Farm Photo Album For July 31

It's been an idyllic summer, with lush greenery, bird songs, blooming roses and peaceful, contented chickens roaming the yard:

Haying began in June on neighboring farms and continued through July. Second cuttings should begin soon:

The corn did very poorly here this spring, just as it did last year. There was too much rain when it was just getting started. This field, however, was growing nicely:

I got all banged up, with a black eye and bruised, skinned knee while getting Gracie into the squeeze chute for the artificial insemination man. In the end, however, she was bred and is now pregnant. Or at least I hope so:

The baby fantail pigeon continued to grow rapidly. Here it is at 16 days:

And at 19 days:

The view from my upstairs front window. Peaceful, isn't it?:

The chickens roam far and wide, but like to stay beneath the apple trees when it's raining. You can see one cow in the background:

One pair of fantail pigeons seemed to be nesting earnestly, but when I lifted her up there were no eggs, no hay. I think she's imagining a nest beneath her:

The father of the growing baby has been quite active and friendly. I'll wager he'll be the first one brave enough to leave the barn for the great outdoors, at least if any of them ever do:

The hens love it when I use the push mower, rushing to it as soon as I shut it off in order to feast on hot grass clippings:

And all around the yard there's clucking, scratching and an occasional crowing:

Tupper Lake Woodsmen's Days - Part 3

I'd toured the chainsaw carving area and the venders' area, buying myself a bit to eat. It was almost time for the Chainsaw Carving Contest to begin, so I found a bleacher seat and waited for it to begin:

The lumberjack show would begin later, up on that stage:

The chainsaw carving competition began in earnest:

While up on the stage, preparations were being made for the lumberjack show:

The smoke and noise from the chainsaws were overwhelming, adding to the excitement. A woman next to me said that white pole on the left was greased, for a greased pole climbing competition later that afternoon:

But there wasn't a lot of action, so I had plenty of time to watch the preparations for the next show:

It was a grand day:

The woman on the left had two chainsaws which refused to start. The third chainsaw started but was obviously dull. I felt sorry for her and she quickly sent what I assumed to be a call for help on her cell phone:

But in the end, I couldn't stay any longer and had to leave. I exited the park, passing by Tupper Lake's permanent woodsman statue on the road:

As I walked to my car, I passed by these poles buried in the ground. I guessed that there would be a pole climbing competition, though I would not be there to see it:

Tupper Lake Woodsmen's Days - Part 2

I walked from the chainsaw carving area (see yesterday's post) and continued along the road by the lake, passing these classic cars which had been used in the parade earlier that morning:

There were huge piles of saw logs and heavy equipment, both of them to be used in the lumberjack competitions:

Truckloads of logs were pulling in off the main road, honking their horns loudly and continuously. I never did find out if they were delivering logs for use in the festivities or if they were just stopping by to see or compete in the Woodsmen's Days:

I moved on into the food venders' area, which was just getting started:

I tried spun maple sugar, or maple flavored cotton candy:

There were wine slushies and beer. The beer, as you might imagine was a big seller, even in the morning:

Hand crafted Adirondack furniture:

Adirondack bedroom furniture:

Tree climbing for the kids, with funnel cakes and lemonade for everyone:

More floats from the morning's parade:

I stopped along the edge of Tupper Lake to enjoy its beauty, though this part of the lake is supposed to be called Raquette Pond. I got a bit of food to eat and began walking toward the grandstand area to see the competitions, but I'll post about that tomorrow:

Tupper Lake Woodsmen's Days - Part 1

I'd looked forward to seeing the Woodsmen's Days for a long time. The weekend arrived and I drove the scenic roads to Tupper Lake. I parked, paid my admission and began walking into the chainsaw carving area. There were many partially finished sculptures, some of which I couldn't yet identify:

And finished sculptures such as these eagles, tables, bears and benches:

The parade was over but some of the floats were still parked along the shore of the lake:

I continued walking and snapping pictures of the chainsaw sculptures. There were wizards and sea gods and, of course, more bears:

And more parked parade floats:

An unfinished eagle, capturing a fish:

A cryptic figure beside a tree with an owl:

And smaller, finished sculptures:

Eagles, owls, bears, frogs, deer:

And, always, lots more bears, the original and perennial chainsaw sculpture subject:

I enjoyed the chainsaw sculptures but had a lot more yet to see, so I kept walking. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Kingsley Road And Whiskey Flats State Forest

I took the four hiking dogs to the nearby town of Parishville to explore a few new trails in the Whiskey Flats State Forest. I noticed Kingsley Road, an unpaved "seasonal road." I turned onto it, found a wide spot on which to park and let the pooches out of the car:

The forest at that point was mostly Red Pines and the forest floor was mostly sand, moss and Reindeer lichens:

The deer flies were pesky, but not so bad I couldn't just swat them. We proceeded along the woods roads for a short distance and then headed off into the forest, just to see what we could see:

There was almost no underbrush, so walking was easy and we could go anywhere we pleased with ease:

White Pines had begun to spring up in some sections, and that caused enough undergrowth to turn us aside and back toward the trail:

The dogs needed a few reminders, but they have mostly become pretty well behaved:

I saw a thicker section of forest and headed towards it:

Indeed, the forest floor dropped off precipitously and the forest turned suddenly to a dense, brushy hardwood mix. At the bottom of the first ravine was a small creek which we explored, but it so very dark in there that none of the photos I took were useable:

We returned to the sunlight and continued our way back toward the trail and our parked car:

As we neared Kingsley Road, I began to see occasional hardwood trees and underbrush, mixed in with the dominant pines:

Indeed, the last part of the trail was mostly hardwoods:

When we were all back inside the car, I decided to continue on Kingsley Road to see what other potential hiking spots we might find. For a narrow, dirt, seasonal road, it was pretty flat and easy to drive. I continued for a few miles and eventually began to see farmlands. A little farther, and we were on a paved county road which would take us home. This was such a nice place for a quick afternoon hike that I plan to return soon: