Birds, Keys and a Little Magic

This is how our story began, well, how it changed direction. Like all good stories, it has some dreams and some struggles. I had just survived the loss of a second business (yes, I’m a serial entrepreneur). Leaving behind a lovely lake resort business that I designed, built, and we owned and ran for a decade. I was in a bad place both mentally and financially. I was also missing the lake. My creative dreams were shattered and the pieces were all around me. After laying low for about a year and establishing myself in an actual JOB at a COMPANY for the first time in my life, I settled into a life of the masses and convinced myself that there was safety in the ordinary and that dreams equal insecurity.

Then I got bored, really bored. After 10 years of a busy resort-running life, I couldn’t take one more night of a 9 to 5, coming home, eating dinner, and watching my husband watch TV.

In a small turn of events, we purchased a 1962 Avion vintage camper. Being a designer and builder, I threw myself into remodeling and reviving this little jewel. Oh joy: a project! (posts to come on her renovations) We named her “Squirt”, because she’s about 1/3 of the size of all our travel buddies’ campers, took a few trips with her, decided that camping was fun, and started to feel better about our dull days around the house.

And that is what lead to my looking for a small lake lot, one that we could set up our cute little “Squirt” on and get back to a little bit of life on the lake. It shocked me that a piece of land we had tried to buy in 2006 was still on the market. We called the realtor and put in an offer. It was rejected.

Luckily, that realtor knew of another lot that was available. I went to see it the same day. Talk about a gorgeous piece of dirt! Secluded, remote, and affordable, but would we qualify for a loan? I was gripped in fear, but determined to shake it off and make things work this time. We wrote another offer, stroked the earnest money check, then God started to make his presence known.

While we waited for our fate, I decided to create a logo for the property (see above). I have no idea why. I had no intention of creating a business. The logo was fun, it incorporated the name of the street (aka. country dirt road) the property is on, a small bird and a skeleton key. The skeleton key was significant to me because the little bird was delivering the key to a new future. Bless the designer on Etsy, who quickly turned around about 5 or 6 samples for me to choose from.

We applied for a loan. I was pretty nervous, and figured that there was no way it would all work out. Our finances were trashed. The next day, when I was leaving work, I noticed a set of misplaced keys sitting on the cabinetry design desk. I knew that if anyone was looking for them, they would never find them in the location they were in. I picked them up to put them in a more noticeable place, then I saw the key fob. A skeleton key! Not just skeleton key, one embossed with two words: FAITH and LOVE. Ok, God, it’s You and me right? I hear You, I have faith and I know You love me. It’s all Your plan, not mine.

I drew a lot of plans, I knew I wanted space for our expanding family. Six of our own, most of them married, and more grand babies coming every year. We needed space, lots of space, or at least a lot of beds! Two guest houses were designed, the main house was enlarged, but simplified to meet the needs of large family cooking and eating. Our loan was approved!

The day we went to our loan closing, I stopped by the bank to pull out the funds for needed and the teller was wearing a gold necklace. I couldn’t believe the pendant on it….a skeleton key! I asked to take her picture, I just had to have the proof of the key. She claimed that the necklace was one she rarely wears, and had only decided to wear it that day by chance. Yeah, right.

The rest will be told on future posts. Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoy your virtual time with us at Birdsong Landing! One day, who knows, those guest houses? They just might be open actual for visitors too.