AMISH, MENNONITE AND ENGLISHER FARM HOUSES

You folks give me ideas of what to put on here sometimes.  Someone mentioned they liked the barn pictures and also farm houses.  So here is a post of farm houses.  Some are Amish, Mennonite and Englishers.  We even have a couple of yellow houses on here.

TOWPATH VOLUNTEER FIFE & DRUM BAND, MACEDON, NY

Thought we needed a winter break so here is the Towpath Volunteer Fife and Drum Band who are out of Macedon, New York.  They are know the world over.  Band is made up of volunteers of all ages from school children to senior citizens and everyone in between.  You don't have to know how to play an instrument to join.  If someone is interested they provide the instrument and teach you how to play it.  They have traveled to play at Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Savannah, Georgia St. Patrick's Day Parade, Disney World, England, Greece, France and more.  Each person must provide their own finances when the band travels although they do have dinners, etc. to help. Most of the band members are from Palmyra and Macedon.  The above pictures were taken during the Canal Town Parade in Palmyra last September.

MENNONITE FARM AND NORTHERN EDGE LUMBER

Here is a Mennonite farm and lumber business that I found.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

JEAN'S TUNA CASSEROLE WITH MACARONI

JEAN'S TUNA CASSEROLE WITH MACARONI

1 8 oz pkg macaroni (elbow or shell)
3 eggs, chopped
1 can tuna, flaked
1 cup cooked peas (or canned)
1 4 oz can mushroom pieces (or fresh)
2 Tbsp pimento, minced
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
buttered bread crumbs for topping

Cook macaroni, rinse and drain.  Combine with eggs, tuna, peas, mushrooms and pimento.  Mix well.  Place mixture in buttered casserole.  Make white sauce with butter, flour, salt, and milk.  Add white sauce to casserole; top with buttered bread crumbs.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Serves 6.

GRANDMOTHER OLIVE TELLS OF THE COTTAGE THEY ARE STAYING IN

Thought I would tell of the little cottage we are staying in.  It is a nice one.  I couldn't have picked out a better one myself and that made Albert very happy.

As you walk up there is a small front porch.  It is big enough for two chairs, a little table and the front door.  It is nice to sit out there with ice tea watching the others go by.

When you walk in the door on the right is the living room.  As you turn right when you enter there is a large window straight ahead and another on the right (which is the front).  In the living room is a sofa, coffee table and three chairs.  Nice cushion chairs. Also, there is a table underneath the front window with a television on it.  In the corner, on the left is a small bathroom.  I guess Elmer calls in a powder room.  It has a toilet and sink with a mirror.

Back to the door and straight ahead is the kitchen.  It is a lot smaller kitchen than Jean has in her house.  As you walk in on the left is the kitchen counter with a window over the kitchen sink.  There is a stove, refrigerator, and on the counter is a microwave.  On the right is a kitchen table with chairs that could sit four people.  There are a few cupboards on around the kitchen there.

Past the kitchen table is the hall for the two bedrooms.  There is one bedroom on the right, next a full bathroom in the center and on the left is the master bedroom with it's own bathroom.  The bedroom on the right is smaller and has two single beds, one night stand and a small dresser There is a small clothes closet. The master bedroom has a queen size bed, with a night stand on either side, one large dresser and of course a full bathroom.  There is also a good size closet in there.  In each bedroom is a television.

If you walk straight through the kitchen as you come in, there is a sliding glass door that opens on to the backyard.  There are a couple of trees back there and a flower garden around the edge of the house.  It is very nice back there.

The whole place is very nice.  Only thing I don't like is the place is all painted white.  Told Albert it looks like hospital white.  Albert says that is a Florida color.  I said even an off white would be better. The floors are hardwood floors in all the rooms but the kitchen which is a nice tile.

The house also has central heat and air, which takes a little getting use too, but I think with Bishop Eli's parents help, we have it down now.  Also in the cupboards were pots, pans, dishes, glasses, silverware, etc.  Eli's parents had also gone and purchased some food for us before we got there.  \

Albert and I went to an auction of one of the cottages at Pinecraft.  I guess when people at Pinecraft want to sell their place, they don't all go to real estate people.  They auction it off.  Place was packed. A lot of people were, like us, just curious.  Some were interested in buying.  The cottage sold.

The cottage we are in, is up going to go up for sale or maybe it won't.  The evening after the auction, Albert asked me what I would think of buying the cottage we are in.  At first, I thought he was kidding, but when I got a look at him, he was serious.  He doesn't want to spend anymore winters in the snow and ice.  This is a place not only for us, but the whole family could come to in shifts.  Albert did something that he very seldom does to me - he shocked me.

At first, I thought it was a bad idea.  A waste of money.  I think I hurt Albert's feelings.  Albert said all our lives we had worked. I was 15 years old when we got married almost 65 years ago.  We worked together and now it was time to relax together.  After I thought about what he said, he was right.

We called a couple of our children to get their thoughts.  The one that surprised me the most was Jean's Father.  I love him and he loves me, but we have the same personality.  He thinks and acts like I do.  That's why we live at Jean's.  Two bosses don't work out.  He said we should pray about it and if we feel that it is what the Lord wants - buy it.  We deserve it.  It shocked me because I thought he would give us a hundred and one reasons not to buy it like I do.  He also said to make sure we were getting a good deal.

Jean and David were shocked.  They thought we were going to move down here full time.  Albert said maybe at sometime, but we want it now just for the winters.   Michael, Edward and Thomas were wondering how they would fit all eight of them in here if they came.  We said they would have to come when we weren't here.  We would put two sets of bunk beds in the front bedroom.  David and Jean in the master bedroom..  Get a pull out couch and or chair for the living room.  That would hold eight people.

We also felt that when our time comes to go to the Lord, we would leave it to the family.  We would have to figure out who to leave it too.  Kind of thinking of leaving it to Jean and David as they have taken care of us the most, but they would have to allow all to use it - in shifts.  We talked with Bishop Eli's parents as they have the same thing.  They said they are leaving there's to Bishop Eli because he is the one that bought it - they didn't.  They just have the right to live there.  He also owns the cottage that is next door to them which John and Sarah are living in right now and Elmer and Anna will when they get here. Eli is trying to get Elmer and Anna to buy that one from him.

I told Albert if we buy this, some of the walls have to change color.  He said they would, he would see to it.  He has spoken to the lady that wants to sell it.  She was delighted that we are considering it. Albert said he was told that her and her husband had many great years there.  The only reason she is selling it is that her husband passed and she was going to stay north near her children.  After all the years they had been there she felt it needed remodeling and she had it done.  She had a beautiful job done.

She would like to handle this matter through the mail as she doesn't want to have to come down and see the place again.  Too many memories here she said.  We told her we would be great owners and it would be passed down in our family.

So right now, we are at a thinking, praying.  Albert checked around to see what cottages like ours are going for and she is offering a fair price.  Maybe she would come down a little.  At least we don't have to do any remodeling except painting and getting rid of those televisions.  Albert said maybe we should keep one of the televisions in the master bedroom in case of hurricane coming or alike.

Be with God,
Olive

JEAN TELLS Of COLD TIMES !!

It's my week back this week and I may be doing next week too as Elmer and Anna will be just arriving in Pinecraft and I don't want them to have to do a post when they get there.  Seems like everyone is going to Pinecraft this year.

Grandfather Albert and Grandmother Olive are having a good time down there which I am sure Grandmother will tell you for tomorrow.  I will let Grandmother tell you, but they are thinking of doing something down there that would affect the whole family.  It is in the thinking stages.

Michael, Edward and Thomas want to go down there.  We put a hold on that for at least this year and we hope for a couple of years.  David and I think they are too young for the three of them to go down there.  Of course, they don't think they are.  They said they could stay with Grandmother
Olive and Grandfather Albert.  First, they haven't been invited and second my Grandparents are not down there to keep an eye on them.  They were going to ask my Grandparents if it was okay, but we told them to wait.  The boys are growing up so fast.

David and I also would also like to go.  We have never been down there.  When we got married Grandfather and Grandmother went, but no one else.  Then my parents would go once in a while during the winter, but we have never been.  So we think that we should go down there.  It would be hard to find a place that would take all eight of us, if we took all the children with us.  Maybe some year.

As Elmer said: Edward, Thomas and Michael have been busy plowing driveways and cleaning sidewalks in addition to their other jobs.  We finally figured out what the money was for when Michael pulled up one day with a new courting buggy.  Michael had done most of the work on it, but Kevin had helped him out.  They worked really hard on that.  All three of the boys had taken their money to help Michael pay for the supplies he needed.  So now we have three courting buggies.  Two Old Order Mennonite and the third is John's Amish.

Now the money they are making plowing snow is either extra money in their pocket or they put it in the bank.  Most of it goes into the bank.  They are saving up for when the time comes they can start their own farms.  We have land for two of them to start on, but we have to get land for the third one.  Time will come when we will have to have land for David Junior, but that is a way off, yet.

We didn't buy ski passes for Edward and Michael this year, because with the low snow we had the last two years, they didn't get their monies worth of it.  Of course, we should have because they have enjoyed going skiing.  They also have gone ice skating.  Thomas is not interested in skiing.  Says he spends more time sitting than standing.  Also, he is not interested in ice skating as he says he has lousy balance.  Thomas does go to winter activities that the other young folks have.  He is great when the snow melts at volley ball and soft ball, but winter sports are not his thing.

Thomas, sometimes, takes David Jr., Susan and Katie sledding which makes Michael and Edward happy.  I am not saying Michael and Edward wouldn't take the little ones, but sometimes they want to go with them and they are not old enough.  Also, sometimes Michael and Edward want to go with people their own age.

Thomas helps the little ones get all their equipment and supervises them going down the hills and back up.  Sometimes he rides down with one of them.  If there are parents there with their children, Thomas says it is funny.  He is the only teenager there with both little ones and parents.

With this bitter cold, David doesn't want the girls, David Junior or myself outside doing chores.  So that has ment the older brothers are doing more farm chores.  They are feeding the animals, bringing in the eggs and more.

What has been shocking is they have even closed the school a few times.  Bishop Joseph has said it was just too cold. Some of the children walk to school.  Even when school is open, some of the children haven't come because of the cold.  Also, at school, we have been asked to make hot lunches rather than have children bring lunches to school.

This means that one Mother makes the lunch for the students that day.  I brought a hot lunch one day a week ago.  With the cold, I think I will be doing it again pretty soon.  One thing is that no matter how cold it gets, at recess the children want to play outside.  Teacher tried to keep them on indoor activities, but they want to go outside.

Well, I hope all of you that are in the cold areas are trying to stay warm in these cold days.

Be With God,
Jean

GOD'S BIRD CREATURES

Here are just some of th birds that come and eat in front of our windows.  It is funny because if anyone opens their doors or walks by all the birds fly away but one.  That one sits in the feeder and keeps eating.  Also out there are a Cardinal and a Blue Jay that I am trying to get, but they fly away faster than any of the other birds, but I am still trying to get them in picture.  Hope you enjoy God's Bird Creatures.

BARNS, BARNS AND MORE BARNS

Here are more barns that I have taken pictures of.   

C. C. B. WALKER HOUSE, PALMYRA, NEW YORK

I told you and had pictures of one of the historic houses in our village that was torn down.  Well let me tell you about one of the historic houses that has been saved and is still being restored today.  It is the C. C. B. Walker house.  This was the Walker's Summer Home. It is located on small road called, of course, Walker Road in the town of Palmyra.

C. C. B. Walker stood for Charles Christopher Brainerd Walker who lived from June 27, 1824 to January 26, 1888.  He was a U.S. Representative from the State of New York.  He was born in Drewsville, New Hampshire.  He completed preparatory schools. He moved to Corning, New York in  1848.  He was Postmaster from 1856-1860, as well as a contractor engaging in the hardware and lumber business.  During the Civil War he served as brigade quartermaster with the rank of captain in the New York State Militia.  He served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charleston in 1860 and Baltimore in 1872.

Walker was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth Congress March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1877.

After his term in Congress he resumed his former business activities.  Her served as a member of the Board of Control of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station from June 10, 1885 until his passing.  He was also chairiman of the New York State Democratic Committee  from 1887 to his passing.  Walker died in Corning, New York on January 26, 1888.  He is buried in the Palmyra, New York cemetery.

C. C. B. Walker was not the person that had the house built.  The house was built in 1815 by Mr. George Brown.  Brown's widow sold the house to Edward Seldon Townsend.  Mr. Walker bought the house from the Townsend's for his wife.  As I said, it was the Walker's Summer House.

It is rumored that President Grant attended an elaborate dinner that the Walker's had in this home. Also, the basement has a tombstone engraved "Joel Foster, February 2, 1829".  Foster is one of the original founders of Palmyra.

Having been passed down through the family, the house was left vacant from the 1940's until the late 1960's or early 1970's.  As a child, we always said the house was haunted.  In the late 1960's or early 1970's I and a friend of mine went through the house as we were thinking of purchasing it.  When I was there, it had another house behind it, which I assumed was the servants quarters and a large barn on the left side away from the house.  It was purchased by someone who took both the house behind it and the barn down.  It was again sold to a family who started to restore it.  Do to a job transfer they had to sell and was purchased by the current owners who are still restoring it today.

There are five stories to this house plus a walk out basement.  I would like to go through this house again and see all the improvements that have been done to it.  A new barn was built on the remnants of the old barn.  In the barn,  the people raise chickens and sell their eggs as Colonel Walkers eggs as you can see in the last picture.

While getting information for this post, I found out that I know the people that own it now. Don't know them well, but know who they are.  I hope when the weather gets better, they will allow me to go through their house and take pictures for here.