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!

 

Thursday Walkabout

Russian Sage, Lantana, Sunflowers & Striped Ornamental Zeas Corn with Bucket of Lantana & Sweet Potato Vine , New Hydrangea, Tree Frog on house front porch ~ love these little guys, Honeybee on White Swan Coneflower.

Almost the weekend! Yay!

Henry & Hazel

Or at least that’s what I think our new residents’ names shall be.  Their mama also seems to be a permanent resident in the blacksmith shop. She’s very pretty, in a “haunting” sort of way.  She seems to be a little less fearful with each passing day.

Henry (orange/yellow tabby)  is feeling much better. He had a bite, or some other kind of wound on his neck and I’ve been medicating it. He is just as playful and energetic as Hazel (gray/callie tabby) now.

The area in and around the Blacksmith Shop is perfect for kitten play… so many hiding and climbing places!

Muffins, Cobbler and Storms.. Oh My!

Our Sunday began with a rather ominous looking sky.

The Heavens are parting… or so it seems!

Really, it was so strange ~ almost looked like we were living in Colorado mountains for awhile! Thankfully, the storm front only brought us some nice rain and just a few thunder-boomers. It also delivered some nice, cooler temps for the day, which worked out great for my blueberry-baking plans.

We had muffins with brunch ~

And Blueberry Cobbler this evening. I felt a little creative and made cut-outs for the top crust with some little cookie cutters. We took the cobbler with us to visit my parents. They supplied the ice cream accompaniment. We all enjoyed it! This is the before-baking picture~

After-baking – the chunky sugar crystals on top made it better I thought…

I may try this cookie-cutter method again next time. For me, it was easier than trying to keep a whole top crust together during transfer to the cobbler (or pie). I always manage to make a mess of that!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Blueberries & Another Goose Chase

Mr. W was so kind to go to our friends’ blueberry farm early this morning and pick four pounds of luscious blueberries. I headed in the other direction on another wild goose chase at a local “exotic animal auction & bird swap”. Still, I did not find a Brown Chinese Gander for my Greta Goose. Nonetheless, this trip may have been productive as I now have my first official lead on a B. C. gander – for maybe September.  Who knew these Brown Chinese Geese would become so elusive?

Thank you, Mr. W, aka the Blacksmith, for sweating in the blueberry patch this morning. And thank you, Friends, for sharing the bounty! These berries are 100% delicious!

We’ll eat some of the berries while they’re fresh, and the remainder will be frozen for future use. Trust me, they won’t last long around here. I think a Sunday Blueberry Pie would be  perfect, don’t you?

It rained…. cats??

We had a wonderful, plentiful rain on Saturday the 4th. Suddenly, the next day these appeared~

This little cutie…

And this one…

How can this be? Hmmm, strange things really do happen out in the country!

We had a beautiful sky tonight at dusk.

Even ol’ Allis looked lovely in the glow.

Oh, and here is something else the rain brought in. At least he was just a little guy – on the Barn/Cottage porch. And I was barefoot (either: really brave, or really not thinking at this moment).

Hope your week is going great!

Happy 4th of July!

What are your plans for this Independence Day? We started the morning by heading into town to purchase more lumber for finishing the Barn/Cottage walls ~ 20% off today, which helps! It’s rainy here, but supposed to clear before fireworks time. We actually needed the rain, so that’s a blessing! Our evening plans are still up in the air. We’re not sure if we will stay home and view distant fireworks from the front porch, or head out somewhere to watch a display.

Whatever your plans ~ make it a safe and happy 4th!

Wednesday Dose of Cuteness

While sorting through some of our old photos and videos this morning, I found this adorable video of our Gracie at four days old. It’s just what I needed today, and I hope it will make you smile also. She is with her mama donk here, and please note the impressive “Hi Ho Silver... Away!” move. How amazing is that for only 4 days old?