Lehman’s Country Life

Thursday evening (last night as I write this) we had the pleasure of hosting the Dalton High School Jazz Band in our 1830’s Buggy Barn. They played a rousing assortment of Christmas songs, from Frosty the Snowman to Jingle Bell Rock.

I had to wonder what the gentleman who built the barn in the 19th century would have thought about all the festivities. I have a feeling he would have been both pleased and honored. The event would have even surprised the Amish gentleman that sold us the buggy barn, as my brother Galen pointed out after the event.

We served free cookies and cocoa in the Cast Iron Cafe and it was lovely to see our store filled with local residents and young people, admiring the antiques on the walls and enjoying the cookies.  It was also interesting to me that, once again, we have teenagers in the store, learning about 19 century history, before they head back to their 21st century lives.  And here at Lehman’s we are able to bridge that 200-year gap using the modern tools that are available to us, like this blog.

We invited the Dalton Jazz Band to perform again and hope to have another concert in the spring.  We’ll keep you posted (pun intended).

Check out the videos we posted on www.youtube.com/lehmanshardware for more about their performance.

Bookmark it:

Hide Sites

Single parent family started a buisness and no one would help us keep it running now we are out of buisness and have one item for sale.61 inch turbo diesel mower with grass clam shell catcher this is a commerical unit and does an amazing job. We paid 19,800 for this in canadian dollars we are selling it for 14000 in order to keep our family together and pay off bills and debt. Thats five thousand dollars saved for the buyer of this great mower.Its a saber tooth tiger Scag and its the best mower i have ever ran and i have ran them all from john deere to dixie chopper. This is the heaviest built machine on the market and will last the farmer or home owner with large lawns decades not just a few years.Alisha Hillmaneditors note: I have removed the email address from this post to prevent the sellers email address getting spammed. If a buyer is interested in contacting the seller please respond and I will make sure you are connected. Thank you.

Bookmark it:

Hide Sites

½ cup shortening / lard / butter

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup cherry juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 cup chopped maraschino cherries

½ tsp salt

½ cup nuts, chopped

Mix in order of the list / bake in 350º oven for about 40 minutes or so. I like to put the batter in the small loaf pans (1/4 size of normal bread pan) to make individual breads for gifts.

Bookmark it:

Hide Sites

I got a nice gift this morning when I went down to the barn for chores: a new baby lamb! It’s a little early for Christmas, but getting an unexpected baby lamb just a few weeks before the traditional birthday of the Lamb of God is a special thing.

We’ve raised sheep for almost 10 years now, and I still can’t tell whether they’re pregnant when they have their big winter coats on. This is especially true when it’s out of the normal birth cycle. (It’s a little easier after they’re sheared, but even our vet misdiagnosed a pregnancy several years ago.) Our ram died this summer, so we put a new ram in with the ladies. I guess he couldn’t wait to get to work!

When I stepped into the barn, the lamb had just been born. She was still on the ground and momma was just starting to lick her. Within 5 minutes or so she was up and looking for her first milk. Her mom was eating the grain treat I gave her as if having a baby were a simple thing.

After years seeing the birth cycle start I’m still amazed by it! Every now and then we have problems giving birth, but for the most part it works just as well as it did this morning. We’ve been gradually culling the sheep that struggle giving birth. We had one whose hip dislocated during birth. We had another who just didn’t know what to do and would actually run away from her lambs. In both cases, penning them with the lamb was the solution. The mother with the bad hip could just lay there while we fed her and she fed the lamb. The mother who ran away couldn’t and eventually figured out what she was supposed to do.

I’ve been helped along by reading Raising Sheep the Modern Way and by getting advice from other farmers. If you need advice about livestock, post your questions on our discussion board, Lehman’s Life.

Bookmark it:

Hide Sites

Used, great shape, no cracks, no soap.

13′ med round stone $8.00

med wire retangle rack $2.00

Med Bar Pan $10.00

11″Round Depp Dish $15.00

email : editors note: I have removed the email address from this post to prevent the sellers email address getting spammed. If a buyer is interested in contacting the seller please respond and I will make sure you are connected. Thank you.

Bookmark it:

Hide Sites

For the past several years, we have hosted the Central Christian Varsity Singers for an old-fashioned Christmas celebration the first Thursday in December in our Kidron store. This local Mennonite school has a world-class choir, led by the tireless Tim Shue, that performs in a variety of venues. We have been fortunate enough to have this 16-member choir perform by the light of their oil lamps inside our store each year, and then move outside for a traditional candle lighting ceremony.

I took photos, but sacrificed good lighting for the ambiance of the performance, which is why this photo is so dark.  The students were dressed in 19th century period costumes and looked wonderful!  The young women had hoop skirts and frilly white blouses, and the young men were actually in top hats and tails, with white gloves.  When was the last time you saw teenagers dressed like that? (Prom night doesn’t count).
Read the rest of this post »

Bookmark it:

Hide Sites

My Dad remembers wringer washers, oil lamps and sock darning balls.  But my daughter doesn’t…so how to make old-fashioned products relevant to new-fangled kids? I ask.   Bring them to the store and explain, not only what we sell, but why we sell, to whom and perhaps mostly importantly, how to use them.  Today when you get a hole in your sock, what do you do.  Throw it away and go buy a new pair, right?  But in the old days, you didn’t because…after you raised the sheep, sheared the sheep, spun the wool and knit the sock, you had far too much time and energy invested in the product to throw it away.  Enter Sock Darning Ball.  Made locally for us, this is a great example of a product our grandparents knew well, but kids today think it a really quiet rattle.

This morning and last Friday morning, I had the chance to give a presentation on Lehman’s and a store tour to a wonderful group of  students from North Royalton High School, near Cleveland.  They braved blizzard-like conditions to drive down to Amish country to learn about Lehman’s.  Not only did they ask great questions, they guessed nearly every single old-fashioned, but new product, I showed them.  From the soap saver, to the wick trimmer, to the lid lifter to the courting candle, they figured them all out.
Read the rest of this post »

Bookmark it:

Hide Sites

These really do go over well. When I asked my granddaughter what she wanted for Christmas, she said, “Some of those sweet, salty nut things you make!”
For one pound of walnut halves (ok, we’re practical and frugal here: substitute walnut “meats” for that “halves” unless you have a cheap source of walnuts), you’ll need two cups of shelled walnut meats.

You’ll also need:

1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of oil (for frying)
3 cups of water
Salt
Read the rest of this post »

Bookmark it:

Hide Sites

With everyone getting snow, I feel guilty. It’s warm and sunny here in Colorado - 68 yesterday. Our time will come, though, of that I’m sure. We do get some real blizzards now and then, too, but it’s been a few years since we’ve had a serious one. That was when my kids were little… well, bear with me while I reminisce for a few moments?

We lived in an old farmhouse that we heated with wood. We also had a wood cookstove and were pretty much prepared to handle power outages and weather related problems.

I remember that it was one of those Colorado afternoons that promised snow, but since the weather had been pleasant, we weren’t expecting anything much. It started snowing late that afternoon. The kids filled both wood boxes, and we fed the animals and made them cozy for the night. By the time we finished outside, it was beginning to snow sideways as the wind became stronger. We had to protect our eyes and faces to walk against it.
Read the rest of this post »

Bookmark it:

Hide Sites

By Melinda Hill

As the holiday season approaches I often need to stop and remind myself that the focus of the holidays doesn’t center around the preparations and the details but on the fellowship with family and friends as we celebrate the spirit of the season. As we gather to give thanks for our blessings, please keep in mind those who are less fortunate, those who are pending job loss, those who have lost loved ones, those who can’t be with us and then, put the rest of life in perspective. For all the joys we cherish, there are sorrows that burden us, and if nothing else, we just need to be mindful of those around us who are struggling during this time and offer a helping hand. 
    As you plan gatherings, remember to include foods for those who are trying to avoid putting on a few extra pounds through the holidays. Again, from our friends in Extension at the University of Kentucky, Janet Tietyen has the following tips for us to use.