Stuff from "The Budget" Amish/Menno newspaper

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Amish Heart

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Just received my weekly copy today. There's always interesting announcements and catalogs to order. Some have websites, friends do them for the Amish. But if they don't, they send out catalogs. If you can be in Shipshewana on July 27, and 28th it looks like a really good time. It's at the Mervin Yoder farm 6450 W 275N. (260)768-4986. Friday evening is an old fashion ball game and pony pull. All day Saturday are demonstrations of threshing, hayloading, grain reaping. He says You will see things you have never seen before in your life. Lunch served by Valley Line Amish School. Other ads: Heat Queen Furnace (house furnace that burns coal and wood). in Ohio. Call for catalog: (330)695-2021. Mescan Windmill in Ohio sell pond aeration windmills. They have a website www.PondAeration.com. Cordless Battery Powered Fans are for sale in Pennsylvania. My cousin has a really big one in her kitchen and it is a lifesaver. They are Georgetown Sales at (610)593-5193 to ask for a catalog. For push mowers (big ones, too) and push cultivators, call Mascot Sharpening and Sales for a brochure. They are in Pennsylvania at (717)656-6486. Riehl Steel in Pennsylvania sells a Gas Powered board edger. Call (570)713-0665 for a brochure. Mast Sewing Machine in Ohio have Janome treadles and custom cabinets. Call (330)893-1026 for a brochure. Yoder Blacksmith supplies is in Ohio. Write them for a free catalog: 8900 Township Road 652 Fredericksburg, Ohio 44627.
If you call places and ask for a catalog/brochure, most likely they have a "phone shack" with an answering machine. So leave a message with what you want.
 
I love that store. But boy are they pricey. But they have cool stuff. Something from there is always on my Christmas wish list.
Another good one for mail order kitchen and household stuff is Rolling Acres Housewares. Write by snail mail for a catalog: 31640 State Road 643 Fresno, OH 43824
 
Very cool. Not many communities use scooters. One of these days I'd like to attend Horse Progress Days. It's usually the first part of July, and four different large communities take turns hosting it. There's a number of stores I like to shop at when we're at our farm. Some are menno run, some Amish. Son had me pick up a hat for him last trip. I'm an avid embroiderer, so I'm always looking for patterns. One of my favorites, though (and everyone elses) is a Menno run thrift store. They always have the coolest stuff. I've been adding to my oil lamp collection, for under $5 from that store. There's also a bulk food store in the nearby town that's fun to shop at, and they carry the most "hand operated" kitchen supplies I've seen. We usually pile in a few of my non driving cousins into our truck, shop our route while husband naps in the truck. With the promise of an ice cream cone for a break.
 
Besides, it's so much fun going down hill on an Amish scooter! :D

Years ago, I bought a 200 ac farm and wanted to spend my life living off grid while spending as little money as possible. When I did spend, it was for items that were useful and would last a lifetime. Since I lived in the middle of several Amish communities, sort of, I had access to buying directly from someone's home, barn, etc.

I have since sold my farm, but I still have many of my Amish made items that I can't even list them all!

The Amish community east of me has greenhouses and they sell vegetables. Their local WM sometimes has in-store advertised Amish grown cantaloupe and they're also at the farmers markets. And, they have an Amish doctor that the locals have made famous. I heard he has since retired and now his son is the famous doctor. There's about 1,600 people in that community and has ties in Ohio.
The Amish community north of me cuts trees for lumber and has a sawmill probably because their terrain is not very good farmland. They also have a large store and a damage goods store. If one drives north on the interstate on a Saturday, they'd find the Amish ladies selling canned goods, pies, quilts, and more...,usually at every gas station exit until the next big city.
The Amish community west of me has a taxidermist and they sell Amish made furniture. If you travel directly west on the back-roads and see horse exhaust, you know the Amish buggies have been on the move. You'll also see Amish people on their bicycles, scooters, skates, even in the heat of the day!
The Amish community closest to me has the market (spices, baked goods, cow milk, butter, pickles, more..., the variety store, and the yearly farm auctions. One year at the farm auction, there were so many chickens no one could hear the auctioneer. That did change the next year. Sometimes, I'll see buggies going to a thrift store near me and see the young couples interested in second hand wood windows. I'm guessing they're newly married and building a home.

There's also Amish communities beyond these communities. Maybe because between 1991 and 2010 the Ky Amish grew by 226%. And I bet there's a lot more business going on within these communities than I even know about :). We also have Mennonites too. I think the other day I was talking with a 'Mennonite lady' (clothing) at Subway who had a terrible cough, she knew exactly why, and explained to me her condition. I really appreciated her for the conversation and I learn something new too.
 
It sounds like a nice community you lived in, Tiffanysgallery! My Yoder community is small. Lots of farming (wheat, grains, soybean, corn, sunflower). We have a Menno run thrift store, a very old hardware store, a discount (dented, discontinued and bulk) grocery, and a few eating spots. A physicians assistant is running a small office in town now, with annual pricing for families. That saves getting a driver and going all the way to the closest big town, about 15 miles. There's a number of dairy farms, cabinet and furniture sellers, and bridle makers. We've got a fowl sale (auction) the last Friday of each month that is really fun to go to, and people come from all around for it. Small variety stores are spread out and are on the farms, as well as raw milk (it's just for dogs, you know) and egg sales. The "mud sales" or farm sales in the spring are fun to go to, too.
 
The Amish and Mennonite people in the area I live in are mostly good people and I enjoy seeing them, buying from them, spending a little time with them, and having them for neighbors.

I grew up in Lancaster County, PA but moved away a little less than 20 years ago. Finally, after all these years, we've settled in a place where they have also found to be a good place to call home (north-central TN).

I'm sure there are good and bad among any group, Amish, Mennonite, or any other group. People are people. But I do appreciate my neighbors, a few of which don't really claim any religion at all. Whether English or otherwise, most of us around here have a really good attitude of looking out for each other and it's pretty common for a conversation to end with, "...and if you need anything let us know." I think most of them mean it.

It's almost a little humorous... we've made friends with an Amish family that has a very respectable produce business going. They have a few dozen chickens that are out on pasture and do sell some eggs, not a lot, but a few. They've come to know that when I come to see them, I'll often take whatever eggs they have for sale, from 1 doz up to about 6 dozen, usually somewhere in between. Two days ago, we showed up with the grandkids and I wasn't paying a lot of attention. My wife told me that while I wasn't paying attention, the Amish girls had turned down the person ahead of us who wanted to buy the last 2 dozen eggs and told them the eggs were already sold. I hadn't realized they were saving them for me. (I'll definitely thank them when I see them again. I wouldn't have been hurt if they hadn't. But I do like their eggs. And I like them, whether they save me eggs or not. I'm even learning all of their names though there are a few I haven't mastered yet. LOL! There are a lot of 'em. Very dear people...)
 
I also do my best to stay away from bad. I'm also prepared if bad comes knocking on my door. I do so respect the Amish though I don't agree with them on the self defense issue.
 
It's the "at least till those who don't come after them" I worry about. I worry about playing sheepdog with my family. I'd hope someone would at least shoot the bad guys in the legs or something, but I really doubt it. Their thoughts are to stay as far away from bad as possible.


Hopefully they will have the Left Hand of the Devil visiting if it gets real bad. They don't believe in turning the other cheek, they are eye for an eye type. :thumbs:

 
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