I need to get an extra column written so I won’t need to send one the week of Thanksgiving Day, which is next week already. I will do a one-day diary.

3:50 a.m.: I get up with daughter Lovina, 18. She will go help daughter Loretta this morning. She always goes before or right after Dustin leaves for work. I always step out on the porch until I see she’s almost to their house. It is a cold morning, and the ground has a layer of snow on it.

I then start packing my husband Joe’s lunch and make him breakfast. Breakfast is a tortilla shell with a sausage patty, egg, and cheese in it. Lunch for Joe is a leftover egg omelet topped with sausage gravy, jerky, a piece of cake, an apple, and a protein shake for break. I also fill his water jug with ice and water. Usually instead of cake I put in cookies for him to have with his coffee, but we are out. I need to see if Lovina would bake some more. Joe always refuels the basement stove with coal for the day before he leaves.

4:45 a.m.: Joe leaves for work.

5 a.m.: Sons Benjamin, 23, and Joseph, 20, get up to do the morning chores. One of them feeds the horses while the other refuels the coal stove in the pole barn. We heat the one side to keep the solar batteries and inverter from getting too cold. We keep it cooler out there than the house. It also makes it nicer to use the phone when it’s warm in there. (That is where we have our phone.)

I make Joseph breakfast, but Benjamin doesn’t want anything. Joseph’s breakfast is a grilled cheese sandwich with a sausage patty and egg in it. His lunch is a turkey sandwich, an apple, cake, and chips. I also get his water jug filled. He works outside most days. Right now they are tearing down an old barn.

5:30 a.m.: Both boys leave for work. I take a break in my recliner with intentions to read but fall asleep. An hour and a half later, I wake up feeling more rested.

7:45 a.m.: I make a pot of coffee. Then I get some mail ready for the mailbox—mostly bills needing to be paid. We had the rest of our coal delivered, so that needs to be paid, which isn’t cheap. We had to have a new battery pack put in for our solar system, and another pricey bill. I’m sure you can all relate, that there is always something needing repaired, etc. That’s life! We have so much to be thankful for and shouldn’t complain. We have a warm house to live in and plenty to eat and a loving family. We too often take everything for granted. God has been good to us! Let us not only thank him on Thanksgiving Day, but every day, for all his blessings.

10:30 a.m.: Lovina comes back from Loretta’s and washes the dishes, since I have been doing other odds and ends around the house and didn’t do those. Kevin is also home, and I don’t even remember what time he came down. Lovina makes an early lunch for us since we didn’t eat breakfast. Kevin usually takes the mail out and gets it in for me with his mobility scooter, but it’s not working right so I get to do that. The fresh air and exercise don’t hurt me. Kevin doesn’t like to walk out in the snow, either, or on unlevel ground too much.

I spend the afternoon getting recipes around for Susan and Ervin’s wedding. I’m making a grocery list for all the things we will need to get. That takes a lot of concentration. I also write my family circle letter so I can send it along to work with Joe. Joe works with brother Albert at the metal shop. A circle letter is a packet of letters that you read, then take your old letter out and put in a new one. I have a few with friends and then one with my siblings. This is common amongst the Amish, where a lot of them don’t have phones. I have been in a circle letter 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 is quite interesting!

3:20–4:30 p.m.: The menfolk are all home from work. I am going to run out of room to write everything, but I will just finish with the room I have left.

Dustin shot a 9-point buck last night and will give us the meat. He shot an 8-point buck last week. We will be glad for it! My favorite is the jerky Joe makes.

We are praying for our friend Jodi. She is in the hospital and not too good. Her husband Dan was in the same accident took the life of Susan’s husband Mose. We wish her a complete 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 her husband Dan.

Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving! Be thankful for God’s many blessings.

Pumpkin Pie
For one nine-inch pie
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 unbaked pie shell

Beat egg, then add all remaining ingredients. Stir until mixed well. Pour into shell. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until set.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her newest cookbook, Amish Family Recipes, is available wherever books are sold.  Because Lovina is Old Order Amish, she does not have email or a telephone in her home. Lovina does not respond to comments on this website, if you would like to contact her directly, click here.