Final Sap Boil of 2017

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day as we boiled off the final ~60 gallons of sap. The weather should be up into the 70's for the next two days so it feels like quite a gift to still be boiling. Spring has solidly set in, leaving the red maples with large swollen buds. We know the sap will shut off if it already hasn't it's a season of remarkable change.

Boiling sap on such a wonderfully spring like day is a gift in comparison to the brutal single digits of the first boil of the season.

Nonetheless, the reminders are all around you of the firm grip winter had on us and the tremendous change that still needs to happen. A quick look around and you realize just how much of your driveway and road have been displaced by the snow plow and there is a great deal of raking and shoveling in our future.

We can count our blessings that we made it this far on the last of the sap wood and that we only needed a couple of chunks of the two dead pines we did drop yesterday.

I guess the most exciting part of yesterday was being left alone and in charge for a considerable amount of time while SP took Baby to a birthday party. Pickle came outside for a little bit and I asked her to snap a couple of pictures of me, since I am always the one behind the camera.

Luckily, SP came home in the knick of time because, of the 4 buckets of sap he left me with, I was down to the bottom of the 4th bucket. That was a little too close for comfort.

I had a moment of glee when I realized the snow had melted enough that we could see the top of the well cap. Even the chickens realized the retreat of the snow and resumed their dusting under the pine tree behind the house.

Sixty gallons to syrup came rather quickly, and this late season sap gave us some gorgeous colors left in the pan, with the spring afternoon sky reflected in the surface. 

 

As the afternoon progressed on, we were increasingly aware of the sounds of running water. We were surrounded by mini streams of snow melt. It was also time to go break out some water bars to save the road and driveway from being further washed away. Oh the joys of spring time!

WHERE THE SNOW MELTS OUT FROM UNDER THE WALL

TRYING TO FIND THE DRIVEWAY

HILL MEETS SEPTIC RUNOFF

THE TIME OF YEAR THE SWING SET IS OUT

DON'T EAT MY DRIVEWAY

DOWNHILL SIDE FROM HOUSE

Second Boil - Saturday March 12th

Saturday the 12th was a long and productive day. It was the first time this year that we settled into the usual saping routine - boiling on Saturday and finishing on Sunday. With over 100 gallons of sap to boil, we had to get an early start, but thankfully I got to sleep in.

 By the time I got up, SP already had the trough boiling and was skimming off the foam. 

We go through a lot of wood during the course of a boil so the chainsaw is never far from hand, which is a good thing, because I of course, love a man in chaps.

Everything is set up perfectly and the plans are in place for us to pick up the new pan on Wednesday.

The sap was running beautifully so it was time for use to gather the sap.

We had to use the overflow storage so that we could keep new sap separate from older sap. Pouring it in I noticed something really neat and took advantage of the photo op.

Baby was drinking a mug of sap as the chickens followed us around. We even had a surprise visit from someone racing a sulky around the loop. How nice!

It was a really nice afternoon and it put a lot of color on my face.

Panoramic thanks to Ms. B - that's me there in the red sweatshirt. It was a good time with friends having fun in the sun.

But the best part of all????

SAP EGGS!!!

 

Shiny new parts for the first fire on December first!

New fire brick and newly welded sides!

Status: Firewood

At the end of the day...

You find you have more firewood.

The pile on the left is dry and the pile on the right is still green. Scout the antique dog is 12, but the tractor is far older. 

Hello Scout. She's a good old dog! 

After...

3.5 cords of wood, thrown and stacked, and man do I feel it!