MerryHeartCrafts.comMountain Momma… Country Living

Yesterday we did a field trip to Ferrum College.  We had so much fun and I have so many pictures that it will take me several days to show you all them.  The first thing we came to when we got there was this music museum.  It had the history of the dulcimer.  Very interesting.

Guess what this is?  A sewing machine!  All I can say is, we’ve come a long way, ladies.

Several places were demonstrating how corn was ground into meal.  This one however gave away free samples.

I think I’ll grind ours a little finer in my grinder.  The corn we grind for corn meal is white so this will be a little different.  

Who remembers these?  Growing up, I would have loved to have one of these.   Well, that all for today.  I’ll post more pictures tomorrow.  It’s almost time to leave for bible study.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

The front porch is finished.  I wanted to show you the finished product.  I’m not sure the picture does a good job of showing it or not.

I rolled the blinds down some so you all could see them too.  When we do school out here, we roll them down some to eliminate the glare.  They also help keep it cooler in the summer.  We now have cleaned and mopped the floor and returned all the furniture to the porch.  It is so nice.  Thanks, Hubby.

Yesterday was spent down at Jessica’s watching the boys while she went for her ultra sound.  She saw the heart beat so all is well in Mama’s world.  She is 8 weeks and her due date is Nov. 9th.  Very close to Grace’s birthday.  Today will be catch up at school and getting the house cleaned for tomorrow’s bible study.  It is my turn for dessert and I am planning on making cinnamon rolls.  We are going over to the Horn’s tomorrow evening to eat and visit with them.  I am making enough cinnamon rolls to take over there as well. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

Our grapevine. You can see another smaller “brash” pile in the second garden.   We are hoping to have lots and lots of grapes this year.  Now that we have our steamer juicer, we are looking forward to making lots of grape juice .   We certainly did enjoy the apple juice we made last year.  I want to experiment with other types of fruit to make juice.

Today is another beautiful day here in Floyd.  Very windy though, as usual.  Temperature is already in the 50′s.  Forecast is for rain over the weekend.  I was hoping for sunshine and warm temperatures but I know we did rain too.   The ladies will be coming in a little bit.  We are planning on doing some more outside work after our study is finished.  The girls work on school while the ladies and I are doing our bible study.    We are working on a surprise outside which I will show you all when we get it finished. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

We are finally getting a little color in our yard.  I love these cheerful early flowers.  They brighten up the landscape and our outlook so much, I think.  Saturday was very nice here.  We got all the trimming done.  YEAH!  Everything looks so much neater.  It is all piled up in the garden to be burned whenever we can catch a day the wind isn’t blowing too hard.  Yesterday, was absolutely  beautiful.  The temperature actually got up to 60 degrees.   I sat outside for a very long time reading.  Then Hubby came out and entertained me with his banjo.   We had a team leaders meeting yesterday after church so we did not do our bible study last night. 

Friday’s weather was very different from Saturday and Sunday.  First we had quite a lot of rain.

Then we had some hail.

Today is chilly and overcast.  They are calling for rain  today and tomorrow.   Grace has an appointment at the eye doctor later today.  We will be doing school until lunch then leaving for the appointment.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

As you all know, I love old things.  My mother-in-law gave me this old lamp while we were down helping her move.  It needed a new shade and a little cleaning.  Grace cleaned it for me and we are on the lookout for a shade that will do it honor.   I have it on top of my treadle sewing machine for now. 

We are getting some much needed rain here today.  I understand we are about 4 in. below normal on our water level.  It seems very cozy, the rain on the tin roof, a warm fire.   I think I need to light some candles to make it even cozier.

We are working on school today.  Also cleaning house.  The ladies will be coming tomorrow for bible study.  Tomorrow will be our last lesson in this study, “Women who believed God”.  It has been a good study.  Tonight’s menu is sloppy joes, french fries, green beans and a peach pie with homemade whipped creme for dessert.  YUM!

I hope you all have wonderful day and God bless.

P.S.  In answer to the question about what sassafras tea tastes like, it resembles a root beer or birch beer taste.  You can drink it hot or cold.  We prefer hot but it is good cold.

We had a beautiful moon last night.  Grace and I attempted to get a picture that would do it justice.  Obviously, there is something special one must do to get a good night picture.  We tried lots of different settings on our camera.  This is the best one we could get.  This in no way shows how amazing it actually was.

Temperatures are warm here again today-lower 50′s.  We have lots of wind though.  I am going to try to hang clothes outside.  I know they will dry (if I can keep them on the line.)  We are doing bible study today at one of the other ladies house.  My house is still in construction zone.  Everything is scattered all over the house.  Today, he hopes to finish the trim in the bathroom and cut a load of wood. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

Our pup broke his old collar the other day and Hubby decided to make him a new one out of some old leather he had here.  We let the girls stamp his name on his new collar.  He is very proud of it and I must say it definitely looks better than his old one did. 

Today was ladies bible study day.  Our study today was about Elizabeth.  It was a really nice study.    We only have 2 more lessons in this book.  We have decided to do Kelly Minter’s “No Other Gods” next.  I will show you all a picture of the study book soon.

Hubby is gone to a deacons meeting at church tonight and I plan on watching a movie.  A blogger friend of mine had recently watched this movie, “The Lightkeepers”.  I rented it from Netflix and got it in today.  

Enjoy your evening and God bless.

Yesterday after the snow stopped, our sky was gorgeous.  I tried to take a picture of it. This does not really do it justice but it was the best one I took.  The wind picked up considerably after the snow stopped, 30 to 40 mph.  We have wind here almost always but after snow storms it usually kicks up quite a bit.  This wind is a blessing though in the summer as it keeps our temperatures cooler than surrounding areas. 

We have decided not to have bible study tomorrow due to road conditions.  I miss those ladies when we don’t meet.  Today will be school as usual.  We hope to finish health by the end of next week.  Then we can double up on another subject and get it finished.  I have already been looking at next years books.  So exciting!  How blessed we are to be able to homeschool.  I love teaching my girls, spending time with them.   We have so much fun. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

I thought we might all enjoy looking at some summer pictures.   I think I like summer better than winter but thats just my personal opinion.

Yesterday was kinda exciting for me.  I sold 6 dishcloths and a little girl apron! YEAH!   Makes me want to get busy making more.  I think the next two I make will be waist aprons instead of full aprons.  I want to see how they sell.  They seem to be pretty popular. 

School today as usual.  Tomorrow is Ladies bible study.  This week we are studying Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mary of Bethany.  This has  been a really good study guide so far.  I would definitely recommend it.  Tonights menu is London Broil, homefries, green beans, homemade rolls and banana pudding for dessert.

Time for school.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

I finally have Grace’s quilt finished.  I started it last year after I finished Julie’s.  Gardening came upon us and I had to put the quilt away until winter.  I now have made all 3 girls a wall hanging/quilt that I sewed by hand.   I am not very skilled at sewing things by hand so these will probably be the only ones I do.

Temperatures are still cold here.  Actual temperature this morning was 10 degrees with a -10 wind chill.  When the cold wind blows here it is very difficult to keep the house warm.  The wind seems to find its way inside in places we never thought possible.   Anyway, our wood stove is working overtime.  I am very grateful to have this stove.  It certainly puts out a lot of heat. 

I am working on a new apron and hopefully will be able to show you all a picture of it soon.   School as usual today.  The ladies are coming tomorrow for bible study and it is my turn to make dessert.  I am thinking of making a buttermilk chocolate cake.  I got the  recipe from a blogger friend and it has become a favorite of ours.   I like buttercream frosting with ours.  It reminds me of a cake that was served at school when I was a kid.  They called it wacky cake.  I do not like chocolate very much but this cake is really good.

Enjoy your day and God bless.