I need to write an extra column so I don’t have to submit one the week of Thanksgiving, which is already next week as I write this. I will make a journal of a day.
3:50 am: I wake up with my daughter Lovina, 18. She is going to help my daughter Loretta this morning. She always goes before or right after Loretta’s husband Dustin leaves for work. I always go out on the porch until I see that she is almost at her house. It is a cold morning and the ground has a layer of snow.
Then I start packing my husband Joe’s lunch and make him breakfast. Breakfast is an omelette with a sausage, egg and cheese burger. Lunch for Joe is a leftover omelette topped with sausage gravy, jerky, a piece of cake, an apple, and a protein shake for the break. I also fill her water pitcher with ice and water. Usually, instead of cake, I put cookies for her to have with her coffee, but we’re out. I need to see if Lovina would bake some more.
Joe always refills the basement stove with coal for the day before he leaves.
4:45 a.m.: Joe leaves for work.
5 am: Sons Benjamin, 23, and Joseph, 20, get up to do their morning chores. One of them feeds the horses while the other restocks the coal stove in the pole stable. We heat one side to prevent the solar batteries and inverter from getting too cold. We keep it cooler out there than in the house. It also makes it more pleasant to use the phone in hot weather. (That’s where we have our phone.)
I make breakfast for Joseph, but Benjamin doesn’t want any. Joseph’s breakfast is a grilled cheese sandwich with a sausage and egg patty. His lunch is a turkey sandwich, an apple, cake, and French fries. He also filled his water jug. He works outside most days. Right now, they’re tearing down an old barn.
5:30 am: Both boys leave for work. I take a break in my recliner, intending to read, but fall asleep. An hour and a half later, I wake up feeling more rested.
7:45 am: I make a cup of coffee. Then I prepare some mail for the mailbox, mostly bills that need to be paid. They gave us the rest of our coal, so you have to pay for it, which is not cheap. We had to install a new battery pack for our solar system, another expensive bill. I’m sure everyone can relate to there always being something that needs fixing etc.
This is life! We have a lot to be thankful for and we shouldn’t complain. We have a warm house to live in and plenty to eat and a loving family. Too often we take everything for granted. God has been good to us. Let us thank him not only on Thanksgiving Day, but every day, for all his blessings.
10:30 am: Lovina comes back from Loretta’s and does the dishes because I’ve been doing other things around the house and I didn’t. Kevin is home too, and I don’t even remember what time he came downstairs. Lovina makes us an early lunch since we don’t have breakfast. Usually Kevin takes the mail out and delivers it to me with his mobility scooter, but it doesn’t work right, so I can do that. Fresh air and exercise won’t hurt me. Kevin doesn’t like walking in the snow either, or on uneven ground too much.
I spend the afternoon looking for recipes for my daughter Susan and Ervin’s wedding. I’m making a shopping list for all the things we’ll need. That requires a lot of concentration.
I also write the letter from my family circle so I can send it to work with Joe. Joe works with brother Albert in the metal shop.
A circular letter is a packet of letters that you read, then take out the old letter and put in a new one. I have a few with friends and then one with my brothers. This is common among the Amish, where many of them do not have a telephone.
I have been in a card circle with some friends for over 36 years. We were all born in 1971 and most of our parents are cousins. We were in our early teens and now we are all grandmothers. it’s quite interesting
3:20 to 4:30 pm: All the men are home from work. I’m going to run out of space to write everything, but I’ll finish with what space I have left.
Dustin shot a nine-point buck last night and he’ll give us the meat. He shot an eight-point buck last week. We will be happy about it. My favorite is the jerky that Joe makes.
We are praying for our friend, Jodi. She is in the hospital and not very well. Her husband, Dan, was in the same accident that took the life of Susan’s husband, Mose. We wish him a full recovery.
We miss not having her here in Michigan. She moved to Alabama to live with her daughter, Krista. She has had many lonely days without Dan.
Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving, which was last week as I read this. Be thankful for God’s many blessings today and every day.
Pumpkin cake
For a nine inch cake:
1 egg
1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon of flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 no-bake pie crust
Beat the egg, then add all the remaining ingredients. Stir until well mixed. Pour into the shell.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until set.
Lovina Eicher is an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight living in southeast Michigan. Her latest cookbook, “Amish Family Recipes” it is available wherever books are sold. Readers can write Eicher at PO Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (include a stamped envelope and your address for a response) or email LovinasAmish [email protected] and your message will be passed on to her for let him read it She does not personally respond to emails.