Undercover Amish

(Image to the left. Myself, and Jacob have been busy hard at work searching for a smelly bandit.)

I've received quite a few emails lately asking where have I been and why haven't I posted these past few moments. Some have begun to talk that the parson, in a fit of rage, discovered my outlet to the English world and smashed it. Other thought I may have been incapacitated in a faming incident and others still that I may have left the order altogether drying up any opportunity for any new stories. Fret not though my loyal 5 readers of AEP. Instead be secure in the knowledge that myself and Jacob are hard at work with our taxi business and presently working undercover looking for an Amish buggy pooper scooper bandit. Whomever this 'foul' individual is, is leaving a 'stain' on our community that must be stopped. As such we volunteered our services to get to the 'bottom' of the matter and find this lowly individual before the ill gotten goods are sold on eBay.

For more information on the story you can read further details here.

Farm Fresh Marine leaves Amish Roots.

(Image to the right. Pvt. Abner A. Miller, Platoon 1152 a former Amish Order community member)

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO(Jan. 13, 2006) -- The Marine Corps is a cornucopia of people. It's an array of black, white, brown, red and yellow, and its varied folk practice a plethora of religions. In the last year, two recruits, who happen to be brothers, came separately from perhaps the Corps' most uncommon origin - the Amish Order."It's a very small world within the Amish community," said Pvt. Abner A. Miller, Platoon 1152. "Usually it's a 20-mile circle. We go as far as the horse and buggy take us."Miller grew up in a sheltered environment. Born and raised on a farm in Maquoketa, Iowa, he lived a farmer's life."There was a lot of hard work, but it was a good life," said Miller. "(The Amish) abide by laws that regulate the way you dress and the way you work. I don't abide by that anymore."Much like his brother, Roy A. Miller, who graduated with Company K last July, Abner Miller fell away from the traditions of his order and ventured into the world to see something beyond a farm. Roy was the first of his family in at least 200 years to join the military. Abner would be number two. "Basically, I got tired of the old tradition. I wanted something more," said Miller.Working as a farmer until he was 21, Miller left the farm and took up a job in interior carpentry, building cabinets for two years before he became a truck driver. Go to this link for the complete story by Lance Cpl. Dorian Gardner

The Amish Time Machine

(Image to the left. In the spirit of time why not go back and rid yourself and others of a few wrinkles?)

I decided this past weekend to sneek out of the fields and take a trip to the big city with my family. In doing so we decided to vist what the English call a 'mall' and see these things that we hear about often. We were truely amazed att everything there but the thing that caght my boy's and my attention were these two really big shiney doors that would open and close. My son asked me what were these things and I honestly didn't know so I said, "I have not the foggiest idea." since I've never seen such. I decided we should stand a while and see what exactly they were and did so we waited patiently. Not long after an old lady came limping along with a cane and pressed the button on the wall. Shortly, the sliding doors opened up revealing a small room that she entered then the doors closed again. Small circles of light lit up and then reversed themselves all while we watched. The next thing we knew the doors opened again and the most beautiful young woman I've ever seen came walking out. With much awe my son looked at me. Only one thing came to mind to say after seeing this thing...

"Son, go get your mother!"

Happy New Year All!!!

(Image to the right. Time flies when you have no idea what time it really is. Thanks Parson!)

Ordinarily, I take great care in being on time for events and matters of importance. It seems the Parson decided though, we were spending too much time concerning ourselves with the upcoming New Year instead of our daily activities. As such, he took up every time keeping device we had in the entire Ordnung to prove a point. By the time any of us realized the New Year was hear it had passed us with fleeting speed. Just remember one thing if anything this year, spend as much time as you can with your family, loved ones, and friends. Time is fast and before you know we'll have lost another year. For some we may not have a year so it's important to let everyone know as often as possible the love we hold for them. Have a blessed and wonderful new year.

PS- Could someone please send me another digital clock? The Parson found mine hidden in the barn and destroyed it without haste.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

(Image to the left a common sight in homes all around the country as everyone celebrates this season.)

First lets begin the day with a cheerful Merry Christmas to all, Anglish and Amish alike. Today was like any other around our household with the exception to the obvious merryment and celebration. I recieved the regular pair of suspenders and new workshirt and pants. All the children were happy with their new wooden toys and tools as well. The missus even recieved the before mentioned olling pin from her mother. To which I can attest works quite well.

It seems the the number one Amish Christmas gift for her this year WAS NOT a butter churn. Who would have thought it?

Top Ten Amish Gifts For Her

(Image to the right has many of the things a typical Amish woman would love Christmas morn.)

Christmas morning is almost as much fo the adults as it is the children. A well mannered husband always makes certain that the wife gets what she needs. With that it's time for the Top Ten Amish Christmas Gifts. Note a rolling pin isn't mentioned. Her mother will see to it that item is covered. LOL!

10. That new Bonnet she's been looking over.
9. A new mop.
8. A new pair of sexy black longjohns.
7. Black material for that new barn raising dress.
6. A solar powered flashlight for the outhouse.
5. A new switch for the youngin's.
4. Pots and pans.
3. A Teapot.
2. A Washboard.

and the most popular Amish women's Christmas gift of 2005 is...

1. A shiny butter churn.

Bah Hum'flu'bug!!!

(Image to the left of old Scrooge doesn not even come close to describing how I physically feel.)

No, I didn't say "Bah Humbug!!!" Instead, I've said "Bah Hum 'flu' bug" my dear readers. That's right everyone, I've been bitten by the most foul of all bugs during this great season of celebration. As most know it's one that's sting goes deep. Striking it's victim unaware and suddenly. Giving pain and pressure in places that were not made for it. As my luck would have it also draining out of every hole in my head as well.

Not to let this thing get me down my friend Jacob told me of some methods he had heard about one night on the crystal radio he keeps in the barn. I don't know if he was making these things up or he didn't understand clear enough due to poor reception but none of the methods have worked well at all. First he told me find a bunch of DIMES and TAP them on something to get rid of this. Well, I tried for an entire afternoon to find 12 of them and I just about tapped a hole through the table to no avail. Since that didn't work he told me I needed to find something called a SUDA and feed it. Apparently, once it's fed it makes everything much better. In addition to those pointeless efforts I tried writting with a QUILL both during the night and daytime without any success at all. I think I'll stick with my standard black tea and honey and see how I fair in a few days.

In the meantime, I'll listen to some holiday music <-link to put me in a better mood.

Tis The Season For Cookies

(Image to the right shows the weakness of both English and Amish alike. The simple cookie.)

That's right. For some the reason of the season comes down to the aroma's and tastes found in the family kitchen. Found below is one of my personal favorites and soon to be one of yours:

Amish Ginger Cookies
Makes about 48

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoon baking sodaextra granulated sugar

First, preheat the oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and 1 cup sugar until creamy. Add egg and molasses; beat until combined. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the extra granulated sugar. Place balls on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 5 - 7 minutes until barely turning brown. Allow to cool for 1 minute on baking sheet and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Tis The Season For Gadgets.

(Image to the left shows a handcrafted Amish version of the Nativity using simple material.)

Tis the season of brotherly love and celebration in our neck of the woods you could say. An Amish Christmas is somewhat simple for the typical family. That is unless you are in mine of course. Normally, the average Amish family has a simple nativity in their home along with a simple and plain Christmas tree decorated by handmade items inspired by god, made by hand and carefully placed. In ours though, it's a display of flashing lights and sound combined with all the flair one would expect on a July 4th celebration. The lights we use are of an LED (light emmiting diode) type and use very little electricity while on. During the day a small solar panel charges the batteries that operate our lights and immitation 'chirping bird' inside the tree. We also play Christmas music from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra from an iPod Mini and an extra set of speakers. One might think this steps on the line of distinction between the Amish and English but we don't. However you celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus this season just try and remember if it were not for Him we would be in a hard way as people in the world.

This month we'll discuss Christmas related topics with the Amish lifestyle and traditions in both my family and others. Merry Christmas to all and to all a well lit and silent night.

Gone Fishin'

(Image to the right shows long time friend, Samuel, and his fishing trailer behind.)

More often than not the English assume that the Amish, being a hard working lot, do not spend much time doing things that they (English) do for recreation. This is anything but the truth. In fact, our buggies and horses are more than capable to handle the many tasks needed in order to have a good time. As seen pictures here many types of trailers can be attached for varios forms of entertainment. More times than not, Amish men like ourselves will hitch up the ol fishing boat for a few hours out on the pond. Being that we're guys most of the same things are discussed while out on the lake as well. True to the mens code, after all, what's said on the lake stays on the lake. When we return home tales of 'the big one that got away' are not often told though. As is the case the big ones are brought home due to superior fishing skills along with many lures some English fellow lost when his 'big one' got away. Because of this we don't need to purchase any, if anything, for fishing.

While it has been an educational and entertaining month discussing the many forms of trasnportation and the uses of our buggies I must leave you untill next month. After all, we have some fish and lures to go get out of the lake before winter sets in.

New Winter Business

(Image to the left is the first Yellow Buggy Taxi, a company started by myself and Jacob.)

What do two enterprising young Amish men do during the winter months when farming is next to impossible you ask? Why start a new business to keep the income flowing of course. Yellow Buggy Taxi came to mind from a trip Jacob and I took to the big city earlier in the year to purchase goods for the ladder mentioned earlier. We noticed that people, mostly English, have reached the point in their lives they would much rather have someone else drive them to their destinations while working on other matters. In this area, particularly in the winter months, most Amish get rides from the English due to the amount of work it takes to ready a buggy for travel. Keeping this in mind and the rising fuel costs to the English we thought now would be a good time to start a company based on the same concept for both the Amish and English. From the Amish point of view it allows them to free their minds of the worry of preparation and the English gain the freedon from fuel costs.

Thus far we are doing quite well taking in business from both the Amish and English. At the rate we are going a second and possibly third buggy may be needed by winter's end. It seems we've found a new nitch in the world for our winter income needs. We'll keep you updated as time permits considering the busy hours we are now working.

Top Ten Amish Bumper Stickers

(Image to the right is often found on the buggies of Amish youth)

While some English may think that the Amish are not the type to have bumper stickers on their buggies, often due to lack of a traditional bumper. This is not so. In fact, many Amish have some bumperstickers that are quite humerous at least to the Amish. As per our monthly theme of a top ten I took a survey and decided to place the top ten Amish bumper stickers in our area.

10. I may be slow, but I'm ahead of you AND I got traffic backed-up 5 miles
9. Born to raise barns
8. My other buggy is a Mercedes
7. Eat my dust, but don't step in my exhaust
6. Don't Blame Me - I Didn't Vote For Him or Anyone
5. I pray for higher gas prices
4. I brake for barn raisings
3. When the Amish are outlawed, only outlaws will be Amish
2. No.... I am not Harrison Ford

and the most popular Amish bumper sticker to date is...

1. If this buggy is swayin'... I'm in here a prayin'

Amish Race Cars.

The Amish are no strangers to the drag racing scene. Pictured here, is one such Amish drag racer and his buggy. Unfortunatly, not long after this photo the buggy was destroyed and the 'engine' was blown. Three young Amish men have been charged in a late-night buggy race in the Town of Killbuck in which a collision with a fourth buggy left a horse dead. The charges were announced Sunday after a weeklong investigation of the May 19 accident by the Holmes County Sheriff's Department. Deputies were called to the scene after a dead horse and smashed buggy were found in a ditch on County Road 541. Deputies said the three men from Leon were racing their buggies south on County Road 541 at 11 p.m. when they crested a knoll and encountered a northbound buggy driven by Eli D. Miller, 17, of Napoli. The unsuspecting Miller collided with the horse and buggy driven by Jacob E. Wengerd, 17, of State Route 39, deputies said. Wengerd's horse was killed, and Miller's horse suffered cuts to its legs and chest, deputies added. Wengerd was charged with cruelty to an animal, taking part in an unlawful speed contest, unsafe passing and failure to keep right. The other two buggies were driven by Wengerd's brother, Andy E., 18, and Joseph R. Miller, 20, of State Route 39, according to deputies. Both men were charged with taking part in an unlawful speed contest. No injuries were reported. The three defendants must appear in Holmes County Court on June 5.

By Joseph Miller News Staff Reporter

On The Road Again.

Inspired by a recent ride with my friend, Jacob, I've decided to spend the next month discussing Amish transportation. Pictured here we have an Amish used car dealership called "Honest Amos' Buggy Sales' located in Mount Vernon, Ohio. As you can see Amos is hard at work convincing some young lad about the benifits of a two seater convertible model and the ease of capturing the heart of a fine, young, Amish woman. Also, as you can see in the photo, larger more family oriented models are available as well. Like most young men, English and Amish alike, enjoy the feeling of the wind betweenst their beards and the feeling of open road freedom associated with the two seater convertible. It should also be noted that we are up with the times in that it comes in a very sporty black finish with leather seating and 36" custom wheels. In addition to the black versions there are very limited edition cherry red models as well. These are usually far more expensive and tend to raise more of an eyebrow given the amount of attention they tend to attract. There is nothing worse than being pulled over by the local police for speeding.

Truely Frigtening

I never thought I would see the day that I would be scared to ride in a buggy with my dear friend Jacob. He came over today after a long day in the fields excited to show me something. It seems he's been spending some time on that online auction site eBay and picked up a few things for his buggy. He tells me this place has everything you could dream of and some things you can't. He told me he even found someone trying to auction off a Ritz cracker with an image of Jesus Himself on it! As you can see from the enclosed photo ol' Jacob saw fit to get something they call 'spinners' for the ol cart. He also picked up a 'wing' in order to create more downforce on the the rear of the buggy for better winter traction. He also layered the top with solar cells in an effort to power a radio with 20" subwoofers he also found. It's truely a strange site indeed. All of this without the Parsons knowledge as well. I was wondering why he hid this thing under a tarp though. In my opinion, its the most frigtening thing I've ever seen. Makes me wonder if he's shown the missus yet.

Top 10 Amish Horror Movies.

A few days ago, Jacob and I, were in the fields listening to the crystal radio he built a few months back. On it we heard this young fellow giving a 'top ten list' of some particulars that were quite amusing to both of us. It's been weighing on my mind that perhaps I should perhaps do the same thing here at least once a month for some good humor. I know I added one before when I first started this page but felt I should come up with some real zinggers for anyone that should feel the desire to read this page.

Today I felt compelled to go with the theme of scary movies, given the upcoming holiday. While I have not seen any since my rambunctious days of rumspringa I've heard of them and decided to give some titles of some possible Amish variations.

10. Barnraiser
9. Rosemary's Buggy
8. It Came from The Sharper Image
7. The Devil Wore Plaid
6. The Hand That Churns the Butter
5. Riding in Cars with Anyone
4. The Shunning
3. The Bare Wrist Project
2. The Pennsylvania Handsaw Massacre

and the Number 1 Amish Horror Movie...

1. Invasion of the Bonnet Snatchers

Chicken Run.

This past months have been a terrible for my family. You see we live on a quiet, rural highway. However, the traffic has slowly been building up at an alarming rate. It became so heavy and so fast, in fact, that my chickens were being run over at a rate of three to six a day for several weeks. So I called the sheriff's office and said, "You've got to do something about all of these tourists driving so fast and killing all of my chickens.""What do you want me to do?" asked the sheriff."I don't care, just do something about these drivers."So the next day the sheriff had the county go out and put up a sign that said: SLOW: SCHOOL CROSSING. Three days later, with no real change, I again called the sheriff and said, "That sign didn't help a bit. They are still hitting my chickens."So the next day, the county put up a sign that said: SLOW: CHILDREN AT PLAY. Again, no change. So I called and called, every day for three more weeks. Finally, I told the sheriff, "Look, your signs are just not working. Mind if I put up one of my own?" The sheriff told me, "Sure thing, let's see if yours works better." He was willing to agree to anything to get me to stop the daily calls. Well, the sheriff got no more calls from me for a while and wanted to follow up with me on the situation. After three weeks, he decided to call me and see how things were going. "Did you put up your sign?" "Oh, I sure did. And not one chicken has been killed since. I've got to go. I'm very busy, planting season you know." And I hung up the phone. The sheriff said he thought to himself, "I'd better go have a look at that sign. There might be something there that WE could use to slow down drivers... "So the sheriff said he drove out to the my house, and he saw the sign I put up despite the stern words against it from the Parson. It was on a whole sheet of plywood. I wrote in large, yellow letters the words: SLOW: NUDIST COLONY.

Service Extention.

One Sunday evening the Amish community had gathered together for a special meeting with a visiting preacher.The meeting went well and the singing was grand. When it came time to dismiss, the Bishop asked Brother Caleb Troyer to dismiss the group in prayer. Brother Caleb started praying, and as he did tender words fell from his lips. With trembling he besought God's mercy.Soon folk were going to the alter, praying, sobbing and many new dedications were made. In fact, the meeting broke out in a new spirit and continued on for another two hours.

That evening on the way home, Brother Josh Mast turned to his wife riding alongside him in their buggy. Josh said,"You know Martha, I have known Caleb Troyer many years. And Brother Caleb Troyer is a fine man, a hard worker, a good father and a good neighbor. I know Brother Caleb Troyer reads his Bible daily and prayers regular. Yep, Brother Caleb is a fine man, but he sure ain't no hand to dismiss a meeting.

Planting Season.

Some of you may have wondered what has happened to me and my daily ramblings on this page. Did the parson cath me? Perhaps he checked behind the bale of hay because he saw an extension cord running out of the barn to our english neighbors house? Worse yet a farming accident that caught me unawares under a horse pulled tractor? i can sssure you it was nothing of this sort. As many of you know this is the time for working in the fields in this area. As such I have not been available for some time now. At present I am working on a format for this log in order to make it more organized and make it easier for me to even write just a little message every day. I hope to have a format up and going this week. Check back often, you won't be disappointed.

Jacob's Ladder (Part 2)

It's no strange coincidence that the last part of this story comes on Friday 13th. A day viewed by most English as an unlucky one. By no strange set of events it also involves a ladder.

Now Jacob had all the things needed, so he thought, to build his ladder. No one can fault him for working diligently on it either. Never have I seen a man so carful in his measurements, cuts and jointery. In the end of it all a fine specimen of a ladder was complete and ready for testing. Well, Jacob thought he'd test the often used "straight" setting for the ladder along the side of the barn. because of the manner the hinges were installed it worked flawlessly. Next came the test of the "A" form of the ladder. A great crowd had gathered to see the new improvements and for all practicle purposes the second test was a great success as well.

New ladder in hand Jacob decides he's going to fix the lightening rod on top of his barn. He folds his new invention in half and heads up to the roof with cheery whistle and a sly grin. He got up the point of the roof, set up his new ladder in the "A" form, and then proceeded to climb up. Just as he reached the top it seemed his mass overcame the resistance of the asphalt shingle roof to his new ladder. With that it crashed down in half with poor Jacob grabbing on for dear life. All of a sudden his eyes lit up wider than the double doors on the barn as the ladder and he began to slide down the side of the barn. Not to be one that doesn't keep a stern eye on things the Parson was on hand as usual. Unfortunatly, for the Parson, he was directly under Jacob as he began his trip down to terra firma. The only thing we can guess at this point was that the Parson didn't fully realize the depth of the situation. You see the Parson began waving his hands back and forth and yelling, "Stop, stop Jacob!!!" Considering Jacob forgot to put a locking bar for the ladder I doubted that he remembered to install a handbrake. This was proven without a doubt when Jacob flew beard first headlong onto the Parson.

Fortunatly, for us, Jacob, and the Parson no one was harmed and the only thing hurt was a little pride. Sadly fro Jacob though the Parson has limited his trips to town and only under supervision lest he should come up any more ideas. I can't blame him after all. It seems the Parson is the only one that gets hurt from Jacobs experiments. He's still trying to grow his beard back to even form after Jacobs previous improvement. It was a solor powered flashlight.

Jacob's Ladder (Part 1)

As you well saw in my previous post, Jacob a good friend of mine, has an innate nack for getting himself into odd predictaments. He's a curious man to say to least in both his personality and his interests. As you may have thought from the title of this particular ranting it concerns his wooden ladder. Well, this is where Jacob's odd interests come into the story. You see ol Jacob has a wandering mind always thinking of ways to make things "better" for the rest of the Ordnung. This particular day after a hot afternoon working on the barn Jacob had an idea that he said came from something he saw an English using on his own home. This particular ladder that he'd seen would bend in the center to let the person make an "A" style ladder instead of the regular straight ladder that we normally use. Well, this is indeed a grand idea in the overall view of things but ol Jacob seemed to have missed something very vital in the construction of this new "bending ladder" idea that he had... a locking cross bar. You see our particular Ordnung has an odd view of modern things. We can look at them, take rides in vehicles, and even talk on cell phones sometimes. At the same time though there are things we cannot buy and this particular type of ladder is one of them. So, what does Jacob do you ask? He went down to the local True Value Store and bought himself two brand new straight wooden ladders, two brass door hinges, and the recently Council approved roll of duct tape. With that Jacob had everything he needed for this new and "improved" ladder.

The Goat and The Hole

Today was an interesting day by far. You see a friend of mine, Jacob, and I were out in the back 40 taking stock of our crops. Suddenly, Jacob, fell crashing to the ground waist high into a large hole. After I helped him out and checked him over for any injury we started to wonder where exactly the hole went. Jacob suggested we should throw a rock into it and see how deep down the hole went. We did, and after listening intently for a while we didn't hear the rock hit the bottom. Well, I figured we could try a larger rock to see if we were going about it all wrong. So we both lifted a larger rock we had laying to the side of the field. Again, after listening a while, we heard nothing. Frustrated, we decided we needed something much larger as, obviously, this hole was definitely a deep one as far as holes go. With that Jacob went out into the woods and came back a short while later with an old railroad tie. With that we heaved her down the hole and waited. A few seconds later a small goat came running by and jumped head first into the hole. It really shocked us something bad to see a goat running fast and jumped into this hole. About half an hour later this older fella came and asked us if we had seen a goat come by us. So we figured we had better tell him about the goat that jumped down the hole earlier. He told us though that there was no way that it couldn't have been his goat running that fast much less jumping down a hole since he was tied to a railroad tie. I'm begining to really wonder about that one though.

Top Ten Signs Your Teen Is In Trouble.

Today I thought I would give some advice due to some personal events happening in my life at the moment. Oftentimes, through no fault of the parents, at least one of your children will try to assert his/her authority. Given the size of our family (10 children) it was no surprise that we fell to this often troubling event in proper child rearing. I've decided to write down for the benefit of all who read my ramblings. I will ask you to be careful as some of the things I have written could find me in disfavor with the Parson. In addition, some of the things are written as delicately as possible but still may seem offending considering the nature of the situation.

10. Sometimes stays in bed until after 5 am.
9. In his sock drawer, you find pictures of women without bonnets.
8. Shows up at barn raisings in full "Kiss" makeup.
7. When you criticize him, he yells, "Thou sucketh!"
6. His name is Jebediah, but he goes by "Jeb Daddy."
5. Defiantly says, "If I had a radio, I'd listen to rap."
4. You come upon his secret stash of colored socks.
3. Uses slang expression: "Talk to the hand, 'cause the beard ain't
listening."
2. Was recently pulled over for "driving under the influence of
cottage cheese."
1. He's wearing his big black hat backwards.

Operation "Cold Turkey"

Operation "Cold Turkey" really sounds like some half wit attempt at humor by the misguided leader of our country during a Thanksgiving dinner in Iraq. However, this isn't the case in this instance. Instead, it's a clever name given to a special punishment we have found effective (albeit for a short time) for our cat that has taken to misbehaving in a truly twisted way. He feels it's his duty to do his duty in whatever corner of our little home when he becomes agitated, upset, angry, or flat just doesn't get his way. We've tried everything short of a therapy session with the world renowned psychotherapist Dr. Phill. It's been suggested to us to spray him with a water bottle. To no end he doesn't get either enough water to prove the point or just isn't phased by a small, projected, lukewarm stream of liquid and stern lecturing. This is where Operation "Cold Turkey" comes into the picture. As with some particularly bad habits the phrase "cold turkey" is often used to indicate an attempt to intervene and abruptly stop such behavior by whatever means necessary. Given the stubbornness of our particular royal pain in the posterior feline water does work to some extent if applied in proper and sufficient amounts. Our intentions are to get said feline to stop this undesirable behavior by doing just that, stopping cold turkey. Not only is it the method of choice but given the fact that both cold water is being used and often times the said feline is referred to as a "turkey" the term has more than one use. The last time we applied Operation "Cold Turkey" we were successful for a period of two days. Last night it seems, at some point, our other dear misguided and much younger cat must have upset the "turkey" to the point of "doing" on the floor yet again. Without delay we promptly snagged up the offending kitty introduced him to the sprayer that cat's have nightmares about in their slumber... The removable showerhead. We know not how long this endeavor shall last but know this for certain. We shall not grow weary or falter in this thing. Persistence is our best friend and endurance our strength. We will overcome this mule-headed cat come new carpet or cold water.

The Great Barn Raising.

Welcome to the "barn raising" of the Amish Electric Publications (AEP). Why would a devout dyed into he wool Amish man create a blog of all things? Well, for several reasons. One of which is because I was told I could not and that it is greatly frowned upon by our Ordnung. The others, which are personal, are more for myself than anything. Besides how shocking would it be for you English to know that we Amish actually are not as different as you think we are. In fact we have many of the same luxuries you have. We use electricity everyday. Not the same as you but we do so nonetheless. We also have telephones, cell phones, television, radio, and of all things power tools! Oh, but to the average tourist these things are not readily visible. Ususally because they are hidden away in the secret places of our barns obscured by the misconception that we as Amish don't use such technology.

Again, I welcome you to my humble part of the great expanse called cyberspace and hope to see you again as I continue my daily ranting and mumbling about all that is in this crazy world.