Sunday, May 15, 2011

Spending the day with the Amish






A good friend of mine invited me to spend the day with her at a sale in Holmes County (Ohio). The sale was being held at a school for multi-handicap children in this Amish county. She had worked at this school many years ago. They have this sale once a year and it is quite big. I am sure that there were 400 Amish there and maybe more. There were very few Non-Amish. They had yummy food, activities for the children and an auction.

The first picture I snapped quickly. There was another area that there were many horse and buggies. I snapped the next picture as I steped out of the car also very quickly. Yes, it is blurry but I think you can still see the little children having fun with the steering wheels on the barrel ride. Okay, now in case you don't know this, the Amish do not like their picture taken. I knew this and my friend reminded me not to take any more pictures. She knew that was going to kill me and it did. Such cute little families. I wanted to sueeze those little babies. Their life is so simple but their work is so hard. They all know each other. Lots of Millers and Yoders. There were several children there that had Down syndrome and several others with disabilities.
After all this sale was for them. They wanted to raise money for a school bus that had a wheelchair lift.

To raise money they have an auction every year at this sale. They auctioned a couple of ponies, some farm equipment, beautiful handmade furnitures, some of this and that, organic plants for the garden, flowers and the biggie QUILTS. We took a seat for the quilts. The room was huge, hot and full of people. We found front row seats...........no wonder they were empty.........right next to the auctioneer and his workers.
A bit loud. There must have been 200 quilts. Some wall hangings and some table runners were added to the bunch. We kept track of what the quilts went for. My friend, who is a quilter, thought that the quilts went really really low. Mostly $200 to $400. One went for $800. We wondered if someone was buying some of the quilts to resale. The problem with sitting in the front, you couldn't see who was bidding. The families all sat there through the auction even if they weren't bidding. I am guessing to see what their hard work meant to those bidding. Beautiful works of art. They took great care displaying the quilts when they were being bidded on. I saw one person take a picture of one of the quilts on stage. That is the only picture I saw taken the whole day.

Anyhow my friend bought some organic lettuce.....I told her to tell her husband that she brought salad home for dinner, hah. I bought a tiny table runner. We did bid on other things. I'm not too experienced with auctions so I was a bit scared to bid alot. If I get to go again next year.....things will be different.

Probably the most fun I had was just being with my friend. Lots of time to talk about anything we wanted to. You know how she became my friend. She was my college instructor in Early Childhood. We are the same age and our husbands get along really well.

So there you have it, the story of my day with the Amish. Oh I wish I could share more pictures with you but I am respectful.

Hope you all had a wonderful week-end and I hope that our blogs are all back up and running.




16 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an interesting day you had sweet Debby. The Amish make beautiful quilts and I would love to have one but they are a bit out over my budget.

I have a friend in IN who sends me apple butter and homemade noodles from Amish country and they are sooooooooo yummy. I love their noodles.

Thanks, for sharing your day with us. Hugs

genie said...

It was so good hearing form you. We have till the 12th of June...a long time. The kids are so restless and I am full everyday. Sol’s start on Tuesday and I dread it. Law says NO pencils, paper, books, magazines, in the room with students with a listener...that is one on one. They did not mention embroidery or quilting in the edict so do I dare????That is the question. I dread sitting all day watching one kid after another take the tests forever 2 weeks. My back will be dead met. Love you Amish day. It sounds like such fun. Would have had fun with you all. Take care and I will try to keep in touch better. Am trying to do more with my Buttons blog after months of being away. XOXOXO Genie

Unknown said...

How fun! I'd love to visit an Amish community!!

HaPpY pInK sAtUrDaY!
Sarah

The Polka Dot Closet said...

That sounds so fun and interesting, what an adventure, hope your friends husband liked his dinner LOL! thank you for entering my giveaway, good luck!

Carol

Tara said...

Boy those horses are well trained and patient to stand there all day hooked in harness attached to the buggies like that! It sounds like you had a charming outing with your friend. I have always been fascinated with the Amish but know I would not have the wherewithal to live such a life.
Thanks for coming by to say hello and enter my giveaway. Good luck in the drawing and have a terrific week!

Sue said...

Glad you had such a good time on your visit with your gal pal, Debby. I hope you will be able to come down to visit this area one day soon. You need to meet some of the southwest Ohio girls! :-) hugs, Sue

Nan said...

What a great trip you had. I know what you mean about taking the photos. The Russians here are the same way. I would love to take their photos but it's just not polite you know. The women wear the most colorful long dresses it's a shame I can't catch some of them on digital. I sometimes try and sneak a shot in.
I have made myself several Amish quilt designs. I love them as they are so striking in color combinations and I usually have black as the background color. They are my favorites over all.

Donna said...

Sounds like so much fun. I love the photos you were able to take. :o)

I love their quilts! What a great way to spend a day..with friends. (Hubby's get along? What a plus!--though really..most guys do. Ha!)

xo
Donna

Anonymous said...

Hi Debby!
I am your newest follower!
I have always been enthralled by how the Amish do everything by hand! thanks for sharing your day!

come by for a coffee if you've the time!

ciao bella!


CREATIVE CARMELINA

quiltjude said...

Wow sounds like a great day, and they are such clever people, we of course living out in Australia can only see how they live via the web or movies, would be fun to spend a day in their beautiful surrounds. :)

Kimberly said...

Looks like a fun day!

Emma Burgess said...

Sounds like you had a lovely day. I didn't know the Amish didn't like their photos being taken. i imagine the quilts were gorgeous! Have a lovely week. Emma.

Julie Harward said...

What a fun day...I have been in that country among these people, they are fasinating! :D

Grandma Yellow Hair said...

Oh Debby I can just see you wanting to take more pictures. lol
I have heard they do not like their pictures taken and I can understand that too.
Would love to go that part of the country because I know it is beautiful. Wish I could of been at the auction too because I know you saw some beautiful pieces.
Thanks honey for the birthday wishes for me and wishing Kaci good luck on her contest.
I hope she wins too
Love ya
Maggie

Suzanne said...

Oh gosh, how fun! I love visiting Amish country. My friend grew up with them and had an amish family rent land from them to live. She has the most precious stories to tell about family time by the fire, songs...and she has amazing quilts and recipes. LUCKY:)
I also love your antique finds...way to go.
I'll be in Columbus this summer. Do you know of anything around that area similar?
Hugs,
Suzanne

Lisa Macomber said...

your story brought back some memories for me. When I was a child we lived in Ohio for a few years in a small small town nobody has ever heard of I am sure. But we would drive over to Wooster and attend the auctions right smack in the middle of amish country. I was to young to appreciate that and now how I wish I could go back and experience that again.