Rural Elmer Road, Town Of Lawrence NY

One morning I was in the mood for a driving tour, so I grabbed my camera, got into the car and headed to Elmer Road, where I knew I could find much rural beauty. The first farm I passed was this classic pair of barns, with a silo and hay bale elevator:

Farm equipment, a red barn and baleage stacked up for the winter:

In my mind, Elmer Road should be called "Elbow Road" because of the sharp turn it makes - and right at the turn is this log home:

They had two horses in the field, though I only managed to get one of them in the photo:

Two outbuildings, one apparently in use and the other not:

I have photographed this woodsy home before, set back in the pines like a forest hideaway. This, however, may be the first time I've seen it in the winter. It still looked woodsy and welcoming:

A series of outbuildings, apparently leading to someone's home, mostly hidden by trees:

I came to this ambitious and prosperous looking Amish farm, with its twin barns and twin silos:

I got a closer view of the silos and one of the barns as I passed by:

Another barn, this one with a traditional buggy parked outside:

The same Amish farm had a roadside stand and another barn beside the house:

And the house had laundry drying on the porch, a tree swing and a children's sled:

Still the same farm, I passed this workshop and windmill:

They also had a busy, prosperous looking sawmill. But that was the end of Elmer Road. I then turned right on Alburg Road, but I'll post those photos tomorrow:

Rural Scenery In Constable, New York

I'd just toured the hamlet of Constable, but the town had a lot of rural land, so I turned onto Miller Road to see what I could see. The first farm I came to was big and well maintained, with multiple barns, three silos, a sugar house, a couple of grain bins and neat rows of hay bales:

 The farm was too big to get in one photo so I drove on, catching it again from a different angle:

 Still the same farm, this one showing the farm house:

 I continued on Miller Road, which became woodsy and made a sharp turn, where I stopped to snap a picture of this house, shaded by the many pine trees. I never noticed the pile of old furniture until I got home and looked at the picture:

 I saw no more farms, so I turned back the way I'd come, photographing this collection of barns and children's swings. The bigger red barn was full of firewood. And if you are wondering, this is indeed part of the same farm I began with:

 I turned onto Dineen Road, where I photographed this sizeable sugar house and other outbuildings:

 Someone was drying laundry on the line, behind which a number of horses appeared. They looked to me like the Welsh pulling pony I once had:

 The house which went with the ponies and laundry led me to guess that this was an Amish farm:

 A dairy barn, milk room and silo, with a row of baleage out front:

 The above barn was too big and too close to the road to get in one photo, so here's the rest of it:

 I found myself again in the hamlet, with no more farms, so I ended my driving tour. But before I put my camera away, I had to get a shot of this amazing creation, made from an old stump in front of someone's house. Very creative!

Rural Moira And Bangor, New York - Part 2

I was taking a driving/photo tour of rural roads in Moira and Bangor, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). The clothesline at this farm suggested to me that it was likely Amish:

Twin Silos, a grain bin and multiple barns:

An equipment shed off to the rear. That seems to me to be a valuable asset:

This old house reminded me that I'd photographed it in the past, probably several years ago:

 Modern, commercial barns and two very tall silos:

More laundry on a clothesline, plus lots of containers which may be for maple sap in the spring:

I remembered this scene from several years ago also - three tile/block silos without roofs and a small, block shed - perhaps a milk room back in the day:

Old barns and sheds off behind the brush, and an old pickup truck, permanently parked:

An interesting old home up on a hill, with what appeared to be a brand new steel roof:

A snazzy brick home, also up on a small rise:

This barn was so close to the road that I had a bit of difficulty getting a photo of it:

A sugar house, a common sight around here. This concluded my driving/photo tour, so I continued on to Malone to do my shopping:

Franklin County Route 16 - Part 1

I had previously noticed Franklin County Route 16 and made a mental note to take a driving tour there some day. Well, the day arrived and I began with this classic old brick house. Notice the traditional plank door:

A magnificent dairy farm. I noticed the clothes on the line and decided it was an Amish farm, but then noticed the bright colors of the clothes and the electric lights in the barn. So apparently it wasn't Amish:

A view of the same farm, but from the other side:

An old barn which had been nicely modernized. The backhoe was actively digging up the field in preparation for spring, most likely pulling out rocks and digging trenches for drainage pipe:

Another very large and prosperous looking farm, with barns, sheds, silos, grain bins and corn kernel storage bin:

This farm house looked friendly and inviting:

I think it would be fair to assume this guy likes to race cars:

Another large and modern dairy farm:

A farm house with clothes hanging on the porch, and a barn out back. But there was more to see on County Route 16, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

South Bombay To Moira, New York - Part 1

It was a lovely February day and so warm that all our snow had melted. I decided to take a driving tour and headed out in the car for the settlement of South Bombay, where I turned east onto Franklin County Route 32 and began snapping pictures, beginning with this sprawling old farm house. I thought it would have looked right at home in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick:

This place looked lonely and forlorn, once someone's home but now abandoned:

This, I felt quite certain, was once a church. It appeared to be in the process of being turned into a home:

I don't know what this once was. It apparently once had two living quarters, perhaps quarters for farm workers. Despite its new roof, it seemed unused now:

But County Route 32 had few scenic farms and the sun was interfering badly with picture taking, so I turned south onto County Route 17, also known as Cooks Corner Road. I still had some trouble with the bright sun, but there were farms galore to photograph:

Though I saw no animals, this had the classic look of a horse barn:

A modern steel barn and an older, one story barn with a grain bin:

This farm home had dresses flapping in the breeze as they hung from a line on the porch:

I passed a very small and unmarked cemetery. Though it looked old, it was well cared for:

A giant old barn, on its way out. These behemoths are masterworks of construction but too expensive for most people to keep repaired. They are gradually falling into disrepair and, eventually, falling down. I like to photograph them because some day they won't be seen along the roads any more:

A small shed with a tractor and hay field behind it. But this road had lots of interesting and scenic farms to photograph, so I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: