Mountain Musings

Christmas Memories Part 3 ~ Jonathan's First Christmas Goose!

Our second wave of Christmas guests came in after Christmas to celebrate with us.

Our son Micah and his family spent a couple of days here. Sooo glad they could come!

It was great seeing our 14-year-old grandson, whose birthday we celebrated during their visit. Grampa played guitar and led in singing Happy Birthday:

The newlyweds, Christopher and Hannah, were also back home at the same time! It was great having their visits overlap! They especially enjoyed Virginia temps in the 60's on their walks around the property!

We got the distinct impression that they are enjoying married life!

One of the highlights of the visit was a special meal prepared for us by our daughter-in-law while they were here...excellent beef tenderloin with Apple and Cheddar Crisp Kale Salad, which was absolutely delicious! She also baked the birthday cake we all enjoyed! Thank you, thank you, Kerri!

Jonathan invited everyone over to his house for a meal again! He is becoming quite the exotic chef! And this time he served...Christmas goose!

On the menu: Roasted Goose with Five Spice and Honey, Pink Peppercorn Lemon Thyme Spiced Potatoes, Spiced Pears, Tossed Green Salad, and Chocolate Coffee Babka Wreath.

Hannah helped with the potatoes, which were cooked with some of the goose fat instead of olive oil:

Waiting for the meal to be ready...I am in the far background...just relaxing and enjoying all this special treatment of other folks fixing three of the meals for me! Amazing!

Exploring Uncle Jonathan's property before time to eat:

After the successful meal...we played Five Crowns card game and took photos again for Jonathan's guest book, although the younger ones needed to get back early for bedtime and missed the guest book photo:

All too soon it was time to take the traditional grandparents-and-grandchildren-on-the-sofa photo before Micah and family left headed back to their home! These times don't come often...so we enjoy them when we can:

Then we got down to the business of celebrating Tom's birthday. We were thankful for the warmer weather since his birthday meal request is usually Grilled Pizzas with Diavolo sauce. (To simplify, we use Greek pitas for the personal size pizzas which are sturdy and hold up great on the grill.)

The next day everyone wanted to do an outside activity before the rain began, so these four hiked the Blue Ridge Tunnel and sang the Doxology in the darkness before finishing up the hike.

I stayed home--using the much needed extra time with no one in the house--to finish working on the quilt label and sewing it on before I gifted it later on New Year's Eve. Whew! Washed and dried and finished in the nick of time!

New Year's Eve I received more help in the kitchen for chopping Sunday's veggies. I am grateful for everyone pitching in!  I thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas visitors....we just missed those munchkins in Georgia being here this year!

This post almost wraps up this blog series of our Christmas guests and the fun times we had together.

I do have a few more photos to post about the two quilts I made for gifts....stay tuned for a final Christmas Memories Part 4 ~ the Quilts!

 

~Deb

Thanksgiving 2022 ~ Friends and Family Together Again!

We sure hope you had an enjoyable and blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends as you gathered around your harvest table! We wanted to update you and share some photos from our holidays.

We absolutely enjoyed our time in Georgia with Sarah and her family and with her in-laws, who invited us into their home to share their Thanksgiving meal.

Hannah and Christopher drove down from Michigan to join us--our first time seeing them since their wedding! It was wonderful to all be together again!

On our way to Georgia, we split the travel up and stopped to overnight with friends in Tennessee.
They are well-known for their sweet hospitality and welcoming signs, and this sign delighted us as we approached their home:

Our friends treated us to a delicious pre-Thanksgiving feast around their beautifully decorated table!

We toured their home and property and were better able to visualize their swim academy after seeing their pool and hearing success stories of the children who take lessons at their home.

Here I am with my friend Lynn around a warm cozy fire:

I always enjoy seeing how friends' homes are decorated, and these quail on the chalkboard and the saying definitely caught my eye above another fireplace near the kitchen:  "Lord, prepare me for what You are preparing for me."

After we left our friends in Tennessee, we arrived in Georgia with great anticipation for the days ahead!

Then the newlyweds arrived, all the way from snowy Michigan! So good to see them!

First thing on Thanksgiving morning, we started preparing the dishes that we were to contribute to the meal. Here I am making the cranberry relish:

And Christopher and Hannah peeled apples together for the apple pie Hannah was making:

Rolling out her homemade crust:

Quietly reading her Thanksgiving book, dressed in her pretty Thanksgiving outfit:

Grampa found something to do with the boys. He repaired Sarah's cutting board and re-oiled it for her. The boys enjoyed watching and helping:

Arrival at Sarah's in-laws and getting some conversations in before the meal. There were 20 in attendance!

This is the young adult and married couples' table below:

Holiday scenes throughout the evening

Sarah, admiring sister-in-law Abby's newborn daughter:

Brother and sister, Jonathan and Sarah, sneaking in a hug:

The grandchildren loved watching the Georgia Grampa's trains:

And, of course, the evening ended with music!

Christopher played piano:

There were violins and flutes and whistles:

And, of course, an accordion!

And they sang Christmas carols while the grandparents listened, with a kiddie xylophone chiming in:

The day after Thanksgiving was a decorating day...lights, trees, action!

The finished product...looking good!

One evening we had game night..a new one to us called Code Names. Very fun!

After such good food and being inside over the holidays, these three decided to get outside for a much-needed walk in the fresh Georgia air:

This was the very first time Christopher had been in Georgia and his farthest travel down South. But he sure made a good impression on these four kiddies. "Uncle Christopher! Uncle Christopher!"

Uncle Jonnie is a definite fave too!

Well, the weekend flew by! It was time for us to head back to Virginia, and the Michiganders to head north. Here's a quick pic of the kiddies just before church on Thanksgiving Sunday morning:

Christopher and Hannah decided to take advantage of their travels and stopped by the Creation Museum in Kentucky on their way home:

To sum up this Thanksgiving post:

~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

Songbook Hymn Quilt ~ Firm Foundation ~ Gifted!

It's time to get back to posting about life in the sewing room! I wanted to show you the quilt I sewed this spring/early summer. I couldn't post pictures until this birthday gift was given away to the intended recipient.

The hymn panels were so fun to sew and color-coordinate with the chapel frames, doors, and steeples. Each hymn was one of my favorites as I worked on it.

The fabric is Songbook created by Stephanie over at Fancy That Design House, and the quilt pattern is called Firm Foundation, written by Anna at My Wandering Path.

 

Here's the quilt on our bed to display each of the chapels and hymn panels:

The back is flannel and was quilted (by Maureen at The Quiltery in Fairfield) with musical notes, which show up well against the solid backing. As you can see from the label, it's being gifted to my friend Kathy for her 60th birthday:

And here are my able-bodied quilt holders getting in on the action!  I have enough fabric and hymn panels to make another quilt, but I have more projects to complete before beginning the same exact quilt again:

So today I traveled to North Garden, Virginia, about an hour away, to rendezvous with my friend at Dr. Ho's Humble Pie...I'd never been there before...yay for new experiences!

It was a fun outing, even though neither one of us ordered their famous pizza pie!

Afterwards, I mentioned I had a birthday gift out in my vehicle for her. After she saw the big gift bag, I'm not sure I surprised her. After all...what could it be but a quilt!? :)

I think she liked it!  Mission accomplished!

Now I need to figure out my next project! Stay tuned for whenever it's gifted.

~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

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

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

Christmas in January!

What a wonderful weekend we had with our Georgia grandchildren! Because of family sickness in December, our daughter, Sarah, and her family, couldn't come visit us at Christmas...so, unfortunately, it was a long-delayed wait to see them.

So we left all our Christmas decor and the tree up until they could come visit....we wanted them to feel like they actually celebrated Christmas with us--even if it was in January!

This past weekend was their designated time to travel to Virginia....and it was also the weekend our weather forecast called for up to a foot of snow!  That was grand news for the chill'uns!

And for some reason this Granny didn't mind if they got snowed in and stranded in Virginia with us for a while!

They don't see much snow in Georgia, so they loved climbing snow mountains after the snowblower piled up quite a lot!

Here's Sarah with our only granddaughter thoroughly enjoying the snow!

And the guys did some sledding down our back hill, too!

And, yes, everyone enjoyed hot chocolate when they came back inside!  Also, we served this treat while they were here....Snowball Punch. It was yummy!

Some of the inside activities included Grampa reading to everyone:

And some sword fights with Grampa:

Singing around the dinner table is always a fun time we enjoy. So, even in the middle of January, we sang Christmas songs!

These sisters enjoyed being together again....such fun! Wish we could be together more often!

Well, that's our Christmas in January...I wanted to get this posted since it just happened.  But I still need to catch you up on Grampa's December workshop with our oldest grandson, Jonathan hosting a special meal at his house, and Hannah's birthday.

So stay tuned!

~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