Lehman’s Country Life

Original Oil Painting By Sue Steiner

Check out the Events Calendar on this page to see the schedule of local artisans sharing their knowledge and skills in Lehman’s Buggy Barn as demos.   We are fortunate to have a wide variety of local, talented folks from the Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild who welcome the chance to talk with visitors to the store on topics of interest such as environmentally ‘green’  activities, farm related arts and crafts,  pottery, wood carving, farm animal art, rural landscape oil paintings and gardening.

This week Devona of Clevernesting will be back with her garden themed crafts using recycled items normally thrown away.  Last week she shared with us seed catalog art, plastic grocery bag woven baskets and coffee bag seed starter pots.  You’ll enjoy her enthusiam as she shares her wealth of ideas and tutorials on how to make the most with the least using commonly found items!
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Beginning April 17, 2009 I will be back in the Buggy Barn most Fridays working on the farm animal murals.  My name is Sue Steiner and I am a local equine and animal artist.  I have this wonderful opportunity to do what I love best- paint animals in an authentic Amish Buggy Barn.  My job has been to add atmosphere and interest.  You’ll find old farm implements, garden tools and other farm related items and a barn full of farm animal murals!   I am inviting input as to what animal needs to go in next.  (There are still blank spots– can’t have that!!)  There is something in every farmer that knows you MUST fill your barn all the way!

I have a young colt mural I need to put some finishing touches to but after that I am ready to move to another spot.  In the Buggy Barn  in addition to the young colt we have a flock of  roosting hens, Bess; the family milk cow, a couple buggy horses and the team of Amish work horses Rex and Roy at the hitching post.   So we are fairly heavily slanted in the horse department but want to be an equal opportunity farm so lets hear it from you as to what is your favorite farm animal?  You are welcome to comment here.  I also will have a suggestion box in the Buggy Barn so if you are in the store please stop in, see the murals and give us your opinion!

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Ohio Arts and Crafts members had such a great time last fall and winter interacting and demonstrating in the Buggy Barn at Lehman’s they will be back again starting next week until the end of the year.

You can go to Lehman’s Events calendar and see who is scheduled so far and the themes of the various demos.  We are inviting a wide variety of artists and crafters to share their skills and knowledge with you for demos sure to please all ages!  Expect to see woodworking, mural painting and farm animal art, hands on crafts using recycled materials, wool rug hooking, spinning and weaving, fiber arts and pottery to name a few.

Check back often or sign up to be notified when an event is entered on the calendar.  You can plan your trip to Kidron knowing what demo is scheduled that day.  Stop in the Buggy Barn and be inspired!

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Hobby Farms Photo Shoot

Lehman’s has often been ‘in the news’ over the years but last Friday was a special day for me. It was a day that I got to be in the spotlight.  Jodi Miller, a free lance photographer from the Columbus area drove up and spent the day with me on a photo shoot for Hobby Farms Home magazine. I am an equine and animal artist living in the Kidron/Dalton area. I painted the farm animal and Hitching Post murals at Lehman’s over the last couple years during store hours as part of Lehman’s arts and crafts demos in the Buggy barn. 
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At some level- we were manipulated. It wasn’t something either my wife or myself were consciously aware of at the time, but whatever it is that did it is that same something that attracts kids ‘n’ critters to my wife. Of that I’m pretty confident. They just seem to keep coming.

“Testing. Testing one, two, three. This is your subconscious speaking and tonight’s program is entitled Llamas: Why No Homestead Should Be Without a Pair. But before we begin the presentation, we’d like to congratulate you on the way you handled your husband’s reluctance to share his underwear drawer with the latest batch of kittens. That was very well argued!”

Maybe it’s some DNA-based-racial-memory thing that the ideal husband is one who will willingly chase down wildebeests, on the Savannah, dressed in a loin cloth.
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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.

Just this week I read the results of three research studies. The first said the average child spends 45 hours a week in the digital world (cell phone, TV, games, texting, computer). Next was a study that concluded cell phones and e-mails help children socialize better. The last one was convinced that all of these digital tools were changing the way young people’s brains actually work and was probably not a good thing.

So, as I often do, I went out and talked to my animals about it. You can trust animals, you know. Here’s what I learned:
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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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My morning routine is rather boring but that’s what routines are. They give comfort and a sense of “everything is ok” because they are predictable and routine. Get up and get the coffee started. If it’s cold outside, go downstairs and fire up the wood stove to get the house warm. Then upstairs to pack lunches for my wife and three children, read the paper and the Bible. About that time, my wife (a teacher) and son (a student) leave for their school and I wake up my two daughters. Then I go for my morning run with our dog, get the girls ready for school and myself ready for work, wait for the school bus at the end of the driveway, then head to work at Lehman’s.

This morning, the routine was going as planned through the get up, make coffee, pack lunches, read, and say good-bye to wife and son stages. But then the routine fell apart. The dog started barking. This is rather unusual (fortunately our dog doesn’t bark at every moving thing) so I went to the window to see what was going on. He was barking towards the woods at the back of our house so I looked that direction and through the darkness saw one of our Amish neighbor boys walking up through the yard toward our house. When he saw me at the window, he came toward the door.
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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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