Mountain Musings

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

Happy 43rd Anniversary to Us!

Well, I promised a post about...two old people at the beach...and here we are, celebrating our 43rd wedding anniversary! Two weeks ago we were enjoying some time away walking a somewhat empty beach each day and watching the waves.

We had debated about what to do for our anniversary this year...a day trip in Virginia? A quick overnight someplace close? Or even...a trip to Michigan to visit Mackinac Island, one of the places I'd suggested as a possibility and would love to go to one day...and then afterwards we could visit Hannah and Christopher in Michigan.

Well, we ended up at North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina...a place we had vacationed once years before when Granny and Hannah were with us.

This time of year was a perfect time to go...with kids back in school and the beach deserted:

View from our room:

One of our activities was going on a dolphin watching tour. Here we are getting ready to board:

We enjoyed riding on the boat on an absolutely beautiful day:

Yes...we did see dolphins! When the tour guide asked if there were any questions, I asked, "Do you ever see them jump?"  Answer: "Rarely. Not like you always see in dolphin shows."

The captain and tour guide thought this siting below was excellent. I'm thinking they should put this picture on their brochures and website instead of jumping photos! Ha.

Another most interesting activity was taking a wildlife and nature cruise. I think it was my favorite activity of the trip.

The covered boat was perfect on a hot day, and there was a very enjoyable breeze on the river. The tour guide gave the best narration we have ever heard on a tour...interesting, knowledgeable, and humorous.

We explored the cypress-lined Waccamaw River on this wildlife river tour. The peaceful scenery was very nice! We saw osprey and their nests, heron, egrets, and many turtles sunning themselves. No alligators, although the guide was looking for one!

Other fun activities included mini-golf, eating at fun out-of-the-way places, riding the Sky Wheel, treating ourselves to ice cream, and spotting a fisherman catch a shark on the beach!

Here's Tom at River City Cafe...one of those dives that ended up having excellent food:

And here's Deb at Fenderz on the way to our destination. It was fun trying out new places:

This shark that was caught by an excited fisherman was thrown back in:

The Sky Wheel and a view from inside our gondola:

A lady on the beach volunteered to take our photo:

And Tom wrote in the sand for our anniversary as he's done in past years...a heart and Happy 43rd. Aww....:)

Blast from the past...here's Tom on our 25th anniversary writing on the beach in San Diego:

Another blast....even I got in on the act...writing in the sand "Deb loves Tom."  This was on our honeymoon 1980 in Chincoteague, Virginia:

And the honeymooners holding hands over the writing in the sand...those were the days of youth--wow, 43 years ago! Great memories looking back over those long ago photos this week:

Well, it was a very nice anniversary trip! And on the last night we were there, someone even set off a fireworks display on the beach outside our window to send us off:

~ Deb

 

Next Up:  Hosting a Family of 9