Last week we bought a book. Amish Directory 2023. Today, we used 3 pages of that book to guide us on this week's adventure.
The Amish separated from the Mennonite faith in the late 1600's according to the Canadian Mennonite Magazine. They do not use covered buggies and their buggies have steel wheels. We saw a lot of steel wheel tracks on the backroads northeast of Stirling today.
The directory only gives the names and addresses of the 39 Amish families who live in this part of the province. No need for phone numbers or email contact info because they do not use phones or the internet. Originally from the US, via Lucknow, ON, this group settled north of Belleville beginning in 2001.
Our plan was to drive by each of the addresses in the book and see what we could see. Below is the Swartzentruber's vegetable stand at 169 Cooke Road. That white box in the centre of the picture had 3 pounds of home-made butter in it. When we left, it only had one lb. inside.
The Swartzentruber have one of many sawmills in the area. Note the very old equipment. They seem to have a way of keeping equipment running for a long time.
Yum.
This is the spot in this post where you will be introduced to our sponsor. Light blue doors. Pay attention. You WILL see more of them.
Robert & Fannie Miller build beautiful lawn chairs nearby.
There are 3 schools in the neighbourhood. When you travel by horse and buggy, schools need to be close to your home. Oh, and notice the outhouses? And, our sponsor?
A few families sold shelters, garden sheds and one made tiny homes. I love the proportions that these craftsmen use.
This is not the best farmland around. In many areas there are plenty of rocks.
But, these farmers make the best of what they have and seem to be thriving.
Horses on every farm.
And, a triple message from our sponsor.
Three of the farms have Country Stores on site. We'd been in one last week, and went into another today. One half was a small hardware store and the other half had groceries. Nothing fancy. Your one choice for dry cereal is puffed wheat. Take it or leave it.
A few families had built new homes on their farms.
I think that our sponsor has been influencing other aspects of life in this community. There are two clotheslines. Note the back one's laundry is all blue.
I was going to edit this photo to take out the hydro line. But, then I realized that it does not go to the farm. It bypasses it. When we were in the store with the big bags of puffed wheat, Ted alerted us to the fact that there is no power in that store. The light came through the windows. No light fixtures, no candles, no lanterns.
Heading back home, we passed an Amish teenage girl walking along the edge of the gravel road in her bare feet. It was a beautiful day for a walk and it was a beautiful day for an adventure.
“When one door of happiness closes,
another opens;
but often we look so long at the closed door
that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
Helen Keller
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