The day began early yesterday with a gathering at 8.30 and continued with a very important secret event for the main part of the day.

By lunch time my luggage had still not arrived and I was beginning to panic a little. During lunch I excused myself and made a phone call to the airline company only for them to inform me that they had no record of the luggage and in fact they didn't even fly into Lancaster.!!!!!

Was it a figment of my imagination that I flew in that little plane last night?

OK, so I needed to think rationally and I rang the terminal instead to be told the luggage was indeed there and they were putting it into a cab  so it was on the way to the hotel.

My lunch tasted sweeter than ever, but there was still a niggling feeling that my luggage was in the hands of a stranger. My precious quilts.

While waiting I allowed myself a visit to the Central Market opposite the hotel.

Housed in a large red brick building its been in existence since 1756 and reminds me of our Central Market in the city of Adelaide.

The smells and sounds were tantalizing, and different to ours. Of course the Amish people selling their goods behind tall wooden counters added to the ambiance.

Jam, jars of fresh fruit, pickles and yoghurt and smoked small goods  with exotic names  … just delicious and I succumbed to buying supplies for my breakfasts.

Peaches from Esh's Kitchen, fresh bread, Yoghurt, honey and I indulged in rice custard.

I returned to the hotel to find my luggage waiting for me and I breathed a huge sigh of relief and I planned  to catch up on sleep which had been minimal the night before.

However, I bumped in to Jenny Bowker in the lobby who invited me to go a tour to the Amish countryside with her friends and I jumped at the opportunity.

It had rained intensely all morning and it had finally stopped so the views were misty, and a little ethereal.

White houses with grey roofs, cropped corn fields, red barns supported by tall narrow silos set in rolling fields of gold.

We just sighed, The wonderful tent makers from Cairo,  were incredulous that there was no electricity in the houses.

Buggies with high stepping horses at the lead dashed at a furious pace equal to the cars on the narrow roads.

I've been here before and lived in Amish country in Minnesota but there is something special about the Amish community.

I think this is my favorite photo.

We spent a few hours driving slowly around the district and we stopped at a farm and quilt store our driver knew of.

I got my first glimpse of a mule. It was huge! They are used for plowing I believe.

It was cool and overcast, but definitely not a cold as I imagined it would be.

We also got the opportunity to view a buggy up close at the farm.

The day didn't end there of course. but I have to o to class right now so this post is to be continued. !!

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