County Route 47, Town Of Stockholm And Norfolk - Part 1

I often traveled County Route 47 at night while driving to and from community chorus rehearsals, so one day I decided to drive it during the day and see what I'd been missing. The road had lots of spectacular old barns, though most of them are now sitting idle:

Many of the smaller barns, however, were being used for horses:

These outbuilding held farm equipment:

A modern style barn with piles of round hay bales stored under its canopy. I wish I could keep my hay bales out of the rain:

An attractive setup for horses:

An old barn behind a traditional split rail cedar fence:

An old shed, no longer used. It appeared to me as this was once someone's house, tiny though it is:

A large and elaborate farm house, behind cedar split rail fence:

A big red barn with a couple of horses enjoying the sunshine:

A string of barns, laid out in the New England style. I was just getting started on my driving tour though, and there was still much to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Town Line Road In Malone, New York

I was on my way home from Malone and decided to turn onto Town Line Road, headed east, to view the old farms there. This giant old barn appeared to have once had an apartment in it:

A huge farm with multiple silos, barns and grain bins:

An old shed, falling into disrepair, which I suspected was once a horse barn:

A dairy farm with an Amish buggy out front. I believe the buggy was just for decoration:

The sign on the front of the barn said "Hutchins," and I presume it was a dairy farm:

A brick farm house, the only one I photographed that day. Later, I wished I'd taken pictures of more homes, but I'll have other chances:

Farm equipment, double silos and an old dairy barn:

Another Amish buggy, also possibly just for decoration:

This old barn was being renovated:

A beautiful scene with what appeared to be horse fences:

An old silo, whose barn must have collapsed or burned long ago:

Huge quantities of baleage, a sign that some dairy cows will eat well this winter. I intended to continue on Town Line Road to see more, but the road ended at the highway and I decided to head for home:

County Route 34, West Potsdam

I was driving to Canton, NY via back roads and found myself on St. Lawrence County Route 34. It was so scenic and had so little traffic that I decided to take pictures along the way:

The farmland was flat, with wide vistas across the woods and hay fields:

Old barns with silos dotted the landscape:

I think this was an old manure spreader:

Blue colored maple sap lines which fed into a collection house. I have read that many small operations use gravity fed lines, but bigger operations often use a vacuum pump to keep the sap flowing. I imagine that was what the shed was for:

A traditional farm house and several outbuildings:

The silo and barns which went with the above farm house:

This wasn't an old barn, but with the windmill, old gas pump, Texaco sign and brilliant red color, it sure caught my eye:

A lovely old farm house with a horse barn:

An old cemetery. With no snow on the ground, I would have enjoyed strolling around in it and reading the gravestones. Alas, I didn't want to lengthen my trip to Canton any more than I already was doing:

All the lawn furniture and grill appeared to be assembled to be protected for the winter. Perhaps they were going to move it into the old barn, just visible behind the house on the right:

I arrived at the intersection of County Routes 34 and 35 and decided to turn there, so I took one last photo of this Christmas colored house before starting a new series of pictures (tomorrow's post):

Franklin County Fair - 4H And Horses

I walked from the Poultry Barn (see yesterday's post) to the 4H and Commercial Barn. I wasn't interested in the commercial displays, but I always enjoy seeing what the local 4H Clubs are doing:

The 4H kids were showing animals also, but they were baby animals like this Holstein calf:

Baby pigs:

And lambs:

And from there I walked to the first of several Horse Barns:

There was judging going on outside, so horses were being led in and out - sometimes willingly, sometimes not:

Like the goats, some horses were actively seeking affection. Jessie, for example:

And Norman also wanted his nose rubbed:

I walked outside, where they were judging Western Riding:

The contestants were circling the pen, speeding up or slowing down at the judges' instructions. Notice the perfectly groomed tail on this horse. These animals are given much loving attention:

More horses with beautiful tails and perfect gaits. But it was time for me to leave. I planned to do my grocery shopping while I was in Malone, so the dogs at home would have to wait a bit longer for me:

Brasher Falls-Helena Road, A Driving Tour

I turned onto County Route 53, which runs from the hamlet of Helena to the hamlet of Brasher Falls, deciding to take a driving photo tour. I'd reached Brasher Center when I saw these two small barns/sheds, and stopped for a photo:

And not too far behind the two sheds in the above photo was this handsome, two-toned barn. Did they never finish painting it or was it owned by two family members who each took half? I guess I'll never know:

A shingled barn in the old, traditional green color:

And an unpainted barn, supporting lots of dormant vines, sitting right up close to the road:

A striking barn with the tallest sliding door I've ever seen. I couldn't help but wonder what was stored inside which required such a tall door:

Twin silos, barns, tractor, pickup truck and an old John Deere tractor:

I stopped at this vegetable stand which still had a sign which advertised last season's sweet corn prices. Last year it sold for $4.00 per dozen:

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

A very old barn which seemed to be sagging in the general direction of the slanted ground upon which it had been built:

A former dairy barn, apparently not now in active service:

As I approached the settlement of Brasher Falls, the road paralleled the St. Regis River. Because of the melting snow, it was swollen and overflowing its banks, covering the adjacent hay fields:

I did notice that the other side of the river didn't appear to be flooding, and I'll bet the owners of this waterfront home were grateful for that. But I was passing out of farm country and into the settlement of Brasher Falls, so I put my camera away and concentrated on getting home: