Mountain Musings

Only The Best For My Guests

Last week when my sister arrived from South Carolina, we went out one day to browse a few shops and grabbed lunch out.

Granny and I had previously discovered Goose Creek Market on a recommendation from a man she met at one of her doctors' appointments at the hospital. We decided to try it after one of her checkups and liked the sandwiches.

So...what better place to take our guests than Goose Creek?

Tom was taking a day off work and met us there. Here's a photo of just us girls taken before he arrived: The menu board inside the deli lists lots of choices of hot and cold sandwiches prepared with delicious Boar's Head meats:We were sitting at a tiny little table waiting for our name to be called. My sister took the picture above from our table after the ordering/paying line dispersed. Tons of people come here, and it was a busy day!

So, if you're traveling I-64 West near Augusta Health Hospital at Fishersville and need a sandwich, this gas station comes highly recommended! Look for the Boar's Head banner: Only the best for our guests! :)

~Deb

Yellow Rose Lemon Cake

For Granny's birthday cake, she left it up to me to make whatever I wanted, so I decided to attempt to imitate this lemon cake. I combined some different recipes and added a few things to get the final result.
Everyone liked it, I think....it was very moist and lemony. The recipe is below.

LEMON CAKE

Yield: 6 ½ - 7 cups batter

 

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature (I used salted)

6 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tablespoon + 1 tsp lemon extract

2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp lemon zest

Glaze #1:

1/2 fresh lemon juice

3 cups powdered sugar

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Glaze #2:

2 T. butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 - 1 t. lemon extract

Water

Lemon zest

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour Bundt pan. Cream sugar and butter in mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, and lemon flavoring, mix until smooth.  Add flour and baking powder; mix 30 seconds.  Add lemon zest and mix 1 minute more. Place batter in prepared pan. Bake 50 – 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes on cooling rack. Meanwhile, bring lemon juice, powdered sugar, and zest to a boil in a saucepan. Pour about 1/3 of glaze carefully on cake while still in the pan, trying not to let it drip down the sides to make getting it out harder. Turn out cake on plate and slowly spoon rest of glaze over the top, letting it soak in. If glaze pools at the bottom, use spoon to bring it up the sides some. Let cake cool for awhile. Mix the butter, powdered sugar, and extract, adding just enough water to make it spreadable. While cake is still a little warm, spread on top. The warmth of the cake will melt the glaze and make it flow down the sides. Sprinkle zest on top as a garnish.

Here's the beautiful cake stand Hannah bought at a yard sale years ago! It's now empty again....just like Granny's room. *sigh* She and Aunt Bet had a safe trip down to SC on Saturday. We miss having her here!

~Sarah

Happy 85th Birthday, Granny!!

Today is a very special day around the Mountain Musings' household...we're celebrating Granny's 85th birthday!

As many of you know, Granny lives with us part of the year here in Virginia and part of the year with my sister in South Carolina--it works well to switch locations every three months.

My sister arrives later today to help celebrate...but then the sad news...she'll take Granny back with her this weekend! But I'm very thankful that we can all be together for Granny's birthday!Granny has always celebrated her birthday on July 26th...the only birth date known to her. Well, until not that long ago when it was discovered that her birth certificate says she was born on the 24th! What?!

Granny is one of 12 children (and the last surviving member of her family), and she thinks her Mama told her the 26th because another family member was also born on the 24th. So she's celebrated the wrong birthday all these years!! How sad!

Changing tons of paperwork with the incorrect date has been quite an undertaking; however, we think it's all straight now. But...celebrating a birthday on both the 24th and 26th...that's a piece of cake!

Sarah's baking a Yellow Rose (of Texas) Lemon Cake this morning for Granny's birthday based on seeing it in a Pittman & Davis catalog that came in the mail...sounds delish!Happy Birthday, Granny! We love you!  

New Entries in the Guest Book

In the past I've linked to many hospitality articles and written about the joy of having folks over for a meal and fellowship...and, of course, posted lots of photos of our special times together. However, I have to admit that these past few months I've been hesitant in implementing this biblical command.

After a long season of back pain and surgery for Granny, many subsequent doctor visits, and then my recovery from a fall, hospitality has been put on the back burner for awhile.

A couple of weeks ago I received a surprise call from hometown friends who happened to be attending a meeting over at Wintergreen Ski Resort and wanted to come over. If you remember my post on "How to Clean Your House in Just 30 Minutes," then this was a similar occasion...except I did have two hours to spruce things up! :)

Here are our friends, Donna and Allen, who were in our wedding almost 33 years ago--Donna sang and Allen played his trumpet. They now live in Chesapeake, and we hadn't seen them in forever! Granny especially enjoys having friends come to visit and sit in her room and talk with her! It was fun to catch up on each other's lives.We toured outside in the garden until the sprinkles became a little too much and drove us back inside. Sarah brought out some Farmers' Market blueberry streusel cheesecake (yum!) to serve our guests. Again, a hospitality pantry came in quite handy!

Thank you so much, Donna and Allen, for spending part of your time in the Valley with us. We loved having you! This past Sunday afternoon we entertained more guests--a family from our church came for a visit and a meal with us.  When we have company, we always enjoy walking outside to see the flowers and gardens...I think this time our guests saw our abundant weed crop (let's not show photos of that though!). :)

Here's the gang viewing Jonathan's apple trees and talking about spraying with compost tea to discourage the cedar rust and spotting the comfrey he planted around his trees for nutrients:Afterwards, we gathered around the living room to sing hymns and play music...Jonathan demonstrated several of his musical instruments, and Tom accompanied on guitar: Here are our friends listening to Jonathan play some Celtic tunes:Well, it looks like we've gotten back in the groove again with practicing some hospitality. It's a good thing, too, I guess...my sister arrives this week for a few days. And she always looks forward to some special meals and special times...must get busy planning!

~Deb

Good-Bye Bloomin' Tuesday ~ Hostas and More

Today I'm joining MsGreen Thumb Jean over at Bloomin' Tuesday, and sadly this is her last gardening meme. Thanks, Jean, for a great 6 years of seeing blooms all over the country!

Tom asked me last month what I'd like for my birthday, and I responded that I'd like a round flower bed built around a certain tree in our yard so I could plant hostas under it. You knew I needed more flowers, right?

Here he is taking a vacation day off work to build it for me. And...it's harder than it looks to get a circle just right with the number of brick needed! Measuring and re-measuring took the most time: Now, he's ready to put another layer of pavers on for the second tier:Below: Another step necessary was creating a plastic collar to go around the trunk of the tree so the soil/mulch wouldn't be allowed to rot the tree. I was amazed that this small circular bed took 10 big bags of gardening soil to fill it!  No money was spent on the flowers...I dug up some hostas that were behind the shed, and this bed became their new home. I should have measured distance between plants and distance from the pavers all the way around...but since I'm not an engineer, I just eye-guessed where I placed them. I'm sure once they fill out and grow, it will be just fine. One day they will look big and healthy like these that were growing in front of our beautifully landscaped hotel in Colonial Williamsburg: Other blooms around my yard--phlox and coneflowers: A single Lemon Queen Sunflower blooms in the garden: Around the garden fence...Russian sage, fennel, hollyhocks, coneflowers, and sunflowers in the background: And lots more coneflowers:
Heliopsis by the tool shed:Pink, white, and blue...phlox, daisies, and hydrangea: And last on the tour, bright, sunny yarrow: I've thoroughly enjoyed participating in Bloomin' Tuesday through the years. Thank you again to MsGreen Thumb Jean for hosting! We will miss you, Jean!

~Deb

Golden Friendships

"Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold."

Last weekend I was treated to a very special visit from a long-time friend who came to see us for my birthday! I loved having Chris here in our home! (Remember when I visited her for the quilt festival back in February of this year?)She had been wanting to come to the Farmers' Market this summer and check out the girls' booth in person after seeing so many market pictures on the blog!! So she drove 3+ hours to make it happen!

We strolled around the other vendors' booths and bought some of the first peaches of the season; she bought some of Hannah's soap; and we watched Sarah interacting with her customers: After we left the Market, we ate lunch downtown, and then I took her to some little shops along the street. I especially wanted to take her to Appalachian Piecework down at the Wharf. I've posted about this shop before but never tire of taking guests there: I was glad to see the owner's daughter in the shop that day. She explained to Chris how she made the scarves and dresses using the Shibori Method.

That tube she is showing us has the specially dyed fabric wound around it and will be an over-dress when she cuts it off the tube. There's a lot more to it than that, but that's all I remember. A customer out West was having it custom made and mailed to her:Below: the dress after it's been cut off the tube and unwound. Here's the shop owner checking out the results: I love wandering around the shop and seeing the weaving taking place. Mostly I just look...because mostly it's expensive! I especially loved viewing all the vintage quilts around the shop which the owner has collected. Below is a sign about vintage quilts - I loved her wording: The plaque says, "I have collected quilts for the last 30 years. I am drawn to them. I repair them, launder them, and enjoy them. Many families have passed quilts down from generation to generation. The ones in my shop have come from different regions of the country. Many of them from the Shenandoah Valley, Pennsylvania, and Maine. Ask for assistance if you would like to open them up."

Appalachian Piecework also carries Hannah's soap in their shop. Here's one of the washbowl displays: After a quick visit to the quilt shop next door and the book store, we called it a day and headed back home and sat down to a delicious meal of Spicy Chicken over noodles, salad, homemade bread, and Sarah's cheesecake. Thanks, girls!

The next day Chris attended church with us before she drove back home to her family. What a good weekend!!

One last picture together after church: Thanks so much, Chris, for making my birthday special by your presence! And thank you to your family for letting you come! Let's do it again!~Deb

A Williamsburg Birthday

When Tom asked if I would like to go on a quick trip for my birthday last week, I didn't hesitate! Yes! Where?

We decided on Williamsburg as our destination. Back in February when I passed through Williamsburg to visit friends, I didn't have much time to tour the area; but on this visit we immersed ourselves in the colonial aura.

The day wasn't the best for traveling! The closer we got to Afton Mountain the darker, rainier, and foggier it became! I was praying all the while that we would be able to see ahead of us to drive safely as this stretch of road is well-known for chain accidents in bad weather. Thankfully, by the time we arrived in the Williamsburg area, the rain had stopped, and there was a vast selection of restaurants for our lunch choice. After checking into our hotel, we made our way to Duke of Gloucester Street and Merchants Square.

Here's Tom checking out our location after purchasing tickets for the afternoon musical performance: The Kimball Theater was the site for the Crystal Concert performed by Dean Shostak playing the glass armonica (spelled correctly without the h). Here's a photo of the glass armonica invented by Benjamin Franklin, and if you click this YouTube link you can hear a portion of what we heard that afternoon. The sample music being played on the Crystal Concert link is nice (hopefully, what I'm hearing on the Home site is what you'll hear, too).
Of all the years we lived in Williamsburg, we had never attended this particular concert, so this was a special treat. We were two of about a dozen folks in the auditorium. Where was everyone on a summer afternoon?

Here I am alone with Thomas Jefferson after doing some shopping in the area: Merchants Square was celebrating 85 years of existence...lots of specialty shops and restaurants for the tourists who visit from across the country and world. One of the shops I visited carried Michelle Allen's modern designs. I had to take a picture because Sarah would have loved the cupcake clock: The next day's main activity was walking from one end of Duke of Gloucester Street to the other and back again, which equals about two miles total. Come along, I'll show you what we saw:I love this walk, and we've done it many, many times. This photo was taken about 10 a.m. on July 2nd. Maybe folks were waiting to travel into town for the big 4th of July fireworks a couple of days later.

In my last post for Bloomin' Tuesday, I showed you the many beautiful flower gardens we saw while strolling along. Here's Tom in one of the gardens: We walked past Bruton Parish Church on Duke of Gloucester Street (below). It was quite an overcast day and rain was predicted again. We have many fond memories of attending evening concerts on Christmas Day each year at Bruton Parish:Colonial wares for sale under the gardening tent: My favorite part of Duke of Gloucester Street - the gardening area: The bee skep photo is especially for Jonathan, our resident beekeeper: We always enjoy going inside Mr. Greenhow's shop which has quite an array of items for sale: And Mr. Greenhow himself is usually in the back room. Today he was demonstrating handwriting with a quill pen: The ever present horse and carriage allow the tourists to see an overview of the colonial town: Hats for sale! Colonial interpreters carry on dialogue along the street for tourists: Resting a bit as I watch the horses ride by:
Well, our wonderful time in Williamsburg quickly came to an end. We needed to get back on the road so we could arrive at home in time for the birthday meal Hannah and Sarah were preparing for that evening.

I'll leave you with one last photo...colonial sheep grazing on colonial grass. :) Thanks for traveling along with me, and I hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I did. If you've never been to Colonial Williamsburg, does it sound like a place you'd like to visit?

~Deb

Bloomin' Tuesday ~ Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg

I'm back home from my wonderful adventure last week!

For Part 1 of the trip, I'll be joining Ms Green Thumb Jean and Bloomin' Tuesday to share with you the beautiful gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Last week Tom and I celebrated my birthday with a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, our home for ten years back in the 90's. The 4th of July holiday right afterwards and preparations for a friend's visit on the weekend made for a whole week full of fun celebrations...and no time for blogging until now!

Come on! I'll show you all the flowers we saw along Duke of Gloucester Street. I fell in love with the purple blooms you see below. They look like Butterfly bushes, but they are Vitex (or Chaste) trees, and that one on the left came home with me as a souvenir of our special time in CW.After I purchased the plant, one of the colonial gardeners shared some information from a gardening book that was for sale under their retail tent so I would be more familiar with the Vitex:One of the interesting facts I learned was to use the pruned wood from the Vitex to stake other plants or fashion the sticks for climbing vegetables like the gardeners do in Colonial Williamsburg. Take a look at some of these garden photos: I thought this was very ingenious and amazing:Would you like to work like these colonial ladies in this well-kept garden?  I would...but not in those hot clothes!I could have stayed in this garden all morning looking around and getting ideas...and I almost did!Here's a picture below of a Vitex tree in Colonial Williamsburg. I'll prune mine to be a small tree instead of bushy like this one. You can also see more Vitex tree pictures on Pinterest here to get an idea. More plants for sale in the Garden Shop: Any ideas as to what this purple plant is below? There weren't markers in the garden to inform us. Also do you see the old watering barrel below right. The gardeners used the water from that barrel to do all their daily watering of the plants. I didn't see a modern watering hose in sight:So many beautiful gardens were located in the backyards of several of the residences. We didn't know if these gardens were private or open to the public. But one of the gardeners told us..."Please...go look! I've done too much work for them not to be seen!" This garden below is almost all green with lots of trees and boxwood mazes displaying flowers in the center:
A beautiful landscaped display along Merchants Square in the restored area:Are you getting the idea that all I did was take pictures of flowers while in Williamsburg? Well...we did see other areas of CW, too. And I think Tom was thankful for that!

I'll post more about our trip later this week. If you'd like to see more Bloomin' Tuesday participants and what's growing where they live, hop over to Ms Green Thumb Jean's!

~Deb

A is for...

Catch 'cha when I get back!

~Deb