and WE will call it bûter

I have a thing for NPR. I listen to it religiously in the car, and it aggravates Malik beyond measure. However, one morning in 21, while making a "wife coffee" run, he decided to leave the station be. There played a story of Californians relocating to Arkansas in droves. #Interesting

I'd been home enjoying an ID Channel kill kill kill marathon on my no work Sunday, and had not been given the Arkansas rundown. Months would pass before the story would resurface, and he'd decide to look into what Arkansas has to offer.

He finds a property and likes it. Nowhere near where the NPR story discussed the influx of newcomers, but a beautiful building just the same. Listed as a bar, the listing highlighted all of the things it could possibly be based on zoning. We looked through the photos. Nice space I thought. Full of antique items, and character, but it definitely looked liked Rosanne Bar had decorated. I could do something nice with that space I thought. The opportunity to be the contractor I always wished to be. Okay, I'd be more of a project manager, but I'd definitely be present in very cute work boots and a tool belt.

Built in 1915, the property is historic and was originally a post office. Fun Fact, it seems to be one of the many post office in this quaint lil town. I'll get back to that later. 😳

We decided to reach out to the realtor. and schedule a viewing. This was a Thursday. We confirmed a time to come and view the property that Monday, closed our Atlanta restaurant early on Saturday, and hit the road Sunday morning. The closer we got, the more anxious I became. I realized that we had no idea if the owner would sell his building to us. What if he didn't like black people? What if the building was trash? What if the location was horrible? What if? What if? What if...

There were so many honest thoughts to consider that I could feel the lump growing in my throat. I drove in silence for a bit, staring out the windshield at the open land before me. I was immediately overcome with a sense of calm. It was just so damn green and vast. The lump subsided. We got there early enough Sunday to check out the property before we met with the owner. To get a sense of the neighborhood, and see if it was truly something we were really interested in pursing.

The building sits directly across from the courthouse, and is at the center of this quaint little downtown that could easily be the backdrop for a bad Hallmark movie. It was perfect. I frkin loved it!

Turns out the owner did like us, and we liked the building! So we bought it.

Since purchasing the building, I've told this same story over and over about how we came to own a property in Osceola Arkansas. Why Arkansas has been asked a few times, which I respond, why not Arkansas? I wasn't from any of the places I happened to be in life, and yet I made life happen there. Plus black people are everywhere. Stop being silly.

Promise to do better on the updating this year. Roof repair starts in a few days.

ALSO...

We've started a FARM FUND, because next step is a farm so we can grown some sh!t. Click here if you'd like to donate. I was lucky enough to go to Brazil a few years ago, and I'm excited to attempt a few of the things I learned from the young people there. The way they grew their own food and sustained their communities was beautiful. It's different when it's a necessity to stick together.

In the mean time.

Here's a few more pictures of what the bar looked liked when we purchased it. I've since stripped it down to the wood walls. I just couldn't take it another moment. The name? It’s BUTTER COMPANY--but it's spelled bûter.co for no other reason than we wanted it that way 😊

-NEW MERCH ON THE WAY!

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bûter.co is coming

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