Mar 14
Friday brought with it the warmest temperatures of the year thus far. There was a breeze at intervals today as well. This morning the crew consisting of Kelsey, Brad, Bob, Gerri, Cody, Amy (Emma and Oliver) went to Sandhill Rd for a bit. Befor heading back over home stopped in to have lunch with Dale, Karen, Dorothy and Cousin Luke. Luke is in town as he is fortunate to get to photograph the MAC tournament for Miami University. He is headed back to Cleveland tonight for game two.
Cody, Brad, and Bob helped Gerri prune some of her fruit trees today. It was nice to work outside in a t-shirt for a change! Oliver explored the sticks and the ladder as we enjoyed some outdoor time. It was windy at times and certainly warm enough that we doubted there was much sap.
Adam, Katie, (Henry and Brynn), Nancy, Jeremy, Jake, Brad, Bob, Gerri, Muff, Cody, Amy (Emma and Oliver) met around 5:15 to start gathering what turned out to be more than expected….390 gallons. Krista and Justin showed up a little late with fresh arms and legs that came in handy at the end. Newt and Kim also helped to pick up the last of the sap for the season.
We had a lot of firsts today. For the first time in memory, we collected a decent amount of clear sap and pulled taps at the same time. Typically, we have waited until the sap has turned cloudy and has lost its sweet smell. This took a little time, but will help the process later. As we walked, we pulled taps and put the tubing/tap and bucket in piles near the path to pick up later. The weather forecast is not favorable for next week and we have other fish to fry. Also a first, was that the majority was in agreement that this was the right thing to do! Bob brought water to the camp earlier today to push in after the sap. Bob, Cody, and Brad stayed late tonight to finish up the last boil. Dave Green also made an appearance at some point last night. Not sure when, but long after the sap was gathered.
Another first, Brad carried a radio and we listened to the Bellevue Girls basketball team win the state championship in Dayton, Ohio. We shut Walle off at intervals so we could hear the game. Congrats Lady Red!!
Kelsey arrived in time to make French toast for supper. It was great to visit with Newt and Kim tonight!! (last night everyone complained about how cold the camp was, tonight we worked at staying away from the evaporator!) Justin spent the first 20 minutes of his shift dumping buckets while on the phone with his sister Lindsey in Brazil troubleshooting her dishwasher.
Cody and Adam were both sporting kids in backpacks tonight. They are both over a year old so they are not light! Earlier in the week Adam lost one of Brynn’s boots and had to backtrack. Tonight, while walking along Gerri spotted a pink shoe in the middle of the path. Bob grabbed it immediately and asked Adam why he was walking backwards and tormenting him a bit about losing yet another shoe. Bob got some mileage out of this mishap before confessing he had the missing boot.
Emma road with Bob in the cab of Walle for half of the night. She was playing with a stick and rammed it into the top of her mouth on a quick stop despite being told not to put the stick in her mouth repeatedly. She will not do that again, lesson learned the hard way. She and her Gi made a piggy back ride to the camp from the northwest corner to the camp in the southeast corner to take care of this minor injury. Just add it to the list of injuries accumulated this season.
We called Jackie for emergency eggs and finished making French toast on the griddle. Gerri forgot the syrup bottle of all things, so Jackie also brought us a jar to use to serve syrup. We cooked in the sap storage barn out of the wind as it was quite brisk on the patio last night.
Most folks had some mud splashed on them by the end of the evening. Henry and Emma found a mud hole, and wallowed in it before we even started tonight. They were clearly enjoying themselves. Henry has a pair of socks that may never be the same (sorry Katie). Henry and Emma got stuck in the mud, and Grandma Nancy pulled them out cheerfully, at least the first few times. They could not have been more thrilled. Playing in the mud is tiring work, as Henry was passed out in the car before even hitting the train tracks on the way home.
Dale, Karen, and Dorothy came over to the camp after watching the girls basketball game thanks to techy cousin Luke. They stopped to pick up some things we forgot as well.
It wouldn’t be a typical night of firing if there wasn’t some sort of contention about whose job it is to pay attention to the evaporator. This time Brad got after Bob for not paying attention to the fire while Brad was babysitting his buddy Ollie, and that Bob needed to open the fire box doors to cool down the evaporator quickly. Bob was confused as to what he was talking about, Adam snapped the picture below and made sure to let everyone know, that this wouldn’t happen if he was firing.
This has been a good syrup season! We started late but pulled out a record amount of syrup for 12 days! We appreciate all of the good help tonight and every night.
Krista went with Amy to help get the kids to bed while Gerri and Bob visited with Newt and Kim and talked of fun projects like greenhouses!! When Gerri walked in the door Amy asked her if she had seen Emma’s boots. Gerri started to tidy up a bit and quickly solved the mystery. Emma put them in the clothes dryer. This is also a first. But Emma Is improving. She came home from the woods one night this week and walked strait up to her parents bedroom in her muck boots. Boots complete with muck.
This has been a great syrup season! We started late but pulled out a record amount of syrup for 12 days! We have gathered sap 9 times in 12 days. We canned off syrup, tapped and pulled taps in that same 12-day time frame. No wonder we are tired. Grateful but exhausted. We could not have done this without a lot of help. We appreciate all of the good help tonight and every night.
We will follow up with our end of the year sap and syrup totals as the crew was out until at least 0200 finishing up.