Mountain Musings

Whew!

Well, the June Blog-a-Thon challenge with my sister is over, and I think we wrote a post every day the month of June! Yay! Mission accomplished! And maybe we'll do it again sometime...

What'cha say we take a little blogging break?

I think a little time off is on the docket, especially with the Reformation 500 starting tomorrow in Boston, my birthday the next day, and the 4th of July this weekend!  See you back on the blog sometime next week!

~Deb

Bloomin' Tuesday ~ Hydrangea

These blooms may not look like much, but I am thrilled that the three hydrangeas taken from my mom's house are blooming this year for the first time since being planted four years ago.

Two huge hydrangea bushes were growing on each side of my mom's porch steps, and she wanted them removed because they bloomed so much the steps were blocked. Hannah and Sarah worked and worked very carefully to dig the tough roots so the plants could be selvaged. We brought home various roots and planted them, hoping one of them would live.

Success! This year all three plants are beautiful and healthy--and blooming!--maybe from all our rain this spring. Hopefully, they will get bigger and better this season.

As you can see, there are blue blooms and pink blooms on the same plant. Here's what we've learned:

The PH level of the soil affects the ability of the plant to take in and use the micro-nutrient aluminum which causes the color change in the plant. For instance in acidic soil which has a higher aluminum content the flower will be a blue color. The more aluminum the bluer the flower. If the soil contains less aluminum the flower will be white and if the soil is alkaline the blooms will generally be pink.

See this site to learn how to adjust the PH level in your soil so you can experiment with the colors. Thing is...I don't do any adjusting; I just let them bloom as they will.  What could be happening that the same plant produces two colors?! It will be interesting to see if the blooms stay the same color or change during the summer. Anyone else have the same thing happen in your garden?

To see other Bloomin' Tuesday participants, visit MsGreen Thumb Jean's blog.

~Deb

Where we find skirts

Kathie asked where the ladies in our family were able to find modest skirts to wear, specifically those that are long, full, and without a slit. The answer includes several places--these skirts are out there, but one must look diligently!

Sometimes we purchase basic skirts at department stores such as J.C. Penney or Peebles. It is rare to find them without a slit, though, but last season Sarah and I discovered some great khaki A-line gored skirts on sale. They happened to be quite long and happily slit-free.

Mom gets a lot of use out of the Land's End Necessary Knits collection. We also like some of the quality "riding skirts" L. L. Bean and Eddie Bauer have sold in the past, but it is best to watch for their overstock discounts. I'm sure there are other online merchants where you can find good skirts, but these are what we are most familiar with. Hannah Lise is one such place we have heard of but never ordered from.

A huge source of our skirts has been at yard sales/thrift shops. We always keep our eyes open for good quality skirts; many we have found are name brand, beautiful, and at a can't-be-beat-price. Who would want to get rid of these?? Most occasions they are in excellent condition or maybe simply missing a button.

Many times we have found skirts under our own sewing machines! Learning to make our own clothing has been an enjoyable and necesssary skill to develop.

Sarah has frequently used Simplicity pattern 5524 to make several skirts: out of denim, a solid burgundy, and springy floral fabrics. I have also made a tiered skirt with Simplicity pattern 4595, as well as a couple of denim skirts from a different pattern.

My sister-in-law, Elizabeth, let me trace a skirt of hers made from one of her favorite patterns, Butterick 4025. I have made 2 skirts from this pattern, including the one shown here.

If anyone reading would like to chip in with other recommendations, feel free!

~Hannah

Come, Thou Fount

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

~ Written in 1758 by Richard Robinson when he was only 23 years of age. Hear the music to this great hymn here.

Our church began learning this song in 4-part harmony last year,and it has become a favorite of mine. I selected this song as my cell phone's ring tone, and whenever my phone rings, I'm reminded of our special church family. We hope you have a wonderful Lord's Day.

~Deb

Ketchup Weekend Rewards

Last weekend Pat Sloan invited everyone to a Ketchup Weekend to "ketchup" on some of our unfinished projects. And guess what?! I won her prizes, and they came in the mail this week! I was so excited. She announced the winners here, and below you can see what she sent me:

One "Sticky Bun" with such colorful strips, and it was bound with ric-rac! I love it!

She also included three spools of matching thread and one of her beautiful quilt patterns.

Wow! I can't wait to get started! Thank you, Pat!

~Deb

Rise and Shine!

Updated with answers below.

We have another Girotti family quiz for you today! A commenter has asked us what we eat for breakfast - here's your chance to match each family member to their typical morning meal. Our eyes post sure seemed to be a hit, and so this is another post where you can find out how many of the nitty-gritty details of our lives you know. :) 

Guess which breakfast is whose! I'll update this post with the answers by noon tomorrow.

(Click to enlarge.)

And the answers are:

1. Deb - peanut butter toast, a peach, and chocolate milk.
2. Sarah - Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal with water on the side.
3. Tom - a bowl of Cheerios, homemade Grapenuts, and garden raspberries, with a granola bar and orange juice.
4. Hannah - plain yogurt with fresh berries, homemade whole wheat bread topped with peanut butter, bananas, and cinnamon, with water.
5. Jonathan - Pop-Tarts and milk. And can you believe he eats them cold?!

Aunt Toots is the only one to guess all of them correctly - looks like you were observant after all! Oh, and if anybody wants to come visit us, we always have a bigger and better breakfast for guests. Just so you know. :) 

~Sarah

Roasting Beets

If my aunt had been able to come visit us this week as planned before her puppy became ill, we would probably have served her roasted beets from the garden, a first for her. Last night I went ahead and pulled a few beets to prepare for our supper, and the following pictures show the results. A variety of other vegetables also went into this dish--you can be creative with whatever you have on hand!

I scrubbed the beets well and cut them into medium-sized chunks. Potatoes and carrots were added and spread in a layer on a roasting pan. I drizzled this with olive oil and seasoned with a little rosemary, salt, and pepper. These were baked at 400 degrees for an hour and stirred maybe every 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, I chopped wedges of onion, yellow squash, zucchini, and radish to throw in. These softer vegetables were stirred in after the first half hour of cooking and baked for another 30 minutes or so. Add more oil as needed to prevent sticking when you stir the vegetables.

In the fall, this dish is slightly less colorful, minus the fresh squashes, but I usually add butternut squash and sweet potato to the mix. Just determine which vegetables need cooking the longest and start those first.

We served the roasted vegetables with Spicy Peanut Chicken over rice. So there's an example of a dish we've made using fresh-from-the-garden produce!

~Hannah

Answer to Wordless Wednesday

Lots of great answers to this morning's Wordless Wednesday question (and some hilarious answers, too!).  Several of you guessed "shooting guns." Yes, that's right! But Nick nailed it correctly with his answer "trap shooting."  

Congratulations, Nick! And thank you, everyone, for playing along.

~Deb

Wordless Wednesday

Venture a guess as to what this is all about? 

~Deb

Bloomin' Tuesday

Today I'm participating in MsGreenThumb Jean's Bloomin' Tuesday. Here are some flowers that are blooming in the Mountain Musings' flower garden. First, Feverfew--which has small daisy-like flowers and is used for medicinal purposes. These were given to me by my local friend, Jean S., and they are planted in various beds around the garden where they multiply easily.

Next is Spiderwort--what a wild name for such a beautiful purple flower! This particular spiderwort plant I purchased, but I have others near the garden gate that a friend of my sister's gave me.

I love getting plants from friends, and I always think of who gave me whatever plant as I stroll around the garden.

The coneflowers are just beginning to bloom, and I think they are one of my favorite flowers in the garden.

Thank you for taking a short tour of my flower garden. You can see other Bloomin' Tuesday participants' flowers over at Ms GreenThumb Jean's blog.

~Deb