Rural Elmer Road, Town Of Lawrence NY

One morning I was in the mood for a driving tour, so I grabbed my camera, got into the car and headed to Elmer Road, where I knew I could find much rural beauty. The first farm I passed was this classic pair of barns, with a silo and hay bale elevator:

Farm equipment, a red barn and baleage stacked up for the winter:

In my mind, Elmer Road should be called "Elbow Road" because of the sharp turn it makes - and right at the turn is this log home:

They had two horses in the field, though I only managed to get one of them in the photo:

Two outbuildings, one apparently in use and the other not:

I have photographed this woodsy home before, set back in the pines like a forest hideaway. This, however, may be the first time I've seen it in the winter. It still looked woodsy and welcoming:

A series of outbuildings, apparently leading to someone's home, mostly hidden by trees:

I came to this ambitious and prosperous looking Amish farm, with its twin barns and twin silos:

I got a closer view of the silos and one of the barns as I passed by:

Another barn, this one with a traditional buggy parked outside:

The same Amish farm had a roadside stand and another barn beside the house:

And the house had laundry drying on the porch, a tree swing and a children's sled:

Still the same farm, I passed this workshop and windmill:

They also had a busy, prosperous looking sawmill. But that was the end of Elmer Road. I then turned right on Alburg Road, but I'll post those photos tomorrow:

Around The Farm In Chilly Weather

I go out to do the morning chores as soon as there is enough light to see what I'm doing. That often means seeing glorious dawns in the eastern sky:


And on some late afternoons, I see amazing sights in the sky. This full moon was moving across my north field:


The bantam hens seem happy with their cloistered lives:

One hen kept laying occasional eggs but she finally gave it up for the winter. I eat so few eggs, though, that I've still got some in the refrigerator. It's a good thing eggs keep so long:

The white fantail pigeons get all excited when I top off their water. Maybe they think I've put vodka in there:

Our weather has been a wild roller coaster ride, swinging between sudden thaws and sudden winter storms. The herd has handled it all with aplomb:

Remy and Jasmine, the two friendliest animals in the herd. When I walk out to say hello, these two are always glad to see me and they enjoy being stroked - Remy likes the top of his face petted and Jasmine likes me to rub her neck, under her chin:

The little horses and big cows seem happy and content. I never see any dominance displays over the hay supply:

Every morning with new snow, I find an abundance of wildlife tracks. Usually they are cottontail and fox tracks as in this photo, but I sometimes see other tracks which I think are bobcat, coyote and snowshoe hare:

My Amish neighbor is also the horses' farrier, and he usually arrives very early in the morning. On this morning, the sun had not yet risen above the barn roof, which is why the north field is brightly lit but the horse and buggy are still shadowed. The good news is that he said both horses' hooves are healing and looking good:

The sheep farmers up the road brought another load of stemmy hay. Their sheep eat the leaves but leave the stems, which my cows are happy to eat:

This time I was able to position the bale feeder over the top of the stemmy hay:

Town Line Road In Malone, New York

I was on my way home from Malone and decided to turn onto Town Line Road, headed east, to view the old farms there. This giant old barn appeared to have once had an apartment in it:

A huge farm with multiple silos, barns and grain bins:

An old shed, falling into disrepair, which I suspected was once a horse barn:

A dairy farm with an Amish buggy out front. I believe the buggy was just for decoration:

The sign on the front of the barn said "Hutchins," and I presume it was a dairy farm:

A brick farm house, the only one I photographed that day. Later, I wished I'd taken pictures of more homes, but I'll have other chances:

Farm equipment, double silos and an old dairy barn:

Another Amish buggy, also possibly just for decoration:

This old barn was being renovated:

A beautiful scene with what appeared to be horse fences:

An old silo, whose barn must have collapsed or burned long ago:

Huge quantities of baleage, a sign that some dairy cows will eat well this winter. I intended to continue on Town Line Road to see more, but the road ended at the highway and I decided to head for home:

Peru Road, Town Of Lawrence, New York - Part 2

I was taking a driving tour of rural Peru Road (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and stopped for a photo of this Amish sawmill. I thought the small sign on the wall might advertise lumber, but it was for sawdust, presumably to be used for animal bedding:

The boulders in this stone wall were huge, as big as Volkswagens, so I had to assume they were moved with modern power equipment and not Amish horse power:

Another Amish farm:

I snapped another photo as I pulled past the front of the house and noticed a wood furnace on the front porch. I'm not sure how they moved the air without electricity, but apparently they'd figured out a way to do it:

Just past the house, I saw the buggy parked by the small outbuilding:

This gigantic old barn in the middle of a corn field looked as if it hadn't been used in many years:

An Amish farm with a windmill and a water pump:

Another old barn which apparently hadn't been used in a very long time:

This old farm house was not Amish, and it appeared as if there was a board blocking the use of the front door. The sign on it did not say to use another door, however. Instead it just said "Eggs For Sale:"

Another long abandoned old barn. It's sad to see them falling into disrepair, but they are expensive to maintain and not many people can afford to do that:

A handsome farm house behind giant, old maple and pine trees:

My last stop on Peru Road was at the Willis H Thomas auto garage, closed many years ago. It was out of business when I passed by here the last time and the tow truck was parked in exactly the same place. It might now do well as a sort of museum, commemorating times gone by: