Small Town Living In North Lawrence, NY - Part 3

I was nearing the end of my driving tour of tiny, scenic North Lawrence, New York (see also Parts 1 and 2, posted previously). This small home seemed typical of the hamlet:

An enclosed front porch and a carriage house:

Back on Route 11C, a big Protestant Church:


I turned onto Factory Street and drove past this home with a front porch:


And this home with a windmill and solar panels:

And another home for sale, though when I searched for the listing online, it was gone. Maybe it had been already sold:

A lovely colonial home:

And across the road from the last four houses was this huge yogurt factory. I still remember how shocked I was when I first saw it as it seemed so out of place in this tiny hamlet:

This is North Country Dairy, a larger yogurt manufacturer. It was closed when I first moved to the area, then taken over by a farm cooperative and now it's making and selling yogurt once again under a variety of labels:

I heard on the radio that North Country Dairy just signed a contract with a big, national yogurt label and that would bring more new jobs to this small town. The name of the yogurt brand, however, had not yet been published:

I headed back to the center of town and passed by the Grapevine restaurant. I've never been in it, but they often have banners out front which advertise catfish dinners:

And across the street, "The Jug," a tavern:

The North Lawrence Post Office:

And the North Lawrence Supermarket with the yogurt factory in the background. I have been in there and found nearly empty shelves:

And the last photo of my driving tour was the Pit Stop Restaurant. I have eaten there and fondly remember their maple cream pie, made with local maple syrup:

Small Town Living In North Lawrence, NY - Part 2

I was taking a driving tour of tiny, scenic North Lawrence, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and came to this historic brick farm house with a wooden addition plus an old red barn:

As I entered the cluster of homes and businesses which is North Lawrence proper, I came to this attractive home with a lovely carriage house, now a two door garage:

A plain home, all surrounded by snow:

A fancier home with woods in the background:

A farm house with outbuildings:

This lovely home had a "For Sale" out front, so I looked it up when I got home. It was listed for $79,900 and had four bedrooms and one and a half baths. This would look like a super bargain for people in most of the country, and you can see the photos, both inside and outside, by clicking here:

An enclosed front porch and a garage:

A brick house in the hamlet of North Lawrence:

It appeared that this home had an apartment in the upper floor:

A basketball hoop right on the street, something which can be done safely in such a small town with little traffic:

The St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church:

A lovely, L-shaped home:

A green home:

A typical home with enclosed porch, addition and garage:

And then I came to another house for sale, so I looked this one up also when I got home, and learned that it was more expensive than the former house. It is offered at $96,900, with three bedrooms and one and a half baths. You can see the photos, both inside and outside, by clicking here. I'll post Part 3 of my driving tour tomorrow:

Historic Homes Of Malone, New York - Part 2

I was taking another driving tour of Malone's historic homes (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and stopped at this lovely home for a photo:

This large, brick home had everything - gingerbread trim, balcony, porch, gazebo. It was amazing:

I remembered this home from a driving tour a year or two ago. How could I forget the exquisite painting?

A historic brick home with modern updates:

A huge carriage house out back helped this home to look much as it probably did in the 1800s:

Another fancy paint job and a wonderful, well kept front porch:

The kind of home one might return to for Christmas dinner:

Christmas decorations gave me the impression that children must live in this big home:

Another porte cochere on this impressive home:

I began to drive home but felt compelled to photograph two of Malone's impressive churches. There are more, though, and some day I might try to photograph them all. This one, I believe, was an Episcopal church:

And a Roman Catholic church. The huge home attached to it must have been the rectory:

What's Happening Around Here

Summer was going well and the herd was happy on pasture:

 But then we endured a heat wave and a drought, which turned most grass, both in the lawn and pasture, brown and crunchy. It finally began raining again, though, and slowly things began growing:

 The tractor went back to the shop for maintenance, an expense I didn't need but which hopefully will prevent a bigger expense in the future:

 I tried the bug zapper on the giant wasps, but they were wise to my tricks. I did get one fly, though, and it popped so loudly that I jumped. Apparently I'd never before really zapped one:

 Since the chickens can't go outdoors anymore and scratch, their toenails had grown long and ugly. I used the dogs' nail clippers to cut them back. The Barred Rock bantams' legs and feet are yellow:

 And the Easter Egger bantams' legs and feet are sort of black. They all needed trimming:

 More Frans Hals Day lilies bloomed. In fact, they began blooming profusely:

 And several sunflowers bloomed near the bird feeders. I may plant some next year because they are such a pleasure to see:

 The wild Bouncing Bet flowers, however, were fading. Their season was drawing to a close:

 One Sunday morning I was amazed to find the church looking like this. I learned that Vacation Bible School began the next day and the theme involved camping, boating, hiking, etc. - a natural fit for this part of the country. They had set up an amazing display with artificial rocks, campfire, river, waterfall, etc:

 And as if that wasn't enough, I found a hallway filled with life-sized trees made of balloons downstairs:

 And upstairs, in another room, a full campsite was set up, complete with tents, trees, river and bridge. My church joins with a number of other local churches to put on Vacation Bible School each year, and by all accounts it was a big success: