Mountain Musings

40 Days & 40 Nights ~ The Ark

Our family recently enjoyed traveling to Williamstown, KY, for a mini-vacation to visit the newly-opened Ark Encounter. The ministry of Answers in Genesis has established the Ark Encounter to "bring the Ark of Noah’s day to life" and to declare the veracity of the Genesis account of the global flood.

We made sure to arrive and get in line for tickets before they opened for the morning, as we knew the crowds would be heavy during the first "40 days and 40 nights" after opening.

Shuttle buses loaded up visitors to take us from the parking lots to the Ark:

Pulling up in front of the life-size Ark, we were excited to begin our tour and to take photos in front of the towering structure.

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"By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." ~Hebrews 11:7

"Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks."~Genesis 6:14-16

We entered underneath the stern of the boat as dramatic music welcomed us to the experience.

The amount of wood-working throughout the vessel was amazing.

On the first deck were rows and rows of clay jars, bags of grain, and cages for small animals, representing possible methods of food and water storage, as well as to show how the animals may have been housed and cared for on the ark.

We wandered the spacious deck, as sound effects of crashing water, thunder, and birds chirping surrounded us.

If I remember correctly, the below racks of jars are where the reptiles or amphibians were kept:

There were many realistic examples of animals in their cages. We watched a video on how the artists meticulously designed these creatures for display:

Here Noah and his family are depicted praying before the Lord. It was sobering to consider the reality of God's judgment and His mercy towards these 8 people. Read more in Genesis 6-9.

Everything was very spacious and the exhibits well-made. We explored all 3 decks and stopped to read the informative scientific exhibits.

There were many researched explanations of possible ways logistics could have worked, in answer to skepticism and questions about the feasibility.

There were also displays portraying life in the pre- and post-Flood worlds.

This exhibit was meant to illustrate how the cartoonish drawings in children's books about Noah's Ark can make the history of the ark seem like a fictional story:

This sign next to the massive door into the ark pointed to Christ as the "Door" of salvation:

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

We "conversed" with animatronic Noah who was busy at his writing desk. He filled us in on several questions we were curious about. :)

The living quarters in the ark were stocked with all manner of supplies and furnishings for comfortable living, productive work, and relaxing entertainment. Below is the library:

Noah's sons were busy in the wood and metal-working workshops on the ark.

The kitchen and indoor garden area was a fun place to look around.

Noah reaches to catch the dove as it brings an olive leaf back to him, as Noah's wife looks on:

We enjoyed lunch at the double-decker restaurant outside the Ark:

We also walked through the petting zoo that featured kangaroos, camels, and more:

We were glad we were able to see the Ark and that it gave testimony to the truth of God's Word.

In this video, you can follow along with Ken Ham as he meanders through the Ark Encounter!

The same day, we drove over to the Creation Museum to see what had been updated since we visited 9 years ago.

Have any of you been to see the Ark Encounter and/or Creation Museum or plan to?

~Hannah

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Summer Garden Update

Lots of photos ahead!

All the summer flowers are in full-bloom around here, and the vegetable gardens are beginning to produce abundantly. I'll take you on a short tour around our yard and gardens, which are now at the zenith of their growth (maybe even past peak). We've had a rainy season followed by hot weather, and it takes much attention to keep the jungle under control!

We'll start the tour near the house, where these shasta daisies bloom by the driveway.

Mom is the flower gardener here, and she creates many potted displays using unique vessels, such as this galvanized washtub full of begonias:

A hydrangea bush we transplanted from Granny's old house and a daylily plant grow in the flower bed near the daisies.

Another pot of begonias is perched on an old red wooden bench (yard-sale find) near the sidewalk, a red-twig dogwood and hosta anchoring the corner..

As you make your way down our front sidewalk, you'll notice the multitude of flower pots and watering cans lining the steps. There's even a red mailbox containing more flowers - can you spot it?

We take a look down the narrow front yard towards the area where our two enclosed gardens are located.

Turning back to view the house from the first garden's edge, you can see the white fence that lines our property and the purple-martin birdhotel.

Cheerful yellow yarrow grows perennially at the outer perimeter of this picket fence garden.

Peeking over the fence into the garden, you see a burst of greenery in the 4 raised beds:

New this year is a comfrey plant with its fuzzy broad leaves, growing adjacent to the cucumber vines and marigolds.

Another new crop is tomatillo, or Mexican husk tomato, passed along by friends. I always like to try new plants, and now I have to come up with what to make with the harvest.

The cucumber vines are covering their allotted spot and more:

A zucchini is just about ready to be picked before getting too big! I'm also growing 2 types of yellow squash.

Here is the bed of green bush beans, with Greek oregano thriving nearby and spring greens going to seed in the background.

Several okra plants getting ready to bloom in this photo (taken a week ago) have since produced some pods:

Below are some sugar snap peas and beets.

I'm growing a few types of bell peppers, as well as some jalapenos.

Just dug and curing is this garlic, which I sowed back in October. It is very easy to grow and always used in cooking.

Rainbow Swiss chard is still nestled among the other spring greens, which have already bolted.

A red mailbox stores garden tools and is mounted on the garden post:

Purple coneflowers are prolific along the borders of our gardens.

We'll begin heading toward the larger garden, but I pause to look back at the picket fence garden through a blooming fennel plant.

This flowering purple bush is a vitex or chaste berry tree:

More coneflowers surround the garden shed in our lower field.

This is the shed where Granny will sometimes make her baskets as she watches us work in the garden.

Hollyhock is a bee's delight:

The hollyhock stalks reach toward the sky, and the airy Russian sage spikes are not far behind.

This butterfly bush gives off a distinctive scent as I pass by.

A clematis bloom accents the garden gate.

We have 4 strawberry beds, which contain ever-bearing varieties of strawberries. On the outside of the garden fence (nevermind the weeds) is a Rose of Sharon bush.

Below are pink-eyed purple hull peas in the foreground and tomatoes in the background.

Marigolds are scattered throughout the plantings; here it peeks out from the black-eyed peas, which are now getting close to being ready for harvest. Peas are one of Mom's favorite garden veggies and she loves when we cook them for lunch.

The tomatoes this year are only just beginning to ripen.

This is our flourishing rhubarb plant that came back strong after I cut back its flower stalks. In the background are some of our blackberry vines.

We also have a few raspberry canes. This year it was our 4 blueberry bushes that produced the most fruit.

Returning back towards our house, we find the blooms of a lavender tree, a new variety Mom added this year:

Sweet Potato vine, verbena, and heliopsis (oxeye sunflower) make their home under the windows of this storage shed.

And finally, this silver wagon is just the right place for more begonias, and it rests on a rock alongside our driveway.

Hope you've enjoyed this glimpse at what's growing now on the Mountain Musings property!

~Hannah

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SaveLots of photos ahead!

All the summer flowers are in full-bloom around here, and the vegetable gardens are beginning to produce abundantly. I'll take you on a short tour around our yard and gardens, which are now at the zenith of their growth. We've had a rainy season followed by hot weather, and it takes much attention to keep the jungle under control!

We'll start the tour near the house, where these daisies bloom by the driveway.

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Hilltop Vantage Point

So, you know the header at the top of our blog with the mountain view behind the words Mountain Musings? Many of you may know that this idyllic scene is the view we can see out our front door, facing west towards the Allegheny mountains. (It's much better in person! In fact, if you come visit us at our hilltop home when it's cloudy, you'll probably hear us apologize and invite you back again when the mountains are clearer and at their most spectacular.)

Several years ago we met the folks who own the farm with the white barn that you can spot towards the right of the photo. Last week, I received a call from this neighbor asking if I'd be willing to take some photos of their daughter's wedding, with the barns and a wedding tent set up, remembering that in the past I'd captured a photo of their land with the mountains rising behind it....you'd almost not know the mountains were there if standing on their property.

I agreed to get the photos, but by the time Saturday afternoon arrived, we had some pretty heavy winds and rainstorms passing through. Thankfully, by the time the wedding was to start, the sun had come out. I took my position at an upper bedroom window and zoomed in as far as I could, testing out a variety of angles. That's Mom's antique lamp, quilt, and reading chair in the corner.

My telephoto lens acted somewhat as a pair of binoculars. Those colorful specks headed towards the gathered crowd are some of the bridesmaids.

Then the bride (the small white speck near the tent) made her way across the field from the barn.

I could hear celebratory sounds faintly wafting in the breeze as I shot out the window. Little did the attendees know there was a camera pointed in their direction from a house across the way.

As the sun began to set, the guests milled around as the horses in the adjacent field looked on. Later, there was a bonfire.

With my assignment complete, I closed the window from the chilly evening air. It was kind of fun to watch a wedding from afar!

~Hannah

Thai Flavor

A first for me: tasting a Vietnamese dish called Pho noodle soup. It is a flavorful beef broth with Pho, a type of Asian rice noodle, cooked with onions, garlic, beef, and spices, to which one adds garnishes of Thai basil, sliced jalapeno peppers, crunchy bean shoots, and a squeeze of fresh lime. It was an interesting blend of flavors, and a cozy lunch on a rainy spring day.

Jonathan and I met for lunch on a weekday to try this new ethnic food, which he has enjoyed with coworkers. We hope to try some other interesting restaurants near his workplace on occasion.

Thanks, Jonathan, for inviting me to join you! I enjoyed the adventure. :) Anyone have a favorite Thai dish to suggest, or another favorite international food?

~Hannah

Sew Fun

Winter afternoons are perfect for cozying up inside and getting out a sewing project. So that's just what we did, these sweet young ladies and me.

We selected a simple tutorial which showed a method for making a skirt without a pattern, and they had chosen a colorful fabric to make a skirt for one of the girls.

Our kitchen table was a great spot for spreading out the fabric and cutting out our skirt. Each girl took turns following the instructions and completing each step.

Here we are figuring out settings on the sewing machine and getting ready to start sewing seams!

These girls had a great foundation in sewing skills and were excellent students. They were eager to work on the various parts of the process.

13-yr-old Pearl took the helm and stitched the casing for her skirt's elastic waist.

The girls watched as I demonstrated techniques for gathering fabric.

Yay! The elastic is in! The skirt project is nearing completion.

After we hemmed the skirt, Pearl tried on the new creation. Great job, girls.

These friends are soon moving away to far-away Australia, so it was wonderful to spend this time with them.

~Hannah

As the Deer

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?

The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah.

He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places.

(from Psalm 42, Psalm 29, Isaiah 35, and Psalm 18)

~Hannah

Garden Bounty

Our garden has been producing well. While most crops are petering out now that we are nearing the end of August, the tomatoes are still going strong. So far this summer, in addition to the ones we've eaten, I've processed 160 lbs of tomatoes, mostly by canning but some put up in the freezer. There are still more to be picked....Granny says they are coming out of my ears, though we have not yet harvested as much as we did last season! She has loved being here this summer to enjoy our fresh tomatoes, especially her favorite "pink ones" (Brandywine heirloom).

One way I have used the mounds of smaller paste, cherry, and pear tomatoes is by roasting several pounds at once along with garlic and onions, to make a flavorful sauce. One day for lunch I made pizza with a zucchini crust, topped with sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.

The tally of jars stored away for the winter thus far is:

• 7 pints spicy tomato salsa
• 20 pints tomato sauce
• 27 quarts tomato sauce
• 3.5 quarts dill cucumber relish
• 6 pints zucchini relish
• 7 pints cinnamon cucumber pickle
• 5 quarts dill refrigerator pickle

What has been coming from your garden? Do you have a favorite recipe for preserving certain vegetables or fruits?

~Hannah

35 years!

~Tom and Deb on their wedding day, August 1980~

 

A very happy special anniversary to our dear dad and mom! 35 years ago today, they were united in marriage together before God. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness in their lives over the past 35 years and what He has done in our family. Their example and instruction has been an encouragement to us as their children.

Aren't they cute?

Happy woman and happy man! If Heaven be found on earth, they have it! At last, the two are so blended, so engrafted on one stem, that their old age presents a lovely attachment, a common sympathy, by which its infirmities are greatly alleviated, and its burdens are transformed into fresh bonds of love. So happy a union of will, sentiment, thought, and heart exists between them, that the two streams of their life have washed away the dividing band, and run on as one broad current of united existence till their common joy falls into the ocean of eternal felicity. ~Charles Spurgeon

This weekend they are enjoying a trip away to celebrate, so let's try to reach 35 comments wishing them a happy anniversary, to read when they return. :)

~Hannah

Mountain Musings Garden Progress

Our garden is steadily growing and flourishing, so I thought I'd share some photos of the new raised beds and their contents. While these photos were taken about 3 weeks ago, and the plants have increased in size a good bit since, they will still give you a glimpse of how things are progressing.

You may remember that last year we built a new fence around this larger of our two veggie garden plots. Dad also began building raised beds to replace the 12-year-old ones and to add new ones to this garden. This spring he completed 15 more raised beds to finish the job. I'm thankful for his hard work which will benefit us for many more years.

Let's take a tour! Below are the 4 8'x4' strawberry beds along the east side of the garden. We've enjoyed a small crop of berries from these ever-bearing plants.

This year I've planted approximately 50 tomato plants of various types, including Brandywine, Beefsteak, Goliath, Roma, Black Cherry, and more.

In the next row of beds (actually columns, running north to south) are the permanent blueberry beds, and in the photos you can see that the bushes Mom ordered last fall are mostly still just sticks. We hope at least some of the 36 plants survived and they'll produce some leaves, blooms, and fruit next year...we'll see.

Here is another row of younger tomatoes. Some of these I started from seed and others are unknown varieties rescued from the compost bin.

 

Pumpkins and other varieties of winter squash are planted next.

In the distance you can see the 4 established blueberry bushes against the fence.

This year we put in a couple of rhubarb plants which Sarah intends to use for her delicious pies. Next to the rhubarb are purple-hull field peas. Blackberry and raspberry canes are ripening in the background.

Here is another view of the yet unsprouted hills of winter squash and the blueberry bushes.

The blueberries have been producing well this season. I usually get about 2 pints each picking.

So big and juicy!

The berries that didn't make it into our mouths, muffins, or over cereal and ice cream got stored away in the freezer for later.

Another angle of the tomato beds....these are now in need of tying up to the stakes; they have grown so much since I captured these photos! You can glimpse the spent asparagus and poppies in the background.

There is still more work to be done, keeping up with the weeds and finishing laying down the black plastic for pathways.

Thanks for taking my garden tour. If you come for a visit to the Mountain Musings homestead, we'll feed you its harvest. :)

~Hannah

Week of Cooking

It's about time for another cooking post! Recently I was in charge of making dinner for the week, just as Sarah was back in February.

My first evening happened to be St. Patrick's Day, so I made sure to include some festive dishes per Sarah's friendly reminders. :) I made Irish Meatballs combining these two recipes.

Now, a disclaimer on the food photography: some of these pictures don't look especially appetizing, because I didn't take the time necessary when we were usually ready to sit down to eat. Mom says I need to be more "blog-minded" at times like this!

Anyway, everyone seemed to like the meals throughout the week. The meatballs were served with Hasselback Potatoes and Kale Salad on the side.

Afterward we enjoyed green-tinted Mint Chocolate Brownies, which were very rich.

The next day we ate Chicken Burrito Bowls with Peach Hand Pies. The dish was well-liked and we had plenty of leftovers for another night and lunches.

Later in the week I baked Sriracha Salmon and put together the classic Spaghetti Salad with some homemade dressing and spice blend. I didn't plan the alliteration, but the refreshingly cold pasta salad fit well with the spicy fish.

For dessert we had Raspberry Lemonade Bars. These were a hit!

That Saturday I put some meat in the crockpot since most of us would be working over at Jonathan's house for the day. That evening we devoured Balsamic Roast Beef Sandwiches along with Hawaiian Sweet Potato Salad. Everyone chose from one of the previously made desserts for this weekend meal.

The following week I completed my planned menus by fixing the meal one night when Mom was out of town until suppertime.  She came in the door to the aroma of Stuffed Pepper Soup and Soft Buttered Pretzels. Mmmmm! We would make both of these again.

Cannoli Tart studded with mini chocolate chips rounded out this Italian meal.

Let me know if you try any of these new recipes!

~Hannah