Saturday, March 16, 2019

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Saturday March 16, 2019

What a fun day!  Even though it still looks and feels like winter..there is a hint of spring in the air...the morning doves could be heard this am......and the moss is perking up. The weather is cool but reasonable. There was a hint of sun today and a light wind. Perhaps nicest in the mid morning. Awoke this am to everything a pretty white from rather unexpected overnight dusting of snow.



The beloved combine is fixed...thanks to Redline and Nationwide HAHA....so Bob picked that up this morning and returned it home. We scrambled to catch up on other chores this am as well.







Bob tried his hand at making some maple cream...made the taffy portion at 0900 and the cream portion at 2100! 














Not to be outdone by Cody and Amy who spent Wednesday evening on their version.



 Cody says they stirred by hand for 40 minutes...Bob befriended the kitchenaid mixer. 









Bob ran a phone pole yesterday for the time to gather today, as he really did not think it would matter much...picking up what has been there since 



Wednesday and likely not much running today. The afternoon votes won so we started about 1 pm. Brad gets the award for best hat.

Nobody wanted to drive today so Gerri crammed into the cockpit. There was a lot of snearing, giggling and pointing......all Gerri heard was these people volunteering to drive next time. Nancy and perhaps one small tree..NOT a maple Bob...were the only victims. 

Katie exaggerating the bumpy ride!


Karma can be both swift and cruel. Nancy had a good laugh as Adam got one boot stuck in a mudhole. 






About 20 minutes later, Gerri/Wally baptized her as she collected a bucket near the path and Gerri goosed Wally to be sure not to get stuck. Sorry Nancy. Polka dots are in for spring! 







This is the scene of the crime, Adam is blocking Nancy......







Katie rode and dumped buckets while Adam, Kelsey, Evan , Muff,  Brad and Chris hauled in the sap. 







The soft maples have kicked in, Adam found a couple with full buckets today. 270 gallons was a respectable haul today considering we started with about 200 gallons in the camp leftover from Wednesday night. 












After we gather the sap into the
325 gallon container...we take it to the camp, attempt to park it on an angle and then pump it out into a stainless milk tank. We sometimes empty the tank if there is more than say 100 gallons at the end of one path (there are three major paths) so as not to be driving to the far corner of the woods and potentially running out of space. If you are driving Wally and emptying the tank this takes about 5 minutes. If you are standing by the path with your full buckets and those of your 2 best friends waiting, it feels like it takes about an hour. 








Adam working, Bob watching. 








Kelsey and Muff made philly steak n cheese on the griddle with cole slaw for lunch...that was enjoyed by all. 

Adam and Brad split wood and bantered for a bit. Bob gave them a talkin to about shutting down the evaporator properly....Adam grinned,...Brad rolled his eyes...unsure who absorbed the information. Dogs seemed attentive. 

The syrup is slightly darker today as the sap has sat for the last 48 hours. Each bottle represents a 5 gallon bucket of syrup. They are kept and used to help blend for specific uses while canning. 




Karen and Dale came for a visit at the end of the evening. Drove home in the daylight....woohoo! 



Total Sap Today:270 + 8
Total Sap To Date:3,800 + 104 gallons
Total Syrup Today:13 gallons
Total Syrup To Date: 80.5 gallons








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