Mountain Musings

SC Blogger Meet-Up!

Hello!...I'm still here in SC at my sister's house and have been having a good time visiting! We're packing up today and will travel back home tomorrow ...stopping by my hometown of South Boston first, where I'm planning a get-together with a long-time friend for a couple of hours while I'm there...stay tuned for that post later.

In the meantime...back to my adventures in South Carolina.

Knowing I'd be traveling to pick up Granny at the end of the month, I contacted my blogging friend, Becka, over at Becka's Blog to see if she'd be available to meet while I was in town. Well, she invited my sister and me over to eat with her and her husband one evening! How very special!

Here are Rob and Becka with the table spread with the wonderfully delicious meal she prepared for us: She served rice and chicken thighs in an orange-marmalade sauce that cooked in the crockpot all day, roasted butternut squash, coleslaw (with cranberries and bacon, oh so good!), and deviled eggs. For dessert she served chocolate pudding with Butter Pecan cookies and Pistachio Cranberry cookies, which she linked to here on her blog.

Here's a photo of the chocolate pudding which I took before remembering to add the pistachio cookie on the side: We loved absolutely everything! And my sister and I enjoyed the conversation and the evening with Rob and Becka.

Here I am with Becka before we left. She gave us both some of her Spiced Orange Fig Jam she made to bring home with us. I'm sure it will be delicious! Thank you so much, Becka and Rob! Another blogger meet-up ends with success!

~Deb

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ September

For today: Friday, September 26, 2014

Outside my window...coming to you today from the beautiful state of South Carolina where I'm visiting my sister for a few days. Today is mostly cloudy and 67 degrees, and Saturday's forecast is predicting a beautiful sunny 70's fall day.

 

I am thankful...that Granny will be released from rehab tomorrow (yay!), and we'll bring her back to my sister's house. I'm sure she will be thrilled to be away from the medical facilities which have been her home for the past three weeks!

 

I am thinking...that everyone back in Virginia will be happy to see us arrive back home again!

 

In the kitchen...lots of food preparation this week for the building crew over at Jonathan's house. We've been serving our friends their supper since they're working 12-hour days to help get the building started.  And...preparing some extra food for the family while I'm away.

 

Around the house, Jonathan's house that is!...Jonathan and all of us are having a grand time working on his future home...putting down the sub-flooring:

Sarah helping with the pantry wall:

I hope a lot more building will get finished while I'm away. The walls are up, and the beams are going in. So exciting!:

Everybody helps...it's a family project!

I am creating...a temporary raised bed in the garden with some leftover pieces of I-beams from Jonathan's house (how's that for being resourceful!) until a real raised bed can be built next spring. I've shoveled a ton of topsoil this week to completely fill this bed and will plant blueberry bushes which are due to be delivered any day now.

 

Maybe this makeshift bed will last through the winter even though it looks quite haphazard now:

I am going...to tour a Southern Living Showcase Home at Paris Mountain with my sister while I'm here.

 

I am wearing...red skirt, pink turtleneck, pink striped blouse, and silver sandals.

 

I am wondering...whether any of our blog readers will make it to the Dayton Days show next weekend to see Hannah selling her soaps and to see Granny selling her baskets. Come up and introduce yourselves; we'd love to meet you!

 

I am hoping...to try this Baked Delicata Squash Rings recipe. Hannah planted Delicata seeds from Heavenly Seed for the first time this year in the garden, and here's the harvest she used to decorate the front steps:

I am looking forward to...all the company we will be hosting during October! Lots of weekend guests, including Tom's brother, Uncle Steve. We're brainstorming some good places to take him and our other guests while they're here in the Valley.

 

A favorite quote for today..."Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart." ~ Psalm 111:1.

 

One of my favorite things...Mexican food. My sister took me to Mr. Salsa's today. Sooo good!

 

A few plans for the time here in SC:

1) Blogger meet-up (post to follow)

2) Farmers' Market

3) visiting this shop, Branches & Burlap, with my sister while I'm in town:

If you'd like to visit other Daybook entries, check out The Simple Woman's Blog here. Thanks for reading!

~Deb

Chilly, Rainy Day at Market

Saturday morning market time came earlier than I'm used to on Saturdays, for sure! And the girls do this every week?

Tom and Hannah put the tent up just as the rain was beginning...so the sides and back flaps went up in addition to prevent blowing rain on all the soaps.

I actually didn't have much to sell since Sarah wasn't home to do all her baking. As you can see from the blackboard right by me, the pumpkin pie fudge, mocha fudge, cookies and cream fudge, marshmallows, and cashew brittle were the only food items we brought to sell for her:Hannah switched the setup around a bit to give her side more space to spread out. She had lots of free soap samples this week to give out to folks:The vendor right beside us (Country Rhodes) has a beautiful double booth and sells tons of baked breads and granola every market day. Her pumpkins, gourds, and broom corn displays made everything seem so much like fall. As you can see, this photo was taken early, early morning before the customers showed up: Here's another fall display. I actually like the white pumpkins...and even the pumpkins with all the warts:The customers were few and far between as the rain came down, pouring at times:My favorite, favorite part of the morning was visiting with friends! A blog reader drove over the mountain from Richmond to visit her aunt and uncle for the weekend and decided to come by market.

You originally met Bobbi on the blog 4 years ago in this post,"I Met a Lurker and Survived!" I really enjoyed getting to see and visit with her again...thank you, Bobbi, for stopping by and brightening a rainy day!Well, I already knew about Bobbi possibly stopping by market...but I was totally surprised! when this friend showed up at market! 

You originally heard about her in this post, "Lunch With a Lurker." (Am I detecting a theme here??)My friend had read on the last post that I'd be taking Sarah's place at market and decided to drive over the mountain and surprise me! She did!

We've gotten together a few other times this year since we met in January, and I've enjoyed developing our friendship. Thank you so much, friend, for the time and effort it took to drive that distance just to see and surprise me!  Market ended up being a fun day! Thankfully, Sarah has returned and will be busy this week restocking for this coming Saturday's market!

~Deb

This Week In My Kitchen

Capturing my love of food, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home.

Our kitchen has seen some varied activity this past week including Hannah making a wonderful lunch-time Tomato Pie for us! She followed this recipe, and added in onion and basil.

Start by grating some cheese. Isn't any dish with cheese delicious?:The crust is formed in an iron skillet before adding the bacon, onion, basil, jalapeno, and tomatoes: And while the pie bakes... ...this counter can be cleaned up so we'll be ready to sample a new recipe in a clean kitchen: Perfection from the oven!: The finished dish should end up more in the shape of a pie slice, but the wonderful aroma and delicious taste didn't need to look any finer! Yummy: Hannah has also been freezing whole tomatoes in bags. She followed this recipe for canned pizza sauce. We'll look forward to homemade whole wheat pizzas this winter! When Hannah finished in the kitchen...

Sarah started on her homemade marshmallows for this week's farmers' market. Sarah's out of town for the weekend, so guess who will be manning her side of the booth?

Yes, yours truly! I'll be helping out at market this Saturday (watch for photos) and selling her candies, pumpkin pie fudge, and marshmallows--all the make-ahead items she sells each week. The customers will surely miss all her freshly baked pies, cupcakes, and cookies she usually bakes on Fridays.

Here's a photo of the marshmallows just taken out of the 9x13 pan:Next...the measuring, cutting, and stacking into strips stage: Now, cutting into squares and dipping in powdered sugar. They're looking more like marshmallows: Sarah packs two dozen in a bag to sell at market. Fall camping and S'mores by the fire help her marshmallows to sell out quickly!

Today Hannah and I enjoyed a squash and black-eyed pea lunch! She sauteed yellow and pattypan squash with some butter, olive oil, and onions: Doesn't this lunch platter below look delicious? The next-door market vendors shared the squash with us, and the black-eyed peas are from our garden...my favorite summer vegetable! We topped the peas with Hannah's homemade zucchini relish.  Aahh, I should have invited you over!

Granny would loved to have been here eating with us...but, she's been in the hospital (again!) in SC all this week eating hospital food! The doctors are still doing tests...so prayers are needed for her. Thank you! That's what's going on in our kitchen. To see more This Week in my Kitchen posts, visit Beauty That Moves.

~Deb

Rooted and Built Up!

Rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. ~ Colossians 2:7

Long, long ago...in fact, thirty plus years ago, Tom (with my support) led a two-year Navigator Bible Study series called The 2:7 Series based on Colossians 2:7.

We had an amazing group of folks who attended, and we bonded with them as we "grew strong, deepened roots, and bore fruit in God's family."

Well...one couple in the group whom we hadn't seen in years and years stopped by to see us on Saturday afternoon as they were headed home to New Jersey after their vacation.

What a wonderful time of seeing friends! Here are Marc and Deb just before they left us and headed out to West Virginia to see another couple from our 2:7 group. It was a trip of reunions for them!Marc took a picture of our family on his phone (sorry for low quality) to show to our mutual friends in West Virginia so they could see how we'd aged! Ha! No, actually, so they could see our smiling faces sending them long-distance hellos!I just love when friends come to visit! There's a cross-stitch on our wall that says "Stay Awhile!" And we really mean it!

I always have one of the girls take a photo of me with whichever friend has come...to stay awhile. Here's a picture of the two Debs together:Here's the cross-stitch I made years ago for each couple/member of our Colossians 2:7 group as a remembrance of the times we were together:Whenever I see this verse, I think of our special times studying God's Word with special friends.

~Deb