The Ultimate Impulse "Buy"

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. 

The weather was beautiful.  You couldn't have asked for a better day.  My husband and I were invited by my brother to go to an Amish auction on Saturday, so we decided to take the 200 mile trip to Soldier's Grove, WI.  I have always been intrigued by the Amish and their lifestyle.  I have several Amish cookbooks and have discovered some excellent recipes.  My brother purchased Amish furniture from this particular auction last year, so I was excited to go check it out. 

Upon arriving in town, we immediately came upon a horse drawn buggy.  This is not something you see everyday when you live in the city.  This was my first time seeing it in person and squealed with delight!  My husband was surprised that it was my first time.  He's an over-the-road truck driver and has been all over the country, so it wasn't new to him.  We then found the Amish farm where the auction was being held.  As we pulled in with our Ford pick-up truck, there was a "parking lot" full of cars, trucks, buggies and horses!  What a sight that was! 

This auction is held each year to raise money for the local Amish school, so all the items are donated by the local Amish families.  There were several bedroom and dining room sets that sold for $2,500.00 and up!  There were probably a hundred quilts, many of them sold for over $300.00 each.  Other items sold were planters, doll furniture, cutting boards, tables, chairs, gliders, gun cabinets, hope chests, etc.  And what makes this extra special to me is that they are all handmade lovingly by the Amish.  The quality surpasses most store bought furniture!

An Amish breakfast was being held prior to the auction.  We walked into a tent full of Amish ladies cooking over propane stoves, using old fashioned egg beaters to mix the pancake batter.  It was delicious!  As you left the tent, there were large tables filled with homemade pies, breads, cinnamon rolls, cookies and noodles for sale.  On the outside of the tent, there was a booth set up to sell homemade ice cream!  Now remember, they don't use electricity.  And to make enough ice cream to sell to a large crowd, they had an industrial size ice cream churn.......attached to a small gas engine to churn it!  As the day went on, they switched to selling cups of homemade noodle soup, sandwiches and slices of pie.  Needless to say, my diet was shot that day! 

As we were sitting there watching the auction, a little Amish boy came up to us carrying a puppy.  He asked us if anyone wanted a puppy.  My brother picked up the puppy and held her.  She was adorable!  The little boy said she's for free.  My heart melted and my husband and brother gave me puppy dog eyes right along with the puppy.  I could not resist!  And I said yes!  I decided to still give him some money ($10.00), but he wouldn't take it until after my third attempt.  He walked off with a big grin on his face!  As we looked at her and did some on-line research on our phones, we decided she's probably a pure bred Blue Heeler aka an Australian Cattle Dog.  After a week of contemplating, we decided to name her Kiah (pronounced K-eye-ah).  It is an Australian Aboriginal word meaning "from the beautiful place".