Last week we were able to go into an Amish home and I am going to describe in words what it was that we were able to see. These pictures I have scanned from a book that the Shirk's let us take. The pictures show the inside of a typical Amish home in thier kitchen where there is a cook stove, usually some cupbards and a table. Windows do not have curtains but may have blinds. There is a picture of the typical mode of transportation. Notice the bailer (run by gas engine) being pulled by a team of 5 mules. Here is what I have written about our trip to Mifflintown on July 26, 2008.

Saturday we went to Mifflintown which is about 50 miles from Mechanicsburg and about half way to State College. Mifflintown is in the ward boundaries for New Bloomfield and Brother and Sister Shirk had invited us up to meet their Amish friends. We traveled to Mifflintown to meet with the Shirks. Brother and Sister Shirk took us out to see some of their Amish friends. Their friends were not home but the children invited us into their home and showed us some of the quilts that they were doing for the auction next week. They have an auction every year to pay for the schooling of their children. The children consisted of a dwarf daughter, and a mentally challenged son who were in their 20’s. There was two granddaughters and a grandson that come over to help them show the quilts. The granddaughters were about 15, 12, and the grandson was 10. We thought it very interesting to see that they were as curious about us as we were about them. The younger boy and girl come and set on the couch with Elder Smith and kept looking over at him. I guess this rolly polly old man was fascinating to them. The 15 year old girl, when they found out that we were from Utah said that she wanted to see the west. It was very interesting to see the inside of their home. The floor of the main level of the home is all hardwood. There is very little on the walls. There was homemade furniture in the living room, a couch and a couple of homemade rockers. There was no table or chairs in the kitchen. They had a wood cook stove on one wall with a gas stove next to it. The gas stove was like our dutch oven stove at home and run on propane. On another wall was a cupboard with a kitchen sink. They had an ice chest or refrigerator of some sort that usually is operated by gas. It looked like a stainless steel chest freezer with the doors on the side instead of on top. An Amish home uses limited fossil energy. The kitchen lacks electric-powered appliances. The stove and fridge have been converted to use bottled gas. Floors require sweeping and washing rather than vacuuming. Women and girls master a treadle sewing machine that usually stands in front of a well-lighted window. We saw one such sewing machine in an off room from the kitchen. It was a hot day but the inside of the home was very cool just from the ventilation offered by the open doors and windows. There are no lights in the house except for a gas light at the doorway between the kitchen and living room. There were no electrical outlets on the walls. After showing us several quilts, a couple that were very beautiful that we wanted to know the price of but they didn’t know, they took us out to the shop and showed us some of the work their father was doing with handmade rockers and wooden plates and bowls. The plates and bowls are turned on a lathe that is operated by a water turbine. The kids were very friendly and very helpful and just wonderful to visit with. The Shirks know the family very well and thus allowed us to see into their lives more than we would have been able to had we not gone with them.