Earlier in my blog under the post Stay at Home Mom I shared some ways I make money. Since that post we have purchased land . It was about a year ago now. When we were thinking of our next plan of attack we were struggling with what to do and stumbled upon one acre of land with a stream. As if the universe heard our thoughts there it was almost untouched. A piece of land that was once habited by cows.
The land was a small triangle with Sage creek running along one side and the Oswego County snowmobile trail running along another side. On the other side of the snowmobile trail there was a show horse farm with horses and donkeys to greet us when we were there . The donkeys became very entertaining. Let me just tell you that when you are out in the middle of the country working away and all of a sudden you hear the bray of a donkey you have a hard time not smiling or laughing. It’s a wonderful fun sound .
From the day we started clearing trees we went full force . We hardly took any time off from May of 2021 on. We wanted to clear the land and generate an income by building some rentals for new Airbnb’s . We had so many ideas to consider. We decided to do an Amish built cabin for our future home. That was an event of a lifetime. Our days were filled with working with Amish. In the area where we purchased the land there are many Amish families nearby. When we decided we wanted to have the Amish build for us we wondered how we would find someone that we felt comfortable building for us. Well Amish do not use telephones. They do not use computers. So we decided the best way to find one is to drive around. We did!! We found an Amish man named Levi that was building right in his side yard. He had a few sheds there all done ready for the buyers to pick them up and he had some that he was still working on. They looked great ! We knew we had found our man. We pulled in his driveway and my husband got out to introduce himself and see if he was interested in building for us . Turns out he was definitely interested. He told us that he could have our 16x30 tiny future home done by the end of the summer. We just needed to give him a drawn out plan and a deposit. That we did and then waited anxiously for him to start building. Inthe meantime we had plenty of work to do. We needed to continue cutting trees , clearing the land and have a company come in to do the excavation and septic and water lines.
We had so much wood to cut and so much tree trimmings to burn. It seemed to be the hottest summer of all time and here I was burning tree trimmings and pricker bushes ever day of the summer unless it was raining.
We spent our entire summer getting this land ready . It was our future . Our pathway to retirement and a new place to call our own. We had so much drive to work our ass off because it was going to give back to us for sure.
Our plan was to have the Amish build a future home for us and a tiny house for us to rent out. We also wanted to do a glamping site to rent. We were undecided on how many sites we could book out comfortably on one acre of land . At this present time we are still thinking two to three rentals on the land .
As if the world again was paving the pathway for us we were finishing up with a stone pad to build the future home on and our friend Levi said he was ready to start building. Yay!! My husband decided since we were on site mostly ever day he would help with the build. If you do not know much about Amish they do not use power tools . Everything is done by hand . Levi had one gas powered table saw that he carried on his buggy to our land . He used hammers, hand saws and hand drills. No electricity, no batteries. We started getting things ready for him to start the build by buying concrete blocks. The floor was then built . And every day that Levi came and went back to his home our home became more and more real. A non traditional way to build. A way of life that was once the only way. I loved the Amish. I found myself imagining that I too was Amish . I envied them for their wholesome way of living . Pure and untarnished by media and our society.
My husband and I asked Levi questions ever day. I felt like I was interviewing him so I decided I would only ask him one question each day if I could help myself. The Amish do not like their pictures taken so you will not see photos here of their face. I wanted to keep that wish for them out of respect. We soon learned that when Levi has a job to do he may bring many more workers. Remember I mentioned it was summer so children are out of school . No school means Levi could bring his 7 children with him to do some work. It was amazing to witness. There was more respect in his one command than I had ever seen in the relationship between a child and parent. He spoke to them in German. He spoke to us in English. His children spoke to us in English as well, but when Levi spoke we didn’t know what he said . It was short and not repeated. They did what he said quickly. There was one time he brought all the children and when he needed their help they each grabbed a hammer and they all went to work as a team and as a family. It was beautiful . They were building our home . A team based on love respect and an understanding of life that many people will never know exists. This was his job. His way to make money for his family and here they were all helping him.
Every day they went home for lunch . Meals are a time that family comes together. Again beautiful! One day they decided to have some lunch at our land so Levi’s wife and oldest daughter brought all the fixings to our place and they ate together . After they were done they offered us some pecan pie. It was amazing! The food they had eaten filled the air around us . It smelled delicious.
As the days went on I grew a relationship with the Amish . There were two girls that came with Levi almost every day to help. One was 11 years old and one was 14. The 14 year old acted much more mature than a 14 year old in our society. We talked about canning and gardening and school. They attended an Amish school house that was taught by an Amish teacher. The schoolhouse was just around the corner from our home. By the time fall came around we could hear the school bell ringing for the children. Again something that was not traditional these days . A real bell to sound the alarm for school pulled with a rope by the teacher . The school house is heated with a wood stove and the children use an outhouse . Can you imagine parents these days being ok with that?
We are still working on that very same cabin. Slowly making it into our future. Now Levi is currently building our first rental cabin on the site and I am thrilled. In fact we already have two new bookings starting next month . If you ever get a chance to visit our property you won’t be disappointed. You can find it in Airbnb in Mexico NY or you can check it out here https://abnb.me/uVwSvbtXCpb
Someday I will be done doing childcare and this will be my bread and butter. I absolutely love hosting! Those that come to stay with us are so grateful for their experience. We cater to those that are interested in living off grid and enjoying nature. Who knows perhaps someday we will acquire another property to add to our portfolio but until then we are totally enjoying what we have created and others are too. We are super hosts with five star reviews. We have guests from all over the world visit.
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