Day 149 – A return visit to St Jacobs, dinner with Kevin and Deb and the Burlington ‘Sound of Music’ festival

Saturday dawned sunny and bright which matched my anticipation of our visit to St. Jacobs. My family find it quite amusing that I am obsessed with seeing these people that choose to live very simple lives but they indulge me anyway.
We headed off soon after Garry got back from his hockey training and followed the highway to Kitchener and Waterloo.
Compared to the last time we drove through St Jacobs, on a Sunday, today was full of tourists. The whole Main Street was packed with families and bikers. At the markets it was equally busy. There were dozens of stalls selling produce – strawberries, raspberries and blackberries for $1/punnet. Halloween sized pumpkins, tubs of apples and all the herbs you could think of. Our favourite was the range of maple syrup products.
I was really only in search of one thing – anyone who looked like a Mennonite. I have heard that you are not supposed to take photos of them so it was strictly undercover. They all wear very plain clothing but it’s almost a uniform of sorts. All are quietly spoken and like to blend into the background.
The food halls were very popular. We found our first hot cinnamon donuts here, freshly cooked, and they were delicious. Everywhere else serves them cold and they are more like cake. Garlic King tempted us over with their wafting aroma of garlic bread. We had no choice but to buy a range of garlic products. We settled for grilled chicken burgers and hot dogs for lunch. The hot dogs came with a can of pop and chips. Chips over here are a bag of potato chips. We have been caught out several times.
With the markets finishing up at 3pm, we discovered that all the produce gets sold off quite cheap. We picked up a tray of 12 punnets of berries for $5 and a bucket of small bell peppers (which Olivia and Lachlan ate like apples on the way home). Adam finally found the missing duo of maple syrup. You can get light, medium and amber but we had only seen medium until now. I will have to get some for mum because we searched everywhere for them whilst she was here.
The highlight of my day was driving out of the markets and seeing the Mennonites leave in their horse and buggies. We managed to get some video as they left for home. Very ‘Little house on the prairie-ish’.

Our afternoon continued with an invite to Kevin and Deb’s for a BBQ dinner. Kevin is Garry’s principal at Milton and has been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement since we have been here. They have both done an exchange to Australia before and so our conversation was peppered with their impressions of Aussies and our accents and our common stories of how interesting challenging we have found the differences to be. Lots fun to be with people who get what it’s like to be in a new country with so much to learn. Deb cooked up some pea meal for us to try. It’s the nice round part of the bacon we know but it is soaked in brine and traditionally rolled in pea meal then sliced and eaten as we would eat bacon. These days you are more likely to get it rolled in cornmeal. After a yummy dinner of pork and chicken rolls we headed off to the music festival. They close off a few streets near the lake and have five stages set up with bands playing all afternoon and into the night. There are rides and food trucks and market stalls everywhere. The music is free and many bars and restaurants set up on the pavements outside so it’s very festive. People of all ages mix and dance and party into the early hours. My favourites were the jazz bands who played in some of the quieter areas – guess I’m showing my age. We finished the night watching the fireworks from the edge of the lake and farewelled our new friends until the summer is over.
Goodnight beautiful people Jxx.

Day 136 – St. Jacobs Country and the Mennonites

One of the things on our bucket list has been to visit the Amish people who live in the US and Canada. We discovered there are another group of people who also live this very simple lifestyle called the Mennonites. Here is a little bit about them.
‘The avoidance of technologies by Old Order Mennonites and Old Order Amish is based not on a belief that the technology is in some way evil, but over a concern for the nature of their communities. Community is important to a Mennonite, and a technology or practice is rejected if it would adversely affect it. This means that the prohibitions are not usually absolute; a Mennonite who would not own a car may use a car or other modern transport if a pressing need arises. This basis also means that a Mennonite sees no contradiction in having electricity in their milking barn — since that is necessary to comply with regulations on milk cooling — but not in their house.
Other aspects of Old Order Mennonite life are concerned with plainness. The concept of plainness dictates the distinctive dress of the Mennonite. Plain to a Mennonite is the opposite of showy or ostentatious, and is considered a virtue. It is based on the belief that a person’s true worth does not lie in their clothes or appearance. It is this aspect of their beliefs that regulates the dress style, giving Mennonites their distinctive look with straw hats or bonnets, and plain dresses or pants. Many Old Order Mennonites do not allow cars. Those who do drive only black cars, like the Markham-Waterloo Mennonite Conference’. As it was Sunday, we found there wasn’t much open. Next time we go back we’ll pick another day.
Another thing on my list has been to find a covered bridge. Memories of Little House on the Prairie and the Bridges of Madison County come to mind. There were a few paintings in the gift shop at St Jacobs of a bridge called the Kissing Bridge at West Montrose so we put it into the GPS and drove out. I was not disappointed. It was beautiful and picturesque and idyllic and…… We took a few back roads (following horse dung) and found the Mennonite conference centre just as they were finishing. All standing around outside, women in one area and men in another. I didn’t see a horse and carriage but there were plenty of signs around to be watchful of them.
On our way home we drove past some farm markets. They are just starting to get fresh produce into them but because of the harsh winter it’s been a slow start. In another few weeks we will be able to go and pick our own strawberries.
Goodnight beautiful people Jxx

We also nearly ran over a dead skunk on the way home. We could smell it before we saw it. It’s something you can’t explain, you have to experience it. Or not! Glad that was the closest we got. Apparently if you get sprayed by one you have to bathe in tomato juice for days before you can start to get rid of it. At least their snakes aren’t too bad!