9 a.m. Daughter Elizabeth, 16, and I do the laundry. It has been so rainy that we decided to take advantage of the nice, sunny day. Susan, 15, and Verena, 13, are washing dishes and sweeping floors . Loretta, 10, was cleaning the boys bedroom upstairs which was topsy-turvy again. For some reason you can always tell which is the boys bedroom.

My husband Joe is getting the lawn mower ready so someone can mow the grass for the first time this spring. We needed the blade sharpened to so we sent Benjamin, 10, and Joseph, 8, with Stormy the pony a few miles down the road to get it sharpened. Lovina, 6, and Kevin, 5, went along for the ride.

The children are excited about our new miniature pony which they named Tiger. He is two years old and is not trained yet. He is a little rowdy and needs to be calmed down. Susan and Benjamin want the job to train him. They are looking forward to their first experience at training a colt.

11 a.m. A van drove in with some of Joe’s uncles and aunts from Indiana. They came for a short visit and to see where we lived. Sam and Mary Jane Hilty, Roman and Flossie Hilty, Elmer and Sylvia Eicher, and Barbara Schwartz were our visitors.. Mary Jane, Flossie, and Barbara are all Joe’s Dad’s sisters and Elmer is a brother. We were surprised to see them stop in and enjoyed visiting with them again. Sylvia was my midwife in Berne and delivered our six oldest children

12:30 p.m. We eat a light lunch or bologna and ham sandwiches.

1:15 p.m. Susan and Verena are outside raking and mowing. Elizabeth and I are bringing in the laundry that is dry and folding it. Joe is trimming our pine trees. He is cutting them back so it will be easier to mow and easier to see when we pull out of our drive. The rest of the children are helping him and using Stormy to haul away the branches,

I am glad for my big kitchen and dining room area as we have an 8 foot table set up with noodles drying. Last night Joe made hot wings on the grill and I made chicken noodle soup with the fresh noodles. Homemade noodles are a lot better tasting than store bought noodles and they expand more in the broth when they are cooking than store bought, so you get more quantity. Mom used to know just how many handfuls of the homemade noodles to put in each kettle.

4:30 p.m. The floors are mopped and they are all finishing up with the work outside. I have hamburgers in the oven cooking for supper. I use my bar pan stone a lot that I ordered at a Pampered Chef party. We do all of our bacon on it too now. I also like to use it for chicken and hamburgers. I am going to have a party here on Wednesday to try to earn some more kitchen items for myself. My stainless steel kettles that Joe gave to me over 20 years ago have some handles missing and I also need larger ones for our size family.

5:30 p.m. Supper is over and the girls are washing dishes. Boys are getting cleaned up. Elizabeth has left with her friend Timothy. They will spend the weekend with friends in northern Indiana. Meanwhile, I am baking a few rhubarb custard pies to take along to Jacob and Emma’s tomorrow. They told us to come for dinner and we plan to.

9 p.m. Bedtime and everyone is glad to call it a day. We took advantage of the nice day and accomplished a lot. God’s blessings to all.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We are seeking 100 new readers to join The Amish Cook Friend Club at any level between now and May 13. As of May 2, we have 14 new members. To move the Amish Cook forward, we need to strengthen our connection with loyal friends and followers and make new friends along the way. Our first step is to re-open the

To join The Amish Cook Friend Club, send to: Oasis Newsfeatures, PO BOX 157, Middletown, Ohio 45042 or to join online visit www.oasisnewsfeatures.com/special A video message is also available for viewing at www.oasisnewsfeatures.com/special The Friend Club drive goes through May 6, with percentage of goal reached to appear after Lovina’s column until then. Of course the main benefit of joining the Friend Club is knowing that you’re helping to keep The Amish Cook column on sound ground for a long time to come. Percentage of goal reached: 10 per

Rhubarb Custard Pie

1-1/2 cups rhubarb, fresh diced

2 tablespoons flour

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup cream

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except rhubarb. Put rhubarb in unbaked 9” pie shell and pour mixture over the rhubarb. Ake at 350 for 45 to an hour or until set.