Glorious October

October, sort of the opposite of March, comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion. This year, early October brought lots of Monarch butterflies. This one was in the pasture, near the compost pile:

 And a number of them swarmed the New England Asters in the front yard:

 Monarchs don't hold still often, and usually close their wings when they do, so I was excited to get some nice photos of them on the Asters:

 And the new, baby roses put out a last burst of flowers. This one was the Emily Carr:

And the Morden Sunrise:

 The Rugosa roses on the side of the house also continued to bloom:

 The giant sunflowers were almost finished blooming and their seed was now feeding the wild birds, but a few tiny miniature sunflowers continued to bloom at their feet:

 Perhaps the last vase of flowers to go to church this year consisted of some small sunflowers, three kinds of roses (Morden Sunrise, Emily Carr and a Morden Blush bud), one Delphinium, New England Asters and a branch of dark red leaves from the Ninebark bush:

And the local scenery took on the look of October with roadside displays of pumpkins for sale:

 Red Sumac and purple New England Asters along the road:

 I stopped at a bridge over the St. Regis River to take this photo:

 Then I walked out toward the middle of the bridge to get more of the river in the picture. October in the north country is a wonderful time of year:

Beautiful October In The North Country

I traveled along Converse Road in Fort Jackson, New York to photograph this golden colonnade:

And on nearby Sheldon Road, I found a corner lot filled with these beautiful leaves:

There is a gravel road beside my house where I saw these red Sumacs:

Continuing down the gravel road, red and yellow trees towered above me:

I like autumn color when there is still enough green to highlight the red and yellow:

Along a neighbor's property:

A tree so red it almost glowed:

A small hay field between a stone wall and an autumn colored woodland:

Explosions of color all along the road:

Down toward the end of the road, this house was selling pumpkins:

The light colored bark of Aspen trees stood out among the brighter colors:

And colorful trees bordered the Amish farmer's pasture. It is down the road from his house and barn, and he takes a milk can down there in his buggy every morning, milks his cows and hauls the milk back to his family. New York's north country is beautiful all year long, but October is especially so:

Around The Farm In October

The grass isn't growing very fast now, and it looks like I'll have to start putting out hay for the herd soon:

The apple trees (well, some of them) are producing beautiful fruit in spite of my gloomy predictions:

The skies here are regularly dramatic. This was a typical sunset in the southwest sky:

And a sunrise in the northeast sky one morning:

A farmer missed a few stalks of corn when reaping this field. Every time I drive by (it's just up the road from me), the remaining stalks put me in mind of survivors after a catastrophe:

Vegetable stands along our country roads are now selling home grown pumpkins:

The cows are looking healthy and so are the little horses:

The hens are enjoying life although they'd much rather go outside:

The white fantail pigeons have had numerous babies this year and are beginning to look a bit crowded:

I attached the yellow flagging ribbon to the horses' muzzles so I can tell from a distance if they're still wearing them or not. Remy is an expert at wriggling out of his. He also knows how to rip off the yellow flagging ribbon. Full blown autumn is here:

Wagner Road In Moira, New York - Part 2

I was taking a driving tour of Wagner Road in the rural town of Moira, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). This old barn was in good repair and appeared to be used for horses:

And speaking of horses, this herd were out in their pasture and I had to use the zoom lens to get a photo of them:

An old barn, out behind a more modern house:

Another horse, almost hidden behind a row of trees:

A large, one story barn, probably a cattle barn, which appeared to be unused, and sat behind a recently harvested corn field:

This house still had pumpkins for sale. There was only one $2 pumpkin left, but a good selection of  50¢ and $1 pumpkins for the local trade:

The same house harvested and sold maple syrup:

At the end of Wagner Road, I turned onto County Route 8 and photographed these two barns, one old and collapsing, the other newer and in good shape:

I continued on towards Malone on County Route 8 but stopped for a photo of this autumn corn field:

And one photo of this local resource, the Farm-to-Market Country Store:

Driving Down A Gravel Road

There is a gravel road in the town of Lawrence, New York, which I drive fairly often - but especially in October to photograph the autumn color and in winter to photograph the massive snow banks. Our autumn leaves were disappointing this year but one day I decided to check out the gravel road anyway. I began with these Staghorn Sumacs behind a barbed wire fence. Sumacs are often the first leaves to turn bright red, so maybe there is much more color to come in the next week or two:

 As I drove, I saw many trees which were brightly colored:

 Someone had mowed the grass along the road, allowing for nicer views:

 A White Birch tree trunk set off this scene in style:

 A flaming red maple:

 A stone wall and hay field, bordered with a confetti burst of color:

 Explosions of color, keeping company with quieter shades of gold and green:

 I came to a house (there aren't many on that road) with homegrown pumpkins for sale, and I thought they added to the autumn theme:

 Ah, this is why I love October!:

 An Amish pasture with woodlands on its far side. Apparently our autumn is later than usual, and perhaps there will be more color and beauty than I had expected. There certainly was along this gravel road: