Drink cozies from socks or sweaters!

From my new favorite blog The View From Great Island. 

http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/2014/11/craft-tutorial-sock-drink-cozies.html

DIY Felted Wool Mittens from Hey What's for Dinner Mom?:

Hey What's for Dinner Mom?: DIY Felted Wool Mittens: DIY Felted Wool Mittens that don't require knitting, these are made from an old felted sweater and take just 30 quick minutes OR LESS t...

An old Saturday Sandwich

Maple Syrup Yield!

I think I can spare some for presents! :D

Boilling with the big guns!!!

Those three garbage cans are where we are storing the sap. 
 

And let the cooking begin!

Do you see the collapse happening?
eeks
Next weekend we will move the "arch" to the driveway where it is more stable and less likely to be disturbed by melting snow and ice.

Tapping Trees

We are trying our hands in making maple syrup this year. Of 40 viable trees, we only tapped ten as we were told we would have more than enough!

Dear SP drills the first on a beautiful winter Sunday!

The Rowland's guide us and kindly donated the gear and expertise!

First spile is flowing!

Drip! Drop!

Happy times!

My first drill before I corrected my angle.

Drinking straight from the tree!

Panoramic view of the front fields!

Our youngest sipping sap!

We added a little utility humor for the neighborhood!

Saturday Sandwich

Everyone went to the mountain today, but I stayed home because I wasn't feeling well. I completely cleaned out the kids rooms while they were gone. I think the yummy egg sandwich powered me. Nothing is better than the huge smiles and even bigger thanks I got from the kids when they got home. It added a much needed fill to my bucket!

Our first cook of maple syrup.

SP started cooking this morning. The sap first boiled at 12:50. We are guessing about 15 gallons were processed. It's 9:45 pm and we are finishing it inside. It looks like we will need to get an earlier start next weekend. 

We started with fairly frozen sap that needed to be cooked in order to thaw and strain.

Adding more...

Straining it off...

Sapbergs

The finishing pot has a handy spigot

Filtering out all the bark and moss and even bugs and such

Evaporating the water. The sap was 1.7% sugar according to our hygrometer.

Watching it evaporate is akin to watching paint dry...

A selfie of the cooker!

Finishing it inside on the stovetop. 

Sap Icicles

The most amazing treat nature can offer! Baby has been a dedicated helper. I adore him!

Preparing our temporary Sugar House!

It's a makeshift structure built by SP, our seasoned mason. 

Harvesting sap!

Our first day of collection equals at least one gallon of sap!