Mountain Musings

121 Tweet Street

I promised to show you the new bird feeder I purchased at the Maple Festival this year once it had been installed. Tom was able to get the project marked off the "Honey-Do" list this past weekend. Already cardinals have found their new home-away-from home, and the goldfinches have been clinging to their new feeder, too.

The week has been very busy with my mom visiting and working outside in the flower beds and garden during the day...and, of course, relaxing on the front porch during the evening--bird watching, sunset watching...and just talking.

Next post I'll show you a fun spring project I just completed today.

~Deb

Drive to Highlighted Route...

Karen, our delightful Australian-voiced GPS (I love her!), kept me company yesterday as I traveled up and down the Shenandoah Valley. It was an absolutely beautiful day for a road trip.

My destination: Luray, Virginia, and the Virginia Gift Shop.

Why: the current Vera Bradley promotional Shoppers' Tote ~ Green Piece had arrived! My name was on the shop's list for the next delivery after they immediately sold out of the popular bag's first shipment. My bright green owl tote was ready to be picked up! I wish my sister could have been with me since she's the one who sent me the promotional email and got me all interested in the first place.

Anyway, Karen alerted me, "arriving at Virginia Gift Shop on right," and I found a parking spot along the street in front of the shop. The town of Luray has a wonderfully quaint little Main Street, and I wished I had planned to stay and browse awhile as several antique shops looked worthy of a stop.

But...I still needed to purchase this year's plants for the hanging baskets and window boxes and the wave petunias to plant in the watering cans down the front steps before heading home with all the groceries.

At this point, I really didn't need Karen anymore, but I always love hearing her say..."arriving at Home, on right." It was a wonderful little adventuresome day!

~Deb

Painting Pickets

Yesterday was a beautiful day to get outside to continue painting the picket fence which Tom and Jonathan installed last year behind one of the mulched flower beds.

Tom and I started painting this past Saturday, and Sarah and I continued the task after some rainy weather earlier in the week. The pickets have been a bit harder to paint than I thought! So many ins and outs and corners and edges and undersides...and using muscles you don't use at a sewing machine...or computer! 

But, it's coming along. A second coat will definitely be needed, but it should go much faster than the first painting. The end is in sight! I love the look of a white picket fence, don't you?

We'll be painting again on Saturday...61 pickets done, 59 to go!

~Deb

Bloggers Quilt Festival ~ My Favorite Quilt

A big welcome to everyone visiting from the Quilt Festival!

For all the regular readers and quilt lovers who frequent Mountain Musings, you've all seen this quilt before....

But have you seen the over 500 quilts at the Spring 2009 Bloggers Quilt Festival being held this week over at Park City Girl blog?

Lots of gorgeous quilts to inspire you and wonderful prizes that will make you wanna quilt even if you've never quilted before! I've found some wonderful new blogs to check out.

So go ahead and map out several days in your schedule and head on over! (Now can you guess why there's been no blogging this week!!)

Participants were asked to post a picture of their favorite quilt and tell the story behind it. 

For newcomers, click here for more pictures and the story behind the 50th Birthday Wallflower Quilt(s) for two special friends.

~Deb

Watching a wedding...765 miles away

What: Jonathan Ten Dolle and Elizabeth Serven's wedding

When: 12:00 noon, Central time

Where: The St. Louis, Missouri area

How: Watching via the live streaming video online

All of the Girottis will be crowded around the computer this afternoon to watch the big event! Congratulations to the bride, groom, and their families!

~Sarah

It's that season again!

Garlic, leeks, and kale overwintered in the garden and are now greening up.

One week ago today, I planted seeds in our raised beds to begin several first crops of the season--peas, lettuce, arugula, carrots, and green onions. The arugula is sprouting up already. There is a lot of work yet to be done to get the rest of the ground ready, as you can see from the picture of our weedy and wind-blown field garden area.

Today Mom and I went out and purchased more seeds to get in the ground: beets and spinach immediately, and others for May planting. It was a beautiful spring afternoon. After supper I went outside to get a few shots to show you a glimpse of April at Mountain Musings.

Related Posts

~Hannah

Maple Festival in Monterey

Every March the folks over in Highland County ready themselves for the thousands of tourists that invade their little town of Monterey for the annual Maple Festival. This year I was the lone member of our family to make the trek--and finally here's a post about this much anticipated excursion.

I love going to the Maple Festival! I love the drive over three mountains to get there. I love seeing sheep in the fields along the way and spotting a syrup bucket or two hanging on trees as I pass some of the Maple Tours.

Finding a parking spot is the only drawback. One tiny street is just not enough for the hundreds of cars that arrive for the pancakes and maple syrup that are in high demand. Cars are everywhere--pulled into little nooks and crannies wherever there's room. One of the vendors said that one year cars were backed up 5 miles waiting to get into town!

Two places I make sure I visit each year...the birdhouse man's booth and a local gardening shop, Morning Glories and Moonflowers. This year I needed a bird feeder and found just the perfect one. (Photo coming when it's installed.)  The garden flag shown above wasn't for sale in the shop, but you can find it here.

A new booth I hadn't seen before was one featuring walking sticks. After much walking around town, I was tempted!

I even love the little key rings you purchase for $2 for admittance to the craft booths in the local school. In the shape of a maple leaf, they are different colors each year. Oh, the many maple leaf key rings we have at our house! And what if I had missed this year? The color was PURPLE!

It was a great weekend to attend the Maple Festival--and I loved it!

~Deb

Previous Maple Festival posts:

Getting There was Half the Fun - March, 2008

Highland Maple Festival - March, 2006

The Miracle of Life - March, 2005

Siggy Blocks are in the Mail!

The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul. ~ Proverbs 13:19

I didn't think I'd do another post until after the weekend, but I had to say, "They're all finished!" Yay!!!"

All 60 blocks were signed for the Siggy Block Swap and were at the post office by 4:15 p.m. on Friday--that was my goal!  I wish I had remembered to take a final picture, but I was rushing to get out the door and didn't think of it! I'll post a picture of all the blocks together when I get them back in the mail.

And then guess what? Last night I had to start on my block of the month for my once-a-month Saturday Anniversary Waltz quilt class (which is this morning!!). I had not even begun it!  But here it is all finished!

This is Block 9 and is called Lazy Susan's Sister because it is closely related to Lazy Susan in Volume 2 of the Encyclopedia of Patchwork Blocks.

This morning I'll head to Patchwork Plus, show my completed block, and will be given a token to pick up all the new fabric for next month's block at the end of the class. Our class will focus on how to do Block 10. Only 3 more months to go!

For now...all deadlines have been met. And I think I'm ready to enjoy a relaxed Easter weekend! Easter blessings to you.

~Deb

A Wonderful Visit with a Friend

My dear friend, Carolyn, from my hometown of South Boston, Virginia, arrived this week for a visit. And where was the perfect place to take her? Mrs. Hardesty's Tea Room, of course!

We enjoyed lots of talking, sipped piping hot tea, and ate melt-in-your-mouth-delicious scones! I chose the Lady Londonderry Tea and a Cinnamon Scone, while Carolyn chose Buckingham Palace Garden Party Tea and a Chocolate Chip Scone. The scones were served with clotted cream, raspberry jam, and lemon curd. Yummy!

I l-o-v-e-d the colorful little teapots we each had at our place. This tea drinking is becoming quite enjoyable...I might decide I like hot tea after all!

Here's a view of the tea room from another direction. Mrs. Hardesty's connects to the Harrisonburg Visitor Center, and you can see the racks of tour brochures on that side of the room. I love all the tea sayings they have written on the walls in this shop.

We also visited the Shenandoah Farmers' Market, and we each took a picture by the horse that welcomed us to their varied shops.

We were away galavanting and having fun until time for supper. What a blessing to arrive home and find the girls had everything ready for us! Baked potatoes with chili, cheese, and broccoli, along with a salad. Sarah also had baked an angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. Thank you, girls!

Carolyn wanted a picture of all of us gathered around the dining room table. We don't often have pictures of the five of us together, so here we are!

The next morning before Carolyn headed back home Sarah prepared her famous Stuffed French Toast for us, and after breakfast all of us girls had devotions together around the table. Carolyn read Psalm 30 and then brought back lots of memories by singing a couple of Lester Roloff's favorite songs. We remembered another song that I always heard him sing on the radio and one I had taught the girls; we sang that one together...and now I can't get that tune out of my mind. Have you heard it?

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of our great King. ~ Psalms 48:1-2 

We had such a wonderful visit! Thank you, Carolyn!

Now...back to the quilt blocks that must get in the mail by Friday afternoon! I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!

~Deb

Olde Lamps & Thangs

I know there are a lot of thangs I don't know...but I didn't know there was so much to know about lamps...of all thangs!

Recently, Hannah and I were in Boydton, Virginia, and stopped by Olde Lamps & Thangs to have some lamps repaired and also to have an oil lamp electrified.

Look at all the wonderful lamps inside this antique shop. I loved them all! This is only one room of several where lamps were displayed.

The proprietor was more than happy to share his knowledge and expertise when we asked about the purplish-tinted and gold-tinted lamps we saw in his shop.

We learned that lamps made between 1840 and 1910 were made with various levels of lead in them. When these lamps are exposed to the sun's rays, then the lead makes these clear lamps turn purple or gold--depending on the amount of lead in them.

He showed us one lamp that was a rich purple color and said the man who sold it to him had left it outside on top of his roof for two years in the sun just so it would turn purple. Very interesting!

One of the lamps we brought for him to repair was turning a slight goldish color, and he guessed that it was made around 1900. I picked out a beautiful hand-painted floral yellow globe for this lamp; it's my favorite one, and I love it!

In the picture above Bill works on an oil lamp that he's electrified for Sarah. He was especially interested in the antique chimney and asked if I wanted to trade it to him for another. No thank you, we'll keep it--it's a beautiful antique memory given to us by Aunt Bunny. The smaller blue floral globe on the table to the left is one I picked out for another lamp he repaired.

If you're ever in the Boydton area, I'd recommend stopping by Olde Lamps & Thangs and seeing Bill's beautiful lamps. His cute little black dog has run of the shop, so give Boo-Boo a pat if you get a chance to visit. :)

~Deb