Living in Illinois...
Well, I just got in from morning chores and lived to tell about it, lol
We had a bad storm last night and ended up with around 8 inches of snow.
This is looking out my kitchen window, lol!
Sometimes I ask myself….what in the world made you want to start a small farm…at 64 years old?
Living in Northern Illinois…this is how the weather goes:
There is ONE WEEK of beautiful fall weather.
Five months of dreary, cloudy, cold, and sometimes frigid winter.
Two months of cold rainy spring.
Two and a half months of blazing hot summer.
One to two months where the temperatures fluctuate between 35 and 80 degrees.
Of course I’m exaggerating. There are four nice seasons and many, many days are beautiful, even in winter.
But regardless of weather, there are chores to do every morning and evening….that is reality.
So here we are again…following the story of our lives as we learn to be farmers.
The sweet times and the sad times of the past few years.
The Pink Cupboard
Years ago…My friend Cyndy Fogarty talked me into opening a store for vintage finds, mixed with gifts and home décor.
Back then, (2002) this was a brand-new concept…
She told me I had a gift for entertaining, organizing, decorating, and display work and I should share it.
Cyndy was a sweet spirited person, a mighty thinker and worker.
With her by my side, I opened a store and named it “The Pink Cupboard”
Here is a picture of my old store sign and the “Pink Cupboard” that I named the store after.
I displayed it in the sewing room of my old house.
It’s tucked away at the farm…
Even though the store was thriving and quite successful, I knew within a few months that I had made a huge mistake.
Spoiled Brat...
All I wanted to do was make the store pretty,
Display work was the only thing about the business that I truly enjoyed.
Here is spoiled brat me
“Do you mean that a customer wants to buy the beautiful old cupboard that I stood at an auction in the 90 degree heat to buy?”
And I would pout and be sad when my displays were messed up….so stupid, lol.
I should have never had a store, lol!
Cyndy on the other hand, loved everything about it.
The buying of vintage goods, traveling to gift shows, putting up beautiful displays….but most of all she loved listening and talking to the customers.
Listening...
I remember this story.
The customer told Cyndy… declaring “oh I found one just like this at a garage sale for a quarter.”
Grrrr…After we had sat at an auction all day…bid on a box of junk just to get the one good thing that was in there, then taking it home, sorting through that filthy box, washing the item three times to get it clean.
Loading it in the car, hauling it in the store, pricing it, recording it in inventory and finally building a beautiful display to show it off…. And she got it for a quarter, lol!
Ugh…I would run to the backroom and work like crazy on back stock, pricing, cleaning, anything to keep my mind, hands and heart busy!
Meanwhile, sweet Cyndy, would still be listening to how a ladies, next door neighbors brother had back surgery. She would give them her undivided attention.
She had a gift for making people feel heard and loved.
And by the way…she could run circles around me and have any job done in ½ the time it took me!
The Country Cottage
Shortly before I closed my store, (good grief and good riddance, lol!)
Cyndy opened a store, (as it should have been from the beginning).
She called it “The Country Cottage”
Occasionally I helped her with the display work in her store…it was like old times again.
“The Country Cottage” was a huge draw to the town.
Not only because it was a beautiful store…but customers came to see and buy from “Cyndy”.
She was at the height of her career, after over 10 years, the store was doing an incredible business…and then she was diagnosed with cancer.
Cyndy kept her store running for another 5 years.
That's what friends are for...
As soon as we were given the sad news of Cyndy’s illness, a few friends and myself, stepped in to help with the merchandise buying and everyday duties of the store.
Here are the girls that stayed with her until her early retirement and selling of the store.
Old Kentucky Home...
Years before, Cyndy and her husband Jim, bought a summer cottage near Kentucky Lake, with future plans of retiring there.
This is a picture of their beloved summer cottage.
They had an extra lot next to it and were in the process of building their perfect retirement home.
It was almost complete when we recieved the crushing news that Cyndy only had a couple weeks to live.
Road Trip...
I called some of my friends and asked if anyone wanted to drive down with me…I was going to see Cyndy.
It would be around an 8 hour drive and I wanted to go that weekend!
By the next day, we had a van full of dear friends that wanted to go
…and with more notice, we could have filled the van 5 times over.
House full of love...
January weather in Kentucky isn’t as bad as ours…but it was cold and muddy.
We pulled up after dark and could just see the outline of their newly built home next door to their little cottage. I had told Cyndy’s husband, Jim we would be coming down and that we had rented an Air B&B just across the lake.
After arriving, we entered to find the living room filled to overflowing with visitors.
Cyndy and Jim’s boys and families were there and others too.
The house was filled with sadness, but lots and lots of love too.
Mums the word...
Cyndy was sitting on the sofa as the first of her friends entered the house.
Her tired little smile got bigger as she recognized us while we greeted her one by one.
My heart was full as we all had a short private moment with her.
Jim had kept our secret.
She couldn’t believe we were all there together…for her.
Busy work...
We didn’t stay long that first evening with the house full of company and all.
The next morning, we all piled in and took turns sitting by Cyndy and visiting her between her naps.
Comforting sick people is not my strong suit….at all.
My love language is doing, working, thinking, planning.
Looking around the house, it needed to be cleaned.
Cyndy had been sick a long time.
Her and Jim had moved down there in a rush and the backroom was a mess.
Talking to the girls, we decided to start cleaning and organizing.
Breaking into groups of two, each pair took on a different task.
Laundry, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, backroom, we all got busy, still having someone sit with Cyndy the whole time.
The New House ...nextdoor.
That evening, after a long day of cleaning and visiting Cyndy.
We headed over to the new house next door to see the progress.
The drywall was going up soon.
Seeing the wood studs, we decided to write little notes, prayers and memories on them.
With a marker we went to work, leaving our thoughts and love on each wooden board.
Here are a couple examples:
Sweet Good Byes...
None of us wanted to get teary eyed with our good byes.
We wanted Cyndy to remember our smiling faces…saying, “We’ll be back when the house is done!”
That made Cyndy’s face light up and we waved goodbye.
Last Tribute...
Included in our plan, was to eat at Cyndy’s favorite restaurant on our way home.
Lambert’s Restaurant, home of the “throwed rolls”
Our final tribute to her and a fun way to end our trip.
The restaurant was an hour out of the way in Sikeston, Missouri.
One of the reasons the restaurant was so popular was their homemade bread rolls.
If there was a long line of customers waiting to be seated, a young person would come out with a cart full of huge, hot, freshly baked dinner rolls.
The waiter proceeds to literally “THROW” the rolls to the customers waiting in line, lol!
You can’t make this stuff up!
Once you are seated, throughout the meal, the young waiter comes out with his cart of “hot out of the oven” rolls and “THROWS” them across the room to anyone that has their hands up, lol!
It is absolutely a riot! Sometimes they catch them…and sometimes not, lol!
We were able to have a great meal and laugh the whole time.
Highly recommend for the family, they have several locations across the southern states.
Cyndy's Legacy....
Cyndy passed away 10 days after we got home.
I am so happy to have these sweet memories of her.
She never got to see her finished retirement home…but Jim promised her that he would see it through.
He couldn’t bring himself to move into the new house though.
The little summer cottage was the perfect size for him.
But he did have the house next door finished.
Also taking out all of Cyndy’s beautiful primitive furniture from storage to furnish the home.
He listed it on Air B&B for rent and named it “Cyndy’s Country Cottage”
If you are traveling that way and need a great place to lay your head…Here’s is the link:
Back at the Farm...
Lots of expansion at the farm this year.
I’m looking forward to sharing all of our experiences along the way.
Fondly, Sandy
Beautifully said Sandy B. That was the best, sweetest, but SOO heartbreaking trip ever. One I will never ever forget. She was definitely an ANGEL on earth. We all have so many loving & funny stories & adventures from our years & years of friendship. We could all go on & on. One thing there is no denying she was the LOVE of Jims life, and he hers.❤❤ The kindest, most generous, hardworking, friend you could ever have. We know she is smiling down from HEAVEN on so many family & friends. And she will NEVER be forgotten.
Amen sister❤️
I loved going to Country Cottage! And Cyndy was always so friendly!!
❤️❤️❤️❤️ she was a doll. Thanks for following Becki!