Mountain Musings

Good Advice

"If you look at the world you'll be distressed.

If you look within, you'll be depressed.

If you look at Christ, you'll be at rest."

~ Corrie ten Boom

We received the above quote in an email from our pastor this morning. I think it's good advice to start the day.

~Deb

Apron Show & Tell

Recently I linked to Tammy's Times and her post on aprons. In that post she linked to several good apron websites, and if you didn't get a chance to check out the article on Apron Evangelism, it's worth the read!

Lots of other ladies are writing about aprons on their blogs now, too. And we're all posting pictures! Here are the Girotti girls in their aprons just in time for Show & Tell. Check Tammy's Times later tonight as she's linking to all the ladies who participated.

Unfortunately, we don't have any particularly interesting stories behind our aprons. The ones Hannah and Sarah have on are probably hand-me-downs--passed on from who knows where. Mine is brand spanking new! I just ordered it after all the flurry of apron links from KitchenWears. I love it because I don't have to tie it behind! And I love all the colorful fruits on the fabric.

Thanks, Tammy, for organizing the Show & Tell!

~Deb

Treasure Tuesday

Chimes...I love them! They surely get a work-out at our house as the wind is our constant companion here on the hill. However, more often than not, they are inside over in a corner waiting to be put back up. Because...instead of a gentle tinkling, the wind creates quite a cacophony, and they are taken down. I love to sit on the porch and listen to them chime away anytime!

These windchimes are Gregorian Chime Alto handcrafted in the Hudson Valley by musician/instrument designer Garry Kvistad who "precision tunes them to create harmonies in the slightest breeze." This particular chime has eight notes which "surround the listener with the peaceful patterns of ancient chant."

We'd sure love to have you join us for an evening of chiming. Call me before you arrive so I can make sure they're up and tinkling. :)

~Deb

The Long Awaited Day

Yes, today is the B-I-G  D-A-Y ! The medical board exams for Micah began at 8:30 this morning and will last until 5:30 this evening. P-R-A-Y  H-A-R-D !

He traveled to Richmond last evening and checked into a motel so he could get a good night's rest and not have to deal with any traffic problems this morning. He drove downtown last night and found the location of the testing center so he would have everything scoped out.

As he is testing all day, Elizabeth is driving 9 hours from Georgia to meet us all in Charlottesville for a dinner celebration tonight. Whew! Two years of med school completed plus the board exams--a reason to celebrate!

And...it's only 4 days until the wedding! I don't have it all together yet! We're staying at my sister's house in SC on the way to Georgia the first night, and she's not ready for us...yet.

If the Lord lays the Mountain Musings gang on your heart, we need lots of prayer this week for lots of things. Thanks!

~Deb

Under the Old Apple Tree Part I

Here's our Techniques of Plant Propagation class sitting out under the old apple tree on a beautiful Saturday afternoon listening to Mark Viette, son of Andre, describing various methods of plant divisions. The almost 3-hour session was very informative, and I came home with some new knowledge, along with 15 newly divided plants for our yard. For any interested gardeners, I'm including the notes I took below and in the continuation.

Mark began his lecture by encouraging us to use quality tools to make our gardening efforts easier.

• His first tool recommendation was an Old Hickory All-Purpose Paring Knife, which is very durable and does not bend back for dividing plants. They sell for around $7.
• Old fashioned meat cleavers also work well for dividing hostas and daylilies (not the cleavers used in cooking but more heavy duty ones); sometimes yard sales are good places to find them.
• Utility razors (99 cents each or a pack for $3) are good on a smaller scale for cuttings and division of flowers.
• Paint all your tool handles orange so you don't lose them in the yard or mix them in with garden waste.
• Clean tools often to prevent transferring diseases from plant to plant. 1 part Clorox to 9 parts water: dip tool in solution and allow to air dry. Clorox will kill fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Viral problems spread and affect flowering and growth. Don't leave tools overnight in Clorox as it will rust your tools; just dip. Make your dip solution 1x - 2x a day because Clorox evaporates and loses its effectiveness. Spray your work area with the same Clorox solution, and you will have a very clean area in which to work with your plants.
• One of his handiest tools seemed to be the garden shears they sell in the Garden Shop. I had my eye on those because it's hard to cut the grass growing inside the chicken wire fence with the weed eater. However, after learning the shears were $75 I decided that was one tool I didn't have to own. :) Spray your shears with WD-40; a quality pair of shears never need sharpening.
• Always use brand new trays or pots for seedlings. Don't ever re-use old pots because fungal organisms can mess up your seeds.

Honor Those Who Gave Their All

"I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did."  ~ Benjamin Harrison

~Deb

Antique Books For Sale

What a long but fun day! Our morning was spent yard-saling, and Hannah and I found some treasures worth losing some early morning sleep for!

Our most productive stop was a large book sale located in the building right next to the Green Valley Book Fair in Mount Crawford. Folks were everywhere; traffic directors were herding cars into empty spots; and cars were backing up to the building and carting away boxes and boxes of books. Evidently the $1 per hardback was too terrific a bargain to pass up.

Who likes antique books? You should have been with us! The open-air building contained several aisles of tables loaded with books related to every subject you could name: history, crafts, religion, professions, childrens, and LPs of all musical genres. I found a thick German Dictionary (German to English and English to German) for Jonathan, as this summer he plans to brush-up on his German course from a few years back.

Most of the books I bought were published in the late 1800's or early 1900's. Since I'm not knowledgeable on whether my finds are great deals or not, if anyone knows and cares to comment, please do. Here's a list of my antique book treasures:

• Masterpieces of the World's Best Literature, copyright 1910
• Eclectic English Classics, Macaulay's Life of Samuel Johnson, copyright 1895
• Riverside Literature Series: A Dog of Flanders and The Nurnberg Stove, copyright 1902
• The Golden Treasury (Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language), copyright 1912
• Ben-Hur, A Tale of the Christ, copyright 1880
• Harper's Language Series, English Grammar and Composition, copyright 1877

My afternoon was spent at the techniques of plant propagation workshop, and my evening was spent planting all my free plants! I'll post my thoughts and notes on that adventure on Monday.

~Deb

Addition to our Cookout

Thanks to Elise for posting the Three Bean Salad recipe (and picture) just in time for our Memorial Day cookout. I have a recipe we usually follow when we prepare Three Bean Salad, but this year I'm trying this one because it looks delish!

~Deb

Finally Friday!

Yay! It's Friday. Is everyone glad? I have been working hard enough all week to take today off and go out and about. When I saw the description below for a yard sale in the classifieds this morning, I decided to head out and see what treasures might be lurking in someone else's junk.

"The useful, the exotic, the beautiful - we are downsizing our household. An amazing assortment!"

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary's definition for exotic is as follows:

1. introduced from another country: not native to the place where found
2. archaic: foreign, alien
3. strikingly, excitingly, or mysteriously different or unusual

I tried putting on my creative glasses to visualize how I could transform some of the mysteriously different items I saw today. That's what the article over at Groggy Froggy suggested doing when you go yard-saling. But I guess everything was just too exotic for my homey country tastes. The yard sale included lots of exotic paintings, foreign statues, and "stuff" that didn't fit my decorating scheme. I came home with nothing, and I'm sure Tom will be glad.

Now that I think about it, I probably should have checked the dictionary before I left to see what the word exotic means. Oh well, there are always the "everything-must-go" Saturday sales.

~Deb

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Planted Yesterday

1. Bush Green Beans, Kentucky Wonder

2. Purplehull Peas, Pinkeye

3. Cosmos, Seashell

4. Cockscomb, Giant

5. Gazania, Kiss

6. Scabiosa, Imperial

7. Zinnia, Royal Purple

8. Watermelon, Gurney's Delight and Jade Star

9. Cantaloupe, Sweet and Early Hybrid

10. Squash, Waltham Butternut

11. Pumpkin, Calabaza

12. Peppers, Big Bertha, Golden Bell, and Pepperoncini

13. Cucumber, Burpless Supreme, (in a pot for Aunt Bet)

Yesterday was a full day of planting several more things in the garden, mainly in the newly-plowed field section....I finally had a chance to get all the flower seeds in the ground that we ordered "free" from Gurney's this year. Originally I had planned on starting some of them indoors, but the company sent them a little late--we'll see how they come up. In addition to the above, our garden now includes tomatoes, corn, blackberries, raspberries, sunflowers, sweet peas, nasturtium, morning glory, and anenome. The only thing left to put in will be the yellow and zucchini squash. Pictures to follow once everything sprouts! Now, if only the robins would stay away from the strawberries...

~Hannah