Forces Changing the Amish from within

The word “bizarre” has been used many times in describing the hair-cutting attacks that were allegedly orchestrated by Sam Mullet from Bergholz, Ohio. And for good reason — it is pretty bizarre. From what I’ve heard of Sam Mullet, and the little I’ve seen from videos such as this one, I’d say he is one…

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Blankets with a Cedar Smell

I was cold the other night, so I took our thick comforter out of the cedar chest and got under it. I was soon warm, but what I noticed first was the smell of the cedar transported me back to my childhood. In a flash, I was back in the cold upstairs of my childhood,…

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Announcements: Radio Interview and a Craft Show

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be on the radio. The first time I was interviewed was with Daria Fisk on a local radio station here in the Pioneer Valley soon after we moved here in 2008. Since then I’ve had about half a dozen interviews. I had one…

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Family in Kentucky and Ohio

During our recent trip back from Missouri, David and I got to see quite a bit of interesting landscape. It took us a while to grasp that we were seeing cotton fields when we were driving through southeastern Missouri. I had never seen a cotton field before. Here is a photo taken from the window…

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A Mennonite Wedding and Apple Butter Festival

After Iowa, David and I drove to Missouri to see my Mennonite cousins, aunt, and uncle. We went to the reception of my cousin Martha's youngest daughter, Miriam's wedding. And I thought Amish weddings were big! Here are some pictures taken at the wedding: Three-hundred people attended the wedding    A glimpse of the bride…

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Scenes from Iowa

I did two talks in Iowa — the first one on Coralville, the second in Independence. There was a downpour at the time of the talk in Coralville, which resulted in three inches of water in the parking lot at the library. I imagine more people would have showed up if the weather had been…

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Minnesota Nice

Neither David nor I had ever been to Minnesota, so we were both looking forward to stopping there on our book tour. We drove into Minnesota from LaCrosse, Wisconsin, as I mentioned in my earlier post.   I spoke at two venues in Minnesota, one in Owatonna, the other in Spring Grove. On our way…

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A View from a West Window…

Our household is one of more than 2 million that were without electricity (some still are). When I heard that we were going to get hit with a snowstorm, my first reaction was, “A snowstorm! in October?” I was in complete denial and so I didn’t go grocery shopping. On Saturday night we lost our…

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Chicago and Views from Cashton, Wisconsin

  On our Midwest trip, David and I traveled from Indiana to Wisconsin right through Chicago. There is something about traveling through big cities that make me nervous, but I am fortunate to have David for a traveling partner, for he doesn't mind doing the hard driving. I took some shots from the car window…

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Introducing Vintage Village Christmas Ornaments

David has posted some new designs on his blog — or should I say the same designs, but he is now also offering them as Christmas ornaments. You can click here to visit his blog. And here is a sneak preview: Aren’t they adorable? I feel very honored that for the last 25 years, David’s…

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