Things have come together magically, and we are about to embark on an attempt to bring our lifelong dreams to reality. We have three people who are committed to the project and one who is interested but will not be able to join us until and unless his circumstances work out favorably. Thanks to the hard times everyone seems to have been feeling lately, we are all either between jobs or working part-time, so we've got the energy to put into this. We are starting work on the farm site on Wednesday, but I thought I'd take a minute to outline what we have and what, at this point in the project, we hope to accomplish.As we go, we'll share our triumphs and defeats--along with some tutorials on how to tackle the more difficult projects involved in the restoration.
There are two trailers that were basically abandoned about 10 years ago by one of our family members. They sit on 1.3 acres of land next to a highway. An incredibly generous grandmother has offered us the trailers, if we can fix them up, and use of the land for a few years in exchange for paying property taxes.
Of course there's a catch: When they were abandoned, they were already in pretty dilapidated condition, and one already had been vacant and used for storage for years. They have been raided by vandals, left partially open to the elements, invaded by animals (who seem to have had a few possum hunts inside), and liberally pooped on by rats and apparently some other animal occupants. But amazingly enough, they're structurally sound with no leaks or irreparable damage, and nothing is stopping us from combining our enthusiasm, planning and pure hard work to make them livable again.
Altogether we have six bedrooms, one big enough to comfortably house two people (or perhaps be converted into two rooms). One of the six, along with its bathroom, will be converted into a dog grooming studio. The rest of that trailer (save for one bedroom) will be set up as a roadside store. It's already got a perfect location, about 150 feet from the highway at an intersection, on the border of a tiny country town.
After we've got the buildings going, we're going to begin farm production. It may not be more than a few chickens and pigs and a vegetable garden at first, but you've got to start somewhere, and we're all so excited. Keep reading to find out how the project progresses!
We will update the blog after working on Wednesday--with pictures! Stay tuned!
