Fine-N-Dandy Sugar House

I drove to a sugar house near the St. Lawrence River during the county's Maple Weekend but could not find it. I was on my back home, feeling discouraged, when I saw a sign pointing toward the town of Norwood which advertised a Maple Weekend Open House. Of course I headed that way and, when I got there, saw this wonderful sugar house built of logs:

I remembered that I had been there last year during St. Lawrence County's Maple Weekend but they'd built a new addition for storing maple sap out behind the sugar house since my last visit. Blue tubes transported the sap from the forest to the storage tanks beneath that roof. Mr. Finen, the owner, gave me a tour. The name, "Fine-N-Dandy," is a takeoff on his last name:

Another couple of people came to see the open house so I went inside the sugar house:

I really needed to use the outhouse but would have had to slog through a stretch of deep mud to get there. I decided that I could wait:

Inside the sugar house, there was maple syrup for sale:

And some neighbors, friends of Mr. Finen, who were hanging around and helping where they could:

The evaporator was huge, taking up most of the sugar house:

There was another room off to the side, so I headed toward the doorway:

In that room, a young couple and their two babies were sampling maple syrup, maple covered walnuts and maple cream. The maple cream, a spread with the consistency of peanut butter, was new to me so I tasted it also - and fell in love. I bought a jar of it to give my sister:

And then I went back into the main room where the evaporator was heating sap:

There were several chambers for the sap, and I believe that it progresses from one chamber to the next as it thickens - but I'm not at all sure how that works. I paid for my maple cream and some maple covered walnuts, thanked my host and headed back out to my car:

St. Lawrence County Dairy Princess Parade - Part 2

Roughly half the parade had passed by me when this 1948 Ford went by:

And I got a big kick out of this float from a retirement home. I thought it wonderful that they participated and had a sense of humor:

Reality Check, a youth group fighting the smoking habit:

This marvelous action float had a moving cow (two, actually) jumping over the moon. There was also a giant spoon, so they apparently were referencing the nursery rhyme:

The State University at Canton's basketball mascot was a kangaroo:

And his pouch was full of candy, so he was a very popular marsupial:

The St. Lawrence County Maple Queen who, you may remember, I met at one of my springtime visits to a sugar house:

Cabot Cheese participated (this was, after all, a celebration of the dairy industry). The man next to me quipped, "Why aren't you handing out cheese?" and the lady in the truck said the people following them were doing just that. Indeed, a number of marchers were handing out small packages of Cabot cheese. Alas, I didn't get one:

This handsome team waited beneath a maple for their chance to get into the parade with a lady and tiny baby in the wagon. Everyone, including the horses, looked bored:

And lastly, there were antique tractors - a John Deere:

An Allis Chalmers:

And another John Deere. I was in a residential neighborhood where the parade began and so hopped in my car and found a way back to the highway which avoided the crowded downtown streets. It had been a fun and impressive parade. I hope to return next year:

St. Lawrence County Dairy Princess Parade - Part 1

I walked from the park and through the village of Canton to get closer to where the parade began. I was enormously impressed with Canton, thinking it was one of the cleanest, most picturesque towns I'd ever seen anywhere. I found a shady spot and watched as the firetrucks led the parade down Court Street:

This antique firetruck carried a giant Dalmatian, waving and throwing candy to the children:

The St. Lawrence County Dairy Princess and her court:

The Little Free Library had a large contingent of marchers:

This farm themed float won a prize but I don't remember who the sponsor was:

PFLAG (Parents, Families And Friends Of Lesbians And Gays) had a large group of marchers and got loud cheers from the watching crowd:

This barbershop chorus was singing, but I could barely hear them over the crowd:

This float was made from a hay wagon and everyone seemed to be having lots of fun:

More fun, more colors, more noise. And all the while, marchers were tossing candy to the children watching the parade:

The FFA float (Moovin' and GROOvin' with the Future Farmers of America):

And the NRA float:

There were a number of teams of handsome draft horses. And yet there was still more parade to see, so I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

McAuslin Road to O'Connell Road - Part 1

McAuslin Road runs from the town of Lawrence, in St. Lawrence County, into Franklin County, where it becomes O'Connell Road. I decided it would make a great driving tour one day. At the start, most of the road was through woodlands, with occasional grassy lanes which led back into the forest:

The forest was not old, but it was lush and green:

Then I began to see homes along the road, such as this blue house with pink and blue lawn chairs:

This barn was filled with old equipment:

A venerable old farm house:

This looked to me like a horse barn, though I didn't see any animals:

I pulled my car to the side of the road and got out when I saw a whole stretch of Blue Flag (wild Iris). They were in standing water, as they like it, and were lovely:

Here's a close-up:

I continued on my way, passing this mobile home. It did not appear to be lived in except that someone was mowing the grass for access:

A smaller home with a double garage, all neat and tidy and set back into the trees. But I'd just begun my driving tour and there was much yet to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Maple Weekend In St. Lawrence And Franklin Counties

I'd been seeing online references to the two Maple Weekends for some time. But winter stayed so long that I waited for the second. Then I chose two local sugar houses who were participating. The first, the Fine-N-Dandy in Norwood, New York (St. Lawrence County), turned out to be a real, honest to gosh log cabin in the woods:

And inside the sugar house, the owner was preparing things and I was greeted by the St. Lawrence County Maple Queen:

She offered me samples of maple syrup, maple donut holes, maple sugar candy and maple covered walnuts. I chose the walnuts:

It was still cold and apparently the sap wasn't running well yet, so there was no sap boiling. A young lady warmed herself by a heater, though, as I looked around:

This may have been in an old log cabin, but the equipment looked state of the art to me:

I walked out back, where two men were discussing the modern collection system:

There was an outhouse:

And what I think used to be a sawmill but had, over the years, fallen into disuse and become a storage shed:

I bid farewell to the sugar house and hopped back into my car. My next stop was in Brushton, New York (Franklin County), about 40 miles to the east:

When I arrived at the Tower Sugar House, I once again saw no smoke or steam:

I walked around back to see the thick pipes which carried the sap to the sugar house:

And then I entered. Indeed, this was another operation with modern, impressive equipment, even though it wasn't operating yet:

I was impressed and people were friendly, but there wasn't much else to see or do. So I returned to my car and began the journey home: