Walking In A Winter Wonderland.....

The other day, I woke up to THIS:

It looked magical!
Not a lot of snow, but more than we were used to in El Paso. And, I swear, it sparkled ! Faerie snow!
The alpacas loved it. The goats were not happy, particularly the ones that had never seen snow! The ducks were confused....at first they tried to run around and catch the snowflakes, lol! I think they thought it was popcorn or something.
I am currently awaiting my seed catalogs and planning the gardens and such. Also looking for a buck to breed the does so we will have spring kids and milk!

So.....Now What?

Land, check.
House, check.
Livestock, check...sorta. Need more chickens! And a cow. Maybe a sheep. A couple pigs.
Now what?
I have everything a budding homesteader could need (well, seed catalogs are in the mail!), now what do I do with it all?
Now, the Darlin' Man and I could just live our lives, prep, garden, etc., just for ourselves. And our kids. (Between the two of us, we have 10 offspring!)
So...discussion, discussion, discussion betwixt the two of us since he arrived.
Both of us have volunteered for non-profits before, and/or did charity work. I started a non-profit when I lived in Asheville, NC.
Neither one of us want to delve into the red tape rigamarole required by federal/state/local governments to start/run a non-profit entity.
But....we both want to combine our love of homesteading and prepping with something that will benefit others unable to have a homestead.
Took a lot of thought....some research...okay, a lot of research....and some more thought...and talking to folks in the area, but we think we finally have an idea!
Here we go:
We have a large elderly population in our area, also many veterans. Also, a fair share of disabled (both veteran and civilian).
We would like to put in some handicapped accessible greenhouses (walipinis, really) and/or hoop houses and redo our downstairs kitchen as a *communal cottage kitchen* for large scale canning, cheese making, etc.
I could give classes on cheese making and canning for minimal fees, and we could allow disabled/elderly/veteran folks from the area use of one or two of the greenhouses/hoop houses. There are private grants out there that could help with this and/or we could attempt to crowd source funds.
There is currently nothing like this in our area...or in the entire state, as far as we could find out. Yes, we looked at insurance regulations and they are doable.
I plan on putting in a shop downstairs, so participants could sell produce, craft items, etc. that they raised or made themselves.
We are still *fleshing out* the idea and finding out the details of the cottage laws in New Hampshire, etc.
Still....we like the idea.
Thoughts? Ideas? 

Very Good News and Ugly Wallpaper ...

First, to the wallpaper issue. It will be next Spring before we can tackle the cosmetic issues here, but I thought some of you would get a giggle (or a nightmare) from the plethora of wallpaper patterns on the walls here.

This is on ONE SIDE of the kitchen

One of the bedrooms

Bathroom

Another bedroom

The OTHER SIDE of the kitchen!

Dining room. Even the switchplates are covered with this!

Living room. Yes, THREE wallpapers. Or two with a border in between.

I warned you, didn't I? Yes, they are hideous, each one a horrible mistake of design and color all by it's self...but together? YEESH!                                                                                                                 

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Now...on to the Very Good News:

The Darlin' Man is here. He is finally and totally H.O.M.E.

He had been working for the railroad and staying in Indiana, but after many conversations and some applied mathematics, we came to the conclusion that maintaining two residences (even if his was a rented room) was costing us more than if he came home and didn't have a job. So, he came home. And promptly got a job locally. 

He had never been here. I was the one that picked out the property and the house, that figured out which town we wanted to be close to, etc.

He loves it here!

I am so glad he does, too! 

We are joining the Grange, he already has a library card, we went to a Town Hall meeting, he has met the neighbors, gone downtown and checked out the stores (we only have a dozen or so) and checked out the surrounding countryside. He can't believe there are still small towns like this. He says "It is how living is supposed to be!"

He is right. 

So what if the internet is slow and some parts of the county are so remote rumor says they have to pipe in sunshine?! People wave, they stop by just to talk about the weather and who got the best hay crop this year and do you think the river will flood next spring.....the big news in the paper is the chili cook off, a 5k run and a local parade. The police report in the paper says one person got a speeding ticket and a couple got in an argument on the other side of town and the cops were called. (That was for a whole week!)

We both love it here and we both are happy. 

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I'll try to post more often, now that the internet is running semi-okay.