If you’ve ever done laundry with a wringer wash machine, you know it’s not easy, compared to using a modern day wash machine with a spin cycle. I know because as a youngster it was my job to do laundry for our family of seven. We had a wringer wash machine and no dryer. So a typical laundry day involved gathering the laundry on the covered back porch, sorting it, running a hose to the wash machine to fill it, and then filling two large sinks with cold water. I ran the clothes, piece by piece, through the wringer into the rinse water in the first sink, ran them through the wringer again into the second tub for another rinse, and then wrung them out a third time into a basket. From there it was on to the backyard to hang them on the clothesline.

 As you can imagine, this was a long, tedious, job. I never thought much about it, though. We’d always done it that way. The time a huge, black, hairy spider leaped from the clothes basket into the sudsy water, riding the waves into I wacked him out with a newspaper—that stands out in my mind. The clean smell of the soap and bleach still lingers in my memory and the pleasant, steady, swish, swish of the water being agitated in the machine—those memories still surface when I smell clothes soap even now. As I write my Amish romances, I imagine the young Plain women doing the same thing. Inhaling the scent of clean and knowing they’re taking good care of their families.

 The decision to use a wringer wash machine by some Amish communities would not be a decision made lightly. They don’t shy away from hard work and they’re thoughtful about embracing modern day conveniences that might lead them astray from their commitment to keep themselves apart from the world. They don’t have to do it the easy way. They see a value in being tired at the end of the day because they’ve worked hard. Their way of life certainly helps me keep in perspective the concept of hard work. It’s good for the soul and the body.

A long row of wringer wash machines at the Jamesport Amish school fund-raiser.

The post Wringer Wash Machines Reflect Amish Work Ethic appeared first on AmishReader.com.

The post Living Simply Tip appeared first on AmishReader.com.

I can tell you a bit about it, though.  Jayne Tate is the fearless main character, a motorcycle-riding reporter who’s running as fast as she can from her past.  She has a good life in Portland, Oregon – a job at the paper, great friends, and a nice boyfriend.  What she wants most is a chance to go to Florida for the story of the year, but her boss gives the job to a coworker.  Jayne goes a little nutters, and uses her vacation time to go to an Amish community outside of Albany.  Sure she’ll find a story there, she interviews the owner of an Amish carpentry shop, Levi Burkholder.  Levi helps Jayne find a family to stay with while working on the story. 

2,485 words to go.

Anyway, all sorts of things happen on the Amish farm, and Jayne starts to think Levi’s an upright fellow, but you can only run so far from your past until it starts to catch up with you.

2,445 words to go.

(to put that in perspective, 2,445 words is a nice-sized chapter, at least it is for me)

Well, the hubby is hungry, so I’m going to sign off for now so I can finish this chapter and eat some real food (we haven’t eaten that well lately on account of me being busy finishing the book, but I’m feeling generous).  Tune in next time for some of the questions I’m asked most often….

The post Hello, Gentle Readers… appeared first on AmishReader.com.