with a side of light cream...

Yep... it's my second post today.  Mostly 'cuz I have a lot of random thoughts swirling above and it's Tuesday... which means it's {virtual coffee} with Amy!!  So here's a much lighter post than the last few... lighter is better!


So... let's chat over some coffee or tea on this beautiful Tuesday.  Mine's iced with maple syrup and a little milk... ran out of half and half yesterday.  What I wouldn't do for a little cream this morning.... mmmm... 


Yes, you read that right.  Maple syrup in my coffee.  I think it's my new love.  I wouldn't have tried it though, if I hadn't given up coffee creamer.  I had a serious love affair with coffee creamer... after weeks and weeks of migraines and severe headaches, though, I started to take inventory of what I was consuming.  Over the past 10 years, I have slowly {read at at snail's pace... obviously, since this has been in the works for a decade, huh?} changed my eating habits.  So, anymore, there really isn't much that isn't good for me... except coffee creamer.  So, on a whim Saturday, I poured my java down the drain, gave away the remainder of my coffee creamer, and poured myself a new cup with maple syrup... OH YEAH!  I'm in love again... I may need to find something a little less expensive though....


Speaking of maple syrup, we didn't tap our trees this year because they started to bud early.  Amazingly, we were all kind of bummed, until my friend, Angie, called and said they had more sap than they knew what to do with and would I like some?  Yes ma'am!  So, Ellen and I trekked sap home and in the end got over a gallon of syrup!!

Maple syrup and my screen door, those are the things that make me think spring.  Sunday my screen door came back!  LOVE!!  Isn't he a great guy?   The really funny thing... see that hair?  About an hour after I took this picture, it was all gone.  He's back to a shaved head... another sign of warmer weather.


'k... just have to say... I don't like DST!!  Why is it we have to go back to being dark when I take Emme to school?  I just want to come home and crawl right back under the covers... yesterday, I did! ; )


Speaking of kids, the mancub goes back to the doctor today.  The boy's a little concerned.  He cannot extend his arm... not because of pain, because it won't go there.  So, we'll see what the one with more knowledge than us has to say.  So far, though, it hasn't slowed him down much.  He was playing back yard football yesterday... just catch and release but for him, it's better than nothing.


I really wish we were sitting across from one another today.  I'm having a hard time getting motivated to do anything.  Mostly I want to find a hands-on book {as opposed to ebook}, a blanket and head outside!  Since we haven't started school in these parts yet... it was a beautiful morning delay... maybe we'll take school outside the walls of this house.


So... what would you tell me if we were really playing hooky from school over coffee?  What's going on in your neck of the woods?


Join in!

it's time...

it's time...

for taps and buckets!

Sunny winter days

and cold nights

make the sap run...

yum!

a few more things in my full day...

Here are a few more things in my full day today...

1~after my last post about today being dreary and rainy, it turned out to be the most beautiful afternoon! God blessed us with sun and 63 degrees. After the library, I came home ready to walk and my man opted to join me. I love the blessing of having not-so-little-anymore kids. We left them here and away we went! Ahhh! Two miles later, I felt refreshed and blessed to have a few moments of time with my man.

2~as of today, I have walked a total of 18 miles in 8 days. Not too bad. Still plugging away at my goal! Hopefully, I will get faster after this cough goes away. I told some friends at the library today that I was hoping to sweat the germs right out of me today. Don't think it worked but I am glad I got the walk in!

3~we collected over 20 gallons of sap and boiled it down to just over 1/2 gal. We finished them Monday evening. Here are some pics of my finished jars of syrup. Of course, we've eaten some already and tonight is French Toast so that we can enjoy some more. I'm thinking I may have to buy some at the Amish grocery store this season to get us through the year, since we seem to be gobbling up ours!

I'm not sure if we'll get any more sap. I don't have covered buckets and our forecast for this week is rain, rain and more rain, so I took the buckets down for now. It's also not getting below freezing at night and so the sap isn't running very fast. If we have another cold snap, I may hang the buckets back up and try for a little more syrup. But, right now, it's nice to not have sap constantly boiling in my kitchen. Although, the smell was very yummy!!

sugarin' update...

We've almost completed one week of collecting maple sap and boiling it down for syrup. I have to say...it's been fun! The kids go out 2-3 times a day to collect the sap in the buckets hanging on the trees. Yesterday, I was gone for most of the day and the kids not only collected the sap but strained it and kept it boiling on the stove. Dad helped supervise and they all did a GREAT job!! My stove top is a bit sticky but I was so impressed at the good job that they did.

So far, we've collected 17+ gallons of sap. Tomorrow evening will mark one week of collecting and I really think we will surpass 20 gallons of sap by then. These warm, sunny, gorgeous days that get cold again at night have made the sap from the trees run fast.

We have 10, or so, Sugar Maple trees on our property. I was disappointed when I realized that several of our trees are in standing water right now. This isn't a problem for the tree, however, it is a big problem for the sap collector! So, Liann and I opted to just tap two trees and see what happened. All 17 1/2 gallon have come from just two trees.

I haven't canned any finished syrup yet because I continue adding the boiling sap together. I also need to go buy a better digital thermometer (note to self...cheaper is often times not better!!). However, this morning I poured a tablespoon, or so, of boiling syrup over my oatmeal and it was delicious! Still quite a bit runny but oh...so sweet!!

I'm still hoping to meet my goal of a gallon of homemade maple syrup this year. I haven't decided if I will quit then or try to get a little more. I have a couple of nephews who would probably really love any extra I can get.

Sugarin' time!

Warmer days and still cold nights...maple syrup time!! For the first time..EVER... I am making my own maple syrup. My brilliant scientist friend, Liann, has set me up with her knowledge and experience and we're on our way to our own home-grown, homemade maple syrup (it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup and so it's a long journey!).

One of my unspoken rules of homeschooling is to surround myself with people smarter than I am to teach me and to teach my kids. I'm so thankful for Liann! She has taught me so much about plants, gardening, canning and maple syrup. I am equally thankful for another science-minded friend, Julie, who came over today and did a lesson on photosynthesis (complete with a hand-drawn illustrated worksheet) for the kids before we collected our sap.

Here are some pictures of our day! By 6 p.m. we had gathered 4 gallons of sap today. Eric proudly proclaimed "We're 1/10th of the way there!" Wouldn't it be nice to have 9 more beautiful days in a row and be done with the entire project in 10 days? I doubt it will go that smoothly and by the end I may give up before I have an entire gallon of syrup but it's been fun today!