My Runaway Horses

       Stonewall and Jackson were actually easygoing, gentle horses.  I bought this team at the Kalona Sale Barn but the guy selling them was an Amish man, that lived only a few miles from my place.  The picture with our dog "Coach" sniffing them was taken on their first day as my horses (you can tell he didn't know them yet.)
        I bought them in the fall and that next spring, when they turned 2, I took them back to my Amish friend, he used them for his spring fieldwork.  When they were ready to come home, my Amish friend and I drove them here.  I hitched them a few days later and took a nice drive down a gravel road, everything went great.

       Just before unhitching them I decided to take them out into some cornstalks, to see how they would react; because I was planning to take my disc out into that cornfield in a few days.  Well, that was a mistake!  A cornstalk poked them or the sound of rustling leaves scared them, I'm not sure, but they took off as fast as they could go.  When we started to get close to a fence, I tried to turn them out into the open field by pulling hard on my left line... it broke.  I fell back into the wagon pulling on the right line and that turned them into the corner of the field and they came to a stop, unharmed.

I was shook up about it, so I took them back to my Amish friend to let him use them a little more.  We ended up having a whole string of runaway stories over the next year.  I'm saving all of that for a collection of short stories about my horses.  I have one of my short stories posted on this blog.  It is a story named, "Back In Time."  You can click on this link below.
http://amishhorses.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

       I was so discouraged because I liked Stone and Jack a lot.
I felt like crying out "Why Lord?"  Now, years later, I know that it all turned out for the better.  I had so many great experiences, taking these boys back to my Amish friends place.  Because of my troubles, I got the opportunity to drive a six-horse hitch, on a plow and a disc (Stone and Jack in the hitch)  and many other interesting jobs.
        All of these experiences ended up as material for my book, Under the Heavens, due out later this year.

Mail Order Barn

        I got up early this morning and drove about 30 miles to my friend Kenny's place, where I buy most of my hay.  My trusty little time-machine S-10 pickup has 26 bales on it.  I drive this far because Kenny always sells me top quality grass hay, cheaper than I can find it anywhere close to home, and he is a great guy too!

        This time I took some pictures of his barn and asked him some questions about it.  He told me that his wife's Grandpa built this barn from a kit, he thinks was ordered out of a Sears catalog.  I have never heard of that!  He didn't know when it was built but guessed in the 20s or 30s.  He told me that each board came with a stamped number on it, so that a person could follow pre-printed directions.  Kenny has been told that four other barns just like this one were built nearby and this is the only one of those four left.  It seems that the arched roof was a weakness, that is until Kenny's grandpa-in-law took matters into his own hands and reinforced the rafters as seen below.  He also added these dormers which also was part of a plan to strengthen the structure.  That old guy is a man to be proud of!  People like him are what this country was built on.

       This beautiful old building and many like it across America need to be protected, they are irreplaceable.  Much of the hay stored in this mow (or loft) will come home to my place for Karm and Coke's winter chow.

       For more old barn photos check out my Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/AmishHorses 

      Click on this link and look for my photo album "Barns" don't forget to "Like" my page while there!

  

Barn on Wheels

        The other day, I was finishing my chores when I noticed our local electric company, Farmers Co-op, was pulling in our drive.  They told me they were shutting our power down for a few hours, I didn't ask why. My elderly neighbor, Leo, stopped in on his daily walk by our place and told me that our Amish neighbor, a mile and half down the road east of us, was having a corn crib moved from a few miles west of our place.

A little bit later buggies started coming past our place, I snapped a few pictures out our front window.

I headed outside with my cell phone and got some pictures of the corn crib going past our place.

 It looked like everyone was having a great time when the buggies all came back past.  There was a buggy with a whole group of young boys and another with a lot of little girls, pictured above.  One had a three teenage girls in it, also pictured above.

About an hour later, my wife and I were on our way to town and passed by the place the corn crib was moved to.  Here are pictures below of its final resting place!

Bantams For Sale

                                                                       

       I always thought this Twin County Coon Hunt sign is a fun one!  It has hung here for years, on the corner of 500th and Hwy 1, near Kalona, Iowa.  I'm not sure who the coon hunters are, and I've never seen a sign at the other end of that 3 miles, so for me it is a mystery.

       When I saw the Bantams For Sale sign, I knew where that arrow was pointing, I go by that Amish farm everyday on my way to work.  As you can see by the pictures below, I went on over one evening and bought 3 Bantams.

       I stopped at this Amish farm around dusk and was met by a boy about 8 years old.  I told him that I was wanting to buy some Bantams (We call them Banties)  These chickens are a little smaller than your typical chickens, more feisty too!  This young man set out to sell me some of his large flock of Bantams, leading me back under some shadowy pines, where there were long low coops filled with chickens.  In only a few moments a crowd of his brothers and sisters were with us, as we looked at all the choices of color and ages in their chickens. I believe there were at least six children clumped around me as I tried to decide which chickens to take home.  The children were so cute, dressed in their Amish clothes and stood staring at this unfamiliar non-Amish man.  I told the group of siblings that I knew their grandpa and had bought horses from him before, they all grinned and I could tell I was not a stranger anymore after that.  The young man that was around 8 years old seemed to be the spokes person, that is until his older brother about 15 arrived and then I never heard another word out of the younger brother.  Older brother told me, "We're having Church here tomorrow, that's what all the activity is about!"

       I know that it is a big deal, when Amish host Church at their home.  They usually have relatives come over and help clean everything inside and out for about a week before the big day.  Before I left with my new rooster and two hens, the dad of the house had come around to see what was going on.  He knew who I was and remembered that I had bought horses from his Dad-In-Law.  I apologized for interrupting their preparations for hosting Church but he assured me that his children were more than eager to make a chicken sale!

        Then next morning we woke to the sound of our new rooster crowing.  On our way to Church we passed by this farm.  It looked "as clean as a whistle" and we could see a crowd, dressed in Sunday best seated on long benches inside a pole-building.  I had to wonder what it sounds like at that farm every morning when all their roosters are crowing.

       If you want to buy some Bantams, look for this sign about 5 miles north of Kalona! 

Horse and Buggy

 

Downtown Kalona, Iowa.

       There is something soothing about the sound of horses trotting down a road.  We lived in Harrisonburg, Virginia for a few years during the 80's and our closest neighbors were Old Order Mennonites, similar to Amish.  We lived on a little paved road in the country, our view was of a dairy farm's pasture with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background, I sure miss that!  Old Order Mennonites passed our house all day riding bikes or driving buggies. Our little 2 year old daughter (at that time) Bethany used to love to watch the horses go by.  When we did what parents do, and asked Bethany, "What does a horses say?" Her answer was to make a clucking sound with her tongue, mimicking the sound of horse hooves on the road.

  

  

       Here is a picture of our pony "Dusty" what a great family pony she was!  The girl driving is an Old Order Mennonite family friend, Lisa Dawn.  My own daughter, Lisa, is on the right, and my daughter Robyn is holding Lisa Dawn's little brother, Kevin.  You can see our great view in the background.  I bought this little cart at a garage sale and my Old Order Mennonite neighbor gave me this harness, I think he enjoyed seeing me and my children go past his place on this little cart.

Your's truly (it was the 80's) and my daughter Bethany on Dusty.

     My daughter Bethany was crazy about this pony, for some reason she wanted to lay back like this on Dusty for hours if I would let her, Dusty didn't mind as long as she was grazing.  You can see our Old Order neighbor's farm in the background, and beyond that the little town of Dayton, Virginia.  Beyond that is either Round Hill or Mole Hill, I forget which hill was which.  I have some great stories about this pony but I am saving those for a collection of short stories about all the horses I have owned.

My parents used to have a little Chihuahua that one of Mom's Amish students gave her. The little guy was a typical Chihuahua with bulging eyes and a raspy bark. Mom told me, "Do you know how to tell this is an Amish dog? Because he's hoarse and buggy."

Amish girl driving a buggy in Kalona, Iowa.

Amish family near Shipshewanna, Indiana.

Shiloh Farm

     My sister has a wonderful antique shop near Kalamazoo Michigan.  It so happens her shop is in a carriage house.  I really enjoyed looking in the horse stalls, posts still protruding from the walls for hanging harness and horse collars.
     Her main shop is in there area where the buggies and wagons used to be stored. When I walk in here I can imagine what it was like "back in the day."
     My sister, Twila also sells artwork, craft items and unique random artifacts her brother (me) Tom purchases at the semi-annual Draft Horse Sale at the Kalona Sale Barn.

     My sister's home and shop both are like a museum, taking you way back to the old days.  If you are ever in the Kalamazoo area you don't want to miss a chance to stop in.

     My sister had a very interesting visitor while I was there, a young woman who recently joined the Amish.  It is very rare for anyone not raised Amish to be able to make that transition.  This young woman was taken in by an Amish family and she seems to be adjusting very well.

     As soon as my book Under the Heavens comes out, my sister Twila plans to have copies for sale in her shop at Shiloh Farm.

     This house was built during the Civil War.  Twila has done an amazing job keeping everything original, yet comfortably updated!  I had a great visit at your place Sis, your a great hostess!

 Here is a link to my sisters Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ShilohFarmVintageARTiques

Our Old Homeplace

     There used to be a huge barn about were my horses are standing. When I first met my wife the barn was still there but it came down in the 80's

     This smaller barn is actually a corn crib my wife's grandpa built. It makes a great horse barn.


     My wife's grandparents moved onto this farm when they got married in 1918. Her grandmother was the 4th daughter in a family of 5. My mother-in-law was born in this very house in 1928, she was the 4th daughter in a family of 5. My wife grew up in this home and, you guessed it, she was the 4th daughter in a family of 5. It so happens we have 5 children and we like to tell our 4th daughter she is destined to take over when we move off the place, but she better have 5 children!                                    

     Our old windmill isn't in use anymore but if the wind catches it just right, it starts spinning again. I hired an elderly Amish man to climb up to the top and wire it so it couldn't spin. I was surprised when he got up there and I could see that the face of this windmill was taller than a man. After all the effort my Amish neighbor put into fixing my windmill, the very next wind storm it broke loose and went right back to work, spinning.