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

Lacrosse

We have embarked on a new sport: lacrosse.  Okay, maybe not "we", but TBear.  I don't play hockey either, but I say "we" when I refer to  our participation in the whole hockey thing.  I drive the boy to practice and games, I keep score for some of the games and cheer for him through others, while Whit does a lot of reffing.

However, lacrosse is a sport that is so totally alien to me that after two months of practice and, finally, two games, I'm still trying to figure out the rules.  Here's what I've figured out so far.  The object of the game is to get a baseball-size, hard, white, rubber ball into the opposite team's goal net.  It's like field hockey there, except that ball can really bounce right over the net instead of into it if they throw it at the ground in front of the net hard enough!    The players use sticks with baseball mitt-size nets attached to the upper end to catch and pass the ball down the field, while other players also use those same sticks to beat the snot out of the guy who has the ball in his net and is running with it.  There are, of course, rules about how you may beat the snot out of each other, and the refs are pretty quick with the whistle when they see an infraction of those rules, but I'm still having a hard time figuring out the difference between, say, checking and unnecessary roughness.  Even with my hockey knowledge.

Still, they all look like they're having a great time running up and down the field playing keep away with the ball while trying to launch that same ball at the goal and avoid being whacked by other players.

I can see how this game was likely invented by Native Americans.  I can also see how this sport might well have been used to toughen up young braves in preparation for battle or as a method for settling inter-tribal disputes.  I can't see how they would have played it without protective pads on their arms, shoulders, and heads though.  Ouch.

In the beginning of the season, when it was all so new to TBear and me, I tried to help him get used to using his lacrosse stick by playing catch with him.  I have to tell you, the boy's got a lot more talent at it than I do.  (The coaching help he got from his dad didn't hurt either.  Whit's played lacrosse, but the osmosis isn't working on me.)  TBear uses a lacrosse stick.  I use a softball mitt to catch, and the dog's chuck-it to throw the ball back to him.  (Ah, yeah...old shoulder injury that had to do with Patrick and a horsefly.  Don't ask.)  I can't catch or throw with the lacrosse stick.  In fact, trying to learn to use a lacrosse stick was a little like trying to learn the violin for me.  We started out on fairly equal footing, TBear and I, but TBear soon proved (with both the violin and lacrosse) that you just can't teach an old dog new tricks.  (He blew the doors off of me before we even got through Book One, and I just threw in the towel early with the lacrosse stick.  I'm already proficient with a softball mitt and a chuck-it. :)

Whit took a picture of the two of us practicing with the stick and ball.  If you promise not to tell me how hard you're laughing, I'll share the pictures.  You have to give me credit for creativity.

Catch.....

...and release.  It works slick.

By the way, TBear's team won their first game and tied their second game tonight.   TBear played very well.  I keep wondering, though, if this is supposed to be a spring sport, why am I always so much colder at these games than his hockey games?!  Even with the fleece blanket wrapped around me!?