Sugarin' Time

It's sugarin' time. The first tree we tapped is still not producing, but the 4 other maple trees we put taps on have produced about 16 gallons now. We started tapping for real on Sunday, so it took about 3 days to collect that amount. As you can see, I'm having fun on this new adventure. Never done this before--so who knows what we'll end up with! :-)

Here you see my five-match-fire. I started it with two matches and went inside to get some supplies. When I returned it was smoking, but not burning, so I started it again (3 more matches). Clearly I am a highly skilled mountaineer-type person.

Here are the additional, high-tech, sap-gathering instruments. Bret bought me a fancy pants bucket with a lid, but since we need 40 gallons of maple sap for our 1 gallon of syrup, clearly more buckets were needed.

Here you see the 16 gallons of sap (very clear) which I collected and am slowly boiling today. Hopefully we will have success (success in this case is defined as some syrup for the Saturday morning pflinzen (aka crepes))! Well, back to the fire!

Sugarin'

Thanks to my hubby, I got sugarin' supplies for Christmas! A bucket, several spouts and a book explaining all about the process of extracting maple sap from maple trees and cooking it down. There were several times already this winter/spring when things have warmed up and it seemed like the sap may be running. I was starting to worry about missing the...well, the sap. But then we had another cold snap with our daily highs well below freezing, so I was reassured. Now the weather has turned warmer again. We even let the chickens out to forage in the yard. So, when we woke up this Saturday we thought it might be a good day to start. Bret has a friend at work who also does this and he said he might get started this weekend. Well--I got super excited and dug out all my stuff. I washed everything and since it was sunny and warm(er) so we drilled a hole in our lovely red maple. The book stated that sometimes the sap starts flowing out of the tree before you can get the bucket in place. I was certain this could happen to us! I was prepared with my bucket in hand. Well. No such luck for me! I've gone out to check on the bucket several times. There were some bits of bark in it the first time. An hour later...nothing. I am a little put out.

Japan...and more paint!

Bret traveled to Japan for CAT at the end of January/beginning February for one and a half weeks, leaving me with two kids (one with the flu), 1 dog, 10 chickens, and 1 guinea pig. --I think he got the better end of this deal. So, I coated my mild bout of jealousy (and Katie's bedroom walls) with two coats of light lavender paint. I talked with Bret daily on Yahoo messenger which was really neat. It was a little complicated because of the time difference. It was REALLY GREAT to pick him up from the airport! I'll post some Japan pics and some of Katie's room soon!

I cut my hair!

I know--it's shocking. But I've wanted to do this for a while and finally took the plunge. Whew what a relief it was. They took off about 8 inches! When I went to pick up the kids from school Katie was a little shocked too, but she's getting used to it.

Christmas Picture Collection

I had a request for some Christmas pictures and thought others might like to see some of our family Christmas pictures too--even though it's already February! I know--a little late, but family pics are always fun. Above Katie is bonding with cousin Ben and below we are gathering for dessert around the table. It was a real blessing to us to have the opportunity to host the Rempel Christmas gathering!

The whole group of us posing for the traditional group shot. Always more fun with fidgety kids!

August, Uncle Allan and Ben enjoying a moment.

I tried to do a pyjama shot on Christmas Eve with all the kids, but Ben thwarted my efforts. August, Katie and Nicholas did their best, but August isn't really used to holding babies...

Katie enjoyed holding the baby and talked about Ben and Nicholas for weeks after Christmas.

Katie and Ben above (I had trouble getting a shot with Ben that wasn't blurry!) He's just too busy having fun. Below, Heidi with her two little boys.

MLKjr Day found us tubing at a nearby ski resort. It was a grand day. Lots of family fun and togetherness. We also observed the ski area and the bunny hills. The kids agreed that trying downhill skiing might not be so bad! :-) This is a major coup for me. I've been trying to get the kids into some "real" winter sports to honor their Canadian heritage for years.

When August was 5 we got him some skating lessons and tried to get him into hockey but he didn't like the skating and didn't want to play hockey...bummer.

Fun in the Snow! We all connected our tubes and went down together. August had a major moment of achievement as he overcame his fear of heights and went up on the "magic carpet." By the end of the day both kids were begging to stay and go down one more time! But, all good things must end...eventually!

To ski or not to ski...

Yesterday I took an opportunity to go cross-country skiing at nearby Rock Island Trail. I only went for about a 1 1/2 mile distance. With my 21 year-old cross country skiis, (yeah, I got them when I was 16!) I went out for the first time this year and was really proud of myself when I didn't fall over once! :-) Unfortunately, cross-country skiing is great exercise and uses a lot of muscles you don't normally use! Last night I went out to take care of my chickens and realized as I bent over to close the door, that I am not a spring chicken myself anymore! (Ha!) I am so sore today. My pride at not falling over is now replaced with chagrin that I am so out of shape. I guess I'll just have to get back at the skiing more regularly. Or something.