Mountain Musings

Christmas Prepping on Old Greenville Road

Over the River and Through the Woods...to Jonathan's house we go!

We always love being invited over to Jonathan's place and enjoy riding on the country roads to get there:

We were greeted with his house on the hill being all lit up for Christmas! Side Note: It's still pumpkins and Thanksgiving decor at our house!

Saturday morning was buying-a-tree and decorating-it day for him. So he invited us over for our traditional tree trimming party afterwards of orange danish rolls and hot apple cider.

When we arrived, we spied two gifts already under the tree...for us, he said...trim the tree party gifts! What?! Now...is this a new tradition he's starting?  :)

The wrapping paper he picked was quite perfect for him!

And we found him busy in the kitchen with food prep:

We enjoyed putting on the ornaments while Christmas music played in the background:

One of his special ornaments from childhood from his Aunt Ellen:

And this one he received as a celebration of him moving into his new home last December from his Aunt Toots: The taco soup I brought over as the supper offering hit the spot on a rainy evening:

And, of course, the celebratory orange danish rolls were the dessert--always delish!

We concluded the fun evening by playing the Double Six Dominoes game Jonathan had placed under the tree for me:

All around it was a very enjoyable time and a great start to the Christmas season!

Looking forward to enjoying a meal with extended family at Jonathan's after Christmas!

~Deb

Happy Thanksgiving From Our Family to Yours!

We're spending time with some sweet little munchkins this week...already it's been a great Thanksgiving, and the bird hasn't made his appearance yet!

These kids have been so excited!

We are missing Aunt Hannah and Uncle Christopher this year, but they couldn't travel with the imminent appearance of their little baby. However, Aunt Hannah sent Thanksgiving coloring sheets for all the kids:

Matthew wanted to show me his new Bible. He was very proud of it!

Their Thankful Turkey....the kids thought of things and people they were thankful for and wrote them on the turkey's feathers. Here's Andrew showing me all the things he and his siblings put on the list!

Granny and Grampa are in grandparent heaven!

Uncle Jonnie is a hit with everyone!

So tomorrow is the big celebration with all of Sarah's in-laws....should be a very fun gathering! 

We hope your Thanksgiving is full of lots of things to be thankful for!

~ Deb

A Visit Back to My Hometown ~ South Boston, VA

Last week we made a trip back to my hometown of South Boston, Virginia. It's where I lived for 28 years of my life...before Tom came along and whisked me away to other various locations in Virginia. I've loved living in this beautiful state.

The main purpose of our visit was to check out Granny's headstone engraving in the cemetery there...it's almost been two years since the funeral when we traveled to South Boston.

I guess it was a good thing we checked! The death date was not engraved. So we spent some time checking into the matter with the funeral home, filling out paperwork at the headstone place, and paying to have the work done next month. Sadly, it turns out the engraving was not prepaid as we thought.

We had contacted friends in South Boston to see if we could stop by and visit while we were in the area. It was great getting to see Carolyn and Garnett again and catch up on each other's lives.

I loved strolling around her yard seeing her flowers, landscaping, and her fully-decorated She-Shed.

The guys talked together while Carolyn and I strolled and talked:

And here's Carolyn standing in front of her She-Shed...which actually seemed like a Tiny House! It was furnished and adorable inside...perfect spot for ladies' teas and bible study gatherings.

Here's the She-Shed located next to their garage--just a beautiful setup. I loved the birdhouse, fence, and roses growing there to the right of the shed, with all the pebbles and stepping stones:

Sitting area inside the shed/tiny house:

One wall's decor states: Love grows best in little houses like ours!

I sure loved looking around at all the special things she had inside, and it got me hankering to renovate my garden shed...not to this extent for certain.  But a little sprucing up could help!

Let's go inside the main house now...here's the eye-catching front door! I love this green color! Do you remember the post where I painted my She-Shed door yellow? Find it here.

And the beautiful table-setting she planned for us:

The welcome chalkboard on the table in the background:

Each place setting included a different scripture card for us to read aloud after the meal. Menu: Chili with baked potatoes and all the toppings, cornbread sticks, and apple cider:

Take a look at the dessert glasses, which was a coffee latte with pumpkin spice whipped topping and moose tracks ice cream, topped with a leaf cookie:

Carolyn truly made everything so very special for us! Thank you, sweet friend!

One of the activities while we were there was touring Berry Hill Mansion/Resort. It's located directly across the street from Carolyn's house and is a beautiful property.

The website has lots of inside photos of the mansion if you're interested in booking a room!

After spending the night in South Boston (not at Berry Hill), we went on our way bright and early and headed south to visit my sister in South Carolina for the week.

Wish I could show you pictures of our days there...but we were all so busy, no pictures were taken!! Tom was a handyman for her doing tons of activities which involved changing an extra bedroom into her craft room and installing shelving and rearranging the entire room. Now that she's retired, she has time to be creative!

It was a very productive week, and I'm so glad we went and especially glad that we stopped by South Boston before heading to her house. It was an enjoyable and needed week away!

~Deb

To Michigan and Back!

        

Been traveling...

 

The last week of September we packed up and headed to Michigan to visit Hannah and Christopher for the first time since they were married last September, 2022!

It was a long anticipated visit to see how they were settling into married life, seeing the way Hannah had decorated and set up her new home, visiting our oldest grandson while in the state, and participating in a virtual baby shower for the little boy Hannah and Christopher are expecting in December!

This will be our 8th grandson...who joins our only granddaughter!

It was so fun seeing Hannah work in her own kitchen and enjoy all the special touches she planned for us:

The first day we were there was extra special! We traveled 2-1/2 hours from Hannah and Christopher's home to visit our grandson, and it was wonderful to see him again! He's certainly a tall cool dude!

First activity...treating him to lunch out!

This was our first time at Zingerman's Deli, and it was all very unique, including all the freshly baked bread on display:

Great sandwiches, great fellowship, and a wonderful fall day out!

Our second planned activity was heading to a local park to geocache...a favorite thing to do outside to enjoy the nice weather:

On the hunt...for the first geocache. Success! Grampa spotted this one under the bridge:

Next...2nd geocache involved some rock climbing. Unfortunately, this was a hard one (or destroyed one) and could not be found:

The third and final hunt for the afternoon was a micro-geocache and was found magnetized to the iron posts of this bridge:

Time out for some photos with Grampa and Granny along the route:

We finished up the afternoon by visiting an apple cider mill where we enjoyed apple slushies, apple cider, and apple donuts!

The next day was Hannah's virtual baby shower for mostly our church ladies here in Virginia, hosted by her sister Sarah and Sarah's mother-in-law, Victoria (both long distance in Georgia).

So here's the setup in Hannah's living room. Since no one was attending in person, everyone sent their gifts either via Amazon or the postal service. Before the party started, I was responsible for opening all the boxes which had arrived and putting the gifts into gift bags for ease of Hannah opening during the virtual shower and to look prettier.

The hostesses were great and went beyond expectations with sending us decorations and also sending each family attending a gift card to buy their own snacks for the party. It was like everyone was really attending and eating snacks together!

Hannah planned the menu for the two of us with her gift card...and she prepared the food and set it out as if we had a crowd with us!

Looks like a lot of eats for just two of us! Although Tom and Christopher popped in for the snacks. :)

And here's the setup for the folks on-screen to participate virtually. What a great way to include long distance friends!

Here's Sarah, one of the hostesses, on her end of the computer (sorry blurry), testing out various baby boy party backgrounds to set the stage for the online shower:

I was so glad that I could be with Hannah while she opened gifts....we were a party of two!  Thank you to everyone who attended and sent gifts! And thank you to the marvelous hostesses, Sarah and Victoria!!!!

One evening Hannah and Christopher hosted a campfire cookout for us, and Christopher's family came over to visit. We sat around the campfire til dark, and then everyone went inside for a hymn sing before saying goodnight:

On our last night there, we went down to the pier and saw the sunset at Lake Michigan. This was such a beautiful evening:

And here we are with our loved ones:

Looking forward to their little one making his appearance in a couple of months:

Well, all good things must end. Our long awaited visit had come to a close. Hannah wanted a final photo of us in the early, foggy morning before we drove off:

On our return trip to Virginia, we made plans to stop by and see friends in Indiana from over 25 years ago when we were in church together in Newport News. Thanks Pat and Gail for letting us pop in and say hello. Great visit!

We absolutely loved our visit to Michigan and can hardly wait to travel back again!

~Deb

Hosting Family Friends!

Our Labor Day cookout was a very special time spent with friends stopping by on their way from New York to Atlanta to Oklahoma to Texas and to who knows where next!

Long time readers of the blog will remember our friend Erich who worked with Jonathan at the airport for a few years, attended our home church, took mountain hikes with us, ate meals around our table, and sort of became an honorary member of the family.

See the post where his family in Texas came to visit us here in Virginia back in 2009. And then part of his family visited again earlier this summer.

Well, this was extra special because Erich visited with his wife and now seven children!

One of our excursions while they were here was stopping by Natural Chimneys close by. Here are the Chimneys from a distance! Impressive.

Tom posing with Erich. It had been at least a decade since we'd visited here:

I think the kids enjoyed exploring inside the walls of the chimneys:

Then we proceeded to our main destination, Reddish Knob, located on the border of Virginia and West Virginia state lines. Great views!

Here I am with Tom enjoying the top of the mountain at Reddish Knob:

Erich, Beth, and their newest baby:

Exploring on his own!

Playing at the top of the mountain:

After we drove down the narrow road to get back to civilization, we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch at Wildwood Park, and Jonathan was able to join us on his lunch break from work:

Afterwards Erich treated us all to Smiley's Ice Cream!

The temperatures were extremely hot in our area these days they visited, so the kids enjoyed some cooling off time on the Slip 'N Slide:

Very excited children:

Then the day arrived that they needed to continue on their journey. We sure enjoyed hosting them in our home!

Sunset the day they left:

~Deb