For the love of Baskets

I've loved baskets for years...I've not had a lot of them, but always thought they were neat. I've actually thought it would be neat to learn to MAKE one sometime, not that I think I'd want to do a lot of it, but knowing how could be kinda cool.

Last year I bought a couple of Amish made baskets at the Missouri Day festival when we came to visit my parents. I used them now and then, mostly to hold the soap I make if I needed it to. Since we moved, I've used the biggest one I bought last year to cart things up and down the steps.

This year, when we went to the festival, I bought several more baskets! I couldn't stop myself from getting more, even though I didn't actually have a specific use for some of them...I just Love the baskets. LOL

One of them I bought was a tall round basket, that held 4 rolls of toilet paper. I wanted it for the upstairs bathroom. They only had one the right color in the size I wanted, so we also found out where they lived and told them we would come by to get another one a couple weeks after the festival. DH finally went to see if they had another one made, but also decided to ask if they would do a custom size one...cause I really wanted one that held 9 rolls, not just the 4. They said they could, so he didn't get another of the other sized ones, just waited for them to make the one I really wanted.


He brought it home last week and I'm so glad I went this route, instead of just getting a 2nd one like the first one I got! I LOVE it, it's exactly what I wanted, when I first started trying to figure out what I could use to put some toilet paper in so it was handy(since where I usually kept it under the sink was to far away). It holds a whole package of the paper we buy...and looks pretty doing it!

Now though...I think I need to buy more baskets, since I've found a use for all the ones I have...that way I have extra in case I "decide" I need one for something else! LOL  Thankfully I don't have to wait for the Missouri Day's festival...if I get some extra money for some we know where they live and can just go to their house!

Speaking of the Amish, we had a young Amish couple (one of our neighbor's) stop by for a short visit the other evening.  The man was one DH has talked to a lot when he went to the saw mill, but we'd not met his wife and baby daughter.  They brought us some venison baloney they made, and the wife wanted to find out how I made my cream cheese, so I told her and bagged up a little bit of the culture I use, so she could try some herself to see if she liked it.  Hopefully it turns out for them.

I'm loving living by the Amish!!  They seem to make/produce a lot of things we like...besides the sawmill that DH has bought things from and the baskets, DH has also found an Amish place that sells farm fresh eggs for when we don't have our own, a place that sold raw honey this fall (and boy was it really GOOD tasting honey too...better than the honey we were getting in Nebraska!!  LOL), and a place that makes him halters in any size, for his cows.  Who knows what else we will find in the months ahead, but it will sure be interesting finding out!  :-))