Out and About in Amish Country

On Wednesday it had stopped raining and was a beautiful morning. We decided that we would like to see some of the countryside. We drove out of the little valley we were hidden in and drove, via forest roads, for about an hour to a farmers market that we had been told about, which was in the middle of an Amish community. On the way, we passed a number of black buggy’s and horse drawn carts. We even stopped and talked to one chap on a very ancient bicycle, nothing fancy, just about the change in the weather and the steep hill he was cycling up. Eventually, we got to see Amish people working in their fields, using horse drawn ploughs. It was amazing, it was the first time we had seen okra growing. The West’s had told us quite a bit about the way that the Amish live. The farmers market had all sorts of packets of strange dried beans and leaves and fruits and stuff. It was run by a local Mennonite Church. We drove on for another hour or so and ended up at a Subway in Linden. This was obviously an important town as it really did have one stop light, right in the middle. It was very nice though, with its Art Deco store fronts and a big hotel. We stopped for groceries at a Food Giant. Found the Post Office and posted a card for Fiona (if you read this Fiona your birthday card will probably be a bit late, but it will have been posted from the hick town which is furthest away from anywhere (even the nearest Walmart is 30 miles away) else in Tennessee). We stopped in at Mousetail State Park and had a look at the might Tennessee River, which was very interesting. I also found a whole load of fungi in the woods and took some pics of them, I may post them at some time. We returned to the old homestead in time for supper – yummy home made pizza. Then we sat round and talked and sang, their voices are beautiful together.
We have had such a good time, with good people and enjoyed so many good things with the West Family. We thank them for their hospitality, love and for opening their home to us - we feel very privileged to have been able to spend this time with them. However in this life you can't just sit on a front proch forever and good things must come to an end and tomorrow we hitch up our wagon and leave this little corner of heaven in Tennessee and move on to Memphis and Graceland.