Mountain Musings

Spring Break ~ Goats, Music, & Fellowship ~ Part 2

Spring Break week continued as we eagerly waited for the rest of the family to arrive in South Carolina on Good Friday. We were all scheduled to attend the late afternoon performance of The Living Gallery at Bob Jones University. Driving on campus is always a treat when the trees and flowers are in bloom. It was just lovely:
This was our first time to see this magnificent production where actors step out of paintings and then back into them (and vice-versa) to actually become part of the painting. If you didn't see it happen, you'd never know the characters were real. We loved it!

And my motto of always taking a camera with me everywhere I go? Fail! I left it behind because no photography was allowed inside the auditorium.

And what happens?! I met my blogging friend Becka, who writes Becka's Blog, for the first time InRealLife! She and her husband, Rob, were attending the same showing, and she had spotted us in the crowd and came over. Ooh, I was so disappointed when our cell phone camera didn't work! Becka and I will have to plan a real get-together another time with lots of blogging pictures!

Saturday and Sunday we traveled further south to Aiken to visit new friends that some of the family met at last fall's White Unto Harvest conference in Asheville, NC. Here we are getting acquainted with the Hammond family:First order of business was a tour of their dairy--so very interesting for all of us who know nothing about goats! We saw the milking station and the processing area where the milk is handled and where cheese and goat's milk soap are produced for several Farmers' Markets they attend each week:Thirteen goats were ready to be milked...most by machine, but some new mama goats needed milking by hand since little goat babies were newly born that morning! We arrived very close to milking time, so guess what? They allowed us to participate. Hi, Goats!And, yes, all of us practiced milking! Even I was talked into it! But Sarah was a natural and caught on quickly: The fresh milk from the mama goats was put into bottles for the babies...here are Hannah and Sarah holding some very cute little baby goats just before they fed them:  The Hammonds' daughter and son-in-law from Canada were visiting with their little daughter while we were there. It was great meeting them, too. Caleb talked with Jonathan while one of the kids had some fun nibbling on Jonathan's pants: Here are all the Hammond ladies, including little Miss Victoria:Jonathan takes a turn at feeding one of the newborns. This one was named Frisky: Now Hannah takes a turn feeding Peaches...there were enough newborn babies so everyone got some practice: Sarah always seems to find the doggies...or they find her:After a delicious meal around the table, we brought out instruments and played some Celtic tunes and sang a few hymns: Here's the Hammond family having fun as they prepare to sing for us: We also had an enjoyable time looking at wedding photos and watching the wedding video of Caleb and Jordan. Ethan, one of the Hammonds' sons looks along with Tom and Sarah: The next morning, Resurrection Sunday, we attended the Hammonds' home church fellowship which consisted of six or seven families. They met in a beautiful log house nearby.

Here Tom and I are posing with the Hammonds after the service...Mr. Hammond is the pastor of the church:We enjoyed the Easter brunch the ladies of the church prepared and also enjoyed fellowshipping with the families there:This home church day brought back many good memories of when church families met in our home for several years:
Flowers were blooming everywhere, and the day was just beautiful for outside conversations also. The Hammonds' youngest son, Noah, plays on the deck with the other children:Thank you, Hammond Family, for your gracious hospitality and friendship! We certainly enjoyed the visit!

~Deb

Quilt Festival ~ Getting There ~ Part 1

Last Thursday began my wild, wonderful weekend quilting adventure, and I arrived home Sunday evening--tired but excited about the friendships renewed and the fun I had--and the sewing that was accomplished!

Since I was driving through Williamsburg on my journey to Hampton, I wanted to stop and visit some friends we knew when we lived in the colonial city for ten years back in the 90's. I planned a full itinerary!My long-ago homeschooling friend, Christine, and I met for lunch here at The Old Chickahominy House on Jamestown Road. Have you ever experienced eating here? It's quite popular.Here's the porch sign below that greeted visitors and announced their pies of the day:We both enjoyed Miss Melinda's Special - Cup of Brunswick Stew, Old Virginia Ham on Hot Biscuits, Fruit Salad, Homemade Cherry Crumb Pie, and Tea. It was so nice to see my friend again. Thanks, Christine! Next on my itinerary: I invited myself to our former neighbors' home who used to live in our cul-de-sac and who now live in an independent-living facility. We have fond memories of our neighbors hiring the kids many times to help in their yard and reminisced about our time in Williamsburg. She knew I was headed to the quilt festival, so she showed me her sampler quilt, below. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, I didn't quilt when we lived in the same neighborhood for her to give me tips...I was too busy homeschooling those years!Next stop: Duke of Gloucester Street! One of our favorite past times when we lived in Williamsburg was walking down DOG Street, finding the Colonial Bakery, and buying a gingerbread cookie and hot apple cider.

Another long-ago homeschooling friend, Beverly, and I strolled the street for old times sake! She treated and bought us both cookies and ciders as we walked and chatted. Here's Beverly with one of the colonial interpreters: My sister-in-law in Connecticut used to work for Colonial Williamsburg as an interpreter, so these next pictures are for her--maybe she'll recognize some of the workers pictured:

My last stop in Williamsburg was to the home of our Japanese neighbor who lives directly behind our former home. Chiaki was in our neighborhood Bible study along with this couple who also was invited to dinner at her home: Chiaki prepared some traditional Japanese appetizers for us...three dishes this southern girl had never experienced before. The cute little pouches to the left are Inari Sushi, and the food to the right is Sushi with Smoked Salmon, with capers on top.And the mango shrimp fruit dish was delicious, consisting of mango, shrimp, parsley with lemon juice, curry powder, olive oil, salt/pepper, and ginger. It was quite spicy, and the fruit was delicious:The rest of our menu included piping hot beef stew with a flavor unlike any I'd experienced...very delicious. Bread and a green salad accompanied our meal. Dessert was Banana Nut Cake topped with Vanilla Honey Yogurt with strawberries and blueberries. Chiaki worked hard in the kitchen for us!

Whew! What a day full of renewing friendships! I enjoyed myself a lot! I still had a half-hour drive in the dark ahead of me before I arrived at my quilting friend's house for the night.

The next day's plans were to attend the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. Stay tuned for more from our wild wonderful quilting weekend. We've only just begun our adventures!

~Deb

Sunday Hymn ~ My Jesus, I Love Thee

My Jesus, I Love Thee

William Featherston, 1864. Music: Adoniram Gordon, 1876

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

~~~

Whenever we sing this song, as we recently did in one of our Friday night devotional hymn times, I get a bit teary-eyed with memories of where I was singing this very song many years ago.

Back in 1977 when I was but a wee girl of 25, I traveled with a friend to Israel and visited the Holy Land. That is a story in itself, and I loved the trip!

After our ten-day tour of Jerusalem and surrounding cities, we were encouraged to go on the extended two-day tour of Rome and see, among many other places, Mamertine Prison where Paul was secluded.

In lieu of my own faded pictures, if you click on this link, you will see 9 photos showing Mamertine Prison from the outside (pictures 1 - 4), steps going down inside the underground prison (picture 5); and then you'll see a group of folks standing there in the small room where Paul was imprisoned (pictures 7 - 9). I traveled down those same narrow steep steps.

I stood in that dark, damp, dungeon.

I sang with the group, "If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now."

Long-ago memories.

~Deb

A New England Thanksgiving

We traveled up to Connecticut to visit Dad's side of the family for Thanksgiving. It was good to stop in and see Grampa's new apartment and listen to him reminiscing with stories of Italy, WW2, and family history.

~My Grandparents~

Everyone gathered midday as we enjoyed snacking, chatting, and preparing for the bountiful meal.

Time for pie and games!

South Boston ~ My Hometown

This past weekend I traveled with Granny and Hannah back to my hometown--South Boston, Virginia--for the Holiday Living Show. I always enjoy seeing the town where I was born and lived for 28 years, so I thought I'd post a few pictures before telling you more about the craft show.

Here's a very empty Main Street looking south down Route 501 on Sunday morning just before we headed home:The building with the green awning to the left was originally Faulkner & Lawson Drug Store where we used to stop by the soda fountain and lunch counter for grilled cheese sandwiches and hotdogs. I still remember their pineapple sundaes--a favorite treat of mine as a little kid growing up.

Turning around and looking the opposite direction towards Route 501 north, you'll see behind the trees, Lantor's, a 100-year old ladies' clothing store, where I purchased many outfits back in the 70's:And below is the original Carrington Library--a cozy little house stuffed with thousands of books and where I spent many enjoyable hours back in the 60's:And last is my elementary school where I attended 6th grade (Mrs. Pulliam) and 7th grade (Mrs. Wesson)--and where I remember first hearing about the JFK assassination:Okay...that was a trip down Memory Lane. Are any blog readers out there from South Boston who have any memories to share in the comments?

Well, Granny, Hannah, and I arrived at the local high school (newly built since I was there) on Friday afternoon and unloaded all the baskets, soap, and photography cards and started setting up the displays: Here's Granny and her booth all ready for customers. Her two-pie basket sold first thing, and the potato masher baskets were popular, too:Many friends came by...just about everybody in South Boston knows everybody! Here I am with my friend Carolyn: And here I am below with Carolyn's sister, Doris...also a good friend of mine:  Below Granny visits with old time friends, Doris and her daughter, Susan. Susan guessed that over the years she's bought at least 100 baskets from Granny...if not more!We had good sales but not quite as good as Dayton Days last month. We were home again by Sunday afternoon, and Hannah re-organized her soap boxes so she'll be ready for the very last Farmers' Market of the season this coming Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday at the local Farmers' Market...Sarah had another new helper to take Hannah's place this past weekend. Jonathan was a great salesman and sold 33 bars of soap on a dark and chilly market morning: Well, I think that catches you up on our latest adventures! I hope you enjoyed seeing my hometown!

~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 1

This past weekend our family traveled to Asheville, NC, to attend the Gospel-Centered Marriages for a Glorious Church conference, sponsored by the NCFIC (National Center for Family-Integrated Churches), held at Ridgecrest Conference Center.

This was our first time to attend a family conference at this location, and we enjoyed it tremendously! The conference was designed to bring parents and their children together to consider the biblical doctrine of marriage and to prepare the rising generation for gospel-centered marriages.

Here we are waiting for the opening keynote session on Thursday evening and chatting with our friends, Mike and Ginger:

Some of the session titles we heard included: Principles of Courtship, Equal Yoking (one of my favorite talks and very practical), How Fathers Qualify Suitors and Receive Daughters, Friendship in Marriage (another favorite), What is the Role of Romance and Emotions, Wedding Ceremonies and Covenants, and many others.

The cds of the conference are now available for order here. And more posts and photos can be found on the NCFIC blog (scroll down).

Next up: NCFIC Gospel Centered Marriages Conference ~ Part 2 ~ People at the Conference!

~Deb

An Early Anniversary Get-Away

In just a couple of weeks Tom and I will celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary. So....

Last week we planned an early getaway and spent a few days in the southwestern part of our state and attended the Virginia Highlands Festival in Abingdon--very interesting area to visit and one we'd never traveled to before now.

Our agenda included stops at quilt shops (three of them), country stores (I lost count), antique shops (a couple), a yarn shop, eating at little out-of-the-way places, and attending a play at Barter Theater (below):

Tom went fishing one morning at Holston Lake...I watched him fish while working on one of my UFOs. Very relaxing.

This area is well known for hiking and biking the Virginia Creeper Trail. I had never heard of this trail and actually had no intention of getting on a bike...much less biking the 17-mile-downhill trail. Famous last words...

Tom rented us both bikes. Uh-oh.

We were shuttled to the top of Mount Rogers, and from Mile Marker 33 down to Mile Marker 16...we biked 17 miles...with many rest stops and many aches and pains between here and there.

Fortunately for all of us, there won't be pictures posted of me riding on the adult trike...thank you for asking though. :) Here's my favorite scene along the route:

On our last evening there we went on a guided historical walking tour of the city, and here's my favorite house below...the boyhood home (1820) of Rev. Robert Sheffey, "the Saint of the Wilderness."

Sheffey was a legendary, circuit-riding frontier preacher who gave up wealth and social position to spread the Word of God. We've seen the Sheffey film many times so this was very interesting to us.

We had a wonderful time! It's good to be back home though and settling into the routine again. Both my Bernina and my computer need dusting off so I can get back in the quilting and blogging business!

~Deb

A Backward Glance at 2010

Happy New Year, Everyone!

We're celebrating not only the beginning of a new year but the beginning of our 7th year of blogging!

Oh, my, it is hard to believe that we received Typepad as a Christmas gift back in 2004, and after 1,550 posts we're still at it! We're thankful to have made so many new friends in the process. Thanks for reading and commenting and being one of those friends!

We're taking a look back at 2010 in photos and thanking the Lord for the blessings He's given us throughout this past year:

January, 2010 ~ The Blessing of Friendship

Last January I met my friend, Dorothy, at Wintergreen Ski Resort (blogged about here), and Tom and I met our friends Fred and Chris in Richmond for a lunch date at Ukrops. We also met as couples again in September (blogged about here). I'm thanking the Lord for special friendships!

February, 2010 ~ Delivering a Cake

Sarah, our diligent dessert maker, takes cake orders by word-of-mouth advertising, and if Dad needs a cake for any of his work functions, he knows who to ask(blogged about here).

March, 2010 ~ Making Melody

March ended up being the month for music. Hannah and Sarah practiced for the upcoming Hymn Sing in northern Virginia.

April, 2010 ~ New Garden Fence

Jonathan and Erich worked hard to get the posts in for the new fence (blogged about here). And (below)Tom and Hannah unload all the pickets. I love new fences! This spring we'll be painting it white.

May, 2010 ~ Geo-Caching

This is a local waterfall that we never would have known about until we followed the geo-cache coordinates and clues. What a beautiful spot at the end of a hike!

 ~ Photography Boot Camp

Tom, Hannah, and I traveled to Fairfax Station to participate in a photography boot camp. It was an excellent time of learning (blogged about here). 

Also in May we spent a week at my sister's in South Carolina. See days 137-142 in Hannah's photo album.

June, 2010 ~ Our Friends Moved Away

Our church friends moved back to Chicago, and we still miss them.

June will definitely be remembered for the hospital trip and major surgery; I spent the summer recuperating, and I'm thankful the Lord brought me through that rough time.

July, 2010 ~ Celebrating a Birthday!

I love birthdays, and this family really spoils me! Fun!

August, 2010 ~ Opening the 30th Anniversary Quilt

What a surprise this was (blogged about here)!

~ Anniversary Trip to Canada 
August was all about our 30th anniversary! Here's the link to the post that sums it all up with links to each day's adventures in case you missed them.

September, 2010 ~ Baskets Everywhere!

The month of September: baskets! Here's the link to Granny's series of guest posts.

October, 2010 ~ Travels from North to South!

~ Family trip to Connecticut to see Tom's side of the family

Jonathan and his cousin fished from the backyard dock at Tom's sister's home in Niantic while Grampa and Hannah watched. We enjoyed visiting the Connecticut relatives before heading north to Saratoga and on to Niagara Falls.

~ Niagara Falls, New York

This was our first time at Niagara Falls--what a powerful force in God's creation! Jonathan posted another picture of the Falls on his blog here.

~ Satellite Beach, Florida

We returned from Niagara on a Friday afternoon...the very next morning Granny, Hannah, and I left for Florida! What a whirlwind of travel! But so very fun! Here's a link to all the posts on our Florida trip in case you missed them.

November, 2010 ~ Jonathan turns 25!

Sarah prepared one of Jonathan's favorites ~ Turtle Cake.

November will also be remembered for soap making classes and visiting friends at Thanksgiving.

December, 2010 ~ Baking Cookies

Baking gingerbread cookies for Christmas...this was before the oven malfunction which means the oven broiled instead of baking the cookies!

~ Uh, Oh...

Why do bad things happen to good gingerbread men??  We're waiting for the repairman to show up--hopefully this week to fix the problem.

~~~~~            ~~~~~            ~~~~~            ~~~~~           ~~~~~

Well, that's been our 2010...and we didn't even mention quilting and gardening and all the other things that make up our lives here at Mountain Musings. But if you stick around in 2011, I'm sure we'll be off on more adventures with plenty of pictures to share!

We hope your 2011 is a good one!

~Deb

Canada Part 4 ~ Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Loved About Our Canada Trip

1. I absolutely loved flying! This picture of the clouds from the window seat on our plane was one of the first things on our trip that I thought was amazing.

 

2. Attending the Indian River Festival Concert at Historic St. Mary's Church in Kensington was something interesting and different to do. The concert was presented by Viva Voce, a vocal ensemble dedicated to classical repertoire. The first half of the concert was sung in French (we couldn't understand a thing!), but the songs after intermission were sung in English. The second half was much more enjoyable. Here's the church below:

 3. One morning we toured The Citadel in downtown Halifax. It was the only day of our trip that it rained a bit, and the weather seemed quite appropriate to the surroundings.

I'd never heard of this historic place before...but if we go to quilt shops on vacation, then it only stands to reason that we go to historic places, too. Actually, it was quite interesting.

 Tom liked seeing and hearing the bagpipers, and I enjoyed the piping hot Chicken & Barley soup and homemade bread.   

4. Just about everywhere we went we saw Canadian flags flying. The familiar white background and red maple leaves were everywhere we traveled. I loved seeing the Canadians' patriotism.

5. A full day of experiencing firsthand Anne of Green Gables. First, at Avonlea Village. There were many beautiful flower gardens to admire as we walked the streets, a chocolate factory where we watched candy and chocolate-coated potato chips being made, and a Wee-gospel singer in the village church to hear.

6. We enjoyed watching characters in various parts of the Village act out many scenes from the Anne of Green Gables' books. Left to right on stage below: Marilla, neighbor Mrs. Rachel Lynde, Anne Shirley, and Matthew in the rocking chair.

7. Next, that afternoon we toured the original site that inspired L. M. Montgomery to write the Anne of Green Gables' books.

8. To finish up our whole day devoted to Anne, that evening we attended Anne of Green Gables ~ The Musical at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. It was WONDERFUL!!! The actress who played Anne Shirley was outstanding and perfect for the role!

9. The parade celebrating Old Home Week just happened to take place during the time we were there. The floats, bagpipers, clowns, horses, Mounties, and giant balloon characters were great. I love a parade!

10. Seeing moose signs like this one in New Brunswick was exciting although we never saw a real moose! But the signs certainly kept my eyes glued to the road with my camera ready just in case! 

This was as close to a moose as I got. I thought I should take advantage of the opportunity while I could!

11. Ditto for not seeing a whale...we scheduled a whale tour; it was cancelled because of fog; we rescheduled, it was cancelled for the operators' family emergency; and then we changed plans so we could take a different whale-watching tour boat on the last day we were there.

The ride waaaay out in the ocean in hopes of spotting a whale was really nice, but no whale tail to be seen. Here I am below ready to get on the boat.

12. Bay of Fundy ~ Hopewell Rocks ~ World's Highest Tides are here!  We stood right down there on the ocean floor at low tide. It was amazing to think that in just a few hours everywhere we walked would be underwater!

13. The most fun thing of all was being with my sweetie and celebrating 30 years together!

I hope you've enjoyed these past days of posts and pictures of our trip to Canada. Now, when will I get around to scrapbooking these 1700+ pictures?!

~Deb

Also in this series:

Canada Part 1 ~ Meeting Island Sparrow in Real Life!

Canada Part 2 ~ Bloomin' Tuesday, Halifax Public Gardens

Canada Part 3 ~Work in Progress Wednesday ~ Mahone Bay