Mountain Musings

And the Winners are...

Last week we celebrated our 1,000th post with a fun giveaway. As Sunday night's 6 p.m. deadline approached, we had heard from 35 commenters, all hoping to win one of four prize packages we had put together for the occasion.

First, Hannah wrote all the names on slips of orange paper and put them into a straw hat. Sarah shuffled them very well. And then Hannah, without looking, drew out four winning names.  Here they are:

• Giveaway #1 - Sarah's homemade chocolate:  Cindi
• Giveaway #2 - Jonathan and Tom's music CD: Jane
• Giveaway #3 - Hannah's assortment: Dorothy
• Giveaway #4 - Deb's assortment: Island Sparrow

Congratulations!! And thank you to everyone who participated! We wish that you all could have won. I'll be contacting all the winners, and soon some mailbox goodies will be winging their way to you from Mountain Musings! Enjoy!

~Deb

Encyclopedia of Me ~ S is for...

Sundays!

"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer...Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God..." (from Acts 2)

And so the Church is born, the household of God - with simplicity in fellowship, prayer, the Word, worship, and with the Lord Jesus as head. The apostles soon had the saints meeting together regularly on the first day of the week, dubbed "the Lord's Day" to commemorate the day the Lord was resurrected, our modern-day Sunday. It's a day we really enjoy...

We first met the Wagner family last year, followed by a providential encounter in Martin's grocery store. After some emails and phone calls, we started getting to know one another with visits to one another's homes. They are a dear and gracious family who love the Lord, and they are a joy to be around. The Lord has knitted our hearts as we have spent time together discussing views on family, church, theology, leadership, schooling, etc., as well as learning each other's backgrounds and having some good old fun. After some months, we decided to take the plunge and started meeting together as a fledgling church. We swap hosting, hospitality, and teaching back and forth.

We've enjoyed fellowshipping with several visitors including the Murphy family and their five children who were in the area from Washington State, a local farm intern who stopped by as he searches for a church to attend, and Deb's mom who has visited a few times.

Our Lord's Days together typically start with greetings, smiles, and chat, followed by prayer and singing some hymns (some chosen ahead, some chosen spontaneously). Then we'll usually share about what is going on in life, praises and testimonies on how the Lord is working, concerns and prayer requests, then prayer together. Then, more hymns (we'd like to start learning some psalms in parts soon), followed by the main teaching with some expansion and/or questions by the other men.

We pray and move to the eating area to celebrate the Lord's Supper with the elements and a meal (thanks, ladies!). A couple of hours of relaxed fellowship follow, and eventually we disperse home -- encouraged and thankful for the blessing of those whom God has brought into our life.

~Tom

Trunk Treasures on a Rainy Friday

Today has been a very r-a-i-n-y day here in the Shenandoah Valley (praise the Lord for this rain!), and we love these chilly fall days. The lights are twinkling in various rooms of the house, the candles in the windows are burning, Spicy Vegetable Soup is simmering for tonight's meal, and there are Christmas hymns playing softly as I open my trunk of craft treasures.

My mom found this trunk in an antique shop many years ago and had it refinished on the outside and covered with fabric on the inside. I love the black latches and placed a ceramic heart to hang from the center latch that says..."When life gives you scraps, make quilts!" This trunk has a bottom part and a separate sectional drawer that lifts out on top. It is loaded with lots of craft patterns, a ton of cross-stitch leaflets, aida cloth, quilt batting, and things I had forgotten I had! It is a heavy job to lift the drawer out to get to things below!

That's a log cabin quilt top that I must have begun back in the 80's lying across the drawer. I didn't remember that it was tucked down in the bottom of the trunk. I should make a list and come up with a plan to get all these unfinished projects completed!

Tom gave me the harvest angel on the window sill this past anniversary, and that's a white-steepled church birdhouse just making it into the picture bottom right. When the trunk lid is closed, a gigantic Christmas cactus sits on top.

I've been having fun rummaging through my trunk today. So how do you spend rainy days?

~Deb

Our Dream List for the VF drawing!

Kim over at Life in a Shoe is sponsoring a $750 VF giveaway, and five families will win their dream list--up to $150 worth of products. All you do is come up with your own list of VF items, announce it on your blog, and link back to her post by tomorrow, Friday, October 26.

Here's a partial wish list from the new Vision Forum catalog that we've come up with, but there are so many great new items in the 2008 catalog we had a hard time choosing our favorites (and keeping it under $150)!

• Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer by Kelly Bradrick, $17
• Hospitality CD by Alexander Strauch, $10
• Children and the Dominion Mandate CD, by William Einwechter, $10
• Providential Battles II by William Potter, $25
• The Master's Plan for Fathers by Scott Brown and Dan Horn, $35
• Bible Lessons for Manhood from the Battlefield of My Father's Youth by Scott Brown, $25
• The Influence of Older Children on Younger Children CD by S.M. Davis, $10
• Gossip: The Plague of the Church CD by Scott Brown, $10

If you don't get the Vision Forum catalog, click here for a link to a download of the catalog as a pdf.

~Deb

Vacation Finale and a Poll

This post will wrap up our Kentucky trip, and lest you think all we did was stay on the go while on vacation (as evidenced by previous posts), here's a picture to show that we did get in a little R & R!

One of the highlights of any vacation for Sarah is finding an indoor pool wherever we're staying. Another plus is finding it completely empty of other vacationers, as was the case this time! Double yay!

I'm usually the designated mom who doesn't mind sitting poolside and keeping an eye out for her as she swims as late as she wants, and this particular night I was joined by Tom. I'm knitting another dishcloth while he reads. [Simple fact of life: Women like to talk while they knit; Men like to concentrate when they read. :) ]

Here's the vacation poll:

1) What time of the year do you like to vacation? summer? fall? winter? rather stay home?

2) Do you like a vacation that's full of activities--things to see and do, pictures to take, shops to browse, unique places to eat, and memories to make--(like I do!) or a vacation that's more relaxing--sitting on the beach reading a book, fishing by a mountain stream near your secluded cabin, or just doing nothing?

So which would you pick...full and fun? Or relaxing and...not quite as fun? Just kidding! I'd probably love the secluded cabin, too! It would be fun to hear what your family enjoys. Thanks for traveling along with us to Kentucky!

~Deb

Family Vacation - Riverboat Cruise

All aboard the Dixie Belle! It was our first time on the Kentucky River, so we had our cameras ready for the hour-long cruise, hoping to see some birds and wildlife on our journey.

It was a hot afternoon as we waited for the captain to open the gate so we could grab a spot under cover of the sun. Most of the passengers wanted to go above deck in the sun, however, so we had plenty of space for our crew.

Our destination was a few miles down the river headed toward High Bridge. Our knowledgeable tour guide and Captain of the boat told us we would be passing under the highest train tracks above land, and we did see several trains pass by loaded with cargo during the short time we were on the river. There were actually two tracks, and if you didn't know that and saw two trains headed toward each other, you would think for sure they were going to crash head on right above the boat as it passed under the tracks! Well...it definitely would have made for a more exciting blog post. :)

We carried on a conversation off and on throughout the journey with a lady and her aunt who were visiting the area. It seemed she was enthralled with our family and thought it so unusual that older children would enjoy traveling with their parents on vacation. How unheard of! The fact that we were traveling as a family with children in their twenties and having fun together hadn't even dawned on us as being out of the norm. But evidently it is.

Below, Granny points out a blue heron on the shore to Jonathan, and that was about the extent of the wildlife we saw while on the river.

All in all, it was a very nice afternoon's trip and allowed us to view some wilderness areas along the river where all was still and peaceful and where there was no evidence of man's intrusion.

~Deb

Next: Vacation Finale and a Poll

Our 1,000th Post & A Giveaway!

Can you believe it?! Today marks our 1,000th post in just under three years of blogging. It's been a fun journey, and we wanted to do something extra special to celebrate! Yes, it's a giveaway!! But not just one giveaway--we've come up with four giveaways!!

The Mountain Musings crew has each personally selected special items for our 1,000th post. Check out the various giveaways below and tell us which one you'd like to win!

Here's how it works:

• Leave a comment on this post by 6 p.m. next Sunday evening, October 28, and tell us your favorite post subject we write about and/or what you'd like us to write about more.
• In your comment tell us whose giveaway you'd rather win. If your name is drawn, we'll try to fulfill your favorite (first and second choices of your favorites would help).
• We'll mix up all the entries in a hat and randomly pick (fair and square) four commenters to be the winners of our four giveaways.
• We'll contact the winners for snail mail addresses so we can mail out the packages right away. (International entries welcomed, except for choice of Giveaway #1.)

Giveaway #1:

My giveaway is going to be a tin of my homemade assorted candy - fudge, fudge drops, and "trash." Perfect for all chocolate lovers. :) There's also a sample issue of the magazine, Cook's Country, full of recipes, tips, and ideas. (Since the tin full of candy will be rather heavy, we can't ship this particular prize internationally.)   ~Sarah

Giveaway #2:

Our giveaway will be musical in nature! Indeed, it will be a small CD comprised of 4 to 5 tracks of authentic Girotti instrumentals. You might call it a Girotti Sampler; dulcimer, flute, guitar, and whistles will all make an appearance. We hope you enjoy it. ~ Jonathan and Tom

Giveaway #3:

The items you might win that I am giving away include: a few different varieties of flower seeds harvested from the Mountain Musings garden, a set of my original watercolor/calligraphy thank-you notecards, a fall fabric-covered journal, a postcard calendar filled with beautiful photographs featuring floral doors, and a booklet titled In and Out of the Garden (47 Decorating Ideas from the Garden to the House). ~ Hannah

Giveaway #4:

My giveaway is a variety of items. As you can see from the picture, I've included my recently knitted "Red Sunset at Midnight" dishcloth. Also there are three Gooseberry Patch booklets which include: Terrific Tags in No Time (Clever, Easy, and Fun Ideas for Creating Gift Tags), Garden Fun (Fresh and Fun Garden Decorating Ideas) and Trash to Treasure (Fun Little Fix-Ups for Flea Market Finds) from the Country Friends Collection, a holiday wish list magnetic notepad, a 160-page blank journal, and a small cloth packet of hyacinth bean seeds. Good Stuff!  ~Deb

This would be a great time for all of you readers who've never commented before to let us know you're out there! So...don't be shy; one of these goodie packages could soon be in your mailbox. Winners will be posted next Monday morning, October 29th.

~Deb

More Mailbox Goodies!

Susan, over at Blackberry Creek, learned from a previous post that I love P-U-R-P-L-E. So she sent me a box this week with a variety of purple fabric in it to add to the other purple fabric Kathie sent me! How very generous! I love it all! The scrappy quilt that I have in my mind's eye is looking better and better with all these wonderful fabrics. Thank you, Susan!

And...I also won one of Susan's giveaways for her blogiversary. She sent me the Oxmoor House Memory Quilts in the Making book for my prize...and get this, Susan's name is listed as Senior Editor! How very neat! Thank you again, Susan!

The antique crazy quilt I used as the background usually hangs on the wall in our bedroom. At least I think it's a crazy quilt, as it has no rhyme or reason to the pattern. It is definitely a treasure handed down to our family!

Note: Stay tuned for our 1000th post giveaway on Monday! More details then.

~Deb

Afghan Follow-Up & A Project **UPDATED

I received a call first thing this morning from a representative of Voice of the Martyrs answering my question on blankets...he said they discourage sending comforters (too bulky), quilts or afghans (not durable enough), twin blankets (too small), army blankets (military connatation), or most homemade blankets (not durable). They do encourage full-size poly-cotton blankets (new or used).

With this information, I am thinking that making a knitted or crocheted blanket to send overseas just wouldn't work. So...if you are interested in helping a charity you can: (1) use the address below to send a full-size poly-cotton blanket to VOM or (2) knit or crochet a section and take it to your local Michael's store or send it to Warm Up America.

Thank you to those who contacted me as willing to participate. I'm choosing to do both. I will be shopping for a blanket to mail to VOM, and I will start knitting today on a 7"x9" section to bring to Michael's. How about you? Interested in helping out?

As a follow-up to the Warming Up America post, I took Leslie's advice in her comment to check out the Voice of the Martyrs link to find out if they were accepting blankets for needy people. Here is what they say about donations:

"Would you like an opportunity to fellowship with Sudanese Christians suffering from years of persecution and civil war? Voice of the Martyrs continues to send blankets to Sudanese Christians who have been displaced after years of conflict. You can join in fellowship with them by sending your blanket, new or used, to keep our Sudanese brothers and sisters warm in the desert's cool night air. Many have little or no shelter from the weather. Send blankets, along with $2 per blanket to cover cost of shipping to Sudan:

V O M - Blankets of Love, 510 SW Adeline, Bartlesville, OK 74003

VOM will also deliver a copy of He Lived Among Us, an illustrated Bible Storybook, along with each blanket."

This definitely sounds like a worthwhile cause, however, when I considered this project, I was only planning on knitting one or two  7" x 9" sections to take to Michael's for Warm Up America. This VOM project is asking for the entire blanket to be sent to them! So...I'll gladly assemble the 49 sections to make a complete afghan/blanket and mail it to VOM if more people will volunteer to knit a section and send it to me.

If you think you'd be interested in being a part of Blankets of Love, leave a comment that you'd be willing to participate or email me at: girotti (at) ntelos (dot) net and let me know how many sections you will knit (follow directions here). If we have enough folks to actually complete 49 sections, great! Or if we have more, we can assemble two blankets!

I'll contact you to let you know that we have enough participants before you begin knitting or crocheting. If we have enough knitters, I would like to have the 7" x 9" section/s mailed to me by Saturday, November 10th. We'll put them together and get the blanket in the mail by Thanksgiving.

Feel free to link to this project if you have a blog or tell your friends about it. Thank you very much!

~Deb

Part 2: Shaker Boxes, Brooms, and Quilts

As we walked through Shakertown, we enjoyed talking to all the interpreters in the various buildings located along the shady tree-lined road that led through the village. What a wonderful place Shakertown would be to visit once the leaves have turned. As you can see, we were much too early in the season to see any color.

Our first stop was the East Family Brethren's Shop where we observed wood-working demonstrations. The craftsman in the picture was very friendly and knowledgeable, and we asked him about the Shaker boxes and baskets we had seen for sale in the Craft Shop.

He informed us that he was the main crafter of the famous colorful boxes and baskets we admired and gave us some insight on why the prices were so high on the items. The very tiniest box, he told us, has at least five dollars worth of wood in it; lots of expert craftsmanship fashioned it; plus the main reason was the hefty profit Shaker Village needed to make on items sold to keep the historic area open.

Located in the same building was the broom maker who demonstrated how he crafted the Shaker brooms the brethren sold in Kentucky and the river markets for 27 cents each back in 1845. He told us the brooms were used to sweep their yards, and folks in those days prided themselves in having no weeds or grass in their yards at all--only dirt--and they swept them clean every day. My mom remembered that their dirt yard when she was growing up was swept clean, just as our tour guide had mentioned.

The East Family Wash House (Circa 1825) was very interesting to us girls since there were several beautiful antique quilts on display. The interpreter in this building showed us how the sisters would wash the laundry in the big kettles of boiling water.

I'm not sure of the exact pattern names of the quilts above or to the left, but they were both beautiful, and you could tell the fabrics were vintage. The pattern of the two quilts below were called Rocky Road to Dublin or Old Maid's Puzzle. Sarah said this same pattern in the sampler quilt she made earlier this year was also known as  Drunkard's Path. The quilts were made by Sister Mary Settles.

Some of the other buildings we toured were the Cooper's Shop, Bath House, Water House, and the Post Office. Below left we are entering the Ministry's Work Shop, a building provided as a place for the Shaker Village leaders, two elders and two eldresses, to work with their hands, just as all members of the community.

We left the Village mid-afternoon headed down the road a bit to the dock where we were scheduled for the four o'clock riverboat cruise.

Next: Riverboat Cruise

~Deb