Mountain Musings

Summer Garden Update

The photo above was taken earlier in the summer just before the sunflowers (behind the zinnias) started blooming.

The photo below was taken this morning, and the teddy bear sunflowers are now showing their faces:

I love walking down to the garden...seeing the flowers and gathering the new produce:

Cucumbers, yellow zucchini, squash, tomatoes, okra, and peppers...just some of our garden veggies this year:

Last summer I tried yellow zucchini for the first time (loved it!). I had a few seeds in the packet left and planted those this year. Great harvest and great for making Zucchini Squares, a favorite of mine.

The okra did well this year, even though a bunny sneaked in and nibbled some leaves when the electric fence was turned off. I have learned....you cannot turn your back even for one day on okra!

I like to saute okra in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and cajun seasoning...not slimy at all:

This year I planted watermelon for the first time!  The smaller Sugar Babies are coming along better than I thought after a very slow start!

Here's the watermelon bed with Italian sweet peppers to their right:

Don't forget the black eyed peas...a favorite of mine. I used this link to prep perfectly cooked peas in the instant pot. I like to season with rosemary from the garden:

I harvested rosemary earlier in the season:

We planted rhubarb about 10 years ago before Sarah got married. She always made rhubarb pies for the farmer's market. Now we have even more rhubarb plants because the seeds will blow in the wind and spread:

I like flowers inside the garden and around the perimeter,too. This group of zinnias and sunflowers is inside the picket fence garden:

These pink yarrow and lavender are inside the larger garden:

These tall yellow yarrow are beside the garden gate...planted many years ago as one of our first purchases from Andre Viette Nursery:
The hyacinth bean plant finally started growing through the obelisk. Then I think that same rabbit found his way inside the larger garden and all those leaves in this photo, except where he couldn't reach at the top, are all gone! So pitiful! 

That's willowy asparagus in the background:

And last, but not least, the hollyhocks are growing at the front of the garden...not around the outhouse as seen at most homesteads long ago. You can check out this link to read about hollyhocks, the outhouse flower!

 

"I was going to town today...but my hollyhocks are blooming!"

Since I love gardening and quilting, I absolutely love this wall hanging below which I saw recently on the Red Button Quilt Company website. It's called Hollyhock Heaven, and I would love to make it!

 

So you know where I'll be...you can find me in the garden or in the sewing room!

Thanks for following along on the blog and checking out the garden update!

~Deb

Birthday Week Activities! Part 1

Yes, the title is correct....birthday week! Since my birthday falls on a holiday week each year, we've always celebrated, not just one day, but all week long! And with family here for several days, what's not to enjoy and celebrate!

The grandchildren arrived last Saturday...which is the only birthday gift I needed!

We've had a wonderful few days celebrating, touring Jonathan's workplace, handcrafting a special treasure box in the workshop with Grampa, picking vegetables in the garden, going to the playground, and setting off fireworks...oh, and enjoying Peter Paul Mounds birthday cake that Sarah made.

This little 6-month old punkin' visited Granny's house for the very first time. It was fun introducing him to everyone at church:

Jonathan thought the boys would enjoy a tour of his airport, and they sure did!

Lots of excitement for these kids and lots of different planes awaiting exploration!

They were allowed to climb into this plane and sit in the cockpit:

They could sit in actual airplane seats in this plane and experience what a real flight would be like:
And then some kiddie planes just their size!

Very thankful for Uncle Jonathan taking time out of his workday to give everyone a tour:

The next exciting adventure for the kids (and for the adults helping them) was held in Grampa's Workshop!

Tom had worked for days prepping Shaker Candle Boxes...renamed Special Treasure Boxes for all the kids to glue and hammer together:

All the kids did great, and every adult did a wonderful job assisting!

Gluing the sides:

And sanding the box:

 

Even the youngest got in on the action!

I was the photographer for the project:

There are more photos over on Tom's instagram account. What a great project, Grampa!!  Thank you for the fun time!

We picked veggies in the garden, and the kids could hardly wait to see what was ready to pick! This grandson loves gardening:

Sisters together again in the garden:

I absolutely loved picking veggies with the kids:

I wish this could be an every day occurrence!

The kids enjoyed finding the blackberries that were ready to eat:

Visitors at 237 Garden Plaza...Uncle Ed and Aunt Ellen (Tom's sister):

More visitors...Hannah and Christopher, taking a garden tour:

I had been working extra hard in the garden this year mulching and pulling weeds and making the garden presentable so it would look good for Hannah, since she was always our garden girl. I think it was a success because she said she was "pleasantly surprised." LOL!

Jonathan helped carry the vegetables back to the house...cucumbers and yellow zucchini:

Love seeing Hannah in the garden again...this time toting a baby instead of garden produce!

Aunt Bet (my sister) took advantage of my garden chair to rest a bit before making the trek back to the house:

And...who wouldn't like to find this munchkin in the garden (Sarah's youngest):

This post has gotten quite long...so I'll post the rest of the celebration in Part 2.

~ Deb

I Went Down to the Garden Today...

After our last three nights of temps in the 40s, I was able to plant the garden today. Here are some of the veggies and flowers I planted.

Marigolds, basil, cucumbers, sugar baby watermelons, peppers, okra, zucchini, squash....purchased from Ever Growin' Greenhouse in Dayton, Virginia:

Last week Tom helped by dumping many bags of garden compost on the beds after I uncovered them from their winter blankets.

Here's the garden with a fresh topping of garden soil and compost before I got started today. That's oregano in the middle bed:

Here's the bed with the tomatoes staged where I'm planting them...Golden Jubilee, Roma, and Red Snapper that a friend at church grew in her greenhouse. They were healthy and tall, and I needed to trench them in...a first for me and I sorta didn't know what I was doing...until I googled a youtube video:

Here's the cucumber bed ready to be planted. I brought my printed garden plan with me so I wouldn't forget where I'd decided to plant each veggie....but even then I did end up switching some things:

Here's the garden in the opposite direction...the peppers, zucchini and squash hills, and in the far bed the watermelon. The big bush is comfrey and more oregano in the middle bed:

I also planted teddy bear sunflowers and zinnia seeds today...I'll have to post an update when the garden starts growing.

I soaked my hyacinth bean seeds and planted those today also at the bottom of this obelisk:

I like to keep the garden neat....so now that the planting is done, I definitely need to get Tom's leaf blower and blow/clean up the pathways, remove all the black plastic blankets which had covered the beds and the bricks holding them down, and put in some garden lights for ambience at night.

We call this the picket fence garden.  Our second bigger garden needs a lot of work! That's where the blueberry bushes are, asparagus, rhubarb, rosemary, and more comfrey. Also flower beds are in that garden. And LOTS of weeds!

I'm planting blackeye peas in one of those beds this year....that's a job for later this week.

~Deb

Guests Arrive at our B & B

Our recent guests are now settled into their own homes back in Connecticut and Massachusetts...but it sure was fun to have them here in Virginia for just a bit!

Have I ever mentioned that long ago I had a romantic dream that we could own a bed and breakfast and offer guests a place to stay here in our beautiful Valley...until I realized what that might mean to have various strangers appear on our doorstep.

A friend told me once that we already have a bed and breakfast...our home, not a business...and we could freely pick whom we wanted to host. Good advice!

Tom's sister Ellen and her husband Ed stopped by here for a couple of nights after their vacation in Florida. It was good to have them!  They introduced us to pickle ball in the driveway...a first for us!

Here's Tom with his look-alike sister Ellen:

After a morning of activities, we grabbed a pizza at Bella Luna's in Harrisonburg (I recommend the Ring of Fire).

And all too soon, it was time for them to head back to Connecticut. Come again, y'all!

Earlier this week, we hosted our friends, Tim and Donna. They've appeared on the blog before, and we always enjoy when they come. They were also headed back from Florida and stayed with us a couple of nights. What is this with everyone getting to go to Florida...without me???

On a side note: I've been to Florida only once in my life back in 2010. You can read about one part of the trip here. Who was reading the blog back then...14 years ago...and knew I won that trip? Leave a comment if you were one of the original blog readers back then. (I always respond back by email to every comment!)

Tim is a history buff and suggested Montpelier as a place to adventure to one day they were here. Montpelier is the home of James Madison, located about an hour and a quarter from us in Orange, Virginia.

Here we are having a little fun with the statues:

The tour inside the house was interesting...here are a few scenes. James Madison, bottom left, and his favorite picture he had painted of his wife Dolley, bottom right:

Some famous statues in the ornate sitting room:

Check out the dining room below with cutouts showing how they usually sat around the table...Dolley is at the head of the table because James didn't like to be in the spotlight. He enjoyed conversing with those men around him at the table, James Monroe and others.

In the far corner is James Madison's man-servant, Paul Jennings...a name I'd never heard before but one that our tour guide mentioned frequently in his lecture: The gardens and grounds were beautiful, too. Here we are with stunning flowering shrubs around us:

All the daffodils were in bloom. The day was absolutely gorgeous:

I loved reading these facts about the gardens..."a paradise of roses and flowers."

Click on the info plaque below to zoom up to read:

Just lovely!

This was the vegetable garden in winter below, partitioned off from the formal, landscaped gardens by a hand-crafted wooden fence. I would love to go back in the summer and see how they plant and tend the vegetable garden each year, if they actually do.

Heading out at the end of our tour, we were able to snap this photo that we missed when coming onto the property:
I thought the day was great...seeing new sights and being with friends!  Tom had never been to Montpelier before, but the kids and I had gone 30 years ago on a home school field trip. We still remember eating llama chili on the grounds at a festival, and the Montpelier mansion was then pink, yes pink brick!

Well, that catches you up on our recent excursions. We always thoroughly enjoy our B & B guests!

~Deb

Up Next: Celebrating my sister's birthday in South Carolina!

A Visit Back to My Hometown ~ South Boston, VA

Last week we made a trip back to my hometown of South Boston, Virginia. It's where I lived for 28 years of my life...before Tom came along and whisked me away to other various locations in Virginia. I've loved living in this beautiful state.

The main purpose of our visit was to check out Granny's headstone engraving in the cemetery there...it's almost been two years since the funeral when we traveled to South Boston.

I guess it was a good thing we checked! The death date was not engraved. So we spent some time checking into the matter with the funeral home, filling out paperwork at the headstone place, and paying to have the work done next month. Sadly, it turns out the engraving was not prepaid as we thought.

We had contacted friends in South Boston to see if we could stop by and visit while we were in the area. It was great getting to see Carolyn and Garnett again and catch up on each other's lives.

I loved strolling around her yard seeing her flowers, landscaping, and her fully-decorated She-Shed.

The guys talked together while Carolyn and I strolled and talked:

And here's Carolyn standing in front of her She-Shed...which actually seemed like a Tiny House! It was furnished and adorable inside...perfect spot for ladies' teas and bible study gatherings.

Here's the She-Shed located next to their garage--just a beautiful setup. I loved the birdhouse, fence, and roses growing there to the right of the shed, with all the pebbles and stepping stones:

Sitting area inside the shed/tiny house:

One wall's decor states: Love grows best in little houses like ours!

I sure loved looking around at all the special things she had inside, and it got me hankering to renovate my garden shed...not to this extent for certain.  But a little sprucing up could help!

Let's go inside the main house now...here's the eye-catching front door! I love this green color! Do you remember the post where I painted my She-Shed door yellow? Find it here.

And the beautiful table-setting she planned for us:

The welcome chalkboard on the table in the background:

Each place setting included a different scripture card for us to read aloud after the meal. Menu: Chili with baked potatoes and all the toppings, cornbread sticks, and apple cider:

Take a look at the dessert glasses, which was a coffee latte with pumpkin spice whipped topping and moose tracks ice cream, topped with a leaf cookie:

Carolyn truly made everything so very special for us! Thank you, sweet friend!

One of the activities while we were there was touring Berry Hill Mansion/Resort. It's located directly across the street from Carolyn's house and is a beautiful property.

The website has lots of inside photos of the mansion if you're interested in booking a room!

After spending the night in South Boston (not at Berry Hill), we went on our way bright and early and headed south to visit my sister in South Carolina for the week.

Wish I could show you pictures of our days there...but we were all so busy, no pictures were taken!! Tom was a handyman for her doing tons of activities which involved changing an extra bedroom into her craft room and installing shelving and rearranging the entire room. Now that she's retired, she has time to be creative!

It was a very productive week, and I'm so glad we went and especially glad that we stopped by South Boston before heading to her house. It was an enjoyable and needed week away!

~Deb

Giveaway Winner Announcement!

Today is August 1st and time to draw the name of the winner of either the oregano or rosemary from the Mountain Musings garden!

I used a Random Number Generator at 9pm this evening, and this is the comment that was selected:

Hello from Surry County, North Carolina. I usually read your blog from our home in Texas but we are spending the summer in the NC mountains (much better than the 🔥that Texas has experienced these past few months!)

Posted by: Nancy | Monday, July 24, 2023 at 05:29 PM

 

Nancy, I'll email you for your mailing address. Let me know which of the spices you would like me to send you....or....if you would rather I pass your spice on to another commenter.

Congratulations! And thank you to everyone who left a comment!

~Deb

Spring and Early Summer Happenings ~ Part 1

Hello everyone! If you happened to stop by the blog recently and read the post just before this one, you'll see there's a new way to sign up for email notifications whenever there's been a new post. Hopefully if you did just that, you were notified that this new post is now up and live! Would you be so kind as to let me know it worked?
June found us on the busy roads headed to Massachusetts to visit friends for the first time in their new home. We have enjoyed many visits with T & D here in Virginia over the years, so we were looking forward to traveling to a new place to visit them.

While we were in the area, they took us to Plymouth...and we saw the Mayflower 2 in the harbor. It was a beautiful day, as you can see:

Here are our friends, T & D, with the Plymouth Rock structural canopy in the background:

This next photo shows what's under that canopy...Plymouth Rock, where the Pilgrims first landed!

It actually doesn't look very impressive, does it?  Have you ever been to see the Rock?  You can read more about the story here:

Our friends took us on a very informative historical tour of the area, and we enjoyed it all! I could post so many more pictures!

We also loved spending time at their home and seeing T's flower gardens and being with D. in her kitchen. She planned some great meals while we were there! Thank you both so much for the wonderful visit!

We also were in Massachusetts for the wedding of our nephew...so after leaving T & D's we headed to the weekend wedding festivities. Our son Micah flew in to attend, so that was a treat to see him there:

The happy couple...

I'll post just one reception photo which shows Tom with both of his sisters and brother-in-law enjoying the table conversation after the wedding. Always a fun time seeing family members:

While we were away, the garden was growing! And we came home to some wonderful veggies!

We've had a bumper crop of cucumbers and yellow zucchini, and the tomatoes are just coming in. Yay for gardens!

I've also been harvesting and drying rosemary, oregano, and basil and jarring it for using and/or gifting. I'm trying my best to do the exact same things that Hannah would do if she were still here managing the garden. :)

Who wouldn't enjoy cooking with a jar of fresh aromatic oregano?! My kitchen is smelling like an Italian restaurant!

Here's a treat for you....if you've made it this far reading our blog...leave me a comment telling me where you're reading from and share something encouraging or an answered prayer request that will make my day.  I'll draw a commenter's name on August 1st and send you a jar of oregano or rosemary (your choice) from the Mountain Musings 2023 garden!

(And if you grow your own and have no need for oregano or rosemary, still comment and let me know you're out there and share a story.)

~ Deb

Next up: Spring and Early Summer Happenings ~ Part 2 ~ Grandchildren, Birthdays, and Birdhouses

Empty Nester's DayBook

Well, several blog readers have contacted me--February, March, and April--wondering if we're okay, since the last time I posted was in January!

Yes, we are still kicking and doing as well as two old empty nesters can do! Not a lot of exciting activity around here to post about, to be honest. Things change and activities quiet down once the kids are gone.

So I thought I would start with current events and work my way back to get you up to date.

I've been slowly heading out to the garden since it won't be long before our last frost date of May 15th is here, and it's up to me to plant our garden this year.

Most of the garden veggies, in years past, Hannah and I either ate fresh, or she froze and canned. I will plant less variety and much less quantity, mostly for immediate consumption. The guys around here aren't big veggie eaters to help use it up.

Here's the picket fence garden in early spring....with cardboard covering the beds to prevent weeds. It's overwhelming all the cleanup that needs doing just to get going. But whenever Hannah comes to visit, I want it to look as good as when she was here taking care of it! Big task!

Also this month Jonathan recently hosted his first guests, other than immediate family, in his new home.

He is enjoying his home tremendously and hopes to have more guests come to visit in the coming weeks:

Tom is continuing to help furnish Jonathan's home by building a laundry room cabinet. It's now almost ready for staining and then installing. Then next on the list....a queen-sized bed:

I brought these award-winning cream cheese cupcakes to church last week. It's an old time recipe that my Aunt Bunny used to make and bring for Christmas every year. Let me know if you'd like the recipe:

 

 

Moving backward to the month of March...it was an exciting month!!  Our 8th grandchild (and 7th grandson!) was born. We haven't seen him in person yet but hope to in May! Congratulations to Sarah, Eric, and the excited brothers and sister!

Here they are, eagerly awaiting their new baby brother's appearance!

I stayed busy making a green quilt to send to Sarah as a special gift for her before she had the baby. Her favorite color is green, and she loves to decorate for all seasons. I focused on green clovers for this quilt.

Snowbird Quilts over in West Virginia quilted this for me...you can see more up-close photos of the process on her instagram here. Here it is shown thrown over my bed before mailing:

Being spring....as in past years...the Spring 100 Walking Challenge began for our family on the first day of spring. However, the main organizer of the annual online event is taking a year off for 2023 as it was becoming quite the task with organization and expense with over 3,000 walkers across the country and world participating.

So our daughter Sarah's mother-in-law organized a Spring 100 just for their family, our family, and the extended married in-laws. 

I hope others across the country will take it upon themselves to challenge their families and friends for their own Spring 100.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's Tom participating on the treadmill while he has his morning quiet time:

And below is Hannah, in faraway cold Michigan, walking around her property there:

National Quilting Day also took place in March, so I celebrated by making a small wall hanging for my friend, Chris. 

She had commissioned Tom to make her a small quilt hanger, so I thought she needed a small surprise quilt to go on it when we gave it to her.

 

 

Here's the wall hanging that I made ..a new pattern called Flower Shoppe by Sherri McConnell. Tom has it attached inside the just finished quilt hanger he made.

Snowbird Quilts did a fabulous Rush Job of quilting it so I could get it to Chris when we met up in Richmond as she was passing through on a trip. Scroll through all Snowbird's photos on Instagram of this quilt, and you can see the quilting pattern Nectar up close.

We were so excited about the chance to meet up unexpectedly that we totally forgot to get a picture of her opening the quilt!  But here's a photo she sent me after she returned home and the perfect spot on her sun room wall she had picked out for it. Nice!

And here I am in my sewing room resting from my sewing labors:

  So we've made our way back to February....I worked on a couple of quilting projects this month but I can't post until they're gifted.

Newlyweds Hannah and Christopher are well...a lot of you have asked me how they are doing. I think married life suits them both! Just a quick picture of them celebrating six months of marriage in February. We are looking forward to seeing them in person again:

The last subject on this very long post is to document a visit from our long-time friends from Massachusetts who stopped by on their way to Florida in February.

We took them to Lexington and toured Washington & Lee University and also VMI Museum. The grounds were beautifully landscaped and it was a perfectly beautiful warm day for our excursion:

The campus:

Leaving Virginia and on their way to Florida:

I think that should catch you up on all the happenings, or lack thereof, around Mountain Musings since January. Let us know if you're still out there, faithful ones!

We wanted to wish you all a very Happy Resurrection weekend! He Arose!

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”  ~ John 11:25-26

 

~Deb

 

AND LIFE GOES ON....CATCHING UP

Where did September, October, and November go?  I'm really wondering! And what has been happening since the busy summer of wedding planning and Hannah and Christopher's wedding?

Well, it almost doesn't seem possible that Hannah has been married for almost three months! Yes, we do miss her a lot but bottom line...she is totally loving married life, setting up her home, preparing meals for her husband, harvesting vegetables, hosting gatherings at their home, making new friends, and becoming adjusted to life in Michigan!

And, yes, our garden girl found a garden away from home, ready and ripe for the harvesting. Here are Hannah and Christopher spending a Saturday gathering potatoes:

And harvesting butternut squash with Christopher's brothers:

Every time I get a photo from her, she is smiling (a lot!) and says she is enjoying it all!

In the meantime, Tom and I were left with a garden that needed harvesting with the last of the veggies and cleaning up before the winter hits. We've been doing it bit by bit, as old folks have to pace themselves! This is no joke!

 

And we did get out and about this fall to enjoy the Skyline Drive and have a picnic. The leaves this year were not very vibrant, but the day was beautiful:

Picnicking on the Skyline Drive with friends:

Other things Tom has been up to include building a brand new lectern for our church. It is definitely an heirloom...a beautiful piece of furniture! Here he is installing it so it would be ready and in place for Sunday's services:

Tom has also become a guitar teacher for our grandson who wanted to learn guitar. They enjoy a long-distance zoom guitar lesson together every Monday afternoon:

Speaking of grandkids...I can't leave the others out! Here's a picture of four cuties ready for church on a Sunday morning:

And these two sweetie grandsons live faraway too! I love getting their pictures on text!

Time to Travel.........

In October Tom and I were able to travel to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary from back in August...and scenes like this one below were common sights.

   photo credit: The Traveler World Guide.com

Our destination was the Sight and Sound Theater to see a presentation of "David."  Excellent production!

Lancaster is well known for Amish wood-working and quilt shops--perfect for both of us! I visited several of the shops and enjoyed looking around at the quality furniture, fabric, crafts, and quilts:

While we were that far up north, we continued on to Connecticut to visit Tom's siblings. It had been many years since we were up that direction. Here are all four siblings together in sister Ellen's backyard:

We also had a photo session one day with Tom's two sisters who were recipients of a quilt I made each of them:

Here are Ellen and her husband Ed holding the Scrappy Sunflowers quilt I made her for a retirement gift:

And here are Tom and sister Sue holding the Wonky Stars Scrappy quilt I made for her birthday:

One of our activities while there was walking Long Island Sound...a beautiful area and beautiful afternoon:

Our New England visit soon came to a close, and we made it home in time to celebrate Jonathan's birthday with his annual Turtle Cake!

His birthday also consisted of a trip to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. which he absolutely loved since his passion is planes! 

I told him I could understand how he would love all the planes in the museum....if that yellow plane in the picture below happened to be a yellow quilt on display, I'd love it, too!

And last but not least....Mail Call!!  Look what I received as a late birthday gift...I'll take a late birthday gift like this any day--a beautiful sunflower table runner from my quilty friend, Chris!  Thank you, sweet friend!

Just two old people wandering the streets of Staunton:

Hope you've enjoyed this catch-up post. Everyone have a very blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

~Deb

Beautifying the Church Flower Beds

Our family was commissioned with the task of sprucing up the front of our church building by revamping the old flower bed. So after researching and planning which plants would work best for the spot, we made a trip to some local greenhouses to find what I had in mind. Even though it was a bit on the early side for a full selection, I was pleased with what we eventually decided on.

Weeds had already begun to take over, so it was high time to get the beds looking nicer just in time for spring. BEFORE:

Mom was the excellent watering lady for our project:

The shrubs we chose for foundation planting were holly and abelia:

After clearing the 5' x 30' section of weeds, we tilled, raked, dug holes, and laid down landscape fabric. In additon to the bushes, I wanted to focus on perennials so the plants would be long-lasting and come back each year. Chosen flowers were coreopsis, gaillardia, dianthus, sedum, and some annual marigolds for a pop of immediate color.

After everything was in, we tried to beat the approaching rain as we surrounded the plants with bagged mulch.

Several hours later, we had a finished product! AFTER:

The transformed flower bed is no longer weedy, with much team effort!

I'm looking forward to watching these plants grow and blossom as they get established.

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8

~Hannah