Lehman's Country Life

This morning, I went out early before work and cut down a tree. No roaring, smoke belching chainsaw. Just me and my axe.

I figured for one tree, I could use the axe and be done in about the same time it would take to start the chainsaw. What I found out is that there is a lot more pleasure to using an axe!

Instead of wearing ear plugs, I got to enjoy the steady “crack – thwack” of the axe punctuating the snowy silence. Instead of oily saw dust spraying back into my boots, I had the pleasure of watching chunks of wood fly off to my left. I made a game of trying to see how big I could make them. I reveled in what became a game of skill, rather than merely enduring the blast of noise and smoke that goes with using a chain saw.

And as the tree finally began to crack and tip, I got to enjoy the thrill of hearing the wood splinter. I felt like I accomplished something worthwhile…it was just plain more fulfilling than using a chainsaw.

Best of all, the morning exercise was much more invigorating than my usual cup of coffee!

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This Friday and Saturday Canton artist, Vicki Boatright, (BZTAT), Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild president and owner of Art Adventures Studios, will be at Lehman’s with her Whimsical Dog and Cat Art. I guarantee her colorful, playful style will put a smile on your face and brighten up your day.

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By Jurgen Haver

Editors Note: Jurgen Haver is the husband of Judith Costello, one of Lehman’s Country Life long time contributors.

I went to New York as a young man, with dreams of becoming the next great American novelist! Living in the big city, I noticed something about what makes people “real”.

At that time, I was hanging around people who thought of themselves as “cultured”. At literary gatherings and art shows the conversation always seemed to revolve around which authority you could quote. Nothing was said about what they personally believed. It was always a quoting contest. “So-and-so recently said…”
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I always think of November as a sort of “gateway” month – a special time between the last of the October harvest activities and the onset of true winter in December.  It’s a time of cleaning up the garden and putting it to bed, pruning the roses and flowering trees, having vehicles winterized and perhaps even changing to snow tires, pulling out the sweaters and tweeds, and of course, shifting from pastimes that avoid producing heat in the house to those that definitely do, on purpose.  “Leaf Peeping” brings out the photography novice in me, and a rare major grocery shopping trip produces a frozen turkey.

This month, however, also held a rather startling realization this year.

Journal Entry November 4th – Election Day

Got out early to vote – home by 9:00 A.M.  Started measuring for the new window quilts and got sidetracked looking out at the most amazing color.  Spent some time with the 35 mm and hopefully, got some shots that will faithfully reproduce the light that the trees seemed to have, shining out from inside themselves.  Between these and a half-dozen taken at lunchtime this past week in Dover, I’m nearly through a whole roll of film.

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Amish Landscapes

Rug Hooking Demo

Fiber Art Demo

Beeswax Ornaments

On a typical Saturday at Lehman’s you can find an Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild member conducting educational and entertaining demos for visitors to the store. We’ve been fortunate to draw from local talent and offer a wide range of demos from fiber arts to woodturning to Amish landscape painting and lots in between! Tomorrow Holly Frantz of Two Sister’s Wool will be in to demonstrate wool rug hooking. Dennis Lipp treated us last week to winterscape Amish scenes in oil painting. Angela Seymour of Longehedges Fiber Farm shared the steps needed process raw alpaca wool into hand dyed and spun yarn. Theresa of Mind Our Beeswax used Lehman’s molds to make heirloom quality beeswax Christmas ornaments.

Still to come on the schedule is whimsical cat and dog art, working with pewter, ‘repurposing’ with vintage fabric and more. The Events Calendar link at the top of this page can be used to help plan your trip to Amish Country. Spend the day, enjoy the sights and be inspired!

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Did you know that pumpkins are really a fruit? They are members of the Cucurbitaceae Family (how’d you like that for a last name?), the same family to which cucumbers, gourds and melons belong. Indigenous pumpkins have probably been growing in the United States for at least 5,000 years. Not the same pumpkins of course. Unless you count the one grown by Dave Stelts of Leetonia, Ohio that weighed in at 1,140 pounds.

So, the question of the day is, if you were Mr. Stelts, and you had over 1,000 pounds of pumpkin sitting on your front porch, what in the world would you do with it? We asked our employees, friends and family here at Lehman’s for some of their best pumpkin stories. We will include some recipes, but we are talking unusual pumpkins stories.

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I am back here again at the town library sooner than I had planned. My life never goes the way I think it will.
Bill has been cutting Blue Joint grass in the fields along the ocean shore for straw bedding. It is free and makes excellent bedding for the goats. We had a hard frost so he can bring in the turnips and all the garden will be out and stored for winter. Almost all the wood is also under cover now too. The nights turned cold dipping below freezing. Now today has warmed up. So we have to be prepared for anything. If it is a cold winter we are ready and if it is mild we will have left over wood for next winter.

I had planned to be busy piecing a quilt by now. Instead I have been chasing around town looking for a 3/4 size mattress for our bed. Our foam mattress was thirty years old. It lay on a piece of plywood on the same bed Bill’s great grandparents, grandparents ,parents and we have slept in for thirty years! In the end we had to order a mattress special made as the bed is narrower and shorter than a double bed.

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Here at Land’s End in Short Beach we are busily winding up the years work trying to stay ahead of winter! The past week there has been a definite change and drop in temperature. It has been in the 40s F or about 6° or 7°C at night . Days range in the 50s F or 10°-12°C. The wind blows hard and we have had some cold rain this week. The clouds look more like snow than rain clouds

Bill was waiting for a hard frost before harvesting turnips. Frost seems to take the bitterness out of them. We have had mild frost so far some nights. The cabbage is also still in the field. One step forward and two steps backward is the order of the day. Lay plans and the unexpected always comes along to change them. So we are a bit behind schedule getting things done.

Bill ran into problems repairing the broken mowing machine. In the end he had to take another broken mower and dismantle it and use two to make one. This was no easy task as both mowers are a hundred years old and most likely have never been apart before. Five aggravating days later he succeeded and the new mower is oiled , put away for winter ready to use next year. Bill is a few years closer to a hundred himself after this frustrating week. He hates working on any machinery horse drawn or other wise.

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Fiber Arts

As the temperatures dropped this week and a definite chill set in many of us found ourselves reaching for a nice, cozy sweater.  Soon it will be time to  buddled up in scarves and mittens, thick socks and hats as the snow begins to fly.  When these items are made with natural fiber it becomes a real treat to bundle up rather than a chore.  Natural fiber is luxurious as well as practical.  It is timely then the Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild Demo this week features natural fiber from a local farm that raises alpacas and angora goats .  If you are a knitter or just enjoy learning new things you’ll want to stop by and meet Angela Seymour of Longhedges Fiber Farm.  She will be at the Kidron store demonstrating the steps needed to take to take the raw wool from her animals to a finished product.  Learn about the animal and unique qualitites of different fiber as you are shown how the process unfolds. 

In our high tech world this down to earth activity of taking something from the farm to produce something with our hands has the ability to not only calm and soothe but to comfort as well.   Its no wonder fiber arts are so rewarding and popular! 

The events calendar on the top of this page list similar educational and entertaining demonstrations now until the end of the year.

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Theresa

Sue Steiner with mural

We’ve been busy lining up a whole assortment of educational and interesting arts and crafts demos by Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild members for folks visiting Kidron, Ohio. We are just now heading into the peak of fall foliage as the trees begin to hint at the beautiful display of colors we can expect in the next week or so. As you enjoy the scenery on the drive to the store you can stop in and visit with local artist Dennis Lipp as he paints rural landscapes and local farms as part of his demo.

Last Sat. Theresa of ‘Mind Our Beeswax’ brought along her beeswax and handpainted Christmas ornaments. In the photo you see some of the process Theresa uses to create beautiful, heirloom quality ornaments. We pictured some Lehman’s molds which can be used if you’d like to give this a try at home.
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