East Part Road, Part 1

It was a cold, cold day - but also sunny and a good opportunity for a driving tour. I chose East Part Road, though I haven't been able to figure out what town or towns it is in. It might be all or partially in the towns of Lawrence, Stockholm or Parishville. At any rate, I'd been there before and knew it would be scenic:

The houses nearest the highway were rather modern and I imagined their owners commuted to work in Potsdam or Canton:

But mostly East Part Road was incredibly rural, with fields and woodlands beneath amazingly blue skies:

The East Part Cemetery was so far off the road that I had to use my zoom lens to see it. There was no plowed access lane, so I surmised that no one had died recently and they'd plow if they had to:

The birches and pines danced with the clouds on snowy fields:

And bigger pines stood tall and looked quite serious, giving me the impression that there was some real forest here:

Indeed, I began to see "State Forest" signs, like this one on a giant old maple:

I wasn't passing many buildings of any kind, but I sure enjoyed the scenery - such as this snowy lane, leading off into unknown territory:

And then I found this sign which identified at least some of the forested lands I was seeing as Buckton State Forest, a place I'll check out for hiking with the dogs some time after the weather warms and the snow melts:

Everything looked mighty cold to me, but these houses were built for northern climates and were undoubtedly warm and comfy inside:

Another lane into the woods, this one with a gate preventing unauthorized entrance:

I usually won't stop and snap a photo if anyone is outside the home, but this woman never looked up from brushing snow off her car, so I took the picture anyway. But I was only halfway to the next intersection. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Happy Pets At Home

I thought it was time for a pet update, starting with Dixie, the guinea pig. She is quite tame and seems to enjoy being held - and especially having her chin rubbed. I've been trying to teach her to "shake" like a dog. She's happy to have me lift her paw, but she doesn't understand that she's supposed to offer it:

And Chirpy the parakeet. He's not hand tame, but he's certainly quite the happy little chirper:

PeeWee, Seamus and Madeline in the bedroom. PeeWee is once again out like a light and draped across the edge of his doggie bed:

And old Snoozey on one of the four cat trees at the top of the stairs:

Georgette has several favorite spots, but this is her number one, all time favorite perch:

Rocky mostly stays upstairs with Georgette. He's a trouble maker who never seemed to get the hang of feline social interaction:

And the kitchen chair buddies, Bramble and Draco:

Has a new friendship begun forming? I've repeatedly found Madeline and Draco together lately. As for little PeeWee, it was getting close to dinner time and he was pacing the floor:

When the latest big snowstorm hit, I went outside with the dogs to take a few photos. I began with Seamus and Fergus, both recently back from the groomer:

Madeline, Clover and Daphne. The snow was falling heavily, even though it doesn't show in the photo. You can tell it was windy, though, by the flowing, blowing hair on Clover's ears:

Clover again, this time with PeeWee - and both sets of ears were blowing in the wind:

"Please, Dad, let us back inside:"