Amish Friends

        Four families are represented in this photo, some were Amish and the rest Mennonite. Our four families were close friends back in those days but times change and we don't see each other as often. These Children are all grown-ups now, (one of the young men has gone home to be with the Lord.) All of our families grew after this photo, and one of them ended up with twelve children.

        The littlest of them is my cover model for Catbird Singing. Yes, believe it or not, that little blondie in the middle with her yellow dress hiked up, is the same girl pictured below between my team of draft horses. She is 25 now!

We always had a great time together and yes, their parents approved us taking a photo. I'm hoping they will get a chance to see this blog, because I know they will really enjoy this picture.

One of these families left the Amish and I see their daughter (the second smallest blond girl) working at a grocery store on my mail route. I like to remind her that she was a little Amish girl when I first knew her.

The family that stayed Amish, moved to Ohio and we don't see them much anymore.

I don't tell any of our Amish friends personal stories in my books. The experiences we had in their homes are the foundation of what I write.

We have found that our Amish neighbors build their lives around faith, family, and friends.

Catbird Singing on Amazon

Attention Horse People

 If you wake up thinking about horses. focus all day on a horse issue you need to fix. (i.e. getting hay, wormer, equipment, or thinking of your training methods.) And fall asleep dreaming about horses. Then, you have a whole lot in common with me!

I love to read about horses and people who work with them. That is why I wrote several adventure novels about horses.

 Under the Heavens is about a teenage city guy who goes to spend a summer on his Amish relatives farm. Lenny is planning to stay away from horses. Little does he know, that is impossible on an Amish farm. From sunup to sundown his summer is filled with horse adventures

Grandpa is a horse whisperer and determined to teach his grandson horse-sense.

Catbird Singing is about Lenny's second trip to this Amish Horses wonderland. On this visit he finds out that if he wants to date girls, he will have to hitch up and drive high strung buggy horses on the highway.

The girls are a little too cute to resist and he has to find a way to get along with some ornery horses.

 Horses are a way of life on an Amish farm.

These books are based on my 35 years of living in an Amish community. When I bought draft horses from local Amish farmers, they didn't just sell me horses. My Amish friends seem to enjoy watching a city boy struggle to do what is second nature to them.

They don't just laugh though. They make every effort to help me succeed. That is the basis of my books.

If you love horses, you have to own one of these books.

Under the Heavens:if you love to read about life on the good-old-fashioned farm. Plowing, making hay, and then going to a young folk's gathering in a buggy.

Catbird Singing: if it sounds fun to read about a young man's funny adventures courting Amish girls while hanging onto a set of driving lines.

Either book can be read first even though they are part of the Amish Horses Series. If you love the first one, go ahead and get the other.  Book III is on the way!

P.S. Whispering to Horses is a short story about a man who hates his Amish neighbors... until he actually gets to know them. Horses are the heart of this story as well.

Click on one of the links and read a few reviews!

Amish Fall

 I am sharing a selection of fall photos here. They are pictures that I took with my cell-phone this year and last year during October.

There could be so many more Amish pictures if I wasn't trying hard to not offend my Amish friends and neighbors.  I try to photograph barns, fields, livestock, and of course horses.

I took this picture of Karm and Coke (below) yesterday

 These corn shocks (below) were in an Amish field in Wisconsin. My wife and I took a little get-a-way there last week and, as usual, I drove through an Amish area. (ask my wife about that)

Amish buggy heading up a beautiful road in Wisconsin

My wife's dad lived up this farm lane when he was about 12. He grew up and still is a Mennonite, but back in those days the difference was small.

 I already shared this picture (above) on another blog post. However, it's one of my favorites and a great Amish fall pic!

 This Amish school house was in session when I drove past. Look at the children running through the yard during recess. Amish are less opposed to photos of children. In fact, they enjoy discovering their children in a photograph that comes out in the paper. (They would never admit that but I've seen them smiling and showing each other.)

These calves (below) were enjoying the last green grass of the season, on an Amish farm.

 This Amish farm (above) is where one of Amish friends grew up. He is still Amish but now lives in Ohio. We went to a visitation at this place when his dad passed away.

These calves (below) are in front of another Amish farmstead. Right before I took this pic, I passed an elderly Amish woman walking on the road. She had several cats that were following her and I slowed way down. She called as I passed by, "Thank you for not running over my cats!"

Amish Babies

        Over the years, it has been common practice for Amish families to not mention that a baby is on the way. My wife and I have been close friends with an Amish couple for a long time. When we were having babies (we are past that stage now) it was something we talked about. The woman warned us that her mother would not like it if she new that we discussed pregnancy... that was just not a topic to be discussed. Of course, me and my big mouth, I forgot and said something one time. We were visiting and Grandma lived in a little house that was attached to the big farm house. She stopped in and talked with us for a few minutes and I was looking for a conversation piece. I mentioned, "It looks like your daughter will be going to the hospital any day now." She gave a blank expression and asked, "What?" I immediately knew I had blown it and fumbled with words to try and recover. Fortunately, she played dumb and let me off the hook.

        My wife's grandparents were Mennonites who lived in the heart of Amish country. Their Amish neighbors used to stop by often and borrow things or use the phone. Grandpa was not a hired driver, but all of his Amish neighbors knew they could stop in at any time of the night for a "baby run." When it was getting close to delivery time, they would stop in and warn him that they would be needing a driver coming up soon.

       One night my wife's grandparents woke to the sound of an Amishman's voice calling up their stairway. "Alvie, my wife is ready to go to the hospital now." Grandpa called down, "Okay, I'll be over as soon as I can get dressed!" He hurried downstairs, but the Amishman had gone on back home to help his wife out of the house. Grandpa drove to his Amish neighbor's, the one who had stopped by a few days before to arrange a ride, and everything was dark. Nobody seemed to be coming out of the house, so he knocked on the door. Grandpa asked, "Didn't you just stop in my home a few minutes ago, looking for a ride to the hospital?"
          "Not tonight!"
          "Well, someone did," Grandpa explained, "and whoever they are, they are waiting for me!"  His Amish neighbors discussed which other Amish couple might possibly need to go on a "baby run" soon, and sent Grandpa down the road. As he pulled into that drive he found an Amish couple anxiously awaiting his arrival. Apparently, the man had just assumed that Grandpa would recognize his voice and know why he stopped in, even though he hadn't made previous arrangements.

  Our whole family has enjoyed the retelling of this story many times.

Easy as Pie

 I never knew my wife's grandmother, but I have benefited from her cooking and baking skills all of my married life.

Grandma Katie Kinsinger grew up Amish and became a Mennonite when she and John got married in 1918. Her daughters learned how to put on a great meal and back it up with amazing deserts.

  My wife didn't polish her skills until after we were married. Fortunately, her mother Ruby and Aunt Mildred were more than willing to share their secrets with her when she was ready to learn.

Mildred, Ruby, and my wife Shari, all three have had the ability to make pies that melt in your mouth. And the crust is never left on the plate. I don't know how, but their crust is so good you could eat it without filling!




Mildred and Ruby, have both gone to be with their Lord. As two of my favorite people I've ever known, I named and modeled characters in the Amish Horses Book Series after them.

 They, all three, have always taken extra care to make their pies beautiful, even though they know that we are going to devour these works of art.

They, all three, also are famous for apologizing about every item they bake. "Oh, did I put too much salt in that?" or "Sorry, the crust is a little crumbly." or "Oh dear, is it overdone?" Meanwhile, we are all perfectly quiet... unwilling to stop eating long enough to answer their ridiculous questions.

My wife often puts crumb topping on one pie, because like her mother and aunt before her, she is worried that someone may not like her two-crust pie. Oh well, I will clean up whatever is left over either way!

As far as I can tell, the only thing easy about pie is eating it. And that is VERY easy!

 Oh, by the way, don't bother to ask for the recipe, they are old family secrets. You young girls may have a chance to get in on it if you marry my son or one of my grandsons.

A Real Amish Paradise

 Shipshewanna, Indiana may be a tourist trap in some people's minds, but to me, an Amish fiction writer, it is Paradise! 

 There are so many beautiful views everywhere you drive! I took the small paved road between Shipshewanna and Middlebury to place copies of my novels in local hardware stores, and I was stunned by the vistas that surrounded me. If you decide to take a trip to the area, stop in and pick up a copy of "Under the Heavens" at Varns & Hoover Hardware in Middlebury, or  Town & Country Hardware in Shipshewanna, right along the main road near the Blue Gate Restaurant. If you can't get enough of the Amish countryside ,take home the experience through the pages of my novels.

 If you want to see the quiet beauty of God's creation go to the rocky mountains, an ocean shore, or just head down a side road in the Amish community of Shipshewanna. (I don't work for the local chamber of commerce either. LOL)

 These are only a few of the many photos I took while visiting the area last week, keep checking my blog for more! I put up a new post about once a week.

 Shipshewanna may be just a quiet county community, but for you and me, Paradise!

Making Hay (the old way)

In this old photo you can see small square bales being hoisted up in to a hay mow. The man on the ground has the trip rope. When the hay bales are inside and close to where he wants them, he will pull his rope and drop the bales. This type of hay system was designed for loose hay and used that way from around 1890 until about 1950. In the 1950's everyone started using small square bales and found that they could continue using their "hay trolleys" to hoist those into the mow, six at a time.

(These pictures were loaned to me by a good friend named Jeff, he is one of the boys sitting on the tractor)

For years, horses pulled the hay hoist rope. In this picture a small tractor is being used. My wife remembers her grandmother driving an old pickup to pull the rope. She said that she used to ride on the tailgate much like these boys are riding along on the tractor. I had an opportunity to help a Mennonite farmer put up hay this way in the early 1980's. I know that many Amish farmers still use hay hoists to this day. Some Amish farmers still put up loose hay, including one of the families I bought draft horses from. I enjoyed watching them do things the way it was done around the turn of the last century.

We have a local resident that collects hay trolleys from all over the country. The Kalona Mennonite Historical Society held a meeting in this display barn a few weeks ago. I asked for permission to take some pictures and blog about it.

In the picture below you can see a few sets of "Iron Claw" hay forks. I still have an old set that were used on our home-place even though the big barn is gone.

There were many companies that made hay trolleys, and over the years each company made numerous models. Our local collector told us that he has over 300 distinct trolleys, and some duplicates.

I thought I would throw in this picture of me standing below a few of the old hay forks. This style was used for loose hay.

I've included a short excerpt from my novel, Under the Heavens. This is a short story that was told to me, by a good Amish friend, almost exactly as I put in in the book.

If you have a few minutes, check out this wonderful video by simply clicking on the words below.

  Hay Hoist Demo Link

Mennonite Carpenters

My old "horse barn" needed some help soon, or the roof was gonna fall in. I had been telling my brother-in-law that I wanted his crew to come do the work as soon as I could scrounge up the money.

My wife's granddad put up this corn-crib some 80 years ago and my dad-in-law plastered three sides after they stopped using it to store grain. That made it into a wind-tight and useful horse barn. This wooden side (pictured below) was starting to get really weathered. It didn't show from the road, so looks weren't the issue. However, I love this old building and wanted to save it.

You can see in the picture above, that the rafters were getting soft in places. These Mennonite-raised carpenters knew what they were doing and got us all fixed up. I think this barn will outlast me now!

You can see Karm and Coke were displaced for a few weeks, till the carpenters were done. There is a strand of electric fence keeping them out. They seemed to enjoy all the company they had while the crew was working (normally things are pretty quiet.)  I spent about a week with a magnet picking up nails before I let them back in this area. Sure hope I got them all!

My brother-in-law is way up top fixing the peak.

Dan put in a clear piece of siding, for a window to let in light.

Randy and Henry put in the final touches on my doors.

The whole place looks a lot better now, huh? (Rear view: above. From the road: below)

A special thank you to Randy, Dan and Henry.

You guys did a great job... and it was really fun having you around the home place!

(...by the way, this farm was Randy's home place when he was growing up.)