I mentioned in one of my last posts that I needed to make a trip to the Amish and get more chocolate for candy that I want to make yet this Christmas. So yesterday was the day that I was going to go. It snowed just a little bit, and even though I heard the roads were slippery, I thought I’d take a chance and go after work. When I headed to my car after work, I had to scoop the snow off the windshield and I wondered to myself if this was the right idea or not. But only about 5 miles south of where I work, the roads were clear – so I was not only glad that it wasn’t going to be slippery, but also glad that it wasn’t going to take so long to get there. It was going to be a 30 minute drive and I wasn’t too excited if it would have taken more time. You know me, always on a time schedule.
When I turned onto the Amish Boulevard, the local kids were just coming home from school. Every time it seems that I go to the Amish I see something that just makes me smile, and this time it was two little kids who were maybe 10 and 12? that were in a very small cart, being pulled what looked like a miniature pony. The older of the two boys had the whip in his hand and I’m sure he was just doing what he saw his dad do a million times already. They were driving like it was no one’s business and doing a great job. So finally I turn onto the gravel road where the store that I buy my chocolate on and soon I find myself walking into the grocery store. By now it was only 4:15 pm, but it was getting a little dark out with all the clouds. Once I got into the store it was another thing though. It was much darker and even a little hard to see in there. So what happened next? The owner came over with this huge kind of flashlight and said to use this. I looked at him and kind of nodded my head to say ‘good idea’, and then said Thanks! Now I’ve never shopped with a flashlight before and it worked really pretty good. The only bad part of it was that I had to hold this huge flashlight with the one hand and if I wanted to pick something up, I had to put down my basket to pick up the item off the shelf. Finally I just put my basket on the front counter and brought my chocolate to it. But at the end of my shopping experience, I was able to get everything that I wanted… and more! I ended up with around 28 pounds of chocolate, 10 pounds of salted/roasted peanuts, some spices, and a couple of other things. It was a good trip. Now to put it all to good use and get some candy made!
My groceries at the Amish store
But for tonight? We are supposed to be in a blizzard warning for the next 24 hours and it’s starting to snow. The boys just came home from Christmas music practice at church, a Christmas story is on TV, the dog is sleeping in the living room… all is right in the world in our house.
i love going to the amish store, but i have a two and a half hour drive to get there. my favorite store there has tons and tons of fabric. they just moved from a location that had just kerosene lights hanging from the ceiling. that was very very difficult to see fabric in, even during a very sunny day! this new location actually has electric light, which is not the norm for an amish place, but i’m glad it’s there! the people that run it are just the nicest folks around.