Winter

It’s official. Winter has set in. The ground is frozen and covered with a few inches of freshly fallen snow. Although the season encourages us to transition from our warm weather pace and hunker down some of us choose to keep pressing on albeit in other ways. At Farwell House we have chosen to press on. We are much like like the early stages of kimchi or sauerkraut. Not a whole lot to look at but, there is certainly something bubbling in that crazy mixture. Other than the physical work of the house (more on that in a minute) we are finalizing our 501c3 application along with completing a major grant application.  All of which require a substantial amount of screen time and head scratching as well as several pots of coffee. On the plus side, this type of work challenges us to refine our focus and question (and answer) what we are doing all of this for in the first place.

Besides the Plank Road Artist Residency, farming and land use are other topics of discussion for us since we have a deep desire to tap into ways of utilizing the tillable acreage we have access to.  Farmers and artists have much more in common than most folks realize but, I will save that for another post.  Fruit trees, aquaponics, bees and mushrooms seem to be where our interests lie. Much like everything with Farwell House we feel called to do, we are approaching this from the mindset of what can we do to fill a need that is currently not being met? How can what we do impact our community for the good? The greater good. We constantly wrestle with these types of questions.

And the house, how could I forget. The above photo was taken after the second floor fireplace was thoroughly cleaned and as you can see is fully functional. As of now this is our only heat source (and no we are not living there yet). We are in the process of plumbing our radiator heating system. Farwell House will be heated with the help of a 500,000 BTU wood fired boiler. We have been removing old fittings, measuring for pipe and smashing fingers. Ah, the joys of a blissful union between finger tips, a pipe wrench and a cast iron radiator. Nothing makes what little hair one might have stand up quicker than a chance meeting between those three things.  Of course we can throw cutting and splitting firewood into the mix as well.

We also received two grants from Two Rivers Regional Arts Council. One to cover the costs of creating a new website for Farwell House and the other to help offset the costs of our 501c3 application. Our new website is currently being fine tuned and will be live in the very near future. We will certainly keep you posted.

Again, much is happening with Farwell House. It may appear as if we have gone into hibernation but we are far from it. Something is certainly brewing.

Onward and Upward my friends.