About Three Years Ago-Hidden Cottage Recap

During the pandemic, three years ago, we invited some good friends to the farm for some "glamping." Everyone was so tired of the public health crisis and everyone around us was feeling very stressed, yet people were trying to be careful and exercise precautions. We were especially careful in our group of friends where there were several of us in high-risk health situations. 

"Glamping" seemed a thing we could have people come out and do for a getaway and a chance for us to connect with friends we had been missing. 

First, Andy and I tried it on our deck. It was fun. 

Next we invited our good friends, Lee and Roxy, out with their RV. After getting them set up and spoiling them with a couple of nice outdoor meals, walks around the property, and pulling weeds in the flower beds (yes, that was entertaining to Roxy,) Lee said, "I didn't realize how much I needed this." 

A month later, another couple we love to travel with, Mark and Amy McGrew, came out and "glamped" in a tent we decked out in the grove. It was another opportunity to spoil my friends. 

They really seemed to love it. Mark said, "It was awesome being out in the fresh air and waking up to the birds. I slept great!"

All of my friends who visited that summer were stressed by what was going on in the nation but were all dealing with other difficult life challenges at the same time too. Like most of us were, I think. It made me feel relief knowing we could do something to help our friends relax a little during such turbulent times. 

So the idea of hosting at the farm was explored in earnest and we started talking about selling The Lady Next Door and what we could do at our place in terms of a "farm stay," which have become phenomenally popular in recent years.

Expedia, the largest travel agency in the world, now has a seperate search category just for farm stays, internationally. They have been Airbnb's most popular booking category for the past three years. It seemed like this was the time to make the move and bring our little side gig to the farm. 

Six months later, Andy's dad had a "mild" stroke. Moving our endeavors closer to the farm was no longer an idea we were entertaining, but a necessity, because Andy quickly became a primary caregiver for both of his parents, although with an aide during the day, Andy's father was still able to be at home. 

We committed to the idea of hosting at the farm, but as we made our plans, it became apparent that some of our ideas were not very practical. We thought of doing glamping tents, but quickly abandoned that idea because of one undeniable factor. Wind. We get some crazy wind here at the farm sometimes and we identified numerous issues for tent dwellers, none of them stay-enhancing. 

Then we thought about converting a pre-fab shed, grain bin, chicken coop, a section of our machine shed and a few other structures we had access to. From reasons ranging to price to installation of a new sewer system to logistics, access and location on the farm, these ideas went into the trash as we explored them further and we went back to the drawing board.

Then Andy's dad had a second stroke. This one put him into skilled care, permanently, but my husband's care of his parents continues on a daily basis. 

Because my husband farms, the demands of his job can change from minute to minute and most of his job is time and weather sensitive so keeping everyone close by had become not just essential, but mandatory, in order to keep up with meeting the needs of our farm and his parents. 

It was then, we realized that Andy's mom might be better off living physically closer to us as well, so we began looking at options and we landed on converting the addition to our original farmhouse into an apartment for her. We were also looking at building a garage to replace the one we lost in a tornado about ten years ago. 

After we met with contractors, our plans went into the trash again due to some unexpected issues that need to be repaired, however, where everything landed seems to have worked out okay for us and we are finally on our way.

Andy's mom will have a new apartment attached to our new garage, which means she will also have an attached garage. This feature was very important to Andy. Our cottage is now going into the addition along with my catering kitchen. 

Just three short years and a million ideas, hiccups and detours later, here we are, doing it. Doing more than we planned. Just taking each step and each day as it comes. 

A vision realized, is just a finite list of identifiable steps, taken.

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