The Amish are coming, the Amish are coming...

We live less than an hour from "Amish Country" and we have lots of Amish folks living in nearby towns. We have Amish at our farmer's markets and Amish Corn in the summer. (Amish corn isn't really any different from regular corn, it's just fresher than you would buy at the grocery store, and therefore, seems to be tastier.) Some of you may remember my "Dear Amish Man" posts from last summer. I don't know how to tell him this year that I won't be able to eat as much corn as I did last year because of my new Healthy Living lifestyle.

Anyway, I digress... last Sunday I learned that the Amish go out on dates, or "go visiting" and then ride up and down main roads in their buggies pulled by horses. I witnessed this up close and personal recently as I was driving home from some outlet shopping. I have never seen so many Amish at one time. Honestly, I passed about 50 or so buggies. Most of them were teens out together for some evening fun. They looked as awkward as any average teens you would see out on dates but riding along in a buggy instead of a car. Some were in groups and some were just on boy/girl dates. I saw a few older married couples out enjoying a lovely evening as well. It was a little irritating at first since I had difficulty passing some of them safely with so many on the road but then I realized, I was actually pretty lucky to have witnessed (get it, "Witness?" I crack myself up!) such a cool thing and I started to enjoy it.

I took a couple pictures of the beautiful countryside as well as a picture of something I found very amusing when I first moved here. I didn't take any pictures of the Amish people because I felt like that would be kind of rude as I was driving and taking pictures of them like they were some kind of tourist attraction...I didn't want to be like some crazy Amish paparazzi after all.


This is a parking spot at our grocery store. A big, normal, every day grocery store. I will admit that I have NEVER seen an Amish buggy parked at our grocery store but they could park here or in one of the three spaces reserved for them if they wanted to. Interesting, huh?

So, I continue to look forward to that first ear of delicious, nutritious, corn on the cob this summer, should just be a few more weeks. The corn stalks are as high as a baby elephant's eye... keep growing little corn, I love you!

Today was my last day of morning care at the elementary school. I am so happy and can hardly believe I made it through the entire school year. It was not a fun thing to get up that early each morning. I'm glad it's over... for now.

Have a great Wednesday everyone.

More country adventures...

We had a little mishap with the time last weekend when we were supposed to be taking The Son to karate and we never actually made it there. oops. We ended up exploring the area a bit and found a couple yard sales, The Son got a few books and a new Monster Truck, I found a decorator table for $3 that I'll be using when I finally refinish The Chair I mentioned previously. 

We also found a charming little Amish farm with excellent produce, homemade lemonade and best of all, a cut your own flower garden. I realize I was cheating on "MY" Amish Man but this Amish couple and their kids with their cute little farm were so nice to me that Amish Man is going to have to understand that I need to see other Amish people. I DID buy corn from these people too and I DID go home and cook it up for lunch it was delish!

Here are some pictures of our day. 

MOOooooo! 
The greenhouse, I didn't buy any flowers from them this year since we've done our planting but will definitely check it out next summer, they had some nice stuff. 

The Son enjoys his fresh lemonade. He was DYING of thirst so he had to drink it right then because he was SO HOT and he was DYING! (me = rolling eyes) At least he was happy after he tasted that yummy lemonade. 

The Husband enjoyed it too! 

The Son looks out over the cutting garden, if you look closely, you can see me cutting in the background. I was loving it! 

The Husband took this shot of a sunflower, I don't think he realized he chopped off the top petals but since we'll be going back again, we can get another shot since this one has potential to be great! Good job Honey!

The Husband in the cutting garden, yes, he's on his cellphone...on a Saturday...with someone at work...he's a very important, busy, busy man you know. Just kidding, honestly, that was the only time he dealt with work all day and I just thought it was funny that he was in the middle of an Amish garden talking to colleagues. 

The Son with his idea of  "smile pretty for Momma to take a picture" Little Stinker. 

Ok, that one's better!

And last but not least, the gorgeous bunch of flowers we got for $5! They still look just this beautiful today, FIVE days later! I will be going back again this weekend for sure! I should add that the white daisies are from MY garden at home. I thought the bunch needed a "pop" of white so I added them. 

Have a great day everyone! 

The Amish

I've lived in Pennsylvania all my life. I like it here, it's a great state. Pennsylvania is one of the states that is known for having a large Amish population. (Well, large as far as the Amish go) I haven't had a lot of contact with the Amish until moving here to Southern Chester County. There are some Amish who do business in Philadelphia's famous Reading Terminal Market but I never shopped there all that much (unlike my friend Shakirra who really needs to update her blog) Now we're not that far from Lancaster, which is where the majority of Pennsylvania's Amish live. They do a lot of business here, in fact our home was built by many Amish guys. I figure you can't get much better construction than that, huh? 

Those of you who read my blog regularly know about my obsession with fresh corn and the Amish Man who sells it to me. As I was typing yesterday's post, I decided I should post some links regarding the Amish because we could all learn a little bit more, don't 'cha think? 

Here's a good article about the Amish and photographs. I always heard that they didn't like their pictures taken because it would "steal their soul" or that it was a "graven image". It sounds a little bit deeper than just that. I will say that I know what it feels like to have tourists gawk at you on a regular basis having lived on a fairly popular street for eleven years. I know The Son has to be in numerous Japanese photo albums, the Japanese tourists LOVED to take his picture. (yes, there is a reason for that sterotype...at least in my experience) 

Here's the Wikipedia article regarding the Amish. Yes, I know it's Wikipedia  which isn't always reliable, but I read it and it seems pretty accurate. It's not like I'm asking you to do a report and cite your sources now people. 

Here's an NPR report (love me some NPR!) about rumspringa which translates to "running around" and is a time in an Amish teen's life when they get to experiment with the "English" way of life, I guess to really decide that the Amish life is for them. If you like this short article, you might just want to google rumspringa. There's a lot of interesting info on the 'net about it. 

Lastly, an article about the Lancaster County, PA Amish. There's some good links here too! 

There now, don't you feel so much more educated today? You learn something new every day!