Anniversaries Abound at the Hasseman House

As innkeepers we have a lot of times when we see people come with amazing things in common.

Last week was one such experience. We had three couples stay with us last Saturday night. They did not know each other and all were celebrating their anniversaries. What's more, the years were 33, 34, and 35. And they were all followers of Christ. Amazing. Coincidence? What are the odds? I think when things happen like this it is a small way that God reminds us that He is in control and that nothing really happens by chance. It is also an encouragement to Jenny and I who just celebrated our 13th anniversary last month. We are young innkeepers :) I'm 32 and she's 34. I joked with our guests that if you reversed our numbers to 31 it would have been in the ballpark to theirs.

Tonight we have a couple coming who are celebrating their 38th anniversary. In an age when marriages are falling apart in record numbers, it is great to be able to host people who have stayed the course for so long.

So Thankful For our local Amish Fruit Market

We are so thankful for our local Amish Fruit Market, especially because of the groundhogs. I shared about my girls planting their first garden a few weeks back. Things are, or should I say, were growing very well. About a week ago I looked out the window and saw a nice row of beans sprouting up. The little leaves were really big for only a week. A few hours later I look out the window and they're gone. So when I went to inspect, they are all nipped off, including the parsley and cilantro. Thankfully, the tomatoes and basil were spared. I realized we either have a rabbit or groundhog eating our produce.

Later, I saw the culprit. A little baby groundhog. Oh well, at least we'll have tomatoes and basil to make pizza sauce.

Thankfully, only a few miles West of us on Route 62 is our favorite fruit market, Alpine Produce. Amish run and owned, they open in June and close in October. All Summer long they have great local grown produce and fruit. We've been eating strawberry shortcake almost every day for the past week! Mmm good! Also, when in season we can be sure to get great beans from them that the groundhogs didn't get. We send our guests there a lot as well to pick up some great local produce to take home with them.

Birdwatching in Amish Country. The Hummers are Here!

A few months ago we had some guests who were in to bird watching. She had a digital device that gives you samples of bird calls and pictures. We were fascinated by this. We use the local library a lot and I was able to order a really neat book, The Backyard Birdsong Guide, for Eastern and Central America.

Wow! Is it neat. It has about 75 local species of birds and a digital sample of their calls.

At the Hasseman House B&B we have a lot of birds. I'm learning to identify the sounds of Robins, Red Winged Blackbirds, Killdeer, and others. Of all the birds, though, the Hummingbird is our favorite. We recently put out a feeder and are amazed how much activity we are getting from Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. They are the main type in our area, but are beautiful to behold. We plane on putting out some more feeders to attract even more.

About a month ago a past guest stopped in who lives at nearby Sugarcreek. She told us how last Fall a rare Hummingbird that had never been sited came to her feeder. It is called the Allen Hummingbird. When word got around she had over 600 people/ornithologists come to document this finding. The bird is usually found in Mexico but must have gotten way off course :)

Anyway, if you are a bird watcher, Amish Country Ohio has plenty of birds for you to see.

We are on about 300 acres of farmland and woods and also there is a Wilderness Center less than a mile from us that has a lot of birding opportunities. Truly God's creative genius is displayed in these amazing birds!