Dear Diary,
Ellie here.
I didn’t want to think today. With everything that I learned this week, I needed a break.The girls had been begging me to do a picnic in the woods when it gets nice. They have been going to the bookmobile now that school is over with for the year and the nice librarian, Ellen, who comes along with the bookmobile has introduced my girls to this series with a little girl who goes on all kinds of adventures. Trudy is her name and Ellen thought the girls might be interested in reading of her adventures. Well, Ellen was correct and Trudy has opened up the girl’s eyes to so many things. One adventure Trudy had was when she went on a picnic in the woods and the animals started to talk to her.
Anna reads the Trudy stories to her two sisters in the evenings at bedtime and the three of them daydream of having similar adventures as Trudy does. So after the breakfast dishes were finished this morning I told the girls that since their dad and Simon were going to be helping Mose Miller with some of his farm work today we would go on a picnic if we got all of our cleaning and the laundry done before lunch time.
All three girls were squealing and jumping up and down to the point that I had to bring them back to reality and calm them down. After they settled down I made a list for each of us to look on and see what else needs to be done. I let the girls work on the housework detail and I got busy downstairs with the laundry. The laundry always seems endless and while the loads are washing I busied myself with sweeping down the porches and washing a few windows in the basement. I could hear the girls upstairs moving chairs around and scampering from one room to the next dusting the furniture, sweeping the floors, and cleaning the bathroom and kitchen.
In record time things were cleaned and after I was finished with the laundry I created a new list and this one was for the picnic.
Going on a picnic list:
Find the prettiest quilt in the cedar chest.
4 small vases
4 cloth napkins from the middle drawer in the china closet
4 each of plates, glasses and silverware
4 tablets
The colored pencil set
4 pencils
sunscreen
When the girls saw their list there was more squealing and jumping around and asking questions, like, “you mean ANY quilt, mom?” I told them they could choose any quilt because I knew that my Oxy Clean could get out any grass stain we might get on the quilt and I wanted this to be a special day for my girls.
I busied myself in the kitchen. Since I had been planning this picnic last night already I had made some finger jello in reds, oranges and purples, the girl’s favorite jellos, and now I quickly cut them in flower shapes with cookie cutters and placed them in a small Tupperware container. Fresh cookies had been baked yesterday afternoon, this time I had made Whoopie Pies and now dessert was spoken for. The main course was going to be chicken salad sandwiches. I am using my neighbor, Karen’s chicken salad recipe, it calls for halved grapes and walnuts and the sandwiches are so delicate and delicious. I had baked bread on Wednesday and so I cut a loaf into very thin slices and quickly assembled my sandwiches. Along with the decadent chicken sandwiches I had vegetables and French Onion dip and potato chips. I placed everything in Tupperware containers and gently placed each container into the ice chest. Already packed in the ice chest were cans of Dad’s Root Bear and Orange Crush to drink at the picnic.
We were finished with our chores at just the same time and so we got out our Radio Flyer wagon and packed the ice chest and all the goodies the girls had on their list on to the wagon and we headed down the past the barn and trekked back to the woods until we got to our creek. There is a beautiful spot back there that John always says he hopes to make into a camp site for our family one day. He would like to add a fire pit and some permanent seating and clean it up just a bit more. I hope he does because being back there makes one believe that maybe animals can talk just like in Trudy’s adventures in my girls’ book they have been reading.
When we arrived at our little wooded nook beside the babbling brook I asked the girls to spread out the quilt. I was pleased to see they had picked out the pretty lavender and green one that my grandmother had pieced together. It was made with love for such a time as this. I believe if my grandmother were alive she would approve of us using it today for our picnic.
After the quilt was spread on the ground we all set about to set the table. Arie and Amy arranged the plates and napkins, Anna and I set out the food in the middle of the quilt and poured out the root bear and orange crush. On the way to our picnic area we had found dainty little lavender flowers and a few bright yellow dandelions and so we picked all the flowers we could hold and Anna quickly arranged those flowers into the four vases we had brought from home, running them down to the creek and filling them with water before placing a small vase at each place setting on the quilt.
When we were finished setting everything up the four of us stood there and looked at our beautiful picnic but then our hunger overtook us and we quickly sat down Indian style and dug into our scrumptious meal. The girls laughed and reminisced about how in Trudy’s picnic adventure the animals had come out and talked to her. Just then we all saw a squirrel scampering down a nearby tree and the little girls giggled harder than ever because Trudy had talked to a squirrel in her adventure. They wondered if the squirrel might stop to talk with us and just thinking about it made Arie and Amy giggle until they were both rolling around in the grass.
We lingered over our nice little picnic lunch. I sat there and let them talk. Usually at the dinner table John and I are so often busy discussing the incidents of the day that we tend to push the children aside and so today I let them talk and talk they did. After we were finished with our picnic luncheon I reached into my bag and pulled out the book of Trudy’s Adventures. I had found it at Kohl’s the last time I went shopping on our neighborhood grocery day. It had all ten Trudy stories compiled into one thick hardcover book. When I pulled out the heavy book and the girls realized what it was they all started to squeal and get excited because now they had Trudy all to themselves to read whenever they had the urge to. I’m so glad to have a trusty librarian such as Ellen to guide my children toward good reading material.
The girls plopped on their bellies, Anna in the middle, Arie and Amy on either side of her and they began to read their new book. I quietly cleaned up the dishes and packed the leftovers into the ice chest and then I settled back on the quilt, flat on my back, hands under my head, my covering tipped up so not to wrinkle it and I closed my eyes and I rested and tried not to think. As I drifted off to sleep I started to dream about a man who was looking for his daughter. It was a strange dream and when I woke up I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I had never seen the man in my dream before and I don’t have a name for him, all I know is he was walking all day, every day, looking for his daughter.
I felt unsettled after waking up.
When I woke up I noticed the girls were not reading their book any longer and I heard splashing and more giggling and so I went to check and sure enough, there they were in the creek laughing and splashing in the water. They were soaked from head to toe, but I knew as warm as the day was today they would be dry by the time we walked back to the house.
I called to the girls and after some reluctance they finally came and we packed everything back up and went back to the house to finish our day. The girls kept telling me how fun this had been and wondered if we can do it more often. I wanted to say yes to them but I also know how hard it is to keep such a promise when we are so busy.
Diary, it has been a good day today. John and Simon brought back a good report of all that had gone on at Mose Miller’s farm, the girls and I had a good time cleaning and doing the household chores and then spending the afternoon on a relaxing picnic. I didn’t think much about the letter sister Ina shared with me earlier this week. I’m still so confused and not sure what we should do with what we know. I won’t stress out about it tonight though. Tomorrow holds a new day and maybe an answer to what should be done, or not done.
Either way, dear diary, goodnight,
Ellie
fiction
Dear Diary – May 8, 2014 – Fiction
Dear Diary,
Ellie here.
It was a warm 76 degrees today at the warmest. In the house the temperature read 80 degrees. It was so warm that we opened all the windows and let the curtains flow in the breeze. It feels good to have the feeling of summer in the air.
The last few days, when we could we’ve been planting the garden, the girls have been helping me. Anna always helpful, Arie likes to imitate Anna and she is starting to pick things up quickly. And then there is little 3 year old Amy who is quickly becoming like her two sweet sisters. I can say that to you dear diary because this is just between you and I, but I could never admit to those around me that I think my children are sweet and lovely. That would be showing too much pride. Sometimes dear diary, I’m not sure I was supposed to be Amish. I don’t always feel like I’m supposed to on the inside. I understand what Karen, my Mennonite neighbor, says when she tells me, “my children are my pride and joy, if I could have 20 of them I would.”
Diary, who am I kidding? I’m rambling about my girls when in fact I am blue and upset tonight. I’m not sure how to say this, but I received the most disturbing news this week and since then I’ve been trying to figure out how I feel about things and what to do about them. On Tuesday sister Ina stopped by and picked me up to go spend the day with sister Ruth and while we were in the buggy making our trek back home from Ruth’s house Ina reached into her dress pocket and pulled out an envelope. She told me that last year after our mom had passed away and we were getting ready for children’s sale that she was cleaning out mom’s bureau drawers and under the paper lining of the top drawer she found this envelope. She had paused for a second and then opened it and could hardly believe the content of the letter. She was so stunned and horrified that she quickly placed the letter back in the envelope and placed it it in her dress pocket before any of us other children would see. She decided she wanted to take it home and discuss it with Steven first and see what he thought she should do.
Her husband didn’t know what she should do and told her to hide the letter in their safe until they could figure out what to do. For the last year that envelope has been burning a hole in Ina’s heart and has caused her many sleepless nights because she didn’t know what to do. Tuesday morning she figure it was “now or never” and she brought it along to Ruth’s house with the intentions of telling all of us sisters together or to see what my reaction was before she decides what to do with it. She decided to go with the latter option and on Tuesday afternoon on our ride home she pressed that envelope into my hands and said, “I want you to read this and then we will discuss what you have read.” She looked relieved and pale all at the same time. I was honestly very apprehensive when I saw how pale and shaken she looked, but as she handed the envelope over to me there seemed to be a burden lifted in her heart.
Diary, the problem is now I am the one with the sleepless nights. I could not believe the content of that letter and it was a long letter at that. There were ten handwritten pages, all written in our mother’s handwriting. If I didn’t know her handwriting so well, I would have to doubt that any of the contents were true, but as I know my mother, she never lied and was not one for making up stories and so this letter and its content must be true.
Tonight, dear diary, I do not know how to feel. When I told John about it he seemed to have the same reaction as Steven, it was up to us sisters what we wanted to do with this information. He did say that maybe we should go see Bishop Sam about it and see what Sam has to say, but Ina and I are not sure if that is the right thing to do either. Our mother’s reputation is at stake, if the content of this letter makes it out to the public our mother’s name will be shamed forever, even in her grave.
My heart is so heavy tonight. The house is quiet, the family is all in bed and here I sit at the library table, mostly staring into the flame of the kerosene lamp that once was my mother’s. The oak library table itself has been handed down through several generations on my mother’s side of the family and a year ago I purchased it for $800 at her children’s sale.
The morning of the children’s sale John had handed me the checkbook and had said, “Ellie, this is your parent’s sale, the last of what they had, look at the amount in the checkbook, you can buy whatever you like with the money that is in the checkbook. I remember looking at the amount that was in the checkbook and wondering if I could ever spend that much money at the sale. Be as it was, I purchased small items all day long, thinking about my children and items they might like to have as keepsakes from their grandparents, but all those things collectively had cost very little and so as it came time to sell the furniture I knew that I wanted the library table and so I bid my brother Alvin up and finally when the number hit $800 he smiled at me and shook his head and said, “let her have it.” Everyone laughed and I have to say, I felt a little bit guilty, but I love that I have it, especially tonight as I sit here writing out all my thoughts.
Diary, is it possible to sit so close to things that were my mother’s and yet feel so far away from her and wonder if I ever really knew her?
I am getting tired, my eyes are as heavy as my heart, I hope the “Good Man” allows me to get a good night’s sleep and maybe in the new day some light will be shed on what to do with what Ina and I know.
Ellie
Dear Diary – May 5, 2014 – Fiction
Dear diary,
Monday, May 5th, 2014
Monday, May 5th, 2014
Ellie here.
At the warmest today, it was 68 degrees.
This morning when we were ready to sit down to eat breakfast Simon came in the kitchen and smelled just awful. I said, “Simon! Have you fallen into the slop pail?” He looked at me with his baby blue eyes and said, “No mom, When I went out to bring the cows in from the pasture for their morning milking Trixie came with me and she scared up a rabbit and the rabbit went running in front of me with Trixie hot on the rabbit’s tail and they tripped me and I fell sideways into a cow patty. I didn’t think I should come to the house and change in case I have another mishap before breakfast so I scooted around in the clean grass and got most of it off my clothes and then I washed up in the barn when I got back to the barn with the cows. I could hardly believe how matter of fact he finds all this. I would have had to come to the house and gotten cleaned up if that had happened to me. All I said was, “well Simon you better quick go take a shower and change your clothes before breakfast.”
The “stink” in our kitchen and through the house lingered all day. But I didn’t care, it made me glad that my boy was safe and sound and nothing worse had happened to him.
Simon, my wonderful little eight year old. How I love you. I love your adventuresome ways and how nothing ever daunts you. I love that you can fall into cow patties and keep on doing your chores. I see your father’s strength and determination and my zest for life bred into you. May your life always be full of things that will keep you challenged and learning. I’m so glad God saw fit to make me your mama!
After a breakfast of eggs, toast, hash brown, ham slices and some canned fruit cocktail the three girls and I cleaned up the kitchen and after the table was cleared and most of the dishes done I told the girls they could get started on baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies and while they did that I gathered the laundry together and headed to the wash room in the basement because there was no way I was going to have Simon’s stinky clothes laying around for more than an hour past breakfast!
Sometimes I when I allow myself to, I wish for an electric washer and dryer. My neighbor, Karen, is a young Mennonite lady and she has a washer and dryer and sometimes I feel jealous, even on rainy days she can keep on doing her routine housework with never a worry. But then I have to remember what Bishop Sam always says, “We should not look at the world and see what they have and long for things because those newfangled things don’t get you anywhere but closer to hell.”
Sometimes I wonder about that. Is everybody who is not Amish…worldly? Karen seems like such a nice lady, demure in her ways and soft spoken and it makes me wonder if she is worldly, she goes to church and she and her husband even carry their Bibles to church. Doesn’t that make them a Christian? I know I shouldn’t be asking these questions and wonder about this stuff too deeply, but I can write it in my diary at least, maybe one day I will find an answer?
The little girls did good, their batch of chocolate chip cookies were all done and put up in the Tupperware container by the time I was finished hanging out the last bit of laundry. I can depend on Anna to keep the other two straight. For being twelve years old she sure is such a help and she is so patient with the two little girls. I think she is going to end up being a school teacher and when she gets married she will be a good mother. I can see that in her already.
By the time we had finished with our cookie baking and laundry it was time to start dinner. John likes to eat his big meal at lunch time and then eat less at supper time. We heated up the last of the poor man’s steak we had made for Sunday dinner yesterday and then we made a fresh pot of mashed potatoes and we had leftover corn and seven layer salad which ended up being plenty. I told the girls that I would be happy if all of the leftovers would be finished up because our refrigerator was getting so full of food. We had the last of the cherry pie and I added some ice cream to dessert to make so that the pie went around the table and everyone got a bite of dessert. It is so handy to have a gas refrigerator, boy, how I remember the days when the ice man came and filled up the ice box. There was no ice cream in those days.
After dinner we quickly washed up the dishes and Anna swept the kitchen floor while six year old Arie ran the slop out to the pigs and then we all took a nap. John, Simon and little Junior were in the living room reading and falling asleep and the girls and I followed suit. We each found something to read but in the end we all got a few minutes of shut eye. John woke up first and got up and grabbed his hat and when he slammed the front door is when I woke up. I couldn’t believe it was going on 2 o’clock already! We must have all been a little more tired than we thought!
I woke up the children and the boys went out to be with John, he was working on some harness today, some of it had torn when he was plowing the other day and so he has to fix it before he can use the team again. Plowing is finished, but the planting is just beginning, so he will need that harness in fine shape during the next couple of weeks. It helps that he used to work in a harness shop years ago and is now able to fix some smaller issues for himself.
The girls and I went outside to the garden and we planted some lettuce and peas and radishes. I’m thinking by next week I will have to plant more of the garden and make a trip to the greenhouse.
After we finished up in the garden the girls and I put away the fresh laundry and then we all went to the barn to help out with the chores. Once the milking was done with I came inside and got supper started. I decided to have some tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. The kids love them and John likes a light bowl of soup after chores. For dessert I just opened up a can of peaches and a can of pears and we had some chocolate cake to go with the fruit if anyone wanted it. I like to cook and use up what is on my canning shelves in the basement. I want to clear off those shelves before canning season starts up again.
Well, diary, it was a long and fruitful day. I’m sitting here on our porch swing tonight and it is a little bit chilly. I have my jacket on, as the temps have dropped to 43 degrees according the thermometer in the window here on the porch. The rest are inside one by one taking their showers and getting ready for bed. John popped pop corn for everyone, so I know we will be sweeping up the living room floor first thing in the morning. As I end this entry in my diary I am feeling glad for all the little things that happened today. Nothing major happened except for Simon having his stinky mishap early this morning. Otherwise I would call it a productive day.
Ellie
real housewives of amish country
The last couple of evenings I’ve been having bouts of not being able to fall asleep and so I get up and page through the television for something to watch. I don’t want to be “engaged”, I want to be bored to tears so that I can fall asleep. Well, I’ve been stopping by the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and watching them, in fact I taped them so I could catch what was going to happen in the following episodes. So much for not being “engaged”.
My goodness, gracious, gravy!
May I even say that?
My eyes are crossed, I’m sighing loudly and I have a ton to say about these ladies women.
I just didn’t grow up this way.
How immature.
Are they for real, for real?
If money does that to folks, I am sure happy to stay “poor”. Because what we have in light to what they have makes us poor, very poor.
The waste: of good talent, of money, of time, of words, of friendships, the list could go on forever and ever.
The rich have many more issues than us poor folks. I’m convinced.
The rich have less class than anyone I rub shoulders with.
The excess is heartbreaking.
I got to thinking if we did a Real Housewives version here in Holmes County, OH, what would that look like?
So here goes…..
Real Housewives of Amish Country
Scene one: Mary, Sarah, Fannie, Ada, Ellie arrive at Ida’s home, each in their own horse and buggy. Ida comes out to greet each of her guests with a cheery “hello” and helps to unhitch each of the horses from their respective buggies and beds the horses down in her barn, gives them water and feeds them. Camera pans out over the stalls and you see each of the five horses along with Ida’s two horses peacefully chomping on hay, and then the camera takes an outside shot of the five buggies all neatly in a row in Ida’s driveway. A tree is waving in the wind, the sunshine is dancing across the grass and the wheat in the field across the street is rustling as the wind swishes through the field.
Scene two: Ida enters her house where her five friends have already taken turns washing their hands very clean and are now seated at Ida’s quilt she is getting ready for her oldest daughter, Susan, who is getting married next year. Ida washes her hands and then comes into her living room to again greet her friends. She smiles and sits down at the quilt and the bantering goes back and forth, Sarah discloses the funny fact that last week when she and Ellie were at Keim Lumber in Charm and Ellie came out of the women’s restroom with some toilet paper stuck to her shoes. Sarah think this is so funny, and Ellie just smiles, the other ladies all have a good belly laugh and it goes on from there, story after story of embarrassing moments. That one time when Fannie came over to Ada’s house and Ada was out back sunning her legs and had her dress up above her knees. Ada says, laughing, ‘Well, my legs are so white and I just wanted them to get a little color, I thought I was all alone!” More giggles and laughter.
Scene three: The ladies are all standing up and rolling the quilt frame in toward the center. Both sides were able to roll three times! They stand back and admire their progress. Ida then says, “Hey, it is 10 AM, let’s have a break and have some coffee.” They all follow Ida to her kitchen table and she putters around the kitchen getting the coffee ready and then she pulls out a couple Tupperware containers and a plate and puts a nice variety of homemade cookies and bars on the plate and places it in the center of the table. Her friends all look at the plate and talk about the different variety’s of cookies Ida has made. They also discuss which cookies and bars they have been baking in their homes. A few ask each other for recipes, Ida serves the coffee, offers milk to those who like cream in their coffee and then she sits down and they continue their small talk of recipes and coffee and they eat and drink up.
Scene four: Back at the quilt, three per side, facing each other, the quilting needles with thread and thimbles placed on proper fingers are busy and the small talk continues, there is concern for the bishop’s wife who has cancer, one of them heard she is not doing so well and there isn’t much to do for her. They talk of the possibilities if the bishop’s wife passes away, what will happen to the youngest in the family, she is a girl, 10 years old and the rest of her sisters are married already. How sad it will be for little Lizzy to have to grow up without her mother, but hopefully the married sisters will step in and fill that void when the time comes. Next they discuss how Sam Troyer has been finding so many snakes all over the farm. They aren’t sure what that means, but some say that where there are snakes like that means that not all is well in the marriage and it could all be a sign of what others have suspected going on between Sam and his wife. They had heard she can be really bossy and often wears the pants in the family. The friends collectively sigh.
Scene five: The friends are now sitting at Ida’s kitchen table again, she has prepared a nice luncheon of seven layer salad, homemade bread, yummasetti, corn and apple sauce and some peanut butter cream pie for dessert. There is more laughter, more banter, they discuss their first meals after they were married. Ada remembers baking her first pie and first of all the dough didn’t want to work right and finally she flung it against the kitchen wall and it stuck to the wall. Giggles…belly laughs and then they move on to all the other friend’s favorite cooking and baking mishaps.
Scene six: Everyone pitches in and the dishes are done right quick. Ida puts the food away and the others wash, rinse and dry the dishes while one of them grabs a broom and sweeps the kitchen floor clean of any crumbs that may have taken a tumble to the floor.
Scene seven: Back at the quilt the 6 friends while away the afternoon quilting and talking. At one point Ellie gets up to go to the bathroom and the other five friends in hushed tones remind each other that Ellie looks more sad today again, she has battled with depression for a long time and tends to be the more quiet of the bunch. One of them says, “she really needs our prayers, and her husband needs to shape up, you know he lets their barn and house repairs go too long and always looks so sloppy over there.” They all tsk, tsk, but then they hear the bathroom door open and Ellie returns and the ladies act like nothing was said about Ellie and her lazy husband.
Scene eight: All the ladies are standing there admiring the quilt, both sides were in competition all day, but everyone kept their end going and they were able to turn the quilt frame in 6 more times. Ida was now near the middle where she could reach most of the rest of quilt. The six friends stand there all with a look of satisfaction on their faces and Ida is thanking them for “all you have done today, now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Scene nine: The ladies are all outside helping each other hitch up their horses to their buggies. As each lady steps into her buggy Ida comes over and gives each friend a smile and another sincere thank you, and each friend again thanks Ida for the delicious food she served them. Ida sends each friend off in the same manner and as the last friend’s horse and buggy clip clops up the road Ida has a smile on her face, hands on her hips, she is walking toward her house breathing in the warm air and looking content.
Looking in my Rearview Mirror 