Sunday February 26, 2023

Two in a row ...beautiful days. Today a smidge warmer than yesterday. The air is crisp yet ..but dressing in layers is definitely the wardrobe call . 

We wish Elizabeth a happy  bday today! Braxton and Bryan came to help with sap today. We had a nice crew and great day to take a big walk. Megan, Collin, Melissa, Bret, Brad, Michael, Adam, Gerri, Nancy, Evan and Kelsey were also out and about this afternoon at 4. Brad drove the south path and then stayed at the camp to help get a fire started. Dave returned and helped at the camp as well. We should commend Dave on the pancakes making tonight. Dave is also serious about getting supper started..this is good. 

Bret drove the rest of the evening. He commented that Walle does not "corner well". There has been a tutorial on that..maybe catch that next time. 

Aunt Susan made an appearance this afternoon and was glad when they finally had the evaporator going. Other than keeping Susan from freezing Brad's other motivation for getting the fire stoked up in timely fashion was getting to bed on time tonight. Those young men are very tight lipped about the events in the camp on Saturday, however they all agree that Bob is fired from wood selection moving forward. They fought a cart of wet wood last night and apparently this made the night rather long. Seemed to be a priority to change out carts prior to starting tonight. 

We all were thinking this would be a bigger run today but there were only 560 gallons of sap tonight. Or so we guesstimate. Two days in a row of head scratching to figure out how much there was. Pointed out that we are not using the white board properly. Goal for next time. 

The bracket for Walle's steps fell off  at some point in the trek. Megan holds the steps up while the guys put the bracket back in place. They sure are trusting of her...after all the flack they give her, they are fortunate they did not get goose eggs. Camera person too slow to get the full hand washing in the mud puddle. 

Dave had sausage and pancakes ready promptly and they were enjoyed by all! They made fun of Gerri's lack of comprehension of the dog tracking program and the fact that she was tracking herself. Dog walked 8.6 miles tonight. Gerri was a tad shy of that...

Friend Dan stopped in with a lifetime supply of chocolate this afternoon...thank you!

Coming home went smoothly for Gerri. She is very glad to have her jeep functioning again! The dogs ate the left over pancakes while she finished loading the jeep. The dogs also saw a rabbit on the way out of the drive that had them howling. Upon arrival home they chased a chicken through a mud hole. Then chased Susan the cat into the garage, .......cat may have sat on top of somebodies brand new cupboards. FIASCO. Cup half full...no skunks involved!! 

Another great blessing today....did not burn the house down. Apparently you have to remove the wire tires from frozen sausage prior to thawing in microwave. Who knew. Probably everybody. Took a picture of the sausage candle. Pretty flame. Maybe that is the next new thing.

Total Sap Today: 560 gallons

Total Sap To Date:1,895 gallons

Total Syrup Today:  9 gallons

Total Syrup To Date: 31 gallons