I love this weekly article in our newpaper. Lovina took over writing it when her mother passed away. Always provides wonderful recipes and gives us a glimpse of their way of life.


THE AMISH COOK
BY LOVINA EICHER

It has been snowing for the last few days. They said we would get around 9 inches, but I think we have more than that already. The snow does make for some nice scenery outside though. The children are trying to get caught up with all the work around here so they can go enjoy the snow. I would think the snow is almost too deep for good sledding, though. Joe and the boys have been shoveling a lot of snow around here. One of our neighbors was nice enough to go shovel out our driveway which saves them a lot of shoveling. We did laundry, cleaning floors, and washing dishes.

The boys shoveled a path from the barn to the house last night. This morning everything was snowed shut again. But son Benjamin said "I think I can find the same path we had last night to start over again."
Even with the deep snow the horses do pretty well on the roads. Joe and the boys took Stormy , our pony, over to our Amish neighbors for a visit. Kevin kept begging that he wanted a pony ride. Seems like the buggy pulls through the drifts pretty well. This snow is really fluffy so the wheels sink in nicely. The buggies have more trouble in deep, wet snow. We don't have a heater in our buggy, but a lot of buggies do have a small propane heater. With 10 people in our family in a closed buggy, it gets pretty warm. You'd be surprised at the difference in warmth when the whole family is in the buggy and when it is just Joe and I getting groceries. I've told Joe we should get a heater just for when it is the two of us in the buggy.
Meanwhile, here in the house the girls have been doing their share of work also. We did a huge laundry and hung it all up in the basement. They also did the weekly cleaning. It doesn't take long for the floors to get messed up with 10 people walking across them all the time. It is always so refreshing when everything is clean.
Joe's Dad is in the hospital again. His health seems to be failing fast. It sounds like he will have stay for a few days or more. His immune system seems run down and he has lost so much weight. He has many lonely days. We want to go up to the hospital tonight to visit with him.
Joe plans to stay with him all night to keep him company. He sounded excited to have Joe stay with him. I remember my grandmother saying it wasn't nice getting older and feeling like a burden on your children. But when we think what our parents did for us it makes it all worthwhile.

We had a very sad happening in our school this week. With all the ice we had it caused an accident claiming the life of a young teenage boy. The community was shocked but once again it has shown us that we never know when our time is up. Let us always face each day as if it were the last. And also to remember that only what is done for Christ will last.
Monday Joe will start back to work. This is a big blessing. We have much to be thankful for. At times we complain too much and don't thank God enough for the many blessings than have come our way.

*************

For more information about The Amish Cook column visit amishcookonline.com

South Bend Tribune Monday, January 19, 2009