Every month and a half we go grocery shopping. We do our milk and eggs weekly, but for our big baking supplies, we make a 3 hour trek to NW Missouri to Amish country. I factor in the cost of gas to the price of groceries and it still makes it worth our while to make the trip. Plus its super fun. We pick up Grandma, and make a day out of it. This time we carpooled with some buddies so we could show them the route too.
The place we go is just outside of Jamesport, Missouri. It doesn't look like much, but inside you can buy 20 lb. bags of flour (even 50 lb. if you so desire), 10 lb. bags of oats, 10 lbs. of sugar, you get the idea. There are some things that I can get cheaper at Sam's Club, but I try to do as much of my one stop shopping at either place to limit my trips. They also have 6 lb. logs of cheese you can buy. Its my guide on when we need to make the return trip north, when the cheese runs out we know its time;)
The kids are in awe of their way of life. Everything from the horse and buggies (the kids are jealous that Amish children get to drive a horse & buggy to school), to the lack of electricity, to the different way they dress. At the beginning of summer last year when we first mad our trek, Mookie wore her shorts and flip flops. When we pulling into the parking lot I was explaining the differences we might find inside. Mookie was horrified that she was wearing shorts instead of a dress - she didn't want them to disapprove! I told her that their religion was Christian based and if they judged her on her clothes what kind of Christians would they be? That seemed to help. After that discussion though, she always wears slacks or a skirt and I wear a skirt too:) I often wonder what they do think of all of us Englishers that come and shop at their store. The Country Store we shop at mostly is run by women. Most of them are rather quiet, but they're always quick with a smile too, and quick with a hand to help us lug our groceries to the car (we usually have a few boxes).
Yesterday Shorty was talking about going out to see their horses and deer (they have about 20 deer in pens which we had always seen from a distance). They told us to walk across the yard of the house by the store and go see the deer up close. Boy that was a treat! I expected the deer to be standoff-ish, but they came right up to the fence & licked the kids' hands:) That was so thrilling for them!
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| Shorty, Bubby and Mookie petting the deer |
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There's a cute little fabric shop right next to the country store and I ran in there to grab some more blank tea towels. Going in that shop is like a snapshot of clothing for the Amish. Most of the colors are dark, with the exception of the children's clothes which can have bright colors and larger prints. The shop carries all you would need to make your family's wardrobe and even some items that are pre-made. I've drooled at the hand woven rugs several times - going to have to break down and snag one...
Our next stop was the variety store. It is 1 1/2 miles further and a couple of turns down a dirt road. The proprietor was a kind looking gentleman in typical Amish dress. He didn't say much at first & let us look around his wide selection of essential oils, ointments, vitamins, and even wood stoves. When I walked close to him, he smiled and asked if I homeschooled. It is so funny, many people can pick homeschoolers out just at a glance. I asked him if many in the area homeschooled. He told me that the Amish have parochial schools (we had passed one on the way to his store) much for the same reason we probably homeschooled - true. We had the most interesting conversation with him. It ranged from the things in his store, to what his family did for work, to the "rabbit dog" sitting on his file cabinet. In fact, he kind of talked our leg off, but we didn't mind, it was so interesting! It is definitely a place we are going to go back to. He sent Grandma with her own "rabbit dog" and the story to go with it (its a carved wooden dog on one side and a rabbit dog on the other - makes a good pet!) , with instructions to practice, so she might get tested when she goes back;)
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| an Amish school |
