Watching men folk... a family tradition.

While working at the budding farm last weekend, my mother took me back to my childhood with one sentence.  She said, "Sit with me and let's watch them."

My grandmother was the first to introduce me to this family tradition.  Growing up on my grandparents grape farm my grandmother would say to me, "Go watch your grandfather".  She would always send me out of the house to watch my grandfather work on some job around the farm.  One day I asked, "Why?"  I didn't understand why my grandfather needed to be watched.  I was too small to be of any help.  She said, "Why?!  He likes it!  He is working hard and you need to encourage him and tell him what a good job he is doing.  It makes him happy."

Looking back on those times makes me smile wide with gratitude.  As a little girl I watched my grandfather mow the lawn, repair the masonry on the house, chop wood, paint farm equipment, fabricate things on his work bench in the basement, drive the tractor, trim grapes, pick grapes, paint the house, pound posts and tighten wire.  He did all of these things after he got home from his full time job at Westinghouse.  While I was watching we would talk.  I could talk to him about anything, and he always had great advice.  I remember how strong he was and how happy he was to be outside.

All those times I watched him work for his sake, or so I thought.  Now I realize how much I learned about life during those moments.  I never realized that was quality time together and I would look back on that time with love and gratitude.

So while my husband and step father were working on brushing the fallen leaves and branches off of the roof of the house and garage, my mother said, "Sit with me and let's watch them".  I laughed and said, "Who?  The men folk?"  She laughed and said "Yes, lets sit in the garden."  The family tradition continues.  Under the shade of a trellis of wild grape vines my mother and I watched the men show off for one another and us.  The tradition continues.

Who needs a ladder when you can just climb up the antenna?  If Hank looks winded it is because he had to climb up there first to show John how it's done ;-)

The view from overhead in my mother's garden.

In the garden looking toward the house.

The boys in question...

Here are some photos of the alpacas at Thistle Creek Alpaca Farm in East Aurora / Elma New York.  Our 5 are in with the other boys in these photos:

The conversion continues

First more posts for the pasture expansion:

Between the slate and the tree roots, this job was more fun than it looks :-)

I think there was math involved in this picture:

Posts up, then came the fencing... we were short 4 feet so we decided that would be a great place to put the gate:

Sundays are Farm Days

We have fallen in love with 5 beautiful alpacas.  My parents offered to host them until we have some land of our own.  They have a cozy barn with one lonely old goat.  So we are converting it to an alpaca barn.  Hear are some before pics:

How it all began...

I grew up with my mother on a long country road in Chautauqua County.  In a small mobile home on two acres of land we lived modestly. My playground was the creek, the woods, and my grandfather's grape farm. After high school I went to college and was in awe of city life. I fell in love, married and bought an old Victorian in the heart of Buffalo.

After over 10 years in the city something began to change. Country ways started to come back to me. We planted a vegetable garden in our little back yard. It wasn't enough. I began learning a number of crafts that were not suited to urban life. My husband started talking about tractors and over-alls. Visiting my parents and friends in the country became more important than the weekend bar scene in the city. Finally we realized it was time to move to the country.

For me, it is like coming home. I remember life on my grandfather's farm. We picked berries and potatoes, grapes and apples. We took our grapes to market and had a small fruit stand at the house.  We chopped and stacked wood to keep us warm for the winter.  When I was little and asked for a pony, my mom said, "Okay, but we will have to build a barn first".  We did just that.  I painted the inside purple.

For my husband this is relatively new territory.  He is eager and wide eyed at the possibilities. So we have begun to plan our escape. The city's charms have worn thin for us. Our desire to be more closely connected to the land grows stronger on a daily basis. Now when we visit the country it is hard to come back to the concrete and asphalt of the city.

This blog will be a record of our progress, trials, desires, and outcomes.