A Driving Tour Of Ferris Road - Part 2

I was taking a driving tour of scenic, rural Ferris Road in the town of Lawrence, New York (see Part 1, posted yesterday). This large old farm had a modern home, pictured at the end of yesterday's post:

There was an impressive herd of black and red Angus cattle out back. I had to use the zoom lens to get a photo of them:

I don't know if this impressive gate led to a sugar house or if Sugar Bush was the name of their farm (or maybe both). Either one was possible, as maple syrup production is ubiquitous in these parts:

Despite the appearance of many active farms, I also saw lots of fields, lying undeveloped and unused:

In some places, the fields had grown up into woodlands:

This striking red barn was part of a small, immaculately tended farm:

The house was elaborate and they'd used the same eye-catching red paint on its foundation and chimney:

I stopped and turned around after I'd passed by the farm with the red paint. I wanted to see it all together. It's a beauty, isn't it?:

This sad old house, caving in and sprouting trees, was certainly not beautiful but it was interesting:

Two historic barns in what appeared to be near perfect condition:

And sadly, another old home, slowly sinking back into the earth:

I remembered this old home from my driving tour three years ago. It appeared then as if it was about to be renovated. Alas, I didn't think anything had changed in the three years since:

Ferris Road ended at State Route 11, where I snapped one last photo of this low rise, red barn. I've decided that some of the most picturesque rural scenery is close to home:

TAUNY At Christmastime

I drove to TAUNY in Canton, New York to see the Gingerbread House Contest (yesterday's post) but of course decided to stay and have a look around while I was there. TAUNY stands for Traditional Arts In Upstate New York and they specialize in the arts and crafts of local artisans and Native Americans:

They were having a Christmas open house and people milled around, nibbling on oranges and cookies, while looking at the displays and merchandise:

And there was plenty of merchandise to see, all neatly displayed on open shelves:

An A cappella group was singing traditional Christmas carols:

A woman fielded telephone calls over by the fiddle playing chainsaw bear and tables loaded with finger foods:

I have seen most of their merchandise many times but noticed, for the first time, these handmade lures and creel. The next shelves over held picture frames and bird houses:

Hand sewn quilts:

I walked upstairs and found a gallery of awards which they called their "Wall of Fame:"

Each frame held a North Country Heritage Award, people or groups recognized for their history of mastery of the traditional arts in the region:

I picked two of them at random to show here. The first was Yancey's Sugarbush in Croghan, New York. The Yancey family has been tapping trees and making maple syrup and candy since 1844:

Eli Tracy has been a blacksmith since he was a small boy helping his father in the blacksmith shop. Eli has been shoeing horses, making wagon wheels and bolts, and repairing broken farm equipment for nearly 70 years:

I began descending the stairs, from where I discovered the unique view which they offered of the bustling sales floor below. The A cappella chorus continued to sing Christmas carols and the whole scene was most appealing:

The register/sales desk was at the foot of the stairs and I could see out the front windows onto the wintry downtown main street of Canton. It was time for me to go back out to my car and continue on to other things:

North Country Harvest Festival - Part 1

A very large horse farm, Honey Dew Acres in Crary Mills, New York, advertised a Harvest Festival on a recent weekend and of course I went to take a look. I parked in a hay field and walked toward the horse barns, paddocks and crowds of visitors:

There were large numbers of blanketed horses in many paddocks. Those people in the background were waiting for pony rides or watching the children already riding:

One of the horse barns, formerly a dairy barn:

A tractor pulling a wagon filled with tourists was parked on the main lane. When the driver asked if anyone else wanted on for this trip, I said I did and climbed aboard:

We sat on rough benches as the wagon bounced and lurched. The people were friendly and convivial, with quite a  number of youngsters. I was once again with the St. Lawrence County Maple Princess who, according her extra sash, was also the New York State Maple Princess:

We traveled around the barns and paddocks, and then headed into the woods, which apparently was also a sugar bush:

The sugar house was a classic structure and appeared to still be used:

Then we traveled back through the farm where friendly horses looked at us with inquisitive faces and sometimes followed us:

After the wagon ride, I stopped to watch the children being given pony rides:

I'd guess there were six to eight ponies, each with a young lady leading it and even younger children taking rides. But I still hadn't seen the hay maze or anything else, and it was time for me to go look for them. But I'll post about that in Part 2, tomorrow: