Renovated Cabin, with custom craftwork, in Picturesque Finger Lakes Wine Country

My family, including my five siblings (along with our mother and father) lived and grew up three miles down the road. Growing up on the farm was tough and meant we all had chores to do, typically in the morning before and then again after school. Growing up on a farm was full of duties and hard work, which left little time for fun or family vacations.

My father got up at 5 am, had breakfast and worked on the farm until 2:30 pm each day. He’d then stop, rush home and just in the shower, have a cup of instant Nescafe coffee with a half dozen pecan sandies cookies, dipping most in the coffee and then jumping in his car to drive the 35 minutes to his normal job that started at 4 pm. Dad worked at Westinghouse making light bulbs from 4 pm until midnight at which time he’d drive back home to start the process all over again.

Once in a while, he’d go to work early and stop at the Milbrook Bread store, which had some shelves with day old bread and other items. This was the only time we had “name brand” products brought home. Most times it was always the ABC type food products and with 8 people in the family to feed and cloth and house, my parents did the best they could do. My father had a sweet tooth and he loved Malted Milk Balls and Circus Peanuts and all types of cookies but his favorite was elderberry pie. I guess he liked that because it required a pound of sugar to even eat. Plus, where he grew up right here on this parcel that is now “One More Round”, there were two large elderberry trees up by the barn. My father would always eat his desert first when we would go to a family function, church dinner or the sometimes splurged upon trip to, “Ponderosa Steak House”. Someone asked him once why he did that. The answer was pretty simple. He said, “desert is the best part of dinner, if I eat it first, I’ll always have room”. Such is the wisdom of a 2nd generation farmer in New York State.