Mountain Musings

Sunday Hymn

How Can I Keep From Singing?

My life flows on in endless song:
   Above earth's lamentation,
I catch the sweet, tho' far-off hymn
   That hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
   I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul--
   How can I keep from singing?

What tho' my joys and comfort die?
   The Lord my Saviour liveth;
What tho' the darkness gather round?
   Songs in the night he giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
   While to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
   How can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;
   I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smooths,
   Since first I learned to love it.
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
   A fountain ever springing;
All things are mine since I am his--
   How can I keep from singing?

Words by Robert Lowery, 1860. Music by Ira Sankey. Hear it here.

~Deb

A Year of Color - Week 2 - Lemon Yellow

Here's my entry for this week's color choice of Lemon Yellow, hosted by Happy Things in the Year of Color.

Actually, this photo was taken by Hannah a couple of years ago in Dallas at the downtown Farmers' Market when we were there for a photography class. The fruit and vegetable colors were vivid, and we had a great time wandering around taking pictures of everything in sight!

~Deb

I Love Olive!

I absolutely LOVE Bath and Body Works products, and here's one that Hannah just gave me for my birthday earlier this month--Olive Nourishing Face Mask--it's a combination of olive oil and shea butter, and it feels glorious! We'll try it out again this weekend. :)

I have to admit that at first smell it doesn't have the beautiful body lotion perfume-y aroma that you would expect from their products...but after I got used to it, I think it's a very clean, refreshing type of smell. Different. I love it. I even love the drab olive color.

I also just checked the B&BW website and found out if you sign up to receive their emails, you can get this lip product free with any purchase. I love free stuff, too.

Mrs. Wilt over at The Sparrow's Nest recently posted on Feminine Friday and ways to pamper yourself. Do you have a very favorite pampering product? Share it with us. :)

~Deb

Special Friends Visit

Today was a special day that had been penciled in on the calendar for awhile now--the day my friend, Chris, and six of her ten children from Newport News traveled to visit us. We've always had a fun time whenever we gotten together with them through the years! Chris and her family are friends we've known for 25 years!

I rolled the grill around to the front sidewalk which was still in shade and grilled some spicy chicken to be served over salad. Sarah prepared Mexican rice, and Hannah made French bread (recipe from Erin). Our friends brought the delicious almond-flavored, fudge-iced brownies for dessert--yum--thanks, Laura!

We walked around the yard and garden and talked about flowers and veggies; the kids played with Pepper; we took lots of pictures; and everyone said Hallelujah! when the air conditioner repairman arrived after lunch to finally fix our A/C! Could this be the day we get our cool air back?! Yay!

Time passes much too quickly whenever we visit, and their leaving time of 3:30 p.m. rolled around before we knew it! They loaded up the van for their 3-hour drive back to Newport News, and we said our good-byes until next time. Fun visit with fun friends! Thanks, Fred, for sharing your family with us!

~Deb

Look What Came in the Mail!

Is this a cool purple bag or what?! I just found this in my mailbox today from Cindi over at Cindi's Sewing! I love it!

And...she included one of her beautiful pin cushions and a crafted card. Here's what the card says:

"Friends come in all shapes and sizes, need no alterations, and never go out of style!"

Cindi, you did an excellent job! What a special day I've had with friends visiting for the day and then receiving this wonderful package from you! Thank you, Cindi!

~Deb

12 Extraordinary Women

The ladies over at GirlTalk blog have started a GirlTalk Book Club, and we'll be reading the book by John MacArthur titled Twelve Extraordinary Women (How God Shaped Women of the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You). (If you don't have the book already, you can click on the title link above or on the book in the left sidebar to order from Amazon.)

Here's the scoop:

* We’ll pick a book and post it on our sidebar.
* Each week, we will read one chapter, and we hope you’ll read with us.
* Along with the chapter assignment, we’ll ask a question and invite you to submit your answer.
* Among the answers, we will choose one to post.
* That person will receive an author-signed copy of the Girltalk Book Club selection.
* We will also comment on the chapters as we go along.

Click here to read the first Book Club assignment. The first assignment deadline has been extended until next Thursday, August 3, to give everyone a chance to order and receive their books. So you still have time. I picked my copy up yesterday from our local library; so I'm anxious to start reading! Will you join us? Sounds like it should be a fun and learning time.

~Deb

The Sweet Aroma of Blogging

This week's theme in the Carnival of Beauty is The Beauty of Blogging and is being hosted by novelist Mary DeMuth in France at RelevantBlog. Be sure and visit her blog on Wednesday when she'll post the links to all the participants this week.

Blogging--whoever could have imagined such a thing a few years ago? For the past year-and-a-half, blogging has become an interesting part of our family's life. Two years ago I only knew one blogger, my sister, whom I knew sat in front of her computer and read and wrote "blogs," something I'd never heard of before! What the thrill was we didn't know, and why she would spend valuable time each day checking updated blogs written by people she didn't even know was something we couldn't fathom.

Well, she decided to let us in on the thrill and gave us a family Christmas present of a Typepad blog back in 2004. Since that long ago day, we've written 677 posts and received 2282 comments, and Jonathan even branched out with his own blog last year. As you regular readers know, Mountain Musings is a group blog written by different members of our family; the subject matter varies considerably depending on the blogger, so when folks check back here they never know what they'll find!

Being a keep-in-touch, letter-writing type of person, I have found that I absolutely love connecting with people via the blog! We've moved away from many friends throughout Virginia over the years; however, because of the blog, folks can keep up with the Girotti goings-on...almost daily. Friends across the country can dial up and read what the girls are making for supper, the latest on the rabbit invasion, or see our most recent quilt project.

My long-lost-friend, Tammy, found us one day when she decided to type in our name and surf the web. We connected after years of losing track of each other when her family moved overseas. We've shared prayer requests since and feel more a part of each other's lives.

I really enjoy reading blogs written from other countries, too; we can learn so much by bloggers' daily lives in a different environment than our normal one. It's a continuing geography education even though we've finished the homeschooling years.

Amanda at Following an Unknown Path has increased our awareness of serving in Taiwan. I love her blog! Check out where she eats! Sherrin at Small Things in Australia includes photos of Tasmania where she lives; it's been interesting because we have mutual friends in Texas who used to live in Tasmania so we're getting to see a part of their countryside! I've only been to Canada once for an overnight, but Susan has whetted my appetite with her beautiful scenery of Vancouver and the church they've planted there. It's a small blogging world out there!

Only within the last month have we personally met bloggers we knew just from reading about their families online...we connected with Carmon (from California!) of Buried Treasure Books and the Serven Clan (from Missouri!) at the History Conference recently! And now, since meeting them was such fun and a rousing success, I wouldn't mind having a blogging get-together with several Virginia bloggers and inviting everyone over for lunch! John, Lisa, Cindi, Susan P., Donna, and Mrs. Wilt...sound like a possible fun future event? (Although I think I might feel a little intimidated serving tea the proper way if Mrs. Wilt attended! Hmm, I'll have to work on my etiquette a little first.)

I know the Lord can use blogging to encourage and uplift others because I've benefitted from reading how He has worked in other families' lives, and we'd like to use our blog for His glory in whatever way we can.

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;"  ~ II Cor. 2:14-15

~Deb

Treasure Tuesday

I have a new treasure--an Amish red star! My friend, Dorothy, found it in Pennsylvania last month for me after I wrote a post on the expensive stars I had seen around at various shops in the area. We met for lunch during the History Conference, and she brought the star! I love it! I love the price--$11!

Tom just hung it last night from the topside of our shed vent after gluing some styrofoam squares to the underside of each point so they won't scratch the siding when the brisk winds blow--as they are known to do on our hill. He actually may need to end up adding wire to the lower points and stablizing it on the ground. I hope not, but we'll see.

The white trellis is new this spring...but the hyacinth bean plants I grew from last year's seeds and planned to have covering it by this point in the summer mysteriously disappeared. I planted more and covered them with flexible netting; hopefully, I'll have some purple vines and blooms climbing before frost hits. If I do, I'll try and take another picture.

Thanks, Dorothy, for a neat red star! It really adds to the shed, don't you think?

~Deb

OneSpice - That's All It Takes

Here's a product that we love and think you will like, too! It's called OneSpice and is exactly what it's advertised as..."one spice for everything." It is the work of one woman who experimented with all kinds of different spices to come up with the perfect blend to put on hamburgers, chicken, steak, and fish...but also good in meatloaf, pasta, potatoes, and on and on...

Her website states the mixture contains the following: parsley flakes, pepper and lemon seasoning, garlic, onion powder, spices, sage, thyme, salt, cornstarch, paprika, sugar, and canola oil. (It's $5 for an 8 oz jar, plus shipping, although it's sold locally at the Dayton Farmers' Market Cheese Shop. I didn't know that until I checked the website; it'll save shipping costs if I need some before the next local craft show, where we first found OneSpice.)

Sarah uses it mostly for her Spiced and Diced Potatoes, which she just prepared this week when Micah and Elizabeth came over for dinner. (We should have snapped a picture!) And my sister has requested Sarah fix this recipe when she comes to visit in the next couple of weeks.

• 2 - 3 lbs of potatoes, diced
• 2 Tablespoons OneSpice
• 2 Tablespoons Powdered Cheese (optional)
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Cube potatoes (peeled or non-peeled) into 1/2 inch cubes. Put potatoes, OneSpice, olive oil, and cheese in large mixing bowl. Stir several times until potatoes are covered evenly. Place in large flat skillet and saute until crispy brown (15 min) OR place on cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes (which is the way we fix them). From experience, fix more rather than less as they are eaten up quickly!

~Deb

Packing Heat - Well, Sort Of

We have laid out hair, sprinkled mothballs, put up netting, hollered out the window and clapped hands, set up traps -- all to not much avail.  The aggressor bunny hordes are still invading our land, munching our plants as they go. And they have enlisted allies from among the chipmunk, groundhog, and deer nations - the axis of evil.  Diplomacy has failed, and we are not going the Neville Chamberlain route.  This is war, bunnies.  Be afraid; be very afraid...

Our family has never really used or thought much about guns before.  But the necessity of self-defense (and a little inspiration from the Servens) has brought us to the point of mustering our army.  Recently, we rendezvoused with an arms dealer (clerk at the local Walmart) and made our first weapons purchase: a $70 Remington/Crosman pellet/bb air rifle. Next on the agenda: a little boot camp rifle training.

Here are some photos from our first training camp, showing PFCs Jonathan, Hannah, Sarah, and gunny Sargent Dad. The army, operating under a tight defense budget, had to improvise a practice target: a fan box with a paper plate taped to the middle of it. A red bulls eye was added with magic marker to bring it up to military spec.  Many shots were made, and most hit the box. Very few hit the plate.  More training coming, troops!

Conspicuously missing from our first camp, though, was our most zealous anti-bunny warrior, Mom. She promises that she'll come up to snuff soon enough and that she'll bag more than her share of the enemy.

The winds of war are blowing....

~ Tom