When in rural northwestern Pennsylvania, you don't need to travel far before spotting members of the local Amish communities. We encountered this group leaving their Sunday church service on our drive home from the airport. It is against the rules of the Amish community to let themselves be photographed, but I don't think they realized that I was taking photos of them because my Samsung smartphone is so stealthy.
Dressed in their Sunday best: beards on Amishmen are a sign of marriage.
My trip home coincided with an estate sale at my grandfather's home, which my mother had been planning for several months. My grandfather's home was a farmhouse located on a large piece of property which was originally purchased by his Swedish immigrant grandfather in the 1870s. The land was rich in petroleum, and my ancestors drilled oil for commercial purposes up until the 1950s. The land stayed in the family, and my grandfather and grandmother built a house there in the early 1950s, where my mother grew up. Fortunately, the property will continue to stay in our family, and my uncle is currently renovating the house. My grandfather's illness last summer and passing in the winter turned my family's world upside down, but I hope that with the estate sale and renovation of his home, we can bring closure to this sad chapter in our lives. I am confident that having a new job and focusing on developing my career will certainly help me in moving forward.
My grandfather's house: now in Swedish red
The corn crib and barn
Red gladiolas
Lovely sunshine and blue sky
Storm brewing
Road past the corn crib and barn which leads to the Dunlap house and upper barn
Dunlap house - inhabited by the Dunlap family when the property was purchased by my great-great grandfather
Upper barn, still in use
Equipment left from the oil-drilling days
One-room schoolhouse which my mother attended, and pond built by my grandfather
Personal gas pump; corn fields rented out to
neighboring farmers
Just another satisfied customer!
Fresh glazed doughnuts from our kind Amish neighbors
My grandparents' former home in the countryside is not the only place undergoing renovations. My parents have been working since last summer to turn our family's home (where I spent my entire youth) into their retirement palace. The new additions have proven to be well worth the arduous task of renovating:
New wing on the left: dad's library
New wing on the right: mom's enlarged kitchen and conservatory
Conservatory: my new breakfast spot
It wouldn't be summertime without homemade fruit pies: enjoying some
strawberry rhubarb and raspberry cream in the new kitchen.
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