Catching Up

Life since mid-January has been a little busier than usual here for us, as we've taken on a darling, new, little challenge.  Consequently, I haven't been as good at blogging as I imagined I might be when I started this.  That, and so many things that occur here occur seasonally.  Which means that a lot of what I would post about seems like a re-run; however, at the risk of boring you with the same old, same old, here goes.

Our 19-month-old grandniece is staying with us for a little while, while her mom goes through Basic Training in the Army, and her dad finds a place to live and gets settled in his new job in Missouri.  Meanwhile, our 3-year-old grand-Sonny also hangs out with us most afternoons while his mom works the 3-midnight shift.  (You're starting to understand why I'm not blogging more, huh.)

I was leafing through some of the pictures I've taken this winter/spring and thought I'd share a snapshot of life here at Whit's End Farm.

I copied some music for TBear one day and went to find the tape so I could tape the pages together.

Apparently, Sonny got to the tape first.  Scotch tape makes a good tow truck.

TBear frequently finds himself with more help than he thought he needed, but she's cute! 

I won't bore you with pictures of our snow again, though the ice storm was pretty, if somewhat damaging to the trees around us.  About mid-March, the weather finally turned warm enough during the day that we were able to tap the maple trees on March 14th this year.  We still had at least 2 feet of snow in places, but the days were above freezing while the night temps were still below...perfect weather to make the sap run.  The twist on the tapping procedure this year involved two helpers in the sled.

One of our helpers really preferred to be in the snow, not the sled, where she could sample the icy stuff.  This kid has a thing about ice...  

We still needed snowshoes to get around.  Some friends loaned us a pair of kids' snowshoes that fit Sonny.  Miss T really wanted to try them out, but her little boots just weren't big enough to fit them.  Maybe next year. 

For the next three weeks or so, TBear took the sled around and emptied all the buckets until boiling day. 

At one point I walked out of a snowshoe and realized just how deep the snow still was.

The kids stuck by the sled where they could help with emptying the buckets of sap into the storage containers.

Finally on Saturday afternoons, Whit spent the day boiling the sap down into syrup.  By the end of this short season, I think we managed to make about 3 gallons of syrup.  Not a lot, but enough to get us through until next year.  As you can see below, by April 9th when TBear pulled all the taps because the trees were starting to bud and the sap was turning yellow - signs that the syrup-making season was at an end - most of the snow has melted.  It's always amazing to me how quickly it goes in some places and how slowly in others, like in the shadows behind our house.

 Miss T and Whit enjoy a sunny, warm afternoon by the evaporator.

 The wagon is loaded with the taps and buckets and TBear (and Miss T) are taking it back to store in the barn again until next spring.

I was happy with the amount of syrup we got this year.

I was also happy with my good helper.

Once the sap was done, we had to find something else to entertain us in the afternoons.  Dusting off the old rocking horse turned out to be a really good idea.

That pretty much brings us up to date.  School is rolling right along, though starting Wednesday, we'll be taking a week off for spring break and Easter.  We recently did some fun art projects with Riss, which I may try to show you next time.  Until then, no tomatoes please, I'm doing the best I can to keep everyone entertained. : P

Hanging Around

I was going through the pictures I took last month, and thought you might like these.  Grandson Sonny spent the night with us about a week ago.  TBear is good about practicing his violin daily, and Sonny loves to sit and listen...or play something too.  Usually he accompanies TBear on the piano, but this time he discovered the banjo.  Oh, man, was that a treat!  He fell in love with it, but it was too big to hold so TBear set him up on the chair with the banjo across his lap and the two of them practiced fiddle tunes together.  :)

 Marissa and Jake came to pick Sonny up the next day.  After hanging around with us for a little while, they got into the big, red truck and left. 

 

However, Sonny is coming to visit again tomorrow, and I can't wait! :)