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

Knowing God Conference ~ May 19 - 21, Ridgecrest, N.C.

Last month we attended the Church & Family Life's annual conference, Knowing God, held at Ridgecrest Conference Center in Asheville, NC. Asheville is about a 5+ hour drive for us here in Virginia, barely a skip and a jump compared to others who traveled many, many hours from across the country.

Here we are just having arrived and already meeting up with friends on the bridge-way between buildings:

It is always a highlight to see friends whom we've gotten to know over the years. These friends are regular attendees:

As are these friends who traveled from Canada to attend:

The speakers were very enjoyable and presented encouraging messages to listen to each day. Here's Kevin Swanson onstage at his keynote session:

Lots of spontaneous hymn singing around the piano with violins and flute accompanying during the evenings' free times:

The more the music traveled down the hallway, more folks showed up, and louder the singing became!

There was also a planned night of singing in the amphitheater. Isn't this a neat nighttime photo?

We caught up with more dear friends in the cafeteria from South Carolina. Sooo glad I could attend the conference this year and reconnect with folks!

And these friends, our daughter Sarah's in-laws, attended this year from GA. It was great to see them:

Speaking of cafeteria, there were lots of chances to meet up and have a meal together. Virginia, Michigan, and Indiana are represented here:

Here we are taking time to talk over Hannah and Christopher's wedding plans with future in-laws:

While together in person, it was a good time to compare fabrics and bridesmaids' dresses online:

The weekend came to a close so quickly (hey, we just got here!), and everyone parted ways to head back home to their own state.

Unfortunately, all four of us returned home sick, with one of us testing positive for Covid...that would be me! So I'm remembering this conference for more reasons than one!

 

...until next time!

~Deb

Celebrating Aunt Bet's Birthday

From the previous post about my meet-up with a blogger friend, you know that I was in South Carolina last weekend. The occasion was my sister's birthday, and Hannah and I traveled down to help Aunt Bet celebrate! It had been well over two years since I'd been able to travel to visit her, so this was definitely a special trip!

One of the places she took us was to this little joint...nondescript on the outside for sure...but lots of buzz happening inside and definitely interesting!

Our mission was to purchase Morning Buns or A.M. buns, as the Bakeroom called them, for the next day's breakfast. We had never had this delicacy, but we found out that it was definitely worth the trip!

Located right next door to the Bakeroom was Methodical Coffee, but it was too close to lunch for Hannah to sample their famous brew, even though we had heard so much about this place.

Another place we've been to many times when we've visited is a little garden and antique shop located somewhat close by in Saluda, NC, The Gardener's Cottage:

For anyone who loves plants, there are so many things here for a gardener to delight in, as you can tell from this photo:

The owner had displayed several eye-catching arrangements by the door as you enter, and one of these little teacups came home with me:

And the building next door, The Brass Latch, is worth a browse also. Saluda is a unique little town, and I always enjoy driving through there:

I wanted to treat my sister to a special birthday meal while we were in town, so we decided on Lieu's Asian Bistro:

The food was delicious and plenteous enough that we each had lunch all set for the next day:

 

Hannah also wanted to treat Aunt Bet to a special meal...this time home-cooked. So she set to work in the kitchen and prepared a menu of Roasted Honey Garlic Butter Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, asparagus, salad, and Focaccia Bread:

Hannah enjoys cooking and thought it was extra fun to prepare Aunt Bet's birthday meal:

Landrum, SC, is another little town with various shops housed in vintage brick buildings. It was fun to visit an Amish furniture store, and we loved browsing several antique stores. This unique sign was in the furniture store...I loved it!

This antique wrought-iron piece caught my eye which could be used as garden decor with possibly a climbing clematis wrapping its tendrils around it..however, the price tag of $65 means it isn't down in my garden today:

Last, but not least, another adventure was a trek to Abbott's Frozen Custard in downtown Greer, SC:

Sisters enjoying custard:

Well, did we fill every minute we were there with something special, or what?!  Yes, I definitely like to do things on vacation...but sometimes even I need to rest. I brought some hand sewing with me to work on just in case we were home long enough..LOL!

I'll leave you with a final photo....taken in my sister's house of her beautiful calligraphy:

It was a very good trip, but I have been recuperating all this week! :)

~Deb

Woodworking, Hosting, Birthing, Celebrating, Daily Life!

In last month's Mountain Musings post, I promised to catch you up on some various happenings around the old homestead.

Tom planned another session of Grampa's Workshop, this time with our oldest grandson when he came to visit. Here they are doing some serious woodworking. Can you guess what they'll be making?

Below, sanding the project:

Sanding all done, now they're staining the wood pieces. I love this picture of intense concentration:

All done and ready to take home the finished phone stand for himself and to give the other two as gifts. Two happy woodworkers:

Jonathan thought everyone would enjoy a tour of his workplace. So off we went to the airport!

Inside the cockpit of the Columbine:

The airport included several fun things for kids to do while on the tour. Here's Jonathan with another of our grandsons in a small kiddie airplane:

Jonathan gave us a very interesting tour of the facility:

While our son, Micah, and his family were visiting, Jonathan wanted to host a meal at his house for everyone. And a fine meal it was! Here's the chef extraordinaire in action!

We enjoyed the fellowship of family (which included my sister Bet visiting)...and everyone said we must do this again!

When old friends get together...there's always time for photos to remember our special times:

And here we are--the old couple--enjoying being on a lunch date in Richmond with Fred and Chris (pictured above):

And I say old couple....because that young husband of mine just turned 65! Who knew??

Then soon after Tom's birthday, we celebrated Hannah's birthday! Lots of celebrating going on around here! It's all good!

One of Hannah's special gifts was a pizza peel. You can read more about it and see pictures over on Tom's woodworking blog:

And did I say there was some Birthing going on?  This little fellow...our newest grandson (yes, that makes 6 boys to 1 girl!) was almost a birthday buddy with Hannah...just missing by a couple of days:

Isn't this the most precious picture ever....meeting his new brother!

As I wrap up this post....if you ever wonder what we're doing around the Mountain Musings homeplace on a typical day....picture these scenes.

Hannah is usually in the kitchen either whipping up something delicious to eat like these cinnamon rolls....

Or she's producing a new batch of soap like this Sandalwood and Vetiver goats milk soap, which is curing now and will be ready in 10 days.

Whichever it is....cinnamon rolls or soap....she makes the house smell good!

And...packing up gift boxes for Monticello's Gift Shop:

And you can almost always find Tom out in his garage workshop working on a project:

You used to be able to find me in my sewing room...but the last time I was actually sitting down sewing was last February, a whole year ago when I finished sewing the heart quilt for our Galentine's Sew-Along! 

But that's going to change this week! I have many projects in mind for this year, and I need to buckle down and get started!

The heart quilt is now on display in time for Valentine's Day, 2022!

Next up:  This week is scheduled to be Hannah's annual Valentine's week of planning menus, shopping for ingredients, and cooking all week as a special treat for the family.  I always enjoy it every year and look forward to her varied menus!

So that gives me some extra time to be in the sewing room deciding what to start on first! 

I'll leave you with a final picture...because today was an inside Sunday Snow Day with a few inches here in the Valley, thankfully roads clear!

Happy Valentine's Week!

~Deb

...And Life Goes On

Many of you have asked how we're doing in this new season of life...without Granny with us. It has been different for sure. Sometimes we forget and think we should go check on her. She is missed!

But the Lord has been gracious and has given us hope in sad times as we've adjusted to the new routine. Thank you for the many prayers that have gone up for us.

This past month has consisted of a bit of settling down and resting, along with being encouraged by hosting different friends who were passing through, and celebrating Thanksgiving with more friends.

Here are our dear friends from Georgia who were attending the Virginia Family Encouragement Weekend and stopped for an overnight. We absolutely loved having them in our home again:And these long-time friends from Tennessee, who were visiting Polyface Farm in the area, stopped by for an overnight and a good time of catching up on each other's lives:

When these friends stopped by, we took them down to the farmers' market and showed them the city of Staunton: And, of course, lots of food during the holidays. Here's a photo taken around the food bar on Thanksgiving Day...an abundance of blessings as always:

On our Thanksgiving table again this year were pumpkin dinner rolls. Delicious!

And speaking of food on the table....Jonathan shot a deer...not his first...but his first time butchering it himself, with Hannah's help! We've enjoyed some venison stew (recipe follows, which I've used with beef many times) and some venison barbecue this season.

Holiday Shopping Beef Stew (or Venison)

1 1/2 - 2 pounds beef for stew; 4 or 5 medium potatoes, 4 or 5 carrots, 1 medium onion, 1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes, mashed (I used a can crushed tomatoes with basil) mixed with 1 can cream of celery soup, salt and pepper.

Cube all veggies and combine ingredients in casserole dish. Pour tomatoes/soup mixture over top. Cover with foil and bake in a 275 degree oven for 4 1/2 - 5 hours.  Go holiday shopping (or to church) and come home to a delicious meal.

To be honest, I never thought the word "enjoyed" would be associated with "deer" in the same sentence! I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious the stew was, much to Jonathan's delight!

Tom, in the meantime, has completed the large dining room table project he's been working on for some months...and we took advantage of some strong-armed help to lift the extra-heavy table over to Jonathan's house and install it.

Tom writes more about getting it hauled, delivered, and installed on his blog here:

Jonathan will enjoy the final product in the years to come...lovingly made by Dad! It looks beautiful!

So, it's December, and the house has gotten decorated for Christmas, slowly but surely. Stockings are up. Cards are ordered and hopefully will arrive soon! Plans are being made for family members coming in to visit, and a couple of get-togethers with friends are on the calendar.

It's a wonderful season of celebration of the birth of Jesus!
Here's a delightful hymn to listen to as you set the tone for Christmas in your home. See Amid the Winter's Snow (Cambridge Choir of King's College).

From the Mountain Musings family to yours...we want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2022!

~Deb

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

Birthday Celebrations & A Visit From Another Sweet Munchkin

July has come and quickly gone, and the end of summer is approaching before we've even caught our breath!  And the blog, methinks, has been languishing! Welcome back! :)

Our family enjoyed some special celebrations during the month....Deb's birthday, a visit from grandson Jack, 4th of July fireworks, and Granny's 93rd birthday! It was a good month with visitors coming to see Granny, too!

 Here I am celebrating with my annual "only-time-we-have-it" Peter Paul Cake (icing and filling link) for my birthday. Hannah did a great job...delicious as always! The family spoils Momma Deb for sure!

I especially wanted a photo of me with Granny as part of my birthday activities. Here we are on the back deck as the sun went down on the day: I think the very best part of my birthday weekend was Micah and Jack's visit to help me celebrate! I don't get to see all the munchkins very often so it's always a treat to have them come see us!

Here I am below with three out of our four kids for my birthday. We missed you, Sarah--you belong in this picture! Next time! :)

We all had fun playing with Jack, especially Hannah. It was a great time for him to get more comfortable being around his aunt since she was scheduled to babysit him for two weeks this summer: Jack didn't take long to warm up to everyone! What a fun weekend with this little cutie!

And, of course, just like he did recently with the other three grandsons, Tom had fun teaching Jack some woodworking in Grampa's Workshop. Jack took his hammering very seriously as he helped make his J letter:

 

We topped the month off with celebrating Granny's 93rd birthday! Wowzers! 93!

And we belatedly celebrated her birthday with visitors in early August. My sister came to visit for a few days, and my cousin and her husband came to see Granny...very delightful times:

Just three days after this photo was taken last week, Granny experienced a life-threatening illness and was rushed to the hospital with a severe infection, labored breathing, and some other issues. She's still there tonight as I write this, and the doctors are trying to stabilize her.

Prayers are requested, please! We would be ever so grateful if the Lord looked with favor on Granny and granted her an even longer life! We'd love to celebrate another birthday together!

~Deb

Galentine's Virtual February Sew-Along!

Happy First Day of February everyone! Happy Hearts Month!

What a great day to stay inside and get cozy with 5 inches of snow on the ground! Plus, it's a Monday, and there's no place to go, so let's sew!

February is normally when the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show is held in Hampton,Virginia, and my friend, Chris, and I usually attend the show each year. Afterwards, she hosts a girlfriends' sew-along at her home the same weekend.

In fact, here's a photo of us at our last Quilty Girls' Weekend in 2019 ready to enjoy the fun. Sadly, we missed the 2020 show last year, and this year it's an online event only:

Sew...what to do?  Chris came up with the idea of a virtual Galentine's 2021 Sew-Along, and I quickly agreed that it would be a fun thing to do.

We will check in with each other and text progress pictures throughout the month. She's an organizing, coordinating, prize-giving type of hostess!

Per her hilarious video texted to me this morning with all the instructions, this is already shaping up to be an enjoyable fun-filled month of sewing!

I'm holding red and pink fabrics from "my stash" and the pattern I will use--the Infinite Hearts quilt pattern--which you can purchase over at Quilty Love.

There's an Infinite Hearts Quilt Along going on hosted by Emily Dennis...her instagram account shows her progress updates with blue hearts, very pretty! I am just getting started with that Quilt Along, so I will use it to coincide with our virtual girlfriends' activity. This also coordinates with #SEW365Project...sewing at least 5 minutes every day this year!

And here's the pattern Chris will use--Kiss Me by Fig Tree and a Candy Kisses jelly roll by Sandy Gervais. As you can see, she has her Valentine M&Ms all ready for the sew-along to start, a necessity for any serious quilter! I also have a Moda boxed quilt kit by Deb Strain called Love Grows, which will be fun to work on, although it may need to be put on hold while the Infinite Hearts quilt gets done:

In addition, I found such a cute pattern on Instagram by Simply Eilene for a Valentine's mug rug. This would be a perfect small project to use up any of my red and pink scraps from the sew-alongs! Eilene's Etsy shop is here.

Today, before I even get started on the Galentine's 1st Week of Fun, I need to work on my last blocks for Moda Blockheads 3! This is what I'm doing today:

This year-long 56-block project is coming to a close with this week being the last block posted. I'm trying to get all caught up by the end of this week.

I'm copying Joanna over at Fig Tree with sewing all red and white blocks, and my design wall is absolutely overloaded!!  I'm running out of room! I will have to post a finished photo when it's all sewn together, and you'll be able to tell what it truly looks like!

Looks like a red, white, and pink Valentine-y kind of sewing month for sure!

~Deb

Happy Birthday, Hannah and Tom!

Over the weekend we celebrated Hannah's birthday with all of her different food choices for her birthday meal. If you've followed us for any number of years, you'll know her birthday meal is usually quite involved and the most time-consuming to make! This year it wasn't too bad.

Top left: Cabbage Salad; top right: Naan (both from Recipe Tin Eats); bottom left: Chicken Tikka Masala from Jo Cooks; and for dessert bottom right: White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, which was the highlight of the meal, from Borrowed Bites!

This year Hannah made the naan, which was excellent, even though I've always advocated for the birthday person to not lift a finger on their special day. But she said it was fun!

I think she had an enjoyable day working on a quilting project which had been put aside for several months for lack of time. Thing is...I love working in the sewing room alongside her, but I was busy working in the kitchen!

Happy Birthday, Hannah! And we hope that this next year will be a wonderful one for you! You deserve the very best!

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart"  ~ Galatians 6:9

We also celebrated Tom's birthday just before the New Year began, and here he is with his chocolate ice cream cake roll which Hannah baked, recipe from Taste of Home: We both enjoyed a birthday lunch out at a downtown favorite landmark on Beverley Street, The Pampered Palate: As we celebrate these milestones and happy times...there are also some hard times mixed in.

The New Year brought an unexpected quarantine with Jonathan testing positive for Covid-19. Thankfully, his case was mild, and he's back at work now.

As I write this, I'm quarantined and awaiting test results...although I'm expecting to test negative for the virus, and I'm feeling okay. But always it's best to take precaution, especially with all of us being caregivers for Granny living here.

Appreciate your prayers that all will be well.

Update: Thursday evening received NEGATIVE test results! Yay! Praise the Lord!

"The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” ~ Zephaniah 3:17

~Deb

Welcome, November!

In our last post I wrote about traveling to Raphine, Virginia, for the Open House at Season's Yield Farm.

This weekend my sister was visiting us from South Carolina, and she wanted to go to their Saturday Bread Barn Day and experience all the action first hand after reading on the blog about our excursion! The vendors were set up again in the field...a variety of different and interesting offerings from the previous visit: Hannah was one of the vendors this weekend and introduced her goats' milk soaps to the farm visitors. Tom took along some of his cutting boards, and they also brought a few of Granny's baskets. Successful day of selling for all parties! Yay!

It was a chilly morning and in the 30's when they left to set up! Brrrr!

Since I didn't get inside the Bread Barn on the last visit, I really hoped to this time! The crowds and lines were more manageable this weekend. Here's the front of the Bread Barn with no long line at this moment:

We made it inside...

...but, sadly, all the morning buns were gone, and the shelves were getting emptier and emptier! This was a popular place all morning, I guess! But I did place an order this time for one of their wood-fired pizzas...it was delicious and worth the wait! Here I am browsing the vendors while our pizza order bakes:

This lady made some beautiful cakes for sale: It's funny...I didn't grow up on a farm; I've never lived on a farm...basically, I don't think I could ever pick up a chicken if you paid me; and yet, I always love the atmosphere of being on a farm out in the country.
Love this display!

We've had a good visit here at the farm with Aunt Bet this weekend, and Granny sure loved having her come see her. Bye-bye Season's Yield Farm.

~Deb