amish country swan encounter

Hi my name is Lue and I can say I got chased by a swan. 

Here is the back story. Mr. Wonderful and I have decided to carve out a portion of a flower bed in front of our little cottage on the hill and make a patio with pavers and then place a porch swing and A Frame on the patio so that we can enjoy casual summer evenings outside in comfort. We have a view to be enjoyed and usually we do so from the stoop, or just standing or on lawn chairs. But now we really want a nook, a real spot that is always there, ready for us to pause in the busy-ness of life and just sit and take in the fresh air and enjoy the scenery that surrounds us. 

We always price shop for everything we do. We are stingy tightwads frugal that way, or at least we make a stab at it. So, after I got home from my 8-5 we hopped into Mr. Wonderful's rusty old S-10 and we headed down the Amish Country Highway to the first "surplus store". Not knowing for sure where it is at and after having asked my friend I was certain I was able to direct Mr. Wonderful right to it, Well, I directed him to a business, but it was not a surplus store, but some other business, I can't remember because this is where I had the swan encounter and everything else faded into that black hole in my memory. This business had a sort of circular drive, it is actually at the home of the business owner, so there was the house, barn and store at this place and the circular driveway and in the middle of the circle was a glorious pond and a beautiful swan swimming. As soon as I saw him I was reaching back into the truck for my trusty old camera because I was not passing up such an opportunity. 

You know what? 

He,

was not friendly at all.

I was so incredibly disappointed, I wanted him to peacefully swim in his little pond and pose, but he had other ideas because his wife was over at the side of the pond in a little house that looks similar to a dog house, sitting on a nest of eggs. 

He was protecting her. 

I got it and so I spoke softly and tried to get him to relax. 

Yeah, no relaxing, he was not having any of that stuff. He would stretch his head and neck through the fence and tried to peck me. What a beautiful bird and I was not able to get any really good pictures of him. 

So incredibly frustrated, but here are some of what I did get to take. 

This is what he looked like for the most part. He would stretch as far as he could go to get to me.

I wish I could have gotten a much better picture of his very large webbed feet. They were gorgeous for a bird like that and when he ran and walked it made a "platt platt" sound. So cute! 

Here is is wife, how sweet and adorable, busy hatching her eggs. 

A shot of the pond. I love the background as well. Right smack dab in the midst of Amish Country. 

Here he comes running at break neck speed across the ground and as soon as he hit the fence he again started to stretch his neck out to peck me and by now Mr. Wonderful had driven the truck up to where I was and it was close quarters to the fence and I had to make a run for it and open the door and jump in before he pecked me. I was squealing and giggling and I could hear him right behind me when I made my mad dash for the truck. I know I've not moved that fast since I was a kid!!!!

We did find the surplus store and it was closed but we got out and walked around a bit, checking out the pavers in stock. I took some pictures. 

Landscape pavers all over the place, seconds that need to be picked through to find enough good ones to build whatever you are making. Mr. Wonderful thinks it isn't worth the time and aggravation to save a few dollars, so he is going to go with our favorite DIY store and let them help us. 

Mr. Wonderful checking out the store hours. 

As I was waiting for Mr. Wonderful this scene just happened before my eyes. LOVE!

A lone biker passed me, smiled hello, and then he mosied on. 

After our adventure we drove around a bit, we found another surplus store, but it was more of the same thing and we weren't really interested so we back tracked a bit and stopped at a new for us restaurant way out in the middle of nowhere. I think it was called Fire and Ice Pub or something like that. Mr. Wonderful said he coworker said it was a wonderful spot to eat at, but it is so busy on the weekends so it was a good time for us to actually go tonight. 

We walked inside and the only thing I could think of was "cowboy". It was a little more bare inside than I thought it might be and it smelled a little bit like old smoke, you know back when the places were allowed to have smoking indoors and the smell kind of lingers. (My nose is very sensitive and I smell things other folks don't.) 

The menu was small. We like that. That means they have fresh food, because the food they make gets ordered and moved out of the kitchen. Restaurants with massive menus always worry us a bit. 

We both opted for one dish meals. My dish was called The Hog Trough, I think. It had two baked potatoes on the bottom, layered with cheddar cheese, pulled pork, their specialty barbeque sauce, Fire and Ice, and a very yummy cole slaw on top. It was so delicious. Everything about it was just down home yummy and I can't wait to go back and try other things, namely, "beer batter french fries". How delicious does that sound? 

After we had ordered our meals, we sat there visiting and in walks a lady and I immediately knew who she was. I went a little bit weak inside because for me she has the same as "celebrity status" in my world. She is a local business owner and blogger and I follow her on Facebook and read her blog and I've even tried her wonderful granola bars. There she was, right there in the same room as me and I was a little bit "star struck". 

Finally I said to Mr. Wonderful, "Lena, that blogger whose blog I read is over there." I think I squealed just a little bit. After a minute of being star struck I was thinking to myself  if someone was in the same room as I and read my blog and wouldn't come and introduce themselves to me, I would be so disappointed, so after we finished our very yummy meals, I mustered up courage to disturb this wonderful lady and her friend and I introduced myself and told her that I enjoy her blog and then I saw she was starting to recognize me too! It was a moment for sure! She reads my blog too! I knew she had been on my blog at least once, but had no idea she actually comes back and reads. It absolutely warmed my heart to be able to visit with her and her friend for a couple minutes. 

I almost missed the moment by leaving without introducing myself because I am so uncomfortable in such a situation. But, what a warm and friendly person she is to talk to and she put me right at ease. It felt like we are friends already and on the way home I was thinking back to our conversation and how I wished I had said this to her and asked her that. Hopefully our paths will cross again sometime soon and we can sit down for a real visit. 

If you are interested, you can go here to check out her blog. 

Lena's Amish Granola

If you visit her and you like what you read, leave her a little message and tell her I sent you.