Misconceptions

There are  a lot of preconceived ideas and misconceptions about the Amish out there. One of the main ones is about rumspringa. But I won't be talking about that today.

Recently I had someone try to tell me a whole row of things that they know to be facts about the Amish and I was left smiling on the inside and wondering where ever they had come up with all that.

Among other things she made the remark that she was reading about someone visiting the Amish and they had toast for breakfast and how she immediately knew that wasn't true because the Amish don't have electricity.

The electricity part she got right. But the toast part. No.

We used to enjoy toast regularly while we were Amish. While growing up and the first few years of our marriage I made toast on a kerosene stove by placing a piece of bread directly on top of the burner. The flame was more than 12" away and the heat toasted the bread nicely. After turning it over and toasting the other side it was ready for butter. A lovely piece of toast made without the aid of electricity.

Another way we made toast, especially during the winter was placing several pieces of bread into the oven for a minute or two and then place it directly on the stove top to be toasted a delightful brown. Putting it into the oven first made that there weren't as many crumbs that would stick to the stove top.

Later when we moved to a community that had gas stoves we still enjoyed toast. There was a rack contraption that could be set over the burner and with the burner on low it worked quite well. And there was always the option to make a fried toast.

I'm sure Amish aren't the only ones that make or have made toast without an electric toaster. What methods have you used already?

A Favor

As many of you know I have an aunt with Downs Syndrome. You can read more about her here. Her birthday is coming up on November 5th and I would love to have her mailbox filled with cards.

If you would like to help make that a reality send me an email and I will send you her address.

Picking Rocks

A continuation of LV's memories

LV had turned four which was ever so much older than three and he was sure that he would now be able to keep up with his older siblings so much better.

There was a new church district starting 12 miles away and his parents decided to help it get started. They found a piece of bare land and made plans to build a large farmhouse and dairy barn as well as all the other buildings that they needed on a nice farm.

LV couldn't help but wonder why they called it bare land since it didn't look bare to him. There were fields covered in tall grass and several different patches containing several acres of woods.

It was fun watching the buildings grow but there wasn't much for a little boy to do except watch and play with the scraps of wood.

Between working on the buildings his Dad plowed some of the fields to plant corn. Since they were new there were lots of rocks and he decided to take several days to pick up rocks. He said LV could help them if he wanted to and he jumped at the chance. He was finally old enough to be able to help work in the fields.

While his brothers were lifting large rocks and tossing them on the box wagon LV was running around picking up stones that were more his size. He spied another stone and ran around the corner of the wagon just as his brother Mervin tossed another rock. It hit the side of LV's head knocking him down.

Sitting up he could feel and see blood gushing down his face. His Dad quickly picked him up and ran to find Mom. Together they cleaned him up and decided the gash didn't require stitches. After getting bandaged he once again had to stay with Mom while the rest went back to picking rocks.

The scar remains as a reminder of that day

Lists

These past months have been, let's say interesting. I haven't been able to keep up with everything on my own so with the help of lists and eager helpful children things have kept on rolling along quite nicely.

The thought of handing the children a list of things that need to be done wasn't very appealing to me and with a little thought I happened upon an idea that works very well.

Here's an example of what a list looks like.

• Sweep kitchen floor
• Straighten rugs
• Stand on a chair and sing your favorite song
• Eat three grapes
• Make your bed
• Say something nice to your sister/brother
• Wash your nose
• Make sure there is nothing on couch besides the cushions
• Clean vanity
• Wash your hands
• Read a chapter in the book you are reading
• Dust livingroom furniture
• Draw a picture of a butterfly

Adding a wide variety of odd little things to their lists have made them fun and they often ask me to make another list for them to do. A win-win for all of us!

Thoughts on Squirrels

I feel blessed to be able to look out the window and see a waterfall. It is looking especially nice this fall since it's framed in gorgeous brilliant orange and yellows.  This picture was taken several weeks ago just as the leaves started turning and while I would love to show you what it looks like this morning I don't want to step outside in the rain to take another picture.

Instead I took one of the little red squirrel that was busy gathering walnuts by our backdoor this morning.

We see chipmunks often but it is a very rare occasion when we actually get to see a squirrel. They are so much fun to watch. The walnuts were almost as big as this little guy and I had to admire his plucky can do attitude.

I think I may have to store this little moment away in my memory for future reference when things in life look overwhelming or impossible. If a tiny squirrel can tackle a huge walnut surely we can handle what ever gets placed in our path of life as well.