Wordless Wednesday - Amish Auction

Passed by an auction on the way home from Lancaster last w/e, and decided to have a look-see.

We saw buggies.
And wagons.
And throngs of black jackets and straw hats.
And mud.
Lots of mud.
And cuteness so sticky sweet it gave me a cavity right there on the spot.

Thursday - A Guest Post!

A fellow blogger recently contacted me and asked if I had any guest-posting opportunities available.

Since I had never had a guest post on before, my only thought was, hey, if it'll relieve the pressure of having to come up with another scintillating post about colt castrations or egg-bound hens or my plans for managing another stay-at-home-Mom-of-six-kids-scheduling-week-from-hell, well then sure. Sounds like a plan to me.

What do you write about, says I?

Many things, as it turns out. Like:

New York City Real Estate
Doesn't quite apply to this l'il ol' country-bumpkin blog of mine.

Hamptons Rentals
Ditto.

home improvement and the latest architecture
All fascinating topics, to be sure, but in a Venn diagram with my blog? Zero overlap.

design, fashion and travel
Design? Fashion?
As we speak, I am wearing oversized grey sweatpants, a men's quilt-lining flannel shirt b/c I'm chilly and it's cozy, and a plain black t-shirt, adorned only with some stray dog and cat hairs, and a few splashes of the smoothies I made the kids this morning. And slippers. Brown.

But travel, hmmmmm.
Not that I travel much, but you know sometimes we have friends or family visit from out of town and when I start to notice that slightly crazed, twitchy look about their eyes and a little spittle around the corners of their mouths after being held prisoner in this House of Crazy, I think to myself it would be nice if I could point them in the direction of a daytrip.

THAT'S IT!

So I asked ever-gracious Megan if she couldn't perhaps write up a little travel piece for the Lancaster area.

And she did.....




Megan Gates is an active blogger who provides written work to the blogosphere pertaining to New York City Real Estate, Hamptons Rentals, home improvement and the latest architecture, design, fashion and travel. Follow her on twitter @MEGatesDesign.


A Guide to Family Adventures in Lancaster, Pennsylvania


Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is a perfect day-trip destination for folks living on the east coast. You may be tempted to stay overnight in one of the many motels in the area to continue exploring the attractions of the Amish countryside.

The Hands-on House in Lancaster, Pa is filled educational and interactive exhibits for young children. They can try face painting, fishing, growing corn and sorting mail in the museum's Post Office. There's an outdoor play area called Mason's Outdoor Adventure Garden that features a sand tunnel, board walks, hiding nooks and sport challenges. This Museum encourages adults and their children to play with the exhibits which are constantly being updated.

Wander through the Butterfly House where over 300 representatives of 25 butterfly species feed on flowers at Lancaster County's Hershey Gardens. Highlights of this 23 acre botanical garden include the rose garden, children's garden and arboretum. The garden was the inspiration of Milton Hershey, who, when asked to build a rosarium in Washington, D.C., decided to locate it instead in Hershey in 1937.

Older kids and their parents will get a kick out of High Sports in Lititz, Pennsylvania. This fun park features go-karts, batting cages, a driving range and miniature golf. There are over 30 waterfalls and plenty of things to see and do in this hilltop park overlooking the Amish countryside.

Take your amateur spelunkers and cavern explorers to Indian Echo Caverns where they'll marvel the intricate and lovely limestone caverns and underground lakes, and pan for gems in Gem Junction. This system of caverns in Hummelstown, PA was first opened to the public in 1929. There's a historical exhibit on the Susquehannock Indians who inhabited the area until the 1670s and the French fur trappers who discovered many caverns in their travels along the local rivers and streams.

Plan to spend several fun and education-filled hours at the Lancaster Science Factory, an interactive museum filled with hands-on engineering, technology and mathematics experiments that show just how much fun the physical sciences can be. There are over 50 exhibits that introduce the principles of electricity, magnetism, acoustics, fluid dynamics and structural engineering.

If you would like to learn more about the history and the lifestyle of the Amish , visiting Lancaster, PA is the perfect place to do this. Take a horse and buggy tour around the Amish country, and then have a family filled day trying all of the home-made treats, and making fun crafts

Whether you're there for the day or a week, you'll enjoy exploring the many attractions and unspoiled countryside that makes Lancaster the perfect get-away destination for many east coast residents.







Thanks, Megan, well-done!

Please take a minute to check her out by following the links in her bio.

But first? First just take a second to click this here l'il brown button to vote for me on TMB. Thank you!

Farm Friday

OK, it's a stretch to file this post under Farm Friday, but I do mention the Amish, which are about as farming a people as you can hope to find. So bear with me.


Sometimes my internet connection is lightning fast. Blinding. Numbs the senses to think about it.

Other times it's .... not.

And sometimes that slower pace makes me insane. Times when I'm frazzled and frayed and on my last nerve, I want to throw my laptop into the pond. But then I would need to wade in after it and fetch it from the slime because I do love it so. And I don't want to wade into my pond. It's icky and there are things in it that would have sung to the soul of my 8 year old overall-wearing self that no longer hold the same charm for me.

But other times, times when I am at peace with the world and my children are sleeping or far away from me, that I can regard sketchy internet with a zen calm.

Times like that, I liken the slow pace to getting stuck driving behind an Amish buggy on a curvy twisty road. You can't pass. All you can do is slow down and wait. Wait for the road to straighten out enough that the passing visibilty improves, or for them to turn off the road. With any luck, there will be a couple kids peering out the back, wearing their royal blue or vibrant purple shirts, their bonnets and straw hats. They will wave and look ridiculously adorable. You will smile. You will wave back. You will very nearly wet yourself from being so calm and relaxed and your face resembles that of a dental patient on a healthy dose of nitrous.

Of course, this affect can only be achieved if you are

a) driving without children
b) trying to get nowhere at any particular time, or
3) on a healthy dose of nitrous.

I'm afraid I have to confess here and now, however, that as much of an Amishphile as I am, I am not always in possession of such a Zen state when trapped behind a buggy (or when trapped behind a slow laptop). Cute kids and a clip-cloppin' horse can only soothe my nerves so much if I'm particularly harried.

Kind of like alcohol. Remember when you were studying for your learner's permit and you had to memorize the alcohol equivalents? It was like 1 case of beer = 1 bottle of wine = 1 flask of whiskey. Or something. Maybe it was can of beer, glass of wine, shot of whiskey. I don't remember, but I've been drinking and I don't remember things so good.

Kidding.

Or am I?

Anyway, there should be a stress-soothing guide for when we're feeling at our wit's end. Like 1 sleeping puppy = 1 hour of speedy internet service = 1 buggy full of Amish kids.

Or I don't know. Maybe it would be easier to hole up in a dark corner with that bottle of wine....




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Thank you for following. It's more like getting trapped behind an Amish buggy. Go to the sidebar, find the followers, follow the prompts to add yourself to the list. Just whatever you do, don't throw your computer into any body of water. Trust me.




image courtesy: fineartamerica.com

Wordless Wednesday

I guess our Amish community is growing. This is the new school they just built down the road.

Get this: his and hers outhouses. We're just marching right on into the future, aren't we?
























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