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
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
Speaking of beautiful quilting fabrics...my favorite fabric designer is Kate Spain, and one of her newest lines of fabrics is Good Fortune, seen here at Fat Quarter Shop.
Yesterday the mailman surprised me with a package sent all the way from Michigan from Stephanie, also known as Mama Pea of Peas in a Pod blog.
Stephanie and I have struck up a blogging friendship over the past months (we're both wanna-be UFO-ers), and she made this beautiful notebook and sent it to me:
I LOVE it! And I especially love the panel of words she sewed to the front of the notebook. I'll definitely use it for lots of lists and things I should remember and don't, plus it's made from beautiful Good Fortune fabric!!
Here's a photo showing both the back and front:
I love how blogging makes the world seem smaller! Thank you so much, Stephanie!
~Deb
For today: Thursday, January 12
Outside my window...the heavy rain from last night is over, and the sky is a mixture of sun and clouds with an expected high in the 50s.
I am thinking...about Granny. My sister called 9-1-1 this morning, and Granny was rushed to the hospital's heart center in downtown Greenville with some atrial fibrillation problems. Hopefully, she'll be released today. It's hard being long-distance and not able to help.
I am thankful...that Tom's colonoscopy procedure yesterday went well. He's back at work today and feeling fine. I think this week has had its quota of medical drama!
In the kitchen...today is bread baking day! The smells wafting upstairs are wonderful! I wish I could send Granny a freshly-baked, buttered, hot-from-the-oven roll for her lunch!
I am wearing...navy turtleneck, navy skirt, and navy crocs.
I am creating...my Saturday Sampler block for the quilt class on Saturday.
I am going...to Patchwork Plus this weekend for our last class for this pattern. New fabrics will be introduced for the next 12-month class...still deciding whether I should sign up or not.
I am wondering...what my little grandson Ethan is doing today in faraway Michigan. He called and "talked" to Hannah this week and told her Happy Birthday over and over and over! Sooo cute!
I am reading...a friendship card I received in the mail with a wonderful Mango Peach tea bag inside. A friend sent a card to me and also to each of the girls telling us that January is National Hot Tea Month. I never knew! Thank you, Kendra!
I am hoping...I'll continue to be diligent to write in the One Line A Day (five-year memory book) my sister gave me for Christmas. So far I've not missed a day.
I am looking forward to...tomorrow's quilting class with friends.
I am learning...that it's a lot of work to organize all my fabric, projects, and supplies so it will be easy to know which project to work on next.
Around the house...Hannah just left to take some bread over to her bartering partner in exchange for fresh farm eggs.
A favorite quote for today..."Never mind if you think you are unable to take another step, for either He will strengthen you to make you able, or He will call a sudden halt, and you will not have to take it at all." ~ Frances Ridley Havergal
One of my favorite things...sitting down to supper with the family.
A few plans for the rest of the week: taking time out to get some photos burned to disks and mailed out.
A peek into my week...
See more Simple Woman's Daybook entries here.
~Deb
...for everything this month but blogging and blog reading! But here's a post to catch you up a bit!
Actually, this may be the first Christmas in quite the number of years that I'm not rushing to finish a quilt, a scrapbook, or some other crazy project I started waaay too late to remain sane! I really miss the adrenaline rush and excitement that a "gotta-get-'er-done" project generates! Tell me what you're rushing to finish this last week before Christmas--I'll pray that you finish in time--I've been there, done that!
Instead we've been focusing on other activities such as:
Here are some photos to share of the above special times together:
When the miles separate friends...you find ways to get together and keep up with each others' lives. This particular Saturday found us traveling to Richmond to meet Fred and Chris, who had traveled from Newport News to join us, and then we ate together at Whole Foods Grocery...yes, a grocery store with an out-of-this-world gourmet salad bar!
We girls talked quilts, of course! Chris brought her recently completed Christmas quilt to show me. Isn't the snowflake quilting on the back just wonderful?!
My friend, Dorothy--a faithful blog reader and commenter--came to visit last week, and we took in the sights in the area. From the Dayton Farmer's Market and Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg to Woodrow Wilson's Birthplace and the Pampered Palate and neat shops downtown, we thoroughly enjoyed the time together. Here's Dorothy just before she left:
Our friends, Kim and Annie, who have been missionaries for quite a number of years in Papua New Guinea, were headed to Kentucky to spend Christmas with family when they stopped by this week. What a treat to catch up on all their news and understand better how to pray for their situation.
Here's Annie after breakfast sharing pictures with Granny of their village and translation work:
And Kim and Jonathan enjoyed some pickin' and grinnin' and entertained us with their music:
And...all too soon it was time for them to get on the road, too. I'm reminded so many times when friends come and leave that one day there will be no sad good-byes.
Below: the Green House Coffee Shop where Tom and I enjoyed a delicious lunch yesterday. If you're ever over the mountain near Crozet, I would recommend the hot and toasty Southwest Turkey Panini.
Special thanks to my friend, Kendra over at Kendra's Korner, who blogged about her trip to Green House or I never would have known about the place.
These next few days I'll be planning the menu and preparing ahead just a bit for my sister's arrival on Tuesday. I hope you're enjoying this wonderful season, too, with friends and family. Take lots of pictures and make lots of memories!
~ Deb
Recently Heather, over at Post Road Vintage blog (farmhouse decoration plus homemade inspiration!), posted a photo of her mason jar chick feeder filled with chocolate chips and M&Ms. You can view and purchase it here. Neat idea!
And you can see all her Post Road Vintage products for sale here and here.
Heather asked her email newsletter subscribers to send in some creative ideas of how they would use her chick feeder. She's in the midst of her winter photo shoot for her shop and wanted to go with a winter-white theme.
I sent in my idea of filling her blue mason jar with cotton balls. She did an excellent job photographing that idea, don't you think?
Anyway...she picked my idea!!! How fun! You can read about it here. So...one of these unique chick feeders is winging its way this week to Mountain Musings all the way from snowy Lake Linden, Michigan. Thank you, Heather!
I'm planning on filling it with cotton balls and placing it on my bathroom counter as soon as it arrives!
Why not head over to her shop and check out her other Mason jar treasures!
~Deb
Isn't she gorgeous?
My generous blogging friend, Vicki, over at 2 Bags Full, is giving away yet another Vera bag! This one is in fall's newest and most popular colors - Suzani.
I love it because it's so colorful! I've not won any of the bags Vicki's given away on her blog in the past, but this one just might have my name on it! Head on over and sign up for it here.
Also because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, Vicki is advertising Pinky on her blog.
Susan from the blog Days at Buttermilk Cottage is on a personal mission to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness. She designed this adorable little lamb and is selling the knitted version, the PDF pattern, and also the kit containing the pattern and yarns to make your own Pinky.
More information here.
And last, but not least, Vicki is giving away a Twirly Birds Pink Vera bag in the Breast Cancer Awareness pattern if you join her Facebook page. I'm not a facebooker so I can't win this one, but if you are, head over to Vicki's blog and find out what you do.
Winners will be picked on November 4th.
~Deb
I have a younger sister named Bet (and she won't let me forget the younger part!).
Bet hasn't blogged in just about forever!
Actually, she's the one who gave us the gift of a Typepad blog back in 2004. I gave up long ago hinting that she should start blogging again...
Well, out of the blue she now has a new blog name, new theme, and new posts are up! She also has a new camera which helps in posting beautiful pictures--she loves flowers like I do!
Head on over to B is for Bet and leave her some bloggy comment love. You can read below what she'll be blogging about:
"So B is for Bet. And for my miniature schnauzer Barney. And for books. And for big ideas sometimes. And for blessings all the time. And for a lot more B's to come before I'm done I hope. I plan to blog about all of these.
I hope you'll join me here to find out what's going on in B is for Bet's little corner of the world."
Just tell her that her older sister sent you!
~ Deb
Thank you so much to all the commenters who stopped by for our 1,600 posts giveaway! I think this was my favorite giveaway that we've done because I enjoyed reading all your sweet comments about your mom!
We all have some great moms, don't we? I know I do!
Are you ready for the winner?
Comment #31: Jodi
Congratulations, Jodi! If you would email me your mailing address and let me know which two fragrances of Hannah's soap you would like, I will get this in the mail to you right away!
Thank you all again for being faithful Mountain Musings readers! All of us here wish you a very Happy and special Mother's Day!
~Deb
Mountain Musings hit a record 1,600 posts earlier this week when Granny wrote about preparing for her craft show. Today's post actually marks our 1,602 post!
As promised, we think that milestone calls for a giveaway! How about something that each of the ladies here at Mountain Musings had a part in making?
No, we can't ship you any of Sarah's delicious desserts, and I didn't have time to make you a quilt...but this is what we can send you if your name is chosen:
A Jelly Basket* ~ made by Granny, of course! She told me to pick one of my favorites just for this giveaway. It was a hard choice! This basket is made with dyed red and green reeds for added color and dipped in walnut stain as only Granny can do!
And look what's inside this basket:
Two bars of Hannah's handmade cold-process soap (I selected Citrus Patchouli and Sweet Lemon Basil for this picture, but you can pick your favorite two scents from her Pleasant View Soaps website if you win).
A tube of Chocolate-Orange Truffle lip butter (made by Hannah) is also included.
Two handmade washcloths knitted by Deb and some of Sarah's favorite recipes tucked in the back complete the gift basket.
Ooh, wait...an antique key is also hanging from the handle for an added touch of whimsy. I love it!
Would you like to win this 1,600-post giveaway? Wouldn't it make a nice Mother's Day gift...or maybe a gift for yourself?
Just leave a comment on this post telling us something nice about your mother.
Deadline for entering is one week from today--next Friday, May 6, at midnight EST. We'll draw a random name from all entries next Saturday, May 7.
Have a delightful weekend! See you on the blog next week.
~Deb
*A variety of baskets are for sale in Granny's Basket Shop and can be found here and in her Etsy Shop here.
Oh! What a SWEET giveaway!! If I win I will give this gift to my Mom -- she is the sweetest ever ... of course I am biased! ;) Mom never ever left us with babysitters but she quit her teaching job when I was born and spent all her time with us kids! Not only is she a full-time Pastor's Wife but she also homeschooled us and taught us not just the "academics" but the things of the LORD most of all !!!! I have been SO blessed!!!
Happy Mother's Day to you all!