Amish Barns & Changing Times

This past weekend

hubby and I

took a little trip to

Amish country to have supper

at the 

 Carriage Crossing Restaurant

in Yoder Kansas. 

It's not far...only about

20 miles away

and it's a pretty drive with 

a few rolling hills.

Most trips we are 

rewarded by seeing Amish 

buggies traveling down the road

but on this day sadly there were none.

We thought we'd do a bit of shopping

in the little town before we ate but

by the time we got there

the stores were closing.

It was 4:30 on a Saturday!

It's a sleepy little town

but the restaurant stays open

until 9pm.

 

The only two buggies we saw were

tied up to hitching posts but 

there were a lot of tractors in town

with trailers attached

and a large group of Amish enjoying

a meal under the roof behind

the post office.

 

See the tractor with the home made trailer

behind it in the picture above? 

 The Amish seem to be using this mode

of transportation more and more in this area.

Inside you will find chairs benches or

automobile seats that can be removed.

We even saw a child's car seat

in the back of a horse trailer pulled by 

a tractor. 

This day we saw a tractor

with no trailer

carrying an Amish family consisting of

mom dad and at least 4 children

driving down the road.

They were all hanging on to something

and to each other.

I felt a little sad to see them

traveling this way instead of in their

buggy but it was about 94 that day

so maybe it was their way of 

saving the horse from the heat. 

We enjoyed our supper and 

headed home.

 

Along they way we pass a tiny

Amish church and graveyard.

I was told by a sweet Amish lady

one day that this was a 

church that was holding to the old

ways. They were not allowing

rubber tires on their tractors or

any farm wagons...they must be

metal. She said the congregation

was declining. 

There is a larger Amish church

closer to town and I suppose

this is where those that 

want to 'modernize'

attend.

 

The old church

I realize that certain things make

life easier for all of us including

the Amish...

but to me it would be a sad day

if we no longer saw

these sweet people traveling the

roads with their beautiful 

horse and buggies.

It's nice to know that there are

those out there who still

live that simple old fashioned

way of life.

I'm linking to 

Barn Charm

Country Drive

Last Sunday Hubby and I had to 

make a delivery to a friends farm.

I grabbed my camera and off we went!

It was a little hazy

but that didn't stop me from

taking a few pictures.

This old windmill is only a couple

of miles from our farm and I love

taking photo's as the seasons 

change.

Below shows the windmill at work

keeping a water trough filled for 

the cattle.

These little cuties were across

the road from the windmill.

Someone was looking for their Momma.

Looks like they're both happy.

This time of year the roads are lined with

beautiful sunflowers...

...sunshine even on a cloudy day.

I'm linking with Amy for

Farm Friend Friday

Farmchicks

Farm Photo Friday

Have a wonderful weekend!

Maura :)

Bloggers Block!

See the stepping stones? They used to be cement gray!

Is it just me?

I'm having Bloggers Block

if you know what I mean.

The past few weeks I've been struggling 

to find things to Blog about.

Spring was late arriving but when it did

we found ourselves scurrying around

 trying to get everything done that 

was put on hold.

That meant everything happened at once 

and we're still trying to catch up!

I still haven't started my spring cleaning

and the fence isn't stained and we still

 have trim on the house to paint.

And weeding...oh my...I don't even want to 

THINK about that!

Maybe this is why I'm having trouble 

with Bloggers Block?

While I was trying to think about something 

to blog about this morning I remembered 

that my friend John from

Going Gently

had asked to see more photo's

of our cottage.

Well John this post is for you.

Ok it's not all about the cottage but

I thought you'd like to see a bit more of

our little farm on the Kansas prairie.

Starting with the photo above

as most of you know this is actually what we call 

the back of the cottage as it faces the back of

our farm. The opposite end faces

the street. Strange I know.

These two photo's are just of the yard

surrounding the cottage. 

Above is the garden shed/chicken coop.

To the right of that is the vegetable and 

herb garden and the strawberry patch.

Above is looking towards the back of the farm.

We put the pool up last weekend but we 

have to get the rust out of the water

before we can use it or my white/silver

hair will turn orange!

The pictures above and below 

are actually the real back of the cottage

as the front of the cottage is on the opposite

side. The two windows on the left

are the bathroom we just renovated.

The double window in the middle

is actually our dining room.

The tiny window next to that is the 

stairway to the partial basement.

Where we would run for cover if a

tornado was heading for us.

The last window on the right is

to our master bedroom.

I just realized I've never shown this side

of the cottage before as it was so 

ugly with blue paint flaking off!

These two photo's show the side of the cottage

that faces the road.

In the bottom picture you can see the actual

front of the cottage with the porch.

The pictures above and below 

are what we see across the

road from our farm.

The picture below shows what people see 

as they drive by our little farm.

The two pictures below are why

I LOVE living in the country.

Looking to the south...see those trees WAY

in the distance more than half a mile away?

That's our closest neighbor to the south.

In the picture above..see those trees

WAY in the distance on the right side

of the road?

That's our nearest neighbor to the north.

I could stand out on the road naked

and no one would see me!!!

Not that I'd do that ;)

I threw in this photo of Shep

our Akbash.

He looks small ...but he's HUGE.

Back down the lane to the cottage.

Cottage is on the left behind the lilac grove.

Our pasture is to the right.

Here's a couple of pictures of the cottage.

We still have to make shutters, stain the fence,

finish painting the trim, make a sidewalk

to the front door (which country people don't use),

plant grass between the fence and the cottage,

and one day down the road...build a screened porch.

Makes me tired just thinking about it!

Above is part of the view from the 

back of our farm.

A creek runs along those trees.

The nearest farm behind us is a mile away

which we can't see.

I love it!

The last photo is the back of the cottage again.

Yes I do hang my clothes out to dry!

So there you have it.

John I hope you enjoyed the photo's

and for those of you who are bored with 

seeing our farm....hopefully I'll be out 

of this Blogging slump soon. 

Amy...I'm thinking of you.

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL day.

Maura :)

Changes In The Air

( You can click on the photo's to enlarge)

I like 'change'.

That is ...depending on what it is.

When it comes to decorating my house I enjoy changing things up a bit. Adding something here or there or

taking something away.

Change can be fun.

However...there are some changes that I don't like.

There is a road to the north of us that I love to travel.

It is a narrow road that has neat little bends in it where there are lots of tree's and a creek and a few windmills

and even some cattle at times.

It's the perfect road to take a walk

and just enjoy the peace and

quiet of the country.

This spring this peaceful little road started to see

some changes. They started bringing in gravel

at the corner of this road and the one we live

on. We started to see large equipment digging

a hole and then a huge pipe was installed.

See that large tank in the background?

They erected that this summer a couple of miles from us.

And it's right down the road from my favorite little corner.

This tank will eventually be filled with water after the large pipes are laid from here to Wichita and from there

to a salt mine that is about 25 miles from us.

This spot seems to be the middle point.

It seems that the salt from this old mine is seeping into the ground water and working it's way to the city. 

They figure that they can fill the tank with clean water and then flush the water down into the water table hoping that the salt will be washed back towards the mine. I hope it works...but in the meantime

the beautiful landscape around us is being changed. 

Forever. 

If you look closely at this picture you can see the

little orange flags in the left corner.

The large pipes will likely be laid somewhere through this intersection and all the way down

this road heading towards

our corner and beyond...to the salt mine.

My sweet little spot may be changed forever.

I noticed the other day when I drove through here after

I took these photo's that the cattle are gone.

I'm very grateful that I took these

when I did. 

This little fellow was trying to get a drink.

He quit when he saw us coming towards him.

But I did manage to get this shot.

See the little milk bubbles?

Watching the changes to this little peice of

country landscape

has made me realize again the importance

of taking photo's.

DO IT!

Don't wait for 'next time'.

You may never get that oportunity again.

I hope you have a WONDERFUL day.

Maura :)