Notes From Around The Farm

The neighbors across the road have six heifers, all of them pregnant. The first calf was born last weekend, a little bull they named Buford. But it was a difficult birth and both mother and calf might have died if they hadn't called on an Amish man to come help pull it out. Then the mother refused to feed it and they had to milk her and feed the baby by hand. But mom and calf were reconciled by day two and everything was working as it should. I stopped by to see the little guy. By the way, that's my house across the road:

The chickens' favorite spot is beneath the apple trees:

They seem to find lots to eat under the apple trees, and there's shelter from both sun and rain:

They mostly travel together as a flock, though there are always a few stragglers:

This year's two baby pigeons have been the only fantails to venture out so far this summer. You can see them on the roof of the milk room:

And they have been doing some fancy flying:

I seldom see honey bees anymore, but we have a kind of small bumblebee which keeps the Rugosa Roses pollinated:

The yellow Asiatic Lilies began blooming. The orange ones will bloom later:

The fantail pigeons get all excited when I give them fresh water. I assumed they wanted to drink it, but then I noticed them making motions like birds in a birdbath. I will get them something in which they can bathe and see if they like that:

I saw this elegant black, orange and blue beetle in the Elderberry flower buds and looked it up. It is called an Elderberry Borer Beetle:

This cornfield near me seemed to stretch almost to the horizon. That blue valley to the upper right was, I think, Canada:

The neighbors came over and helped me tattoo and tag Loretta's ears. She fought harder than any calf before her, but we got it done. The next morning, I saw that she had green tattoo ink all over her face, including around one eye. And she wanted to keep far away from me. She'll forgive me in time, though:

Rural East Dickinson, New York on Route 11B

I was driving to Malone, New York to take a photo tour. But the rural scenery along Route 11B was superb and I was snapping pictures left and right as I drove east toward Malone. At some point I passed from Dickinson into East Dickinson, New York. I'm not sure where the line was, so I've just taken a guess that this is where East Dickinson begins. This modern, functional barn, you may notice, also had a good view of Canada off to the north:

And this barn sat right up alongside the road. That was highly beneficial back when it was built but less so today. Some day the state may want to enlarge the highway, but I suppose that won't be for many decades:

This looked to have been an elegant brick home back in the day:

And another old barn, this one painted green as was so common in that area:

There were a lot of brick homes along rural Route 11B and, as I would soon discover, many large brick buildings in Malone as well. I could find no references on the Internet, but there must have been a very booming brick manufacturer in Malone at one time:

This must have been an old stone church, but more recently it had been selling antiques and curiosities. Alas, it looked to me as if it had been decades since it had been used at all:

Fat Bob's Deli and General Store beckoned, but I had just eaten lunch so resisted the temptation:

An even more elegant stone house. Apparently there were also stone quarries in the area:

Another stone house, also with a Colonial American look to it:

This old home had a widow's watch, or cupola, from which a person would have had a marvelous view of Canada. It had also had a small balcony jutting out from the west side. But alas, it had been abandoned. I was still on my way to take pictures in Malone but my memory card was filling up rapidly. I do enjoy these driving tours. They focus my mind on the beautiful and interesting scenery and culture of the area:

Beginning A Driving Tour on Route 11B - Dickinson, New York

I'd arrived at the farm on a Sunday afternoon and everything looked great. But the weather was lovely and there was lots of day left so I decided to drive to Malone, New York and take a photo tour. I set out on Route 11B headed east. The tenant was home with her brand new baby, so I took Seamus, Fergus, Daphne and Clover with me to keep them from waking the baby with their barking. I left old Wally and Winky in the apartment to snooze. I headed out of Nicholville on Route 11B, passing first through Dickinson, New York:

Dickinson is real farm country and the scenery was superb:

I was enjoying the homes and barns along the way. Taking photos for this blog has surely helped open my eyes to the beauty and interesting places all around me:

Apparently Route 11B sits high up on a ridge as I could see all the way out across the St. Lawrence Seaway to Canada from many places along the way. Many homes, including the one in the above photo, looked out over Canada. The photo below doesn't show all the detail of real life, but I could see Canadian buildings and farm fields way off in the distance:

Barns and homes were spread out along the highway:

I passed by an old cemetery:

And more stately old farm homes, this one built with brick and an interesting wooden deck where its owner could sit in an Adirondack chair and watch the (rather sparse) traffic go by:

I saw more than one roadside stand advertising homegrown honey. Apparently this is a beekeeping mecca:

Most of the old farm houses were large, perhaps because farm families were usually big and multi-generational:

More old barns and silos. I'd only planned to take photos in Malone, but the scenery was so entrancing along Route 11B that I couldn't resist. I'll post more tomorrow:

The Beautiful High Peaks Country

The dogs and I were heading to the farm to spend the night and to show the farm house to potential renters. We'd made it through the High Peaks Region of the Adirondacks and were approaching Paul Smith's when I stopped to snap a few pictures f the nearby mountains:

The fields were still brown but the mountaintop snow appeared to be melted. Spring had arrived in the Adirondacks:

We turned north on Route 30 as we continued on our way. I did not stop at Mountain Pond as I felt sure its access road would be flooded. But I did turn onto the entrance to the Hays Brook Horse Trail, knowing it was level and not too close to water. Alas, I found that it was also impassable:

Stymied once again, the dogs and I were anxious for a rest stop. And yes, that is indeed snow you see in front of the car:

So we kept driving and as the sky cleared, the Adirondack vistas opened up with great beauty before us:

I stopped to take a picture and you can almost read Daphne's mind in this photo. She seems to be wondering, "Where the heck is our rest stop?!?":

Route 458 took us to the end of the Adirondack Park. We were almost to the farm at that point. You can see Canada in the distance from here. If I can see another country from my house, does that qualify me to run for Vice-President?:

Heading Southward From The Farm

It'd come time to leave the farm and begin the journey home once again. I locked everything up, vacuumed the floor, cleaned up the dog poop and packed the dogs and my belongings into the car. I decided to take the most direct route home which is right through the high peaks region of the Adirondacks. I pulled out onto the county road and headed south toward the Adirondack Park. One of the first things I passed was this field of ponies and goats:

And I crossed the first of several bridges over the St. Regis River:

I joined a State highway in the town of Hopkinton where I noticed this historical marker in the town square. It commemorated a British raid on the village which took place in February of 1814 as a part of the War Of 1812. A spy had informed the British that a large store of flour was being held for the Americans and was hidden in the barn belonging to Judge Hopkins. (Hopkinton was named for the judge) An early morning surprise attack disclosed that the barn held 300 barrels of flour but due to the small size of the raiding party only half of the provisions could be carried off. The remainder was left to the patriots of Hopkinton:

This is the town green which hosts the community fair each year called Hopkinton Days. I witnessed the tractor pull last year but missed everything this year. Alas, it was the same weekend as the pig roast - which I also missed. But the town green is quiet, scenic and pleasant:

And on the next corner is Wilber's Hardware Store. You can find nearly anything there if you just ask:

And moments after I pulled onto the State highway, I stopped to shoot a photo across this expanse of flat land looking northward. I'd suppose that's Canada far off in the distance:

This farm stand was closed, but I suppose that it has been the site of home grown vegetable sales in years past:

This historic old homestead still watches over the farm fields and now, also the highway:

I turned down Route 458 into the Adirondack Park and passed this familiar home business offering the services of "Quebec Black Bear Hunting Specialist." I'm not sure what those services are, and I wonder every time I pass by:

I passed a small barn with log construction and couldn't help but wonder if it had once been the frontier home:

And this tiny old shack which I know was the originally dwelling (or perhaps hunting camp), because I've watched as the newer, bigger house was built next to it. I was on my way home: