Road Trip ~ Re-routed

This wasn’t the trip we originally planned for today, but we always enjoy a trip up the road to Amish Country.

Bantams.. need some bantams…

 

It’s official – I really want some guineas too! Beautiful feathers, interesting faces…

Lots of fun and games at recess. Seems it was recess at each of the schools we passed. Such a cold day, but they didn’t seem to mind.

Scenic views on the way home…

 

All in all, a very good day, enjoying peace and quiet.
Sending all of you lots of peaceful, quiet, uninterrupted moments. Priceless!

Welcome to Amish Country

If you’ve ever been to an Amish community, chances are you’ve seen houses with signs much like this. Today we have cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, and the ever-present milk!

We are so fortunate to have a fairly large settlement of about 200 families nearby, and we spent a good portion of today there.  Mr. W has Amish friends there, and it’s always one of our most favorite things to do – just whiling away a day in the peaceful Amish community. It was a gorgeous day, not too hot, a blessing for the middle of July!

The Amish were ‘making hay while the sun shines’ – among other things. I got some ‘far away’ photos (no close-up faces of course), and we also took several of their haying process – which I found fascinating!

First comes the mowing of the fields --

Then comes loading onto the hay wagon. What a stack!

Then the part I found most fascinating – loading into the hay mow (rhymes with “how”).  You can see somewhat how it is done here – as you scroll down through the ‘filmstrip’. The hay hooks grab the hay… which is attached to a long rope, and two children with the horses are on the other side of the barn… pulling the hay up into the mow.

We always talk about this ‘secret passageway’ that is maintained as a shortcut to the road. I’m also thinking – a good place for Amish kids to play hide and go seek, and maybe also good for the older kids to sneak off every now and then! (I’ve read far too many Amish novels, haven’t I??). You can see a glimpse of the house at the end of the passageway.

Horses! I love to see the horses – not so much when they’re working (poor babies), but at rest and play. Take a look at these beauties --

Below, in my opinion, is the perfect shot and pose, but somehow I foiled it all and came out with a blurry picture. Darn!! So I added some paintbrush effects  to help hide my mistake! Golly, the horse weeds almost look artistic here too :-D

Today we saw wheat shocks in the fields. Per Mr. W: “The wheat shocks are configured diagonally so the prevailing winds dry the wheat most effectively.” Okaaay, thank you Mr. W for that technical analysis! Interesting!

Finally, here is an important piece of advice. If you have a subject you’ve been longing to take a photo of… take it immediately!! Before it’s too late. Here is the Mt. Pisgah Church coming down :-( It was sure a lovely old church in its day.

 
After we finished our tour and visits, we then stopped in our little town on the way back home to attend the 80th birthday celebration for one of our friends and neighbors.

What a nice day we had. However, chores await. So off I go. Enjoy the remainder of your weekend!

 

Among the Amish

Painting: “Standing Watch” by Marsha Elliott

We traveled to our nearby Amish Community and whiled away this rainy day. This is one thing about Mr. W still being unemployed that is a good thing – more day trips! “Amish Day” is always a fun trip, and we come back with some great ‘bent and dent’ buys as well. Additionally, I always feel I leave there with a better, more relaxed perspective on life. Here is a description of a few of the highlights today. (I always wish it were permissible to photograph the Amish, but I do respect their beliefs.)

At the first ‘bent and dent’ store, an 8 year old boy was our cashier. When he had difficulties ringing up my 20 or so Power Bars at 5¢ each, he called for assistance from his 10 year old brother. Assisting this duo was their 5 year old brother who was rather nervously boxing up the items. The painting above reminds me of this adorable trio of brothers.

We observed a young brother and sister pair picking up hickory nuts. Also saw two young ladies bringing in two very large baskets of eggs from the chicken house… giggling all the way. Many kids were out fishing today on the pond, in spite of the light rain showers. In fact, it did seem that most residents of the community were ‘goofing off’… and it just appeared to me that today was an official holiday for them….perhaps Easter Monday?

At our favorite country store, we visited with our favorite little lady who is always chatty and good-humored. She was particularly beaming today, even happier than usual. There were many visitors arriving and departing by buggy. She informed us that they were all coming to see their new grandbaby who was upstairs from the store. Their 61st grandchild. She also told us it was very hard for her to come downstairs and attend to customers because of that little ‘magnet’ upstairs who kept beckoning to her. I don’t know how a grandmother would even keep 61 grandkids straight.. I mean really!! But it was quite obvious that each of her grandbabies were very special to her.

Mr. W is friends with many in the Amish Community. Since he and his ‘Pappy” build buggies and carriages, they’ve had many dealings with the Amish during the years. Many of the old friends we went to visit today were out and about, so we missed visits with them this time. Nonetheless.. it was a fun and interesting day, and yes, I did return home with that better perspective on life. (Note to Self: hold that thought!)