There are several initiatives at my farm that we’re going to take a hiatus from in 2010: B&B, Country Club, Farm Fair, and Pay Dirt Farm School. This decision has to do with what Pearl S. Buck said, “I love people. I love my family, my children... but inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that’s where I renew my springs so they never dry up.”
And so it is with me.
What will I do during my 2010 renewal? I’m eager to finish a couple of books I’ve started but can’t seem to finish with so many distractions. And we’re making one last push on our new multi-use farm facility. I feel like I’ve missed out on too much of its construction the last four years. So this summer I want time to be involved in the last phase—picking out paints, flooring, and equipment. I’ll be designing classrooms, a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen (specifically set up for teaching canning and food preservation), a photographic and design studio, two indoor B&B suites, stitching and crafting classrooms (two dozen sewing machines and dress forms, as well as hat and basket-making areas), and library.
When I started Pay Dirt Farm School 15 years ago, my B&B five years ago, Country Club four years ago, and our first July 4th Farm Fair in 2004, I produced a catalog/magazine whenever-the-urge-struck-me. Now that MaryJanesFarm magazine has grown into a real magazine, its survival depends on me sticking with a bimonthly schedule. (If we were ever late getting it to the printer, we would lose our slot in stores nationwide.) In other words, I’m ALWAYS “on deadline” and yes, it has significantly changed my life.
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This is also a good time for me to THANK everyone who has participated in my dreams. During the first year of my B&B, I was pleased to have a reservation come in for a honeymoon couple. Afterwards, I specifically geared up for future couples, and in five years, 16 couples have driven up my lane for their first “committed” night together. This past summer, that first couple came back for their 5th anniversary. For some reason, that gives me permission to pause—a blessed start and then fruition. Every single person who has driven up my lane has been an essential ingredient in making my dreams come true. You are dearly loved. I am humbled and forever grateful. Thanks for all the memories that will keep me afloat while I pull back and recharge. 
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1st & 5th year B&B honeymoon couple, |
P.S. There is a farmgirl event happening in Missouri in June 2010 that should go on your calendars:
“Farmgirls on the Loose” Road Trip: Pioneer Pilgrimage to Laura Ingalls Wilder museums and home sites
The tour should take approximately 2 weeks traveling by caravan to six locations with a finale at Baker Creek Seed Company in Mansfield, MO. Locations include De Smet, SD; Walnut Grove, MN; Pepin, WI; Burr Oak, IA; a break in Kansas City, MO; on to Independence, KS; and last stop is the museum and cemetery in Mansfield, MO. For more details, read “Who is interested in Farmgirls on the Loose tour??” in our Chatroom under Farmgirl Sisterhood, Official Farmgirl Sisterhood Members.
P.P.S. And I will be the keynote speaker at a marvelous women’s event in Minneapolis September 2010 called the Creative Connection. For more details, go to www.thecreativeconnectionevent.com
