I have been training for this all of my life! From the days I spent with my father watching Bob Villa, Norm’s “New Yankee Workshop” and “This Old House“, I have been training. Gardening shows, DIY shows and even “Home Improvement” have added knowledge over the years. It never seemed so at the time, because it really was a way to zone out and relax from the week. Or in some cases, just to pass away the cold snowy winter. But in the end, I was learning.

Fast forward 40 years and I find myself using much of what I gleaned from those shows over the years. Some of it, I just shake my head and laugh. Like the expectation that walls will be plumb and square. In a 100 year old home with multiple additions and mutliple remodeling projects that have come before me, square never enters the vocabulary – mostly I am just thankful that the walls are still standing. I’ve learned to add my mark to the home and make it ours – hoping that what I do allows it to last another 100 years and that some future homeowner won’t be shaking his or her head at what I did.

Most of all, I’ve learned to adapt. Perfection isn’t possible, but close to it is acceptable and surprisingly stable. A phrase I commonly utter “I’ve learned what not to do next time” seems to be my current mantra. Tracy reminds me often about my transformative moment in the dead of last winter as we were shoring up the small barn for animals that we did not yet know would make the barn their home. She reminds me that I remarked “we need to work with the barn and not force it into something it is not.” Truer words were likely never uttered even if I forget it from time to time.

Thankfully I have many years ahead of me to continue learning and fixing mistakes (mine and others) and learning this lesson. In the coming months and years I plan to share some of the projects that we are working on to give you a taste of our Farm Work. Until then….