Answering Questions ~ Part Six

Do Amish churches have denominations ?

I believe this question was answered here.

Which version of the Bible do they read?
Their German Bible is the Martin Luther version. They use the King James Version when they use English.

Hi there! I was just wondering if you folks had indoor plumbing. I believe that my Amish neighbors in Crawford County, PA do not...but I know lots of others do. Also, did you folks have windshields or rear-view mirrors in your buggies? Were BBQ grills permitted?

Yes, we had indoor plumbing.  "Windshields" in buggies are called storm fronts and yes we had those as well as mirrors on our buggies.

BBQ grills were okay in our community as long as they used charcoal.

I would like to know, the secret to growing celery. My celery growing attempts in the garden have not been too successful. Our family still serves it at weddings, something his grandparents and parents did, and it has just stayed in the family.

Sorry, I can't help you on this one. Our family wasn't very fond of celery and therefore didn't raise it.

Also, how do the Amish keep their stock tanks and chicken waters from freezing in the winter, without the aid of heatlamps and water heaters??? We farm, and loose power every winter and struggle over this one. We can keep the house warm, cook with wood, heat with wood, but can't seem to figure out how to keep the horses, live stock and chickens in water.

If stock tanks and chicken waterers are kept in freezing conditions there is no way to prevent the water from freezing. It takes a lot of ice chopping during the winter unless your barn is kept above freezing.  (All part of the simple life.)

Did you have a time of "rumspringa?" And if so, what did you do?

Personally I don't like the phrase rumspringa since the public latched onto it and distorted the whole meaning. Yes, I had a time of rumspringa. We had Sunday evening hymn singings.  Rumspringa is not a time to decide whether or not to be Amish and it does not end when you become a member of the church. It ends once you get married or decide to remain single for the rest of your life.

You have said that 2 of your brothers have left the Amish, as well as yourself. How many siblings do you have? How about your Husband's family. Have any of them left?

I have five brothers. My husband has three brothers and one sister. His sister and one of his brothers have left the Amish as well.

I hope I am not late in asking....Do Amish have set days for chores like laundry etc and what is the schedule? Or is it different in each community?

There are no rules about when you do certain things. Schedules are made by each family to suit their specific needs and life.

What kind of stove did ur parents have when u were growing up, a gas or a kerosene?

We had a Pioneer Maid wood stove and also several kerosene stoves to use during the summer.

Also did u have a gas or kerosene fridge?

Neither. Our refrigerator was a chest freezer that we converted to a refrigerator by putting a large specially made stainless steel pan in the bottom with coils of  freon filled copper pipe along the sides. We filled it with water and then had an engine run an ice compressor which made lots of ice and kept everything nice and cold. We had built shelves into the freezer but used to set our milk into the icy water which kept it delightfully cold. We also floated bowls of food on the water if we needed something to chill quickly.

The worst part of this type of refrigerator was siphoning the water out every month and cleaning it.

Others in the community had a regular refrigerator with their stainless steel pan in the top freezer compartment. Those never kept the food as cold though.

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This concludes the Q&A series. Back to regular posting next week. Hope you all have a very nice Easter!