Something New

A friend recently told me about her idea to turn her property into an event center. Those who know me well know that made my heart skip a beat. Planning events is my jam. I believe I am good at it and I really enjoy it. I blame that on my mama and raising me in a constant state of party planning. She was a florist and caterer extraordinaire. When I was five years old, I was topping the tables for the Miss Georgia Ball with flower arrangements. I helped mama make all kinds of creative designs and learned about the dangers of glitter. Bet ya didn’t know glitter used to be pretty doggone dangerous. Mama used to say it was made from something that would cut you if you touched it. Wait a minute. Was that for real or was that her way of keeping me out of the glitter?

Anywho, back to my friend. When she mentioned turning her place into an event center, I offered my expertise. It’s something that I love to do and I love to help my friends, especially this one. She has been helping me edit my book. Truly, I feel like it’s the least I can do since she was unaware that she was taking on a ten year novel plan. Plus, it’s something new and exciting. It’s something that I can stand back and say, “hey, I helped breathe life into this!”

I plan to blog about this adventure and share the progress here. I think it will be interesting for people to see this hodge-podge group of people come together to make something special. We all have different talents and abilities so it will be cool to see how we make this a place that everyone wants to visit.

My first visit was this past Sunday. The weather was cool and cloudy. It was a really windy day and by the time I got into the car to leave, I’m pretty sure my face was wind burned. When I drove down the scenic driveway, I had chills. It wasn’t related to the weather but rather the potential. I didn’t see the farm with eyes that saw a lot of work. I saw the farm with a vision for what it could be. The property has two apartment spaces and a full house for accommodations. There are rolling hills and landscape that makes for a beautiful wedding backdrop. Though the grass still has its winter color, the green of spring is just around the corner.

We started to make our to-do list, opting for easy wins with the biggest impact. This weekend, I will start helping to clean up the greenhouse so we can grow our own plants to use for events. It has an old covering of worn plastic but the bones of the structure are solid. Best of all, it is already fitted with electricity and water. I can see us starting zinnias in there and nursing wide frond ferns. I can see a bridal gown hung on the greenhouse’s screen door for a photo shoot. I can see rows of chairs and an alter on perfectly manicured green grass. I can see her goats and donkeys fitted with bow ties, and her cats, Jack and Jill, with jingle bell collars.

Sometimes it’s not what you see in front of you, but the potential for something more, that pushes you to do something new. This is way outside of my comfort zone. I’ve never built a business from the ground up. I certainly haven’t put plastic on a greenhouse. But what I have is the desire to learn something new, and do something that sort of scares me. My friend is pretty much betting the farm on my hair brained idea that I can be a contributing factor in her success. If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s my party planning skills. I told her that if we build it, they will come. I feel certain they will tell their friends and family about this special little place in the hills of Meriwether County, Georgia where a group of people put blood, sweat, and tears (and a shoestring budget) into making the American dream a reality.

Grow with us as I chronicle the journey of Red Dog Farm, a rustic, rural farm, in its transformation into Red Dog Farm, the premiere destination in rustic, rural Georgia where the who’s who get married, have parties, and end up saving the farm.