Town Ridge Road, County Route 36, Norfolk NY - Part 1

I was returning home from the veterinarian's office (Draco was sick) and it was such a lovely day that when I passed a road heading off to the west, I decided to give it a try. It was morning and I was driving west, so the sun would be behind me for any photos. The first place was a dairy farm, where I snapped a picture of several cows, placidly chewing their cuds:

They had many long silo bags, perhaps six to eight feet high, with silage stored from last summer:

And old fashioned silos as well. The smaller tower was, I believe, a grain bin:

A sugar house. Family farms in this part of the country often have sugar houses and make their own maple syrup:

More silos, barns and a grain bin:

I stopped to photograph these handsome equines, debating whether they were ponies or miniature horses. I can only guess, of course, but they looked like Shetland ponies to me:

A lovely old farm house, well cared for, with a barn behind it:

Two weathered old barns alongside the road:

And a brick house with an addition - or was it an old frame house with a brick addition?:

A wonderful old barn with a dog kennel in front of it. This was lovely country and I hadn't yet reached the end of the road. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

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:

Old Market Road In The Town Of Stockholm, New York - Part 1

I was on my way home from Potsdam when I decided it was time for another driving tour of a local, rural road. So I turned off onto Old Market Road in the town of Stockholm, just to see what I could see:

It was rather heavily forested, and most of the homes I saw seemed of the suburban type. That made sense since it was close to Potsdam, an easy commute:

The family who owned these ponies was out cutting firewood together. They didn't seem to mind at all when I stopped to snap a photo of their ponies:

I saw a Ruffed Grouse at the edge of the road. He slipped into the brush when I stopped, but I could still see him there, craning his neck to keep an eye on me. Last year there seemed to be Grouse everywhere, but they seem rather scarce this year:

This home was up on top of a small hill and displayed an American flag:

A large, two story home with a double garage:

And at an intersection, an A-frame with fanciful decorations:

The scenery seemed to become less suburban as I drove. This handsome little farmstead had lots of outbuildings, an American flag and a windmill:

I passed through more forest:

And alongside frozen marshes:

This interesting place was set back in the trees:

And I absolutely loved this old barn. But I had just begun my driving tour and there was plenty more yet to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Driscoll Road, Part 1

I frequently pass the intersection to Driscoll Road on my way to and from Brasher Falls, but one day I brought my camera, planning a driving tour. This field of horses was actually on the county road, almost to Driscoll Road:

And right next to the horses, these two adorable ponies:

I then turned onto Driscoll Road:

It was straight and looked uninhabited at first as it carried me through woodlands:

Then I passed some hay fields, apparently left uncut for a few years:

I began to see some homes set back in the trees:

These were neat and trim homes and I guessed that they were owned by folks who worked in town but valued country living:

There were mobile homes, modular homes and old farm houses:

There were expansive lawns, lots of trees and the biggest skies this side of Montana:

A small and very old looking barn was set back in the trees behind these spruces:

I passed by this quiet pond, wondering if there would be more houses ahead. But I'll post about that tomorrow: