Mountain Musings

South Carolina Trip ~ Day 3

Biltmore Estates, billed as America's largest house with 250 rooms and 8,000 acres, was our next destination. Located in Asheville, NC, about an hour or so from Greenville, Biltmore was certainly worth the drive--a pretty one with lots of mountain views.

Here's the sign that welcomed us onto the property. Many flowering trees and shrubs were planted alongside the lengthy landscaped driveway leading to the home: rhododendrens, azaelas, white wisteria, and many others which were not readily familiar to us. What a lot of work has gone into making the property a beautiful showplace!

We thoroughly enjoyed the self-guided tour of the mansion and seeing all the interior decorating and floral displays in every room. Get this: the house features 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces! We toured the basement where there was a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, bowling alley, servants' quarters and kitchens.

Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside, but we took plenty in the gardens. Here's my sister, Bet, smelling one of the snowball bushes. We visited during the Festival of Flowers taking place April 5th through May 18th, so there were lots of spring flowers in bloom.

My favorites were all the white flowers--the white wisteria, the white snowballs, and the white false indigo were ones I really liked.

The Conservatory is the building you see at the end of the large corridor of flowers. Basically, it was a rich man's potting shed and contained all sorts of greenhouse plants. We didn't have time to go in the Conservatory Gardeners' Gift Shop---maybe it's a good thing!

Recommendation if you go: if you are a member of Triple A, you can save $15 off the admission. If you're not a member, ordering tickets ahead online will save a few dollars on your ticket.

When you check in at Biltmore, definitely purchase the additional $8 per person guided tour with headsets to hear about each room and what you are seeing as you go through; we found the headsets very necessary.

Next: Day 4 ~ Visiting friends

~Deb

South Carolina Trip ~ Day 2

The second day of our vacation began as we headed to Abbeville, about an hour or more from Greenville. We actually were headed to Yoder's Dutch Kitchen for a lunch that we had been told would be unbelievably delicious! Unfortunately, Yoder's wasn't open on Tuesdays!! We were all quite disappointed that we had not called ahead.

We made the best of the situation and found Dutch Oven, located along the main street of quaint Abbeville. The homemade cherry pie made up for missing Yoder's--almost.

Next, we headed to our second destination in Greenwood, Park Seed Company, established in 1868.

Here's Hannah looking over all of their hundreds of seed packets and not finding the one she wanted!

Park Seed Company, we found out, caters mostly to their mail-order customers rather than to local visitors who happen by their property. Even though we enjoyed the time, I wouldn't give a hearty recommendation to going there as we saw lots of flowers and areas that could have had more attention paid to them, and the advertised Garden Tours were only scheduled for one day next month rather than daily.

Here are my mom and Hannah taking a break under a tree that boasted many hanging baskets of flowers on its limbs.

The Rose Garden and Water Lily Pond were both enjoyable self-tours. We snapped some nice photos and were thankful for the nice weather we experienced all week. So, all in all, it was a good day.

Next: Day 3 ~ Biltmore Estates, voted our favorite day of all!

~Deb

South Carolina Trip ~ Day 1

On our way to visit my sister in South Carolina last Monday, we first stopped in Charlotte, NC, to visit the Billy Graham Library, which was dedicated last year.

The grounds are beautifully landscaped with a variety of flowers, and the library itself was very informative and quite interesting. The library is housed in the building to the right that looks like a barn with a glass cross on the front. Visitors appropriately enter through a door "at the foot of the cross."

The barn and silo were selected because as a young boy Billy Graham grew up on his parents' dairy farm. Inside, visitors are greeted by a talking cow who sings, "He Owns the Cattle on a Thousand Hills." The library contains much memorabilia from bygone days, crusades, and from the many people he counseled.

Here are my mom and Hannah standing in front of the old homeplace where Billy lived. The home has been moved 3 times in past years by numbering each brick and reassembling them in the correct order. The beautiful home was finally located on the property you see here and made available for public tours.

We toured not only the library and homeplace but also the serene Prayer Garden where his wife, Ruth Bell Graham, was buried last year. A spot just to the right of her gravestone awaits her husband.

Billy Graham, almost 90 and in failing health, now resides at his home in Montreat, NC.

This was a very enjoyable excursion just off the interstate on Billy Graham Parkway in Charlotte. We then continued our journey to Greenville and all my sister had planned for us.

~Deb

Peony "Tea"

The peony-bud sized hail that came to our area last week caused many of the buds on our peonies to snap (in addition to causing some damage to several other plants in our gardens), so I gathered as many of the round green balls with pink-tinged leaves as I could salvage. They found a special home on display in this teacup! The ugly-to-beautiful transformation reminded me of this verse:

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." ~Romans 8:28

~Hannah

What a Mother's Day Gift!

Well, we're home from our week away in South Carolina, and both Hannah and I had a wonderful time with my mom and sister! There were exciting treks each day, and hopefully, we took some great pictures with a borrowed camera to document our week (thanks, Jonathan!). When we get some of our pictures uploaded, we'll be sure to post them. We finally have high speed internet (installed while I was gone), yay!

Of course, I had to make it home in time for Mother's Day and my annual breakfast in bed. Always yummy! I can't wait! Now, if high speed, breakfast in bed, and a new weeping cherry tree to plant this coming week weren't enough, here's the big surprise gift.

I'm a granny! Micah and Elizabeth's developing little one is 6 weeks old and is due January 7th, 2009. What a miracle from God!

Since they'll be moving so far away from us in less than two weeks for Micah's 7-year surgery residency, I guess I'll have to settle for being a long-distance praying granny for this new little babe! I've been perusing this site to find out just exactly what parts are forming each week. Next week I'll be praying for elbows for little Ethan or Eva! Isn't that exciting?

Shhh! My mom won't find out she's a great-grandmother until next weekend's medical school graduation when she visits. So if there's anyone reading this who knows her, please help us keep the news secret until Micah and Elizabeth can surprise her. Thanks!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

~Deb

Spring Cleaning - A Bedroom Switch

A couple of weeks ago, I had the urge to clean my room really well. Everything was dusty, and the floor behind and under the furniture needed vacuuming desperately.  While I had both of my beds pulled out from the wall, I got to thinking..."Why don't I switch everything around while I'm at it?"

I have been wanting to try a different arrangement to get some more room. As you can see from the picture above, it's been a little hard to move around. My two beds took up a lot of floor space, and then with my sewing table, hope chest, dresser, bookcase, and quilt rack - it was just a tad crowded. :)

So I made a scale drawing of my room and cut out little pieces of paper representing each piece of furniture, and I moved everything around until I found an arrangement I liked. It took all afternoon to move everything, clean, and then put everything back the new way. I really liked it...until the next day. I decided to switch one bed again to make even MORE room. That only took 30 minutes or so, and I am very satisfied with the way it is now.

The picture above is the left side of the room, and the one below is the right side. :)

Now when you walk in, it's a nice big open space where you can actually do things instead of having a bed right there at you. I especially like having my sewing table at the bright windows looking out at the garden and mountains, not staring straight at the wall. :) Also, now you can see my bookcase filled with my nice Lamplighter and Elsie Dinsmore books, as well as my hope chest...both of those had been rather hidden before.

The only drawback of this arrangement is trying to make the beds with one side against the wall. I really enjoyed the old way where I could walk all the way around them. But I think that that inconvenience is a small price to pay to have so much more room!

I have to admit, I am not usually the type to do this sort of thing...I generally like things to stay the same. :) How about all of you? Do you like to rearrange rooms?

~Sarah

New Mulch

Seeing this picture makes me a little homesick! I should be out working in my flower beds this week since we barely made a dent in the huge pile of mulch that was delivered a few days ago.

But...the mulch will have to wait. Hannah, my mom, and I traveled to my sister's home in South Carolina today to spend the week with her. And we're having a ton of fun already.

Unfortunately, my trusty Canon digi-reb is malfunctioning, and we are using a second camera that is missing a cable needed to upload pictures here. So we'll have to wait until we get back home to document this week's trip (which will include a trip to Park Seed Company in Greenwood, SC, and the Festival of Flowers at Biltmore Estates in Asheville, NC!).

Since Sherrin asked a question about mulch in the comments recently, we thought we would answer her question in this post.

We use shredded hardwood mulch around the trees and flower beds. Last year we removed a lot of the old mulch and used it around some of the vegetables in the garden. We have also used straw in the garden at times and mix in aged manure in the garden beds as well. One thing that helps keep down weeds is surrounding the flowers and herbs with thick newspapers before putting down the mulch; I save stacks and stacks of newspapers throughout the year for this. Sherrin, I hope this helps!

As you can see above, Hannah spent a lot of time mulching the flower beds before we left on this trip, and this dinner bell bed is my very favorite one!

~Deb

Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Bars

Randi is having her recipe box swap again! I was already making some cookie bars today, so here is the recipe. I'm not sure why they're called butterscotch, because they don't really taste like it at all. Of course, it does call for dark brown sugar, and I usually use light brown instead...that's probably why. Anyway, I hope you enjoy them. They're really yummy, quick, and easy too! :)

• 2 cups flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300, and grease a 8x8 baking dish. In a small bowl, mix flour and baking soda well with a wire whisk, set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. Scrape down sides, and then add flour, nuts, and chocolate chips, mixing on low speed just until combined. Spread evenly in pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean, but the center is still soft. Yield: 16 bars

~Sarah

Bloomin' Tuesday ~ Lily of the Valley

I know, it's Wednesday, but I just found out about Bloomin' Tuesday last night at bedtime over at MsGreen "thumb" Jean's blog. And I couldn't traipse outside to get a picture then in the scary darkness, not me.

But this morning's sunshine beckons us outside for a day of yardwork. Here's a picture of the dainty Lily-of-the-Valley that's so beautifully blooming this spring in our garden. I love this tiny little flower!

Sarah's friend, Sarah, who lives close by, dug these up from her garden a couple of years ago after reading on the blog that I would love some. They have found a good home here.

In other news: today the mulch will be delivered! Yay! Mulch! Groan! Mulch! I definitely have a love-hate relationship with the stuff. Lots of yardwork to do today!

And since I received some favorable comments from folks liking my to-do list, here's one for the next few days.

• Thursday - pick up my 90-year-old aunt in Richmond who will be visiting us for a few days.
• Prepare for teaching a knitting class here on Friday morning. Plan lunch for the group.
• Wrap presents and plan cookout on Saturday to celebrate Micah's 26th birthday.
• Prepare for Sunday's worship and lunch; we're bringing dessert.
• Pack and load the car.
• Return my aunt back home on Sunday afternoon and drive two hours with Hannah to my mom's in South Boston.
• Monday morning - bring my mom with us and drive 5 hours to my sister's home in South Carolina.
• Enjoy the week at my sister's and all she has planned for us to do.
• Arrive back home in time to celebrate Mothers' Day.

Hopefully, I'll have pictures to show of these events.

~Deb

Sewing Projects

My Bernina has been busy lately. I've been working on several different projects and thought some of you might like to see the end results. The first thing on the agenda was to sew Barney a few bright and cheerful neckerchiefs for his owner's birthday last month. I created these using a quickly-drawn pattern I'd traced from the red one he was sporting at Christmas. :) Easy and cute!

Next, a bigger job, was making a girl's jumper for a friend from church. This was a fun item to sew, although there were a few steps where it was definitely a learning process. The fabric Anna chose was a beautiful, springy green with coral pink flowers and peachy buttons to match. It was the perfect combination. My favorite part was using my new automatic buttonholer and sewing on the buttons as one of the final steps. The hem ended up being turned up a whole 5 inches, which will be great to let down as she grows taller. Thanks, Wagners, for letting me work on this for you!

My sister-in-law, Elizabeth, was able to procure for us some rolls of leftover decorator fabric, one design having gardening implements and vegetables on a green and white-striped background. We thought this material would be just right for making a set of spring tablecloths for our dining room and breakfast nook.

I needed to stitch 2 long strips to either side of the fabric pieces to make it wide enough for our tables. This included matching up the objects in the pattern design so that it looked truly seamless. Then, Elizabeth let me borrow her serger to finish the edges of each cloth. That was the first time I'd worked with one of these machines, and it was great! I'm just glad I didn't have to thread it. :) I had enough garden fabric to make the 2 tablecloths, plus 2 tablerunners, which I am saving for my hope chest.

And lastly, here is a photo of a twill skirt I finished making earlier this year. With its rust color and sturdy weight, it will be appropriate for fall/winter wear. Next is to finally complete Mom's quilt by hand-sewing a name and date on the back.

~Hannah