Sunday Feb. 19, 2017




Yet another gorgeous, unfebruary type of day. Temperature rose into the 60's with warm sun and little wind. Crazy warm for this time of year. The temperature dropped to a whopping 41 last night, the trees ran some, not great by any means.

We went to church minus Brad who was charged with setting up a campfire and getting  the wood ready to fire in the camp. Chuck came early to help. The Yantz family came for a visit and walk.

Adam and Katie engaged lola in a game of catch with a large stick and larger mud hole. She had a great time getting attention and filthy dirty. Katie's sister Kelsey took the brunt of that with a muddy leg as a souvenir of her visit. Kelsey took this pic....she looks a little possessed.

To bathe or not to bathe....not a question tonight.

Pretty sure this is the black silt all farmers look for.....hey neighbor...maybe we could grow pumpkins in the tub?????

Chuck, Bob and Brad quit Saturday night with 13 inches in the upper tank. Leaving the sap sit overnight made for a little darker syrup today. Boiling sped along pretty quick so by the time the rest of the troops decided to get moving, the supply was squeaky low. Wally made 3 dumps to keep the evaporator full as we gathered. Chuck put wood in, Bob took wood out. Katie waited patiently for Wally to return.

The stairs hit the ground and the reese hitch came loose, Mr. B watches as Adam and Brad fix that up.

 

 This also necessitated gathering backwards which was a shamefully big deal to some people. Maybe one of our growing edges needs to be flexibility? Trying new things??

We found a whopping 197 gallons in the woods and Chuck brought over 14 gallons from Sandhill Rd and Adam brought 13 gallons. The taps in the parsonage yard ran well. There were a couple of buckets sorted out with mold and a much larger presence of ants today..sadly.

For a first time ever ( in February anyway) we set up a camp outside today with our fire ring and moved the picnic table outside. We cooked hot dogs and enjoyed sitting outdoors. The fire ring works great we came up with some ideas for future campouts. Thanks Fruth family!!

 

Aunt Dorothy and Karen and Monetta and Susan R. all came for a visit today. Nice day for a walk.

Mr. Birch came to help today and Gary and Becky walked over to say hello. Chuck got a little irritated realizing that everyone was socializing while he was working . Huge surprise, he complained. Bob told him to go to the red union house in the back yard to register any further concerns. Chuck was quiet for awhile.

Sue P. and later Charlie, Julie and Brylee came for a visit. Bob invited Charlie over as he found out he had pork. We all tasted and approved haha. We sat outside and enjoyed smores for the first time this year. Every night in the previous week everyone was too pooped to mess with melting marshmallows...they are tricky little boogers when you are tired.

Total Sap Today: 197 gallons + 14 Sandhill Rd. and +13 Twp Rd 178

Total Sap To Date: 3246

Total Syrup Today: 9 gallons
Total Syrup To Date: 61.5 gallons

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