#Dining in an Amish home

[uniqueartisanconnoisseur]

Experiences Make the Holiday in Shipshewana!

I find myself drawn back to the Shipshewana area especially at Holiday time! There is so much to see and do in this beautiful, faith field town and countryside. On a recent trip, I had several experiences that you can also enjoy that make this a holiday and winter wonderland destination. As I get older, I find I cherish shared experiences beyond traditional gifts. Shipshewana and LaGrange County…

[prettycynicist]

Amish Outdoor Furniture To Truly Enjoy The Outdoors

When one talks about Amish furniture, one would ordinarily think of indoor furniture, such as for the living room, or the bedroom or items such as dining sets etc. However the Amish craftsmen are more versatile than that; they make heirloom quality furniture that will grace not only the inside of your home but also the outside! And Amish outdoor furniture is more than just Amish rocking chairs and Amish gliders, although those particular items enjoy tremendous popularity. There are many Amish outdoor furniture options that one can choose from, which are this website designed beautifully, handcrafted with meticulousness and care for sturdiness as well as visual appeal.

The outdoors or indeed any rustic setting is greatly enhanced by the variety of Amish outdoor furniture that is available; which will add both charm and beauty to a yard, garden or patio. Whether it is furniture for the porch or patio; for the lawn, or whether it is outdoor structures such as gazebos, swings, sheds etc, you can find just the thing to enhance your experience of the outdoors. Amish rocking chairs and Amish gliders and glider benches are tremendously popular options for a garden or porch.  A rocking chair is something that adds a relaxed look and a old world charm to any area, and one such can be your own particular special place where you can have your special beverage or enjoy a good book or just be at peace with nature. While rocking chairs have rocking motion, gliders have a smoother, back and forth gliding motion which many find more relaxing, especially since the chair cannot tip over the way a rocking chair can. 

A glider could be a single seater or it could be the bench sort where two or more people could easily sit. A porch or a garden swing is again something that just spells rest and relaxation, and can add immeasurably to the attraction of your garden or yard. Not only does it look great it is also a temptation for you and your family to spend more time out of doors. Additionally furniture such as a garden bench or chairs just to hang out or an outdoor table with matching chairs can be excellent options. And these are not just for a child’s tea party or the occasional outdoor al fresco meal, these items can actually be very useful and practical when entertaining.Arbors, bridges and stools could also be other ornamental touches to place around the garden.  

You can also choose to add some amusing and whimsical touches to the outside of the house by getting some interesting bird feeders or squirrel feeders. Or you could choose from among bird house or a butterfly house, depending on what catches your fancy. You can also add some quaint and old fashioned touches such as saddle racks or wishing wells. Having the right kind of furniture can greatly enhance the whole experience of being outdoors and can help one better enjoy one’s own house, making it more of a haven for rest and relaxation than ever before!

[starrybluez]

for the nostalgia asks ✨: homesick, memory lane, mother's kiss, grin, laughing, park benches, juicebox, memory lane no. 2, dandelion ��

Thank you dear! 💙 Finally finished these now!

Homesick: What is "home"?

That's a tough question! "Can't Find My Way Home" is a song that often pops up in my head when I hear the word "home". I think it can be different places. There's my own apartment of course, but nothing compares to my childhood home that I grew up in. It wasn't the most attractive looking place with it's outdated decor, 70's wall paneling and wallpaper and funky mismatched furniture...but that would be where I really consider home. 🏡

Memory Lane: Best Childhood Memory

I have a number of great childhood memories, so I don't know if I could choose a "best". One would be creating and drawing in the dining room and in my room upstairs, both at my old house. Another would be visiting my nana - the smells of her home, eating her delicious baked macaroni and sitting in her cozy living room that always had a dish filled with Andes mints. Then there's some of our vacations, which include going to Amish County, visiting the lake and the beach. ⛱️

Mother's Kiss: Comfort item.

Well, now it would probably be my recliner, which must surely make me sound about 90 years old. 😂 Also hot chocolate or most kinds of chocolate really! 🍫 When I was younger, I think it was the cat pillow at my nana's home. 🐈

Oh, also these:

Grin: What was the last thing that made you smile - really smile?

I don't normally say this about baby pictures, but yes, someone just sent a group text with their baby smiling and it was the cutest thing 💕

Laughing: Best joke?

I'm not sure if I have any jokes of my own. But here's a favorite dad joke (maybe not quite knee-slappers, but I like 'em): "It's inappropriate to make a dad joke if you’re not a dad. It’s a faux-pa." 🤓

(Original source)

And here's a picture of some dads laughing...

And then there's this one:

(Original source)

Park Benches: Favorite hobby to do w/friends?

Visiting cool sculpture gardens - I like that art & nature combo. Another would be doing karaoke, but none of my friends seem to jump at this opportunity 😅

Jukebox or Juicebox? 🤔:

Well, if someone holds the jukebox for me and there's some good old tunes on there, I'd probably be happy to drink it. Juiceboxes might taste better though. 🥸

Memory Lane #2: One thing you hope to accomplish that you'd be proud of in the future?

I've been wanting to publish a book of my photos and blog posts for years (not my Tumblr blog posts lol - different blog!) ✍️

Dandelion: Two colors you like best together?

Blue and purple 🌌

[ohifonlyx33]

Imagine you are about 16, homeschooled. and you and your older sister are friends with another set of homeschooled sisters who have been allowed to have us over for the weekend while their parents are out of town.

Now 3 of the 4 of us sew, and all of us are dorks; therefore, we have period costumes.

We decide to have a campfire, but we also want to have a ball so we cook the fanciest thing we can think of over a campfire—chicken cordon bleu if memory serves, and homemade egg noodles.

And so we don our fanciest costumes to dine: A simple regency dress with gloves and sash, a colonial dress with bonnet, a civil war era hoop skirt with a skirt and "corset" costume made from curtain fabric, and a bright magenta modified Edwardian-inspired thriftstore bridesmaid gown from the 80s with a high lace neck collar, puff sleeves, and a train.

We move the kitchen table to dance after we eat, but all my sister knows how to teach us are some swing dancing moves and a country line dance is the closest we get to a reel.

We then decided to go to Walmart like this. Around midnight. In a small town in a rural area.

We meet some highschool kids who ask if we're Amish. Obviously. And then we play hide and seek in the Walmart with them. 😅

And then we go home and we watch BBC Pride and Prejudice.

Truly one of the best weekends of my life. Legendary.

My friends and I used to do this thing where we'd dress up on a theme and go do something totally normal.

We dressed up as pirates and went bowling.

We dressed as vikings and went to the grocery store. The security guard told us we had to move our longship because it was illegally parked.

We dressed as Romans and went to Blockbuster. The staff chanted, "toga! Toga! Toga!" at us.

We dressed up all steampunk and went to the museum. Tourists kept taking our picture.

[studioahead]

Artist Spotlight: Kate Greenberg

Longtime followers of Studio AHEAD know that a question we love to ask clients is “How do you sit?” because such a seemingly mundane activity has all sorts of cultural and physical assumptions behind it. This is a question furniture designer Kate Greenberg asks herself all the time. What’s thrilling is that she never answers definitively, instead presenting her work as possible non-answers.

For Californians there is the added pleasure in Greenberg’s designs of seeing how she sees California, whose topography unfolds subtly in her pieces. When we visited her studio in Alameda, she was working on something new, possibly a chair or possibly an entirely original way to sit on one.

Studio AHEAD: In your bio you say your furniture “suggests functions that are neither explicit nor expected.” What surprising ways have you seen your work used?

Kate Greenberg: Whenever I can, I design furniture that asks you to engage in a way that’s outside of the norm. I’ve seen the Tubie Chair used the most because it’s been around for the longest. With one armrest, it provides an opportunity for lots of motion over a sitting period while still being comfortable. I love to see how this chair is used at a dining table, because every single person sits on it differently. It’s like a posture opera.

I will never forget one particular delivery and watching the family gravitate toward the table and assimilate with the chairs in different ways. One person relaxed deep into that gap between the seat and backrest, and the other person naturally slouched, facing sideways to the adjacent person, with her arm slung over the backrest. Their kids started to climb on them and settled in by curling up on the cushion. There’s no designated carved seat you’re supposed to slide into, or a backrest or arms that hold you there. Sometimes those things are nice. But for this chair, I wanted a sense of freedom and comfort in one. Western dining chairs are usually meant to sit in one position, facing forward, which feels very Victorian if you think about it, and with the Tubie I really wanted to keep it open ended.

When I talked with reps about selling the chair over the years, they expressed that it would be too tricky to market as a dining chair; it just doesn’t fit the box. As a person trying to run a business, of course this isn’t so great, but you have to remind yourself there is power in taking risks and the right people will do that. When you offer new terms of use that people don’t immediately understand, you see that over time, these can become just as normal. Take the Windsor chair, now such a classic chair. I have many memories of my family’s Amish Windsor dining chairs as a child, listening to the sound they made when I slapped my hands one by one across the spindles, or getting my hand stuck in the gaps. Now this chair is accepted in the canon, but at some point, I’m sure people were confused how a bunch of thin wood cylinders would work well for a backrest.

A bit of a different approach to unexpected function: the lighting works I’ve made—the Radiator and Felled Sky—reference our daily rituals at home, the history of domesticity, and the rift between nature and our constructed world. The lights don’t exist to light up a room or a task, but instead hint to you where the sun is at in the sky, or give a psychological impression of warmth. Those lights people naturally flock to; they want to sit under the Felled Sky pendant and be immersed from below, or crowd around a Radiator light, like the gravitational pull of a bonfire.

Studio AHEAD: Do you feel constrained or freed by the form of the chair you’re sitting in now?

Greenberg: Well, to be honest, right now, I’m standing and writing, which is my preferred set up when working.

I do love chairs though, no surprise, and especially like to sit in chairs that give lots of options, with ways for your limbs to hang over, or ones that make you sit in weird ways. At home we have squatting stools, a wobbly active stool, and also this massive double-sided lounge chair I made. You can do a yoga bridge or sit back-to-back/head-to-head with someone. I cannot stand to sit in an Aeron chair or some sort of armed executive desk chair. It traps you into a position, and they really force ergonomics on you. In no way does that make for a dynamic experience with your body or apply to many bodies. This gets comfort all wrong (for me), invented at a time where they wanted you to shut off your body and give total focus to your company work. In short, I most enjoy sitting on chairs that don’t tell me what to do.

Studio AHEAD: Do you feel constrained or freed by form in general?

Greenberg: Form can be as freeing as you want it to be. I remember with Homan, one of the first long conversations we had, we talked about how our favorite way to hang with people at home was sitting on the carpet. Here we are, two designers talking about how their favorite piece of furniture is actually just the floor. Bad news! But we were recognizing that form can be constraining, and a great challenge to all of us designers is to keep poking holes in that. Researching Verner Panton while I studied furniture at CCA really blew that whole idea open for me. 

In terms of my own design process, form is often the nucleus. It starts off as a sort of positive constraint, and never fails to be a big challenge to come up with a “new” form. That’s where craft-based thinking and working with material come into play, going back-and-forth in mind-centered and hand-centered processes, pushing an understanding of form outside of what you knew when you started. 

Studio AHEAD: Share with us a recent problem that arose while designing and how you solved it.

Greenberg: Perfect timing—I was recently really strung out on designing this piece for our upcoming exhibition together. It’s a fairly large piece that requires a lot of heavy duty and some more traditional technique, because in my mind it absolutely needs to function the way it should. But I also wanted the piece to say something different about the game it’s about, and craft a story that I felt passionate about in lieu of my apathy toward the game itself.

I had to learn a ton about the requirements of this game, and how different materials react to each other in physics, in order to design accordingly. The challenge was how far I could push my concept without sacrificing the utility of the piece. I started to chip away at it by teasing apart the piece’s individual components, seeing how my concept could figure into each element, and then how the elements articulate each other in a comprehensive story. There were many circles of engineering; revisiting concept and lots of writing; design and form and material tests; and then back to engineering and starting over. By going through this cycle multiple times—instead of distilling concepts and then working out the fabrication­—the concept only got deeper and I felt more connected to its purpose, which goes beyond using it as-is.

Ultimately, I think I was able to say something different about a “type” of furniture that doesn’t break norms, due to some very real technical stipulations, and I was very much emboldened by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, who prompted the whole thing.

Studio AHEAD: We love Bobbie and are so happy to have your work shown with hers in our upcoming Same Blue as the Sky exhibition.

In another of our projects, we used your Lean Chair because the shape suggests the waves of the bay or the hills of the city. Is your work tied to place?

Greenberg: Having lived in the Bay for ten years now, and walking all over and thinking about how we got to inhabit the land as we do, the things I make always seem to have this layer embedded in it. My first love was architecture and first design activities were making site plans and elevations. When I moved to Northern California from New York, I became enamored with where the water meets the rock/grass/path/forest/mountains/desert, and how somehow, humans have woven structures around all this. The Lean Chair is about the weightlessness of a gesture, the strength of minimal material with just a swoop. There is something particularly San Francisco about it, the way architecture carves into the rolling land here, cascading in descending steps and giving way to the valley.

In the Lean Chair, the materials are also very tied to place: I sourced the elm from Arborica, from a felled tree that their team had just started to mill, so it was still very green and perfect for intense bending angles. I won’t go down the rabbit hole about how lucky we are to work with the trees in California, their resilience and diversity, but it was special to achieve the gesture I was looking for, out of a material that is itself a testament: strength and longevity are not synonymous to hard lines and rigidity.

Studio AHEAD: Tell us about your studio space.

Greenberg: My studio is split. I design mostly from home, in a corner desk with few distractions. My fabrication workshop is an alcove within a shared space called Alameda Point Studios. It was originally a WWII-era hangar building that housed jet engines, but thirty years ago, Dean Santner—an incredible wood craftsman who’s been at it longer than all of us—and two others decided to turn it into a big woodworking production zone. He is still running the place with JP Frary, another wildly talented wood artist and storyteller. This shared shop is for woodworking primarily, and all the machinery is old and beautiful. I use this space for wood projects as well as mold making, casting, upholstery, material experiments…

It’s definitely a different type of space than I expected to land in, but very diverse as a home to cabinet makers, luthiers and piano repair experts, wood and printing press artists. I am the youngest and only one working in this particular niche of furniture design, and at times that can make me feel on an island, but I really love it and am so grateful to work there. My shopmates have persevered as makers through a decade or two or three, and this gives me a lot of promise that this life is possible. Most importantly, they really make me laugh when I’m having a hard day.

Aside from this communal wood shop, I share a metalworking space in a little upstairs nook, which used to be the control room when they tested military jet engines in the 40s. It’s pretty basic as far as metal fabrication equipment goes, but I’m able to make it all work somehow, with a few welders, a drill, lots of grinders and sanders, and a horizontal mill. I reckon we have the best finishing room in any shared artist space in the Bay Area.

Sadly, one day the city of Alameda will kick us out and start developing it. But for now, it is a second home for many craftspeople.

Studio AHEAD: Describe to us a collection you’d like to do that is also impossible.

Greenberg: I would love to design an entire furniture + lighting collection that is meant to be experienced in water and is made from water and underwater material. I think about and reference water all the time, but I wish it could be a main player in domestic life and in furniture.

Most of us live Earth-grounded lives, and build with material that is sourced from the soil and up. What would happen if you brought water, a vital element that takes up the majority of our planet, to the forefront of our daily experience? Water that meanders through the home, circulates in pools below the dining table, in moats around the interior perimeter. What materials would one have to use that could withstand being submerged every day? Would we look to some regenerative material of the deep sea? How would direct interaction with water every day affect the human experience? Obviously, humans are not meant to live in water day in and day out, and there’s all sorts of health, logistic, and sustainability concerns here, and this would never work. But it’s an interesting and weird future to think about, in a world with a rising sea level and extreme wet weather to which humans and their furniture have no choice but to adjust.

Photos: Ekaterina Izmestieva

[kimdavidmaguire]

Explore Pennsylvania on a Budget: Top Travel Tips for Affordable Adventures

Pennsylvania, with its rich history, diverse landscapes, and vibrant culture, offers countless opportunities for exploration. Whether you're wandering through the streets of Philadelphia or hiking in the lush forests of the Alleghenies, there's something for every traveler. The best part? You don't need to spend a fortune to enjoy all that this beautiful state has to offer. Here are some top tips for exploring Pennsylvania on a budget while still making unforgettable memories.

Embrace the Great Outdoors

One of the best ways to experience Pennsylvania is through its stunning natural beauty. The state is home to numerous state parks and recreational areas that offer free or low-cost access. Places like Ricketts Glen State Park feature breathtaking waterfalls and hiking trails that cater to all skill levels. The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area offers opportunities for hiking, canoeing, and even swimming, all at no cost. Bring your food for a picnic, and you can spend the entire day enjoying nature without spending a dime.

Take Advantage of Free Attractions

Many of Pennsylvania's most popular attractions are either free or low-cost. In Philadelphia, visit the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall without any admission fees. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is also accessible on the first Sunday of each month and every Wednesday after 5 PM, allowing you to enjoy world-class art without the cost. Additionally, Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum offers free admission on certain days, so plan your visit accordingly.

Explore Charming Small Towns

While larger cities have plenty to offer, Pennsylvania's small towns are often filled with unique shops, local eateries, and charming architecture. Towns like Jim Thorpe and Lititz provide a glimpse into Pennsylvania's rich history and culture. Jim Thorpe, known as the "Switzerland of America," offers scenic views and outdoor activities. Lititz is home to the Wilbur Chocolate Factory and has several quaint shops and restaurants. Many small towns also host local festivals and markets, often free to attend, making them perfect for a budget-friendly outing.

Utilize Public Transportation

Public transportation can make traveling around Pennsylvania more affordable. Cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have extensive transit systems that can help you get to various attractions without the cost of parking or gas. SEPTA in Philadelphia and PAT in Pittsburgh offer day passes that can save you money if you plan to explore multiple locations in one day. If you're traveling between cities, consider taking a Megabus or Greyhound; these options often provide low-cost fares with advanced booking.

Search for Discounts and Deals

Before you embark on your journey, take a little time to research discounts and deals. Websites like VisitPA.com often feature promotions for attractions, hotels, and dining. Additionally, consider purchasing a CityPASS if you plan to visit multiple attractions in a major city. These passes typically bundle several attractions at a discounted rate, allowing you to save money while exploring popular sites.

Eat Like a Local

Dining can take a significant chunk out of your travel budget, but Pennsylvania has a thriving food scene with plenty of affordable options. Look for local diners and eateries that offer delicious meals at reasonable prices. The state is famous for its cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, and Amish cuisine, which are often affordable and filling. Farmers' markets are also a great place to find fresh produce and homemade goods at reasonable prices. Grab some snacks or prepare a picnic to enjoy in one of Pennsylvania's beautiful parks.

Take Advantage of Free Events

Pennsylvania is filled with community events, especially during the summer months. Look for free concerts, festivals, and art shows in local parks or town squares. Websites and local tourism offices often list upcoming events, so check those out before you travel. Attending these events can be a great way to experience local culture and meet new people without spending much money.

Stay in Affordable Accommodations

Accommodations can significantly impact your travel budget, but there are many affordable options in Pennsylvania. Consider staying in hostels, motels, or camping in state parks. Websites like Airbnb or Vrbo can also provide affordable lodging options in residential neighborhoods, often at a lower cost than hotels. If you're traveling with a group, renting a more prominent space can save you money and provide a fun group experience.

Exploring Pennsylvania on a budget is entirely possible with a bit of planning and creativity. From its breathtaking natural landscapes to its vibrant cities filled with history, the state has much to offer without requiring a significant financial investment. By taking advantage of free attractions, utilizing public transportation, and embracing local culture, you can create unforgettable memories in Pennsylvania without breaking the bank. So pack your bags, hit the road, and get ready to discover all the affordable adventures that await you in the Keystone State!

[thebuckblogimo]

An experiment in spreading "little world" peace.

February 21, 2024

I calculate that I have opened my eyes and gotten up in the morning over 28,000 times. On only a small percentage of those days have I awakened not feeling good about life, at least on a personal level. However, I know many people who feel miserable, stressed, depressed or full of anxiety each day because the world is in such a mess.

What I always say to them is, "Hey, there's not much that you or I can do to fix the bad things going on all over the planet, but we can do something almost every day to positively affect the 'little worlds' in which we live."

For example, we can do something nice for members of our family, for our friends, neighbors, work colleagues and, importantly, strangers we encounter every day. At the very least we can be kind and considerate.

I've always tried to take that approach in the places where I've lived, worked, shopped, dined, hung out, etc. I've tried to do it where I have my car serviced, my teeth cleaned, places as divergent as the San Francisco flop house where I lived after college and the shop of the Amish craftsman who made furniture for our house.

One day last week, while Debbie and I were staying at the home of my oldest son in Dearborn, I decided that I would try to up my game, go out, and be intentional about interacting with complete stragers who appeared to me to be either indifferent, aloof, apathetic, grumpy, or upset.

Here's what happened:

Arab woman with veil. I started the morning at Planet Fitness where I grabbed some bands to stretch my achy shoulders. I noticed an Arab woman near me, wearing a veil, with an intense look on her face, as she did dumbell rows with one knee on a bench. When she took a break I walked up to her and asked if she knew anything about Arabic cooking. She lit up with a smile. I proceeded to ask her questions about making my own marinate for chicken shwarma. As she concluded giving me advice she said, "You'll have to go to an Arabic store to find 'seven spices' seasoning. Oh, and be sure to use whole milk yogurt." We were two ordinary people. From different little worlds. But we connected.

Bass man guy. At the nearby Kroger store that morning I noticed a 30-something employee with tatted arms, wearing a sock cap covering an obviously large mound of hair, who was filling a deli case with products. I actually knew where the yogurt was located, but I stopped to ask him where I could find it. After he pointed me in the right direction I said, "Let me guess...you play bass in a rock band as a side gig." He just laughed and said, "Nope." I said, "Well, you have the look of a bass player to me. Do you sing?" He laughed and nodded with a "Yes." "In a group?" I inquired. "Nope, I just sing around the house." We chatted a bit and I thanked him for his time as I headed for the yogurt case. Then I turned and said, "We ought to harmonize the next time I come in." He laughed as I pushed my cart down the aisle. He was a good dude. It was a better moment.

Black woman on ladder. While sauntering down an aisle featuring shampoo and hair conditioning products, I passed an employee, a young black woman, standing a on a three-step ladder while stocking a shelf. As I walked by I took her to be either talking on the phone or perhaps to herself. I suppose I could have been slapped for this one, but I asked, "Are you up there talking to yourself?" She turned, laughed and said, "Oh, yes, I do it all the time." I said, "Can you tell me where to find bars of soap?" She stepped off the ladder and lead me to the bar soap in the next aisle. I made some small talk about being a dumb shopper as she walked me back to the vicinity of her ladder. Then she said, "Have a blest day," as I proceeded to the self-checkout line. She was wonderful. I was on a roll.

Bad teeth lady.

I noticed her immediately, supervising the self-checkout kiosks. Tattoes covered her neck. She had a multitude of body piercings. Her hair was dyed stop-sign red. And there were gaps between her "pointy" teeth. She did not appear to be a happy person. I feigned difficulty "tapping" my credit card for payment and asked for her assistance. I smiled. No reaction. She helped me. Then stepped away. A minute later I pretended I didn't know how to look up the PLU for the rutabaga in my basket. Again, I requested help saying, "I'm sorry...you know, I've got gray hair and all." She laughed. On my way out she smiled, started chatting about something and exhorted me to have a good day. Little world. Positively affected.

Older black woman. When I came back to the store for a few items the next day, I had a legitimate problem at the self-checkout kiosk. I was moving quickly, perhaps too quickly, when the machine froze and alerted the employee assigned to assist customers. That's when an older, expressionless black woman arrived at my side. As she swiped a card and pressed something on the screenn, she explained that new technology had been installed a week earlier and that there had been difficulties with the kiosks as a result. There was no one else in line. So I asked her a broad question about store management and told her my idea about converting the Kroger store into an international marketplace. Somehow that lead to her giving me an overview of her work history: from spending 40 years in patient service at Providence Hospital to her part time job at Kroger. Of the latter she said, "Nobody asks us--the people on the floor--for our input about what this place needs and how it could operate better. We're the ones who know." She gave me a kindly smile as I left. I'd made another small connection.

Albanian waitperson. I drove down the street to have lunch at Leon's, the Dearborn location of a small, local chain of family restaurants. I was taken to my seat by a woman I had noticed in the place before, usually with a concerned look on her face. As she poured my coffee we had small talk. One thing lead to another and I explained how I'd been trying to interact with people in my little world. She plopped herself down on the seat across from me and started talking, never taking her hand off the handle of the coffee pot. First she told me about Leon and his brothers, Chaldean folks who once operated a dozen restaurants. She volunteered that she was Albanian and had worked for the brothers for 30 years. The next thing I knew she was opening up about her son, a cop. She explained how she worried about him, how she fears that someone may flash a gun, every time he pulls a driver over for a traffic violation. I just listened. I hope she sensed my compassion.

Columbian immigrants. Over the weekend we drove to Chicago to celebrate my grandson's second birthday. I was preparing to cook an Italian dinner at my daughter's home on Saturday when I realized I needed to run out for some tomato paste. So I walked a few blocks to a local grocery store on a day when temperatures were in the teens. When I arrived at the entrance I noticed what appeared to be a family of five, bundled up and holding cardboard signs, with messages in Spanish, shifting their weight on the sidewalk. Inside the store I learned that they were from Columbia and among the the hundred thousand or so immigrants dumped off in Chicago and other large cities, by the state of Texas. On my way out I handed them a few bucks. I tried for several minutes to communicate with them. A teenaged girl tried to communicate with me. But it wasn't working due to the language barrier. I wished them luck. I gave them fist bumps. They all had big smiles on their faces as I turned and walked away.

Final thoughts.

You see the same things I see on TV coming out of Gaza, Ukraine, Central America, etc. I hate that there's so little we can do to make the big, bad world we read about a better place. However, we all live in our own little worlds where we can at least make others feel as though they're visible, noticed and count for something. No, I didn't have any deep conversations with the people mentioned above. I didn't get to know anyone well. But just maybe, for a few minutes, I did something to make a few people feel included and connected. I've long contended that if everyone tried to have a small, positive affect on his or her little circle of control, over time those circles might eventually start to overlap. And then, just maybe, the world would start to become a better place.

[julietookoff]

February 2024 Annual Update

February 2024 Annual Update

Remarkably, the RV hasn't sold yet, even after a price reduction. It has been sitting on the consignment lot for 2 years. Corny runs the generator monthly. We've replaced the headboard and added 2 Ikea chairs. When it sells, we plan to get gutters and screen-in the back patio.

I did sell all the Yugi-oh and Pokemon cards for about $600. We also did well on a $400 leather sectional and a $250 grill/smoker. We bought 3 units at one facility in August and both about died of heat exhaustion.

I went solo to the Bamarama Mega event (GC9TB1Z) February 2023. I had a great time and kept busy with daily events - sometimes twice a day. I tented at Gulf Shores State Park and enjoyed the sound of the gulf waves and the woodsy bike trails. At one point I noticed a camper next to me was that kind of person who spreads all their stuff out on the picnic table. After dark, I woke up to a ruckus and figured raccoons were raiding their goodies. I never opened my eyes, but it sounded like the raccoons dragged the neighbor's stuff right next to my tent to eat it. In the morning, my tent was unzipped about 8" and my cheese was gone! The little rascals know how to unzip tents and lift up cooler lids! It was a little unsettling that they/it was right next to me in my tent. I made sure to have the zipper pull up high from then on. I found a local grocery store I loved, Rouse's, with lots of good take-out food and a dining area with microwave. Their lawn chairs were so cheap I brought one back for Corny.

Shorty paid cash for a house in a college town in northwest Indiana. He got a charming old fixer-upper for a steal of a price. It was built in 1911 and has the original wood trim and door hardware. He's replaced the roof, furnace, water pipes, added a toilet downstairs and done tons of stuff I can't remember. Work keeps him busy and there's lots of overtime. We went up to see him in August. I crocheted edgings on some housewarming washcloths and gave him a cross stitch of his house. We walked to Bruno's Pizza, Allie's cafe for a "polish", 7-11, Family Dollar and a chinese place. We found a Cane's, Ben's pretzels at the mall, and an Amish buffet - Das Essenhaus in Midland. We came back for Thanksgiving. Corny had just installed a diesel heater in the van. It snowed a couple days and got down to 16 degrees. It sounded like an army marching on the roof for 14 hours when Shorty had the roof done. We made ourselves useful and put plastic over his windows. I gave him a Granny square quilt for Christmas and started a camo quilt for my Dad's birthday.

Dad's afghan

Aurie's napghan :0)

We stopped at the Barn and got my bread machine and sewing machine out of storage. We're making good use of both. I've hemmed a lot of pants and made some things I can't talk about yet . . .

My bedroom walls kept getting bigger and more bare, so finally I hung some tapestries by my bed and 8 Walter Alois Weber bird pictures I took out of a vintage book.

I placed about a dozen geocaches near home - Red Ends: A bison tube cable-tied to a red-diamond sign where the pavement ends. Before long, a Low-life with No-life glommed onto them and kept armchair logging multiple fake finds with multiple fake accounts. For fun??? I started archiving them after deciding finding is much more fun than maintaining geocaches.

Medically, I have been making good use of a diet pill, a CPAP, and a hip injection. I had been limping around in pain for the last few years, avoiding as much walking as I could and taking 600mg of ibuprofen 2-3x per day. After the shot I was off the pills and could walk again! It's been 5 months and just now starting to wear off. Corny got me an awesome Trek bike for Christmas. I love - love - loved my Raleigh Eva, it fit so well, but it was a little tough on my forearms. This was even more comfortable! I was crying after my test ride!

Beacon 12 Theaters is just down the road, a mile or so from home and has $6 Tuesdays. They also have free drink refills. I take a few Taco Bell items and see 3-4 movies every few weeks. Speaking of tacos, me, Corny and Shorty all got taco passes: a Taco Bell taco every day for 30 days for just $10. We only missed a couple days. Shorty works right next to a Taco Bell. He also got a nacho fries pass, but we figgered it was too unhealthy for us at our age. We watch the "Drops" every Tuesday for good deals. One Tuesday they had a "Live Mas" blog-type show to talk about their new chicken items. I was just poking around and clicked on a bell symbol at the very bottom - and found the secret free "Cravings Menu Pass". Corny and I were 2/1000 nationwide to win our 30-day passes for a cravings menu item. I'm hooked on the $2.99 nachos.

In September we 3 took a van trip to Georgia to work on geocaching in every county. Poco wasn't loving it. He would hardly eat. Then he started to hesitate getting into the van. When he got in and immediately jumped back out, we got the hint that he wasn't feeling well and headed home. He does great on a straight highway, but when we start doing a lot of turning he must feel carsick.

My little Piggie died :0( I thought she would outlive her life expectancy since I spoiled her so much with fresh veggies and timothy hay, but no. I miss her. She is buried next to Dolly.

In November we had a "clean out the garage" yard sale and made about $1600 ($250 of that was vintage game stuff). We sold a mountain of clothes for $1/bag. Afterward we made 5-6 trips to Jericho thrift store to donate the leftovers. Corny is enjoying the garage. I got him two big shelves for Christmas. He loved them so much, he got two more. He installed a garage door opener and racks for the rakes, shovels and hoses.

Oh yeah, and we got married since we're nearing social security age.

Life is Godd! We fit out.

[muffymaria]

Log Furniture

Tips for Choosing Log Furniture

If you just love that rustic look, and are finally ready to finally buy log furniture for your home, there visit site here are a number of “rules of thumb” that can help you in making good choices.

Begin by considering the overall style of your home. Do you have a log home that is overwhelmingly rustic? Or are you seeking to add a rustic touch to one or more rooms of a more conventional home?

Size is Everything

Homes that feature large logs, spacious ceilings or are roomy in general require a different flavor of rustic furniture than their more conventional counterparts. If large logs make up the walls of your room, or you have a fireplace made from monster rocks from Montana, you’ll need a massive log look for your furniture as well. Otherwise, your log furniture will seem dwarfed and insignificant. Even if the home for your log furniture is a cabin with 8-inch logs, a few large pieces of furniture will look better than many small ones. Larger furniture makes a room feel full without being cluttered. If your bedroom has a high cathedral ceiling, a log canopy bed can help fill out the dimensions. There is also much you can do with artwork and lighting to make the best use of your space.

Types of wood

A variety of wood types are used to create rustic furniture. Following is an overview of several which are available on our website:

Steam-bent Hickory

Hickory is a very durable, flexible wood. Many a child has climbed to the top of a green hickory sapling to ride it down as it yields to the weight without breaking. When heated with steam for a period of time, Hickory poles can easily be formed into various unique pieces of furniture. The steamed poles are placed in a jig and left to dry. They will become very rigid and retain this shape when dry. Steam-bent hickory is strong enough to be used for tools such as hammers and axes, and unpeeled hickory accounts for one of the best-selling lines of log furniture. The Amish use steam-bent hickory to make dining room chairs, as the legs for dining room tables, coffee tables, and rockers.

Northern White Cedar

Northern White Cedar grows in Northern Michigan and Canada. It withstands the abuse of seasonal elements without breaking down or rotting like other woods. It is a beautiful light tan color when freshly milled. It turns silvery-gray with age, but can be treated with a good quality finish to help retain its color. You will notice cracks- some small and some larger in your rustic furniture. This occurs naturally in the drying process and adds to the rustic look of our products. These cracks do not diminish the function or design of our furniture. They are not a manufacturing defect, just a natural part of seasoning, enhancing the beauty of the wood.

[willshercndale]

Tips for Choosing Log Furniture

If you just love that rustic look, and are finally ready to finally buy log furniture for your home, there read more here are a number of “rules of thumb” that can help you in making good choices.

Begin by considering the overall style of your home. Do you have a log home that is overwhelmingly rustic? Or are you seeking to add a rustic touch to one or more rooms of a more conventional home?

Size is Everything

Homes that feature large logs, spacious ceilings or are roomy in general require a different flavor of rustic furniture than their more conventional counterparts. If large logs make up the walls of your room, or you have a fireplace made from monster rocks from Montana, you’ll need a massive log look for your furniture as well. Otherwise, your log furniture will seem dwarfed and insignificant.

Even if the home for your log furniture is a cabin with 8-inch logs, a few large pieces of furniture will look better than many small ones. Larger furniture makes a room feel full without being cluttered.

If your bedroom has a high cathedral ceiling, a log canopy bed can help fill out the dimensions. There is also much you can do with artwork and lighting to make the best use of your space.

Types of wood

A variety of wood types are used to create rustic furniture. Following is an overview of several which are available on our website:

Steam-bent Hickory

Hickory is a very durable, flexible wood. Many a child has climbed to the top of a green hickory sapling to ride it down as it yields to the weight without breaking. When heated with steam for a period of time, Hickory poles can easily be formed into various unique pieces of furniture. The steamed poles are placed in a jig and left to dry. They will become very rigid and retain this shape when dry.

Steam-bent hickory is strong enough to be used for tools such as hammers and axes, and unpeeled hickory accounts for one of the best-selling lines of log furniture. The Amish use steam-bent hickory to make dining room chairs, as the legs for dining room tables, coffee tables, and rockers.

[snydersfurniture]

Discover the timeless beauty and unmatched quality of Amish furniture right here in Lancaster, PA. Our artisans create exquisite pieces that blend traditional craftsmanship with modern aesthetics. From elegant dining tables to cozy kitchen sets, we offer furniture that adds warmth and charm to your home. Explore the rich heritage of Amish woodworking at Snyder's Furniture today.

[i-am-very-very-tired]

BY MICHELLE DOWD JUNE 14, 2023 7:00 AM EDT Dowd is a professor of journalism and author of FORAGER: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult In 1990, when I was 21 and living states away from my family of origin and the fundamentalist community I had left four years earlier, I was washing dishes in the sink when I noticed that the water turned playfully pink. I didn’t know why. Sometimes I would see bright droplets of blood on the floor and follow them like breadcrumbs, looking for some creature who had bled out and died.

Then, I realized it was me.

I hurt myself often in those days, whether that was slicing my hand while cleaning a knife, or cutting my bare feet on broken glass when I walked barefoot (which was almost everywhere). After leaving the community that I would later recognize was a high-control, high-demand religious cult, I felt so dissociated that I didn’t know where my body began or what it felt like to live in it. I hadn’t developed any strategies to numb my pain, except to refuse to feel it. I had left my body years ago—and I feel safe enough to find my way back yet.

Many of us who were raised in religious extremism don’t live in our bodies. Our days are spent in our heads and our nights are disrupted by the ghosts of our early indoctrination—our subconscious rising up to haunt us. We were trained to live for an afterlife, so when there is pain here, we transport ourselves there.

The strict religious programming of our early years is part of identity, not only through family connections, but in the language we use to communicate with our own minds, bodies, sexuality, and self-worth. Religious indoctrination materializes everywhere, and studies on Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS) show that dissociation occurs when an individual struggles with leaving a religion or a set of beliefs that has led to their indoctrination—similarly to an ex who won’t leave you alone, long after you filed a restraining order.

High-control religion is my ex. Let me tell you about how I left.

I grew up on a mountain in California’s Angeles National Forest, preparing for the Apocalypse. This doesn’t explain the juxtaposition of faith and famine, or how the landscape of my childhood was more amorphous than the boundary of a mountain implies, but it’s the simplest truth for which I can find words. For a decade of my childhood, a mountain was the closest thing I had to a home, and I learned to forage for local plants, including acorns, pine seeds, nettles, and elderberries, finding what I needed to survive on it.

But my real home wasn’t a place. It was an idea. An idea my maternal grandfather turned into a fundamentalist religious community, governed by him, where I learned to subjugate my needs and desires to his.

Grandpa visited a lot of churches, peddling among disparate denominations, and sometimes I was allowed to go with him, to learn the seductions of commonplace belief systems which pave the way to hell. We sat down in church basements to break bread with Southern Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. We ate supper with Mennonite and Amish families in the dining rooms of their homes. Grandpa criticized them all for different reasons. Some drank wine, which Jesus had clearly intended to be grape juice, or they decorated their churches with pomp and circumstance, like heathens, or they worshiped the idols of popular music, clothing, or entertainment. Grandpa believed even the Amish were too liberal because they allowed their youth to sow wild seeds of rebellion, encouraging them to drive cars and drink liquor and lose their purity in order to get it out of their system, so they would know what they were giving up and wouldn’t yearn for what they never had.

Grandpa told us he was God’s prophet and would live to be 500 years old, that the angels would descend from heaven and take him up into the clouds like Elijah. Grandpa was the only one with authority. And his pontifications were the soundtrack of my childhood. All the women in my family—my grandmother, mother, aunt, siblings and me—were born and raised with the fear of Grandpa and his jealous God, whose voice we could not escape. Our first love.

When I left my grandfather and the mountain, the scariest thing, I realized, was that the girl they indoctrinated still lived inside me. While I relished the freedom of being able to make my own choices, I continued to hear Grandpa’s voice in my ear, yelling at me that the price I would pay for leaving him would be an eternity spent in hell—like an ex I can’t get out of my head.

Like many former believers, I was afraid of hell and other punishments God might mete out. I suffered from triggers and flashbacks, with a foreboding feeling there’s something inherently wrong with me, something that makes me unworthy of love, comfort, or rest. Even though I’ve turned my back on my early teachings and created a template of new morals to live by, the God of my grandfather haunts me to this day. I live with a low-grade fear that if I let go of my vigilance, my ex will find out and punish me for trying to get away. It makes it difficult to live in a secular world. Or even one in which religion is soft and yielding, called to comfort, rather than afflict.

You can take the girl out of the cult, but it’s hard to take the cult out of the girl. As the Gospel of Matthew says, “For wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” How can I yield to pleasure, rest, comfort, or acceptance, when I learned that entering at a narrow gate cannot be replicated, that anyone or anyone I find as a replacement has the possibility to betray me?

Time, I learned, is the greatest healer. Like many former believers, I’ve left my ex behind, to build relationships and communities that serve me on the earth I know, rather than a nebulous afterlife. But that doesn’t mean it has fully let me go.

TIME Ideas hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

[thebrysonsmithteam]

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[biglisbonnews]

The Sweet and Sour Origins of Amish Soul Food In Gastro Obscura’s Q & A Series A Seat at the Table, we speak with people of color who are reclaiming their culinary heritage and shaping today’s food culture. The delicious meals that chef Chris Scott cooks up in his Harlem kitchen may seem like new-fangled American fusion: Pennsylvania Dutch-style chicken and corn soup alongside shrimp grits; lemonade fried chicken with bread-and-butter pickles. But these are actually examples of a cuisine that has been stewing along quietly for generations: Amish soul food. This combination of Southern and Amish cooking hails from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, where Scott grew up. “We've been eating this since we were kids,” says Scott. “Our parents, [too.]” Coatesville is located in Chester County, Pennsylvania, home to long-standing Amish and African American communities whose cuisines have commingled over generations. Scott is on a mission to share the unique food of the area’s Black residents, along with the stories of resilience and creativity within their sweet, sour, and savory cuisine. Scott’s great-grandfather Chester Howard migrated to Amish country in search of economic opportunity, as did the ancestors of many other African American families that call the region home. Howard brought the cooking techniques of Virginia tidewater cuisine to Pennsylvania, where he and his family adapted it to suit the ingredients, baked goods, and preserves available at Amish markets. Amish and Southern African American cuisines are natural bedfellows, Scott says, in that they share the same spirit of resourcefulness. They even share certain staples, such as cornmeal and chow chow, a relish made of pickled vegetables. Howard’s daughter and Scott’s grandmother, “Nana,” was a master of Amish soul food, serving the “Seven Sweets and Sours” of Amish cuisine—a set of condiments ubiquitous at Amish meals—along with meals such as turkey neck gumbo. Along with scrapple, an Amish paté of cooked pork parts, she would make okra chow chow, a Southern relish with West African roots. Long hours in the kitchen with Nana inspired Scott to become a chef. Yet for many years of his professional career, Scott kept the story of Amish soul food to himself. As Scott writes in his new cookbook Homage: Recipes and Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen, “I came to believe that working in European restaurants, with a focus on fine-dining techniques, was the only professional path worthy of attention and respect.” But following years of introspection and hard-won sobriety, he decided to look to his heritage for culinary inspiration. In 2016 and 2018, respectively, he opened soul food restaurants Butterfunk Kitchen and Sumner’s Luncheonette in New York, and in 2018 was a semi-finalist on Top Chef, where he coined the term “Amish soul food” to describe his culinary style. In September 2022, he released his cookbook as both an homage to his grandmother and a celebration of the Amish soul food she cooked. At his newest restaurant, Butterfunk Biscuit Co. in Harlem, his interpretations of Coatesville’s African American cuisine take center stage. “It's intoxicating to be able to truly be me in a world where I always couldn't,” he says. Gastro Obscura spoke with Scott about Eurocentrism in the restaurant industry, the definition of Amish soul food, parallels between Amish and African American histories, and the future of soul food. You mention in your book that there was a period where you struggled to share the story of the food you grew up with. What changed? [For many White chefs around me,] Black food to them has always been a niche thing. They feel like it's just having its moment, but there's no lasting or staying power—although we have been here for centuries. [They’ll say,] ‘How hard can it be?’ ‘What kind of technique is it? It’s not even a technique-driven food.’ They even get into it being unhealthy. So I’d say at least nine out of ten things coming out of their mouths about Black food, Black culture, are all negative. So coming up, of course, it was embarrassing to embrace that side of me. Once I started to accept [my food] and who I was, I started actually cooking some of the best food that I ever did in my life, because it was mine, because it was from the heart, and because I could be unapologetically Black. What do you think makes Amish soul food unique? Some of the most Southern flavors or dishes that you know—imagine them with brighter nuances, higher in vinegar, higher in sugar, higher in citrus, because the Germans really have a lot of sweet and sour components. Back in the day, the slaves would have their own gardens. Sometimes you would have chicken bones to make your broth a little bit more flavorful, sometimes not. And then that would go over some type of cornbread. A lot of Amish dishes are very similar: things that are taken from the garden, preserves. A ton of stews: chicken and dumplings, or brisket with potatoes and cabbage. Are these similarities just a coincidence, or is there a shared history? Basically, it's survival. [With the Amish] you have a group of people that have been ousted because of their religion. They move here to the States, and they hit the ground with nothing. Just like with slaves: we were given nothing. You make the best of nothing because you have to. How would you describe the relationship between African American and Amish people in Coatesville? The Amish were definitely a group of people that were mainly to themselves, and the only sort of interaction that you had was when you would frequent their markets or their stores. You would see them out in the suburbs, and—more on the Lancaster County side—in their horses and buggies, or [out] farming. But a lot of the interaction was in their markets. Are there any specific dishes that stick out in your mind as examples of Amish soul food, with its sweet-and-sour flavor palate? When I was on Top Chef, I did a lemonade buttermilk fried chicken. Down south, everybody and their mama brines chicken with sweet tea. [I grew] up in a household where sweet tea was in my refrigerator, and so was Kool-Aid and so was lemonade. It makes [the fried chicken] super duper bright. What kind of Amish soul food dishes would your grandmother cook? She would put vinegar in her sweet potato pie, not necessarily to where it was tart, but to where it wasn't so sweet. In her cakes, rather than eggs and oil, she would put in mayonnaise, so the overall texture of that cake was now almost pillowy. There were a lot of techniques that she got just from being in that area. In Virginia, they weren't rocking spaetzle and cabbage and egg noodle stew and all that. But once [my family] made its way up North, my grandmother was doing [Amish] dishes but adding components like neck bone. Neck bone with egg noodles, with spaetzle. Okra chow chow with scrapple. In your eyes, what does the future look like for Amish soul food, and Black culinary culture in general? The whole Amish soul food thing was just a door to showing people that we are more than what people think we are. We're so much more than just fried chicken, watermelon, biscuits and cornbread and anything that's red velvet. I want to see more amplification of us that goes beyond the South. There's so many of us now that we're individually and collectively blazing the trail for the next generation. I certainly think that we're here to stay. And hopefully there'll come a point when all these arrogant Michelin chefs make space—or we take space—at the global table, showing them that our food is here to stay as well. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/amish-soul-food