Monday, May 4, 2009

Of Amish and Costa Rican Cloud Forests

While my mother was visiting we saw many interesting things in the area. I've put up a few pictures of two of the places we went. The first set of pictures is from the botanical gardens in Cleveland . The second set of pictures is from our visit to the Amish country here in Ohio.

Step into the jungle:


There were lots of butterflies in the cloud forest, this one was a mesmerizing blue when it opened its wings:

Two of the butterflies loved my mom:

Orchids bloomed everywhere:


And lots of other colorful flowers:

It was misty, hot and humid in the cloud forest:

The Amish country was a bit different. The Amish are a religious order that came here from Germany. They eschew modern technology and live simply without mechanization and things like electricity. Here's how they get around:


This is a typical Amish farmstead. There is often more than one house close together. When Children grow up and marry, they take over the large house and a smaller one is built for Grandma and Grandpa:


The women wear their hair up and a bonnet over that. Bonnets are stored over cans so that the backs stay flat:



Here is a kitchen garden kept near the house:



Farm buildings:

This is a pie safe that is inside a home that you can tour which was built in 1866. Hot pies are placed in the pie safe and they cool down inside. The holes in the tin front are for circulation:


The buggies are on the roadways so motorists have to take care in the Amish country:

Here's an Amish man (dark clothing, straw hat) selling handmade baskets on the roadside:


A team of workhorses plowing a field (I took this picture as we drove past - hence only the horses and not the plowman and his plow):

And those are just two of the places we visited during my mom's stay. We had lots of fun!

6 comments:

Adrienne said...

What gorgeous countryside!
I've never heard of a pie safe - but I'm all in favor of keeping pies safe...

Kim said...

That pie safe is beautiful in it's simplicity. That's what I love about the Amish way, it's living simply and with a gentle style. I couldn't live like it though, but it does give me time to re-think about how we all take things for granted.

The butterflies were so gorgeous, and your Mum's sleeve showed them off to perfection :)

Glad you enjoyed my post! American hard gums are a chewy candy, although, not very hard they are more firm than the traditional fruit flavoured pastilles that we eat. A sort of boiled sweet that hasn't reached jaw-breaker stage! That's the best I can do, I'm afraid :)

Kim x

joco said...

Hope it wasn't you driving (whilst the picture was taken) :-)

All lovely informative photographs. The unpainted picket fence took my fancy.

Looks like you had a good time together.
jo

ICQB said...

Hi adrienne!

I even bought a pie safe of my own a few years ago - around here it's a wonder I haven't put a lock on it!

ICQB said...

Hi Kim!

Simplicity and functionality - that's what the Amish are about.

I love popping over to your blog. It is such a pleasure to read!

ICQB said...

Hi Jo!

No, it wasn't me driving : ) But we had a laugh over all of the pictures I didn't quite manage to capture on the drive-by - like the picture of two buggies which perfectly captured the space between them ; )

And my mom and I did have a wonderful time together. I was sorry to have to put her on a plane for home earlier today.