Dreams

Where would we be without dreams?

I have so many dreams, dreams for next week, dreams for next year, dreams for retirement, and dreams that I know will probably never happen.  Barefootingly Simple is based on a dream that will probably never happen, but the more encouragement I get the more it seems like it might someday become real.  I could daydream all day about it.  In my dreams Barefootingly Simple is this:

A community.  A large farm, raising vegetables, fruits and animals.  A restaurant serving only locally grown, mostly on the farm products. A general mercantile.  Think the Oleson's from Little House on the Prairie.  Yep that kind of store- dry good, fresh eggs, books, hardware, cloth, supplies, feed, etc.  Also I want a fully functioning kitchen where I can bake and can items to sell.  I want the building to resemble and old barn, but huge.  Restaurant will be separate from the store.  The restaurant will be built like an old farm house, 2 story with big working fireplaces.  In the upstairs of the restaurant I will have meeting rooms where I can give classes on canning and preserving.  I have the blue prints in my head and they are forever changing.  For the farm, I will give tours and hayrides.  Have festivals and live music.  Have an outdoor gazebo with picnic tables for picnics.  Provide plenty of jobs for the communities around.  There are so many things I could do, if only I had the money to make it all happen.

In the restaurant the floors would be hardwood, the tables - old farmhouse kitchen style, the decor would be antiques and pictures of the community.  Meals would be family style, where instead of everyone getting a side of greenbeans the table would get green beans served in a serving bowl.  A platter of fried chicken would be set so the people at the table could pick their favorite pieces, a basket of homemade rolls, a platter of corn on the cob, a whole cobbler etc. I wouldn't have a ton of things on a menu - each day would change with the harvest. Would only serve in season things, but would have to have a greenhouse for off season veggies.  Homemade cobblers and homemade ice cream.  Farm fresh beef, chicken, turkey, rabbit, and other things as well.

A friend of mine once told me that she and her husband would like to open up a butcher shop/meat counter - how awesome would it be to have that on the farm as well? FRESH meat never left the farm served to you.

I really think I could make a go with it, but it would take money to get it started.

In the store I would also like to sell local items.  I have friends that are great seamstresses, they could sell their products, or do custom orders.  There are many woodworkers, candle makers, artists, that could their work.  I would do anything to help out the community.

In the store I would have checker tables set up so people could come in just to play or talk, I would want it to become a community gathering place.  Free coffee and cookies offered everyday.  Old timers sitting around talking about the good old days.  Bring life back to the community.

So many people are so busy all the time, people need to be with each other.

I could talk forever about this...