Quilting Day

 My wife grew up in a quilting community. When a good friend told us about a quilting frame his great-grandfather had made by hand, we couldn't wait to see it. Johannes Jonasson, a Swedish carpenter, migrated to Burlington, Iowa from Sweden in 1882. He crafted this quilting frame around the turn of the last century. My good friend Jim, and his sister Susan, decided to gift this family heirloom to us, because they wanted it to be in a home where it would be used to make quilts.

As you can see, this frame came to us in pieces and I had to assemble it. Everything is handmade, even the wooden pegs that hold the parts together, and the sprockets that are used to keep a quilt tight. We took a quilt that my wife's great-aunt Merle owned, and placed it in the quilt rack to try it out.

While I was putting this together, my wife reminisced about "quiltings" she has been a part of over the years. She remembered that when her mother "put in" a quilt, she would invite ladies from her Mennonite church to come help. They made a social event out of it. They used a slightly different style of frame, that would hold the entire quilt wide open in a large square. The first day 10 to 15 women would sit around it on all sides quilting. When the edges were all finished, fewer quilters would have a place at the quilt. On a second day, maybe only 6 ladies would be invited to come help. When the quilt was nearly all finished it would look like this picture below, and a woman may finish quilting it herself. Or, she may have a daughter or two help.

I remember stopping in to pick up my wife and seeing the ladies all working hard. I also remember them laughing, telling fun stories, and having plenty of good food around, also.

My wife also has had the privilege of being invited to several Amish quiltings. She told me that it seemed somewhat more business-like at those gatherings. She remembered that they were making quilts for "a cause" but she doesn't remember what. Maybe it was the Mennonite Benefit Sale, where everything is auctioned off and the proceeds go to Pleasantview, the Mennonite retirement home in Kalona. She said that they wanted women who could quilt at the same "quick" pace to sit on the end, so they didn't have to wait for a slower worker to finish before rolling the quilt. She remembered that our Amish friend, Alma, had to help her finish her section to keep the others from waiting.

A very special "thank you" to the Olson family for entrusting this beautiful artifact to us.

Horse Barn

My wife's grandparents moved to this farm in 1918, when they got married and left the Amish. They became Mennonites, which was not a very big jump back in 1918.

This building is actually a corn-crib. We are not sure when her grandpa built it but it seems by the type of structure, that it must have been in the 30's or 40's.

My wife's parents moved into a small house out back when they got married in 1948 and farmed as partners with their parents for a number of years.

My dad-in-law tells stories of the two couples working together, milking a dozen cows by hand. I can just imagine that scene. He said that he would sit on one side of the cow and his new wife would milk from the opposite side.

Like most farms in 1948 they had 12 cows and 12 sows.

When my wife and I moved here in 2000, I converted this corn-crib into a horse barn. My dad-in-law was also a plasterer for a living. He stuccoed the outside of the crib making it very tight and useful as a horse barn.

I store hay in one of the cribs and made a hallway out of the other. You can see my horses reaching their heads into the feed bunks in the hallway.

My sweet little granddaughters love our draft horses and beg to sit on their backs. Karm and Coke don't seem to mind at all. In fact, I believe they love all the attention my five grandchildren give them.

Mennonite Wife

My wife and I,
at Oak Alley Plantation

My wife's home frozen applesauce

Shari's home canned peaches

If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, get a Mennonite girl for a wife.

I didn't grow up Mennonite but my wife did. I don't have pictures to show you everything my wife cooks and bakes, but my five children and five grandchildren can vouch for me, she's the best!  Her homemade pies and cinnamon rolls are ridiculously amazing.  These canned peaches have ruined store bought peaches for me. I will never be able to eat store bought again.

Shari also makes homemade applesauce.  She only will use Yellow Transparent apples for her applesauce, which are hard to find. I've tried applesauce made from other varieties and she is right, they don't compare.  Homemade Bread, crescent rolls, kolaches, homemade caramels and chocolates at Christmastime, "perfect" chocolate cake for birthdays, and numerous other delightful goodies.

Home canned pizza sauce is a family favorite, on her made-from-scratch pizza dough.

You younger fellas should take note, Amish and Mennonite girls know how to bake and cook!

These cinnamon rolls, pictured below, melt in your mouth. They are best eaten right after they come out of the oven.  Just pour a glass of milk or a cup of hot coffee to go with them and you are in paradise!

Pumpkin pies for our family's Thanksgiving dessert
(note the tiny clothesline my daughter painted on our pantry wall)

My wife Shari, preparing cheesy potatoes, yum!

 Grandma cut balogna and cheese with a cookie cutter, in the shape of horses.

How clever is that? (Specially made, for our horse loving granddaughter.)

Our grandchildren often have tea parties and also get to play with this homemade play-dough.

So from my personal point of view... get a Mennonite girl to marry you!

After the Storm

Karm and Coke, glistening wet after a torrential downpour.

There is a song that I love, in the Mennonite Hymnal, The Storm is Passing Over.  Every time a really bad storm hits, and then passes, I think of that song.

We had a really powerful storm here in the Kalona area about a week ago.  It brought torrential rains and flooding. Which is an interesting coincidence, because the novel I'm working on now, is about a flood in the fictitious community of Bull Town.

There is nothing fun or beautiful about floods.  I do find some storms amazing even if they are frightening, as you well know if you have read my novel, Under the Heavens.  Although, I will say that my favorite part of a storm is the peaceful aftermath.

These pictures were taken after that kind of powerful, yet amazing storm.  I didn't touch them up at all.  This is exactly the way my cell phone, and my family found the scene.
A huge double-rainbow appeared and of course we had to remember the youtube video, Wow, double rainbow. 
My picture, of the rainbow, doesn't show the double part, but I love the rays of light, beaming out of the Heavens.

Amishland Bike Tour

 Last summer I was driving through an Amish area of Indiana, near Michigan.  Locals call this area between the states Michiana.  I just happened to be there during a yearly bike ride named, Amishland.  I wanted to drive slowly through Amish farmlands, so I followed the path for bike riders.  I was happy to go very slowly!

I would rather have been on a bike but didn't know about this yearly event until that day.  My biggest surprise, was how many Amish/Mennonite bike riders were on the road along with the tourists. These girls in the picture above seemed to be having a lot of fun and gave a friendly waive right after I took this shot.

 There are so many beautiful scenes along the way!  This is a "must do" bike ride for anyone who enjoys lovely views, Amish gardens, horses and good food.  The Amishland event is near Shipshewanna, a fantastic place to visit if you have an interest in Amish at all.  I highly recommend the Blue Gate Restaurant while your in town.  The waitresses are dressed Amish (some are Amish) and the food is fantastic!  I'm a really huge pie fan, as you know already if you read my novel, Under the Heavens. The pie I had at Blue Gate was fantastic.

One of my most memorable pieces of pie was in an Amish home.  My wife and I stopped in at the home of our close Amish friends (can't call ahead) we were dropping something off and only planned to stay for a moment.  There was this apple pie sitting on the table that caught my attention; piled twice as thick with apples than any pie I had ever seen.  They must have seen my expression, because they asked us to sit down and have some.  I answered, "We don't need to eat up your pie."  Our friend's elderly mother, who lived in the grandpa house and had made the pie, answered, "Well, I made it to eat."

I honestly was thinking that the apples would not be cooked all the way through, because of how thick it was. I was wrong. It was cooked perfectly and logged in my memory as one of the best pieces of pie I ever had!

 These pictures were all taken during the Amishland bike ride.  This ought to give you some idea of what a good time your in for, if you take the tour.  I have no connection with the organizers of this event but I shared a link to their homepage at the bottom of this blog. The event is scheduled for August 1-3, 2014.

Here is the Amishland bike ride link:

http://www.amishlandlakes.com/ride2014.html

Garden Spot of Iowa

In my mind, Kalona is the garden spot of the state of Iowa.

Most of these pictures were taken in the past few weeks. I love fresh garden produce and enjoy driving past Amish farms and looking over their huge gardens.  I am always impressed when I pass an Amish farm (on my way to work) at 7:00 a.m. and see teenage girls already working between the rows.  On my way home, someone is usually working in the same garden.

In my novel, Under the Heavens, I mention that an Amish garden is lived in as much as any room in the house.  That is probably an understatement.

Amish farmers near Kalona still plow up fields, making them appear like huge gardens. In the old days, all of Iowa was plowed, gone over with a disc and harrow, until all soil was neatly combed.

Most farmlands in the U.S. now fall into the category of no-till.  Once harvest takes place, remaining stems and root systems are left in place, keeping soil from eroding.  This is good for the soil but not as easy on the eyes.  The farmlands surrounding Kalona still look garden like.

Garden tea is a delightfully fresh drink, it tastes like summer in a glass, and is a staple in almost every Amish home.

I highly recommend taking a leisurely drive through an Amish/Mennonite community and noticing their gardens. Many Amish families sell fresh garden produce for a living.  Stop in and let yourself go back in time, to a place where food was anything but "fast", and almost everything is healthy and tasty.

Amish Books

 I love history. My favorite time period would probably be the early 1800's.
       Growing up, I always read horse books and watched cowboy movies.  Throughout my life, I have read a ton of books about Native Americans and the Civil War. When I moved to a community that was populated by Amish and Mennonites, it came to my attention that living in this area was the closest thing to going back in time.  Now, I love Amish books, because they have the essence of those wonderful by-gone years, yet, the events taking place in these books are possibly happening in the here and now.

       A short time ago, I set up a new Facebook page named, Amish Books.  I have gone to great lengths to connect you with as many types of books about the Amish, and with as many authors of Amish Books as I can.
       I discovered that many Facebook pages about Amish books are managed by specific publishing houses to promote their own titles.  This fact limits the variety of books they can share with you.

       If you are on Facebook, please check out Amish Books and "Like" it!  If you hear of any books about the Amish, please feel free to share them with all of us on this Facebook page.  Here is the link for Amish Books:
   https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amish-Books/720643077981078 

       I will gladly post any Amish book on this page.  My goal is not to decide which are "good" or "poor" but to make you aware of as many titles as possible.  I'm sure that different readers will connect with different authors, depending on their interest.  Some are looking for romance novels while others may be interested in farm life or religious views.

       Under the Heavens, is more of the type about life on an Amish farm.  As the series title (Amish Horses) suggests, there is a focus on horses, yet it includes a little romance and religion to boot.

The Road to Nowhere~

Sometimes, when I'm out driving, I see a road that draws me in.  I find myself wanting to head down that road and imagine that some great adventure awaits me there.

There are a few roads like this in my area that I have never been down.  I'm saving them for some lonely afternoon, or keeping them a mystery because...

... sometimes when you take a road like this they turn out to be just another ordinary road.

Okay, I admit that I usually take every interesting road I see, because I'm looking for great pictures to share with my blog readers.  And I am obsessed with the beauty of God's creation.

Furthermore, in my area there are surprises around every curve in the road.  You never know when you'll cross a hill and see Amish children riding a pony.  One rainy day on my way home from work, I passed a farm where a plain-Mennonite family lives.  Two boys were out flying a kite in the rain.

Next time you see a road that seems to be drawing you in... take it!  If you find some great adventure there, it will be worth being late to wherever you were going.  If it's just another road you haven't lost much.