Meet Nancy K - Nancy K lives on the Amish family farm that is now mostly a woodworking shop, in a very small house (called the Daudi haus) that is attached to the main Amish farm house where her oldest son and his family live. Whenever visiting Nancy, I first go next door to say hi to Ada (her daughter-in-law), and she comes with me to let me in because Nancy is quite hard of hearing, and would not hear me knock on the door.
Nancy is what I call "Very Plain Amish", since the community she is a part of seems to go beyond the 'no electricity' way of living, and steps even further back in time over 100 years. No propane lamps, no generators for this Amish community. Nancy gets her nights brightened with glass kerosene lanterns complete with wicks that you turn up to adjust the lighting. Only a scattering of hand made rag rugs, wonderfully colorful and practical. You can see there is nothing much on the walls except a calander, a clock or a small decorative piece.
Her large Amish quilting frame (which is about 10 feet plus wide, also it was made by her husband) takes up an entire room, and the beauty of an entire quilt being worked on is a sight to behold. Nancy's quilting room looks out over the lane to where the woodshop is that her son now runs. Her husband was well known in the area for the finest Hickory Rockers, and his love of wood and working with his hands has been passed down to her son.
Nancy also spends much of her time helping her many grown Amish children with their canning and sewing, going for an afternoon to each of their various homes to help out almost every other week (the rotation takes that many days!). Nancy K has been widowed for quite a while, and as she helps and visits with her many adult children, they also help and provide for her (she collects no social security and has no medical insurance like all of the Amish) as they send necessities and food items back home with her when she returns in the evening back to her little Daudi Haus. Nancy K is Old Order Amish.