The last few days have been rainy. The many, many leaves that have not been picked up are now matted to the wet grass. It will be more of a challenge to use the leaf blower now.

Joe started the coal stove on Saturday. I think it happens every year that as soon as we have the coal stove going, it warms up. The temperature has been in the 60s since. It won’t last long, I’m sure, but for now we have the windows open to let some heat out.

It isn’t many years that we could wait to start the stove until November. We did use the propane lights, and that helped a lot to put some heat in the house. We would like to put in a wall heater for the weeks that it isn’t cold enough to start the coal stove, but we just need a little heat to take the chill out of the house. With it being rainy I had to dry the clothes in the basement, so it was nice to have heat down there for that.

Saturday, Joe and I drove to town with our horse Midnight and the buggy. We had a table at the Christmas bazaar to sell my cookbooks, including the one that came out this year. I also baked 24 loaves of bread on Friday to take along to sell. I felt like I don’t have time to be sitting there all day, but needless to say my work was still all here when I came home!

Lord willing, we plan to be at the Honeyville Christmas Bazaar with my cookbooks on December 7 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The address is 4445 S 900 W, Topeka, IN 46571. It’s a heated building with food vendors and lots of parking. Come join us!

The rest of the family went to help daughter Elizabeth and Tim with framing in walls for bedrooms in their garage and putting in newer windows. With it getting colder they are so eager to get out of their house since the windows need to be shut more often.

Our whole family except Susan and Ervin attended church Sunday in a neighboring church district. We all went in honor of daughter Verena’s special friend Daniel. He started following instructions in preparation for baptism. The attached garage was filled to capacity with many visitors. The young couple who hosted church have everything handicap accessible since he is paralyzed and is in a wheelchair. With our three children in mobility scooters and sister Emma’s sons also in scooters, plus three more there with wheelchairs, it was a challenge to make enough room for everyone for the service. I guess the saying proved true “There’s always room for one more”! It was so nice to have granddaughters Abigail, Allison, and Andrea take turns to come sit with me awhile. Andrea, 2, fell asleep on me just before church services ended. Denzel (Dustin and Loretta), 2, sat with me for a short time. He loves shaking hands with the ministers, and he also likes to sing. While he was sitting with Grandpa Joe, I had to smile when we were done with a song and Denzel’s little voice was still singing solo.

When my grandchildren all come here they like to play “church.” I have four little church benches and they will sit on there. They put a few chairs facing the benches for the ministers. Curtis (Ervin and Susan), 5, always wants to be the minister. He stands there and preaches! I love sitting back and watching them, and it is just so cute to see them imitate what they see.

So we always need to be good examples for these little innocent children. They are watching us closer than we realize. God bless their little hearts!

Last Tuesday all the girls came here for the day, and we decided to go help my sister Verena. We took brunch and a late lunch in and we cleaned out sister Susan’s closets. Sister Verena had been dreading to do this job alone. The girls folded all Susan’s clothes and put them in totes until Verena figures out what to do with it. Susan passed away in January 2021, and Verena wanted to get this done awhile already. It brought back so many memories of Susan. She was only 44 and still so young. Rest in peace, dear sister. You are still missed!

We also swept and mopped the floors for Verena. The children had fun running down the hill in her yard. Verena was so glad for the help and to have that task done.

Treasure your loved ones. God did not promise how long our stay here on Earth is. May his many blessings be yours!

Caramel Apple Cider
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups apple cider
1/2 cup water

Bring cream and brown sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in cider and water, heating just until cider begins to steam. Divide into 4 cups or mugs and top serving with 2 tablespoons of caramel whipped cream topping (recipe follows).

Caramel Whipped Cream Topping
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon brown sugar

In a small bowl that has been chilled in the freezer or refrigerator, whip the heavy cream with brown sugar until soft peaks form.

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Her three cookbooks, The Cherished Table, The Essential Amish Cookbook, and Amish Family Recipes, are available wherever books are sold. Readers can write to Eicher at Lovina’s Amish Kitchen, PO Box 234, Sturgis, MI 49091 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email  [email protected] and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.