Tuesday March 21, 2023 

It really was a terrific Tuesday. The weather surely was different than last Saturday!! Tonight was still and sunny and warm with the thermometer nearing 60 degrees. This also of course means the end of the syrup season. 

A plan was devised to pull taps tonight along wtih collecting the last sap. Brad drove tonight and was lamenting that with all the hands we had available and the speed with which they were moving we should have brought the buckets and lids into the camp in the military trailer but the prep work for that was not accomplished so we did what we could. 

Tinleigh, Curt and Erin brought friends Bryan, Heather and Braden along to help. Adam, Nancy, Bryan H. , Melissa, Muff, Evan and Kelsey helped. Brett stayed in the camp and helped Bob get a couple of fires going. Bret also had to endure Bob and Brad's discussion about how to properly NOT stack buckets together. 

As usual Adam working and everybody watching.....note the sun setting in the background...we appreciated the extra hour of sunlight!

Not sure what Erin is telling Bob..but he is not buying it......once again Adam working...Bob was sure to point out to Erin that we were burning her former "goat home"...this is another stack of wood from the old barn at the fairgrounds. 

The only thing more fun than watching Adam work is critiquing what he is doing...Tinleigh gave him grief and he dished it back...

Brad supervised smore making...Nancy supervised Brad supervising....

Brad explained math and how sharks were responsible for the sinking of the Titanic to the kids while cooking with them. They may never graduate. 

Curt built a fire out back for hot dogs and we had macaroni salad and chicken salad and cherry dessert tonight. Pretty good for the last night when we are often down to PB and J (not that there is anything wrong with that! ) 

The usual hodgepodge of current events were reviewed. Bellevue is on spring break so the big kids and little kids were up after bedtime! 

We appreciate all the help tonight (and every night prior!) . Each of you are a great blessing to our family. It was a really nice evening for a walk in the woods and a sweet end to the season. We will not miss the late nights, trying to figure out tomorrow's wind speed by the hour, collecting eggs in the dark or extracting the mud from ...well everything. But we will miss the conversations and clearly the most leisurely meals of the year!

We have more pictures to share and a few more videos. Stay tuned. We also will attempt to go back and update the totals. The evaporator crew seems surprised that the typing crew did not magically know what happened after bedtime. 

Total Sap Today: 380 gallons

Total Sap To Date:  5150 gal

Total Syrup Today:  8.5 gal

Total Syrup To Date:  89.0 gal

Our most accurate record....13 times we did this collection business this year! This turned out to be 94% of last years sap.  Bob talked to masseyranch6 from New York on Tik Tok.  They are not impressed with the weather they have had either in making syrup.