tornado alley in amish country

a full saturday

my week in review

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. Genesis 1: 29,30

When I am out driving from point A to point B I can't help but be aware of my creator and all the things he has created in this world. 

He made it all. 

This week when I was out and about I found a few things that I wanted to capture. In the next picture I stepped outside my car in this wooded area and I walked up and down the road just marveling at the rustic splendor. One mini van and one dump truck found me, otherwise it was just me and nature for that moment. God speaks to me of his love for me through his nature. After a long, hard winter I am finding joy in the calm and beauty of Spring with Summer pounding down the pavement fast on Spring's heels.  I find myself reluctant to let this season end. I want the newness of life to remain for awhile, it feels like if I give in to Summer; Fall and the dreaded Winter will soon be back and I'm just not ready for another snow. 

Not just yet. 

Show & Tell time. 

How peaceful this was in the middle of a crazy day! If it hadn't been so muddy I would have trekked inside the woods and would have looked for some mushrooms. It was too muddy and I had other things to get back to. 

One of the things that always catch my eye is a tree's root system. Here is a great one sitting beside a small creek. it reminded me of another root system that I really enjoyed looking at last winter. 

Click on the picture to enlarge it and you will see this tree's root system snaking all over the place. I thought it was kind of cool. 

A Suspicious Beagle

Me: "Hey, nice Beagle, how are ya today?" 

Beagle doesn't respond, just stands there and watches me. 

Me: "Do you mind if I take your picture?" 

Silence

But then Beagle says, "You better scram, or else!"

Me: "Or else what?" 

Beagle: "Or else I'm gonna tell the whole wide world you are here. Arrrwoowoo Arrrwoowoo!" 

Me: "Don't you think you are over-reacting just a bit?"

Beagle: "Arrrrwoowoo Arrrrwoowoo!!"

At this point all I can do is snap pictures because there was no reasoning with Beagle, she was going to let the whole wide world know I was there no matter what.

Beagle: "I'm saying, you better be careful wid me, I'm the best watchdog in these parts and I can rip you from limb to limb." 

Beagle: "You said treats? I kinda like treats, what kind do you have in that bag? I like bacon flavored the best." 

Beagle: "Hey, whaddaya mean, you have to leave already? I thought we were friendly now that we dined with each other.....come back another day....next time bring a lady a nice juicy bone...or a rabbit would do." 

Good bye Over-reactor Beagle!

I came across this pond. It reminded me of those infinity pools the rich and famous folks have in their backyards. This one is an infinity pool Amish Country style. It was absolutely beautiful here. I wanted to grab a fishing pole and sit a spell and I'm am not a person that enjoys fishing at all. Besides watching a game of anything, fishing would be the second most boring thing I could ever do. I am not a sports enthusiast if you don't know me. Just doesn't make me tick. 

The chubbiest ground hog went gliding into this hole under the tree. She was so cute and pudgy, I so badly wanted her picture but she wasn't in the mood to pose for me. I contemplated throwing her some of my celery in hopes she would smell it and it would coax her out of her hideout. I figured it wouldn't work so I saved the celery for myself. 

Horses grazing on a glorious green carpet. The sunshine is what I notice mostly, after coming away from months of very little sunshine I've still not soaked in enough of the sun to make my heart forget the gloomy days of winter past. 

Gardening with love. These folks have a whole story to tell in their yard. I may have to go back and request a tour. It was just beautiful and I can only imagine that the beauty will increase as the garden starts to grow.  

Someone put this flowerbed at the end of their property. Loved the tulips and the color they added to this bed. Pretty, pretty! 

I found this old gas well sitting beside the road and I loved the setting around it. The lavender flowers, the green grasses, the trees. All so beautiful.

I held my breath for a moment looking at this scene. 

So pretty in real life. I wish I could have had you with me to witness this.

I found some friendly goats roadside.

They were itchy, so they scratched that itch by rubbing against the fence. 

Cuteness.Inc! 

And last but not least, "Beagle" reminded me of this fellow so I searched my camera for him so I could add him to this discussion. This winter when we were out and about one Sunday we came upon this scene. In the heart of Amish Country there resides a water hook up. I don't think I've ever seen one like this out on a country road, so that was kind of cool, but then to find a dawg near it...well, all the fire hydrant/dog jokes ever told came to mind. Mr. Wonderful and I had to laugh as I crawled out of the car to snap a few pictures. It would only have been more perfect if dawg would have peed on the hydrant so I could gotten that picture. 

This week has been a week of me learning and exploring social media. Instagram, Google Plus, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook. My head is spinning. They are all wonderful vehicles to get your message out and to interact with folks, but my goodness gravy, I am completely overwhelmed right now. When I get overwhelmed I let things sit for a spell and come back to them. I'm doing just that today. I want to clean the garage and my car and then I'm going to go on another adventure. Not quite the same as my adventure last week, if you missed it you can find it here. It was one of the best days in my recent history. 

Other thoughts for today:

I'm so glad my favorite cooking show has a few new episodes; one of which is supposed to air today. I love Ree....she is so genuine. When I grow up I want to be like her. 

At the moment I am kind of hooked on this song. I can apply the words to various parts of my life and just kind of know what the girl in the song is about. When I was younger this song could have been written about me, I think. Enjoy ya'all! 

And the cherry on top of my sundae this week was someone who is from my past private messaged me to let me know they had found me. After a bit of conversation this person then told me they remembered me as a child looking sad and depressed and that as they looked at my profile picture today they found that my eyes now looked like I was at peace.

The eyes are the windows to the soul, and I am so happy this person was able to see that peace in my eyes because it is what I feel for sure, for sure.  Praise God! 

my amish country

I love living in Amish Country. 

There is so much to see. Things might be dead in the little Amish towns on a Saturday night, but nothing compares to taking a Sunday afternoon drive through my Amish Country and allowing my eyes to feast on all that is available to my eye's pleasure. If I could bring each of my readers on a real Sunday afternoon drive with me, I would. 

I carry my camera with me almost all the time, barring I have to keep it home because I am recharging the batteries. Some folks might say it has become an obsession because my camera is almost always nestled inside my handbag, I am almost always prepared to take a picture or two. 

This is my latest show and tell. 

Last week when we had a cold spell and some snow, it was so cold that when I came out of the store and wanted to open the trunk of my car I saw this icicle growing up. It is right in front of the "R" in Prix. (So, now you all know I drive a dirty black Grand Prix)  

You know that moment you feel like someone is watching you? Well, I was trying to get a good picture of this upside down icicle and it took some maneuvering and I am sure I just looked like a crazy lady taking so long to take a picture or two of the trunk of my car and sure enough when I looked around there was a young fellow sitting in his nice warm truck watching the show. He had this look on his face like, "lady, you are crazy and I can prove it." 

I don't care, I have nothing to prove to anyone. This is the part of life that I like, when I just don't care what other folks think about what I am doing. There is so much freedom in that...and it brought me a chuckle imagining what he was thinking. heh heh

Okay, so, if I had to make up a story for the two men in the next few pictures, I would assume they were part of the Amish Mafia and a "transaction is about to happen." 

See for yourselves.

See what I mean? wink wink

We had to drive behind these young chappies for a little while, long enough for me to get a shot through Mr. Wonderful's truck window. An Amish pick up truck...hauling wood for their parent's cook stove, I'm guessing.

Another Amish pick up. A smaller version. 

Recently Mr. Wonderful and I went to shop for a porch swing and we were told of this place a solid hour from our house, so we made the trek to this place of business and they had a lot going on. They were "excavating the ground with horses and some make-shift plow thingy. I didn't get too many pictures, but I did get the laundry waving in the wind over a very dirty ground underneath. The elements in the picture didn't seem to go together really well, but it was the reality of the day. 

This horse and buggy waiting patiently on his or her owner to leave. 

Finally the young lady and her little girl emerged from the business and here they are getting ready to leave. I wanted to take a more close up picture, but I can't bring myself to get too close, I still try to respect them to a certain extent. If I totally respected their wishes I would never snap any pictures. 

Mr. Wonderful and I own three acres of land. Two of those acres are an actual field because we used to have sheep and raise lambs. Now it stands empty, except for our Amish neighbor now grazes his horses in our field. It helps us because we have less mowing to do and it helps him out with more pastureland for his horses. The other Saturday he and his brother were hauling manure all over the fields. I stepped out into our garage and got a couple good pictures for you all to see. 

I think the fellow in the read shirt is his brother. 

And here is our neighbor and I noticed he had his little girl with him. How cute is that? 

There they are again. 

If you click on this picture you will see the little girl on her daddy's lap inside the bobcat while he is loading the manure spreader with another load of manure. 

Another angle. 

I don't know, this is not so pretty or anything, just some laundry on the line. Maybe I should have omitted this one. Anyway, I uploaded it, so here it is. 

Another fellow plowing his field. I love the dark brown of the freshly plowed ground. 

All these pictures were mostly taken on a whim, just by stopping at the roadside, pulling my camera out of my handbag and clicking away. I have more pictures that I hope to share soon. It is time for me to hit the hay though. Tomorrow morning always comes way too soon. 

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Looking in my Rear View Mirror

for behold the winter is past.....

JOY TO THE WORLD.....

Oops, forgive me, I'm in the wrong season. It is Spring time! How do I know? Well let me count the ways. 

That smell.

Distinct.

Not so pleasant.

Manure. 

Wafting its way into our little cottage. 

I smelled it immediately when I turned on to our road this afternoon, and even more as I pulled into our driveway and there it was lingering in our garage. 

I don't care. 

I love Spring and everything that goes with it. I am sitting here at our dining room table with the french door open wide, I feel the gusty wind now and then, the sun is perched on my shoulder, peering at my words on my laptop. All is so well in my world this moment. 

The farmers are in their fields plowing, another very sure sign that Spring has sprung. On my lunch break today I watched two teams of horses in a field laboring up and down the field turning the dead winter grass into straight coils of brown goodness. 

The field is nearly finished. 

There is nothing like newness of life to make folks smile more and to have a spring in their steps. I find folks a lot happier when I'm out and about. The drab and the dreary making its way into our past and the sunshine and all it holds in our present and future. 

I notice that the grasses are turning greener each day as I look out over the landscape. I know that in only a few short weeks, barring any kind of natural disaster, our landscape will have a nice emerald green carpet all over the ground and atop the carpet will be nice colors of other shades of greens and browns and flower colors and the sky will have a clear blue above our heads and the only thing left for me to do is be in awe of the beauty that has been provided for my pleasure. The only thing left for me to do is to stop and smell those roses, to pause and listen to the music of the crickets and the birds and maybe a cat fight off in the distance. (I mention the cat fights only because they are something very natural in my part of the world.) 

How are you enjoying this Spring? Are you stopping and observing its beauty? Are you taking in the wonder of the newness of life? I only wish I had more time in my day to take in more of God's wondrous world. 

In light of the topic for this blog I've been looking at Bible verses about Spring or that can relate to springtime. I found these beautiful verses that say it just like it is in my heart tonight. 

Song of Solomon 2: 11,12

For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

Beautiful Bible verses and so fitting! 

I'm so glad you are here. I don't know what brought you here, my only "goal" is to make friends and to have fun with my blog and hopefully, possibly, inspire others to stop and smell the roses in their lives. God provides us each with special bits of beauty all around us. It is here for us to enjoy and behold in many ways. He has special things planned just for you....and me. 

If you are new to my blog and would like to stay connected, I invite you to skip over to my Facebook page and "like" it so you will get all my updates. I post extra pictures and words over there as I can. I love to hear from my readers, it is what keeps me inspired on some level and also encouraged. Sometimes...writers live in a lonely world. I love interaction. Also, if you know of anyone who would enjoy my ramblings and pictures, I invite you to share my blog with them. 

Love and Blessings to all! 

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Looking in my Rear View Mirror

Creeks, Farms, and Trees

 Most generally Mr. Wonderful and I spend Friday evening out with friends, usually our Amish friends and we go out to eat and maybe some shopping or come back to our house to watch some television, or we go driving around checking out the landscape. Because our week had been so busy we didn't make plans to go do anything last night. When I came home from my 8-5 I asked Mr. Wonderful if he would want to go out to take pictures of creeks in our area. He looked at me like, "say what?" but smiled and said, "sure, let's go." 

I can't tell you how supportive my husband is of my whims, especially when he knows it is something for my blog. He loves when I write. He has always been my number one supporter, and so he was "game" to go take pictures of creeks. 

Why creeks? I don't know, just because. I happen to drive by a couple creeks each day and I've been noticing them and just wanted to go capture a few on camera last night to see what they look like in a picture. So, for a tour of what we saw last night, please keep on reading. 

Creeks

This creek is actually flooded and in parts is all over the farmer's field. I have to say as I stare at this picture I can't help but notice how the trees and the sky just kind of make their own picture. How beautiful! 

Here is part of the flooding. The water is so powerful when you stand at the side of the road and just take it in. The large trees are absolutely trapped in the water, no place to go, but stand still. 

This reminded me of the Everglades for some reason. It has a swampy feel to it for me. 

I love this creek, it knows where it is going and doesn't dilly dally around, it is flowing quickly, in a pretty straight line at that. 

A little farm creek, I love the rocks, all nice and round, from years of wear and tear of the water. 

See, here the rocks are a little bit more profound. 

There she goes, flowing pretty swiftly, even if she is a smaller creek. The waters are so heavy, I think that is why the creeks are all flowing so fast. 

Loving the bend in this creek. 

Some greenery by this creek and a little bit of overflow. 

Not pretty at all, but it is a creek. 

The green is coming through by this creek as well. I think this will be a beautiful picture later in the summer when everything is green. I will return. 

I found some ducks swimming on a farm pond. I just love this picture. The waves in the water show how windy it was last night. The ducks didn't mind, they just kept paddling along. It was cold too. I was chilled to the bone by the time we returned home. I ended up in bed with the heating pad on me because I could not get warmed up after our excursion.

It was worth it! 

And a family of geese, see the ripples in the water. It was windy as all get out yesterday. 

Farms 

What can I say? It is a farm on a hill. A pretty large farm. If you have been following my blog for any length of time now you will know that I love having something act like a barrier between me and what I am shooting. For some reason it feels more artistic to me. I feel like the whole picture is being used up. Maybe I can't explain what I'm thinking, doesn't matter, I like the twigs in the picture. 

The farm is on a bend and a road lies between the house and the barn. I always wonder about those set ups. I am sure it is a major concern for families with small children running back and forth from house to barn. 

For me, this is the ugliest farm we have in the area, only because of the faded yellow on the barn. I wish they would paint it barn red. That would be my preference. I love the red barns the best. 

Some green in this picture. Hey, we are starting to see signs of Spring!

The house to the farm above. I just liked it so I uploaded it so you could see it too. 

Lot's of silos on this farm. I don't think it is an Amish farm. 

Beautiful red buildings. Love the red, white and blue in this picture. 

I found a barn peeking up over the hill.

Sometimes when I shoot a picture and then come home and look at it, I see how wonderful it really is. I love the gray/blue door and the almost starkness of the picture. Can I say "haunted" when I know that only a few seconds earlier little kiddos were on the porch checking me out and then when they saw me lift my camera they scattered into the house. I was actually taking pictures of milk cans by the road when this all occurred. 

Random Pictures

In the middle of nowhere, on a random fence post there is a no hunting/no trespassing sign. I found it a bit odd in our neck of the woods. 

A man door set into the fence. Must be the farmer often passes through this fence and decided to save himself some time. I don't know, maybe I'm incorrect in my assumptions, but it sounds good to me. 

Milk cans, but then I notice the driveway and the house right at the end of the driveway. I bet this is beautiful in the summer time. Notice the very muddy driveway. This kind of Amish (Swartzentruber) aren't allowed to gravel their driveways. At the moment when you are out and about, you will see these black buggies with "muddy yellow" wheels trotting down the road. they have to wade the mud because there is no other way for them. The milk cans at the end of the driveway are because no truck would ever make it in that kind of driveway without getting stuck so the farmer has to bring the milk to the end of the driveway. 

This was supposed to be all about the milk cans, but the tree and the sky outshine any milk cans that may or may not be in the picture. Sometimes it just happens that way. I love it. 

This dog was watching me take pictures. He was settled in his spot, never once did a "woof" come out of him. You can tell he was keeping watch, but he wasn't excited in the least little bit. I like dogs who don't over react. Oh, and the tree branches framing the picture? Love, love. I also like the leaves on the lawn, looks soft and comfortable for a nice dog to relax on.

Cement bridge guard rails. LOVE! 

Trees 

This tree was a bit comical to me, it felt to me like it was pointing to go thataway. 

A line of trees and a rolling gray sky. How pretty. 

An orchard through a fence. Looks stark and cold right now. 

I said before how windy it was last night, these branches attest to it. 

1.

And now, to my very favorite moment last night. Standing there looking up at this tree, high on a hill, I was taken aback at how beautiful it look against the rolling sky. I'm not sure which shot I like best, this one or the next one. I would love feed back from my readers which picture you like best. One or Two?

2.

I wish I could show all of you in real life what I get to experience every day. This is my way of sharing my country with folks who don't get to experience it like I do. I hope you enjoy my pictures and my thoughts. If you do, and know of someone who would enjoy, I invite you to share my blog and/or Facebook page with them. If you are new to my blog, and you would like to stay connected, you can go to my Facebook page and "like" it and you will get all my updates and periodically I even do giveaways, so there is always something to look forward to. 

Looking in my Rear View Mirror