We put two of our hives here at the Girotti house, including the one above in a nice gladed spot in our woods.  After all, we have to make our bees feel at home! :)  The third hive was placed at Matt's friends' house. 

Last week, we picked up our bees!  Bees come in 3-pound (10,000 bees!) packages, each with its own queen.  Now, the queen is sequestered in a small cage called, appropriately enough, the queen cage. The queen cage is plugged with a candy-like substance and a cork.  This will come into play later in the story.

 

Matt and I suited up with light-colored clothing and veils.  Then with packages in hand, and armed with a supply of sugar water, we trekked down the hill to the first hive, followed closely by the journalistic team.

With trepidation we set the package on the ground next to the hive and planned our next step.  First, calm the bees.  Solution: spray them with sugar water.  Matt and I are planning on a little more natural, wholesome approach to beekeeping, including not overloading the bees on processed sugar; however, scruples were overcome this first time.  With a fine mist of sweetness inside the box, the bees instantly calmed down and their buzzing was silenced. 

It was determined that I would take the metal feeder can out of the package box and Matt would grab the queen cage. 

On the count of three, we executed the plan with precision!  I replaced the feeder can to ensure no bees got out while Matt examined the queen cage.  DISASTER!  Much to our chagrin, instead of a perky queen bee ready and waiting to lay thousands of eggs into honeycomb, we saw a lone, shriveled, very dead-looking queen. This was not, one might say, the bees' knees.

Consolation came, however, when we called up the bee supply store and were informed that they would replace the queen, free-of-charge.  Whew!  It was decided that we would install the other two packages, then head back over to the bee store and use the replacement queen on the third hive at Matt's friends' house.

Take number two: now with our movements honed with practice, combined with our latent beekeeping skill, the second hive went a lot smoother!  This time the queen was alive!  Remember that candy plug and cork I mentioned awhile back?  We removed the cork so the candy plug was exposed.  This allows the bees to access the plug and eat through it to reach the queen.  In the process of eating the plug, they familiarize themselves with the queen's pheromones and accept her as the leader of the hive.

So we hung the queen cage on the top bars and readied for the big event. Again, I took the feeder container out to expose the swarming, buzzing colony inside.  Matt took the box and gave several vigorous shakes.  Quicker than you can say, "Raw local additive-free honey!" the bees poured out of the package and into our hive!

It was amazing to see the bees' natural, created instincts take over. Immediately, they must have sensed they were in their new home, because several bees climbed out of the entrance and started fanning.

This is when they turn their bodies around and use their wings in order to circulate the pheromone that says, "Hey everybody, come on in!"

And come in they did.  We checked back about 15 minutes later, and nearly all the bees that had been left in the box had flown out and joined their comrades inside the hive.

We finished the evening out with the next two hives, everything going very smoothly, and only one sting between the two of us! 

We look forward to this new adventure and pray that God will bless our...that is, to say, the BEES...efforts. This will be a great way to learn more about His creation as well as help out Virginia pollinator population and have a lot of great-tasting honey!!  Stay tuned this spring and summer as the hives and honey grow!

-Jonathan

My Day in Pickens ~ Meeting a Sweet Blogger in Real Life

Last week I was traveling to SC to visit my sister and also to pick up Granny and bring her back to Virginia with me.

Lisa, who blogs over at Shady Grove Adventures, had invited me to come to her neck of the woods whenever I was in the area again. Lisa and I are blogging and email buddies, but we had never met in real life (until last Monday).

I LOVE adventures and just couldn't pass up Lisa's invitation, so we emailed and set up a time to visit and have lunch together. Granny wanted to come with me, so we drove the hour out to her place and had a delightful time! Lisa really showed us some wonderful South Carolina hospitality!

As soon as we arrived, Granny and I spotted a "Club Car"...and Granny has been saying how much she needs a golf cart to get her from the house down to her basket shed (my garden shed) and back up the hill!

So Lisa gave her a ride to try it out! I think Granny really liked it!

We enjoyed seeing the chicken yard, and Lisa showed us one of her prize chickens up close and personal.

I'm not sure if the fresh eggs in our delicious quiche for lunch was from this particular chicken or not, but if so, she did herself proud!

After a grand tour of Lisa's house, including her wonderful sewing room and seeing sewing and knitting projects she's working on, she presented me with my very own walking stick! Her husband Tom had made it especially for me from a sassafras tree on their property! I was thrilled and very touched at their thoughtfulness! 

So while Lisa prepared lunch (quiche, garlic-cheese biscuits and fresh fruit with Hummingbird Cake for dessert--oh yummy!)...I participated in craft time!

Lisa put beads, cording, and string on the table for me to make myself a name bracelet to add to the top of the walking stick. I loved making it!! Thank you, Tom, for such a very nice walking stick!

We took pictures out on the deck after a tour around the outside of the house (loved the raised beds!), and so soon it was time to leave.

Then Lisa presented me with three plants from their property to bring home as parting gifts: a dogwood tree, a container of 10+ Bird-foot Violet plants, and a Passionflower plant. Ooh, I hope all these plants live so I can have a remembrance of our special day together.

You can see pictures of what the plants will look like over on Lisa's blog here. And also she wrote such a delightful post about our visit.

Thank you so much, Lisa! Granny and I thoroughly enjoyed our day with you and our adventure in Pickens!

I love meeting bloggers in real life!

~Deb

A Successful Market Day ~ Part 5

Saturday...the greatly anticipated opening day for Farmer's Market finally arrived!

We began the day early with a chilly 29 degrees...using flashlights to see inside boxes at dark o'clock to determine which soaps to display and which boxes held the pies. The van was loaded with stuff to unpack and a tent and signs to get in place!

Vendors began to arrive to set up their wares at the Wharf Parking Lot. Here's a shot taken looking down the main sidewalk as flowers and vegetables are brought out to display:

Hannah and Sarah worked on their booth to get it just right. Here they are just before market opened for customers:

The girls will experiment with a different table arrangement next week. This L-shaped display was necessary because end-to-end tables went just over the alloted parking space line. Oops! There were honey vendors in the parking spots on both sides of them--some close quarters.

Here's an upclose photo of Hannah's soap display:

And an upclose photo of Sarah's baked goods display which included pies, fudge, lemon blueberry muffins, butterscotch bars, and cheesecake wedges in the fridge:

Here's Sarah with bags of homemade marshmallows, gummy squares, cashew brittle, and puppy chow she made. Her free samples drew a crowd around her booth throughout the morning!

Here's a view from behind Sarah's booth as she keeps track of all the paperwork. She took custom orders to bring to market next week, too:

One of the fresh flower vendors sold out long before the end of market. Her display was beautiful, and her flowers attracted lots of customers:

She gave folks wandering by her booth a free tulip while supplies lasted:

Fresh veggies were everywhere!

My favorite: Beets!

There were several honey vendors. Jonathan was very interested in checking out those displays since his 30,000 bees arrive for pickup at the bee store this afternoon. The beehives he and a friend made are in place on our property awaiting their occupants. Post coming soon on his adventures as a beekeeper!

Some musicians set up at the end of the parking lot and played for a portion of the morning:

And there's Granny...she bought Sarah's last coconut pie and also some Gardener's Therapy Balm from Hannah. What a sweet and encouraging Granny! Well, that was a sampling of Saturday's Farmer's Market...one week down and 32 more weeks to go! Oh, my, I'm wondering if my kitchen will survive this venture!

~Deb