Rural Alburg Road In Moira, New York

I was taking a driving tour of some rural roads and came to the end of Elmer Road (yesterday's post), where I then turned right onto Alburg Road and passed by this outbuilding with its blue house door:

I remembered this elaborate tree house beside the road from passing it in previous years, but this time it was falling apart or being intentionally disassembled. I will never know, but I suspected the children were all grown up now and the tree house would soon be no more:

This looked to me like a classic Amish schoolhouse, with outhouses behind it and a pile of firewood to keep the kids warm:

I suspected this was an Amish barn, but I wasn't sure:

Every part of this farm looked Amish, and when I got home I discovered that one of my photos had caught an Amish woman who I hadn't noticed. I deleted the photo because I know they don't want their pictures taken:

One more Amish barn, this one with a wagon:

And across the road was a corn field, the stalks in traditional Amish shocks:

The next farm had a multitude of modern hay wagons:

And four gigantic silos:

The farm house stood on a hill, where it had magnificent views of the countryside:

Their mailbox was attached to an old-fashioned washing machine and painted to look like a Holstein. Some of the view which the house had can be seen in the valley below:

Another big farm with a grain bin:

And a herd of Black Angus:

As I neared the end of Alburg Road, I snapped a picture of this farm down in the valley below. Some day I'll try to find what road it is on, for I suspect it is a place I haven't yet seen. But this was the end of Alburg Road. I'll post pictures from the next road tomorrow:

Around The Farm

I was down to only nine bantam Barred Rock hens and decided to order some new bantams to build the flock back up next year. I ordered bantam Easter Eggers, the ones who lay the colored eggs, to mix in with my existing hens. Easter Eggers come in all different colors (and so do their eggs). I found this photo on the internet of a mixed flock. Mine should look a lot like these by next year:

 The Mock Orange has finished blossoming for the year but the memories of its glory are still fresh in my mind:

One of the two wild seeded apple trees by the road was developing fruit but I no longer find the baby apples on them. It's much the same in the orchard. But then I thought the same thing last year and in the end, I had a bountiful harvest. I can only wait and see:

 The Elderberries in the old silo base began to bloom. The birds have begun eating the flowers, apparently unwilling to wait for the berries:

 The Peonies bloomed and then faded. They are now finished blooming for the year:

 But they were spectacular while they lasted:

 I really liked this view of Peonies, roses and Mock Orange, all blooming together. The roses will bloom again but the Mock Orange and Peonies won't bloom again until next year:

 We had an abundance Swallowtail butterflies this year:

 And the fantail pigeons began going outdoors more. They are smart enough to stay off of the metal roof when it's very hot:

 I repaired my mailbox although I had to prop it up with the pick handle until the concrete set:

 This, I say through my tears, is $2640.00 worth of hay. I expect to have plenty for the upcoming winter:

 The little garden I planted in the side yard has been coming along nicely. I water it every day:

South Woods Road, From Dickinson NY To Brushton NY

I had just taken a driving tour of Franklin County Route 7, a rural road which took me from the town of Brushton to the town of Dickinson (yesterday's post), but the day was still young so I turned north on the South Woods Road, the next road parallel to Route 7, and continued my tour. I realized I'd been here before when I passed Tower Sugar House. I'd stopped here several years ago when they had an open house:

I stopped and looked at this abandoned building, trying to decide if it had been a barn, garage, home or combination. There were no other buildings adjacent to it. Whatever it had once been, it was now a soon to disappear piece of American history:

I passed by this adorable mailbox and had to stop and back up to get its photo. This is easily the best rural mailbox I've ever seen:

This old barn had been kept up nicely and I took note of the grindstone and milk cans with which it was decorated:

A very large, old farm house:

And an exquisite barn with a wooden silo:

A woodsy type home, set back in the trees:

A large home with a magnificent porch:

And out behind the home in the above photo were these outbuildings and a huge pile of firewood. Notice the Tree Gnome face on the maple trunk:

And here's a closeup of the octagon(?) building in the above photo. It appears to be a sugar house for boiling down maple syrup, and the extensive firewood is more evidence to support that theory:

I drove right by these critters and, once again, had to stop and back up to get a photo. Two ponies and two donkeys in a woodland corral:

I was almost back to Brushton and the end of South Woods Road when I stopped to photograph this old cabin. I marveled at the small and simple homes in which our predecessors lived. I am glad that these old, abandoned homes still exist and wish they could be preserved for posterity. But this marked the end of my driving tour. I put my camera away and concentrated on getting to the feed store. I needed more grain for the cattle: