Just a Nice Day

I'm a homebody. I admit it. I don't like to have to leave the house unless it's absolutely necessary. In fact, I really like to stay in our "suite." We have a fairly large bedroom, with a bathroom, two walk-in closets, a sitting area and french doors that go out to the back patio and pool area. Our bedroom door is the first door down the hall, so when the door is open you can "catch" anyone (the boys) walking down the hall to their bedrooms. We have a recliner and a rocking chair in the bedroom, along with a TV, so all that's missing is a small refrigerator and a microwave.

Just kidding.

Actually, no I'm not.

But that's not high on my priority list.

I haven't always been a homebody. I used to be on the go constantly. When the kids were younger, we were going here, there, and everywhere on the weekends, and in the evenings when school was in session.

Then I realized that I'd had enough of running around and that was it.

Now I stay home. A lot. Almost all the time, in fact. If I have errands to run, Alex is usually thrilled to take care of them. I guess when you're 17 and have a drivers license, you enjoy doing things like that.

So Ted and I had been talking about going to a place out in Amish country to get some apples. We had been there in mid August and got some fresh peaches (fresh, as in picked that morning) and asked about their Gala apples. They said they would be available starting the very end of August and they'd have them until the beginning of October.

My weekend activities now center around the weather. If it's going to be warm and sunny, I want to get in some pool time before we have to close it in a few weeks. If it's not, then I'm somewhat flexible.

Yesterday was a cloudy day, and the temp was only going to get up into the low 70s, so we decided to go.

Our first stop, was a store that features all kinds of cheeses and meats, along with bulk food items. They have the second best swiss cheese I've ever tasted. We got a couple of kinds of cheese and meat, along with some chicken salad for Ted (I don't do mayonnaise AT ALL...and he said it was fabulous!). We also got a few types of candy and chocolate along with some of their soup mixes, some strawberry jam and three pie pumpkins, which are just small pumpkins. I'll put them out on the front porch.

Then we were off to the orchard a little further into the depths of Amish country.

The orchard we go to is like a small warehouse. We don't actually go out and pick the apples, etc. Everything has already been picked and put in baskets. They also have pumpkins, mums, and other stuff. We ended up getting about a dozen gala apples, a small basket of red new potatoes, two mums for the front porch, and a bigger pumpkin to put out on the porch along with the smaller ones.

Ted always cringes when I have to pick out things like mums and pumpkins. He knows that I need to study them first before I make a selection. The mums were fairly easy to pick out. The pumpkin took a little more work. I finally saw one I liked, but it was near the bottom of a pile. He asked me twice if I was sure that it was the one I wanted. He said that if he picked that particular one out, the ones on top would all come sliding down.

I still wanted THAT one.

And he got it for me. What a guy!

I took a couple of pictures of the front of the orchard, but only one came out clear. The rest were fuzzy.

My husband, with his sense of humor, commented that this woman was trying to steal a pumpkin for her little boy. I give her a lot of credit for maneuvering around with a child and obviously being fairly close to delivery.

We continued through this little town and ended up stopping for lunch. We go out this way for dinner about every six weeks or so. Amish restaurants deserve a post all to themselves, but for now, let's just say that everything is open to interpretation.

For those of you who have never experienced anything Amish, I've included a few shots.

This was part of the parking lot for a little store.

We finished up in this area and started to head back home. As we came to a traffic light, I saw this sign:

We'd been at this intersection dozens of times in the past, but I never noticed the sign before. It's quite possible that it was just put up, as we are approaching high traffic volume season. Autumn in Amish country is quite busy, and we tend not to head out there then, unless we absolutely have to.

We went through another little "partly Amish" town on our way back home and I took a picture of the flags. They have this flag trio all through the town.

Yes, they take advantage of the Amish thing, as you can see by name of the store on the door. The Amish began in Switzerland, hence the Swiss flag.

On the way home I was intrigued by the sky...the clouds were moving quickly and it made me wonder if rain was nearby.

We had a really nice time, and ended up being gone from home for only about 3 1/2 hours. Sometimes the simplest things can bring us the greatest pleasures.