Mountain Musings

Pennsylvania and Back Again

It was a great 32nd anniversary! Thank you to everyone who commented and left anniversary wishes on the last post! We appreciate it so much!

Tom and I have returned home after enjoying a wonderful four-day anniversary trip to Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. Here's the beautiful sunrise we saw each morning peaking out from behind an antique store...which was, oh, so conveniently located right beside the Bed and Breakfast where we were staying.Here's the Village Antique Market next door which was filled to the brim with so much stuff!:Many outdoor displays beckoned the antique-loving customer:Tom and I enjoyed rides around the Amish country-side where scenes like this one below were typical--lots of barns, silos, corn fields, flowers, buggies, and market stands:I loved the flowers that were in all the Amish gardens:There were lots of quilt shops around, and this one was my favorite:And here's a very patient husband checking his phone while waiting for his wife to take pictures outside before going inside the quilt shop: And (below) this beautiful Compass Stars Supreme quilt with 175 different fabrics and 2,112 pieces--just in the flying geese circle alone--and with a price tag of $3,740! Everywhere we went there was so much to see and do. Here's yet another quilt and antique shop. The red quilt caught my eye immediately:On Saturday morning we went to the Bird-in-Hand farmer's market to compare it with our local market. There were so many different vendors--not just beautiful vegetables like these: ...but lots of spices, donuts, cookies, candies, quilts, jams, jellies, meats and so much more all inside one very long building. I took this picture for Sarah in case she wanted to add something different to her farmer's market repertoire: We attended a theater production, ate at one of the many smorgasbords in the area, visited an Amish farm with miniature horses, tasted a homemade root beer float, played mini-golf, rode the train, traveled to our friends' church in Ephrata on Sunday morning, and enjoyed ourselves tremendously while we were away. Thanks for traveling along with us. I'm so thankful for being able to see such a beautiful area of Pennsylvania!

~Deb

After All These Years...

Still Sweethearts ~ Tom & Deb

Happy 32nd Anniversary to us!

Unexpected Drop-In from Texas!

Erich, our recently engaged pilot friend from Texas and co-worker of Jonathan's, dropped in out of the sky this evening and shared a meal with us.

Here we are about to partake of Southwest Grilled Chicken over a big garden salad with toasted bread. Sarah quickly thawed some Chocolatetown Pie from the freezer (that hadn't sold at market!) and served it with Cookies and Cream ice cream--not only so convenient but delicious!It was so much fun to catch up with Erich and talk about his and Beth's plans for the coming wedding in October. He even showed us some in-progress photos of the house he and his family are working together to build for them. How exciting!

I loved this unexpected get-together that made an ordinary Tuesday evening into a special memory with our friend!

~Deb

18 weeks down, 13 to go!

It's been awhile since we had an update about market here on the blog! Hannah and I are still keeping busy every Saturday morning, and it's been an enjoyable experience so far. The market has been open for 20 weeks now, and we've only missed two - one during the derecho and one during our Texas trip.

Ever since we got back from Texas, my baked good sales have actually been pretty abysmal...it was quite a sudden drop, too. I think we've determined that people are just more interested in the more abundant produce now, including corn, so they don't want sweets as much. I'm hopeful that as cooler weather comes, my sales will pick up. This past Saturday was a bit better than the previous 3 weeks.

It's been nice to get a number of regular customers that have their favorite items to come and buy. There's one man who always comes and gets 2 cheesecake wedges, no matter the flavor. He told me last week he may have to buy up some extra near the end of market to freeze for the winter months. :)

The farmers' booths around us are so colorful and overflowing with yummy garden produce and flowers! We have tried out some corn, plums, and eggs from fellow vendors, and everything is so good. 

There have been a couple of weeks lately that Hannah was unable to be at market for the full morning, so Mom has helped out with manning her table. :) It was nice to have her there and point out all the people that we've been telling her about. We've also had several "interesting" run-ins, with some rather odd people. Why are the odd ones usually the most talkative?  

If we decide to do market next year, we need to attend at least 20 weeks this year to have a reserved space. Only 2 more weeks until we hit that threshold! Yay!

Market runs until the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and we should be able to make them all. There will be a couple of weeks that Hannah will be at different craft shows with Granny, but I think I should be able to still go and perhaps bring a small sampling of soaps as well.

The temperatures the past few weeks have been wonderful - I'm glad to be past the 95 degree days, when my candy was melting. I'd rather be a tad chilly while setting up! :)

There was a hint of fall in the air today, in fact...it was a rainy afternoon, and some really nice cool air is blowing in the windows. I just heard some geese flying by outside, too! Ahhh. What's going on in your neck of the woods?

~Sarah

A Patchwork Kind of Day

This morning I attended the monthly Saturday Sampler class at our local quilt shop, Patchwork Plus. It's always a joy to be there surrounded by so much luscious fabric! 

Speaking of barn quilts (as mentioned in the previous post)...look what I spotted as soon as I pulled into the parking lot--a newly installed smaller-sized barn quilt above their entrance!Here's the block I took to class today. It's called Friendship Card, and the fabric is by Alex Anderson. By the way, the fabric is already picked out and given to us each month, along with the new pattern, so we can begin the next month's homework assignment:And here are all five of the blocks we've made since the start of this year's program: What a fun day when it includes quilt class! I hope your weekend has been just as enjoyable!

~Deb

Garden Shed Barn Quilt

Last fall I wrote a post about the barn quilt the kids gave me which we ordered from Way Back When Barn Quilts (unfortunately, the link to this website is presently inactive).

I promised a picture, and here's the barn quilt installed on the garden shed with hostas, cone flowers, azaleas, and a butterfly bush planted around it:I absolutely love looking out my bedroom window at this quilt each morning when I awaken. The pattern is Summer Star Flower.

If you'd like to read about the history behind barn quilts, check out Barn Quilt Info (Edited to update with a correct link).

Also Suzi Parron's blog Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail is very interesting. She travels around the country photographing barn quilts wherever she spots them.

Here's another photo of the barn quilt looking through some tiger lilies in the garden:I love my barn quilt!

Linking to Bloomin' Tuesday.

~Deb

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Family Fun!

This is the last post in the Deep in the Heart of Texas series, and today we're focusing on the sightseeing we did in San Antonio. Come and travel along with us!

We knew we really wanted to see The Alamo--accomplished the first morning before the conference started that afternoon. The tour guide asked gentlemen to remove their hats and requested silence as we entered to honor the men who gave their lives here. Being a retired homeschooling mom, I should have prepared and researched the story behind The Alamo before we arrived. To be honest, I really didn't know the significance of what we were seeing. Thankfully, a very informative IMAX production called Alamo--The Price of Freedom helped us learn more about the men who fought for Texas on this very spot:Here we are on the well-landscaped grounds of The Alamo after the tour:And here we are in one of many photos we took before leaving the grounds: Whenever I've seen pictures in books or photos of the Vision Forum staff in front of The Alamo, it seems that the actual site is all alone with nothing else around--just like above. Actually, I found out quite differently.

Below is a photo Sarah took when we were high up inside The Tower of the Americas where we were able to see a 360-degree view of the city. The red arrow shows where The Alamo is located along a busy city street amongst all the high rise buildings in San Antonio. I never would have pictured it this way!Moving on...another of my favorite places we visited was the San Antonio River Walk. There are five miles of walking beside shops, restaurants, hotels, and boats that carry tourists along the river--everything was so very colorful and interesting! And here we are riding one of the tourist boats. It was a good way to see the majority of the River Walk in the evening when the heat wasn't as bad:We also enjoyed Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch--African Safari Texas style--where lots of the animals came right up to our car windows. We had never been to a park like this: Later we drove out to Mission San Jose. I stayed in the air-conditioned gift shop and waited while the others took the tour:And, yes, we took time out to geo-cache at a couple of different places in Texas: Well, it's time to head home! Good-bye Texas ~ Hello Virginia!It's always fun to see other parts of the country, but oh, how good it is to arrive back in our home state!  We hope you've enjoyed reading as we documented Deep in the Heart of Texas. Thanks for sticking with us!

Did you enjoy this series?

(And for those who have asked about Mexican Haystacks, I've updated that particular post to include a photo and instructions. Check Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Friendly Hospitality.)

~Deb

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Fabulous Fabric

When I first knew that we'd be headed to Texas for the Food Conference and staying with our friends, I started thinking about what I could make to bring with us as a hostess gift. Once I decided on a table runner as one of the gifts, I started searching online fabric stores for an appropriate fabric. And guess what I found?

Here's a fabric line called, of all things...Deep in the Heart of Texas! It's by Sara Khammash for Moda and is full of Texas icons with bluebonnets, Texas Longhorn drives, and stars and stripes in red, white, and blue. Just perfect! And actually it was the inspiration for the name of this Texas series.

I purchased a charm pack and some yardage for the backing and finished the table runner using the Disappearing Nine-Patch pattern soon after the fabric arrived in the mail. It was so fun to put together! Here's a photo that shows the red fabric with bluebonnets I selected for the backing: And here we are sitting around the table on our last night in Texas as my friend, Krista, opened the gift. I don't have a picture of her actually holding up the table runner, but I think she liked it!And here are the folks at the other end of the table: Tom, Jonathan, and David, Krista's husband. I put this photo in because I liked the Psalm 127 verse on the wall (and, of course, I like the guy in the blue shirt):Thanks for stopping by and reading this series of Texas posts. There's only one post left (and, oh my, what will I write about when we're all done??) Look for the finale next week.

~ Deb

Next up: Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Family Fun!

Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Friendly Hospitality

Continuing the Deep in the Heart of Texas series...

After the Food Conference was over, we checked out of our hotel in San Antonio and headed south to our friends' home, the very hospitable E family, where we had been invited to spend a couple of nights.

It was very interesting seeing the Texas countryside and getting a feel for the area. Here's one typical scene we saw away from the city, and I asked Tom to stop so I could get a picture:

We traveled down many different country roads and finally reached our friend Erich's and his family's home (below). I especially loved seeing all the Texas decorations--inside and outside their home!After we arrived we talked with our new friends, the Wahlquists, who were also visiting. Here's Sarah talking with Beth (our friend Erich's fiance) and her mom:Sarah and Beth:Some of the guys talked in the yard and got acquainted as we waited for the E family to arrive home from the conference: Mexican Haystacks was a perfect choice to feed a crowd. Here's the lineup of folks filling their plates:Edited to include a picture and instructions for Mexican Haystacks:

Bottom layer: rice, taco chips.

Add: pinto beans, chili, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream.

Some people add: cucumbers, raisins, pineapple, and olives.

 

And the guys waiting their turn..."ladies first!"Seated around the table: Erich's parents to the left talking to another guest, but I can't recall the name; Erich; Beth and her mom; Tom and Deb; and Hannah. Below: the L family from New Mexico had also arrived after the conference and spent the night before they headed back home. We were able to get acquainted with yet another new family. Our friends were very accommodating and hospitable, hosting three different families during and after the conference. Thank you again, E family!

If you missed a previous post, click to read more in the series.

~ Deb

Next up: Deep in the Heart of Texas ~ Fabulous Fabric