Mountain Musings

18 Inches of Fluff!

Thank you to our Georgia poster, Sarah, for filling in on the blog with her take on the snowstorm in her area while we were "under the weather" here in Virginia.

We finally have our internet back after the transmitter experienced "catastrophic failure" last Friday from snowstorm Jonas, according to the server's phone line. I have to say I really missed being connected to the world!

The peak seen here is Elliott Knob, where our internet transmitter is located. This photo is taken from my upstairs window looking west toward the Allegheny Mountains: The snow began fast and furious last Friday morning and by Saturday afternoon had left us with 18 inches of light and fluffy snow, as all the power crews were describing it.

Tom (for new readers) works for the local power company and left home Friday packed for five days. Thankfully, he made it home on Sunday because "light and fluffy" doesn't cause as many power outages as "wet and heavy." Whew! Answered prayer, and we were all thankful!

Won't you join me on our front porch?Or...let's sit out back. The snow drifted way more here from the strong winds: Here's a sunrise picture I took Sunday morning on the back deck looking towards the Blue Ridge Mountains: Just as the sun was rising in the east out back...the moon was setting in the west out front: I quickly put on my zoom lens for a closer picture....it's quite blurry, but I loved seeing the full moon this close: And a final snow photo...my new barn quilt on the shed (which I'll post about soon): I'm sure Sarah missed all this white Virginia beauty, but I know she's glad she wasn't part of the shoveling crew around here! Snow is hard work! (But I'm only going on hearsay...I just watched from inside!)

~Deb

The Snowstorm of 2016

If you expected this post to be from the Virginian writers, you would be wrong! Yes, that's right, this is Sarah in Georgia, and I am excited to say that we got our first snow on Friday/Saturday. It was a whole half an inch! :) I was really quite happy with what we got...it was so pretty coming down, and there was a nice coating of snow all over the ground. Eric was amused at how delighted I was to see snow.  ;)

But in reference to the REAL snowstorm that hit the east coast: My family in Virgina is snowed in with no internet access since Friday, with 18 inches of white stuff piled up...just a bit more than we got down south. Dad's been working the storm but was able to make it home this morning - and they spent most of the day trying to shovel themselves out. 

I did not miss having to shovel out in the cold...but I did get my first Georgian snowball. I saved it in the freezer as a memento. Ha! :)

Who else got hit with the snowstorm? Hopefully you're all warm and safe wherever you are! I'm sure Mom will be back on the blog as soon as she can get internet again. :)

~Sarah

Nine Months to Birth a Mini!

I love good mail days! Don't you?

I love personal letters from friends and especially packages containing Moda fabric arriving in my mailbox. And, of course, I love quilts arriving in the mail.

And that's what happened this week! I hit the mail-day jackpot when Tom brought home a big box addressed to me from California. What the world?!

Here's the story:

Last March I entered a giveaway for a custom mini-quilt made especially for the winner over on Jen's blog, Quilter in the Closet. And I won! I know some of you won't find that too amazing since I've won various stuff occasionally! :)

But, anyway, I won! I could pick whatever type mini-quilt I'd like for Jen to make. I chose a rainbow flying geese.

This is the mini that arrived in the mail this week. Jen did an excellent job. I LOVE IT! (Photo credit: Jen, at Quilter in the Closet blog)Below you can see some of the quilting up close, and I can't wait to put it up on my new sewing room wall...one day: (Photo credit: Jen, at Quilter in the Closet blog)Jen and I emailed each other throughout the months as she was working on it; and as sometimes happens, life and family obligations sneaked in to hold up her finishing the mini until now. I completely understood as we've had a lot of things going on in our family this past year, too.

I told Jen it actually made a good story title...Nine Months to Birth a Mini. :) And she tells her side of the story over on this post.

However, Jen felt so very badly that she was late in getting the mini to me. So, she doubly made up for it!

She included a second quilt in her package...yes, she sent another quilt that was her beautiful Patriotic Chevron lap quilt that she entered in her local quilt show. Amazing that she would give it to me! I absolutely love it!

Here's the back of the quilt being held up by Hannah...just as beautiful as the front, and the quilting is outstanding:  Thank you so much, Jen! 

I love that she worked on these quilts all the way across the country in California...and now they reside in my country home here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I love both quilts and will always treasure them.

Head over to check out Jen's blog, Quilter in the Closet and see what other beautiful things she's sewing.

~Deb

Completed Quilt

It's your Georgia guest poster here again! :) Hi everybody!

One project that I have been working on lately is finishing up the last step on a quilt - sewing on the binding. You may remember from a post last year that I won $100 worth of quilting services from Ruby Blue Quilting Studio. Well, it took me awhile, but I finally finished getting all the borders sewn on and the completed top sent off to Rebecca last fall.

Once I arrived in Georgia after my honeymoon, I received a package with the (almost) completed quilt. I was very pleased with Rebecca's work, I'd definitely recommend her! After getting unpacked and settled in, I have worked on trimming the quilt layers, sewing on the binding around the edge, and then hand sewing the binding to the back.

Here I am all set up in our family room, sewing away. Having an entire quilt on top of you like that keeps you nice and warm! :)

Finally, I put in the last stitch on Friday and spread the completed quilt on our guest room bed. It's so good to get that done!!! Now when my family and friends come to see me, they will have a warm quilt to sleep under. :)

I suppose now I should get back into working on my Double Wedding Ring quilt, eh? ;)

~Sarah

Birthday Meal for Hannah!

First of all....Happy 32nd Birthday to Hannah, on Saturday, the 9th!!

I've been busy getting all the ingredients together and scoping out the recipes she's picked out for her birthday meal.

I have to say that everyone else in the family usually picks a fairly normal meal for their birthday choice; however, Miss Hannah usually picks exotic, involved recipes...after all, this is her chance to enjoy whatever she would like!

Here's what I'll be making for her birthday...all are recipes she found on Pinterest.

Let's start with the most delicious sounding first....dessert, which is Dark Chocolate Raspberry Pie, found on The Complete Savorist blog. I think I can do this one fairly easily. Are you a dark chocolate lover?

Next is her side dish...Quinoa Fried "Rice" found on Gimme Some Oven blog. We already have a big bag of quinoa, so hopefully that will prepare quickly. Are you a quinoa lover?

And lastly, I have a choice for the main dish. She picked two similar beef dishes...either Slow Cooker Cashew Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry (seems easier as the crockpot does almost everything for me). This one was found on The Recipe Critic blog.

Or her second choice of Bulgogi Korean BBQ found on A Spicy Perspective blog. I looked up the word Bulgogi, which was new to me, and it literally means fire meat in Korean. I'll see which recipe strikes a chord tomorrow. Which one would you pick?

Where is Sarah when I need her help in the kitchen?!

Anyway, I hope everything will turn out delicious. I'll just start early enough in the morning to get it all accomplished. Of course, Hannah volunteered to help with the meal. But no one should have to cook or do any sort of manual labor on their birthday! ...just my humble opinion.

Happy Birthday, Hannah! Enjoy it to the fullest!

~Deb

I'm Missing Sarah...But...

Knowing Sarah was getting married and moving all of her furniture to Georgia, I began scheming back in the fall and was planning on making her old bedroom into my new sewing room!

Haha! Unfortunately, the joke's on me!

Sarah's empty room can't become my new sewing room until all of the kitchen cabinets that are going in Jonathan's house are finished...yes, that's right, Sarah's old room is where six of the 25 cabinets Tom is building are now awaiting varnishing (inside) and painting (outside).

But the good news is my living room actually gets a break from woodworking!

Here's only a small portion of the cabinets. My job and Hannah's is to paint these as soon as we can so another batch can be brought inside as they're built.But actually, I spoke too soon. I drafted the first part of this post awhile back, and over the weekend four additional cabinets were brought inside...and they did land in my living room! Ackkk! Tom has become a lean, mean, cabinet-building machine! Here he is in his make-do workshop inside our garage: One day, hopefully by spring, I'll be able to set up my own craft room....once those cabinets are out of Sarah's room and installed in Jonathan's house (speaking of which....I need to do a house update in the next few weeks. The house-building has been a long, slow process, but soon it will be time to paint the walls!).

Here's an idea...maybe the lean, mean, cabinet-making machine can build me some cabinets for my sewing space! 

Follow along and see what happens in the coming months!

~Deb

A Fresh New Year!

A good verse for this new year: 

"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:19

First of all, thank you to everyone who took time to write and leave a comment on the last post letting us know you were out there and telling us where you're reading from. That was encouraging to find out we have blog readers we didn't even know about!

Now that you've been brave enough to comment, don't be a stranger! Stop in again and drop a line on the blog.  Please be patient with me...I always respond back personally to comments, and I'll be writing to each of you now that the holidays are officially over and our guests have gone back to their homes.

We hope you all had some very enjoyable holidays! We certainly did and are so thankful for our family!

Our special guests for Christmas: Newlyweds Sarah and Eric arrived late on Christmas Day and spent the weekend with us! It was so fun to see them again. It's hard to believe they've been married 7 weeks already!

Surprise special guests: Almost as soon as Sarah and Eric arrived, the doorbell rang again. We were preparing food in the kitchen, chatting, and welcoming them home and wondered who in the world would be at our door on Christmas Day!

Jonathan went to find out what the ding-donging was all about, and who was standing there but our oldest son, Micah, and grandson, Ethan! They had driven all day to be here as a surprise! Ooh, boy! It was wonderful!! But it was such a surprise, no one had a camera ready!

I don't think Christmas could have been any more special than to have everyone home together!

What about at your house? Did you have some special guests come visit you?

What was your Christmas menu?

Someone asked us recently if we served ham or turkey for Christmas dinner. Neither. We always serve a chicken dish. Our Christmas Eve meal was San Francisco Chicken, and our Christmas Day meal was Spicy Chicken over Noodles.

Here are Jonathan and Micah going through the Saturday night meatball hoagie food line: Here I am below with Sarah...I miss her terribly around here, so it was extra special to have her home. She just wouldn't consent to staying though!:It was fun having this little baseball player in my kitchen, even if only for a day:We have an extra celebration around here, too, this time of year...Tom celebrated his birthday this week, complete with his requested grilled pizza (the weather cooperated, and it wasn't too chilly) and ice cream cake. Happy Birthday, good and faithful Dad!: I hope this helped catch you up a bit on Christmas happenings around here. I have more to blog about next week, but I wanted to get this post up on the first day of 2016!

Happy New Year to you all!

~Deb