River of Pigs

River of Pigs

I was out at the Menno Graber farm today for a last chance photo opportunity. Menno is shipping his hogs off to market tomorrow, so I drove down to get some photos of the hogs keeping cool in 108 degree weather!

Menno has a pond uphill from the pigs. He uses gravity to  get the water from the pond to his hog pen. He releases enough water to make a river of mud for his hogs to enjoy.

Tourist love to see the farm animals, but I have to warn them to keep their windows rolled up. Hogs after all, are odoriferous.

Too cool to care.

Local Artist Expanding

Custom Native American Dress

 Local Artist Betty Polley invited me to her studio this week to see her latest work. Betty does custom design of clothing and jewelry for clients around the country.

She showed me several designs she had done, including some beautiful foot jewelry. She explained that many of her clients like to go bare foot, but want something on their feet to look nice. 


Betty is moving into a larger studio next month. She plans to continue work in Jamesport, but will need some help to keep up with the demand for her designs.

Foot Jewelry

Canvas Art

Custom Jewelry

Early Melon Harvest

Amish family harvesting melons.

Early hot weather has affected local melon crops. We are getting good melons to market lately. I was out in the Jamesport countryside yesterday and took some pictures of local farmers harvesting melons.

I bought some melons last week at the Clear Creek Produce Stand. They were great! I almost managed to eat one whole cantaloupe on my own. Yum. 

Clear Creek Produce

I  made a few trips this past week to the Clear Creek Produce Stand, just south of Jamesport off  Hwy 190. I enjoyed talking to the kids there and bought some good produce. The stand is one of those old fashioned honor system places. You take what you want and leave your money in a jar. How cool is that?

Annual Spring Hill Amish Auction a Great Success.

At least 4 auctions going on at one time!

I went to the annual Spring Hill Amish Auction today with the grand kids. It was hot and dry so we immediately went to the food building and got some home-made ice cream.
The turnout was impressive. From reports I got from some Amish, this year was far better than last and a part of a continuing trend upward. There were at least 4 auctioneers going at the same time across more than 20 acres.
People were using horses and 4-wheelers to get around the sale area. This seems to be a growing trend as the size of the auction has grown over the years.

4-wheelers used by buyers.

The parking lot was huge. I was concerned about parking, but this year there was plenty of space. I noticed that there were several RV's dry camping in the parking lot. There is no charge for parking. This looks like a good opportunity for local RV clubs to come out for a fun and low cost event. I plan to speak with the auction organizers to see if we can advertise RV space for next year. All the inns in town were full and it would help if people could dry camp at the auction.

RV's with lots of room to park at the auction.

We had a good time. It was a carnival atmosphere with kids and adults all enjoying the event. If you have not attended this event, you should try to make it this year or next. It is turning into the best event of the year. Tomorrow is the final day.