Exploring Brouse Road, Part 2

I was touring Brouse Road, just south of Massena, and it was  scenic gem. There were stretches of forest, punctuated by old farms:

And a few, more modern homes:

It was below zero that day and many homes were burning wood. I could smell it in the air. Once upon a time, I was often able to tell what species of log was burning by the smell of it, but those days were long gone:

This magnificent green barn reminded me that in this area, green seemed to have been the favorite barn color many years ago. I would guess that the current red craze came from the Pennsylvania Dutch and the influx of Amish farmers to this area:

A compact, comfy home with an enclosed porch and a giant, old maple tree:

A real production farm, with silo and hay bales:

A nice split rail fence and a raised balcony:

This home looked small at first glance, but it had a sizable barn out back behind those trees:

A sky blue home beneath (what else?) a blue sky:

The little home on the prairie:

Moose antlers, a buck saw, wagon wheels, a two man crosscut saw and a spruce tree:

Cute little pinto miniature horses and at least one full sized horse The barn had an American flag and a picture of the earth with a peace sign superimposed on it. But what was the patch on the earth? I've enlarged the picture and can't tell. It looks to me like a bandage. If so, I guess that would be making a statement. But that was the end of my driving tour. I put away my camera and continued on into Massena:

Exploring Brouse Road, Part 1

It was a brutally cold day, and even colder weather was predicted for the rest of the week. Well, at least it was sunny and the roads were plowed. So I headed toward Massena, just to get out of the house although I pretended my trip was to do some shopping. But I turned off onto a side road south of town and headed into the tiny settlement of Grantville. But the former farmland along that road had pretty much become suburb, so I then turned onto Brouse Road for a bit of sightseeing of a more rural nature. Now, this was more like it - tractors, pickups with plows, old sheds:

There were old farm houses, all fixed up and in great condition:

Everything seemed to be in tip-top shape:

This old carriage house was a classic - or maybe it was new, but built in the old design. Either way, it was lovely:

Dumas Corner Stables, with a giant old barn out back and a very large chimney:

This home had a sign which said it had been a school house back in the 1800s:

And someone was insulating this home. Given the sub-zero temperatures at the time, I imagined they wished they'd been able to finish the job sooner:

I saw this sign for "Grantville Tree Farm," but there was no hint of what kind of tree farm it was. The sign looked quite old, and I wondered if it had been a Christmas tree farm many years ago, but the business was given up and the trees just kept growing:

This interesting home appeared to have had several additions over the years:

Sheds, wood furnace, tractor, dump and firewood. I guess it was clear what was going on here:

It would be easy, given the deep snow and cold temperatures, to fail to notice the nice porch on the left side of this house but I'd bet it is a pleasant place to sit and contemplate life in warmer seasons:

A spectacular old barn near the edge of the road - so close, in fact, that it was difficult to fit the whole barn into a photo. But there was still more to see on Brouse Road, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: