Amish Work Night

August 2, 2008

Our road was quite busy tonight with a parade of Amish buggies.

Since our nearest neighbors to the north and the south are Amish, a buggy sighting is nothing unusual. But to see this many in one evening, told us that one of the neighbors was having a work night for the young people.

A work night is a big social event in the community. The young people all gather at one of the homes. Then the girls help the lady of the house with whatever job she has (quilting, canning, snapping green beans) while the young men help the man of the house with something (digging fence posts, laying fence, a building project).

Then after they’ve worked awhile, they gather together and play volleyball and enjoy refreshments provided by the host family.

It is pretty late when they return home. We will often hear the buggies on the gravel as we lay in bed. But we don’t mind. It’s refreshing to know that these youth had an evening of service and good clean fun.

And we also wonder if there’s any courtin’ being done down there in the moonlight…

By Country Gal | Posted in Community | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Rural Community

July 30, 2008

Rural America.

To some it may seem isolated and lonely. The midwife who delivered my Angel Girl had to drive several miles on gravel and turn several times to find us.

Her comment was, “This may not be the end of the world, but I think I can see it from here!”

But what those people don’t see is the real community that exists in a rural area.

For example, I ran errands yesterday with my sister-in-law from Chicago.

We stopped at the REC to pay our bill and I was greeted by name. The same thing happened at the bank a few minutes later.

A stop at Dollar General included a chat with the check-out gal and our visit to local thrift store not only yielded us some great buys, but also visits with 2 neighbors.

Our last stop of the trip was the grocery store where not only did the check-out gal know me, she punched my card for my sister-in-law’s purchases (she figured we were related) and then offered to carry out our bags. That’s small town service at its best.

My sister-in-law was impressed.

I don’t blame her. It impressed us, too. We were so impressed that we moved here.

Now we’re planting our roots deep and doing all we can to keep the feeling of community alive.

What a heritage!

By Country Gal | Posted in Community | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

County Wide Garage Sales

June 23, 2008

It was a big weekend here at the farm, County wide garage sales!

It took three days, but we covered almost all of the over 40 sales. We are exhausted, but triumphant with our spoils!

Some of the best buys include:

  • a pair of insulated coveralls for my hubby for $5. They were in great condition and would have cost about $50 new.
  • A pair of black leather pants to sell on eBay for $.50.
  • A similar black leather jacket to sell on eBay for $1.
  • A very nice Columbia Wool coat to sell on eBay for $1.
  • A cordless phone with answering machine for $1 (We never buy these new, we can find them so cheap at garage sales, we pick them up and when the battery runs dead, we throw them away and pull out a spare.)
  • A nice bag full of clothes for the kids that the guy gave us for a dollar just to get rid of it in the last few minutes of the sale! (I wondered later if I should have offered him $5 for all the clothes he had left, gleaned what we could use and tried to sell the rest on eBay, but I didn’t think of it in time.)

Overall it was not as good as previous years, lots of baby and toddler clothes and toys. But we found enough things for our family and for resell that we feel like it was a successful venture.

And…since I was alone with my husband we can officially qualify it as a date!

By Country Gal | Posted in Community, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , , | Comment (1)

Auction Etiquette & Tips

June 1, 2008

I just spent the day at a neighbor’s farm auction and came home with a van load of bargains.

We’ve really enjoy auctions! (Actually one of our very first dates was at an auction. I encouraged my husband -only then we were just dating- to purchase a picnic table that I helped him to restore. We are still using it seventeen plus years later!)

Over the years we have learned the hard way how to make sure that we get a good deal. Here’s a few hints:

  • If possible, know retail price on an item before bidding. You don’t want to spend $65 for a used microwave when you can pick up a new one for $50.
  • Get there early so you can look over the merchandise carefully. Check it over well. We once bought a large wheeled water tank and even made a special trip to pull it home, only to discover when we used it the first time that the bottom had rusted through. Not good.
  • Check out the boxes well before bidding and know which ones you are interested in. Try to go all the way to the bottom of the box, you never know what you might find!
  • Pay attention to what’s going on! I once bought a rotting wooden chest because I wasn’t following closely enough and thought I was bidding on something else.
  • It’s better to not jump in on the bid right away. If the auctioneer doesn’t get an opening bid, they will lower it.
  • Know your limits and stick to them. It’s easy to get carried away with the excitement and overbid.
  • Come prepared to bring your items home. We’ve had to pass up some sweet deals because we didn’t have a way to get them home. Smart auction attenders bring their pick-up and/or trailers with them or at least have their cars cleaned out and ready.
  • Buy what you need or have a place for. if you don’t need something, it doesn’t matter how cheap it is, you are wasting your money to buy it. (Unless of course, you can resell it on eBay…)
  • Carry food or water (if allowed) with you because the concessions at auctions are quite over-priced.
  • Stick around for the bargain boxes! As the auction winds down and the crowd thins, many auctioneers will pile boxes together for one bid. Pick out the items you need or want and donate or throw away the rest.  (I’ve gotten some great kitchen things this way! The pots and pans I don’t want go out to the sand box and the playhouse for the kids to use.)
  • Have fun! There’s something exciting about an auction that gets in your blood!
By Country Gal | Posted in Community | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Lunching a Farm Auction

June 1, 2008

Homemade apple pieWe just spent the entire day helping our 4H Club lunch a neighbor’s farm auction. We’ve discovered that although it’s a lot of work, it does bring in some good money for the club, and it’s lots of fun!

Lunching an auction means we carried in tables, prepared pork sandwiches, bought chips, plates, pop and water and made a whole lotta desserts. We had 2 entire tables full of cakes, brownies, cookies, and several kinds of homemade pies.

Then we spent the rest of the day selling it all. Since we were the only food or drinks on the farm, we had a monopoly on sales and did quite well. (Especially with pop and bottled water as the afternoon heated up!)

This was our third auction to lunch and I think we finally have the food figured out. The first auction we ran out of food quite early. The second one we had way too much, but this one turned out really well. Although you never really know how many to expect and how hungry or thirsty they’ll be!

A farm auction is quite a social event and brings out all the neighbors. I saw lots of denim and cowboy boots today with a nice mix of hats, both cowboy and seed corn. There were Grandpas with their grandchildren, young newly-married Amish couples, friends, neighbors and the occasional antique dealer.

Some were there looking for a deal, others were just there to socialize. But everybody needed to be fed!

It was a fun day, but a tiring one. I’m ready for a cool shower, a large glass of water and a some time on the couch. I probably won’t look at another pork sandwich for a long time!

By Country Gal | Posted in 4H, Community | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)