When you wake up with someone knocking at your door

I am waiting for everyone to be ready for supper. On the menu are cheeseburgers and macaroni and cheese. Sweet onions from the garden will be good on the hamburgers although my husband Joe and I are probably the only ones that add onions to our sandwich.

Daughters Elizabeth and Susan and their sweet little girls spent the day here. We didn’t accomplish much besides enjoying each other’s company. Daughter Verena is still helping out with the family from our church. She was home early afternoon so still had time to enjoy her nieces.

Daughter Elizabeth copied a dress pattern for a friend. A good idea for duplicating patterns is using wrapping paper. It works great for tracing patterns.

It turned out to be a nice day with the sun shining after quite a rainy morning. Daughter Loretta took Abigail outside for awhile. Abigail likes to write on the sidewalks with chalk. I bought her some chalk as she loves it and it entertains her for quite a while.

On Saturday, sisters Verena and Susan had an auction for family members. They needed to downsize in a lot of things so they decided to have a family auction instead of a garage sale. Not everyone was able to make it but all the siblings did. Brother Amos’s wife Nancy was there as well, and we were happy she could come. Brother Amos was greatly missed. His 57th birthday was yesterday. Rest in peace, Amos—you will always be remembered at our family gatherings.

Nephew Marvin (son of brother Albert and Sarah Irene) did a lot of the auctioneering and does a very good job at it. Everyone liked the bargains and all had a great time. Lunch was mostly brought in with Verena and Susan furnishing ham and hot dog sandwiches and pop. The auction ended around 5:00 p.m. It wasn’t a great day for an auction weather wise, but they were glad for the extra space in their pole barn.

Jacob and Emma and family plus our family helped get everything ready for the auction. It took a lot of time to get the items organized but we were all glad to help out.

Last night sons Benjamin and Joseph plus Joe and I went over to help clean up their yard and move everything back in place. We burned a lot of trash for them. Earlier in the day Loretta and I did laundry which was extra big. Hanging up the laundry and carrying most of it in, already seemed like a day’s work. After coming home from my sisters and getting supper it made for a late night.

So it was a bad start this morning when we woke up to the sound of someone knocking on our door. Yes—we slept right through our alarm that was set for 2:50 a.m. and it was Joe’s driver waiting.

What a bad way to start the day. After getting Joe on his way, son Joseph’s ride came early so it was rush, rush for awhile. I was so much awake that I couldn’t fall back to sleep before I had to get the children up for school. Son Benjamin is off this week as the RV factory he works for has a week off due to not enough orders. So he’s cleaning out the barn and hauling manure this week. He’s also doing a lot of odds and ends for me. Abigail and Jennifer like their Uncle Benjamin. He pays a lot of attention to them.

I talked with neighbor Irene this afternoon. Our prayers are with her as she is recovering from a hospital stay. She is 90 years old and was always active so this is hard for her. She is on oxygen and will be laid up for a while. I hope we can help cheer up her days. She helped us out a lot in the years since we moved across the road from her. May God help her be patient as she heals.

God bless all of you as well!

Blueberry Buckle

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups blueberries, well drained

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 8x8x2-inch pan. Blend all batter ingredients except blueberries. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds, then stir in blueberries. Spread in pan.

Topping: Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle over batter in pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes.

 

Lovina’s Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. She is the co-author of three cookbooks; her newest cookbook, The Essential Amish Cookbook, is available from 800-245-7894. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply) or at LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org.