We left St. Louis around 7 AM, arriving in Arthur, IL several hours later. Our first stop was the quilt festival which were the earlier posts. Outside the quilt festival showed the horse and buggies indicating Amish were at the festival. On our way in, we'd seen several Amish farms---the clothes on the line, the propane tanks, the neat farm houses, no electric lines or satellite dishes were all indicators.
After the quilt show we visited two homes---one for dinner served family style at long bench tables. Outside that farm house were purple martin houses. Then, we visited another home where Mary Ann showed us how she lived without electricity. The steps below were from a previous home which had burned down, but was now used to get out of the carriages. Her coffee pot looked similar to mine but she places it on a gas burner. Her overhead lights are like lantern mantles.
Mary Ann, a widow, likes to make quilts for her grandchildren in her free time. One grandson had requested tractors!
Then, we went shopping at a quilt shop, a tool store which was lit with giant skylights. Of course, we had to visit some furniture stores and Beachy's grocery store with baked goods, home-made jellies and lots of bulk foods, like bulk jello!
And, outside was the horse and carriage which we saw dozens of during our day in Arthur, IL. The best part was meeting the Amish, talking with them and understanding that they aren't that different from us. They have sickness, tragedy, good times, celebrations just as we do.
No comments:
Post a Comment