County Route 44, Between Madrid and Waddington, NY - Part 2

I was driving on County Route 44, on my way from Waddington to Madrid (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). This small barn stood all alone in a snowy field, but the basketball hoop and satellite dish caused me to think that a house once stood there also:

A spectacularly beautiful farm house:

A nice home and barn. Just look at that wrap-around porch!:

A house, small barn and livestock trailer, with miscellaneous farm equipment in the adjacent field:

And when it comes to impressive, modern farms, this beauty would be an example. It was also picturesque and I had to get a photo:

County Route 44 crossed the Grasse River on a narrow bridge:

An old, wooden barn, apparently no longer in use:

A large barn and silo, right up next to the road:

A small cluster of outbuildings, up on a rise:

And a herd of handsome Angus cattle who appeared to be coming up to the barn because there was a feeder there:

A giant, old barn in great condition:

The last picture I took was of this barn and home, which sat back off the road so I had to use my zoom lens. It was a picture of rural tranquility, the kind of place which inspired me to retire to my own farm:

County Route 44, Between Madrid and Waddington, NY - Part 1

I left the village of Waddington, NY and headed southeast on county Route 44 toward home. Stopping to take pictures made getting home slow, but the rural scenery was too nice for me to do otherwise:

The homes quickly became more rural as I left Waddington:

This farm was rather far off the road and I had to use my zoom lens - but the trees, snow, weathered wood and old barn made it look beautiful to me:

A lovely home, set behind trees and with a barn in the back:

This appeared to be a brick home, currently unoccupied:

A logging operation. Many of the logs were too small to be for lumber, so I assumed they were for firewood:

A silo, barn, farm house and garage, set back behind a snowy field:

A brick farm house:

This farm appeared to be large and successful:

A cluster of silos, though the tree blocked my view so I couldn't count them:

Another brick farm house. This is country living at its finest:

Miscellaneous farm equipment, spread out between a fence line and a woodlot. But there was more to see yet, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

The Walker House Museum In Madrid, New York

I really thought I'd seen all the local town museums (except my own, which seems to have no hours at all when it's open to the public), but then discovered the town of Madrid had one. I drove there one Saturday morning and found an old farm house, the Walker house, surrounded by corn fields:

Across the county road was an old barn and I imagined how nice it would be to include that as part of the museum:

I entered the small house and found an eclectic mixture of old objects:

The kitchen stove was piled with other objects from bygone eras and someone had taken the time to make up several displays of old time kitchen utensils:

The kitchen sink had a hand pump, but the old fashioned faucet was quite old as well. It sure brought back memories of my grandmother's Victorian Era house:

There was a wonderful country kitchen pantry, with its shelves fully stocked. It was my favorite part of the museum:

A small school house display:

And old dresses from various eras:

Baby clothes and children's toys:

I thanked the lady who tended the museum and walked out to my car. Behind the farm house museum were acres of corn stuble, backed up by woodlands in autumn colors:

I drove home a different way and discovered the tiny settlement of Madrid Springs, where I found this gigantic hay bale scarecrow. For point of reference, the hay bale which made up its head was probably 5 feet in diameter and about 1000 pounds:

And of course there were pumpkins everywhere. I drove home on a perfect autumn day and began working around my own place:

Old Fashioned Harvest Days In The Town Of Madrid - Part 3

The miniature horse pulls were what I'd most hoped to see, and they were in full swing when I arrived. Alas, the bleachers were full and it was difficult to find a good spot from which to take photos, but I tried:

These tiny work horses were all energized and anxious to go. And boy oh boy, did they give it all they had!:

The little horses were so anxious to pull that their handlers had difficulty getting them hooked up to the sled with the weight:

I believe I heard the announcer say that the sled was bearing 1800 pounds, a lot for two tiny horses to get moving:

Each team of two got a chance and then the handlers brought out another team to give it a try:

Here's a very brief video of the action:


I left the miniature horse pulls and began walking over to the grainary and corn crib:

The Walker family grainary was moved here and lovingly restored. The sign didn't actually say, but gave the impression that it was built about 1920:

Inside the grainary were wooden bins to store the grain, a fanning mill and other related equipment:

From there I walked to the Maple barn where, I was surprised to learn, the St. Lawrence County Maple Queen which I had met had been replaced by a new Maple Queen:

And just then, the 1932 Worthington Golf Tractor, which I featured in yesterday's post, went driving by. Two older gentlemen were riding it, chatting and enjoying their tour:

There was an entire flatbed filled with miniature farm equipment. A sign said they were all fully operational, half size (I'd have guessed smaller) and built by Garry Wilson of Lunenburg, Ontario:

A horse drawn wagon drove by, but it had no passengers at that time. I supposed it would fill up soon. But I was tired and hungry, so I walked to my car and began the drive home:

Old Fashioned Harvest Days In The Town Of Madrid - Part 2

There was an old fashioned, steam powered sawmill in operation:

More antique cars:

And this tractor driving around the grounds, pulling a wagon loaded with kids, their little brown dog and grandpa:

This 100 horsepower diesel engine once ran a cheese box factory in Heulvelton, New York. It was running and making lots of noise:

Old time power equipment wherever one looked. This fully operational miniature tractor was a big hit with this boy. His mom told him to get out of the way so I could take a picture, but I said I'd love it if he'd get back on it again. He refused, however, saying instead that he had to "make some repairs." He got in front to check the engine. I think he's going to be a mechanic some day:

Folks (and a few dogs) walked around, examining the old tractors:

And other old time farm equipment. There were several big barns filled with more tractors and equipment, but I never even went inside to see them this time:

This unique little dozer/loader was a wonder to me. I thought it might be for moving snow until I saw the teeth on the bottom of the bucket. That made me think it might have been for picking up stones in a field:

A 1932 Worthington golf course tractor. The Worthington Mower Company produced such equipment from the early 1920s until 1959:

There was a small Civil War encampment:

A 1922 steam engine, used by the St. Lawrence County Highway Department for many years:

This amazing vehicle was running up and down the dirt lanes with very few riders. The man in the white shirt flagged down the driver and asked to get on. He did, and I hobbled up behind, catching up to the wagon, and joined him. We had a nice ride and tour of the grounds until we reached the site of the miniature horse pulls. But I'll post about that tomorrow: