Monday March 8, 2021

Today was one of those days that renews your faith that spring is coming. There was little breeze and lots of warm sun. Enough to make our trees cry big sappy tears. Buckets were 1/4 to a half full on average making for a nice run of 685 gallons. Evan dumped buckets and Walle tonight so the white board was properly utilized. Honestly not sure about this other than the punch line..the circled number. 

We were thankful for our faithful sap elves who warriored through the 9-5 to show up for a little cardio in the woods. We had quite a crew tonight and appreciated everyone!

Dale drove Walle and workers seemed to float in about the rate of sap. One drip arrived at a time. No offense.....just tired and feeling punchy.  Hope we did not miss anybody....one of those nights where the head count outbound and inbound was not very clear. Volunteers tonight included , but may not be limited to 3 dogs, Bryan N. , Bryan H. , Brad, Vivian, Evan,  Susan,Adam, Dean, Muff, Kelsey, Megan, Natalie, Melissa, Gerri, Michael, Brad. Katie was stuck with Bob in the camp working on dinner, the fire and dog sitting. 

Walle's tank,  full to the brim, is 325 gallons. Susan is holding a cap we use so that we do not spill much sap back out of the tank. 

Brad and Bryan visiting and teasing others as to why they no longer have "2" buckets. Nancy thought it would be fun to mark a single gathering bucket on day one and see where it ends up by the end of the season! 

Gerri wanted to get a pic of the angle of Walle in some of the deep holes. Ended up with a funnier picture of the angle of Susan and Evan avoiding the branches. 

You can tell the first beautiful day lifts the spirits of all as the laughter and the argueing both seem to be on an upswing. The most fun aspect of the day is listening to the themeless conversation. Brad had some great stories about his new part time job. Bob tried once again to help the ever entertaining Dave G and his neighborhood sap boil. Natalie got a syrup tour. Susan got a lamb tour. Adam got sassy with Bob....who failed to use the proper insulation rope...pointed out earlier by several 20 somethings that were ignored. Subjects ranged from baseball, to what's up with Easter services....how Bob got addicted to Farm Tok, recipes and quilting. Something for everyone. Fried bologna and cole slaw and Aunt Dorothy's jello rounded out our evening. The guys decided that there is something unique in Susan B. 's brownies...(not THAT unique)...but they like them and would like to try them again.  

Bob and Evan grabbed a few buckets on the short north path to put in the evaporator as it apparently was burnt down fairly low last eve. Week nights the goal is to get that fire hot asap to make bedtime a little more reasonable. 

This is our neopolitan finishing pan!

Total Sap Today: 685 gallons

Total Sap To Date: 3.095 gallons

Total Syrup Today: 13 gallons

Total Syrup To Date: 57.5 gallons + 13= 70.5 gallons