Mountain Musings

Our Week At A Glance

Welcome to our week at a glance....where Sarah, Mom, and I will share about some of the activities we have been accomplishing at home.

Mr. Puffenbarger from Southernmost Maple Camp asked me to make a special batch of maple soap, using his maple syrup, to sell at the upcoming Highland Maple Festival in March, so I got right to it! Two additional scents of soap have been poured into my molds this week, ready for spring sales. I also delivered an order of soap to a local gift shop.

Another large project that has been in the works is several matting and framing jobs. A friend asked me to custom frame two rooster art prints for her, so while I have all my materials out, I am also gradually completing 12 cross-stitched pieces that have needed to see the light of day.

These stitched pictures were done by either Sarah, Mom, or me within the last...ahem, 10 years. This winter is a great time for me to dig them out and get them to the point where they can actually hang on the wall. We spent time choosing the right color mats, and I measured and cut out the mats and the necessary foamcore. I will be stretching the fabric around the foamcore to ready it for framing. Right now everything is all spread out on Granny's bed--thanks, Granny! :)

Below is one of the almost finished framed rooster pictures. Jonathan and Dad came to my assistance with the final hanging hardware. I'm so happy these are now ready to deliver!

Mom read about a moisturizing eye cream made with just coconut oil and vitamin E; she mentioned the idea to me, so I whipped some up for her while supper was coming together one night. So simple!

And the meal we were making was Peppery Chicken, which we had prepared ahead of time and frozen back in December. It just needed cooking up on the stovetop, and we served it in lettuce-lined homemade pita pockets, pictured below. I made some extra pitas as my weekly trade in exchange for fresh eggs.

~Hannah

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This week, besides some various cleaning projects, I have been in the middle of menu planning. Hannah and I will each be taking a week to plan, shop, and make all the supper meals. My assignment is next week, so it's been fun coming up with my menu. I always like to keep my meals secret, so I won't go into what I'm planning yet. :)

I can say that I did some bartering as well - I made a big pan of homemade brownies in exchange for a chicken that may just turn up on the supper table. Maybe there will be some posts next week about how everything turns out!

~Sarah

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Oh, my! I turned around and blinked, and a whole week has passed!

It's been a busy week as I've waited for the heat pump repairman! He arrived three different days to change out the motor, and change it out again; but this afternoon we finally have heat upstairs!

I've also been planning my trip to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton--taking place just two weeks from now! Emails have been flying back and forth with friends in Williamsburg trying to set up lunch and dinner get-togethers as I pass through that area the first day.

My friend Chris, who invited me to come, has been planning out our activities while I'm there. After the Quilt Festival, we may take a day to have a Girls' Sew-In or visit some quilt shops? Or both? I think these are going to be some fun play dates, and I can hardly wait!

I've also been at the sewing machine finishing my Saturday Sampler Block of the Month. Since the bed is still in the living room...ahem...I decided to make good use of it and put all eleven blocks inside the bed for a photo:

The pinkish block in the left row, third one down, is the latest block I sewed this week. Our final BOM class is this Saturday...so when I finish the last block, it will go in that empty 12th spot you see. I finished another sewing project also....and I'll post about that later. With Sarah doing all the cooking next week, I'll have plenty of time to put some Valentine letters in the mail!

So that's what we've been doing instead of blogging! What can you check off your list this week?

~Deb

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Food Conference

Today begins a series of several Deep in the Heart of Texas posts to catch you up on what we experienced at The Reformation of Food and the Family conference sponsored recently by Vision Forum in San Antonio, Texas.

This was our first trip to San Antonio and for some of us our first trip to the state of Texas. Here we are pictured at the Henry Gonzalez Convention Center during one of the lunch breaks before workshops begin:

Below: Doug Phillips of Vision Forum introduced the speakers for the three-day event beginning with Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms located here in the Shenandoah Valley. Joel spoke in workshops and as the keynote speaker including the topics Redeeming the Earth; Local Food to the Rescue; and Holy Cows and Hog Heaven.

All of us Girotti ladies enjoyed the various ladies' forums which included hearing Michelle Dugger speak on Revitalizing and Reforming Hospitality; Practical Tips for Feeding a Large Family; and Frugality and Health: Feeding Your Family A High Quality Diet While Staying on a Tight Budget:

One of my favorite workshop speakers was Nancy Campbell (below) who spoke on A Glorious Vision for Femininity, Food, and Hospitality in the Christian Household; The Family Feast: How to Transform Meal Time into a Feast for Body, Soul, and Spirit; and The Power of the Family Table.

I loved her sessions because they all dealt with hospitality, and she was a unique and enjoyable speaker. I'll have to start putting into practice some of the things we learned!

Other sessions included learning about A Practical Approach to Addressing Environmental Toxins, Treating Chronic Illness, and Restoring Health; Lyme Disease and the Way to be Well; Nutrition in Fitness; Diet and Dementia: Care for Aging Parents Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease; and Food as Medicine: Eat Well and Be Well.

Here's Dr. Michael Bernui who spoke on Your Genes Are Not Your Destiny: Why Lifestyle and Diet May Trump Genetics in the Battle for Your Health and Understanding Seven Types of Toxins and the Proper Response to Them:

Guest speaker French Chef Francis Foucachon (below) spoke on The Joy of Food in the Christian Home; Starting Your Own Restaurant; and What We Can Learn From the French About Food.

There were many more speakers and topics that made up the conference. Suffice it to say that it was a very full three days! Deciding which 10 of the 40 workshops to attend was quite difficult.

Our family enjoyed the food conference and feel that we learned some practical ways to improve our health. In a nutshell: eat less food, eat more often, and drink more water!

Next up: Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Friends and Fellowship at the Food Conference

~Deb

Birth and Labor Support Class

This past week, Hannah and I had the blessing of attending a class held by some friends of ours, to learn more about God's design for pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and how to support a woman in labor.

Our friends are taking a doula course, and this class to pass on their knowledge to other young ladies was a part of the course requirements.

We each had a folder of information and charts waiting for us at our seats. Jenny and Sarah started out by reading a timeline of the development of the baby week by week from the book Christ Centered Childbirth. 

After that, the morning was spent on learning about the stages of labor - the physical and emotional signs in the mother, and how the labor support person could help them through it.

They performed a humorous little skit demonstrating the excited first nesting phase of labor. They emphasized that at this point REST is the key. :) 

Also as part of the class, there were a number of quizzes to help cement what we learned after each phase was talked about. The winners were able to pick a prize from an assortment of gifts - each attendee brought a little something to contribute to the prize table.

Side note: I made bean bags! Just recently I won a giveaway of a set of these, and I thought they were so cute! It seemed like they would make a fitting baby gift, so I made another set using the tutorial that was on the blog I won the original set from. This was a great project to use up some of my leftover scraps! They were all filled with lentils - they were a nice size and not too big. These bean bags are great for young children to help them learn their numbers and simple addition and subtraction while having fun.

Also, I made a simple drawstring bag to hold them all together. The tutorial had instructions for a bag, but since I didn't have any scraps big enough, I just had to make up a similar design that would work with what was available.

Hannah kindly labeled it for me, as my handwriting leaves much to be desired. ;) Anyway, this was my contribution, and hopefully I can also make a set for myself soon as well.

Teaching Soap

Last Friday we hosted another soapmaking class here with another set of ladies and daughters. Once again, we all had a great time learning and fellowshipping together! Mom, Sarah, and Granny helped me with a great amount of the preparations, and I focused on explaining the procedure clearly--easier said than done, so I was thankful for the opportunity to refine my teaching.

It was a beautiful spring day, and the awning set up on our deck came in handy, even if several hands had to keep it from blowing away at times!

Armed with aprons and rubber gloves, we were ready to get into the nitty-gritty of the recipe.

Family Strategies Audio Giveaway

strat-e-gies: The art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal.

Calling all Christian families--it's time for another special giveaway here on Mountain Musings (courtesy of Vision Forum)!

Family Strategies: Practical Issues for Building Healthy Families is a new audio webinar to encourage Biblical thinking in several areas of raising children and building God-honoring family life, such as mealtimes, family worship, sibling rivalry and character training, hospitality, entrepreneurship, and more. Read further details and hear samples of the topics here.

One of you readers will receive a free "ticket" to this series, allowing you to participate by downloading the 30 minute weekly episodes, hosted by Doug and Beall Phillips. The series begins this coming Tuesday, March 1st and lasts 20 weeks. Listen to the messages at your convenience.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post telling us one of the 20 topics you'd like to hear or that interests you the most. I'll start. I'd be interested in listening to How to Prepare for a Year of Home Education.

This post is now closed and giveaway winner has been announced!

If you are interested in ordering this series, be sure to do so by February 28 to save $10 and get 2 bonus messages.

~Hannah

Goat Milk Soap Session

Last week I had the privilege of teaching a private soap lesson to an interested couple who hope to sell homemade soap from their farm, using their very own goat's milk. L.D. and Dawn are friends of ours who were unable to attend our last soapmaking class, so we made a special afternoon of it! I enjoyed sharing again what I've learned thus far about the process of soapmaking.

This time we worked in the kitchen, opening the window for ventilation when working with the lye. Together we attempted the touchy technique of using 100% goat milk as our liquid; Dawn brought fresh milk she had frozen in preparation.

Dawn's husband is an expert woodworker, so he contributed a beautifully-made wooden soap mold to contain our 7 lb. recipe. Below Dawn is just about ready to pour her rose-scented oatmeal soap into the mold at the end of the day. We had a great time experimenting together!

In other soap news, you'll notice on the right sidebar a button for homemade soap--for sale from Pleasant View Soaps (me)! Need a last-minute Christmas gift? Go check it out. :)

~Hannah

A Surprise 30th Anniversary Photo Quilt!

In a recent post I referenced a quilt pattern, 30 Stars for 30 Years, that I purchased especially to make a quilt as a remembrance of our 30th anniversary. I intend to do that this fall. However...

Little did I know the girls were planning quite the surprise for us with a quilt of their own. When we returned from our trip this week, we were presented with a 30th Anniversary Photo Quilt that Hannah and Sarah made while we were away. The final stitches were sewn just a couple of hours before we arrived!

Jonathan was part of the surprise, too, and he donated money to help out, contributed ideas/scriptures for the quilt, and basically gave support to the girls as they burnt some midnight oil finishing the quilt before we returned.

Here we are outside holding the treasured quilt:

In the four corners are pictures from our wedding in 1980. Each of the other pictures is a photo taken of us from each year of the 30 years we've been married.

As the girls were scouting through old albums looking for pictures of us as a couple, there were no pictures of the two of us together to be found anywhere for years 1984 and 1985. They opted for a photo of me with baby Hannah in 1984 and Tom with Micah, Hannah, and baby Jonathan in 1985.

So...make sure you find time to take a picture of you and your spouse each year as you grow old together. You never know when you might make an anniversary scrapbook or when someone will need those photos for a quilt! :)

Here are some of the ideas and scriptures written on the quilt:

• "You place importance on spending time together as a family."

• "You have set a godly example of fulfilling your Biblical roles of leading and following."

• "You highly value prayer and pray faithfully for each of your children."

• "Mother dear, thanks for homeschooling us and writing us welcome-back-to-school notes!"

• "I appreciate your desire to maintain Biblical convictions in our family even though they may be against the flow of the world."

• "For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations." ~ Psalm 100:5

And 20+ more blocks are written within the quilt for us to read and treasure. I wish you could see it in person! I am thrilled to have this remembrance! I love the whole idea! What a wonderful gift!

Now Hannah will describe below how she and Sarah went about making the photo quilt.

~Deb

Deluge of Diapers

In my diaper update last May, I said I wouldn't bother you until I had stacks of finished diapers to show. That time has come! In a little over a year and a half, I finally managed to sew 70 pocket diapers. 26 mediums, 28 smalls, and 16 newborns are done and ready to put on a baby! I was able to cut more than I thought out of my fabric, so that's why the amounts are a little odd. :) I still want to make some larges as well as sew up some fleece covers, but I feel like the bulk of my sewing is done right now!

Far left row is newborns. Next 2 rows are the smalls. Next 2 rows are mediums. The row on the right is all the diapers that I have won in giveaways. :) And I have 3 more (Fuzzi Bunz!!!) in the mail. Ahem.

Here is a side by side comparison of the three different sizes, medium to newborn:

Now they are all neatly put away in a box on my closet shelf, ready for future use. :) Whew! Now maybe I can concentrate on some other projects!

(Other diaper posts can be found here, here, and here.)

~Sarah

Sewing a Colonial Costume

For the 4th of July, our young friend Madeline had been dreaming of a colonial dress just her size. She and her mom selected Simplicity pattern 3725, and Sarah and I had the privilege of helping them complete this project recently. I was thankful for the opportunity to refine my sewing abilities and assist them with this homemaking skill. We spent the day with our sewing machines and tables set up in the living room.

Excitement increased as the dress quickly took shape. Above, we are marking the pattern with a chalk wheel onto the colorful fabric she chose and pinning together the bodice of the dress.

Madeline was eager to take part in every step she could. Here she and Sarah see to some inevitable seam-ripping.

Jenny, Madeline's mother, tried her hand at sewing some seams on our Bernina machine, which she agreed was very smooth to operate!

It's coming together!

By the end of the afternoon, we were ready to begin putting in the many gathers of the skirt.

Sarah finished up attaching the sleeves to the bodice as Madeline took note. The remaining tasks such as adding a zipper, lace, and a hem were completed just in time for Madeline to wear her new dress at the 4th of July celebration festivities. She looked like she stepped out of history!

See other entries to In Stitches blog's Finished Friday parade.

~Hannah

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Random Musings ~ Past, Present, & Future

1. Don't you think it's time for a catching-up post since we've been missing in action on the blog again? Yes, I thought so! Did you miss us?

2. Lots of yard work has been completed this last week (the mulch pile is gone, but I almost need more!), and the garden picket fence project is all done! I love, love, love the new picket fence!!

3. I've missed participating in Bloomin' Tuesday for the past two weeks, so here's a sampling of what's blooming in the flower bed that runs alongside the shed. Hopefully, I can post some up-close photos for the next Bloomin' Tuesday.

4. Hannah has been super busy in the garden tilling and preparing the beds; here she is planting a new asparagus bed. We've just discovered this spring that we love this veggie! Now we need patience to wait a few years for the bed to become established.

5. Granny and Hannah shopped for plants in anticipation of the last frost date of May 15th. Maybe we can get all the veggies in the ground while Granny is still here.

6. Mother's Day was an excellent time around here! Tom and the girls served breakfast in bed to Granny and me--both of us together in her bed! (No pictures, please!) French Toast and an edible fruit bouquet were the highlights...yummy! Plus, flowers from the garden, pictured above, graced the table.

7. We also enjoyed having guests visiting our home fellowship on Mother's Day, and Tom arranged a special treat for the mothers and grilled steaks and hamburgers for everyone for lunch. Hannah made Bobby Flay's delicious Fra Diavolo BBQ Sauce for basting. Yummy and spicy!

8. Sarah made a special Mother's Day chocolate cheesecake to serve. I'll post a picture here, and hopefully she'll follow up later with her recipe. Doubly delicious...and all gone so quickly!

9. Sarah and I attended our Saturday Sampler monthly class this past weekend...and took our completed blocks. That's always a good thing--to go with your homework done! Here's a photo of the Show &Tell portion of the class. It's inspiring to see what other quilters have done!

10. And have we mentioned how much we've missed Jonathan being around the supper table with us for the past week? He's been in Mississippi repairing planes his company sent there to help with the big oil spill. He may be gone another week or two?

11. And have we mentioned how much we'll miss Granny--not only around the table but around the house--when she leaves for my sister's in South Carolina? Hannah and I will drive her down and stay a few days, and Sarah will hold down the fort with Dad and Pepper. We'll get Granny back in August.

12. And Hannah, Tom, and I are gearing up to attend a Photography Boot Camp in northern Virginia with some of the families we met at the recent Hymn Sing. Jonathan had planned to go, and we will miss him participating! Hopefully, we can post about our excursion when we return. Sarah and Granny will hold down the fort with Pepper.

13. And if not enough is going on, I signed up for Julie's (Jaybird Quilts) Modern Siggy Block Swap. I already have the fabric needed (I won it!)...so basically it's almost a free quilt. I'll receive 100 different blocks from quilters all over the country and world, and they will receive one of my blocks! I just couldn't resist signing up! It will be fun since my friend Chris is doing it, too!

That's what's been happening around here! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. See you on the blog next week!

~Deb