Mountain Musings

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

Early Fall Activities and Munchkin Visitors

All of a sudden, the season that we all love has arrived. We've had a few chilly mornings here in Virginia, and the gorgeous 70's temps are telling us the calendar page has turned to delightful October.

Hannah has been in the garden picking the last of the black-eyed peas, and we've been enjoying them for lunch...just today, in fact!

Someone told us last week that we hadn't posted many garden pictures this season, so here you go...a photo of Trinidad Scorpion peppers growing in our garden:

There's a story behind this particular peck of peppers...my fault, actually. Hannah sent me to the nursery for some hot pepper plants...I unknowingly went to the extreme, heh, heh.

So she planted them anyway, and Jonathan has a co-worker who wanted to take them off our hands and dry them into chili powder. Interesting how many peppers those four plants produced....dozens and dozens! This is just one small batch.

With the garden winding down, Hannah has been knee-deep in soap making, labeling, packaging, and boxing up hundreds of soaps lately for a big order. Here she is meticulously adding toppings to the soaps:

Granny likes to watch her work, and here's Hannah showing her one of her boxed gift sets:

Hannah often packages her soaps in Granny's room to keep Granny company:

Speaking of Granny...continue to pray, please. Most days are very hard for her. Here's Tom sitting and talking with her a few nights ago:

This summer Tom has been quite occupied in his workshop building a dining room table:

He's staining the legs now, and next up is staining the top and apron. A big project finally nearing completion!

In other news, part of our family joined other adventurous ones in our church group recently and hiked the Blue Ridge Tunnel Trail near Afton Mountain one Saturday morning. I thought this was an interesting photo of the dark tunnel:

Munchkin Time!  Eric, Sarah, and children came to visit a couple of weekends ago on their way back home to Georgia from another trip.

It was a short stopover here, but these grandparents will take anything they can get! Always love having them visit, even when this Little Miss was scared of us at first!

Jonathan made sure to get in a brotherly hug with Sarah:

Here are the four cuties all ready to travel back home. Bye Bye, kiddies: 

Well, we sent them off and started prepping for our next guest to arrive a few days later....my friend, Carol from Texas, whom I've known for over 40 years. She was headed home after traveling for a few weeks and stopped by the Mountain Musings B & B.

Carol is an avid hymnologist and was here years ago to teach a class to friends who gathered in our living room.

She brought a bag of favorite hymnals with her, and we sang around the dining table that evening. Very entertaining and enjoyable:

It was fun to catch up with each other's lives.Thanks, Carol, for coming to visit!

So she wrote in our guest book, we took a final photo, and she was on her way back to Texas.

I'll close up this post with something for you to think about:

~Deb

When Four Little Munchkins Visit...

I'm somewhat late in posting May activities...but I couldn't let this opportunity pass without documenting on the blog that the sweetest grandchildren ever came to visit us on Memorial Day weekend.

Grampa and Granny go slightly crazy coming up with fun activities for them to enjoy and remember...hoping they'll tell their parents they want to go to Granny's house in Virginia more often! :)

The weekend turned out to be a little on the chilly side so we picked the warmest day for the Slip 'N Slide: Birthday water guns were a big hit, and the buddies wanted to "let's get Aunt Hannah!"

The kiddies always love Grampa's yellow wagon rides. This time the grand-girlie enjoyed riding for the first time! Here's the sweet girl waiting for Grampa to start his tractor!

All around the property they drove...and the kids loved it!

Granny Deb had the idea for a Garden Scavenger Hunt, and Aunt Hannah came up with all the items to find. Here are the little guys before they took off to the garden with their lists:

And away they go! "I found a birdhouse!"  "I see a red flower!" "I found a frog!" That game kept them occupied for a good while, plus it was fun!

Grampa had another activity up his sleeve...helping the grandsons make something in Grampa's Work Shop! Oooh, this was a favorite!

Grampa explained to this cute threesome what they would be making:

They were excited to pound nails, saw wood, and use Grampa's vacuum to clean up. Everyone had a turn!

Such excitement to cut the letters (with Grampa's help!) for their initial plaques!

Forming the letters:

Let's call Grampa's project a happy success!

We were so thankful that Great Granny was feeling well enough to enjoy their visit since she was in the ER for hours the night they arrived. Sarah was glad to see her enjoying her great-grandchildren:

Great Granny contributed to the activity ideas too! She suggested that she wanted to purchase roller skates for the boys and have them skate on the deck so she could watch. Great idea! And we included the helmets for this new adventure: They became old pros pretty quickly and skated around the deck and picnic table with no fear at all!

These two sisters took time out to walk around the property for some miles to add to their Spring 100 goal:

After all that activity, some much needed quiet reading time was the order of the day. Here's Grampa reading to the guys on Sunday morning before church:

Aunt Hannah always had a crowd around her, too!
And last, but not least, Great Granny absolutely loved holding this girlie, her only great-granddaughter!

Memorial Day Weekend around the Mountain Musings homestead could not have been any better with the munchkins here! 

Now, we're looking forward to the 4th of July weekend when we'll see another little two-year-old grandson coming from the opposite direction who will help me celebrate my birthday and shoot off some fireworks!

Fun times ahead!

~Deb

Fresh, Crisp October Morning ~ Welcome Fall!

iStockphoto/Ralf Liebhold

The month of September passed by in a blur with, alas, no blog post to update you on all the happenings around Mountain Musings! Be assured, lots was going on around here this past month!

With beautiful garden pumpkins everywhere for inspiration, I've been in the sewing room...creating pumpkin table runners, of course! One runner was for daughter Sarah, so I dropped one in the mail so she could decorate her fall table in Georgia and give her a little taste of home: My sewing room needed some fall decorations too, so I switched out the quilted American flag and put up the pumpkin block my friend Chris made...I love being reminded of her sweet creativity as I work: Remember in an earlier post I showed you a photo of a neighbor's barn quilts she painted for passersby to enjoy? She's been changing them with the seasons! Here's the newest one up for fall. I love seeing these quilt blocks outside every time I go out! Nothing says Fall like going to craft fairs and fall festivals...if you can find any open this year!

Our beloved Dayton Days which I usually write about was postponed until October, 2021. Last year Tom debuted his fine woodworking there, along with Hannah's soaps. You can read about their experience here. They will surely miss going this fall.

So, this year we heard about a local farm's Open House we wanted to attend....Seasons' Yield Farm! Isn't the farm house and grounds beautiful? I loved strolling around just observing and taking pictures: On the recent Open House weekend, which introduced their new Air B&B, lots of folks came to check it out and explore the Bread Barn and its wares. They sell loaves of wood-fired bread, pastries, and on this Open House weekend...pizza!

Here's the Bread Barn and part of the long line I waited in for almost an hour...and then, sadly, I gave up, and didn't sample their morning buns which had been highly recommended: The thought of a delicious wood-fired pizza, though, was almost enough to entice me to stand in line longer...maybe next time! Plenty of wood piled up and pizza boxes waiting for customers:There were a good variety of vendors spread out on the property from alpaca goods to just-picked apples, maple syrup, decorated cakes, and honey: Jonathan enjoyed talking to this vendor, because he and Hannah own a herd share at Creambrook Farm, and we pick up raw milk from them every week: This vendor sold a variety of apples, some unusual kinds I'd never heard of: Sarah, our beloved former resident cake baker :), should have been here to see this lady's decorated cakes for sale: An old truck, a pumpkin, a country flower garden...and sheep in the distance..this farm was right up my alley! I loved the flower beds...and there was a sign that said, "Pick yourself a free bouquet!" Soon it was time for the two of us to leave...Jonathan was headed in to work, and I was headed to the quilt shop. Bye-bye Seasons' Yield Farm...it was a beautiful Saturday for riding out and exploring the countryside! Well, of course, there's lots more fun that happened in September, including a visit on Labor Day from the grandsons who live north of us!

Always a special time to have this game-loving grandson come visit...we know all the game boards will be set up for sure! Count me in when Ticket to Ride gets pulled out!  But there's got to be some fresh air after all those games...here's Uncle Jonathan showing off his pear tree loaded with pears: Let's make sure we get a picture with Great-Granny! After they were headed back home, I realized I could have gotten in there for a 4-generation picture. Awww...

And last but not least, Hannah and I went out for National Daughter's Day last week to a local cafe we'd been wanting to try...Sugar & Bean. Fun outing with an absolutely wonderful daughter! I am blessed!

Looking ahead to October, Tom and I are looking forward to a Virginia fall getaway, compliments of the kids for our 40th! Hope I can get some great pictures of the fall scenery.

~Deb

None of Your Beeswax

Here in the soap studio lately, I've been experimenting with honeycomb from the hives at Monticello's gardens. If you get a chance to visit Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home in Charlottesville, VA, stop by their gift shop and find Pleasant View Soaps products created using their herbs and flowers...and soon, beeswax. 

 

Keep reading if you want to know about the process of including beeswax in soap! I was sent a sizable amount of raw honeycomb to render into wax. It was my first attempt at doing so, but it worked out just fine after a little bit of research. This is what the fresh jumbled honeycomb off the hives looks like before processing:

 

 

Bundled up tightly in cheesecloth (or a clean threadbare dishtowel, haha), the honeycomb is placed in simmering water to allow the wax to melt and to filter out any unwanted debris, such as bee parts or honey.

 

 

The wax melts and floats to the brim of the pot of water, leaving the "gunk" below and in the cheesecloth.

After leaving the wax to cool and harden, I could lift a disk of filtered beeswax off the top to then trim and use. I will likely take it through a second melting to further purify the wax. I thought the below round of beeswax looked like some kind of flan dessert with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top - not quite!

 

 

I then chopped and melted the pure beeswax to stir into a new soap recipe. Beeswax provides some hardness to a bar of soap when used in certain amounts.

 

I even swirled some Monticello honey into this test batch and created a honeycomb pattern on the top of the soaps....using bubble-wrap. It will be named Honeycomb soap and will be sold exclusively in the Monticello catalog, coming out next year!

 

 

If you're interested in a similar soap, visit my website for the Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey soap, an unscented and mild treat.

 

~Hannah

Garden Tour at Mountain Musings

Gar-den (gahr'den) noun. A piece of cultivated land, often near a home, used for growing ornamental flowers, shrubs, and vegetables; paradise.

Did you catch the last word of that definition?  Paradise. Yep, that's pretty much the way I feel about gardens!

Welcome to 237 Garden Lane! This is where you'll find me and Hannah working just about every day.  In fact, the first thing I do every morning as soon as my feet hit the floor is peek out the upstairs curtains and look down toward the gardens...mainly to take in the view but also to see if there are any naughty rabbits nibbling or pesky deer foraging: After last year's total garden massacre by the deer, Tom installed an electric fence this spring. So far, so good! The electric fence involved a lot of work! Tom's job was digging a trench for the main feeder cable that goes to each garden's fence wires...and then attaching and running all the wires around the two gardens. The deer will be shocked to know they aren't welcome visitors!

This project really involved tons of unexpected work for me because there are flowers growing all around the garden fences...much too close and brushing onto the electric wires, which hindered the charge. So lots of well-established plants had to be transplanted and moved at least 6 inches away from the fence...or placed elsewhere...or either staked and pulled heavily away from the fence. Oh my! I have to admit that I wasn't too excited about all that work!

I just finished staking the last plant yesterday after a couple of months of digging and deciding where these plants would be put, moving them early in the mornings when the bees weren't buzzing, and then mulching all the beds. Finally, the bottom wire could be energized. So glad that project is D.O.N.E.! Here's hoping it will be well worth it!

This Russian sage is beautiful but has been very persnickety and wants to sway in the wind and touch that wire no matter how much I stake it back! The faux birdhouse vegetable markers attached to the fence posts were a gift from Jonathan....love them! Carrots, Squash, Herbs! And don't forget to plant the hot peppers!
My sister came to visit last month, and I took her on this same garden tour I'm taking you on. While she was here, she crafted me the cutest little artsy garden book! I love it, and it's so true!

Here we both are in the kitchen during her visit. Since Granny can't travel a long distance now, Bet came to us this summer: Okay, back to the tour!

This vegetable garden picture below was taken in early June showing tomatoes staked on the left, black-eyed peas just emerging in the foreground, and asparagus, back right. That large plant in the center is the spent rhubarb: And this photo below is of the same raised bed (looking the opposite direction) and was taken yesterday of my favorite vegetable growing...black-eyed peas! What a difference a month makes!

Hannah planted, I watered, but God gave the increase.  (as taken from I Cor. 3:6)

Here's our prepared climbing area for raspberries, blackberries, and blueberry bushes, along with hollyhocks and fennel growing in this same bed. I planted 4 new raspberry plants this year; they are further down the row and not as visible in this picture: The new hollyhocks coming up here are seeds from my sister-in-law in Connecticut, so I'm very happy that they are thriving. I planted her pink hollyhock seeds on one side of the salvaged wrought-iron fence section and my collected burgundy hollyhock seeds on the other side, so hopefully they will beautifully intermingle!

I recently added the antique rake attached in the center of the fence section. I'm planning on staining the handle and spray painting the metal part of the rake as my next project:

Decorated garden picket fence for the Fourth of July: The entrance to the lower garden begins with a flower bed featuring old brick that say Chives, Basil, and Mint given to me by a long-ago blogging friend, Lisa, and an obelisk that hopefully will have hyacinth bean twining up the posts soon: And this photo looks back towards the garden gate and features the opposite end of the flower bed which introduces the vegetable garden:

Poppies have literally "popped" up everywhere in the garden from wind-blown seeds! We leave them where they land for the bright red flowers and are just now starting to pull up all the faded remains:

 

This Mama Bird has been so busy with her babies that she didn't take time for housekeeping! Hmmm...about like me after spending all day in the garden!

And here's another birdhouse at the opposite garden corner accented with tiger lilies:

Inside the picket fence garden are (top) green beans, oregano, and tomatoes (they need tying!). (Bottom) cukes, oregano, and peppers.

This is also where the okra is growing. Yay for okra season!

This healthy comfrey plant, passed along from Hannah's friend Kate, also resides here:

Just outside the picket fence garden is one of the first flowers I planted when we moved here 18 years ago...yarrow from Andre Viette's Nursery. It's a very strong and healthy stand of flowers that I didn't want to chance losing. So they are pulled away from the electric fence as much as possible:

Leaving the garden area, we are touring the driveway flower bed, which include hydrangea (pinks, blues, and purples, all colors growing on the same bush), irises, daisies, phlox, daylilies (passed along from my friend Jean), and butterfly bush:

Last fall I painted the "he shed" and "she shed" doors yellow. Here are the flowers this year in front of the "he shed." Left side of shed: spider wort and daylilies:

Right side of "he shed" are columbine, autumn joy sedum, coreopsis, and spider wort with trailing petunias in the window boxes:

The last flower area I'll show you is under the big oak tree by the driveway. It's our only shade on the property and includes Lenten roses, primrose, columbine, daylilies around the border, lily of the valley, Solomon's seal, and irises...and this has become the area for any extra plants I needed to find a spot for when I was moving them.

This is the next bed to clean out and work on. I have a shed full of saved cardboard boxes, newspapers, and magazines to use under the mulch for control of weeds.

I just laid all the brick border defining this bed after asking for free brick on Craigslist. And I need more...so if anyone local is reading this and knows of anyone who has a stack of unwanted bricks...let me know! This wraps up the garden and yard tour...hope you've enjoyed traveling along!

Well, another new load of mulch was delivered on Friday, so you know what I'll be doing this coming week! Now...I'd really love to have some help...so bring an extra pitchfork when you stop by! I'm sure we could social distance acceptably...you on one side of the mulch pile, and I'll be on the tractor! Let's get this load cleared away quickly so I can do some sewing!

(Thanks again to my sister, Bet, for my delightful gardening quote art book!)

~Deb

Sunday Scripture

"For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you--that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine."  ~ Romans 1:11-12

~ Deb

Social Distancing With Some Texas Friends

Well, it sure felt odd to give "air handshakes" and "air hugs" to our friends...but those are the times we're living in!

Our long-time friends from Texas stopped by to visit us this week as they were passing through, and we had an enjoyable time of catching up with them.

Here's David talking with Tom before supper. Interesting fact: he's the only person we've ever known to have the exact same birthday as Tom...same day, same year.

David had driven with his daughter Kandace (below) on a three-day-long trip to help an aunt move to Virginia. They enjoyed getting to converse with Granny on the deck as we awaited supper: Hannah and Kandace caught up on each other's lives, as it had been 11 years since their whole family visited us here.

You can read that long-ago blog post by clicking Texas Meets Virginia! We also traveled to visit their family three years later in 2012, and you can read that post by clicking Deep in the Heart of Texas. It sure was a walk down memory lane as we re-read these blog posts ourselves!

We've written about the Spring 100 recently and how Tom, Hannah, and I are trying to walk 100 miles this spring. Kandace is also a participant.

So...we decided to walk together around the property and count our miles as part of our weekly goal. Here we are just getting started on a chilly but beautiful evening: On our walk we passed the garden and talked about what we were growing this year (hopefully a garden post is coming soon): Kandace and Hannah walked ahead of us oldsters...across a newly mowed field of hay. I love this picture because I love the old barn on the next-door property! It was a very fun walk.

Nearing the end of the walk around the property, we stopped for another photo:

Time flew by way too quickly, and it was time for them to get back on the road soon after our walk. The men did elbow bumps to say good-bye, and more air hugs to Kandace as they were leaving...including sending an air-hug to my friend Krista, her mom, who sadly couldn't come on the trip.

Jonathan made it home from work just in time before they left and was able to get in a quick hello / good-bye before they pulled out headed to Williamsburg. This visit was very refreshing after being quarantined at home for so long, and it was so good to see familiar faces. Thank you all for coming to visit for a couple of hours, even if we had to social distance! It was fun!

~Deb

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ April

(Photo Credit: Sharon Virts, Selma Mansion)

For Today, Tuesday, April 21

Looking out my window...

 

Yes, a few days ago, the Allegheny Mountains out my window looked like this! Glad the snow stayed up there instead of coming down into the Valley! Pretty though!

I am hoping...

That I can keep up with the Spring 100! We joined this year with Shiloh Photography's annual Spring 100 Challenge...which means walking 100 miles this season. Tom, Hannah, and I are walking a mile a day around our property, social distancing from the rest of the neighborhood, ha!

 

 

And when the weather has been too chilly and windy....Granny's bedroom treadmill comes in quite handy!

 

 

I am thinking...

That our living room is ever and always continuing to live up to it's nickname of All-Purpose Room. Tom recently finished building a dining room table for friends, and part of the set up was in the living room!

 

 

Here are some of the photos in progress below, and there are more photos over at Pleasant View Woodworks here, and you can also see the final delivery and installation at our friends' home over on Tom's woodworking blog.

 

 

I am thankful...

That Granny is doing so much better! You'll remember that she fell and broke her shoulder exactly 8 weeks ago today. She has had a rough couple of months for sure! Nurses, Occupational Therapists, and Physical Therapists have been coming and going three times a week, along with us conducting tele-health phone calls with her doctor.

 

Here's Granny with one of the therapists out on the sunny deck doing some arm exercises. This photo was taken a month ago before masks became the protocol. Now all the therapists wear masks every time they enter the house, which is a good thing!

 

Yesterday her arm felt so much better that she asked if she could peel apples for supper last night! Yay, Granny! That's more like it! She's getting back to normal, and her fried apples were delicious! Thank you ALL for all the prayers and well wishes for her. Please continue praying for complete recuperation.

 

Granny enjoys the interaction of all her therapists! Here they are practicing side-stepping for balance:

 

I am wearing...

What else but a mask these days?!  I'm loving the floral...as long as it's best to wear them!

 

Hannah has been sewing face masks for family and friends (check these links for men / women).

She made the one above for me. Check her Etsy and let her know if you'd like one.

 

One of my favorite things...

Barn quilts! I've written about them before, but imagine my surprise when I was driving through our neighborhood recently and spotted this display of 5 small barn quilts on a neighbor's property! I love the bright visual quilt patterns I see whenever we pass by:

 

 

I am creating...

Quilts and more quilts! Right now the Daisy Quilt I finished for the Daisy Sew-Along is at the quilter's shop.  I'm not sure when it will be long-armed quilted. It's a gift, so I hope I receive it back soon!

 

So while I wait to put on the final Daisy Quilt binding...I'm working on a red and white Moda Blockheads 3 quilt, following along with Joanna over at Fig Tree Quilts. Here are the blocks so far:

 

 

Beginning in May, my sewing friend Chris and I will be doing a virtual sew-along using the HomeBody mini-pattern by Camille over at Thimble Blossoms. She's sewing the blue/green, and I'm sewing the red/green:

 

Hannah is creating...

..a new shampoo scent (think tropical hibiscus) for a local store which carries her soaps.

 

 

In my kitchen...

 

No new recipes in the kitchen today, but Tom has been working hard stripping kitchen wallpaper...it's a bear of a job when it's been stuck solid for 18 years!! But I'm getting new paint, and I'm quite excited!

 

It feels like we're moving with so much stuff in disarray, but with no one traveling and visiting these days with the virus restrictions, it's the perfect timing!

 

In my garden...

We haven't started putting in vegetables quite yet because we're still having freeze warnings...but there is something else going on in the garden.

 

In fact, today's the day a vinyl picket fence is going in, and the old dilapidated, paint-peeled fence has been removed (and sold on Craigslist as vintage pieces! Yay!). This new installation will be great....I love a white picket fence that will never need painting!

 

 

I am learning...

To be content with not traveling during this crazy virus season! I haven't seen grandsons little Jack in Maryland or Ethan in Michigan since Christmas. One of my little grandsons in Georgia recently turned 4, and we weren't able to be with his family on his special day. But Sarah sent me this picture of precious Andrew on his birthday.

 

Do you remember how all of you prayed for him when he was born at 24 weeks and in the NICU for months? He is doing well, and the Lord has blessed his little life. He is our miracle baby! Happy 4th Birthday, Andrew!

 

 

A moment from my day

Also a sign of the times...using Zoom and/or Duo for church services each week, connecting with far-away family members, and, in the case below, even connecting with members in the same household!

 

Here we are...Hannah, Jonathan, Tom, and Deb....connecting with each other in the same house! Jonathan has been quarantined in his room when he comes home from work each evening for the past month or more! He's exposed to so many folks at work (and Harrisonburg has lots of cases!), so we're trying to keep Granny especially (and the rest of us, too!) protected as much as possible.

 

We miss him, so Duo has come in handy to catch up on news.

 

 

 

Closing Notes

 

 

For more Simple Woman Daybook posts, check here.

 

~Deb