A few odds and ends to round out the week:
Amish media watch Two Amish media stories have been on the radar–one is the Living with the Amish program that has been airing lately. Has anyone seen it? I haven’t; I’ve heard from people who were involved in it, but that’s the extent of it.
It’s an English-meets-Amish scenario filmed in Amish communities in PA and OH. The twist is that the English youth are really that–English (as in hailing from England).
Second, I just saw news of another Amish-themed movie on the horizon. Lifetime network (producer of the Amish Grace movie) will apparently be filming the Amish murder mystery Sworn to Silence. When I saw “Ohio”, “Amish”, and “murder” in the same sentence, I immediately thought of the recent real-life murder in that community. And I hoped it didn’t have to do with that.
Well, this one is based on a fiction novel. As Valerie Weaver-Zercher shared here recently, Amish fiction writing has branched out into a range of sub-genres. Can’t say I’m a big fan of murder mysteries, but I guess it shows that media interest in the Amish isn’t slowing down.
Site Speed You might notice this site is (hopefully) a bit zippier lately. The past week I’ve been making some improvements to help pages load faster. I like posting photos, but the downside is that it can slow loading down. I’ll be working on a few more elements to help speed things up.
Amish Workshops holiday sale ending If you’d like to take advantage of Amish Workshops’ 15% holiday discount, you have til Dec 12 to do so. Just enter sale code AAHOLIDAY (if you missed it, Keith and Laura added this nice discount for Amish America readers shortly after the interview was posted). Great chance to pick up some nice Amish-made gifts while avoiding the crowds.
Photo of the day Recumbent bicycles are a popular way of getting around for Amish in some communities. Here’s one parked and ready to roll, outside a bank in Shipshewana, Indiana:
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Week-end odds and ends
The recumbent bike is really good for your back. We have one at our house. It’s a stationary version. Greetings from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂
Living with the Amish - Channel 4
This is a wonderful programme which has attracted a lot of positive media attention here in the UK.The Amish couple in the first programme Jonathan and Marietta were so kind and patient with the young people and that was what got me hooked on the series. The simplicty and disciplined way of life grounded in strong religious faith is truly inspiring. Three programmes have been broadcast so far and each week the Amish families have been unfailingly patient and considerate with the young visitors and each week my friend phones me and tells me she wants to live with the Amish.
Geraldine
"Amish" murder mysteries
An Ohio author P.L.Gaus has written several murder mysteries based in the Holmes Co. area with Amish characters. I’ve read several of them and find that his style does not particularly appeal to me.
"Sworn to Silence"
I picked up “Sworn to Silence” thinking it would be another inspirational Amish book. Was I ever wrong! Some of the descriptions are horribly graphic, and situations so frightening, I was looking over my shoulder for weeks. I jokingly told our librarian the book should come with a warning label. If you like thrillers, this is it. I would not watch a movie based on this; some of it is pretty horrible.