Thank you to all of our customers, friends and family who have joined us on this rocky road! It has been quite the year.
If you would have asked me a year ago what I would be doing today, a year later, I certainly would not have told you I would buy a building, renovate it and start a restaurant. I also had no intel to alert me to the looming medical setback I was about to experience. I was certainly in career limbo in early 2022, and I had no idea how absolutely defining this year would turn out to be.
As some of you know, I enjoy the use of expletives, and for me, it seems 2022 deserves an explosion of effenheimers! But I'll tone it down a bit and just say, of the last three difficult years, 2022 was the worst! However, hindsight's perfect vision illustrates that as I trudged, waded, and cried my way through 2022's mountain of experiences, lessons, failures and heart issues, I came to see it instead as more of a pivotal year - a very big turning point in my life! In fact, I am quite struck by the enormity of take-aways.
Physically, I'm learning to live with a broken heart and the rapid onslaught of gray hair, but more importantly, each time something hard, unwanted or unexpected presents itself, I struggle through only to realize opportunity - yes. a very positive thing amongst all the stinky bits. 2022 forced me to push myself harder, do things I never thought possible, accept and learn from failure, and uncover a capacity for patience I never knew I had. Most sobering was the lesson that I am not invincible and that life indeed has its limits. It has been a year of digging in, pushing through, feeling sad and recently, a lot of sitting for lack of energy.
As I ring in this new year, I am full of cautious optimism and hopeful that those days of feeling pooped are behind me. Yesterday, for the first time since I landed in the hospital the end of July, I was able to walk the four mile farm to farm loop that I love so much! It was such a Happy New Year as I finally had the physical strength to do more than just sit on the couch and crochet! I didn't know it would take five months to heal, but now that I am feeling better, I am SO ready to get back into the pursuit of a much bigger life. I know life's hurdles and challenges will always present themselves, ("You can't appreciate the good without the bad," says William) but after this year, I am much better equipped to deal with them.
Part of the new plan for a bigger life is to launch a series of Saturday markets at our Plum City location. It became clear to me that running the restaurant right now isn't a good fit, but my creative energies have been going wild with new ideas for retail farm products. I'm not only a fan of interesting and unique culinary experiences, but I love interior design, so plan to slowly build the Farmhouse World Kitchen into a home and kitchen store where you will find our culinary farm products along with some of my favorite decor items. Notice how I said I plan to "slowly build" this concept? Instead of launching 1200 square feet of retail space, I'm starting with a small section and will add to the concept as it feels right. I'm a little cautious about biting off more than I can chew after this last year!
The markets will be held Saturdays from 10-4 at 401 Main Street in Plum City. I hope a few other vendors will consider joining me for the first market on January 21st. If you're interested, drop me a line. I have space for at least six depending on your product and space needs. I'd love to see artists, crafters or other food purveyors join!
Winter Saturday market dates will be:
January 21
January 28
February 4
February 11
February 18
NO MARKET 2/25
March 4
March 11
March 18
March 25
April 1
Thank you all for your kindness and patience as I've navigated and pivoted up and down a number of bumpy roads this year. My sense is that I am back with clarity of purpose, physical strength and a renewed supply of creativity to launch 2023!
We'll see you on the 21st for our first Winter Market!
Sending love from farmlandia,
Sarah
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