Lancaster farming. Saturday, August 21. 1976 The Larry Schmuck Family Mrs. Louise Schmuck works on her. lamp beside her is one of her ceramic "Tic Tac Toe” knit afghan done with a creations. She also made the lamp circular needle. The "Pony Post" shade. Ellen and Warren Schmuck pose Warren holds his FFA Ayrshire, with their animals. Ellen is shown Carolyn, with her 4-H Jersey, Heather, and *i fj Warren Schmuck shows “Willie the used in the Junior Church program Worm”, protruding out of a papier Mrs. Schmuck coordinates. She made mache apple. The hand puppet is the fuzzy green worm. is an energetic group VI □ LJ jmmtHltlMtm Irnin 't i ' - v & liPPa* -iprr By SUSAN KAUFFMAN Feature Writer Has the August heat and humidity drained your energy and desire to do anything other than sit on your porch or under a shade tree and sip lemonade’ Arc you weary of canning peaches, freezing beans and washing those piles of damp, dirty summer clothes and towels 7 Don’t take Gcritol or an extra vitamin pill' Go make a long-intended visit to a neighbor Pick out a neighbor who you know to be active and involved in many projects at home and in the community. You will come home with a new surge of energy to get at those windows that need washing and the long-forgotten pillow cover or afghan that needs finishing If you live in the southern end of Lancaster County, you could go visit the Larry Schmuck family who live on their 112 acre farm at Peach Bottom, R 2. Mr. Schmuck has been a veterinarian in the Quarryville area since his graduation m 1960. Nine years ago the family bought and moved to the farm where they now reside. For his wife, Louise, and their four children, this move brought them to then 1 first major contact with livestock and crop production. Mrs. Schmuck says everything she now knows about animals and fanning she had to learn the hard way through experience the last nine years. Louise Schmuck is not one to be easily discouraged by the problems of adverse weather and machinery break downs. Throughout all the new experiences of a novice farm wife and the usual encounters met when rearing four children born within a total span of five years, Mrs. Sch muck has maintained a vigorous enthusiasm for her church responsibilities and her children’s projects in 4-H and FFA and in a wide range of hobbies and crafts. At present, August is a very busy month for the Sch muck family. All four children are getting their projects ready for the Solanco Fair next month. Warren, 18, has three FFA and three 4-H dairy animals. Ellen, 17, Sandra, 15, and Karen, 13, each have two dairy animals. All the children have been in 4-H since they reached membership age. Their projects have all been dairy animals in the Homestead color breeds except for one exception. Warren raised a charolais-cross beef animal for FFA last year and received Reserve Grand Champion, third in fitting, and the junior showman award from this one adventure in something other than dairy cattle. Warren has a milking herd at nearby Chestnut Level. The heifers and steers, along with pigs and ponies remain at the home farm. Add a few poodles, a German Shepherd, a Pointer, and a few cats, and one finds a typical assortment of farm animals and pets in residence. The Pointer is not only a pet but also a necessary com modity for one of Larry and Louise Schmuck’s interests - hunting. The dog enjoys small game and deer hunting and even went on a bear hunting trip to Maine. When the crops are all in and the fairs are over, the winter months offer Mrs. Schmuck time to pursue some of her many craft interests. Having taken classes in ceramics, she and all the children work with lamps and figurines. Louise has made several lamps for their home and for gifts because they are expensive to buy. She also made her own lampshades. “I have a whole lot of greenware in the basement just waiting to be done this winter,” she enthusiastically commented as if hardly waiting to get to them. Two newer projects she and the children look forward to this winter are candle making and plastic craft. The plastic crafts are decorative pins and cubes with dried flowers and figurines set inside the solid plastic. All of the girls and Mrs. Schmuck spend their odd moments while traveling or at home doing handwork ranging from knitting or crocheting afghans, pillow covers, hats, and scarves to making afghans in hairpin lace. Sandy’s teacher at school last year taught her how to make the hairpin lace and she has started a red, white, and blue afghan. Right now Mrs. Schmuck is working on a knit afghan of gold, brown, and green variegated colors done on a circular needle. The unusual knitting pattern is called “Tic-Tac-Toe” because the afghan when finished and blocked will reveal row upon row of “X’s” and “O’s”. The “X’s” are created by the crossing threads of yarn and the “O’s” are created by the circular spaces between the “X’s”. Notes I Continued on Page 44)
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