Mountain Musings

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

Love Adventure--Will Travel

I'm not sure if Day Trip Adventure Lover is written as part of my profile or not, but it should be! I love outings that include friends or family, crafts, little shops, antiques, and food.

This week my friend, Dorothy, emailed to say she was in Lynchburg visiting her daughter at Liberty University and what would I think of driving there to have lunch with her.

Okay!...when and where do I meet you?

Here's Dorothy at Olive Garden with her birthday cake and candle the waitress brought when she found out we were celebrating Dorothy's birthday this week--Black Tie Mousse Cake. (You can find the recipe here at Food.com if you'd like to make this four-layer delicacy.)

And here the two of us are just before leaving. We had a very enjoyable time together, and I'm so glad I didn't already have plans on Thursday...such an unexpected treat!

On the way home I stopped at this little antique shop that I've seen many times but never had time to check out--Bittersweet Branch Primitives. It's located at 7 River Road in Faber, Virginia, and that picket fence has always called my name, especially when the shop used to be a nursery located there years ago!

Bittersweet specializes in folkart, garden items, and antiques. You can see some of their outdoor display here. This is the right side of the courtyard with lots of ironware and an antique birdhouse:

And this is the left side with lots of enamel pots and jugs on display:

So if you're ever traveling Route 29 between Charlottesville and Lynchburg and if you like primitives, stop in at Bittersweet Branch Primitives.

This was a "just looking" adventure...nothing came home with me...except the calories from the Black Tie Mousse Cake!

~Deb

I Ain't Fancy ~ Take Me to Smoking Roosters

Often on weekends I'll write a post and ask what's happening in your neck of the woods on Saturday. It's always interesting for me to read what others are doing all across the country on one given day.

Well, here's what happened in my woods: Tom asked me out on a date for lunch! Yes, I'll go!

Where to go though? Something simple, not fancy, something quick but good...did someone suggest Smoking Roosters?

There she is in all her glory ~ Smoking Roosters! Come on...follow me inside. I've never been here.

As soon as we entered we could smell the smoke of the bbq fires a'burning. At least that's what we guessed, but we didn't see smoke outside like you would think an authentic bbq place would have.

There were only two tables. No wait, a third that was sort of a mini table for two by the door:

I have to admit that I wasn't sure about that picture staring down at us as we ate. The caption said, "My faith got me here."

Just a few feet across from our table was a counter and some bar stools. Empty. We were there at noon and were the only customers, although I think they're probably busier on weekdays at lunchtime.

There's a Caribbean section on the menu that featured curried goat (no, thank you), tofu (no, thank you), shrimp (not for me), jerk steak (maybe), ox tail (no, thank you), and brown stew (what's this?). But we ordered one of the regular specials for Saturdays: Pulled chicken with fries and sweet tea for $5.

The only mishap occurred when the waiter set down my plate and spilled my pepsi all over the table and in my lap! After quickly cleaning up the mess, we prayed and started eating. Plum good! The minced pulled chicken was absolutely delicious but was messy enough to use a fork to eat the sandwich to prevent spills. Where's my bib when I need it?

Oh, I forgot to mention that the waiter was generous and brought us a mac and cheese sample, on the house, since we were first-timers. And maybe, too, because I was wearing my pepsi. :)

Here's Tom after he paid for our food. All the cookin' went on somewhere behind those back doors.

Okay, time to call it a date and head home. Here's Tom with a take-home box of mac and cheese for Sarah, the mac and cheese lover at our house:

So now you know what I did. What was your Saturday like?

~Deb

'Tis the Season...

...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:

• Enjoying a couples' lunch date with our long-time friends, Fred and Chris
• Inviting my friend, Dorothy, to visit for some Valley adventures and overnights
• Hosting missionary friends from PNG who were passing through our area
• Experiencing a just-opened little coffee house in Crozet with Tom (for sandwiches but not the coffee, thank you though!)
• Packaging up basket and soap orders (there's still time to order before Christmas---limited selection of baskets left--contact Hannah for availability)
• And preparing for my sister to arrive in a few days to spend Christmas with us. Busy but fun times!

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

Holiday Living Show ~ Guest Blogger: Granny

Last Friday Hannah, Sarah, and I loaded up the van and drove three hours to South Boston, Virginia, for the Holiday Living Show.

With the help of some of the 4-H group, we unloaded and got our tables all set up that evening, and it looked very pretty we thought. The next morning on Saturday we headed to the show arriving around 8:30 a.m., making sure everything was in place before the crowd came in at 9 a.m.

After I sold a basket, I told the folks to go over to Hannah's booth and buy some soap to put in it! Lots of them bought her soap: Our booth was swamped with people through the day, and they seemed to like the baskets. We had fun talking to everybody and met lots of my old friends. It was a busy, busy day, and we were ready to leave by 5:00 p.m. We were tired! The girls packed up all the soaps since they were just doing the Saturday show.

The next day was Sunday, and we went to my church where I've attended 55 years.  It was good to meet all my friends at church that I've known for so long. We enjoyed being there.

I finished up the afternoon show, packed up all the baskets that were left, spent the night with my sister-in-law, and we headed home the next morning.

I'd like to thank everyone for buying my baskets and hope they enjoy them. We had a good weekend. If you weren't able to attend the show, you can still buy a basket here on the blog.

Also, thank you to Deb's blogging friend, Lisa at Shady Grove Journal, because she bought four of my baskets and several of Hannah's soaps. You can read her blog about it and see the photos she took after they arrived at her house here.

~ Granny

NCFIC Gospel-Centered Marriages Conference ~ Part 4

This is the last post in this series, and again it focuses on meeting friends--but this time after the conference was over and as we were on our way back home to Virginia (so I guess officially it's not really about the conference, but in my mind it will always be Part 4 and the last adventure of our trip).

We stopped for the evening in Statesville to have a meal with the Toms family and to tour their farm. Here we are just arriving and getting re-acquainted: Earlier this year our friends stopped by our place to eat with us and told us about their property and small farm beginnings. This was our chance to see their gardens, pigs, chickens, and cows...we are so not cut out to be farmers!Here are the girls posing together outside one of the barns:

Unfortunately, Sarah and I were called in from the farm tour to rush Granny to ER and didn't get to sit down to the meal with them (we hear that it was delicious!):

Thank you to everyone who prayed for Granny and asked about her. Her blood pressure had risen dangerously high, so they admitted her overnight in a strange hospital in a strange city. (After a couple of weeks she's recovered now and was well enough to travel to the craft show this weekend!)

While Sarah and I were racing to the hospital, the rest of the family stayed at the Toms and enjoyed dinner and a musical evening together. Jonathan checked out their dulcimer while Rachel played guitar:

Here's Mrs. Toms recording Jonathan playing some fiddle tunes called Salt Creek and Gold Rush:

Thank you Toms family for being so understanding of the situation and for your great hospitality. We'll have to plan a re-do of the evening with all of us in attendance...except let's not invite ER to the party!

~Deb

Neck of the Woods Saturday

I guess this is what days will be like when all the kids are married and have left home.

Quiet. Very quiet.

Granny and the girls are away at a craft show this weekend in South Boston...hopefully selling lots of baskets and lots of soap! Maybe they'll have a report later next week...

Tom worked outside in the garage, and Jonathan was away helping friends build a new barn.

Today was Saturday Sampler day at Patchwork Plus, so I headed to Dayton with my finished quilt block. It wasn't the same without Sarah along.

I managed to stay gone most of the day since there were many Christmas Open Houses this time of the year. Actually, quite fun, and no one was along to tell me not to buy anything.

Shopping alone has its advantages! :)

What's happening in your neck of the woods this weekend?

~Deb

NCFIC Gospel-Centered Marriages Conference ~ Part 3

Part 3 ~ Friends Who Invited Us Over At the Conference

As we arrived at the conference center and started checking in the first afternoon, we began to see some familiar faces. The Hynes family spotted us and invited us to come over to their room on campus and have supper that first evening with them.

It's amazing the food you can cook on a griddle or in a crockpot when you're not even in your own kitchen with a fridge! Thank you, Hynes family, for the fellowship and food!

Look who else we ran into during the conference...Erich and his family who traveled from Texas (23 hours of driving, ouch!) to attend:

They invited us over to their rented log cabin a few miles away from the Ridgecrest campus after the conference ended for a Texas chili supper and hot chocolate (Thanks, Austin!) by the fire (thanks, Travis!). Whee-doggies! Now this was an adventure!Thankfully, we didn't see any bears out there in the deep dark woods...only a deer head above the door of the cabin. I think I could live here. I loved the plaque above the fireplace:

The dads, David and Tom, enjoyed catching up with each other's lives:

And the moms enjoyed talking round the kitchen table:

Dessert time for everyone!

Before we knew it, it was time to say good-bye and head back to the conference center for the night. We wanted one last photo with everyone in it. Hard to do without a tripod, but Hannah experimented:

...and somehow we all managed to get in this picture! Thanks, Ehlingers, for a very fun evening!

~ Deb

Next up: NCFIC Gospel Centered Marriages Conference ~ Part 4 ~ Visiting friends on the way home to VA

NCFIC Gospel-Centered Marriages Conference ~ Part 2

Seeing folks I know at conferences we attend and meeting new people are two things I really enjoy...actually, I love it!

The National Center for Family-Integrated Churches conference I wrote about in the previous post was attended by 2,200 people! What a turnout! It was so fun to see many folks we knew from Virginia there, but also we saw many old friends from across the United States.

First, let me tell you about two blogging friends that I met for the first time--in real life! I was so excited!

Here's "Mrs. U" from the blog Making a House a Home. She recognized us all from seeing us on the blog, but we'd never seen a photo of her that I could remember. We met her family and kept running into each other throughout the weekend...and hugging every time we did! (Sorry about the slightly out-of-focus photo.) This was a very fun meeting!Below: here we are visiting after Mrs U introduced us to another family she knew from Canada while we waited for Tom who was standing in the long registration line.Next I met sweet Laura from The Muncks Quiver!! Most of her children stayed home to run their family business, but we did meet her husband, oldest daughter Elizabeth, son, and baby #11 at the conference. Behind us Elizabeth and Sarah are getting acquainted:And here's Tom, Jonathan, and I meeting Mr. Munck and Elizabeth as they arrived to check in:Dear friends we know from the Richmond home fellowship group came over to visit. There's Alli on the left, her mom Julie, Alli's little daughter Esther, and Alli's mother-in-law Dawn.

Here I am with my friend Julie: And here's Jonathan talking with Julie's husband, Tony:

A family who drove all the way from California sat behind us at one of the keynote sessions and introduced themselves afterwards. It was so interesting talking with them and finding out we know friends who have attended their church...Hi, Fracchiollas!...small world! Below: also attending the Petersens' church out in California, Miss Antoinette, over at Practical Simplicity, and Hannah met for the first time; they have been online acquaintances for awhile now. Grace, of the Petersen clan above, also joined the girls:Old friends are always fun! Below are the Girotti and Hayden ladies talking at breakfast. We first met through our blogs many years ago, and we posted about their visit to our home here.Hannah met Tiffany from Kentucky and enjoyed eating and conversing together--we learned that we have mutual friends here in Virginia...Hi, Woods!: And last, but not least, we met a family from Washington State who sat across from us at lunch one day. I had never heard of Gig Harbor, Washington, but found out it's very close to Port Orchard. I visited a friend there years ago, so I could picture exactly where they live. It was fun getting acquainted and exchanging email addresses: I hope you've enjoyed meeting a few of the people we ran into at the conference. And there are more, too!

Next up: NCFIC Gospel Centered Marriages Conference ~ Part 3 ~ Folks Who Invited Us Over

~Deb